Question Yamaha MusicCast 20, Libratone Zipp 2 Mini or Audio Pro?

Y2JON

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I’ve been researching a new wireless speaker, but have come to an impasse between three options! Sonos is our unfortunately, as I want Bluetooth aswell as AirPlay 2:

Yamaha MusicCast 20
Libratone Zipp 2 Mini
Audio Pro Addon C3

All seem to currently be within my budget of around £180 and tick all the boxes.
I don’t need for it to be portable, as in have a rechargeable battery, but I would like to be able to carry it in a bag for hotel stays and when we go round to see family.
Does anybody have any experience with these, and/or which is the best all rounder? Sound quality to me is most important, then features, then looks last!
 
If you are looking to use it in different locations the Zipp has a separate power supply brick to carry around. The other two just have a figure 8 mains lead to carry. The Addon C5A is available for £169 from Curry’s so would be a better choice than the C3.

However, if you are considering going multi room or adding a sound bar or home cinema then the Yamaha would be a better option.
 
Thanks for that, really helpful! I’ve toyed over the Zipp a lot, but something kept niggling at me. Perhaps it was the multi room option that you have brought up, as it’s definitely something I’d probably look at getting in to eventually. I was just worried the Yamaha wouldn’t be up to the sound quality of the others, though I am currently using (and loving) a Yamaha-YAS93 TV soundbar.
 
What's your main source of music?
  • Do you need a streamer that has it's own player/app (ala Sonos) or are you ok with streaming to it from the Spotify app or Airplay / Bluetooth on your phone?
  • Do you need local file indexing and playback?
Just to throw a curveball out there,

If your happy with a device to act as an 'endpoint' rather than a full blown streamer / app ecosystem and don't mind some basic DIY then a RPi and a DAC hat (you just choose the relevant one for your needs ie. a Digi-hat gives you SPIDF out and a DAC-hat gets you analog out) might be a cheap but good option.

You can then burn a stripped back and dedicated OS like HifiberryOS or Ropieee XL onto an SD card and it will boot up as a dedicated device with a simple web interface to configure it.

That might sound more complex than it is, but it really is simply a case of putting some components in a case and tightening some screws, logging into a web page and selection a couple of basic options. You can even order a bundle with a ready burnt SD card and a Pi so that you're 100% ready to go.

That would get you a small low-cost, but high-quality, dedicated box capable of supporting:
  • Airplay
  • Analoge input of the DAC+ ADC
  • Bluetooth
  • Logitech Media Server / Squeezebox (UPnP)
  • Spotify
  • Roon (RAAT)
If you wanted a really nice and user friendly interface on mobile, tablet and desktop and support for local music playback and HiRes / Tidal support then I'd take a look at Roon. I don't think anything else even comes close re. interface and usability. It also means you're not locked-in waiting for a manufacturer to update their hardware/software (on a dedicated device) down the road when new formats and features come along.

Or if you wanted more of a streamer/player (running on the device itself) that supports the various streaming services out there, rather than just an endpoint, you could simply swap the SD card for something like Volumio.
 
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That’s very sound advice, and I will keep that in mind for the future, thanks. At this moment in time though, it needs to be a ‘box’ that’s easily carried (even though it doesn’t need a rechargeable power supply) and with instant set up really, as it will be regularly taken round to other houses or hotel rooms. It’s the main reason I can’t go for a Sonos at this time unfortunately, as I would prefer Bluetooth when I’m not at home, but AirPlay 2 when I’m by my own wi-fi.
 
That’s very sound advice, and I will keep that in mind for the future, thanks. At this moment in time though, it needs to be a ‘box’ that’s easily carried (even though it doesn’t need a rechargeable power supply) and with instant set up really, as it will be regularly taken round to other houses or hotel rooms. It’s the main reason I can’t go for a Sonos at this time unfortunately, as I would prefer Bluetooth when I’m not at home, but AirPlay 2 when I’m by my own wi-fi.

Something like this is 'tiny' you can literally hold it in one hand and it will boot straight up, find the WiFi and do it's thing as soon as it is turned on, no need for a monitor or anything. The config/management is all web or app based depending on what 'audio' OS your running.

But if all you're after is Airplay and Bluetooth support, then maybe just get an old Airport Express for £12 (or £38 for one with AirPlay 2) and a basic Bluetooth receiver/dongle?
 
Something like this is 'tiny' you can literally hold it in one hand and it will boot straight up, find the WiFi and do it's thing as soon as it is turned on, no need for a monitor or anything. The config/management is all web or app based depending on what 'audio' OS your running.

But if all you're after is Airplay and Bluetooth support, then maybe just get an old Airport Express for £12 (or £38 for one with AirPlay 2) and a basic Bluetooth receiver/dongle?
That sounds easy, is it?! As long as the speaker that it could be connected to could easily be carried & there’s not too much messing about once moved to another house/room, that could definitely be an option. All music would currently be coming straight from our iPhone’s iTunes library. We haven’t been swept up in the monthly subscription game yet.
 
