Yamaha WXA-50 – Alexa compatible wireless streaming
Yamaha WXA-50 – Alexa compatible wireless streaming amplifier with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth – Black
Connect & Share
How about using your audio devices alongside MusicCast? By adding the WXA-50 to your speaker system, you can enjoy your streaming music or innovative multi-room audio.
At your fingertips
You’ve just come home from a stressful day at work and want to enjoy a relaxing evening with your favourite music? Simply press any button on the front panel: the WXA-50 turns on and starts playing your selected content- quickly and easy!
Stylish and contemporary
Retro-modern design in a high-quality metal body. The WXA-50’s cool colour scheme in two shades of grey offers a simple, stylish touch so that it easily adapts to any audio system. Compact design means that the device can be placed almost anywhere: combined with other audio devices set alone, horizontally or vertically positioned.
Luxurious sound
Yamaha’s sound processing gives you an irresistible listening experience from any music source. Regardless of quality, listening environment or speakers you use, all frequency ranges and bass & treble balance are optimised… Enjoy high-resolution audio sources straight away.
 |  |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Product type | Amplifier | Pre-amplifier | 5.1 Soundbar | Wireless speaker | Wireless speaker |
| MusicCast | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Music streaming services | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Internet radio | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Alexa voice control | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| AirPlay & Bluetooth | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| WiFi | Yes (2.4 / 5 GHz) | Yes (2.4 / 5 GHz) | Yes (2.4 / 5 GHz) | Yes (2.4 / 5 GHz) | Yes (2.4 / 5 GHz) |
| AirPlay & Bluetooth | 90 W + 90 W | – | 100 W + 100 W | 40 W | 35 W + 35 W |
| Colour | Dark silver | Dark silver | Black | Black | Black |
| Wireless | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Dimensions: | 25.1 x 21.5 x 5.2 cm; 1.5 Kilograms |
| Model: | MusicCast WXA50D |
| Manufacture: | YAMA6 |
| Dimensions: | 25.1 x 21.5 x 5.2 cm; 1.5 Kilograms |
This device should have NFC
The device deliver superb quality, is a nice little device but have a serious problem, every time I connect my phone there’s someone who try to connect too and will disconnect me, some neighbor however what I want to say is that the device should have NFC so once connected via Bluetooth, no one cannot disconnect your phone.
I can’t recommend i
Sounds as good as it looks!
Until recently, most of the music I streamed was pulled — via Airplay — through one of two dedicated old Apple Airport Expresses (one for speakers; one for headphones) into similarly-aged DACs. The sound was good: but not as good as I knew it could be (having started using Qobuz, via Ethernet, then USB — via a dedicated iPhone XR — into a DacMagic 200M, for the more important headphone side of things). I therefore wanted a reasonably-priced streamer to pump my eclectic musical selections into my old TEAC system (into Kef Q4s), that preferably could be controlled via Alexa (as most things in the house now are — unfortunately excluding the cat).
I spent a lot of time looking at the options available; and — although I know I’m not (yet) making the most of its abilities — as a streamer/player (especially in conjunction with the MusicCast app), as well as an occasional DAC, it does exactly what I need. And very well, too. I am now therefore seriously thinking of buying one for the office, as well (or perhaps the WXA-50 amplifier version).
Finally as well as being exactly the same standard width as most of my other current equipment, it’s a fantastic, apparently effortless, piece of industrial design. I would not be without it.
This item does fairly well in 1 department.
Of all the HIFI I have tried this device actually allows control of the Coax out to be controled by volume though the control on the front and I’d guess also the remote, that’s it.
So great for Bluetooth headphones with no volume control via a BTA30 PRO.
It failed to play any DSD files or any 32/192 kHz tracks.
Great streame
I was using a idock prior to buying g this streamer and the quality of sounds dues not compare. Built in pre amp makes signal to main amp great and sound quality streaming direct from Spotify is very good. Easy to use straight from Spotify app but initially fiddly to setup to Wi-Fi router. I don’t really use the Yamaha app they recommend as not needed using Spotify as you just select the streamer output from there. I now make better full use of my full Yamaha setup and changing volume and tracks is easy direct from your phone or iPad via Spotify. Compact enough to be tucked away or stood up vertically.
