Belkin Soundform Connect brings AirPlay 2 to any speaker

Belkin's newly announced Soundform Connect will make any traditional speaker an AirPlay 2 target.

Apple promised whole-home audio via AirPlay 2, but customers with existing speaker systems were left out. Speakers with AirPlay act as wireless audio receivers for devices like the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and even HomePod mini.

Belkin's Soundform Connect will transform any speaker with 3.5mm or optical input into an AirPlay 2 device. It is a small device that can easily be hidden behind a bookshelf speaker or sound system.

Once the Soundform Connect is attached to a speaker, it will show up as a targetable AirPlay device for Apple products. Users need only add the speaker to the Home app to control playback and name the speaker.

Users will be able to control the speaker from the AirPlay menu found across media apps and players and even group the speaker with others for a whole-home audio experience.

The Soundform Connect is available through Belkin's website for $99.99.

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11 Comments

uktechie 9 Years · 67 comments

About 3 years ago

I’ve been buying second hand Airport Express devices to use for Airplay 2. They work really well and can work as an extra WiFi hotspot too to extend the WiFi range around a big house.

mknelson 9 Years · 1148 comments

Strangely complete and yet also limited info on the Belkin page.

Do you have to connect it to your WiFi, or does it just show up in your AirPlay list as some unprotected Airplay devices do - and do you have to enter a PIN or can anybody play?

16-bit, 44,100 Hz (44.1 kHz) resolution. Is that better or the same as the Airport Express?

ca_mac_mini 5 Years · 16 comments

mknelson said:

16-bit, 44,100 Hz (44.1 kHz) resolution. Is that better or the same as the Airport Express?

APE supposedly will support 24 bit/44.1K. Internal APE DAC is 16 bit/44.1K however.
Question is if you use an external DAC via the optical output will it play at the higher resolution?
If yes that would open up deliver of lossless with (slightly) better than CD quality.

While an APE replacement is needed in the marketplace I think Belkin may have missed a real opportunity by not proving a device that would support the upcoming Music Lossless/HD update. Also would be nice if it had an ethernet connector.

Eric_WVGG 8 Years · 969 comments

uktechie said:

I’ve been buying second hand Airport Express devices to use for Airplay 2. They work really well and can work as an extra WiFi hotspot too to extend the WiFi range around a big house.

I've been doing the same, but tbh really looking forward to retiring it.

Unlike modern mesh wifi, when you extend with an Airport Express, the wifi throughput gets cut drastically (I believe as much as by half, but don't quote me on that). I've got my Express wifi turned off and am just using Ethernet. In the era of Chromecasts and Amazon Fire sticks, it feels just ridiculous to be using this block for simply pumping audio.

And when I start playback, there seems to be a delay of a couple seconds while it's handshaking or whatever… maybe it's the nature of the protocol (someone with a Homepod could probably inform us), but it sure seems like a symptom of 10+ year-old hardware. (on the other hand, the Belkin thing doesn't have Ethernet, so maybe it won't connect more quickly at all?)

Finally, it'a just weird to advise people to go on eBay and look for discontinued hardware as the best solution to enabling a nice home stereo system… this Belkin thing is long overdue, glad to see it hitting the market.