#STUDIO SYNC MUSIC SHELF FULL#

For instance, you could ask the speaker for driving directions while making coffee in the morning, then have it send your chosen route to your car. The Mini can also control Apple HomeKit smart home products. It allows voice control of other music services, including Pandora and iHeart Radio, and can even integrate with Apple CarPlay in your vehicle.

#STUDIO SYNC MUSIC SHELF FULL#

The HomePod Mini works best if you’re deeply immersed in Apple’s ecosystem because it offers easy integration with the Apple Music streaming service, including full voice control and multiroom capability. That means the Mini is okay for podcasts or background music in a small room but hardly great for playing your favorite tunes. The audio for the $99 model is congested in a way that’s similar to the $50 Amazon Echo Dot and Google Nest Mini, albeit with a fuller bass. The HomePod Mini is Apple’s one remaining smart speaker, and unfortunately, it doesn’t sound nearly as good as the original HomePod, according to our testers. Our trained testers put each model through a battery of lab tests for ease of use, versatility, and especially sound quality, which gets extra weight in our ratings. Like everything we rate, from printers to pickup trucks, CR buys speakers anonymously through regular retail channels. The following are some of the top multiroom speakers in CR’s ratings. If your goals are more modest-streaming the 99% Invisible podcast quietly in the kitchen while the kids crank “Encanto” in the family room, all controlled by your smartphone-that’s also an option. If your aim is to execute an epic Rickroll and play “ Never Gonna Give You Up” perfectly synced through 16 speakers on four different levels of your house, go right ahead. Our top-rated multiroom speakers offer not only solid sound but also impressive flexibility. And if you own a smart speaker from one of the major brands- Amazon Echo, Google Nest, or Apple HomePod-you can add other speakers to form a multiroom system that can deliver voice-controlled music throughout your home. Sonos has led the way when it comes to multiroom systems, but other companies have joined in, giving music lovers a variety of choices for modestly priced wireless speakers. Even better, you can set it up yourself in a manner of minutes, right from your smartphone. You can buy a wireless multiroom speaker system with great performance and unprecedented flexibility for surprisingly little money.

Today, it’s much easier-and much less of a shock to your budget. You then had to hire a technician to snake wires through the walls, make the connections, and adjust the settings to get all the components playing together nicely. Purchasing thousands of dollars worth of speakers, amps, keypads, and switching devices was just the beginning. It wasn’t that long ago that a multiroom audio system could break the bank.

Studio sync music shelf