[witchdoctor]

So after my last firmware upgrade, i get no audio out anymore. I can connect to it via the stream app, but get zero output. Also, the button on top don't seem to light up. I searched online but don't seem to find anything useful wrt to this issue. Oh, another thing i noticed was that when i click on the critical listening mode, this klipsch gate device is marked as "unsupported device".

Anyone experienced this, and/or know how to reset the device? I really liked it while it worked ...

I started using DYS Play-Fi app instead of the Klipsch app and noticed it does hardware updates. The Klipsch Gate has two apps, the DTS app to run the system and the Klipsch Utility app to update the hardware. Have you used the Klipsch Utility app to update hardware?

[Cacophonix]

So I put the device into the update mode and reinstalled the firmware using the Klipsch utility app. That seemed to have done the trick. The buttons light up, and audio is flowing again. Connected to my stealth 8 monitors, sound is mind staggeringly good!

 I just wish they had made a full featured streaming preamp with a couple of analog inputs and Bluetooth capability.

[witchdoctor]

So I put the device into the update mode and reinstalled the firmware using the Klipsch utility app. That seemed to have done the trick. The buttons light up, and audio is flowing again. Connected to my stealth 8 monitors, sound is mind staggeringly good!

 I just wish they had made a full featured streaming preamp with a couple of analog inputs and Bluetooth capability.

Great news on your Gate updating.. The Powergate has analog inputs, digital and USB inputs and bluetooth. It also has a sub out and analog outputs if you want to use it as a pre.
There is also a Paradigm pre (Link) that is part of the Playfi ecosystem which also has ARC.

https://youtu.be/_Ksk1e6lXAU

[nycjag]

Hey, there, everyone:

So I bought the gate about a month ago to replace my chromecast due to the gate supporting the 192 files. I also upgraded to Amazon Ultra HD and did a trial run of Qobuz.

A few things, on both the Amazon Ultra HD and the Qobuz, the gate can't consistently stream the higher data rate required to stream the 192 files. My wifi router can hit speeds of 180MBS so that isn't the issue. The 96k files stream fine when I use Qobuz. If I try to stream the 192 files on Qobuz using the transfer playback button it will then successfully play it. However, when I hit that button, the music doesn't sound exactly the same and I am not convinced it's 192k file.

I am using an Android Phone Samsung s9 with the latest operating system.

If I try to stream Norah Jones' Come Away with me album, it's close, but on Tom Petty's Damn the Torpedoes it sounds brighter, more compressed than when using Qobuz from within the play-fi app

Amazon HD does not have a transfer from phone button, however. Additionally. while the Amazon music app itself has a button that lets you cast direct to the gate and it says in the app that it is in ultra HD, I suspect it's not that simple or true.

I emailed play-fi support and they were willing and tried to be helpful, but I am still not satisfied.

They claim that your android device grabs the full digital file off the wifi network and then simply relays the pure digital file through your router's wifi signal, essentially creating a home intranet. Your phone's DAC isn't used at all. I mostly believe this.

When you do transfer from phone, they claim it is coming directly from the music service's servers (QoBuz in that service's case). However, on certain recordings and possibly all of them, the file just doesn't sounds the same after you press that button).

I suspect when you cast directly from the amazon music hd app, since there is no way to enter the required critical listening mode for the 192k feature on the gate, that even though the Amazon music app says UltraHD, it's not even close. When you turn the android device off, the music still plays, so it's definitely coming directly off the internet as opposed to your phone. Additionally, since the "transfer from phone" feature was introduced when they integrated play-fi with Alexa, I wonder if the whole backend here is powered by Alexa, in which case, the best it could be is a 320 k file.

Sorry for the long post, but does anyone know how I can get a better sustained intranet connection for the gate so it can play the 192 files from my phone, and also is there anyway to see what size file the gate is actually playing? I can't quite seem to find it when I look at my router settings. There should be a way to see how much data the gate is actually pulling down...

Thanks for any help.

