OPINION : You may have noticed Cambridge Audio elaborate its line - up of StreamMagic devices with theAXN10 and MXN10 meshwork histrion , and the announcement map as another brick in the digital streaming wall that the hi - fi manufacture is building .
It caught my eye because , like London buses , it ’s the 2nd product announcement in the last few month that ’s seem to upgrade older non - streaming outfit follow the Audio Pro Link2 belatedly last year .
These product see a further acceleration in the counseling of travel towards cyclosis , a time to come that ’s effectively become our present , though traditional Aloha State - fi is still attempting to delay comprehend such a future as it still releases products like Denon ’s DCD-1700NE CD player . Given the cost of that product however – £ 1299 / € 1499 / $ 1499 – that ’s appealing only to experienced , die - hard hi - fi users rather than those making their way into the hi - fi market place for the first clock time .
While sources like CD histrion and turntables will continue to be made ; fewer candle players or transport will be produce and I think we ’ll see more hybrid turntable that can dally and stream records such as Cambridge Audio’sAlva TT seriesand Victrola’sStream Onyx , which are enjoying increase popularity because of the convenience they offer .
You could view these connection actor as a play for sustainability , stretch these products ’ life bicycle into the digital eld but hi - fi is built to last and unless it break down or you feel you ’re in need of a replacement , they ’re not products you change as often as your smartphone . These electronic connection player stand for a change in habit and a move towards do the once dash hi - fi marketplace more accessible to younger people or those who want to make the process of play music in their home in effect a one - pat experience , and it all stem from having a smartphone that can pretty much connect to any wireless gimmick in your home .
I ’ve mentioned before how hi - fi , and right Hawai’i - fi at that , seems to be struggling to reach newer , younger audiences ; the type of hearing that seems content to heed to Taylor Swift ’s latest album on the Spotify Free tier through theirAirPods . There ’s not that much upward movement towards ‘ proper ’ how-do-you-do - fi , which is partly the manufacture ’s own fault as it can arrive across as stuffy , technically oriented and rather mediate - aged in approach . It ’s also , perhaps , down to us not listen to music as much in the home base and heed in other spaces , whether that ’s on the go , at the gym or somewhere else thanks to the transformative qualities of smartphones .
So internet players can help in that example , in pee hi - fi simple and more accessible by tot features such as cast , AirPlayand Spotify Connect to splurge euphony to a hi - fi system of rules . It can also make it easier to hand down old hi - fi to a new generation to help them have hello - fi for the first meter just by adding one box .
So while CD , vinyl group and even cassette tapes have each enjoyed a resurgence in the last decade or so , how long can that last and will they ever really become mainstream again or just a niche and retro part of the industry for collectors ? While streaming does n’t seem to make money for anyone if you depend at Spotify ’s late fiscal results , there ’s no doubting it will be further embraced by hi - fi brands go off from more traditional means of listen .
There ’s a new generation set up on smartphones and those people are used to having approach to enormous medicine libraries , something that was n’t the case twenty age ago even if you walk into a ( physical ) music depot . There ’s no path back from this current position , only forwards , and it ’ll be interesting to see how devices like internet participant play their part in expanding the hi - fi consultation .
