Finally someone stepped up and made this. So needed or use an airport express 2

@EricWelander

3 жыл бұрын

Yes I know what you mean. I needed something to fill an Airport-Express-sized hole in my heart.

@tribehead09

3 жыл бұрын

@@EricWelander can we still use the airport extreme for airplay 2 or has that functionality been retired🤷🏽‍♂️?

Great video! Any idea is this will work with Sonos Gen 1 Play 5? Would be great to use this with HomePod mini. I was going to get rid of it but seen this product coming out soon so might keep it now!

Awesome Eric! The only other device that could do this before was an old Apple Airport Express which are becoming harder to find. I wish this was available a few months ago when added Airplay to my in-ceiling speakers in my home. Great review.

@EricWelander

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Rob! I agree that was and is a great option. This adapter fills the Airport-Express-sized hole in my heart 😄

@MrMrpony

3 жыл бұрын

And this isn’t wireless n 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽

Omg yes!!! Eric thank you so much. I knew about this but didn't have time to do the research. Thank you!

@EricWelander

3 жыл бұрын

You're welcome ☺️

OMG since I read an article about this I wanted to see a review. Thank you!

@EricWelander

3 жыл бұрын

Glad I could help

@ericB3444

3 жыл бұрын

Augustus YOUS Apple is now

Thank you for the good review. May I ask you about the audio quality over Bluetooth 5.0?

This is a great replacement for the old Apple airport, the one with the audio output. I still have an airport but they are getting old and hard to find now. Glad Belkin has a solution.

I have an AE gen2 and my problem with its multiroom audio function, is there's a fraction of a second delay against my homepods and other airplay 2 speakers. Does the belkin have recognisable delay when using Multi room?

Thanks for a nice review. Is it still working if upgraded to iOS15 ?

Hi Eric, I wondered if you could help me with this please ? I brought an old 1970's TV Cabinet took the old TV out and replaced it with a monitor and added a google TV dongle , is there an easy way that I can connect this to different speakers in the room that i have connected to different Belkin soundform adapters ? Thanks

i have two homepod connected in stereo and can i add powered subwoofer using belkin?

Can this device potentially be used to connect it to tv audio and transfer the audio to the airplay device and transmit it to Sonos speakers

I received mine the other day. The audio level out of the analog out is at least 10db lower than it should be. The optical output is fine, but when compared to other similar devices with consumer grade line-level analog output, it is far quieter. There seems to either be a software or hardware problem related to the DAC/line-level amplifier. The only two mentions of this device on Twitter mention this issue, so not likely limited to my device.

@AlejandroUribe89

2 жыл бұрын

I am having the same problem! With my chromecast audio my speakers are super loud at around 50 percent of the chromecast’s volume but with the soundform I can turn up the volume all the way up and it is quitter than the chromecast….

I got an Airport Express earlier this week after watching another video that popped up in my feed about it having Airplay 2 support. I bought my HomePods that year and did not know about the update. But got that set and was curious about the Belkin product, because this video also showed up in my feed. Had I known this existed, I might have gotten it; I had to settle for a Bluetooth receiver but was ultimately useless without the AirPlay 2 support (I have an AIWA boombox to attach it to). Alos, +1 for Apple Music's "pure ambient!" When I bought my HomePods back in early 2019, immediately and, to this day, even though I'm a DJ and play loads of uptempo and beat-influenced music (from abstract hip-hop to house music), it's so free just to tell Siri to "play pure ambient," and it does so without me even thinking about it. I'm spoiled by this channel, and in some strange way it does make my stereo-paired HomePods worth the convenience and sound quality. Had to share that bit; thanks for the video!

The speaker I want to use I have to turn on before I blue tooth connect. Will this auto wake the speaker with airplay?

Does this Also work with an old apple hifi speaker dock?

We were talking about this device on Shane Whatley’s Discord… Seems cool. I do something similar with AirPort Express boxes… - I have one AE box that connects to a JBL Charge portable speaker via 3.5mm cable…and a second AE that uses Toslink/Optical cable to connect to my Yamaha Receiver. Both allow for AirPlay. Super easy way to add existing speakers/receivers into the Apple/HomeKit Ecosystem. The big win (for this Belkin device also) is the Optical Output. That should be amazing once Lossless Audio hits Apple Music. Great review Eric. Thanks!

@EricWelander

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah getting nice CD quality out to a stereo with this will be nice with the Toslink/optical out. Thanks for sharing about your setup.

Have you tried this with a Sonos Playbar by chance? Wondering if I have a Playbar and two Play:1's grouped as a TV system if it'll play through all speakers ...

