Sounds of the future
We’ve been treated to a host of great sounding, beautifully designed audio products over the past year (admittedly, also countless pairs of identical looking headphones!) with highlights for me being the all-in-one brilliance of the Cambridge Audio
Evo (above; from £1,799; cambridgeaudio.com) and Sony’s WF-1000XM4 true wireless earbuds (£250; sony.co.uk). But in truth it has been a year for software development rather than hardware.
Multi-room experts Sonos are finally offering 24-bit 48khz hi-res music through streaming service Qobuz, Amazon Music and Apple are also introducing hi-res quality streaming, with Spotify set to join in too. Low-quality digital music formats really do let the side down, but this mass adoption means more of us will get to enjoy the difference. And there is quite a difference.
And that is where things should get interesting in the coming year, because in order for everyone to enjoy a higher quality of wireless music wherever they enjoy their music, it is going to involve upgraded hardware and genuine innovation. I for one can’t wait to hear the results.