We purchased the Audioengine B1 Bluetooth Music Receiver so that our expert reviewer could thoroughly test and review it. Read on for our full product review.

The Audioengine brand as a whole is known for its professional speakers and audio gear, so you’d expect professional-quality output from the B1, and you do. It’s a device aimed at two people: audiophiles who want the best analog audio and top-notch compression codecs, and audio professionals. If you run a studio, you’ll likely have studio monitor speakers, but if your clients want to quickly stream an audio sample during a work session, having a high-quality option that plugs straight into your pro setup (and doesn’t compromise the quality of your speakers) can be super handy. Here’s how this thing works.

The first thing you’ll notice about this receiver is the visible and obvious antenna sticking out of the front. This part of the construction serves a very functional purpose (we’ll get to that later), but it adds a distinctive aesthetic flair, as most Bluetooth receivers don’t have an antenna at all. Other than that, it’s quite small and sleek.

The bulk of the chassis is brushed, slate gray metal. The front and back plates, which house all the I/O and controls, are either dark gray or sleek black. The power button on the front doubles as the blue LED indicator, and the AE logo is painted in a soft white. It makes for a pretty futuristic look, more of a statement than most options in this category.