Scotte1
I am trying to get feedback from Actual users of a specific software to control the Airlens so my wife finds it as “trouble-free” as possible for Radio Stations. Also, as mentioned, I dont want to subscribe to a service such as Roon on a monthly basis(just to control my Airlens) . I have Qobuz already and will go w Qobuz Connect.
I have experience using the AirLens with the following:
Roon/Qobuz
Qobuz Connect
mconnectControl
JRiver Media Center (JRMC)
I tend to gravitate to JRMC for the best overall sound quality of my stored music files when I am doing serious listening. JRMC is not “easy” to set up as a music library management software but its a great renderer of music and its internet remote (JRemote) is easy to use/trouble free.
Roon/Qobuz is totally worth the investment given its ease of use (trouble free IME) and ability to help you find and explore new music.
Qobuz Connect for AirLens was recently introduced and has worked fine the few times I have used it. The sound quality might be better than it is through the Roon/Qobuz interface.
mconnectControl is much more rudimentary than the other options I have and rarely use it.
All of these options are generally “trouble-free” in my experience, once you have your music library and your library/internet streaming access sorted. It can be complicated.
I think “ease of use” is generally more important when it comes to the WAF and teaching non-hobbyists to stream music. If I had to rank my options for ease of use I would do so as follows (easiest being at the top of the ranking).
Roon/Qobuz
Qobuz Connect
JRiver Media Center
mconnectControl
I don’t stream internet radio stations so I don’t have any experience to share with you in that regard.
I think there may be a basic misunderstanding here. You certainly don’t need Roon to stream Spotify, Qobuz, or Tidal on the AirLens. It works with their apps.
If integrating radio stations and streaming services like Qobuz is a thing, Roon does that job very nicely and eliminates the need to switch between apps.
Paul, I called regarding the capability of Airlens last week. I learned about the non-internet/radio station capability and there was no suggestion other than Roon.
Would you please suggest an app that others may reliably use with the Airlens that does not require a monthly subscription fee? Surely someone uses a reliable/relatively trouble free app that will satisfy my wife’s need for simplicity? Airlens has been out for a number of years. As mentioned, I am asking for those who are “actually” using an app .
Any help is appreciated.
Bottom line, I dont want to get an Airlens only to have my wife be frustrated on my purchase… I think some here can relate…
Thanks
I have used BubbleUPnP for many years. I have tried several other streaming applications, but not Roon. I much prefer Bubble, and in fact abandoned a Bluesound Node because it did not support UPnP. Individual preferences obviously vary, but Bubble has an excellent reputation.
Apologies if I am mistaken, but I am not sure you are familiar with what the AirLens is supposed to do. It is network streaming end point that sends digital signals pulled from the internet or an in-home network that provides access to stored music files.
You have to use or have access to some sort of music rendering software to interface with the AirLens.
For example, I think you mentioned Qobuz in an earlier post. If you want to use Oobuz as the source of the files being fed over a network/the internet to the AirLens, then you will need a subscription to Qobuz. If you don’t want to have a subscription to a music service that provides access to the music on its server systems, then you have to have a music library on your home network and you have to install a music library management software that will work with the AirLens to access the files in your library (e.g., JRiver Media Center, Roon, or some other application or service). Roon has a subscription fee. JRiver Media Center does not, but you have to buy the JRiver Media Center software, install it, and “point it” to the places/devices on your network where your music files are stored.
Apologies if I am providing answers to questions you are not asking…
she likes a variety of radio stations from all over the world and genres . Hey Paul, I just go w the flow… we have Qobuz.
Would love an Airlens via I2S, I just wanna ensure she doesn’t have to struggle w the software which could be glitchy. We have Auralic Lightning software on a Auralic Streamer and the software can sometimes be glitchy which frustrates her as she then turns it over to me to “fix”.
Hi Scotte1, we have Qobuz streamed to an Auralic Streamer, and that streamer has software which can access internet radio…that is the wife’s choice for background music. As I just mentioned to Paul…i just go w the flow…
I think there is a better than even chance that your Auralic outperforms the AirLens.
It certainly has more built-in functionality. One should think of the AirLens as a network bridge/basic streamer. My understanding is the AirLens does not have any software beyond that which allows it to translate/transfer digital data to a DAC for conversion to analogue.
I use mConnect Control on my iPad. It includes support for vTuner Internet radio. I don’t listen to radio through my high end audio system very often, but when I have used it, vTuner has worked with no issues.
I would describe the mConnect interface as clunky. On the other hand, it does work reliably and isn’t hard to learn IMO. Qobuz Connect is much slicker. I have only been using it for a few days and I’m not yet comfortable with a few of its features. Sound quality is quite good, as others have commented here. You can get Qobuz also through mConnect, which is how I used it prior to Qobuz Connect becoming available. It works fine for this, although (as I said) the interface won’t win any prizes for elegance.
You probably know that Bubble UPNP is Android-only. The high-Rez version of mConnect requires a small one time purchase, but no monthly subscription (of course you need a subscription to Qobuz if you want to use it).
Please confirm what you mean by Radio Stations. Radio station to me means over the air broadcast stations that also stream the same content. I believe this what you are referring to.
I tried mConnect and a UPNP and found them both to be clunky at best. For very simple and reliable background listening of radio stations I’d suggest considering adding a BlueSound Node to your system for TuneIn Radio just for your wife.
TuneIn Radio over the Node is very easy to search for broadcast stations from all over the world and save and retrieve them as favorites. For back ground listening (or even critical listening for the less discriminating listener) and simplicity the Node is hard to beat.
The BlueSound Node is a solid recommendation. Just sold mine at a bargain price. Not buggy at all, and Tune-in works seamlessly, with 1,000s of listening options.
My wife misses the BS Node, but not all the boxes, I believed necessary to get a nice sound in her office space. Naturally, she demurred. Over a drink at a local establishment, The Malt House, she noted how she missed the “music”. Saturday we dropped in to Univrsity Audio to chat with a friend and walked out with an NAD C379 all in one solution and a pair of Sonus Faber Lumina II speakers. She couldn’t be happier. Several Negronis for her and a couple of Ardbeg Uigeadail (Oo-ga-dal) for me, resulted in a decision to re-consider, with focus on a scaled down approach.
As noted Happy Wife, Happy Life.
I should note the core appeal for her was the C379 with it’s BlueOS streaming app providing for glitch free access to her radio stations, and Qobuz.
Good Monday morning,
So far, it appears that its rare anyone uses the Airlens in concert with the Bubble UPNP . One person uses Bubble UPNP and is satisfied with it and another said it and MConnect is clunky.
Another person kindly suggested I get a second streamer (Bluesound Node) for my wife . I assume most of you just use Qobuz or TIdal, (I have Qobuz).
I also now assume most of you do not use your Airlens to access Radio stations
I just checked my Auralic LIghtning software and below is an example of an option it offers for a multitude of stations around the world. VTuner.com (see link below for example)
Surely there is someone who successfully uses the Airlens with something more than a High End service ?
Someone, give me hope, give me a reason to live, give me peace, or provide the name of another “high end” I2S streamer (within less than $2k budget) that has software which my wife can easily navigate and have little issues with… (last comment meant as humor)
I suspect we all do. I use Qobuz Connect, Spotify Connect, Roon, and Audirvana from the iPhone (of course, Roon and Audirvana computer apps must be running on computer on network). Others use Mconnect or Jriver.
