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Posted By: MMM New wireless axiom air product - 02/03/17 08:44 PM
I guess that most here who have setup to get notifications has got the email for the new Axtiom Air box for your home stereo system.

It does look like and interesting idea but I have quite a few questions that will need to get answered before i splash out the $560 for it.



Why does it have a volume knob on the front? don't most receiver / pre-amp units have volume control on them? Mine even has a remote control so you can not only select the source but also control volume from the comfort of my chair.

Why would they put the ethernet network plug on the front? All that sort of cabling would make far more sense to have on the back of the unit.


Right now I have a DIY intel NUC that I am running windows 10 and have Fubar1000 running on. I use an optical output from the back of the unit to an optical in on my Anthem for music.

It is a bit of a bodge sometimes but it does do the job most nights. I sometimes wish I had a better dedicated box when things are not running as expected. Like when the NUC decides it wants to go to sleep or Windows decides it reboot itself to upgrade when I am listening to something.

Is this effectively the AxiomAir without speakers. So it's a box with a Rasberry Pi and their DAC with software. I'd like to know a bit more of the inner guts. I didn't end up getting the AxiomAir so I have no real knowledge on how the software works. All my music is sitting in FLAC on a Synology NAS. I take it the box will find it and work. What I get hung up on is how the user interface works. I want something that looks good and is easy to find then queue up music. playlists and the such. If it does that well then I would buy.
Posted By: AAAA Re: New wireless axiom air product - 02/03/17 11:50 PM
Prototype?
Posted By: Newf Re: New wireless axiom air product - 02/03/17 11:51 PM
I'm assuming the volume knob would be for the analog input. That is how it is on the AxiomAir. I too am surprised that once again, everything is on the front. But that is exactly what the Air looks like. That's the raspberry pi unit
Posted By: Newf Re: New wireless axiom air product - 02/03/17 11:51 PM
http://www.axiomaudio.com/wireless-compo...February_3_2017
Posted By: real80sman Re: New wireless axiom air product - 02/03/17 11:51 PM
I guess I was a little shocked at both the size and price considering that there is no built-in amp. In my dream world, I was imagining a much smaller box that could be hidden in a bedroom/den with an amp to drive a set of speakers. Basically a plug and play solution - ALL the guts from the Air without the speakers. No need for a separate amp. If this is truly worth $560, then the Air is a steal considering you are getting a set of M3 speakers AND a 75 w/ch amp. Just my 2 cents.
Posted By: Newf Re: New wireless axiom air product - 02/04/17 12:01 AM
The Air may use similar drivers to the M3's, (maybe the outdoor ones?) But never confuse the two sound wise. The M3's imho are among the best little bookshelves for the money you can get, even better on sale. The Air sounds good, but not as good as the M3's with a good amp. Considering it's portable, battery operated, can take a sub, yeah its great.

I think the new amps, zones and all, someone from Axiom needs to explain the whole point of it all to those not maybe used to this equipment. I've set up similar things for small bars and stuff, but Axiom should probably chime in and do the proper intro to this new stuff and not have an idiot like me try to.

...Oh and I could just say this....flush mounted screw heads.....just say'n



Posted By: real80sman Re: New wireless axiom air product - 02/04/17 12:23 AM
Thanks for the clarification Newf. I was under the assumption that the Air sounded close/identical to the M3's - at least within the constraints of no separation between L & R.

You are right - the M3's are spectacular. I have a set in my living room and absolutely love them. Hence, why I was looking for a small all-in-one solution to drive them. Currently, I'm using an Apple Airport Express feeding an integrated Luxman amp. It just takes up too much room.
Posted By: duckman Re: New wireless axiom air product - 02/04/17 04:05 AM
I wanna know what the min. purchase is to get the free pair of m3's. I've been looking for a small rackmount integrated and those zone amps look interesting. The inclusion (if legit) of m3's makes that a tough deal to pass up.
Posted By: EFalardeau Re: New wireless axiom air product - 02/04/17 12:12 PM
I can't wait to hear some justification for such a high price. I use Pi3+USB DACs with Kodi in many rooms in my house and it's less than 1/2 the price of this HUGE box.
If it were a multi-channel product, the price would be OK, but unless there is a big revelation, this is the first Axiom product for which I can't possibly find justification.
Very puzzling.
Posted By: Mojo Re: New wireless axiom air product - 02/04/17 02:36 PM
I don't understand how the RP1 is different than a $40 Chromecast Audio.
Posted By: Newf Re: New wireless axiom air product - 02/04/17 04:41 PM
Chrome cast doesn't come with free set of m3's

Posted By: MMM Re: New wireless axiom air product - 02/04/17 04:45 PM
This is where the question come in. It may just be a Raspberry Pi with a DAC but if the software that is running on it adds value then it would be worth the asking price.

The people who have the AxiomAir and use it all the time are the ones that need to chime in. Is the user interface and control worth the Value Added upcost over the parts that are inside.
Posted By: Ian Re: New wireless axiom air product - 02/04/17 06:07 PM
I made a new thread in What’s New about these products but I see there are questions here that I did not cover in that post.

The volume on the front is only active if you are using the Analog input on the front. You can control everything from anywhere using your phone, tablet, or computer.

