SmartStream

Bluetooth speakers are convenient, but they certainly can’t compare to my floorstanding speakers. Last month I subscribed to the Tidal hi-res audio streaming app. Its lossless, uncompressed streaming music is hardly impressive on a 6-inch bluetooth speaker. If I’m paying more for hi-fi sound, I want to hear it on hi-fi speakers. Rocki is the palm-sized Wi-Fi audio adapter that makes it possible. Rocki turns any speaker or sound system that has a 3.5mm line-in or RCA jacks into a Wi-Fi streaming device. In fact, it can turn an old boom box into a streaming machine.

Rocki is set up using the Android or iPhone Rocki app. Choose the direct connection to Rocki to add your router settings. Unfortunately, the Rocki doesn’t find your network automatically; you must type in your router’s SSID (name of your network) and the password if you have one. If you do have a password, most likely it will use WPA password protection, which you will need to choose when setting up the Rocki.

Once it is connected to your home network, your phone can stream music to whatever sound system Rocki is connected to. Rocki’s Wi-Fi connection is better than Bluetooth. It can stream at greater distances and from any room in your house to another. I used the included mini-to-RCA cable to connect the Rocki to my Sony AV receiver and Definitive speakers.

The Android app for Rocki has more music streaming options than iPhone app, which can only stream iTunes music that has been downloaded to the phone. The Android app streams from music saved to the phone and includes a small list of music services including SoundCloud, Last.fm, Familystream and Deezer (yet to be released in the U.S.). I was never successful at connecting my SoundCloud or Last.fm accounts to the Android Rocki app. After doing some research, I noticed that this is a common problem.

While the iOS app does not include integration with music streaming services, it is Airplay-enabled. When choosing to stream to an Airplay device, the Rocki is listed. This made it possible to stream from any music app on an iPhone, including Tidal. Unfortunately, my iMac did not find Rocki in its list of Airplay devices on my network.

Overall, the sound quality was superb when I streamed my Tidal playlists to my receiver. The fact that I didn’t have to get up from the dining table to control the music was an added bonus.

Previously, the best way for me to stream to my home theater receiver was to use a $350 Sonos Connect. While the Rocki might have bugs, at $49 it is the least expensive way to stream over Wi-Fi to quality speakers. A second-generation model, the Rocki Play+, with optical and HDMI connections is said to be in the works.