@EricWelander

3 жыл бұрын

I have not tried this with a Playbar as I only have a Sonos Beam. I would go with an Apple TV in that case to output to TV speakers, but this might work too.

I’ve wanted something like this! Thanks! My life would be complete if I could find a way to mount a few drives to a WiFi device so I could use some of these old drives as backup and storage. Yes I know... you can hook them up to a PC and share them, but PC’s have limited ports like my Mac, which has 2, 1 free for a drives or adapter that they can be hardwired to.

@EricWelander

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah...easy network storage would be great. I've been using Synology for this, and it's great but it's also complex and expensive.

@Erin-Thor

3 жыл бұрын

@@EricWelander - Interesting! And yes, expensive. Looks more geared for larger businesses than my little one. Good to know! Thanks!

I tried really hard when the flashing light was flashing to pair my phone with it my phone and it did not hook up. Do I need to have Bluetooth on or just go to my home screen?

Really need this in my old BMW can it use the iPhone wifi (hotspot) then plat to my audio 3.5 mm input? Bluetooth in no bueno. Help please, nice video

@EricWelander

3 жыл бұрын

This is NOT a good solution for in car audio. I would check out some kind of CarPlay unit if you can or if not a Bluetooth option, even just using a Bluetooth speaker.

this work with a subwoofer? For the Apple TV?

Can you use Intercom to speak to it?

Hi guys, audiocast m5 doesn't do the same for a cheaper price?

What type of light is that in the corner?

You might hav covered this, but can I hook this up to lets say a video streaming box. Then play the movies over my HomePods? I would like to be able to bring into the HomePods devices which are not Apple devices. I am think older stereos or video streaming boxes.

@EricWelander

3 жыл бұрын

Yes the idea is you can group this adapter with any attached speakers with HomePods in other rooms.

@ryanfranklin1118

2 жыл бұрын

Yes But Ig U have 2 HomePods and You Want To Watch movies In DolbyAtmos Or 5.1 Ig U conect This Adapter Movies Is No Longer Play Sourround Just Stereo

Just for curious, do you know if this adapter functions with the Bose Soundlink Color II …?

@EricWelander

2 жыл бұрын

I don't now but it theoretically can output to any 3.5mm or SPDF jack

Can u use it without a wireless router or access point ? Like will my iPhone find it and stream audio to it via airplay if I don’t have wifi ? Like in my car

@EricWelander

3 жыл бұрын

No. I would look at various Bluetooth options for that.

Great review! Is there any similar option (prabably not AirPlay) for the car?

@EricWelander

2 жыл бұрын

I bet someone makes a bluetooth dongle that does the same thing for a car but I haven't tried any. I think Apple's view on this setting is adding wireless CarPlay to the car, but that's often not possible or easy.

was going to get this to use with uwb handoff feature with a homepod mini and my computer speakers, however seeing that you have to change the input each time is a bit annoying.

@EricWelander

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah...I haven't tried them and it's a lot more money, but you might have better luck with a receiver that has AirPlay 2 built-in. Apple lists some on their accessories page www.apple.com/ios/home/accessories/

Hi Eric ! Have any solution to connect Speaker Sonos One with Windows or PC ?

@EricWelander

3 жыл бұрын

Nope. Sorry!

Great Video... Thank you..... On the contrary, Cable Management Bro!

The Airplay 2 format I think only supports up to 48khz, so nothing crazy.. but just enough. Curious if this is only 44.1, wonder if that is still the limit through optical

@Chronos867

2 жыл бұрын

Will it only be apple airplay 2?is there any other adapter with both WiFi and Bluetooth for speakers

Someone trying this thing out for a while and having no problems at all streaming music together with the Homepod?

Can you connect multiple speakers to one device?

Gonna add this to my Sonos Play 5 Gen 1

Thanks for the video …

@EricWelander

3 жыл бұрын

You're welcome 😊

I may have missed it, but would this work with a wireless surround system?

@gokuft

Жыл бұрын

Hi! Have you found the answers ?

How do you turn a Media scene off in Home . tapping the scene a second time does not do it. for lights you can make a second scene with off. I do not see an off function for a Media scene. Only, Play Audio, Pause Audio, Resume Audio and Adjust Volume only.

@EricWelander

3 жыл бұрын

Yes you can make a second scene to pause the music, although personally I just ask Siri to stop in most cases. There are no scenes for playing media on Apple TV at this point.

I'm wondering if this can be portable...

Cool I can now connect a sub to my two HomePods thanks for this

@issacabraham1505

Ай бұрын

How has your experience been after doing this? I’m also thinking the same..

Any one knows how to or a possibility to adjust bass on airplay Speakers

Nice video. When you play audio is it stereo or mono audio?

