But I wasn’t really familiar with the technology or why someone might want it. Blackfire also powers Harman Kardon’s Omni line of multiroom speakers. If the name sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because we’ve occasionally mentioned the inclusion of Blackfire’s FireConnect technology in an Onkyo, Integra, or Pioneer product announcement or review it’s found in some of their AVRs and wireless speakers. So it was with interest that I took a meeting in New York a short while later for a briefing and demo with the principal officers of Blackfire Research. Did these things perform this way in their labs? How much can performance really vary from network to network? After all, it’s hard to believe manufacturers would release speakers that regularly behave glitchy or drop out in real-world use. I concluded that the products’ firmware or the multiroom apps intended to control them were somehow at fault.īut I also began to wonder what role our Wi-Fi network really plays with these new products, and whether the demands are not, in fact, outpacing the capabilities of today’s “average” network. As mentioned, our team all had Wi-Fi networks suitable for video streaming, with average to above-average routers. Most of our listening took place while we were also discussing the technology (and I was scrambling to take notes), but, with that caveat, the sound seemed dynamic and bold.In a recent post I chided manufacturers for releasing Wi-Fi-based speakers, several of which we tested for our June print issue, that failed to perform with perfect reliability in our reviewers’ homes. “Our main concern was with mitigating the problems of a WiFi network, then matching the technology with the potential of the infrastructure.” “We are agnostic in terms of the media player,” Rajapakse emphasizes. “As long as you’ve got high-quality speakers, you’re getting about as perfect a world as you can possibly have.”īlackfire Research is compatible with most Windows or Macintosh media sources. “I really don’t see how you can do better in terms of a clean signal path,” said Rajapakse. In theory, you can then begin streaming music from your notebook or cell phone, comfortably and seamlessly. (Rajapakse explained that he feels a kinship with the philosophy and technical know-how of Legacy’s founder, Bill Dudleston.) You connect the speakers to the amps, install the Blackfire software, and walk through the setup procedure. In the demo room, they were placed neatly on top of a pair of Legacy Classic HD speakers. BearClaws can be placed on top of, underneath, or beside each loudspeaker. Each amp contains a 24-bit/192kHz AKM DAC, designed for ultra-low jitter. Users download the Blackfire software to their computer or cell phone, and partner that with Blackfire’s BearClaw monoblocks, claimed to deliver 100Wpc, running in class-A/B. The trick is to provide “smart networked audio,” to simplify not only your system but your life. “What we are doing is marrying flexibility and convenience with quality.” Blackfire Research doesn’t provide a wireless solution so much as it is aims to “transform the way we use media.” Rajapakse sees his technology as the natural progression for home audio. The protocol was built from the ground up, in order to defeat all of the problems associated with wireless technology.” But he would prefer that we don’t focus on the wireless aspect of the system. It has taken him four years to “perfect the protocol,” he says, to “understand the practical application of wireless technologies in the home audio system. He started the company in 2006, when he saw an obvious connection between his professional experience and his audio hobby. Rajapakse is certain, he is sharp, and he is enthusiastic. His deep background in Silicon Valley’s wireless networking world lends a casual, confident air to his demeanor. His language is colored with all sorts of science and technology. And it has been controlled by me,” he says flatly, before catching himself and adding a nervous laugh. “What we’ve ensured here with our technology is that the entire signal path, from source through speakers, has been carefully controlled. Spend some time with Ravi Rajapakse, President and CEO of Blackfire Research, and you might get the impression that he’s some sort of control freak.
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