Product Description Mass Fidelity's Relay streams music wirelessly from any Bluetooth enabled device, such as a smartphone or tablet, to any audio system. It allows listeners to enjoy a limitless universe of high definition digital music through their existing hi-fi audio system. Relay is a true high fidelity component that brings out the full sound quality potential that is hidden inside the Bluetooth protocol. From the Manufacturer Ultra-fidelity performance Instead of letting your traditional stereo system sit in the corner collecting dust, catapult it into the 21st century with the Relay. The Relay allows you to stream music from your smartphone, tablet or laptop to ANY sound system in true high fidelity. Who says you can't teach old dogs new tricks? Instead of letting your traditional stereo system sit in the corner collecting dust, catapult it into the 21st century with the Relay. The Relay allows you to stream music from your smartphone, tablet or laptop to ANY sound system in true high fidelity. Easy pairing Pairing any smart device to Relay is a snap. By taking advantage of modern wireless streaming protocols the Relay doesn’t require any external software to be added to your device in order to give you full control. Unlimited music The Relay can play any audio source a Bluetooth-enabled device can access, opening up a virtually unlimited choice of music to enjoy through your audio system. Freedom to move Free yourself from the chains of wired music sources. Relay allows you to control the music of your choice while you move around your home. Go ahead, dance! (nobody's looking) Solid beauty Relay looks totally at home sitting next to even the costliest and most attractive home audio components. Its enclosure is hewn from a solid block of aerospace grade aluminum, the result of an elaborate manufacturing process beginning with the use of premium raw materials at the smelter and ending with precision milling of the surface treatments. Even though it’s small enough to hide away you’ll want to display it proudly out in the open. There’s nothing wrong with showing off your cool stuff. About the Startup Describe your product in 3 words.Elegant. Limitless. SimpleWhere did you get the inspiration for your product?We at Mass Fidelity are music lovers who appreciate the freedom and choice afforded by smart devices and who also appreciate the involvement and emotion that only a high fidelity audio system can reveal. We were determined to find a way of having it all – convenience and fidelity. It is from this inspiration that Relay was born…What differentiates your product from similar products out there?The relay is a premium audio device in every sense and is a result of over 3 years of intense R&D. The Relay’s performance is superior to other Bluetooth DACs in nearly every measurable area most notably for its exceptional range, precise digital processing and even the premium audio cables included with the unit.Tell us about the best and most challenging parts of the creation process.In the beginning of the development process, we set out to not only meet, but exceed, the analog wired output of an iOS device. By the end of the development cycle, we began to achieve our notoriety by directly comparing sound quality of the Relay against highly priced CD players. It was a dream come true to see the positive impression we were leaving on our earliest customers.
M**G
Not good enough
There were periods when this worked well for me, to stream music from my Chromebook to my old school stereo. it's great when it works easily and reliably but Bluetooth connections are frequently a hassle - it's seems like it's hard to get the Relay's receiver to drop connections to other devices. Audio is sometimes glitchy due to poor reception. I'm giving up on this unit - I have another Bluetooth DAC that works great.
B**X
Nice solid, dependable item
Bluetooth reception is very solid. Line-of-sight isn't required. You can bring your mobile device into the next room if you'd like without any audio dropout.Setup is very quick and easy, and I like the elegant design. The DAC is of nice quality, though just a bit less than that contained within the Arcam rBlink. However, the Relay has no issues with blasts of static as is the case with the rBlink, so at the moment this is the more attractive choice of the two.The press of a button allows you to bypass the Relay's DAC and send the digital signal on to another DAC via a coaxial cable. That's how I have it set up. I have the Relay send my iPad's signal to my OPPO Blu Ray player, and it sounds great. If you don't own another DAC, using the Relay's DAC produces very good sound in its own right.I've deducted a star because I think that $250 is just a little too expensive for this type of item. If it were priced around $200 I'd give it five stars.
J**D
Works great until it doesn't
This is what by today's standard should be a simple device to produce. It would be worth $250 if it worked reliably. It does not. I am experiencing dropouts several times a week, which is annoying. My former analog device from Belkin never failed me until it dropped dead after 10 years of service. That unit was $113. jedthefish@mac.com
B**N
Pricey but very good.
