Yamaha MusicCast 50 Speaker Review

The Yamaha MusicCast is a sleek, oval-shaped speaker meant to sit horizontally. It has a plastic, glossy finish on its top, and its touch-sensitive controls and indicator lights are on its matte plastic rim. You can find the MusicCast in three colors, 'White', 'Black', and 'Birch'.

The Yamaha MusicCast 50 isn't very portable. While it isn't very large or heavy, it needs to remain wired to a power outlet for it to work, so you can't easily take it outdoors with you.

This speaker's build quality isn't bad and feels nice and solid. There's a metal grille protecting its drivers, and the speaker sits on a silicone base with four small feet. Its inputs are located on its rear, and its tactile controls are on its top. That said, the glossy plastic finish atop it doesn't have a very premium feel and may be prone to collecting fingerprints. It also doesn't have an IP rating for dust or water resistance, so it's best to avoid using it around sources of water.

This speaker has poor controls. Its touch-sensitive controls are located on its top and are pretty easy to use. While there are indicator lights that turn on depending on your chosen settings, the controls themselves aren't backlit and don't light up, which can make them difficult to locate in darker environments. That said, you can press the Power/Connect button to turn the speaker on and off and hold it to enter Bluetooth pairing mode. There are also buttons you can use to switch between your inputs and your volume. However, while there aren't any physical controls you can use to backtrack or skip tracks, you can still do so through its companion app.

• Yamaha MusicCast 50 speaker
• Quick Start Guide/Safety Brochure
• Power Cable

This speaker has an alright frequency response accuracy. With its default 'Bass Booster' sound program enabled, it has a slightly boomy though well-balanced sound profile overall, making it suitable for listening to a wide variety of audio content. Its balanced mid-range ensures vocals and lead instruments are clearly reproduced in the mix. That said, it lacks a deep thumpy and rumbling low-bass, and the overemphasis in its treble range can make some higher-pitched voices and sibilants like S and T sound a bit harsh. Fortunately, its companion app features a graphic EQ and presets you can use to tweak its sound to your liking.

This speaker has an okay soundstage similar to that of the Denon Home 350. The MusicCast can play stereo content without downmixing it to mono. However, it has middling directivity, so your audio may not sound as clear from all angles. For a home speaker with better overall directivity, check out the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin 2021.

This speaker's dynamics are very good. It can get pretty loud with little compression at max volume, so your audio sounds clean during louder listening sessions. For a home speaker that can get even louder, check out the Klipsch The Three II.

The Yamaha MusicCast 50 speaker isn't battery-powered and needs to remain plugged into an outlet for it to work. That said, the speaker will enter standby mode if left inactive for 20 minutes. You can enable and disable this feature by holding the 'Alarm Logo' on the control panel for three seconds.

While it doesn't have any built-in voice assistants, the manufacturer advertises that the MusicCast can connect to speakers with Google Assistant and Alexa built-in, though they would both need to be connected to the same Wi-Fi network. However, we don't test for this since it requires the purchase of a third-party device.

This speaker's companion app is superb. It features a graphic EQ and presets, so you can customize the speaker's sound to your liking. You can also use the app to connect the speaker to other MusicCast-compatible speakers to create a stereo pair or when you want your audio to cover a large room. There's also a multi-room feature that can come in handy when you want to play different audio content in different rooms across your home simultaneously. You can add the speaker as a rear unit to a MusicCast soundbar and can also use the app to set up the speaker's alarm function. You can connect and control music service applications like Spotify or Pandora via the app and can also use it to turn the speaker On/Off and skip your tracks.

Aside from its power input, this speaker features an AUX input you can use to wire older devices to it. There are also red and white RCA inputs, an ethernet port you can use to connect it to your network, and a digital optical port to wire it to a compatible soundbar. While there's a USB port, it's only for servicing the speaker.

This speaker offers fair Bluetooth connectivity options. It has extremely high negative latency with iOS and Android devices, which can cause you to hear your audio before you see its matching visuals on your screen, so it isn't suitable for watching videos and movies. That said, some apps compensate for latency differently, and your experience may differ.

This speaker has great Wi-Fi compatibility. It has low Apple AirPlay latency, making it suitable for watching videos and movies over this connection, though some apps compensate for latency differently, and your real-world experience may vary. Unfortunately, while it's compatible with Google Assistant speakers, it doesn't support Google Chromecast, which may disappoint some Android users.