Yes, it will find your NAS and display all your songs in the AxiomAir User Interface where you can create play lists and choose how you want to sort them.

The cost of the metal chassis is what makes it so expensive. We will likely bring out one of these in a smaller plastic chassis for less money in the future but that will not work as well in a stack of equipment. There are two versions available with the amplifier built in. The ZA-100 and ZA-1000.
Posted By: exlabdriver Re: New wireless axiom air product - 02/04/17 06:17 PM
I have an older firmware version that I haven't bothered to update as it works well as is. I'm always leery of 'updating', ha!

I keep it simple. I use my AA daily in my kitchen - mostly for WebRadio through my older Toshiba Vista Laptop; however, for music I have over 800 tracks on a USB that I ripped at highest resolution from my collection of CDs. Really easy to use this way.

Despite having a couple of M3s on board (I have a pair also), this unit really is not meant to replace a larger system in a big room. I mean who places 2 decent stereo speakers 6 inches apart? The AA works very well for what it was designed to do IMO.

I thought that it was worth the cost...

TAM
Posted By: MMM Re: New wireless axiom air product - 02/04/17 10:12 PM
Ian. I am sure this is in a preliminary stage. I am wondering however if it would be possible to get an idea of what the back of the unit looks like?

Other questions like is the power supply built in, or is it like a brick plug and a thin wire to a mini plug like this?



Again, it comes down to a cosmetic look.

And to anyone who has the AxiomAir .. would you be able to do some screen shots of the web interface in action. I have seen some of the first iterations of the software when it was pre-launch but have no idea what it looks like now. I don't know if there is a good users manual on how the interface works.

I know i'd be asking too much if someone here could do a video tutorial.. but I think Axiom would benefit if they did a you-tube like showing of here is how you use the software. Seeing is believing they say.

TAM. I have my whole music collection on a NAS drive, so I'd be more concerned how it handles a much larger library. Say closer to 1TB in size. It's how it indexes the tracks. I have everything in a directory structure that works for me. But when you start to deal with sorting from ID tagging inside files, things gets wonky. Like how does it index compilation CD's where you can have multiple artists. Does it leave them part of the album, or like iTunes try and split them up by artist leaving you to track down the songs to reset them back to the correct CD name/location?

I gather the box is just the box. It really doesn't matter to me if it sits on a shelf on my rack or is a small box with a raspberry pi inside and a digital output cable to the back of my Anthem. The user interface is everything to me.

Matt
Posted By: Newf Re: New wireless axiom air product - 02/04/17 11:55 PM
I'll do a proper screen grab later on, on my way out now. Literally the worse blurry video ever...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRDmxqJ9vGc&feature=youtu.be

...and of all the songs to be on the radio when I hit play.....ugh.

Posted By: exlabdriver Re: New wireless axiom air product - 02/05/17 12:11 AM
I've never gotten into play lists. I just play an album at a time; however, I have to get up & change albums through the software when one is done, kinda like flipping a record or changing out a CD in a single player.

Besides, I never know what I want to play next until I get over to the machine. What I select often depends on how much hooch that I have on board, ha!

TAM
Posted By: Gr8_White_North Re: New wireless axiom air product - 02/05/17 12:47 AM
You should be able to do all that with your smart phone i would think.
Posted By: exlabdriver Re: New wireless axiom air product - 02/05/17 01:44 AM
Smart phone? I don't have nor use one.

Guess that I'm a technical dinosaur, ha!

TAM
Posted By: AAAA Re: New wireless axiom air product - 02/05/17 02:01 AM
Yep. Chromecast and smartphone. 40$.
Posted By: exlabdriver Re: New wireless axiom air product - 02/05/17 03:19 AM
It has nothing to do with cost. I just don't want or need to be married to one like 99% of the population that is addicted to them.

When I'm at a restaurant table with friends, I refuse to look at 'cute' pics on a 'so called' smart phone of someone else's grand kids or dogs. It is a needless & unwelcome distraction - but that's just me...

TAM
Posted By: Gr8_White_North Re: New wireless axiom air product - 02/05/17 03:25 AM
I have one, that way my kids can borrow money so much easier. I had the kids truck at my work today, i fixed the truck and he had his nose buried in his phone the whole time. I said how can you learn mechanics if you doin that. There is no hope for the past 3 generations they just dumb. You can use a smartphone without a sim card or contract to do all kinds of things or you could use a tablet, i bought one but the kid took it LOL.
Posted By: Ian Re: New wireless axiom air product - 02/05/17 07:41 AM
Hi Matt,

The power supply is built into the RP1. It is a linear supply using a smaller toroidal transformer.

I have 22,000 full resolutions songs on my NAS and it works great. Most of these came from my CD collection.

I like this idea of having a video about or way to play around with the UI. I will look into this tomorrow.
Posted By: Newf Re: New wireless axiom air product - 02/05/17 05:36 PM
Check the What's new area of the Forum, I posted screen caputre of the GUI there. Should probably let this thread die and stick to IAN's thread.

https://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/ubbthreads.php/topics/423130/AxiomAir_Your_System#Post423130

I deleted the first video I made with cell phone....was horrible, but I only had a few mins.



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