Yamaha MusicCast - Music Everywhere Quite Literally!

We have had Yamaha MusicCast compatible products in the shop for a while and have found that the capability and options offered from the range of the products is about as comprehensive as you could imagine.

We started off with the Yamaha AV receivers that were MusicCast enabled but were controlling them on their own via the Yamaha AV Controller App (which is a lot easier to use than the handset especially when the room is dimly lit) but were not utilising the MusicCast function.

We have been selling a lot of Sonos products as you would expect but have found a lot of limitations with them as regards flexibility of playback methods and line up of products on offer.

While the Sonos is very simple to use and set up, we were getting asked about bluetooth and wireless speakers a lot more so really looked more into MusicCast and decided to get a few products in for demonstration.

Firstly we set up the Yamaha CXA5100 processor in the AV room, if your TV or projector is powered up (which is not necessary) you get great on screen menus

The next product we added to the system was the Yamaha WX030, a small speaker that would be prefect for kitchens, bedrooms etc. Once again it was dead easy to add to the room to the MusicCast app where you give the room whatever name you like and attach a picture so it's easy to identify when the app is on the home page.

Once playing, the app will show a very simple screen to show what room you are in, music playing and volume with easy access to other functions e.g. drop down menu for access to music server list or radio stations. For such a small speaker it packs a serious punch! 

The next product in the range we added is the Yamaha ISX-80. This is quite a different type of speaker system that will certainly be able to placed in a lot more locations due to the fact that it can be wall or shelf mounted and is very slim and stylish.

I would suggest this would be perfect for a bedroom considering its flexible placement and styling, but more so because of its clock display and alarm functions. Again quite a punch from a small speaker so if you do use it as an alarm then make sure it's not too loud!

The fourth product we added is the Yamaha WXA-50, and perhaps a product that could have the most permutations of usage. A very compact unit with a hefty 70W amplifier on board that is capable of running some very good loudspeakers (we have had great results from the likes of Q Acoustics all the way up to higher end Dynaudio speakers!). 

With digital, USB and auxiliary inputs you could quite easily see it in a bedroom with a TV, Blu-ray player or laptop connected to it making it a hub for one room. Another option for it is as part of a much larger multi-room set up. Many new builds that we install systems in will have one plant room with the electronics located in there with cabling routed to the relevant rooms, the WXA-50 can be rack mounted and be used on web-setup as it expands into a larger multi-room with more rooms.

You would think that this would be enough of a line-up to fill a house, but Yamaha have make almost every product they make MusicCast compatible. The line up is enormous...

4 x desktop speakers, 2 x compact wireless streaming amplifiers, 4 x soundbars and one sound base, 14 x home cinema amplifiers, 2 stereo amplifiers and 2 x cd players and 6 compact hifi systems.

And if that is not enough, the one big thing that sets MusicCast apart is the option of portable bluetooth device so you can use a portable bluetooth speaker out in the garden or bluetooth headphones anywhere!

As you can see, for a multi-room system that will suit the whole families needs, MusicCast is a product that should be seriously considered. All of the products shown above are permanently ready for demonstration in store so please call in and see what it can do.