News

There are global events that happen in our lifetime, unusual days where you receive news about something so earth shattering that it seems to make even time itself stand still as you slowly come to terms with the reality that the world you knew up until that moment has changed forever. For me, the announcement of David Bowie’s death on Monday 11 January is one of those moments where everything seemed to slow and an already grey winter morning felt just that little bit darker. Things around me appeared to take on a different look and feel as the news unfolded in a hushed and reverent tone from BBC Radio 6 Music and the story began to sink in. I was in the kitchen at the time making breakfast after an early start, and I imagine that I will always be able to recall the sinking feeling that washed over me and stopped me dead in my tracks as the news broke and I began to comprehend the magnitude of what was being revealed.

2015 will quite rightly be remembered as the year that vinyl made a comeback, but it was also a pretty impressive 12 months for music sales all round with UK consumers spending more on singles, albums and subscription music services than any year since 2011. In fact the only bad news was for music downloads, which suffered a considerable decline. In all, recorded music enjoyed £1. 06bn profit, which is a 3.

As two-channel audio might be seen to be a fairly mature category, moments of genuine innovation are pretty few and far between. That said, Chord Electronics’ Hugo (HFC 386) has a reasonable claim to being of some significance. The combined preamp/DAC in a portable form factor impressed us and has been a significant sales success too. At the same time, Chord hasn’t been blind to some of the limitations ofthe Hugo as a portable device.

Welcome to the Hi-Fi Choice Yearbook 2015 – the essential guide to getting the best possible sound from your hi-fi, whether you're buying, tuning or tweaking. . . 

 Wow! What a 12 months it has been for discerning audio fans, as well as a milestone year for your favourite hi-fi magazine as we hit 40 years old and 400 issues back in August.

Developed in-house at Arcam, the recently updated MusicLife app has been designed to be easier to use, faster and more stable than similar streaming apps. In addition to standard UPnP functions, MusicLife plays media from servers to anyBluetooth device, enabling streaming to almost anything that's paired with an Arcam miniBlink or rBlink Bluetooth DAC. Features include the ability to stream from your server or computerto connected Arcam hi-fi or home cinema component, from an iPhone / iPad to connected Arcam hi-fi or home cinema component, from your server or computer to an iPhone / iPad, from your server or computerto any Bluetooth device or from an iPhone / iPadto any Bluetooth device. Complete control of the Media Player in an Arcam network-based music systems, includes advanced features such as playback of content stored on iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch, library searching, sorting and shuffle & repeat playback.

Meridian has unveiled its new DSP5200. 2 and DSP7200. 2 speakers with proprietary Digital Signal Processing (DSP) technology. Both new models house not only smart processing, but also three 75W amplifiers with a claimed maximum output level of 116dB at 1m.

Introducing DALI’s zensor AX series, which comprises two models – the floorstanding ZENSOR 5 AX (pictured) and the bookshelf ZENSOR 1 AX. Two 50W fully optimised digital Class D amplifiers have been integrated into the left-hand speaker, with a cable carrying the output to the partnering passive model. Both speakers have 5mm wood-fibre, soft dome tweeters partnered by a pair of 133mm low-frequency drivers on the ZENSOR 5 and just one on the ZENSOR 1. Wireless connectivity comes via aptX Bluetooth and for a more traditional hookup, an optical Toslink (able to accept up to 24-bit/96kHz) and a pair of stereo analogue inputs are included, while a subwoofer output is on hand to give a little extra low-end grunt.