Riva Live performance Evaluate: Lastly, a True Sonos Different

Riva Live performance

MSRP $199.00

“The Riva Live performance Collection is the perfect compact good speaker you should purchase”

Professionals

• Daring, stereophonic sound
• Nice Alexa integration
• AirPlay and Spotify Join integration
• Water-resistant

Most of us don’t need to discover a dwelling for a cumbersome stereo system to take heed to our favourite music, not to mention coping with cables and numerous parts. We need to press play on our telephones, and have our kitchen, bed room, or front room fill with sound. Higher nonetheless: We simply need to inform the speaker what we need to hear, no buttons in any respect.

Riva’s Live performance sequence speaker makes that attainable, and in all kinds of how. With Amazon Alexa in-built, Spotify Join, Apple AirPlay, and Bluetooth help, there may be nearly nothing this speaker can’t play on-demand. Add in true stereophonic sound and the power to pop on an non-obligatory battery and take it with you on the go, and the Live performance bests even the Sonos: One on our listing of the perfect good audio system  you should purchase, rating as our favourite speaker of 2018.

The Riva Live performance received our award for the perfect merchandise of the 12 months. Be sure and take a look at all our different alternatives for Greatest Merchandise of 2018.

Out of the field

The marshmallow-shaped Riva Live performance is available in a small field with the speaker, an instruction handbook, and an influence cable. It doesn’t get a lot easier than this. All you’ve bought to do is determine the place you need your Live performance to reside.

Riley Younger/Digital Developments

Those that are accustomed to Riva’s earlier mannequin, the Area, received’t discover a lot new within the design of the Live performance, however that’s really a superb factor, as each audio system are fairly good to have a look at. A rounded rectangle that’s surrounded by a strong metallic grille, the Live performance is available in black or white, permitting you to match the theme of your room’s decor. Our assessment unit got here in white, mixing seamlessly with our white-trimmed front room.

A hoop across the center of the speaker’s high mirrors different Alexa-enabled gadgets, lighting up while you name on the good assistant — however Riva has additionally made it in order that the Riva brand on the entrance of the speaker lights up blue when Alexa is working, a pleasant contact which means you’ll all the time know Alexa is listening.

Just about each facet of the Riva speaker is controllable through the Riva app or from AirPlay or Spotify join

Bodily buttons are much less vital than ever for good audio system because of Alexa and its app integrations (extra on this later), however they’re nonetheless there on the highest of the speaker, contained in the LED ring. There are keys for quantity, track skip (which double as supply and pairing buttons), and a mute button within the center.

Setup

Organising the Riva Live performance is fast and painless. Plug within the speaker, obtain the Riva app, and observe the on-screen directions to get it related to your wi-fi community.

As soon as related, it’s going to turn out to be out there as a Spotify Join or AirPlay speaker for any gadget on the identical community. Not like the Sonos One, the Live performance additionally has Bluetooth, together with an AUX enter do you have to need to plug in instantly.

Riley Younger/Digital Developments

A threaded mounting screw on the rear lets you mount the speaker to the wall through quite a few aftermarket mounts do you have to need to save shelf or desk house. As talked about, there’s additionally an non-obligatory battery pack that lasts for over 15 hours ($50 at time of publication), which means it might probably simply remodel right into a incredible moveable speaker in the event you’re headed to a barbecue or pool get together. To connect the battery pack (offered individually) merely click on it onto the underside of the speaker, and also you’re good to go.

Ease of use

Previously a number of years, the highest multiroom audio system have gotten insanely straightforward to make use of, thanks largely to Sonos’ pioneering, app-controlled design and the quite a few well-coded copycats which have adopted.

If there’s one space the place the Riva really bests its many opponents, it’s in sound high quality.

As anticipated, nearly each facet of the Riva speaker is controllable through the Riva app or from AirPlay or Spotify join, and the addition of Alexa makes issues even simpler.

Even with music enjoying loudly, the speaker is ready to discern instructions like pause, skip, and cease, and each different Alexa command you like can also be immediately out there.

These two strategies of controlling the Live performance make it among the finest audio system we’ve ever used, simply holding its personal alongside the perfect available on the market. That stated, some a part of us does want that the brand new Live performance mannequin additionally had the Google Dwelling help supplied by the corporate’s final era of multiroom audio system, for integration’s sake. It’s no thriller as to why the Alexa-integrated model doesn’t have it, although: Google and Amazon are huge rivals within the good dwelling house.

Sound high quality

If there’s one place the place the compact Riva speaker really bests its many opponents, it’s in sound high quality. The Live performance provides true stereophonic sound utilizing what the corporate calls “Trillium audio” tech, which in layman’s phrases means there are audio drivers on three sides of the gadget. This enables the Live performance to supply a particularly huge soundstage and true left and proper channels, the place opponents just like the Sonos One have solely single channel mono.

Riley Younger/Digital Developments

As such, the Riva has a considerably extra vibrant total sound than the trade chief, simply filling small and mid-sized rooms with wealthy and dynamic audio. We had been significantly impressed with the low-end energy supplied by such a small speaker, which performed pop and hip-hop favorites from Michael Jackson to Outkast with ease.

When listening to extra dynamic jazz and acoustic performances from Ahmad Jamal and Ryan Adams, we appreciated the speaker’s capability to showcase the high-end shimmer of cymbals and the highest guitar strings with out turning into harsh or tinny, in addition to to retain readability all through the mid-range — a spot the place many different audio system typically wrestle to remain clear.

This little small speaker isn’t going to exchange your high-end stereo on the subject of reproducing each refined breath or nuance, however the design staff at Riva clearly put plenty of thought into providing listeners the absolute best sound from this footprint, and it reveals. In relation to compact good audio system, there’s nothing we’ve heard that sounds this good.

Guarantee info

Each Riva product comes with a two-year guarantee that covers defects in supplies and manufacturing — excluding the non-obligatory battery pack.

Our Take

The Riva Live performance is a small, intuitive good speaker with each little bit of the performance we want. And with non-obligatory extras like a battery pack and journey case, the Live performance can function a incredible one-size-fits-all listening resolution.

Is there a greater different?

For the previous decade, Sonos has been the largest title within the multiroom audio sport for good motive. The Riva Live performance goes face to face with the corporate’s good Sonos One mannequin, and does so fairly properly. For a similar value because the Sonos speaker, you get the addition of Bluetooth, true stereophonic sound, and the power to go cell in the event you’re prepared to cough up a bit more money. All this, plus related ease of use, really makes the Riva Live performance the higher speaker in our eyes.

How lengthy will it final?

Riva audio system are constructed to be sturdy, and the two-year guarantee means you’ll get some good use out of it earlier than you even have to fret about changing it. We’ve been utilizing the corporate’s earlier fashions for over a 12 months and have had no points up to now. We don’t anticipate you’ll need to contemplate a brand new good speaker for a very long time.

Do you have to purchase it?

Sure. In case you are seeking to get a wise speaker with nice sound and the potential for future enlargement, the Riva Live performance is totally value buying. That stated, in case you are already locked into the Sonos ecosystem with a number of of that firm’s audio system, you would possibly contemplate staying put for integration’s sake — although Alexa, AirPlay, and Spotify Join make it pretty straightforward to make use of a number of audio system from a number of manufacturers.

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