Digital music

Though many of us carry our digital music library or streaming player around with us in the shape of our smartphones, enjoying high quality audio can be problematic. Fiio's KA15 DAC not only levels up the sound but also looks retro cool while doing so.

The vast majority of today's consumed music is served up by streaming platforms, leaving traditional hi-fi setups struggling to stay relevant. Cambridge Audio has launched a multi-driver all-in-one music streamer that can also play nice with legacy gear.

A portable music production studio previewed at NAMM 2022 is now crowdfunding on Kickstarter. Playtime Engineering's Blipblox myTracks is designed to give young creators all the tools they need to start making music.

Many of the gadgets we use every day have a limited shelf life, and often end up as e-waste before their time. The Dutch company that launched a repairable, upgradeable, sustainable smartphone has now taken the challenge to true wireless earphones.

SPIN challenges conventional notions of music creation by inviting users to collaborate with an AI language model called MusicGen. With its distinctive blend of a turntable and a drum machine, SPIN offers users a creative music composition tool.

Bose has launched a pair of wireless earphones that don't plug in and cut you off from the outside world, but clasp onto the side of your ears like cuffs. The Ultra Open Earbuds promise both all-day immersive listening and awareness of surroundings.

The Harman Luxury Audio Group has added a new family member to JBL's Classic Series, in the shape of a retro-stylish all-in-one music system named the L42ms that puts out 200 watts and features adjustable bass response.

Pioneer has been one of the top makers of DJ gear for decades, releasing the world's first top-loading CD deck for pro use way back in 1994. The DJ brand broke away in 2014, and has now launched the first products under the AlphaTheta name.

The world's largest music gear expo is set to open its doors next week, and Yamaha has popped up early with a groove machine called the Seqtrak that could have jumped straight out of Teenage Engineering's design playbook.

Generally speaking, the audio output of your mobile device or laptop probably isn't particularly good, which means that many music lovers will look to external gear to improve the groove. Periodic Audio has launched a tiny DAC designed to do just that.

Despite the meteoric rise of digital music streaming, many older listeners may still have CD collections taking up living space. Yamaha has released a new player that can hold five discs at once, and users can even change CDs while one is playing.

There's a good chance that the headphone jack of your laptop or PC doesn't offer stellar plugged-in audio quality. Chinese hi-fi brand Fiio is aiming to offer a significant quality boost with a mechanical keyboard rocking its own DAC/headphone amp.