No UA-cam Music, no bueno. For anyone that cares.... I built my own whole home audio system. A rack of 200w Monoprice 2 channel amps, and Chromecast pucks with HDMI audio extractors. I can cast UA-cam Music app to my "TV" of choice (CC puck with audio extractor), and the Monoprice amps have built in audio sensing to turn themselves on/off. Google home allows for speaker "groups" to play content in multiple zones. If you are happy with playing music via UA-cam music, the system works very well and is quite inexpensive.
I am a Director of IT by day and an Audiophile by night. I run all Unifi (10G) at home, so it is fascinating to me that they would get into audio. Are you into audio as well? I look forward to seeing an audio channel review of this.
I would like to see if I can bring in an audio expert and discuss this with them, we are a networking company and have some knowledge of Audio but we are not experts.
@@m4nc1n1 I doubt that it will ever satisfy Audiophiles. The product will target cafes, restaurants, company lobbies and maybe a meeting room (HDMi eARC from Presenting TV) and other presenting screens (combined with the casting device?) and the expectations of audio clearances are not that high in comparison
Thanks for watching! I think I’ll come back to the PowerAmp in a little while when it’s had a couple of updates and hopefully Ubiquiti answered some of the concerns people have over the limitation on streaming options etc.
As typical for Ubiquiti things come out early and without a lot of functionality at first. The real gamble is the question of is this product going to see continued effort from Ubiquiti or will it quietly die off (Like the ubiquiti lighting products, The unifi Security Gateway XG, mFi power outlets, etc) They have a fairly good track record of most of their products getting support and improving over time, but its certainly somethign to know up front. If the connectivity doesnt meet your needs now, wait.
Yep I think this is exactly right. I have a feeling they will improve the product and hopefully demand is sufficient that it will not quietly die. Thanks for watching 🙏
Hi Huw, great video - you did a network install a few years ago for my parents, which is still flawless. Just came access your channel with this video. I will be sure to subscribe!
Probably more a function of the power requirements of your specific speakers, just like the Sonos Amp. It’s only going to be two channels with an option for a sub, but you could have 2x left and 2x right speakers or more if they are low impedance or you don’t mind the volume being lower.
The main advantage of this is that it supports Dolby Atmos. In the target market, that is unique. Sonos and Wiim don't support that on their amp products. With the right speakers, it could provide a great alterative to a soundbar from Sonos.
I wish they had a setup for intercom system. I work in education and I'd love to replace our existing dinosaur intercom system with one powered by Unify
I'd be very interested in another year or two of this being out. But at the moment it feels like I have better connectivity and functionality just using HEOS on my denon receiver
I think it's as good start, looks nice enough, but lacks in features as others have commented. In this price range it would also be nice to see some bass management for the sub out, a high pass filter at least.
Missing Roon. An advanced EQ or basic room correction should be possible in 2024 in this price range. I also hope its open enough to be integrated with smart homes, and possiblity to send text to sound to the speakers. 😊 And what about multi-channel? But it is a start for sure.
How does management of the AMP work after initial install? Can I control what users have access to it? What if someone steps onto the network with the app, can they hijack the amp or is it locked to authorized users after install?
I am considering picking up a play amp for myself Would love it to have some sort of integration into the unifi console for auto play or media sorted on an nvr or something, or some sort of automation from it Can you test the RCA/hdmi input lag? Might use it as my main amp for my small setup, also, does UA-cam music see it as a device it can stream to?
Does it provide the option of mono summing the output via software? Even the Wiim devices support it. Given UBNT is pushing this as a professional device and expect it to be deployed in large scale they have to support mono summing for use with traditional 70/100v systems via a conversion transformer.
Useless without being able to stream locally (NAS) stored FLAC and other formats. Might come if the rumoured Unifi NAS appears? Edit: Hope they come out with a non amplified version to compete with the Sonos Port.