[witchdoctor]

HeyNYC Jag, you can get an ethernet/usb adapter for $10. Just plug it into the USB port on the back of the Gate and connect via ethernet. I find Amazon HD sounds great using critical listening mode. I checked today and if you watch your device you will see 192/24K (or whatever else file you are streaming) flash at the top of the album art just as the track begins and then it fades out to confirm the stream you are getting. Once you use a wired connection you should have no problem:

https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Ethernet-Adapter-Supporting/dp/B00ET4KHJ2/ref=sr_1_4?crid=23T2MQN4GD4MF&keywords=amazon+usb+to+ethernet+adapter&qid=1572821277&sprefix=amazon+usb+to+etherne%2Caps%2C216&sr=8-4

[annamarykahn]

so, there is no fix for the wifi now working like it's supposed to? i need to purchase an usb to ethernet adapter & run ethernet cable in order for the unit to work like its supposed to? my ethernet switches are located on the 2nd floor & the unit is located on the first floor & am not going to run cables

i haven't experimented as much as i want to with it, but i can stream directly to the unit via amazon alexa but there are drop outs when i stream through playfi on my desktop computer ... so the problem appears to be with the playfi software

[witchdoctor]

IDK that the wifi is broken, 192 files are just bigger than 44 files so need more bandwidth and generally sound better via ethernet than wifi even if you didn't get drop outs IMO. I spent $30 on my Gate, $50 on my Mogami 3.5 mm to RCA cable and $10 for an ethernet adpter. All in it is still less than $100 and sounds great to my ears.

[nycjag]

Thanks for the responses witchdoctor. I had previously seen where folks used a USB ethernet adapter, but not practical for me.

I don't follow where you say that it will sound better over ethernet than wifi even if the wifi has no dropouts. It would be one thing if the unit itself was reporting back to amazon's server that there isn't enough bandwidth for the 192 file so then amazon's server would then automatically downgrade to a file that requires less bandwidth.

However, since the play-fi just works over your home router over the intranet through your phone unless you are streaming through Alexa service, then this doesn't apply. And the Alexa service only uses 320 mp3. As far as I know the phone takes the amazon hd file and tried to feed the raw digital file back through your home network to the play-fi unit. It completely bypasses the phones DAC converter.

Also, since my home wifi network can stream 4k video with no problem using the exact same android phone (that is the video file is on a cloud server I use, it pulls it down from the internet to the phone then distributes to my chromecast through the same scenario as amazon hd critical ilstening does with the gate), then there must be an issue with the gate's wifi antenna or on the software side.

I can stream video as described above AND dolby surround. massive files, with no problem. In fact, my ethernet set up can speeds of "only 40mb whereas the wifi crushes at 160MB. If the ethernet connection is the solution, then the gate's wifi is seriously not good.

Has anyone in this forum successfully used anyone's 192 hd hi-res service (qoguz or amazon hd) successfully using wifi only?

[nycjag]

One more question. Does anyone know when you are using the amazon android music app, and you press the cast button to play directly from the amazon app to the the gate, what kind of file the app is sending to the gate?

Thanks.

[annamarykahn]

since the usb to ethernet adapter works, i was wondering if a usb wifi adapter would work & was wondering if anyone's tried that?

[witchdoctor]

Update- I have a Gate in the kitchen that streams via wifi and had no trouble streaming 192 files yesterday using amazon HD. Could this be an amazon issue that they are working on?

[annamarykahn]

i'm able to stream 192khz from a nas using alexa with no drop outs

the echo dot is outside, the gate is inside, so there should be more issues going through another wall to the dot outside

so, my wifi has enough power to stream 192khz outside, the gate should be more robust, but isn't

if the issue is the playfi software we can only hope that alexa will be able, in the future, to directly stream to the gate, not through playfi

[annamarykahn]

as an experiment i tried plugging a couple usb wifi adapters into the gate ... nothing happened ... apparently usb to ethernet works but not usb to wifi

just thought i'd share

maybe other usb-wifi may work, but those 2 that i tried didn't ...

[nycjag]

Hey, there, now when I stream Amazon HD in critical listening mode, I can no longer see what type of file is being used whereas recently there was an update that allowed this, althought the streaming was choppy, now no longer choppy but critical and regular mode sound pretty much same.

