Arylic announced the LP20 Music Streamera new network audio player that expands on the company’s presence Related model of ” LP10 “while maintaining support for Apple AirPlay 2 in combination with Apple Home and multiroom audio setup.
Like the LP10 (review HERE, video HERE)the LP20 allows users to use AirPlay 2, Google Cast, Spotify Connectagain TIDAL Connect support for existing speakers, amplifiers, and hi-fi systems, enabling wireless streaming from Apple devices including iPhone, iPad, and Mac. AirPlay 2 support also allows the LP20 to play a role multi-room gaming alongside HomePod speakers and other AirPlay 2 compatible devices within Apple Home.
LP20 supports it as well Qobuz Connect, DLNA, UPnP, NAS playback, internet radio, local USB playbackagain Bluetooth 5.4while also introducing support for dual Bluetooth device connection.
Both LP10 and LP20 support dual-band Wi-Fi, Ethernet, USB playbackagain USB-C PC audio functionalthough the LP20 greatly expands on the connectivity and audio integration options offered by the previous model.
Unlike the sleek LP10, designed primarily as a simple streaming bridge, the LP20 takes on more. desktop hi-fi oriented designcomplete with a rotary knob control, RCA connection, additional digital effectsagain dedicated subwoofer support.
Arylic has also equipped the LP20 with ambient lighting system which clearly shows the current working mode and playing status. Different colors are used to identify active sources and connection modes, including white for WiFi/network playback, blue for Bluetooth mode, green for line input and Spotify Connect, yellow for optical input, red for USB playback, and magenta for USB DAC mode. The lighting system can additionally indicate pairing status, standby mode, network connection activity, and volume adjustment levels by using various lighting effects.
While the LP10 already offered a solid feature set for integrated streaming of AirPlay 2 and Google Cast, the LP20 introduces a number of major improvements;
- Bluetooth 5.4 replaces Bluetooth 5.0
- Qobuz Connect support is being added
- Optical audio input is included
- An analogue RCA input replaces the LP10’s 3.5mm input
- A coaxial digital output is added
- A dedicated subwoofer output is included
- A 12V trigger output is added to integrate the amplifier
- Dual Bluetooth discovery connections are supported
- USB playback support extended beyond the LP10’s 16GB/1000 track limit
- USB storage support for exFAT is included
- The LP20 adds a large desktop-style chassis with rotary controls
The LP20 also expands digital audio output options, it added coaxial output besides optical output, both support up to 24-bit/192kHz to play.
In comparison, the LP10 remains the most compact and compact option, with a small OLED display, touch controls, optical output, and a 3.5mm analog connection designed primarily to add wireless streaming capabilities to existing powerful speakers or amplifiers.
The Arylic LP20 Music Streamer is available for pre-order directly from Arylic, priced at US$236but with 15% discount using the bonus code:LP20 at the exit, which makes the price lower US$201.