@blkbird

2 жыл бұрын

Stereo

how do I actually get an airplay 2 device to show up in the Home app, I’ve done it before but I can’t remember how

@EricWelander

3 жыл бұрын

Tap the + button and choose add accessory. There's a code on the back of this device, but for some like Sonos you have to choose that you don't have a code.

@blindelectron

3 жыл бұрын

@@EricWelander HMMMM, I’ll try that, although I already did I’ll try again and see

AirPort Express generation 2 is the way to go.

will it work for sonos playbar?

@EricWelander

3 жыл бұрын

Provided you can set the Sonos PlayBar to be accepting an external input. I've not used that Sonos speaker.

Wow Belkin can put a toslink audio output on their $99 airplay adapter, maybe Apple could do that on their $200 AppleTV?

@swansteven92

2 жыл бұрын

Just use an AirPort Express from apple in 2012 with a toslink cable. Can be had on eBay for like $30

What about using with Alexa speakers?

@bmarvinsd

3 жыл бұрын

Echo show 10

could you add a subwoofer to a pair of homepods with this ??

Does it support High res music ? and does it work with a car ?

@EricWelander

Жыл бұрын

Unfortunately no Apple AirPlay does not support high res music as far as I know and this won't work in a car unless there's a Wi-Fi network there

@abdulmalika02

Жыл бұрын

@@EricWelander i mean with the aux port

Behövs dator eller hur?

Since the Apple TV’s Bluetooth audio loses connectivity EVERY TIME, I guess AirPlay is the only way to go. Too bad Belkin didn’t have an Ethernet wired port

Nice wire management-HAHA

This is an interesting little device. Maybe I missed it, but what is this using for the "wireless" part? Bluetooth, or something which is higher bandwidth? 16-bits at 44.1-KHz is CD-quality (iirc), and I was under the impression that you couldn't push that much audio data through a bluetooth connection. Another reason that I'm interested in this technical detail is that my experience is that a bluetooth signal can't quite make it from one end of my house to the other, especially between floors. So it'd be nice to have something with a little more range.

@EricWelander

3 жыл бұрын

AirPlay uses your Wi-Fi network and this device uses Wi-Fi. This means it can stream independent of your iPhone and doesn't have range issues. Also AirPlay has more bandwidth than Bluetooth.

@garanceadrosehn9691

3 жыл бұрын

@@EricWelander - Thanks!

Can’t you do the same thing with the raspberry pi

@EricWelander

3 жыл бұрын

Yes but it's more configuration and setup than an off-the-shelf product

Its a great life, everything FREE of charge, FREE,FREE,FREE

@EricWelander

2 жыл бұрын

Haha. The grass is always greener, but sometimes it is nice to get free products to check out.

Could've set up the device before placing it under the desk.

What desktop wallpaper do you have on the monitor at the beginning of this video? Great channel, by the way. Appreciate the in-depth detail around HomeKit use and 3P devices that can be used with it.

Eric Welander - Where to find explanation on how to manage multi-zone stereo speakers with HomeKit?

If only Apple TV 4 had an audio out I would just buy another one of those instead. So I might just have to pick up a Belkin Soundform Connect. I also looked at dedicated music streamers but they seem really expensive when I already have spare iPads for music streaming. The also have in built DACs but my speakers already have a DAC built in, so it feels like I would be paying for a feature I don't need.

@EricWelander

2 жыл бұрын

If you use the SPDIF out here instead of the headphone jack and your speakers support that, then theoretically your speaker DAC is what is used.

Having an Apple TV is not the same solution. Then you have to have the Apple TV input on and that song taking up the screen. You can’t watch other TV with the subtitles while listening to songs.

@EricWelander

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah good point that's a use case I hadn't thought of. This adapter totally works with that kind of setup but your music might not be in surround sound even if the music file happens to have support for it.

@ericB3444

3 жыл бұрын

@@EricWelander i think airplay 3 will let you in 2024 without a

So it’s basically Chromecast audio but for Airplay.

@EricWelander

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah that’s a good way to put it

@PatrickMondor

3 жыл бұрын

The difference is the Chromecast Audio’s where much cheaper. I have an older airport express, but Airplay 2 connectivity is very suspect. Paying $99 for good airplay 2 connectivity is a tough sell.

@TimothyChoi

3 жыл бұрын

@@PatrickMondor yea I remember how cheap they were. Now they’re selling for $100 used on eBay!

