Eve Play brings AirPlay 2 to your old Hi-Fi setup

Eve Play
(Image credit: Eve)

Apple's AirPlay 2 is a feature that takes audio and video from an Apple device, like an iPhone, and sends it to another, like an Apple TV 4K. But companies can add AirPlay support to their own devices and Eve is the latest to do that — by building a puck that can take your AirPlay 2 audio and pump it back out to a traditional Hi-Fi system.

The new Eve Play has just been announced and features both RCA and digital outputs for connecting to a range of audio systems.

Each Eve Play includes a digital-to-analog converter with "a signal-to-noise ratio of 112 dB guarantees an audiophile sound experience," while the aluminum and gloss-black aesthetic is sure to look great beside even the most costly of classic Hi-Fi hardware.

There's music in the air

Eve announced its new accessory Thursday, saying that it "adds streaming capabilities to existing amplifiers, active speakers, or soundbars" and integrates them "in multi-room setups with other AirPlay 2 speakers such as Apple HomePods."

Eve goes on to say that "Eve Play groups your classic stereo system and other AirPlay 2 speakers into a perfectly simultaneous orchestra because any latencies can be adjusted either automatically or manually via the Eve app's Audio Sync feature." And because it ties into the Apple Home app you can of course include it in any automation that you might have up and running as well.

The Eve Play works with all of the latest devices and includes Wi-Fi and Ethernet support for connectivity. In terms of pricing and availability, the Eve Play will go up for sale on November 14 for $149.95, which isn't cheap.

Prefer something a bit more integrated? Our list of the best AirPlay 2 receivers is a good place to start when building out your shopping list.

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.