I believe the Unifi amp isn't going for or specific to a home hi-fi setup but something like an office/business setting where customers, patients, etc. typically hear music. If it were strictly for home hi-fi, it's simply too expensive for what it does or doesn't do in that particular setting. There are cheaper, more powerful, and smaller amps for that. I can see Ubiquiti adding the "app" into the Unifi ecosystem (UDM) at some point since it has ethernet so you'll just adopt it into the network like any other Unifi equipment.
I think it will improve with updates and it will be used in homes because it’s good quality and because people like Unifi but only time will tell. I agree it may also be used in commercial settings.
Hello. Do you know if this amp will support Tidal Connect? Or just Spotify? It look nice, but I think if some features will not be available, the Wiim Amp Pro will beat it in almost every situation. Thanks!
As someone who is pretty heavily investing in both Unifi and Sonos I have never thought .... if only Unifi did audio equipment. Unelss Unifi is going to also go down the road of wireless speakers, its home audio offering will be pretty niche as a whole house audio solution in a home setting.
I agree I had not thought it was something we would see. However as an installation company I can tell you it is pretty common for homes to have speakers and ceiling speakers wired to a central point with amps. In this market I think it could do well. Primarily I think it will be the Unifi brand which will sway people to choose it.
As Sonos has really screwed their customers recently with the "upgrade" of the S2 app (which we all know is buggy alpha release $hit), I think this could work out for UniFi. If over time they add support for the various Dolby formats, DTS, etc, this could be good. I do think this needs some sort of remote control other than just an app. For this to pair with a TV, I am not wanting to get up and change the volume at the device, or to fire up the app in addition to using my TV remote. It really needs an IR receiver, and the ability to respond to IR.
Hi, I know nothing about audio, so please dont flame me if this question is stupid. I have a Ubiquiti setup in a small 12 bedroom guesthouse. This could be something they would be interested in for music in the reception and dining room. Can you connect more than one pair of speakers to this amp?
Yes you can, but you need to know the power requirements for those speakers. It’s probably best to speak to an audio supplier and tell them the amps pose and the number of speakers you would like and they can tell you which models would be suitable.
Thanks for the video. Question.. at home I have a 5 ceiling speaker setup in the living room and a single all in one type ceiling speaker upstairs (basically two zones). Would it be possible to connect all of these to 1 PowerAmp?
This is your answer! You’ll have to know the power requirements of this speakers. Although an ‘all in one speaker’ sounds like it might be an active speaker. This amp is for passive speakers.
The correct answer is "no"; please don't seek audio advice from network techs (probably better than having an electrician install it for you though). Never run an odd number of speakers in a traditional stereo setup; even if somehow within the excepted ohm rating, it is not good for the longevity of the equipment. The only way to make more than 4 speakers work on this would be to run them though a transformer (or series of transformers) to correct the impedance; which is something that all of these small amp manufactures (Sonos. Heos, WiiM, Yamaha, Bluesound, Etc) state not to do at risk of damaging the amplifier. Your 5 speakers in the living room are most likely arranged and intended for sound sound through an AVR (Audio/Video Receiver). The front and rear pairs could be run as stereo pairs (just ignoring the center speaker); just make sure the the rear pair are not true surround speakers di-pole or bi-pole designs with dual tweeters / mid drivers. The "single all in one speaker" upstairs is likely a Single Point Stereo speaker; a dual voice coil design that accepts the left and right wires into a single speaker to allow stereo sound for a small space (or a space that doesn't require much volume). That speaker should be pulled from the ceiling first to verify what it is and how it is wired up before hooking is to any equipment though; if you didn't install it, don't assume the last guy knew what they were doing. Other than the novelty of having a Ubiquiti branded amp that will (or at some point will) show up on your dashboard, there are far better options for your money like the Yamaha RX-V6A (or others by Denon, Onkyo, Etc) would allow you to use all 5 of your living room speakers with surround sound, and have another pair of speaker outputs that would act as a Zone-2 to potentially run the upstairs speaker with independent source selection and volume; controllable via the Yamaha MusicCast app. best of luck!
