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t3ch Review: Aperion Audio's HAL - Home Audio Link
Ricardo Trejo
Aperion Audio’s Home Audio Link, otherwise known as the “HAL”, is a means to stream audio wirelessly from one audio source (MP3 player, Computer etc.) to a receiver, or audio system, without the need of lengthy wires going around your place. It sounds like a great idea but how does it stack up? We got our hands on the HAL and answered that question for ourselves.
Product
Aperion Audio’s HAL - Home Audio Link packaged with 2 HAL Dongles, 2 RCA Plugs, 1 Audio Plug, 2 USB A/C adapters.
What it says it does
Stream audio from any audio source (MP3 player, Computer, etc.) to a receiver or audio system wirelessly for up to 100 feet.
My experience
When I first heard of the HAL system the one thing that popped into my head was my dad. Why? Well, at my parents’ place my father works in the garage and has an older yet still working audio system. Their computer has a ton of music on it, mostly Oldies from the 50’s and 60’s, and those songs being in the house does him no good when he needs to work on his project cars and needs some uplifting tunes - Grease Lightning style. From there I figured that my dad couldn’t possibly be the only one with this problem, so I thought I’d give this thing a try.
To give some background; my parents’ place has quite a bit of land - a good half acre - and their house is on one side, while the garage is on the other- a good 70 to 100 feet away. We were really going to testing the limits of the device.
Setting the Home Audio Link system (HAL) was easy - first I plugged the “Send Dongle” into an open USB port on their PC, then I opened up iTunes and started playing Johnny B. Good. When hooked up to a PC or Laptop the dongle gets its power from the computer - no need for an outlet.
On the receiving side, back in the garage, I used one of the USB A/C adapters to plug the “Receiving Dongle” into an electrical outlet for power, then I used one of the included RCA hook up’s to plug the dongle into two open aux inputs on the back of my dad’s stereo. After setting the stereo to AUX the only thing left to do was pair up the dongles, which is done by pressing the LINK button on each of them until both flashing LED lights become solid.
Within seconds we were listening to crisp, classic hits despite being a good third of a football field away. There wasn’t any hiss or static that we noticed and it sounded like we were listening to the radio - sorry, no CD quality sound here. It was a quick and painless solution to the dilemma, however the only issue we faced was the shortage of slack on the USB wire coming from the dongles themselves - they’re just WAY too short. The lack of wire is especially noticeable if you’re going to need to plug it into a wall outlet for power since the dongle will end up hanging freely. But other than that I loved it, and if you’re okay with the $150 price tag then I’d say go for it.
Pro’s: Transmits clearly over long distances, works with PC/Mac computers, radio quality sound but sufficient, no static or hiss
Con’s: A/C wires are too short, a bit pricey
How much: $149.00
Where to buy: Aperion Audio
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