That sounds easy, is it?! As long as the speaker that it could be connected to could easily be carried & there’s not too much messing about once moved to another house/room, that could definitely be an option. All music would currently be coming straight from our iPhone’s iTunes library. We haven’t been swept up in the monthly subscription game yet.

First I must apologise.... I only glanced at the devices you listed in your initial post and for some reason assumed they were all streaming / bridge devices rather than actual portable speakers maybe I got it mixed up with another post and just started typing away!!

So sorry, I can now see why you were talking about an actual portable speaker with both Bluetooth and Airplay. You must have wondered what an earth I was going on about re. Raspberry PI's and DAC-hats!!!

Anyway, yes...an old Airport Express works well as an AirPlay endpoint and it even has a digital optical output. So a very cheap and effective way to add Airplay to an existing setup and I guess you could pair it with a pair of small active speakers.

But now I understand what you were looking for, an all in one portable bluetooth / airplay type speaker would probably make more sense. Although afraid I can't give advice on any of the above. What ruled out the Sonos Move? Seems like that would have ticked all your boxes, although they are fairly heavy, and not exactly the cheapest option.
 
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Sonos Move is £399 but the OP budget is £180.
 
First I must apologise.... I only glanced at the devices you listed in your initial post and for some reason assumed they were all streaming / bridge devices rather than actual portable speakers maybe I got it mixed up with another post and just started typing away!!

So sorry, I can now see why you were talking about an actual portable speaker with both Bluetooth and Airplay. You must have wondered what an earth I was going on about re. Raspberry PI's and DAC-hats!!!

Anyway, yes...an old Airport Express works well as an AirPlay endpoint and it even has a digital optical output. So a very cheap and effective way to add Airplay to an existing setup and I guess you could pair it with a pair of small active speakers.

But now I understand what you were looking for, an all in one portable bluetooth / airplay type speaker would probably make more sense. Although afraid I can't give advice on any of the above. What ruled out the Sonos Move? Seems like that would have ticked all your boxes, although they are fairly heavy, and not exactly the cheapest option.
No worries at all, you did have me confused for a while but I thought I was probably just under educated with what we were discussing!
The Sonos Move would be great, but as mentioned above, £180-200 is my maximum at this moment. I really do like the Sonos range, it’s just not quite open enough for my various needs right now!
 
No worries at all, you did have me confused for a while but I thought I was probably just under educated with what we were discussing!
The Sonos Move would be great, but as mentioned above, £180-200 is my maximum at this moment. I really do like the Sonos range, it’s just not quite open enough for my various needs right now!

Yeah, there's me not reading your OP again ;-)

I think I'll leave others, more knowledgeable in the area of bluetooth speakers like xmb to advise on your various choices. Good luck with whatever you go for.

ps. just so that my post doesn't go completely to waste ;-) If you did want to get super nerdy and build something really unique, you could pick up a secondhand Beovox CX50 and convert it into a portable speaker (with Airplay and Bluetooth). Depending on how cheap you could find a CX50 you might be able to do it all within budget. But to be honest, unless you have time on your hands and like tinkering I'd just go out and buy one of the speakers in your OP!
 
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I just thought I’d come back here to say I ended up purchasing the Libratone Zipp 2 Mini, but I’m not happy. Firstly I will say the sound quality is incredible for a speaker of it’s size, and I can see why it won so many awards or recommendations. Unfortunately, whether it’s buggy software or just my unit being faulty, the connection constantly drops out. I can barely play three or four songs without it stopping, and that’s via Bluetooth or Airplay 2. I can’t see anything else online about this, so I’m struggling to decide whether to try another unit or just swap it for the Yamaha (or other choice). So far Curry’s are being hard work about it, even though I only had it delivered on Wednesday! They are saying I’m not necessarily entitled to an exchange or replacement, but I’m sure that’s against the long distance good sales act. Can anybody recommend anything, or offer advice?

Thanks.
 
No widespread reports of any issues with the Zipp speakers. Have you tried updating the firmware and then perform a factory reset? Libratone support is very good so also contact them.
In the case of AirPlay streaming check your router is running up to date firmware, reboot it and consider replacing it if over 3-years old. The Wi-Fi radios seem to die in routers when they get old and AirPlay on with Apple devices seem to highlight the issue before any other devices. I had to troubleshoot an issue with installing some corporate applications on an iPhone and it turned out to be due to a old TalkTalk router. As soon as it was changed all the issues disappeared.
 
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The Libratone is being picked up by Curry’s tomorrow, and then the search will be back on when the refund has gone back in. We reset it multiple times as per the Libratone support team, but the problems got worse if anything. Last night at a hotel was the final straw, connection drop out after three seconds of music! I’m sure it’s just a faulty unit, but I didn’t want to risk another, so I’ll be changing brand now. The Yamaha is the likely next choice, or maybe a Bose Soundtouch 10 if I can get hold of one. What does everybody think of the Harman Kardon Citation?
 

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