Amazon generated 77 percent of the increase in volume demand for Wi-Fi based wireless speakers in 2016, surpassing market leader Sonos, which in 2014 had half of the Wi-Fi speaker market, said a Strategy Analytics report Monday. Global shipments of Wi-Fi-based wireless speakers grew by 62 percent last year to 14 million units, said SA, estimating Amazon shipped more than 5 million Echo speakers vs. 4 million-plus for Sonos. Amazon’s Alexa-powered Echo speakers were a “winning formula,” said analyst David Watkins. Demand for Amazon's branded devices is having “largely an additive effect on the overall wireless speaker market particularly when you consider that the popular Echo Dot is often paired via Bluetooth to a better quality speaker,” said Watkins. Although Sonos is "losing share" as new players enter the category, its "dominant position at the high-end of the market remains untouched,” said Watkins, who said Apple’s upcoming HomePod will pose more of a direct challenge to Sonos with its high price point and focus on sound quality. Intelligent home speakers, such as Echo and Google Home, are expected to make up nearly 90 percent of all Wi-Fi speakers by 2022, up from 42 percent last year, said the research firm.
Harman released its second-generation JBL Everest Bluetooth headphones, led by the $299 Elite 750NC around-the-ear model with adaptive noise canceling that allows users to control the amount of noise they want to block out. The 750NCs also have TruNote automatic sound calibration, which adjusts sound based on the user’s ear anatomy for optimal listening, Harman said. The My JBL Headphone App gives users access to customization and over-the-air software updates, and the Everest Elite software development kit gives developers access to the headphones’ nine-axis motion sensor and programmable buttons “to change how listening experiences can be customized beyond music,” said the company. Battery life is 15 hours with noise canceling, 20 without, it said. Additional models are the on-ear Everest 710 ($249), on-ear 310 ($199) and in-ear 110 ($99).
Voxx’s Acoustic Research brand announced the $599 AR-H1 planar headphones Thursday, said to deliver detailed output with less distortion than other technologies. Due to ship at the end of June, the headphones come with a leather headband designed to contribute to a comfortable fit, the company said.
DTS will launch Virtual:X-ready products this summer, bringing immersive audio to sound bars. TVs with the technology will be available early in 2018, said DTS parent company Xperi in a Monday news release. AV receivers with DTS Virtual:X are due on the market this fall from several manufacturers, it said. Yamaha, which also markets a sound bar with Dolby Atmos immersive audio technology, will deliver the first DTS Virtual:X-ready product, the YAS-207 sound bar, due in stores in July, with a Virtual:X firmware update to follow in August, said DTS. Virtual:X, which can work with all DTS codecs, supports input sources from stereo to a 7.1.4 layout (11.1 channels), and an upmixer provides an immersive experience for legacy content, said the company. Additional OEMs integrating DTS Virtual:X in sound bars, AV receivers and TVs will be announced in coming months, it said.
Pioneer announced availability Wednesday of two Elite 7.2-channel AV receivers with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X immersive audio. The 100-watt-per-channel Elite VSX-LX302 ($799) is hi-res audio-capable, supporting files including 192 kHz/24-bit FLAC, WAV, AIFF and ALAC along with DSD 2.8 MHz/5.6 MHz, said the company. It also has 384 kHz/32-bit digital-to-analog conversion. Video support includes Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDCP 2.2 and BT.2020 video pass-through via HDMI, Pioneer said. The 80-watt-per-channel VSX-LX102 ($599) doesn’t offer hi-res support. Both receivers feature Chromecast built-in, DTS Play-Fi and AirPlay and operate over dual-band Wi-Fi. The receivers can send audio over Blackfire’s FireConnect to compatible speakers.
LG introduced a trio of sound bars, a including a flagship model with Dolby Atmos immersive audio, said the company Tuesday. The LG SJ9 ($899) sound bar is a 5.1.2-channel design with a hi-res audio, 24-bit/192 kHz upsampling and 4K pass-through. The LG SJ8 ($549) 4.1-channel sound bar, also hi-res audio capable, has built-in Chromecast. The Sound Bar Flex SJ7 ($449) Bluetooth speaker can be set up in the front of a room as a traditional sound bar or positioned with one speaker in the front of the room and one in the back, said the company.
Onkyo is adding Google Chromecast built-in capability via a software upgrade for more than 260 products in its global portfolio, said the company. Compatible products include Onkyo- and Pioneer-branded AV receivers and speakers. The upgrade will be handled via StreamUnlimited StreamSDK software, Onkyo said, resulting from the two companies' partnership signed in 2015, they said.
Huawei’s new MateBook laptops are the first portable PCs to incorporate Dolby Atmos, said the companies in a Tuesday announcement. For the PC version of Atmos, Dolby worked with partners to vertically integrate the audio subsystem -- hardware and software -- into a PC form factor. The Dolby Atmos Sound System is said to create audio that moves around the PC user, delivering boosted bass, enhanced volume without distortion from speakers or headphones and a broader frequency range than traditional PC sound. Huawei’s MateBook X, with a speaker system co-designed by Dolby, includes two motors per speaker, placed in an upward-firing configuration, said the companies. Huawei’s MateBook D also has the Dolby Atmos Sound System.
Ten-year-old French high-end hi-fi company Devialet branched out from making amplifiers and wireless speakers into selling one-and-done lacquer master LPs of a series of “lost recordings” by jazz artists Sarah Vaughan, Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans, the company told us Monday at an event to introduce the recordings at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The series of pricey master lacquers would normally be used as the first stage of a traditional multistage vinyl LP pressing process, and now they’re available to audio enthusiasts who have money to burn (about $8,200 for four sides of a double album and $5,850 for a two-sided single album). The lacquer discs can be played on a conventional LP turntable, arm and stylus but are destroyed as they are tracked by the stylus, said the company. Because the lacquer is so soft, it plays -- just once -- with virtually no surface noise, said Victor d'Allancé, Devialet general manager-U.K. and Ireland, who compares the experience to “opening and drinking a bottle of fine wine.” The soft lacquer must be handled with gloves and is sold in a leather case made by French craftsmen. During the demo, we were amazed by the almost complete absence of any surface noise from the Vaughan lacquer recording, which we likened to listening to an original studio master tape. For those with more modest means who want to hear an album more than once, Devialet offers limited-run pressings of the Lost Recordings series starting at just over $100.
Marantz's new slimline 50-watt-per-channel AV receivers, with Heos wireless multiroom audio integration, will be available this month, the company announced Monday. The NR1608 ($749), with eight HDMI inputs, is compatible with 4K/60 Hz video, high dynamic range, hybrid log gamma (via future firmware update) and Dolby Vision content, said the company. Connectivity features include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Airplay. The top-line 7.2-channel receiver incorporates Dolby Atmos and DTS:X 3D decoders, Audyssey MultEQ calibration and streams music from USB, TuneIn internet radio, Pandora, Spotify, Amazon Prime Music, iHeart Radio, SiriusXM, Sound Cloud, Tidal, Napster and Deezer, said the company. The $549 NR1508, a 5.2-channel AV receiver with six HDMI inputs, includes Dolby True HD and DTS-HD surround sound, Audyssey MultEQ set-up, Bluetooth, Airplay and Wi-Fi. Both receivers support hi-res audio files up to 192 kHz/24-tbit and DSD 5.6 MHz, Marantz said.