[witchdoctor]

I haven't had any dropouts recently either. Try playing one of amazons hirez playlists to confirm you are playing them without issue

[incko]

Hello im need assistant

Yesterday I received a long-awaited package with Powergate, connected it to WI-F and opened the Utility application, pressed the update button, but apparently something went wrong. Now nothing lights up on the front panel, I tried to enter the update mode by pressing the power button for 5 seconds. It didn't work at the moment, the wi-fi light is flashing every second. Tell me what needs to be done in order for the amplifier to work again? Factory reset does not work!

im watched video about firmware update on stream three via usb service port, is there the same update or restore procedure for powergate?

[wendelltate]

I am currently using a CCA and am looking at moving up the ladder.  How would this Gate compare with a Rasberry PI with a Digione HAT?  Thanks for all of the information on this.

[pinkfloyd4ever]

I have no experience with the Klipsch Gate, but I can say that when I upgraded from a Chromecast Audio to an Allo DigiOne, we got a clear and significant increase in sound quality that was immediately noticable. My wife and I both agreed that it was a big improvement. If you keep your DigiOne's OS up to date (I use Volumio), the connections are very reliable.

Again, my only experience with similar products is with the CCA, so I have no input on the Gate other than from what I read here in this thread.
I know John Darko loves the Digione though, and he has experience with a lot of different streamers, many more than I've heard, many in the several thousand dollar price range. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BUjj2mZ4o0

[jcschlic]

Klipsch makes the Gate Streamer as part of their wireless, whole house audio ensemble utilizing the DTS Play-Fi ecosystem. https://www.soundandvision.com/content/klipsch-audio-goes-all-way-dts-play-fi

I purchased the Gate streamer on Amazon for $25 (MSRP $179) because I wanted to have the ability to play the same music in my media room throughout the house. It has a line in port and a line out port and you operate it with a Klipsch streaming app you can download to an apple,android device or a kindle tablet. The concept behind this product is to add streaming capability to legacy products. I connected the analog in to my Marantz 7702 processor in the media room and then connected the other one to the line in port on my Paradigm Active Shift A2 speaker in the kitchen. I setup the app, updated the software, connected my streaming services and my NAS drive music server and it worked as expected.

After the Gate broke in a couple days I did some critical listening in my media room in 2 channel "pure direct" mode. I was surprised at what I was hearing. This sounded like an analog source more than a digital source. Then I remembered, this is from Klipsch and maybe they voiced it to sound like vinyl. The music is sooo relaxed when you play it through the Gate it just flows.
Out of curiosity I took the Gate from the kitchen into my office system two have a A/B comparison with the Blusound Node. I only listened to HIFI tracks, not MQA to make it a fair comparison. The Node is a great product and I have enjoyed it for over a year.
I preferred the Gate, so much so that the only reason I am keeping the Node is for MQA. The Gate seemed to capture music that the node left out. The bass seemed fuller and smoother through the Gate, in the Node it was a little more "boomy". You could hear the inhalations and and breathing between phrases in soft jazz singers through the Gate, it seemed this subtle information was left out through the Node. After listening to the Gate I feel like I really want to compare a lot more music but I think this is a sleeper product that was tripped up by the software. Klipsch released this product in 2016 and that version of the software was not ready for primetime. The 2019 version has gone through multiple updates since then and I liked it as much as Bluos for navigating music playlists and better than Bluos for controlling my whole house system. The Gate has a "critical listening" mode you need to engage for listening to hirez and I found I preferred that mode for Tidal HIFI tracjs as well. When you use that mode you are limited to streaming to one device.

My next step will be to upgrade the wall wart 5V power supply with iFi's iPower and get a Mogami 3.5 mm to RCA cable as all my interconnects are Mogami.

There are other DTS Play-Fi streamers available from Polk, Definitive Technology, Arcam and Mcintosh. These other streamers have digital ports so you can connect them to a DAC. I like this Klipsch sound so much I have 0 desire to change it out but would be curious to compare. Overall I would recommend this product as a streamer, even if you don't want to get into whole house audio. BTW, when Quboz becomes available in the US this device is hirez capable. The Quboz app shows up in the streaming software but it isn't available in the US yet. Here is a link to the Gate review that Quboz did:

https://www.qobuz.com/ie-en/info/hi-fi/bancs-d-essai/klipsch-gate-a-streamer-with-great179353

Did the iFi iPower end up making a big difference in the sound quality?