- The Victrola Stream Carbon, Victrola Stream Pearl, Victrola Stream Onyx and Victrola Stream Sapphire are the first record players to be certified as Roon Ready Relay by Roon Labs LLC.
From the very beginning, the US company Victrola has seen itself as a developer and producer of record players that can be easily integrated into any modern living environment and are therefore seen as part of a modern lifestyle. Although Victrola’s turntables also offer Bluetooth, they are primarily designed to impress with integrated WiFi, as this makes them part of a multi-room Hi-res audio streaming system.
Until now, the company has relied on UPnP and was content with the Works with Sonos certification, thus relying on the streaming system from Sonos Inc. into which drives such as Victrola Stream Carbon, Victrola Stream Pearl, Victrola Stream Onyx and also the Victrola Stream Sapphire could be integrated. All of these are now record players that can also be part of Roon from the US software company Roon Labs LLC, as they are certified as Roon Ready Relay.
High-performance WiFi and Bluetooth player
Victrola offers a wide range of audio systems, the majority of which are record players. To be fair, these turntables are designed to appeal to beginners in particular, but are nevertheless solid solutions.
For those models that have Bluetooth and WiFi, the manufacturer even speaks of High-performance WiFi and Bluetooth Player, whereby, as we have already mentioned, there are four models available, namely the Victrola Stream Carbon, Victrola Stream Pearl, Victrola Stream Onyx and the Victrola Stream Sapphire.
The exact names of the drives are Victrola VPT-4000 Stream Sapphire, Victrola VPT-3000 Stream Carbon, Victrola VPT-3000 Stream Pearl and Victrola VPT-2000 Stream Onyx.
All solutions are initially united by a chassis made of MDF, aluminium and plastic with an elegant design and clear lines. Depending on the model, the turntables are completely black, partly black combined with silver or partly white combined with silver, or silver and walnut veneer.
Drive units with belt drive
All four models are designed as belt-driven turntables, with the manufacturer emphasising the use of a noiseless DC brushless motor and, of course, electronic speed control, allowing you to choose between 33 1/3 and 45 revolutions per minute at the touch of a button. The platter is manufactured using a die-cast aluminium process and a matching rubber mat is used.
Carbon fibre tonearm fitted with cartridges from Ortofon A/S or Audio-Technica Ltd.
The tonearm, which can be found on all drives ex works, has an aluminium tonearm base and a carbon arm and ends in an aluminium headshell that can be removed thanks to the SME-compatible bayonet.
The Victrola VPT-4000 Stream Sapphire, Victrola VPT-3000 Stream Carbon and Victrola VPT-3000 Stream Pearl models are fitted ex works with a cartridge system from Ortofon A/S, whereby the Victrola VPT-4000 Stream Sapphire is equipped with an Ortofon 2M Blue, the Victrola VPT-3000 Stream Carbon and Victrola VPT-3000 Stream Pearl with an Ortofon 2M Red. With the Victrola VPT-2000 Stream Onyx model, you can choose between an Ortofon OM5E or an Audio-Technica AT-VM95E from Audio Technica Ltd.
Integrated phono preamp, integrated A/D converter and Bluetooth
All models have an integrated phono preamplifier and can therefore be connected directly to any audio system via Line In using an RCA cable without any further investment. As if that wasn’t enough, all drives also have an integrated A/D converter, which processes signals at 24 bit and 48 kHz and passes them on via Bluetooth, for example.
Network integration via cable or WiFi
All of the drives can also be integrated into the network and initially function as dlna-certified UPnP streaming systems, providing audio signals in FLAC format at 24 bit and 48 kHz.
The integration into the network can be done either via cable and thus an RJ45 Ethernet interface, but also via an integrated WiFi module that complies with the IEEE 802.11ac standard, as the manufacturer explains in the data sheet.
Victrola offers a suitable app for the Victrola VPT-4000 Stream Sapphire, Victrola VPT-3000 Stream Carbon, Victrola VPT-3000 Stream Pearl and Victrola VPT-2000 Stream Onyx drives, namely the Victrola Stream App, which is available for Apple iOS and Google Android.
Works with Sonos, Roon Ready Relay
All drives equipped with a streaming option from Victrola are certified as so-called Works with Sonos solutions. This means that the record players can be used directly as a separate zone in a multi-room streaming system from Sonos Inc. and thus the playback of records can be transferred to any other zone. This means that you can listen to a record throughout the entire house if you wish.
This also applies to solutions based on Roon from the software company Roon Labs LLC, as the system has been expanded to include Roon Ready Relay systems.
Roon Ready Relay is the term used by Roon Labs LLC. products that can make content available to other zones via the network, away from the central Roon server, which is always the central interface at Roon.
In this specific case, the Victrola VPT-4000 Stream Sapphire, Victrola VPT-3000 Stream Carbon, Victrola VPT-3000 Stream Pearl and Victrola VPT-2000 Stream Onyx drives are all certified as Roon Ready Relay, they are the first of their kind and are used to play a record via Roon. This not only includes Roon Ready devices, it also applies to systems that rely on Apple AirPlay and Google Chromecast.
Prices and availability
The drives from Victrola are already available directly from the company’s web shop, and some web shops in Germany also stock them. The prices can be found in the table at the end of the article.
Getting to the point
The drives offered by Victrola are clearly aimed at beginners. They are aimed at music lovers who do not see a record player as an audiophile solution, but primarily as a lifestyle product and want to use it in the most flexible way possible, for example via Bluetooth, but also via a network. Not only does UPnP serve as the basis for streaming, the Victrola VPT-4000 Stream Sapphire, Victrola VPT-3000 Stream Carbon, Victrola VPT-3000 Stream Pearl and Victrola VPT-2000 Stream Onyx solutions are also certified as Works with Sonos and are the first products to be labelled as Roon Ready Relay by Roon Labs LLC., which allows a record to be played on any Roon Ready Device, but also on any system integrated with Roon via Apple AirPlay and Google Chromecast.
| Product | Victrola VPT-4000 Stream Sapphire, Victrola VPT-3000 Stream Pearl, Victrola VPT-3000 Stream Carbon and Victrola VPT-2000 Stream Onyx |
|---|---|
| Price | Victrola VPT-4000 Stream Sapphire € 1.199,- Victrola VPT-3000 Stream Pearl € 999,- Victrola VPT-3000 Stream Carbon € 999,- Victrola VPT-2000 Stream Onyx € 799,- |
