Lindy Wireless USB Audio Sender

If you have lots of music on a computer or like listening to internet radio it’s useful to be able to listen to that sound elsewhere in the home than just by the computer.

Wireless media streamers do this job but can be expensive and complicated, so Lindy’s Wireless USB Audio Sender does a similar job in a simplified manner.

It is a two-piece kit: a sender that connects to your computer over a USB connection, and a wireless receiver that connects to a hi-fi, amplifier or standalone speakers (or even headphones).

The receiver has two connectors, a 3.5mm stereo audio socket and a stereo phono cable connection, both of which are standard for audio connections.

Setting it up on Windows, Linux or Mac computers was quick and simple, primarily because there was no need for extra software. To begin listening to music files from your computer, plug the USB transmitter into the computer and connect the wireless receiver to the hi-fi or amplifier.

The USB device will appear on the computer as a USB Speaker: select this (in Windows it’s in the audio devices control panel) and it is ready to go.

The receiver does need power, supplied by a USB-to-mains adapter. It is a shame there is no battery option because this limits the device essentially to indoor use where it might have been good for the garden on a sunny day.

Even though it has an excellent range of around 50 metres, having to drag out a power extension lead will be a hassle.

The device operates on the same kind of radio waves as wireless networks and wireless keyboards and mice, so watch out for interference.

The Lindy Wireless USB Audio Sender excels in the quality of the signal that it transmits. We used the same set of speakers, connected direct to a computer at first and then to the Audio Sender, first placed in the same room as the computer and then in another room. There was no audible change, in sound quality or volume, in either case.

Overall, this is a well-thought out, simple-to-use product that provides great results at a good price.