AliceLode Audio’s LA4 Audio Server won a Smart Building Award in the Multi-Room/Zone Music Solution Of The Year category at the recent EI Live! exhibition.
The Lode LA4 is a multi-room audio system enabling playback of high quality audio to any room in a property, all controlled from a mobile device or home automation control system.
“We are particularly proud to have won this award as we were selected against tough competition by a panel of judges that all work within the CI industry,” said Andy Oattes, head of sales, Lode Audio.
“Not only does it highlight the hard work and efforts by the design and development team, but also the continued after sales care we offer all of our products and partners. Our ‘CI can be HiFi’ message is getting out there and we thank everyone for the on-going support. 2017 is getting better and better and we’re only just getting started!”
Designed specifically for use within premium residential and commercial custom installations, the LA4 features four independently controlled zones (stackable up to 64 zones) of streamed or network-stored audio with resolution support up to 32 bit 192 kHz. Based on the company’s patented LodeNet platform, which features integrated streaming services including TIDAL, Deezer, Soundcloud, TuneIn radio and Hotel Radio FM, the LA4 can be integrated and controlled by any home automation system, including Crestron, AMX, Control 4, RTi and Command Fusion.
Crucial to the success of any CI product is reliability and control. The LA4 is built around the company’s patented LodeNet audio distribution protocol – a low-latency digital matrix that offers up to 64 zones of groupable audio (each with Apple Airplay compatibility) for synchronous playback without the need of a hardware matrix.
Lode Audio products automatically log on to the LodeNet matrix as soon as they are powered up, therefore requiring very little set up other than selecting and signing into any of the integrated market-leading music streaming providers, wherby one login gives access to every zone within the system.
Lode Audio products are controlled by the company’s proprietary IP protocol, removing any of the conflicts and time delays associated with more traditional UPnP-based devices. Offering full wireless control via iOS and Android apps, control latency is negligible, whilst full browse control, super-quick cover art population, gesture swipe, single/grouped room control and full lock control (allowing the user to control volume, track forward/back and play/pause when their device locks or times out) are standard. Significantly, the app has been designed to integrate seamlessly with third-party apps, offering full app-in-app functionality, enhancing the user experience.
Unlike other audio server products already available, the LA4 (like all Lode Audio products) also offer total integration with third-party automation platforms. With drivers already available for Crestron, AMX, Control 4, RTi and Command Fusion, features include dynamic browse and queue functions, as well as cover-art integration with a quick response time of background image change when tracks are skipped.
CI can be Hi-Fi
Dedicated to re-introducing high-quality audio performance to the CI market, Load Audio has spent considerable time developing the audio circuitry of its products. With internal audio circuits featuring DAC’s capable of High-resolution music file playback and medical-grade power supplies, Lode Audio products outperform many of the popular consumer audio products currently being used due to convenience within CI. With the LA1 (and LA4), installers finally have a dedicated music source that has been built for the application yet will deliver the performance desired by even the most ardent audiophile.
Designed and built to offer real CI reliability Designed and manufactured in the UK, the manufacturer states that the LA4 is the perfect solution for those installations where the quality of audio performance is as important as reliability.
Due to the heat dissipation qualities of its 1U 19” rack-mountable chassis, which is milled from a single billet of aluminium and built to medical-grade specifications, the LA4 is a totally static design. With no moving parts (such as fans) to break down, Lode Audio says the LA4 offers the level of reliability essential for installations and far exceeds the consumer products that have been traditionally used in the past.