ARCHT Audio (pronounced “ark” as in “architecture”) arrived on the audio scene last year with its ARCHT One wireless speaker, following its Kickstarter campaign in 2014 that raised $242,000 from over 500 backers. Following on that success, ARCHT is debuting the Mini speaker.
You probably haven’t heard of Maroo Audio. The company, after all, is just launching this year. But based on the sound quality of its initial products, you might want to hear more from Maroo Audio.
The XDP-100R is already available in some overseas markets (most notably in Japan, where enthusiasm for hi-res audio is very healthy) but now the player is available for us nephews and nieces of Uncle Sam.
Blue Microphones is well known as a maker of - you guessed it - microphones. It’s been in that business for 20 years. It has more recently entered into the headphone market with the Mo-Fi powered headphones and has now debuted the Lola headphone.
Beyer’s T5p was an excellent headphone and gained a certain audiophile following. According to Beyer, the Second Generation version offers improved tuning with slightly more bass, and some different building materials, as well as the ability to operate in a balanced mode.
Sennheiser advises that the new and improved version of its HD 800 is “one step closer to perfection.” It’s dangerous for marketing people to throw around the “p-word” but in the case of the HD 800, the claim isn’t entirely specious. The HD 800 is very highly regarded and the new HD 800 S is said to be even better.
Everyone and their brother (and mother) are making headphones these days, but Audio-Technica has been doing it for far longer than most. They continue to refine their designs, and are showing five new or upgraded headphones in their High Fidelity line.
Shure is showing two very upscale products at CES: the KSE1500 electrostatic earphone system (MSRP $2,999) and SHA900 portable listening amplifier (MSRP $999).
MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) is continuing its march toward sonic superiority. It announced that new partners will provide MQA content, and that HTC is demonstrating a smartphone equipped with a "proof of concept" MQA decoder.