PT-7030 mini-review #1: using the USB port with iDevices
Dec 5, 2013 18:17:44 GMT -5
Darksky likes this
Post by swampfire on Dec 5, 2013 18:17:44 GMT -5
First, a quick note: I plan to create many short reviews instead of cramming it all into one post. Each "mini-review" will be in-depth, but I'll keep it short enough that you won't drool on your keyboard. Let's get started!
Navigation and UI
In cases where music played, the PAUSE, PLAY, >>|, |<<, RND and STOP keys always worked. However there’s no other navigation, so you’ll need to use your iDevice to pick artist, album or playlists first. If you bring up another OSD (e.g. you press the 2CH or PCLM key), you’ll lose the artist/title info until the new OSD times out. But never fear, pressing PLAY will always bring it right back without changing what you’re listening to.
USB stick with Apple Lossless (ALAC)
I put a few songs and albums on a USB stick, frankly not expecting it to work. To my surprise, the files all played correctly and sounded excellent. The bottom of the display hinted at folder navigation, but nothing I pressed on the remote would show folders. No artist or title information was available either. But let's not bury the headline: the PT-7030 supports Apple Lossless! Here's what you'll see when playing from a USB stick:
iPhone 5s via wired USB
This gave me the best sound quality - hopefully native ALAC, per my previous test. This time, artist and title info were available:
iPhone 5s via Bluetooth
I tested the iPhone’s Music, Podcast and YouPlayer apps: all worked fine. Initial pairing was a breeze, but I had to re-pair the iPhone to “Rotel BlueTooth” manually each session, which was kind of a pain. The sound was good enough that I couldn’t distinguish it from the wired connection. However the screen in this case was useless. No matter what I pressed on the 7030 remote, I always saw exactly the screen below. However all the music navigation keys did work (pause, skip, etc).
iPod gen 5.5, 240GB
Disappointingly, this did not work at all. My iPod reported “accessory not supported”. It continued playing the song but I didn’t hear anything on the 7030.
Conclusions
The Bluetooth dongle is a great way to “throw” audio from an iDevice to the PT-7030. My son and I will use this a lot, since we like to sit on the sofa and watch goofy and low-fi videos on the iPad. I’m not really interested in this port for music, because I’ll use my Airport Express with SPDIF (I highly recommend this if you have a large iTunes collection).
It's pretty clear that coding stopped before this aspect of the PT-7030 software was done, but let's be honest. Bluetooth is a "freebie", and it's really just a convenience feature. If you planned to connect a 2TB drive full of music, you'll be disappointed. But fortunately there are other (better) ways to get your digital music into the PT-7030. I'm looking at the Oppo players, which now have CIFS support (cool if you have a NAS!).
A note about Bluetooth streaming with Apple Devices:
Apple uses A2DP with MPEG-2 AAC LC (44.1k, 264kbps AAC). My precious Apple Lossless is being compressed to 264kbps AAC, but that’s still pretty damned good. Apple has not adopted the Apt-X codec (which supports hi-res formats), probably because it competes with AirPlay and ALAC.
If you use Android, your device probably supports Apt-X, so you can enjoy streaming via BT with the best possible quality. But my iPhone is still better.
Navigation and UI
In cases where music played, the PAUSE, PLAY, >>|, |<<, RND and STOP keys always worked. However there’s no other navigation, so you’ll need to use your iDevice to pick artist, album or playlists first. If you bring up another OSD (e.g. you press the 2CH or PCLM key), you’ll lose the artist/title info until the new OSD times out. But never fear, pressing PLAY will always bring it right back without changing what you’re listening to.
USB stick with Apple Lossless (ALAC)
I put a few songs and albums on a USB stick, frankly not expecting it to work. To my surprise, the files all played correctly and sounded excellent. The bottom of the display hinted at folder navigation, but nothing I pressed on the remote would show folders. No artist or title information was available either. But let's not bury the headline: the PT-7030 supports Apple Lossless! Here's what you'll see when playing from a USB stick:
iPhone 5s via wired USB
This gave me the best sound quality - hopefully native ALAC, per my previous test. This time, artist and title info were available:
iPhone 5s via Bluetooth
I tested the iPhone’s Music, Podcast and YouPlayer apps: all worked fine. Initial pairing was a breeze, but I had to re-pair the iPhone to “Rotel BlueTooth” manually each session, which was kind of a pain. The sound was good enough that I couldn’t distinguish it from the wired connection. However the screen in this case was useless. No matter what I pressed on the 7030 remote, I always saw exactly the screen below. However all the music navigation keys did work (pause, skip, etc).
Disappointingly, this did not work at all. My iPod reported “accessory not supported”. It continued playing the song but I didn’t hear anything on the 7030.
Conclusions
The Bluetooth dongle is a great way to “throw” audio from an iDevice to the PT-7030. My son and I will use this a lot, since we like to sit on the sofa and watch goofy and low-fi videos on the iPad. I’m not really interested in this port for music, because I’ll use my Airport Express with SPDIF (I highly recommend this if you have a large iTunes collection).
It's pretty clear that coding stopped before this aspect of the PT-7030 software was done, but let's be honest. Bluetooth is a "freebie", and it's really just a convenience feature. If you planned to connect a 2TB drive full of music, you'll be disappointed. But fortunately there are other (better) ways to get your digital music into the PT-7030. I'm looking at the Oppo players, which now have CIFS support (cool if you have a NAS!).
A note about Bluetooth streaming with Apple Devices:
Apple uses A2DP with MPEG-2 AAC LC (44.1k, 264kbps AAC). My precious Apple Lossless is being compressed to 264kbps AAC, but that’s still pretty damned good. Apple has not adopted the Apt-X codec (which supports hi-res formats), probably because it competes with AirPlay and ALAC.
If you use Android, your device probably supports Apt-X, so you can enjoy streaming via BT with the best possible quality. But my iPhone is still better.