Well made unit at but pity it does not match the very dark grey of my main system but seeing at that’s a lot older I can’t really complain too much as it’s tucked up in my uni
Value for money
Had this now for a couple of weeks and really happy with it. It really packs a punch and if you like bass then this is for you. The sound quality is really great for the price. It’s a great simple design, compact & great value for money.
4.0 out of 5 stars Poor Remote control
Really good sound, but that remote control is a toy. Hence I sent it back
Great streamer and great value
This is a great streaming preamp. I have not used the preamp function, but as a dedicated streamer this provides an excellent front end for digital sources. Lots of connectivity options, a great DAC, and very detailed and smooth sound. At this price it is great value and an easy way to get into streaming your music. Remote is flimsy, but ok. This is best used with the Yamaha music cast app on your phone or tablet.
Excellent - no problems
This is the 3rd multicast device that I own. Can’t comment on wireless capability as I’ve got it hardwired. I use the multicast android app and easily integrates with other household devices. Sound quality is excellent.
Mainly use if for streaming FLAC files from NAS and internet radio and no problems at all. I’d recommend it.
Spent too much.... But it's grea
Great piece of kit, bought it for a specific purpose to output my SACD player into my analogue amp and speakers and ended up buying into the whole house of sound experience with musiccast 20’s and 50’s in many rooms. Hi res music when and where I want it, fantastic. Even replaced my system one SONOS!
Fantastic
I don’t know what “sheerness” means, but assuming it’s something good, I’ll give it 5 stars anyway!
Brilliant little unit.
Versatile, player or Digi preamp, good connectivity and the Yamaha app is good.
Terrific sound quality.
I’m using it with a few grands worth of hi-fi system and it’s doing a fine job.
For the price an absolute steal.
Supernaturally lovely to listen to
WXA-50 – I use this to stream from iPhone airplay, Apple Watch and Bluetooth from Alexa echo dot. Setup is a pair wharfdale diamond 9.1 and an older Q Accoustics 2020 subwoofer. Really really nice sound (also have a Yamaha rxv amp – can definitely tell which one was for movies/tv and which one is dedicated music). For lower bit rate mp3 from a NAS (WD Home NAS with pLEX DLNA) the built in algorithm does a really good job of hiding the shortfalls. Despite its small size it puts out a clean, balanced and powerful sound with good sound stage projection although, the detail and balance of this amp, using this as a party blaster would be a bit of a waste but it will do it without clipping or distortion at the higher end! Also at this price point it’s a real bargain… don’t let size mislead. Best micro system I’ve owned!
yamaha wxc-50 - Good budget streame
Very easy to set up, using on Streamer mode. Well made apart from the Remote. Sounds good from Internet radio and TIDAL ( Need account). Connected with RCA from Pre-out (using the better DAC) to analogue inputs on Marantz Pm6005 connected to Monitor Audio Bronze 2’s. Easy streaming to budget system. Exactly what i’ve been looking for. Plenty of connectivity options.
App still getting use to- but good
Good, but only after adjustment.
I am using this amplifier with a pair of Monitor 50 speakers from Monitor Audio, they are the cheapest ‘bookshelf’ speakers offered by MA and probably can’t offer the full level of quality the amp can provide.
When I first plugged in the amp and connected it to my Music Server the sound was incredibly muddy and I was disappointed. The obvious next step was to delve into the settings through the MusicCast app – alternatively you could enter the amp’s IP address in a browser to edit the settings. By default, the ‘Enhancer’ option was turned on. After turning this option off the sound instantly improved, it was further improved by putting the amp in direct mode by turning on the ‘Direct’ option.
The remote control is functional but very small and easy to lose.
I chose this amp due to its compactness and compatibility with ‘MusicCast’. I use it on my desktop, primarily for PC audio output which is mostly music – the choice of speakers were also due to their small size. I also use an R-N602 from Yamaha in the living room, if you have the space I would opt for the R-N602 over the WXA-50 given the functionality of the units and their comparable price.
Fantastic all round!
Compact, brilliantly simple to set up. Remote control app for phone is great. Great sound and wish I’d gone with music cast by Yamaha before spending so much on Sonos.
