Denon AVR-X4300H and multi zone audio with AirPlay/Spotify question

[Kryten]

I asked these to Denon but did not really get a clear answer:

Can I play Spotify (Connect)/AirPlay etc. via Zone 2/3 analog output (speakers directly connected) when zone 1 is playing back HDMI video (TiVo) to connected TV?

Originally Posted by Denon

Yes if the airplay or spotify is initiated in the main zone first then mirrored to zone 2

2. Can the Zone 2/3 be part of the Heos control/configuration so it can be a Heos endpoint for playback separate from Zone 1?

Originally Posted by Denon

No one network chip no individual streams

3. Can zone 2/3 volume be controlled from the iOS remote control application / HEOS application?

Originally Posted by Denon

heos app yes.

Does anyone have any first hand experience with these units? The 3x00 through 7x00 to know what they can and cannot do around this?

I want to play spotify or airplay outside on the Zone 2 speakers and control it from phone while Zone 1 (Main) inside has the TiVo on it for TV watching inside with 7.1/5.1 audio.

I think the control part is ok as can just use the Spotify app or iOS apps to control the play / skip etc and maybe even volume, but want to make sure I can have these going separately.

If not the Denon then any other receivers that can do this? Need their US versions though.

[neilalford]

I have a AVR-X4300H set up with 3 zones (projector in lounge, TV in bedroom and speakers in study, plus a separate Heos 1) and I think their answers sound correct.

You can definitely control the volume in different zones from the apps.

As for the Heos playback stuff, the 3 Zones of the amp are all classed as 1 "room" so all play the same Heos audio, unlike the Heos 1 which is a separate room, but the Heos playback can be toggled on and off individually for each zone, I would assume that therefore you could start playback in the main "room" and then turn on just the zones you wanted, with the other zones then able to be switched to different non-Heos sources.

I will try and remember to test it when I get home but have to say I find the system seems to work really well, especially with a Harmony Remote and a few Echo dots thrown into the mix, as the Heos 1 works as a Bluetooth speaker for one of the dots and the Echo voice control lets me turn on audio in the other zones easily i.e. I can just say "Turn on PC audio" and that turns on my Zone 3 speakers in the study with input set to the PC. Plus there's meant to be proper Alexa integration coming to the Heos system soon (well, first quarter of this year, but I'm sure it will turn up eventually)

[Kryten]

Thanks! Hopefully it will do what I want based on that. Just want to have streamed audio to outside while able to watch TV inside

[neilalford]

OK, just ran a test, where I did the following all at once (it sounded lovely!).

Zone 1 - Living Room - SkyQ - Audio and Video
Zone 2 - Bedroom - Blu-Ray - Audio and Video
Zone 3 - Study - Heos (James) - Audio
Heos 1 - Bedroom - Heos (R.E.M) - Audio

So, you can definitely do what you want, the system is pretty flexible and quite capable of playing from multiple different sources at once, including two different video streams and different audio tracks in different Heos rooms, I think the only limitation is that you can't play different Heos tracks through the three main zones at once.

[Kryten]

Thanks! This seems to do exactly what I want. Plus got a great price at the moment ($699!)

[neilalford]

Oops, just realised mine is the X6300H not the X4300H (got confused as my previous Denon was from then 4xxx range), but checking the specs I think the 4300 will operate in exactly the same way just has less power and less speaker outputs but all the zoning stuff and HDMI zoning sounds identical.

[Kryten]

Thanks. The 6300H was my choice until I saw the exceptional price/deal on the 4300. Maybe I will hold out for the 6300 given that the new Xx400 series are starting to come out.