October 27, 2020
WiSA is a name that few consumers will have heard of but it’s the closest the home cinema market has to an open technical standard for transmitting wireless audio. The Wireless Speaker and Audio Association brings a consortium of consumer electronics brands together to promote interoperability between wireless speakers from a range of leading brands.
WiSA Certified speakers from different brands can be used together to create a network of wireless speakers that can enhance movies, video, music, sports, gaming and more. WiSA delivers robust and high-definition audio across multiple channels, plus it has a latency that’s low enough to not create any problems with lip-sync.
Using WiSA-Certified wireless speakers, consumers can eliminate the complicated set-up of traditional home cinema and audio systems and all the trail of wires spoiling the look of a living room. It completely does away with the need for wires.
Founded by Summit Wireless Technologies, WiSA (NASDAQ: WISA) recently announced its first hardware product for hassle-free home cinema without the wires. The new SoundSend audio transmitter connects to a smart TV via an HDMI or TOS-Link cable to make wireless multichannel audio accessible in minutes.
The SoundSend works with any smart TV via an ARC/eARC connection and transmits high-resolution audio to WiSA-Certified speakers from global brands like Klipsch, Savant, Dynaudio, Enclave Audio and more.
In two simple steps (without the need for WiFi) SoundSend will connect to any WiSA-Certified speakers. All the user needs to do is plug the speakers into a power supply, turn them on and then connect the HDMI transmitter to a smart TV. SoundSend then automatically finds and connects to any WiSA-Certified speakers within range.
With SoundSend, a TV’s remote can be used to control the volume level or mute the sound, while the SoundSend smartphone app has tuning features that can customize and tweak the setup of the speakers to suit personal preferences. SoundSend can transmit high-quality 24-bit/96kHz audio to a maximum of eight channels and will even decode Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital+ and Dolby Atmos audio.
My Zone is one of SoundSend’s features that can be used to calibrate a home cinema system by adjusting the sound from each speaker to suit the room’s acoustics and create a sweet spot where the best possible sound can be experienced.
SoundSend certainly sounds like it could open up the wireless home cinema sound market using almost any smart TV and WiSA-Certified wireless speakers.
Pricing and availability: The WiSA SoundSend will be available from November 2020 and will be priced at $179 / £139.99 / €149.99.
More info: www.wisatechnologies.com
I’ve been a tech journalist for more than 35 years and I’ve written for both Mac and PC computing titles as well as spending many years writing about audio, imaging and digital cameras for a raft of tech publications. I enjoy all aspects of technology, especially using gadgets that make life more enjoyable, creative and productive. A large part of my time is spent hunting down and testing some of the best and most innovative technology on the market today.