In terms of musicality the device sounds very good, but in terms of practical usage it has some big shortcomings, not mentioned in the description: (1) The digital outputs /coax, optical/ are limited to 48 kHz sampling rates – tested with 2 different external DAC devices; (2) The external storage is limited to 32 GB, so no hard drives can be used, only thumb drives, which is very inconvenient for DSD files where 1 song sometimes is 250 MB, streaming DSD via WiFi and DLNA, using Jriver – was also impossible, this might be due to Jriver’s limitation, but it’s a a bit tricky in general with other software as well.
21st century sounds
Great bit of kit to bring my 24 year old amplifier into the 21st century with everything I need on Spotify, easy setup too.
Have been looking for a dedicated audio amp for a while and settled on this after reading the overwhelmingly positive views. I’m not disappointed in fact I’m delighted. First off I’m a technophobe but needn’t have worried. Set up was easy. Speaker wires are super easy to attach, no banana plugs required. Plugged in a CD player using an optical cable and my turntable using phono plugs. Downloaded the MusicCast Controller app and followed the on screen instructions, took very little time to set up wirelessly. My advice is to have your wifi router password handy, I didn’t, which added a couple of extra minutes to the set up time as I went in search of it. Have floor standing speakers and the sound is phenomenal. Spotify played through the Musicast app is great but you can’t adjust the equaliser. If you want to do that then switch to Bluetooth and you can adjust the sound from there. First time I’ve used an optic cable for my Denon CD player and must admit to my untrained ear the sound is excellent. My living room is about 20’x16′ and the sound fills the room. I’m 58, so thumping bass isn’t really my thing but this can be achieved with the equaliser if you wish. All in all I’m extremely happy with the ease of set up, sound quality and versatility. Remote is tiny, about one and a half standard matchboxes in length. Doesn’t need to be used with Bluetooth, network, optic or phono as sound can be adjusted through the app. But if you’re using the inbuilt Spotify interface you’ll need it to adjust the volume.
Lots of input options inc wifi, bluetooth, USB, optical digital and line level analog/RCA
I was looking for a DAC which also had analog inputs, and there aren’t many current pre-amps which have this. Sound quality is good. Control and streaming from the IOS app is a good feature, but I do worry slightly that some functionality would be lost if or when Yamaha discontinue this unit and inevitably stop updating the IOS app.
“Sheerness”??
Value for money and that flexibility.
Very good streamer preamp good price and is i deal for people with good analogue sources.
Compact, size, engaging sound, decent price!
I bought the amplifier for a bedroom system; my criteria was compact, under 1000 and powerful enough to drive a pair of budget tannoy floorstanders. I’d shortlisted the Quad Vena Play, the rega brio and the Cyrus one as well as the Yamaha model, the cheapest by a considerable margin!
And so far I’m happy with it! I set it up in 10 minutes flat from unboxing to playing Spotify (via ethernet) to room filling, if not thunderously loud levels (about 70-80db from a couple of metres away). No strain or clipping. It’s not a powerhouse so I wont be trying to shake my walls with dub reggae soundsytem style, but it seems well built, neutral sounding and very reasonablly priced. It wil go loud with efficient speakers (obviously) and can drive 4ihm loads.
Things to watch out for – only two sources available, one RCA in, one optical in. The volume control doesn’t have any indication marks or tactile feedback – you have to rely on the app (or your ears!) Also no headphone Jack. It also runs hot. None of these are dealbreakers for me.
I find the music cast app simple enough and although I’ve only had it a very short time, I think it will be a keeper!
A product that delivers
So I needed a small amp to power some old bookshelf speakers and my wife was getting tired of having to see large heavy amps with lots of cables. This thing sounds just as good as every amp I’ve ever had but its minuscule and has all the inputs one could ever need. It looks great (the wife approves) and has a nice solid build that makes me think it will last. The only thing I don’t like is the velocity dependant volume nob at the front. Turn it slowly and it takes forever to change but turn it fast at you’ll be blowing out your eardrums if you aren’t careful. I like a nice linear increase please but I’m being picky.
A great little streaming device.
