Home - Guides - Auracast, loops & Wi-Fi

Auracast vs hearing loop vs RoomCast

Venues looking for clearer sound for hard-of-hearing guests often meet three ideas: an induction hearing loop, Auracast broadcast audio, and Wi-Fi streaming to phones. They solve related problems in different ways. Here is a plain comparison, and where RoomCast fits today.

What are hearing loops?

A hearing loop (audio-frequency induction loop) puts a magnetic field around a room. Hearing aids and cochlear implants with a telecoil (“T-coil”) can pick it up directly. Loops are well understood, work without a phone, and are still the standard answer in many halls and places of worship.

Limits worth knowing: not every hearing aid has a telecoil; phone users and people with ordinary earbuds get nothing from the loop; installing a loop in an existing building can mean cabling and commissioning. For more on loops, telecoils, FM and infrared, see hearing loop alternatives for community groups and halls.

What is Auracast?

Auracast is a Bluetooth broadcast audio feature. In the long run it aims to let compatible earbuds, hearing aids and phones join a venue stream without a special app. Interest in Auracast is rising quickly — it is one of the fastest-growing terms in this space.

Today, though, Auracast still depends on devices and venue transmitters that support it. Many people in a room will still be on earbuds or phones that are not Auracast-ready. Until that kit is common, venues need something that works with the phones guests already carry.

What is Wi-Fi audio to phones?

Wi-Fi streaming sends the venue sound over the local network to smartphones. Commercial systems such as Listen Everywhere / ListenWIFI and AudioFetch typically use a dedicated hardware server and a free listener app. RoomCast takes a simpler path: a free Mac app, and guests scan a QR code and listen in their phone's browser.

• Works today with ordinary phones and any earbuds or headphones.
• Joined from the browser — scan the QR poster, tap play.
• Local Wi-Fi only — audio stays on the room's network; no internet required.
• Short delay — usually around half a second, even on busy Wi-Fi. Fine for talks, services and parties; not for lip-sync to live video.

Which should you choose?

If you must meet a building rule that calls for a hearing loop or another listed assistive-listening system, follow that requirement and get proper advice — RoomCast is not a substitute for a legally required loop. See the note on Australian hearing augmentation and the NCC.

If you want a practical way for anyone with a phone to hear clearly — overflow seating, a parents' room, a soft-voiced speaker, a silent disco — Wi-Fi to phones works now. Auracast is worth watching; loops remain valuable for telecoil users. Many venues will use more than one approach over time.

Compare commercial Wi-Fi products with RoomCast on Listen Everywhere and AudioFetch versus a free Mac app →

More questions? Read the RoomCast FAQ →