Three new soundbars that LG will introduce at CES feature the company’s Music Flow Wi-Fi mesh-network multiroom-audio technology and a series of new features said to make operation easier.
Music Flow distributes music wirelessly from PCs, NAS drives, phones, and tablets to Music Flow soundbars and active speakers throughout a house, with different speakers and soundbars capable of playing a different song simultaneously. The products also stream music from the cloud. Music Flow systems are controlled from a mobile device app.
All three of the new soundbars add one one-button setup to connect automatically to a pair of active Music Flow tabletop speakers to create a wireless 5.1-channel home theater system.
The new soundbars, which are Bluetooth-equipped, also add BT-Fi, which determines whether a wireless source is using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to transmit music. The soundbars then switch automatically between Bluetooth and Wi-Fi inputs.
Also new is adaptive sound control, which detects the type of audio content coming in and automatically changes to the proper preset EQ, such as music or dialog.
The new Music Flow bars, shipping in the first half, are the SH6 with built-in passive radiators and no outboard subwoofer, the SH7 with wireless sub, and the SH8 with wireless sub. Additional details and pricing were unavailable.
Music Flow products support wireless transmission of high-resolution 192kHz/24-bit music. They also feature embedded streaming services and GoogleCast. GoogleCast enables Cast-enabled music-streaming apps to “cast” their content to Music Flow speakers and bars, which stream the content direct from the cloud so that music playback isn’t interrupted by incoming phone calls or phone notifications. Cast-enabled apps are available for Android and iOS mobile devices, Windows and Mac laptops, and Chromebooks.
Flow’s all-search function searches for a particular song across networked devices such as PCs, NAS drives, phones, and tablets.
In other audio launches, LG will introduce three new high-power X-Boom audio systems intended for large gatherings. One is a three-piece system, and two are one-piece systems incorporating sources and stereo speakers in a single tower-like chassis. They feature lighting effects, DJ-like effects, and audio sources such as CD, Bluetooth, USB and aux in.
All three feature Sampler Creator to sample effects recorded by a smartphone. A Party Thruster lever lets users create multicolor light shows that sync with the system’s audio output.
All ship in the first quarter. Pricing was unavailable.