I purchased this to complement my existng Hi-fi. I have a Cyrus-based system but couldn’t justify @ 1,500 for the Cyrus model. I have used this purely as a player so I cannot review the pre-amp function as I have never used it.
One of the reasons I looked to this was it’s compact size, it fits a space in my existing rack when a “full sized” unit would be too big. I have a NAS drive with TwonkyServer Premium 7.1 software for streaming music, Spotify, and I wanted to use Internet Radio, the bitrates are often much higher than the DAB equivalent stations.
There is a basic User manual included it the box, a small remote control, a power cable, a Wi-fi aerial, and stands for mounting the unit vertically. There are no interconnecting cables these must be purchased seperately. Fortunately I have a box full of interconnects, so not a problem for me.
Initial set up was quick, I have used the digital coaxial cable to connect to one of the digital inputs on my Cyrus Pre-amp and once I connected the aerial and switched the unit on, connecting the unit to my router was quite literally pressing two buttons. Press and hold the Input button for three seconds on the Unit until the Network LED starts to flash and then press the WPS button on the router. After a minute or two they link up.
There are two ways to control the unit, from an IOS or Android device, or via a web browser. The app is great for operating the unit, the web browser for configuring. I also downloaded the Advanced User Manual from the Yamaha web site, which gives much more detail on configuring the Unit and the advanced options. I think whilst it is useful to have, most options won’t be changed from the default.
Overall, for what I need, this fits the bill perfectly.
Build quality not perfec
This little beast delivers exactly what you expect from Yamaha in therms of sound quality . However I’m going one star down because of the build quality on the chassis ( had some scratch marks on the volume wheel and the bottom cover ) being not as excellent as it should and you don’t expect that when you spending around 350 for an item . The back panel as well is actually plastic , which once more is not fully covering the metal body description from Yamaha .
This alongside with some latency issues , when pairing the device with another MusicCast product took the whole experience a little bit down .
2 multicast devices in the same room? Only have 1 device in the app. Yes DOLBY DIGITAL USING AUX OUT
2 multicast devices in the same room? Only have 1 associated with the app. I have a multicast preamp going to a DAC and this then goes to a multicast receiver. This is not a combination that works if both devices are associated with the app.
Although the blurb says that it can decode Dolby digital you’ll quickly find that some Netflix program have no sound. CORRECTION ONLY THE MIDDLE OUTPUTS DECODE DOBLY DIGITAL ETC
This device when set in PLAYER mode – switch on the back – will give CD quality from an NAS running into a good audio amp such as a NAD with good speakers. It’s a network replacement for a CD Player. I used it to bring my system up to date by digitizing CDs. Synology 218 j is serving the files with it’s own software. Simple and excellent.
Player mode bypasses all the Yamaha signal processing on the alternative preamp switch setting. Why they chose those names is beyond me.
It works best with .wav files, not impressed with any of the compressed formats e.g. flac etc…So if you are out to save space take care which compression algorithm you use in Exact Audio Copy – excellent free software.
Bear in mind I’m listening to demanding classical/jazz content.
The app gets some stick on the reviews. I’m an old programmer so for me many of the apps today are little more than nonsense in terms of stability, they rely on the OS to clear the mess up and then restart. The Yamaha app worked perfectly out of the box. It’s a limited player but it works fine. My suspicion is most problems stem from wireless connections – they are a disaster for quality streaming with any consistency. I’m lucky to be hardwired for 10baseT and would advise anybody to do so if they need quality.
Also remember the Music Cast app serves many different devices. You can get by wiithout the app if you have a smart TV with optical connections, but the TV will process the stream.
The next decent device will cost twice the Yamaha. My ears are that old now I suspect I would not hear the benefit.
Sounds good but app and Alexa integration lets it down.
I really wanted to like this as I was looking to move from Sonos but the app and lack of Amazon Music integration meant I had to send it back. Alexa integration was disappointing as only has limited commands such as turning volume up but you couldn’t ask it play certain tracks as you can a Sonos system.
Excellent bit of ki
This preamp worked straight out of the box. Connected up to wired ethernet and it was immediately recognised by the Hi-FiCast Android app as a playback device. The Yamaha Musicast app also works well, but is a bit more fiddly to set up and is probably overkill for a single room, but it does allow full control of the device to set all the options (though you can do that via a PC browser anyway).
