3 amazing audio control apps

As you would expect us to do, we are constantly keeping up with what is happening in the industry: talking to suppliers, reading up on forums, testing new gear, visiting trade shows when time and budget allows, researching and learning (always!) new insights, and obviously keeping an eye on reviews and how to guides that are out there.

One of the articles that caught our eye was an article on ‘three awesome audio controls’ that was put out by Crutchfield (a massive USA retailer of AV gear amongst lots of other electronics). Well, believe it or not but their top 3 picks happen to be exactly our pick of the bunch.

A coincidence? We should think not! Of course, we need to share it with you… and add our own comments and thoughts.

Here’s what they have to say:

Smartphones have revolutionised how we listen to music. A single app can give us access to whatever we want to hear, wherever we happen to be.

But there are also apps that change how we listen to music. Manufacturers are developing and improving companion apps for their products all the time.

Check out three of our favorite audio control apps below. Together with the right gear, they mean better sound, easier control, and even virtual liner notes for everything you listen to.

 ELAC SUB CONTROL FOR IOS® AND ANDROID™

We’ve previously spent a blog on how to match a subwoofer to your speakers. Getting your subwoofer to blend with your stereo speakers can be a bit tricky. So ELAC took the hard work out of that and made an app. Their SUB Control app works with ELAC’s Debut series subwoofers via Bluetooth®.

The app uses your phone’s microphone to play test tones and take EQ measurements. Then, it tailors the sub’s output to your main speakers and your room. The result is deep bass that seamlessly blends with your main speakers.

There’s also a delay function, which is useful for subs that are placed much closer to your seating position than your speakers. And you can tweak the sub’s EQ manually to suit your preference.

The app also offers full control over all the Debut-series subwoofers’ functions – no more having to get up and reach around the back of the sub to turn the volume up or down.

ROON REMOTE FOR IOS® AND ANDROID™

If you’re obsessive about music and have a large library on your computer, you simply must check out Roon. It’s a new way to organize your collection and even send music throughout your home with compatible gear. Think of it as iTunes on steroids.

When we were roaming the halls of the Munich High End Show earlier this year, it caught our attention how more and more brands are becoming Roon-compatible and happily boast about it too. We personally had a good go at it while playing around with the ELAC Discovery music server, but you don’t need it to enjoy Roon by any means.

Roon is software you install on your computer. The software finds all your music, organizes it, and allows you to slice and dice it with various search functions and filters. Then, you can download the app to your phone and use it to play music on compatible gear throughout your house (more on that later).

But the real fun with Roon is in the amount of information  (metadata) you can get about all your music. For instance, let’s say you’re a big Elvis Costello fan. Search his name in the Roon app, and you’ll see all his albums that you own in your digital library.

Not special about that? Well remember the days when we used to get excited about album sleeves, lyrics, credits and album art? Roon has brought it back from the grave! Dive into a specific album and see when it was released, read a review, and see who played which instrument. It’s like having an entire library of album jackets and liner notes at your fingertips.

TIDAL is compatible with Roon and may be the reason to subscribe (together with some other reasons like Hi-Res audio).

The beauty of Roon is how it combines the power of the internet’s wealth of music information with your entire music collection and TIDAL’s extensive library. It’s incredibly addictive.

So how do you listen?

Roon is compatible with a growing number of receivers, amplifiers, and wireless speakers. It’s AirPlay compatible, which means it will work with most AV receivers and many wireless speakers.

Use the app (or the software for your computer) to send music to any compatible device. Roon will find these devices on your network and let you assign them room names.

You can even group speakers within the app for multi-room playback, as long as they use the same wireless protocol.

It’s probably important to mention that we have no vested interest in Roon. Roon requires a subscription that you can get through here.

YAMAHA AV CONTROLLER FOR IOS® AND ANDROID™

It’ll probably be pretty clear to anybody who is regular reader of our blog that we like Yamaha. The app is only one of the reasons for that, but in this case it deserves a special mention.

When it comes to apps for controlling an AV receiver, Yamaha’s AV Controller app is one of the very best we’ve seen. It’s a snap to use, customizable, and powerful. If you own a Yamaha receiver, this app is a must.

The perks? Don’t need to see every possible input source? Hide the ones you’re not using. Wish you could rearrange the order of the icons? You can, just like you would on your smartphone’s home screen.

For music lovers, the app allows you to dial in the sound just the way you like it. There are tone controls for tweaking treble and bass. Or if you want to use your surround speakers for music, you can select from Yamaha’s wide variety of DSP modes. They do a great job of “remixing” a stereo track for surround output that truly fills your room.

The Yamaha AV Controller app is even better on a tablet. The larger screen puts so many controls right at your fingertips. On either kind of device, the touchscreen interface is much more intuitive than with an old school remote.

For folks who want to keep their receiver out of sight in a closet or cabinet, an app like this is the ideal remote. Since it works over Wi-Fi®, you don’t have to worry about setting up IR repeaters.

Simple multi-zone control

If you’re using a Yamaha receiver to power a multi-zone speaker system, this app is a life-saver compared to using the an old-school remote. It’s super-easy to play music from different sources in each room. The app will always show you what’s playing where.

Want the same song to play in every zone? Tap “Party Mode” and all your connected speakers will sync up instantly.

Obviously we want to give David Brown from Crutchfield full credit for the original article.