Onkyo Music Streaming with UBT-1 Bluetooth USB Adapter

Onkyo receivers were already ridiculously over-featured - if that's possible. The company has now upped their game once again, however, adding a new USB Bluetooth adapter. Why? Well, with the growing popularity of music streaming and ever-increasingly tech-savvy consumers, Onkyo wanted to expand what it could do. But it didn't just add Bluetooth connectivity to its receivers, it added the additional functionality of streaming capabilities to its iPod Touch/iPhone and Android/Kindle remote apps. Now, the USB Bluetooth dongle serves as a hardware gateway for a whole new way to get music to your A/V receiver and control it remotely from your phone or tablet. Which A/V receivers are compatible with the new dongle? All 2012 models.

The upgraded Onkyo Remote 2 App for iPod and iPhone allows users to stream music stored on their iPod Touch or iPhone directly to Onkyo's 2012 model networked receivers through their wireless home network. Streaming through this app is done at CD Quality, 44.1/16bit rates and supports Track name, Album name, Artist name, Album Art and Time Data. The improved Onkyo Remote App for Android now even supports streaming music directly from the Kindle Fire. In addition, these new apps were also improved to manage remote zone functions and support music playback in these zones.

The $59 Onkyo UBT-1 adapter, which supports the AAC file format, is configured with CSR's aptX compression reduction codec which is said to restore dynamic range to compressed audio files. It also provides a flat frequency response over a 10Hz to 22kHz bandwidth, with a dynamic range of 92 dB. The delay is kept to less than 2ms. It also uses the latest Bluetooth version 3.0 with improved audio bandwidth capability.

The Onkyo UBT-1, which is similar in size to a traditional USB flash drive, plugs into the front USB port of 2012 Onkyo Network receivers (models TX-NR414 and higher). Once the adapter finds a Bluetooth pairing with the wireless device, all the user has to do is hit 'play' on their music software. Control functions include Auto Power-On and Direct Input Change function on hybrid standby status.

The free improved Remote Control Apps will be available at the end of the month from the Apple App Store, Google Play and Amazon App Store for Android as well as via links at www.onkyousa.com.