The only slight niggle is that the documentation supplied is very minimal indeed and you need to download the full manual from Yamaha to find out what all the connections do.
Sound playback quality seems excellent when switched to ‘direct’ mode.
Not the ideal streamer for Qobuz
This is a versatile piece of kit, and a bargain, even before the price dropped. It’s a lot cheaper than the rest of my system, but I use the digital outputs and the sound is good; I have tried the line and pre outputs and found them OK, probably fine for similarly priced amps and speakers.
I use it primarily to listen to Qobuz and I have a few niggles, it cannot do gapless with the musiccast app ( there is a workaround using the bubbleupnp server, but then I have dropouts streaming 192khz material; and I don’t like the idea of routing the music through a tablet or phone, even if I’m not sure l can hear a difference in sound quality on lower sample rate streams ), the musiccast display does not show bit depth ( Qobuz has a lot of 24/44.1 tracks ), musiccast does not show metadata and is generally clunky. I wish you could just use Qobuz’s own app as a remote control like you can do with Spotify, although it can take ages for Spotify to find the Yamaha on my network.
If you know a streamer that integrates Qobuz without these issues then please add a comment.
Excellent hardware, support lacking if you use Amazon Music
Let’s get this straight…you are looking at this device because you love music and quality of sound is important to you? I have to have the right sound… I’m not rich, only have a modest hifi set up with a Marantz pm6006 amp, but paired with the Yamaha wxc50 streaming from Spotify, the quality is spot on. Forget streaming from your tablet or phone, this wxc50 delivers superb sound. Mine is on a hard wired Ethernet and it hasn’t missed a beat. The rest of the reviews are pretty much testiment to that. I thoroughly recommend this device based on quality of sound and a leap up from tablets, phones etc. What don’t I like? Yamaha Music Cast needs a big overhaul. It’s a bit too easy to press a control by mistake and find you have switched from one device to another, or made the volume jump up or down…or restarted a track let alone the whole thing is a bit clunky. To be fair it works well from the app on a tablet but I don’t like it overall. Also…this is crazy, but there is no support for Amazon Music (Unlimited) in Music Cast. Now having trialled both Spotify Premium and Amazon MU, the quality is exactly the same, but I prefer the AMU interface. However, the only way to play AMU on the wxc50 or any Music Cast is by Bluetooth. It works, it sounds good, but you lose the advantage of the wxc50 as a quality streamer drawing its own streams and processing them…and hence quality. So frankly it’s a huge minus on the part of Yamaha and Amazon that they haven’t sorted it. So Spotify it is for me (or any of the others Music Cast supports…Tidal, Qbuzz, Feeder etc which makes it puzzling AMU hasn’t been sorted). Unit recommended and exceptional, but failure to keep up poor. Yamaha need to hire some programmers, interfaces, simplicity (with lots of tweaks available) and support. If you use other providers for streamed music you will really enjoy.
This device is absolutely fantastic ! well built and modern looking, it fits well in the living room.
I use it with monitor speakers (pre amplified, the JBL LSR 300) and listen to music through USB and spotify or with my phone. I never used to bluetooth but the wifi is just amazing. Once you use wifi you don’t want to switch back to bluetooth. I also connected my samsung TV with an optical cable (bluetooth did not work very well, perhaps the TV ?)
I strongly recommend it !
Super flexible connectivity from this tiny amplifier.
We bought this amp for it’s excellent connectivity options & Alexa compatibility, and have not been disappointed so far.
Set up was easy using the musiccast app & then adding the musiccast skill to the Alexa app (using android devices).
We have the TV on an optical cable, windows computer as a media server via RCA cable, although the app also picks up my media server and music can be streamed wirelessly. We also have Spotify which integrates seamlessly with musiccast.
Sound quality is good though the little amplifier does not quite have enough power to drive my floor standing Polk speakers.
In all very impressed for a budget priced amp.
Now thinking of trying a couple of Yamaha musiccast speakers to make a 2.1 system.