@AlejandroUribe89

2 жыл бұрын

Chromecast audio was cheaper and the volume output is way louder and cleaner

info very hidden in the manufacturing site. Compatible only with : iPad mini 6th Gen, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini and iPad 4 Gen. Now I understandf why I've found aseveral offers in amazon warehouse :)

@Yowzoe

Жыл бұрын

wow, this is news. Didn't see this on Amazon either. I have a SE second generation and a basic iPad, so I suppose I'm SOL.

Airport Express are not that hard to find. Just picked up two for less than $40 each. They are bulletproof and also have ethernet.

They'd have to include Chromecast Audio and Bluetooth LDAC before I'd spend $99 on a device like this. Not enough value for just Airplay 2.

@Richiebxrry

3 жыл бұрын

I agree. I managed to pick up an apple express for about $30 a few weeks ago.

Eric ☝️Your cables under the desk are a mess 😜

@nicholashaggkvist2905

3 жыл бұрын

I read this comment before it got to his desk and i said to myself, “hmmm couldn’t be that bad”… It was that bad 😝

@EricWelander

3 жыл бұрын

Haha I love this thread! Yes I'm a "working pro" and I need to have time to make videos. That said, I am going to be rearranging my office soon and I might try and clean up those cables a bit.

@Canadian_Living_in_Mexico

3 жыл бұрын

@@EricWelander I liked how you support your cables to allow your desk to move up and down. Have you done a video on your desk setup? Specifically, what desk are you using?

Good review! Thanks! Don’t agree with you when you say the HomePod mini isn’t a good speaker. For 99 it is for sure. But anyhow with this device you can get more expensive speakers as AirPlay 2 = great. It’s just a pity we don’t get Siri this way so for me still HomePod mini wins…

@JBaby_9783

3 жыл бұрын

It’s not a great sounding speaker. I love my minis though. But the only place I listen to music with them on a regular basis is in my bathroom. Otherwise I use my OG HomePods. Sometimes I also play music on all of them at once like when doing things all around the house. I’d never recommend them strictly for music in a home though unless it’s an apartment. For their size they are amazing and infinitely better than the other speakers in this category.

@EricWelander

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah I totally get the integrated Siri aspect. Maybe with yesterday's announcement of Siri in more accessories we'll see something that supports both external AirPlay 2 and Siri in the future. For the HomePod mini, I agree it is a great speaker for the size, but physics and a single driver are limiting factors. Sound quality is subjective too and varies with music tastes.

Sort out your wires!🤣

@EricWelander

3 жыл бұрын

Haha yeah....but then I wouldn't have time to make videos 😄

You have two sets of volume controls , one on the airplay2 and the other in the speaker set, it’s going to ruin the audio experience

Buy an old Airport Express 2 (second hand 25 euro) update to latest firmware and voila Airplay 2

@augustogalindo8687

3 жыл бұрын

I was also thinking about that one, is it possible to set it only as an AirPlay 2 adapter? Or is it necessary that it also work as a wifi extender?

@d.j.vandermeer3832

3 жыл бұрын

@@augustogalindo8687 yes you can disable wifi so basically it is an Airplay 2 client. And I connected this via an optical cable (one side 3,5mm mini jack and other side optical connector)

@augustogalindo8687

3 жыл бұрын

@@d.j.vandermeer3832 great! Thank you!

@uniqueflh2941

3 жыл бұрын

The Optical Output on the AirPort uses a Toslink connector. 😏

@d.j.vandermeer3832

3 жыл бұрын

@@uniqueflh2941 yeah you are right but it’s 3,5mm 😉

Just beware, that the sound quality is just OK. Most small speakers will do just fine, but do not try to use it with high quality audio equipment - you'll notice lack of clarity, space, air, etc. This is the only downside of this device. Otherwise it is great!

@bsd107

Жыл бұрын

Thanks, but why is this? Does the device not actually support ALAC? I.e. is it really getting just MP4 compressed audio over AirPlay 2? Would it sound better if you were using the digital optical out (that Eric doesn’t even mention?!?!?!) ?

One of my few disappointments after switching to an iMac is the crappy sound. I have a nice set of 5.1 surround computer speakers which I bought primarily for immersive gaming. Sadly, the only way to get them hooked up to my Mac is via the headphone jack. So, no more surround sound for me. I sure wish there were a way to address that. Another disappointment is something Eric touched on in this video. Apple treats Macs like orphans. They don’t integrate well with other Apple products. I’m sure this is some “clever” way to get even more money out of consumers and into Tim Cook’s pockets.

What a mess

Come on mate why do all your APPLE FAN BOYS Suggest something that’s going to cost people a small fortune. $99 is a lot of coin to some people. Besides you get most of these goodies you get for nothing.

Oh my God! So much drama to show how this connects. What a long story David Copperfield.

stop shilling!