This is a different product line than Sonos from what I can gather. I doubt they are even aiming to compete with Sonos with this device. No doubt Ubiquiti will keep it updated, so you will get the benefit of the free updates from UI, but there are definitely better and less expensive options for streaming media. including rack mount options. For me, this is UI spreading into an area that is not fully in their expertise and well outside the core market. Focus on making the networking and protect gear the best it can be and leave the amplifiers and streaming media to others that do it better and more economically would be my suggestion.
I understand the caution but their firmware issues are far better than they used to be. Sonos on the other hand have had a lot of issues with their app recently.
Can they all replicate one source if one device is connected to HDMI eARC and all others in that group recive signal via IP from the master connected to HDMI Source?
Not a good idea to drive more speakers than a pair. The internal impedance in the amp will 1/2 when using 4 speakers compared to 2. If you want to use 4 speakers make sure that the minimum impedance is above 4,5ohms.
I don't understand this product one bit. Very pricey for the most basic functionality. Similar products would at least include modest DSP functionality and more than just two outputs.
Great review, but very expensive for their entry into audio streaming. I have Ubiquiti throughout my house and it's bulletproof so I'm sure the amp will be too. Yes, Sonos has had issues lately but there other options. I have several zones of Bluesound streamers (parent company is NAD, and has been around for a very long time). True audiophile quality, plays from many different streaming services in addition to Airplay 2, FLAC, MP3, a user friendly app, and Roon compatible. Really well priced too.
Blue stream is definitely the audiophiles choice. We’ve used them before a great product. I think we’re in the early stages with Ubiquiti but if they stick at it they’ll nail it eventually. Thanks for watching 🙏
This amp is garbage for the price, use Bluesound Powernode, Denon Home. Sonos is garbage as well. .. I'm an audio file custom integrator I tried this amp once it was horrible I had to return it and went back to my blue sound. The rest of the network is running ubiquities so I thought I'd give this amp a try the sound quality is garbage.
Absolute Garbage- No Play lists. No subwoofer setting...ARC is a joke, does not auto switch when going back to TV... Over prices from US amp in USA market
No UA-cam Music, no bueno. For anyone that cares.... I built my own whole home audio system. A rack of 200w Monoprice 2 channel amps, and Chromecast pucks with HDMI audio extractors. I can cast UA-cam Music app to my "TV" of choice (CC puck with audio extractor), and the Monoprice amps have built in audio sensing to turn themselves on/off. Google home allows for speaker "groups" to play content in multiple zones. If you are happy with playing music via UA-cam music, the system works very well and is quite inexpensive.
I hope they have a good dev team for this. Its a good start. But it needs al lot more integrations and features.
I’m sure it will come in time. Unifi are good at adding features.
I am a Director of IT by day and an Audiophile by night. I run all Unifi (10G) at home, so it is fascinating to me that they would get into audio. Are you into audio as well?
I look forward to seeing an audio channel review of this.
I would like to see if I can bring in an audio expert and discuss this with them, we are a networking company and have some knowledge of Audio but we are not experts.
@@m4nc1n1 I doubt that it will ever satisfy Audiophiles. The product will target cafes, restaurants, company lobbies and maybe a meeting room (HDMi eARC from Presenting TV) and other presenting screens (combined with the casting device?) and the expectations of audio clearances are not that high in comparison
I am an IT Manager for a Audio company, any suggestions for audio channels for pros?
If they can add Plex support and expand the range to all-in-one speaker/amps I'd be interested
Thanks for this! Looks really cool. I hope you will pair it with some premium speakers. Looking forward to a longer term review. 👍🏼😎
Thanks for watching! I think I’ll come back to the PowerAmp in a little while when it’s had a couple of updates and hopefully Ubiquiti answered some of the concerns people have over the limitation on streaming options etc.
No Chromecast, DLNA, web radio support. Any assistant integration? A quite expensive for basic functionality.
As typical for Ubiquiti things come out early and without a lot of functionality at first. The real gamble is the question of is this product going to see continued effort from Ubiquiti or will it quietly die off (Like the ubiquiti lighting products, The unifi Security Gateway XG, mFi power outlets, etc) They have a fairly good track record of most of their products getting support and improving over time, but its certainly somethign to know up front. If the connectivity doesnt meet your needs now, wait.