Bought the amp for two reasons, To bring back my old celestion speakers and to upgrade my pair of sonos play 1s – Set up was easy and within an hour I was streaming from my music library on PC (and phone), listening to radio, streaming spotify, had my tv connected. Also bluetooth from my sony walkman (backup of my entire music collection – 150gb) A big problem with the sonos set up was that there was no easy, inexpensive way to bring tv into the setup. I am seriously impressed so far but my goodness it gets hot – after 6hrs use I switched it off as I was concerned about how warm it was. It does sound good, my celestions are back in the room and coupled with a Tannoy sub they are singing and roaring again. The unit itself is the small grey box on the coffee table. I read somewhere that Yamaha aim with this system to connect ‘anything to anything’ or something like that. So far so good.
Jan 2020 – Still using the unit, now with a pair of Klipsch R41M and a Cambridge audio minx sub, System sounds great now, also added a Topping DAC between the TV and the CD player, this has improved the sound again. Where next?
Pros:
Quality item
Well priced (although some functionalities are missing)
Cons:
* User finds himself juggling with two applications at once to play one music files. Very confusing and not really user-friendly.
* No automatic source detection (manual operation is constantly required)
* No Chromecast integration
* No Airplay 2 (?)
* Equalizer is not as detailed and complete
* Doesn’t communicate wirelessly with most speakers (other than Yamahas musicast speakers).
I finally returned the streamer amplifier despite loving the added streaming feature, I decided to move to a wireless speaker solution. I now have a Bang Olufsen M5 speaker which can be paired with other B&O speakers to achieve full wireless connectivity without the need for a streamer/amplifier or wired speakers.
Excelle
Works very well. The sound is first class and Music Cast is a good app. Set-up is easy and the range of features is impressive.
Tidy little unit.
Bought this to replace an Apple Airport Express for streaming music to my Arcam amp: definite improvement in sound quality over the APE and great array of features such as optical input for my TV, net radio and Bluetooth. The tiny remote is handy when basic functions are required, and the Musiccast app, although a bit convoluted, works as well as to be expected when engaging with other apps such as Spotify. Just what I needed to add hi-res streaming capabilities to my traditional hi-fi set up. The built in DAC does a good job of making streamed media sound as close to CD quality as possible. Form factor of the unit itself is stylish due to its aluminium casing, which adds to the overall quality finish. Haven’t tried out the multiroom functionality yet, but it’s nice to have. Recommended.
Only had this a few weeks, so this represents initial views on the Yamaha WXC-50 pre-amp. It comes with an extremely brief set-up guide but I had already downloaded the fuller booklet from the Yamaha website. The unit was a bit fiddly to set up, and I tried several times to get it to connect to an iPhone and an iPad (having installed the MusicCast app). I gave up and took it to another room and connected an ethernet cable. From there I could follow the instructions in the longer guide to connect a web browser on my desktop computer and configure the device, including setting it up to use my wifi network. Once I had done that I disconnected the cable, took it back to the hifi and was able to connect from my iPad to finish the set-up. Be warned: the easy wifi installation may not work for you either, so be prepared to do initial configuration by a wired connection.
Apart from that the device works fine and I’m very pleased with it. I mainly use it to stream music from my desktop computer (where it is stored in my iTunes library). This is controlled on an iOS device using the Remote app to choose what to stream, and to connect it to the WXC-50. It’s a pity that this isn’t better integrated into the MusicCast app. But it works and Remote provides a decent interface to my music collection. I’ve also connected it to my TV via an optical S/PDIF cable, so can play TV audio through my hifi too.
The WXC-50 has a 12V trigger output for switching a power amp on and off — it would nice if it were easier to buy a socket controlled by that trigger to supply my power amp. But I’m not aware of any consumer devices including such a power relay switch.
The MusicCast app is functional, allowing the device to be powered on and off, and to select the input source. It can also select the music to be played, but the interface for this is poor, with no ability to search, or to browse a large collection. Since this is only software, I hope that we shall see updates from Yamaha to massively improve this aspect of the app. (Fortunately, as noted earlier, Apple’s own Remote app can be used instead, but this means switching between two apps, which not everyone is necessarily very adept at.)
The Remote Control supplied with the unit is next to useless, very lightweight and flimsy, and I can’t get the buttons to work, apart from power on/off. So you really have to use the app to control the device, which makes it harder to leave a control device lying around for anyone in the house to use.