It is tough to choose this kind of a product due to the wide range in prices and similar functions available out there. I settled on this as my final choice after trying out couple of other types of Bluetooth receivers for my setup. I did cringe at the price tag, after all it is Bluetooth! but the proof was in the sound. The setup I have is a simple 2-channel music system. I have painstakingly crafted this setup for the holy grail of warm analog sound (in other words a wannabe audiophile). I have CD/Bluray, Vinyl and now Bluetooth as the sound source for my music. The reason I mention this is to give you a reference on where and how I made the distinction before settling on this model. My setup does reveal clear details in the source and therefore clarity as well as any weakness in it. For that reason, Bluetooth was a challenge for me so far as I found most receivers lacking in dimension, punch and just basic listening pleasure. I consider my setup low-end hifi and I have not spent huge amount of money behind it. How does this unit compare to others? The soundstage is immediately wider with this unit. The other units I tested came close in clarity/loudness of the music but the soundstage was still compressed and in the center. This unit opened up the soundstage and made it sound more like I was listening to a CD. I do have an APTx capable phone which I have paired with it and according to specs it is making a difference. I could not tell any difference when I paired with a non-APTx laptop. But in doing A/B listening tests between this unit and the other Bluetooth units, I heard a clear difference in soundstage which settled it for me. I have not noticed any drops or pairing issues with it so far in couple of weeks of use. The packaging and quality of the unit itself is outstanding but at the pricepoint one would expect that but it is nice that it is present. Looks are secondary to sound quality for me but this unit does blend in nicely in my setup. I recommend this unit for the right setup as I do feel that in a casual listening setup I doubt that any difference will be heard between this and other Bluetooth units. The best advice is still trust your ears and go with what sounds good to you.Hope this helps.
A**R
didn't work
I bought this product a couple of months ago for a high-quality music system that I own. I did not open it until months after I got it because I did not try the music system until then. When I opened it, I plugged it in and nothing happened. No lights, No sound. I tried to return it but the return window is now closed and now I am stuck with a 200 dollar paperweight.
J**N
Wow!
Wow! Upgrading from a (equivalent, if you will) $35 Logitech BT D/A and this is an immediately OBVIOUS improvement (both harmonics and imaging).FWIW: iPhone 5 /w iTunes content through MF to Yamaha (Pure Direct) RX-A2020 and then off to KEF Reference / Velodyne speakers.
B**Y
Cut the Cord!!!!
Oh my goodness! So I just got this beautiful silver aluminum beasty with instructions which read sets up in one minute and I was super scepticle but I promise you it's true. Take this out of the box, screw in the tiny antenna, plug in the power cord, hook up your RCA cables (all included by the way) push the power button, hit the Bluetooth thing on your device and look for your Relay and Bam your listening to music. I am throwing back adult beverages listening to Joey DeFrancesco on my iPhone 5c (music phone) from across the room (20 feet) from my MacIntosh MC7270 while it sends beautifully DACed (is that a word?) through my Klipsch Heritage speakers! I couldn't be more thrilled! Now I can skip all the obnoxious YouTube ads without jumping up every three or four songs...awesome! Get you one now before Trump finds out, buys the company and ruins it! :)
A**M
Does not work...
The unit I bought does not work. I use a high-end Meitner MA-1 DAC so wanted to use the Relay with digital coax out. Followed instructions and pushed the on/off button for 5 seconds until the LED shone orange to Indicate that the device would now output digital signals from both RCA jacks. Neither worked and the Meitner receives no signal. The digital output on my Mass Fidelity Relay does not work.Just so everyone is aware I have double checked the input on the same cable on the Meitner from CD player and Oppo BDP 103D and it works perfectly - so the problem is with the Mass Fidelity product.Not impressed as getting one in South Africa is expensive and ended up costing over $500. Very disappointing. Shoddy quality control on what is supposed to be a premium product.
Trustpilot
2 months ago
1 day ago
