But HiRes compatibility in a speaker this compact is largely an academic discussion that most folks need not worry about. Riva explicitly states it supports HiRes audio playback up to 24-bit/192kHz, but there seems to be some confusion about 24-bit playback compatibility on the Sonos One.
#Riva speaker manual
By comparison, however, Sonos One includes only a small mic mute touch button, and no on-speaker manual controls of any kind. The track back/forward buttons double as press-and-hold pairing and source input switching controls, respectively. What's surprisingly missing is a manual play/pause button. Manually, on top of the Concert is a circular array of large manual controls including plus/minus volume, track skip forward/back, and mic mute. Concert also is equipped with a standard 6mm screw wall mounting jack. The Sonos One lacks this handy USB charging jack, or any other alternative method of playing music other than via your home Wi-Fi network and its own app. On the rear of the Concert is a USB jack to charge a smartphone or tablet, functional both if the Concert is jacked into AC or if the optional battery is clipped on. If you're going to carry the Concert around, though, be aware it weighs nearly four pounds with the battery. According to Riva, Concert also is "splash resistant" so it should survive pool-adjacent placement, but it doesn't have an official iPXX rating.
#Riva speaker portable
If the spot you want to temporarily place your Concert is AC-challenged, the optional clip-on Riva battery pack gives you around 15 hours of portable listening at top volume. The extra Riva Concert battery pack adds another 15 hours of listening GearBrain You can also remotely push-to-talk voice control a Concert via the Riva Voice app to play songs or adjust the volume from another room. With an update, Concert also will include the new Alexa Guard, a new home security feature that lets the speaker listen for and alerts you to unusual noises it hears such as breaking glass, a smoke/CO2 alarm or in-home security alarm. Riva Concert from the top, its controls GearBrainĬoncert can voice-access Amazon Music, Pandora and Spotify Premium, as does Sonos, and a variety of other music services that can be linked to your Amazon Alexa account.Ĭoncert also supports Alexa Calling and Alexa Messaging, but Sonos One does not, at least not yet. When you mute the speaker, the logo lights red, but isn't bright enough to be a distracting sleep impediment in a dark bedroom. When you intone "Alexa," the Riva logo on the front of the Concert lights up rather than a top perimeter LED normal on other smart speakers, which can be an advantage if you're lying down and can't see the top of the speaker. You then pair the Concert to your Amazon account. Set-up is nearly as simple as that you pair the Concert to your smartphone via the speaker's own Wi-Fi network, then pair the speaker to your home Wi-Fi network. Printed on the inside flap of said box is an unmissable six-step set-up guide that boils down to "download the Riva app, plug in the Concert, follow the instructions in the app." Riva wants to make sure you get the set-up right right out of the box. Like Sonos One, Concert is available is either white or black – well, gray grill with a black top and bottom – versions. The Riva Concert (left) up against the Sonos One (right) GearBrainĪt 5 inches wide x 4.87 inches deep x 7 inches high, Concert is a smidge larger than the Sonos One (4.69 x 4.69 x 6.36 inches) the optional Riva battery base boosts the Riva by an extra inch. So is the Riva Concert a "better" speaker than the Sonos One? Since each speaker has its pros and cons, which one is "better" comes down to how and where you plan on using your smart speaker. Concert is one of two of Riva's new Voice-series smart speakers imbued with Amazon Alexa the second Voice model is the larger Stadium ($449).
#Riva speaker Bluetooth
The company was founded by Rikki Farr, a legendary British concert promoter and producer who worked with a who's who of dinosaur rock acts who desired to transfer that experience and his love of music to Riva's compact, affordable Bluetooth speakers. If you've never heard of Riva, its origins are firmly based in sound reproduction excellence.