Yep I think this is exactly right. I have a feeling they will improve the product and hopefully demand is sufficient that it will not quietly die. Thanks for watching 🙏
No its not, the closes hardware to it is Sonos.
@@marcesw35 There's also the Denon Home Amp.
@@marcesw35 This is way off being Sonos in its current form.
I almost sense unifi moving into extron’s space fitting out conference rooms all over!
For commercial use my hope is they'll come out with a 70v version.
My Denon amp was purchased in the late 90's. What's the life expectancy of this gadget?
Also, what is that picture at 6:01
I'm pretty happy with my Wiim Pro. Much cheaper but they're continually improving them with firmware updates.
Thanks for sharing. I’ve heard good things about Wiim.
Hi Huw, great video - you did a network install a few years ago for my parents, which is still flawless. Just came access your channel with this video. I will be sure to subscribe!
Hi Ben, that’s great to hear it’s still working well! Thanks for the sub and for watching 🙏
Thanks the review
I would like to know if I plan to use it at home with a ceiling speaker, how many speakers can support
Probably more a function of the power requirements of your specific speakers, just like the Sonos Amp. It’s only going to be two channels with an option for a sub, but you could have 2x left and 2x right speakers or more if they are low impedance or you don’t mind the volume being lower.
The main advantage of this is that it supports Dolby Atmos. In the target market, that is unique. Sonos and Wiim don't support that on their amp products. With the right speakers, it could provide a great alterative to a soundbar from Sonos.
That's a good point. I think we will see more from this device with updates in the future. Thanks for watching.
I wish they had a setup for intercom system. I work in education and I'd love to replace our existing dinosaur intercom system with one powered by Unify
Much more expensive that the Wiim Amp with much less features. I don’t see any reason why I should opt for this over the Wiim Amp.
I'd be very interested in another year or two of this being out. But at the moment it feels like I have better connectivity and functionality just using HEOS on my denon receiver
Can’t argue with Denon they are great. I think functionality on the Ubiquiti will come in time as you say. Thanks for watching 🙏
I think it's as good start, looks nice enough, but lacks in features as others have commented. In this price range it would also be nice to see some bass management for the sub out, a high pass filter at least.
Would love to see this integrated with the UniFi Doorbell range so that chimes can be heard throughout the building…..
Nice idea. Seems like a simple feature for Unifi to add.
Missing Roon. An advanced EQ or basic room correction should be possible in 2024 in this price range. I also hope its open enough to be integrated with smart homes, and possiblity to send text to sound to the speakers. 😊 And what about multi-channel?
But it is a start for sure.
Yep I think we will see more features added in the future. I’d like to see some configuration via a console for these more advanced bits.
Will this link to Spotify and play?
How does management of the AMP work after initial install? Can I control what users have access to it? What if someone steps onto the network with the app, can they hijack the amp or is it locked to authorized users after install?
I am considering picking up a play amp for myself
Would love it to have some sort of integration into the unifi console for auto play or media sorted on an nvr or something, or some sort of automation from it
Can you test the RCA/hdmi input lag? Might use it as my main amp for my small setup, also, does UA-cam music see it as a device it can stream to?
Does it provide the option of mono summing the output via software? Even the Wiim devices support it. Given UBNT is pushing this as a professional device and expect it to be deployed in large scale they have to support mono summing for use with traditional 70/100v systems via a conversion transformer.
So you can only play Spotify, no music in mp3 or Flac from a NAS?
At the moment you can’t but I would imagine this will change with updates.
Useless without being able to stream locally (NAS) stored FLAC and other formats.
Might come if the rumoured Unifi NAS appears?
Edit: Hope they come out with a non amplified version to compete with the Sonos Port.
I believe the Unifi amp isn't going for or specific to a home hi-fi setup but something like an office/business setting where customers, patients, etc. typically hear music. If it were strictly for home hi-fi, it's simply too expensive for what it does or doesn't do in that particular setting. There are cheaper, more powerful, and smaller amps for that. I can see Ubiquiti adding the "app" into the Unifi ecosystem (UDM) at some point since it has ethernet so you'll just adopt it into the network like any other Unifi equipment.
