Review on Enhance Your Audio Experience with Audioengine W3 Wireless Audio Adapter: Low Latency, Audiophile DAC, Extended Range, Stream from Multiple Devices to Speakers and Subwoofer by Ann Thompson

The W3 is a nifty device that can wirelessly connect almost any device to another (most likely powered speakers). If you mainly listen to MP3s and especially pop/rock, this might be the perfect device. With more complex music, however, some details are lost in translation. When running A/B W3 versus outputting it directly to my receiver, I noticed a noticeable "centering" of the stereo sound and therefore an effective loss of stereo separation. It's something you might not notice unless you listen critically to the picture, sound production and spatial cues. I especially noticed this on Vangelis' soundtrack for the movie Blade Runner, which has a lot of airy reverberation. With the W3, most of it seemed to be reduced to a mono signal. This may be due to internal resolution and bandwidth limitations resulting in a loss of higher resolution information. That said, it was perfectly fine for casual listening, although there were a few connection issues when only gritty, thin sound got through. For these reasons I returned it. I imagine the much more expensive Audioengine D2 Premium 24-bit Wireless DAC will be more in the "audiophile" range, but I'm not ready to shell out that amount of money for convenience just yet. Let's hope that in a year or two, 24-bit DACs and wireless devices will become more common and prices will drop 2-4x across the board, more where they should be.