Despite these niggles, overall I am very pleased with the device so far. The audio output is good, with an excellent sound balance — both bass and treble. With the minor caveats listed above, for all of which I have found workarounds, I’d recommend this device. If you are looking for a device to stream audio from your computer, your tablet or phone, or off the internet, and you are prepared to pay 250, then take a serious look at the WXC-50.
Great device, also best way to upgrade equipment without digital connection and network connection, Also fits perfectly with amplifiers with pre-out and main-in. Perfekt sound quality.
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Really excellent quality streamer. Absolute bargain for the audio quality. Nice app. Recommended.
Great solution for what I needed. I actually ordered the WXAD10 first and preferred the sound, but I needed the EQ as I have it attached to bi amped studio monitors and needed to roll of the bottom end so I don’t annoy my neighbours.
I mainly got it for the optical for use with my TV as I think most sound bars are over priced. This s now the hub of my lounge. I have the TV on optical, a USB stick with.Flac files in the back and can stream Spotify,net stations and air play any of my Apple devices without turning on the TV.
The app and browser controls are solid and intuitive , however a compression or limiter mode to balance TV and Movie volumes would be an attractive option for buyers.
The app lets you set offsets for each input, so you can level your sound between devices.
Remember to set the latency if you want to use with TV otherwise you will get lag. You can prioritise whether multicast or external devices have priority, although when switched to multicast, there was still lag. So for get using Bluetooth headphones for TV and Movies. Luckily the Bluetooth on my Samsung MU6400 TV is extremely good when it comes to latency.
Overall a modern way to control a rooms media with great sound quality, if you don’t need the other functions, I think the DAC in the WXAD10 sound more pleasing, the one in the WXC50 sounds more sterile and true though, but that isn’t what you may want at home.
App is great but needs that compression mode for visual media’s sound for watching TV at night etc. Yamaha certainly has the DSP so would be great to see this in an update!
This product is absolutely amazing, set up took 10 minutes. I set it up with a hard wire Ethernet cable for internet, the WXC50 instantly connected without any further assistance, I then connected a toslink digital cable to my Denon AV amp set the input to CD, downloaded the multicast app on my iPad followed the simple set up instructions and was streaming from my Spotify account instantly.
The quality of sound was instantly very impressive, there was an openness to my B&W 704 floor standing speakers I did not get when streaming through my Nvidia Shield.
As one other reviewer says if you have come across this product, just buy it.
It’s brilliant.
This is a great product, the construction is very solid, everything works as expected and the network streaming is rock-solid too. The Yamaha App works reasonably well, maybe missing some of the functionality found in the likes of Apple music, but it’s not really needed if you subscribe to Spotify. The remote supplied is a bit lightweight and I would imagine easy to lose but its not really needed as you can control volume from your smart phone.
I’ve taken my vintage Monitor Audio speakers out of storage and given them a new lease of life. Whist I can’t make a direct comparison of sound quality between legacy CD sources Vs. Streaming, it sounds pretty good to me.
Currently I’ve tried out Apple Play, Blue tooth, Internet Radio and Spotify, all have worked perfectly.
I had doubts about this device and finally pulled the trigger and bought it. My intention was using it with streaming services (Spotify, internet radio). It does its duty flawlessly. I have connected it to my Yamaha A-S501 amplifier as preamp. The amplifier powers a pair of Klipsch RP-160M. Man, what a sound I hear. Even 256 Kbps internet radio channels sound like Hi-Res audio.
There appears to be nothing this can't do!
There appears to be nothing this can’t do!
If you have found this device, buy it.
Or, perhaps, buy it’s twin, the power amplifier.
This is an outstanding product at this price point. Very well made and will not look out of place with more expensive gear. I have been using mine with a fiio x7 digital audio player. I send the music to a Yamaha adventage rx-1010 receiver in my home cinema set up. Found both the Bluetooth and wifi to be very reliable. The wifi sounds better though. I play flac files of cd quality and true high res files of 24/96 or 24/192 and all played with no issues using the Yamaha music cast app. I don’t have many albums in the dsd format but I think its not possible to play these over wifi as the music cast app did not recognize these albums.