I think it will improve with updates and it will be used in homes because it’s good quality and because people like Unifi but only time will tell. I agree it may also be used in commercial settings.
Does it have auto sensing on the RCA-ports so that it turns on and/or switches to that source when it detects something playing?
how is the CEC functionality on this? Many have ARC ports but do not implement CEC reliably
I'm using it for my living room right now ony tv and it's working great
Nice 👌 thanks for watching!
Is there a delay between starting a program and audio coming through? I've read it can take 5-15 secs for audio to come through...
Hello. Do you know if this amp will support Tidal Connect? Or just Spotify? It look nice, but I think if some features will not be available, the Wiim Amp Pro will beat it in almost every situation. Thanks!
Yeah WiiM are great. I expect to see more from this in the future. It has apple AirPlay so I think you can use tidal that way.
As someone who is pretty heavily investing in both Unifi and Sonos I have never thought .... if only Unifi did audio equipment. Unelss Unifi is going to also go down the road of wireless speakers, its home audio offering will be pretty niche as a whole house audio solution in a home setting.
I agree I had not thought it was something we would see. However as an installation company I can tell you it is pretty common for homes to have speakers and ceiling speakers wired to a central point with amps. In this market I think it could do well. Primarily I think it will be the Unifi brand which will sway people to choose it.
As Sonos has really screwed their customers recently with the "upgrade" of the S2 app (which we all know is buggy alpha release $hit), I think this could work out for UniFi. If over time they add support for the various Dolby formats, DTS, etc, this could be good. I do think this needs some sort of remote control other than just an app. For this to pair with a TV, I am not wanting to get up and change the volume at the device, or to fire up the app in addition to using my TV remote. It really needs an IR receiver, and the ability to respond to IR.
I hope for dante and ndi so i can integrate to real instalations
They have missed a trick. The volume knob should be detachable. With wall mounts accessories.
Are there any vents or fans on the unit - How would this do in a dusty warehouse for industrial applications?
No vents or fans. I imagine it would do well. Thanks for watching 🙏
Hi, I know nothing about audio, so please dont flame me if this question is stupid. I have a Ubiquiti setup in a small 12 bedroom guesthouse. This could be something they would be interested in for music in the reception and dining room. Can you connect more than one pair of speakers to this amp?
Yes you can, but you need to know the power requirements for those speakers. It’s probably best to speak to an audio supplier and tell them the amps pose and the number of speakers you would like and they can tell you which models would be suitable.
Thanks for the video. Question.. at home I have a 5 ceiling speaker setup in the living room and a single all in one type ceiling speaker upstairs (basically two zones). Would it be possible to connect all of these to 1 PowerAmp?
As long as its under the total:
130W per channel at 8 ohms
260W per channel at 4 ohms
This is your answer! You’ll have to know the power requirements of this speakers. Although an ‘all in one speaker’ sounds like it might be an active speaker. This amp is for passive speakers.
The correct answer is "no"; please don't seek audio advice from network techs (probably better than having an electrician install it for you though). Never run an odd number of speakers in a traditional stereo setup; even if somehow within the excepted ohm rating, it is not good for the longevity of the equipment. The only way to make more than 4 speakers work on this would be to run them though a transformer (or series of transformers) to correct the impedance; which is something that all of these small amp manufactures (Sonos. Heos, WiiM, Yamaha, Bluesound, Etc) state not to do at risk of damaging the amplifier. Your 5 speakers in the living room are most likely arranged and intended for sound sound through an AVR (Audio/Video Receiver). The front and rear pairs could be run as stereo pairs (just ignoring the center speaker); just make sure the the rear pair are not true surround speakers di-pole or bi-pole designs with dual tweeters / mid drivers. The "single all in one speaker" upstairs is likely a Single Point Stereo speaker; a dual voice coil design that accepts the left and right wires into a single speaker to allow stereo sound for a small space (or a space that doesn't require much volume). That speaker should be pulled from the ceiling first to verify what it is and how it is wired up before hooking is to any equipment though; if you didn't install it, don't assume the last guy knew what they were doing. Other than the novelty of having a Ubiquiti branded amp that will (or at some point will) show up on your dashboard, there are far better options for your money like the Yamaha RX-V6A (or others by Denon, Onkyo, Etc) would allow you to use all 5 of your living room speakers with surround sound, and have another pair of speaker outputs that would act as a Zone-2 to potentially run the upstairs speaker with independent source selection and volume; controllable via the Yamaha MusicCast app. best of luck!
