Lately we have seen more and more audio systems, receivers and speakers that have DTS Play-Fi, but what exactly is this and what can you do with it? We explain it in this article.
What is DTS Play-Fi?
We already know a lot of different standards for streaming music from all your devices and around the house, but most of them are proprietary. This means that you can effortlessly stream from all your devices to, for example, all Denon Heos devices and speakers, or to all Sonos speakers. There is not yet one real standard that is supported by several brands, but DTS does a throw with DTS Play-Fi.
DTS Play-Fi is a standard that allows you to wirelessly stream audio from all your mobile and fixed devices to all audio systems and speakers that support the standard. For example, you can stream your own music or music from various streaming services to speakers, receivers and other compatible audio products from your computer, from your tablet and from your smartphone.
Features DTS Play-Fi
DTS Play-Fi stands out from the competition with a number of additional features and capabilities. For example, Play-fi is not tied to one brand. For example, you can use a speaker with Play-Fi from brand A together with a receiver with Play-Fi from brand B. Everything can also be used in a multiroom setup, where you can stream to one speaker or multiple speakers at the same time.
The standard offers support for high resolution audio (24-bit / 192kHz) and makes it possible to configure left and right speakers in a stereo setup. If you have a product that supports Play-Fi surround (a soundbar for example) you can place two small and wireless Play-Fi speakers in the back of the room for a complete surround experience. After watching the movie, these speakers can also easily be disconnected and used as separate (multiroom) speakers.
Play-Fi apps
DTS uses Play-Fi widely and that means that the standard / service can be used on all your devices. There is an app for Android, iOS, Kindle Fire and Windows. In addition to using the app, streaming via AirPlay, Spotify Connect and DLNA is supported.
The Play-Fi app provides access to all popular music streaming services including Spotify, Pandora, Tidal, Deezer, Napster as well as internet radio stations. Music stored on your computer or mobile device can also be streamed directly to compatible speakers or audio systems. Streaming through the app is very easy; you select the speakers, zones or audio systems that are linked and you play the selected music immediately.
Products with DTS Play-Fi
Another element that DTS Play-Fi wants to distinguish itself with is its wide implementation. It is not tied to one specific manufacturer. Various products from Acer, Arcam, Rotel, HP, Onkyo, Pioneer, Polk, Integra, Paradigm and Klipsch, among others, currently support the standard. It is expected that we will be able to add even more major brands to this list in the short term.
What else you need to know
Currently, DTS Play-Fi supports up to 16 compatible products in a home network, although that is an advice for optimal performance. In principle, you can link 16 speakers, which will be more than enough for many. You can control a maximum of 8 products of these 16 products at the same time and thus listen to the same song on all products. But, you can also create zones and stereo sets (merge two speakers) and then stream to up to four zones from one device. Each zone can consist of a maximum of 8 speakers, so the possibilities are actually endless. You can also use Play-Fi with several people; up to 8 different people can stream different songs simultaneously from different speakers.
Play-Fi supports the following file formats; mp3 (MPEG Layer III), m4a and .aac (Advanced Audio Coding), flac (Free Lossless Audio Codec) and wav (Waveform Audio File). In all cases, quality up to 24-bit / 192kHz is supported.
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