sonos amp can not drive kef r3 because they go as low as 2 ohms so i doubt this can do it, atm i use a minidssp flex here,
why would you call it "UA-cam"? confuses the setup
Because he’s on UA-cam demonstrating
This is the reason 😊 Thanks for watching!
Is rhere support for dolby surround?
Not at this time from what I can see.
This is a different product line than Sonos from what I can gather. I doubt they are even aiming to compete with Sonos with this device.
No doubt Ubiquiti will keep it updated, so you will get the benefit of the free updates from UI, but there are definitely better and less expensive options for streaming media. including rack mount options.
For me, this is UI spreading into an area that is not fully in their expertise and well outside the core market. Focus on making the networking and protect gear the best it can be and leave the amplifiers and streaming media to others that do it better and more economically would be my suggestion.
Can you connect this to PC for audio out?
Yes you could. You could use a 3.5mm to RCA cable to connect the amp to the headphone jack of the PC. Thanks for watching 🙏
Knowing Ubiquitis problems with firmware I wouldn't touch this with a 100 foot barge pole. Think I would use Sonos still.
I understand the caution but their firmware issues are far better than they used to be. Sonos on the other hand have had a lot of issues with their app recently.
Can they all replicate one source if one device is connected to HDMI eARC and all others in that group recive signal via IP from the master connected to HDMI Source?
I don’t know tbh. Possibly but I only have one at the moment so I can’t test that.
My guess is Ubiquiti white labeled this from Sonos
not clear to me how it works with a surround setup (more than 2 channel!)
Not a good idea to drive more speakers than a pair. The internal impedance in the amp will 1/2 when using 4 speakers compared to 2. If you want to use 4 speakers make sure that the minimum impedance is above 4,5ohms.
This is a commercial/enterprise product.
so this was basically an unboxing
And setup!
pretty small channel so nothing unusual, basically what I would do in a first look
Too bad they're not going into home theaters....
They seem to be getting into everything. I predict an alarm system at some point. Thanks for watching.
I don't understand this product one bit. Very pricey for the most basic functionality. Similar products would at least include modest DSP functionality and more than just two outputs.
Great review, but very expensive for their entry into audio streaming. I have Ubiquiti throughout my house and it's bulletproof so I'm sure the amp will be too. Yes, Sonos has had issues lately but there other options. I have several zones of Bluesound streamers (parent company is NAD, and has been around for a very long time). True audiophile quality, plays from many different streaming services in addition to Airplay 2, FLAC, MP3, a user friendly app, and Roon compatible. Really well priced too.
Blue stream is definitely the audiophiles choice. We’ve used them before a great product. I think we’re in the early stages with Ubiquiti but if they stick at it they’ll nail it eventually. Thanks for watching 🙏
only 2 channels so you can do one room in stereo or two channels in mono ... yikes.
Sonos killer - again. Sonos has been killed many times 😂
This amp is garbage for the price, use Bluesound Powernode, Denon Home. Sonos is garbage as well. .. I'm an audio file custom integrator I tried this amp once it was horrible I had to return it and went back to my blue sound. The rest of the network is running ubiquities so I thought I'd give this amp a try the sound quality is garbage.
Absolute Garbage- No Play lists. No subwoofer setting...ARC is a joke, does not auto switch when going back to TV... Over prices from US amp in USA market
What other music services does it have?
UA-cam music, Amazon music, Tidal, pandora etc?
It has apple airplay so you can use any of those services via that.