Look at the prevalence of Wolfson's audio chips today, in everything from audiophile DACs to smartphones like the Exynos-powered Galaxy S III and Galaxy S 4, and it's hard not to be impressed. Factor in the company's humble beginnings in 1984 as a university offshoot in Edinburgh, Scotland, and the growth story becomes even more dramatic. The company shipped its billionth chip in 2008, its 2 billionth in 2012 and now expects to sell a billion per year by 2015.

It's ironic, then, that at the start of its journey into mobile devices Wolfson actually failed to grow quickly enough, resulting in the loss of its biggest and most high-profile customer. With Apple using its chips in a number of iPods, the Scottish company just couldn't scale up to meet a sudden rush of demand. It missed some deadlines and Cuptertino left it out of the iPod Classic as it shifted its loyalty to Cirrus Logic, where it has stayed ever since. How did it recover? Where is it headed next? And how will it break Qualcomm's continuing grip on smartphone audio in the US? Read on for answers from CEO Mike Hickey.

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio/Video, Tablets, Mobile

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You know what'll go perfectly with that waterproof Bluetooth speaker ball that a Billy Corgan doppelganger recommended a few years back? That odd tube you're undoubtedly fixated on above. That's the Ultimate Ears UE Boom, and those people underneath are presumably blitzed from a day of raving at [insert EDM festival here]. Parent company Logitech is calling this thing the "world's first social music player," but last we checked, it's not capable of tweeting whatever you're listening to. Instead, it's seemingly engineered "to help you rage, riot, party and play the music you love, out loud." Seriously -- that's in the description.

In order to do so, there's a Bluetooth radio within, NFC support, a 15-hour rechargeable battery and an exterior that'll turn away light splashes. Of note, you can wirelessly link two UE Booms together using an associated Android or iOS app to play them in either stereo-to-stereo mode or traditional left / right stereo mode. It's expected to hit US and European shores later this month for $199.99, which means you too can take weird shots of yourself holding it at frat parties in the very, very near future.

Filed under: Home Entertainment

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Source: Ultimate Ears

Analog may be king for audiophiles, but digital is the future, friends, and Sennheiser knows it. That's why it built the HDVD 800 digital headphone amplifier to improve the sound of your digital tunes, and now stateside listeners can finally get their mitts on the thing. That's right, folks, a year after it was revealed across the pond alongside its analog brother, Senn's digital offering's finally available in the US for just a nickel less than two grand. Folks looking to part with the necessary cash to improve their listening pleasure can do so at the company's online storefront linked below.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: Sennheiser

What you're looking at above is a demo board carrying a next-gen Wolfson WM5110 audio chip for smartphones. This bit of silicon isn't in any market-ready handsets just yet, hence the DIY setup, but given Wolfson's well-cemented partnership with Samsung there's every chance this'll be the audio hub in the next Galaxy S, as well as potentially in other manufacturers' phones coming out in 2014.

One of the WM5110's headline features is the ability to handle high sample rate music tracks at 24-bit and 192KHz, aka "studio master" or "better than CD quality" sound. Such skills are generally reserved for pricey standalone DACs like iRiver's AK100, which allows Wolfson to claim that this is the first implementation for inside a smartphone. We have an ears-on video for you after the break, but it's not much use for judging audio quality -- the event was too noisy even for us to attempt that, so we'll just wait to do another audio round-up in more controlled conditions -- but at least there's some proof of principle. On the other hand, if you're unconvinced as to whether 192KHz is even a worthwhile spec to have in smartphones, then read on to learn about some of the WM5110's other abilities, which have a more practical bent.

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio/Video, Mobile

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The urge to record video at a concert can be distracting for fans and musicians alike -- enough so that some bands now forbid it altogether. Soundhalo's new media service and Android beta might just keep both sides happy, as long as they've got the money to spend. The platform lets a backstage team make audio and video available for purchase from the app, as soon as a song is done; theoretically, you can start a replay before you've left the front row. Downloadable copies are DRM-free, and concert-goers can always grab tracks again from the app or the web. Soundhalo is still working on an iOS release, but Android users who've been to Alt-J's recent Brixton shows (or just missed out) can already relive the memories at about $1.50 a pop.

Filed under: Internet, Mobile

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Via: The Guardian

Source: Soundhalo

Creative may hope to rival Jawbone's Jambox with its new colorfully geometric Bluetooth speakers, the Airwave and Airwave HD. NFC-enabled Bluetooth speakers aren't exactly news, so Creative is playing catch-up with its NFC-capable Airwave series. Users can pair NFC-equipped devices to the Airwave by simply tapping the phone against the speaker, while an integrated microphone allows for use as a speakerphone -- devices not packing NFC can connect via Bluetooth manually. The Airwave HD can support two NFC-connected devices but it sacrifices about five hours of playback compared to the less powerful Airwave, which can go 12 hours between charges.

Creative is taking a fresh approach with its styling by offering the Airwave line in a variety of colors including pink, blue, green, and red. This new design theme is echoed in Creative's Hitz headsets, which will feature an in-line microphone housing playback and volume controls. Though there's no word yet on a stateside release, the Airwave and Airwave HD will be available in Singapore in June for SG$129 (US$103) and SG$199 (US$160) respectively and the Hitz line will launch in July, with prices ranging from SG$49 (US$39) to SG$89 (US$72). For more information, see the full press release after the break.

Filed under: Portable Audio/Video

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Via: Nothing But Creative

Source: Creative

Sony's Xperia ZR isn't reaching the market all by its lonesome: it's accompanied by a high-end Bluetooth headset, the SBH50. The sequel to the Smart Wireless Headset Pro mostly ups the ante with NFC -- listeners just have to tap the smart remote against their Xperias (or many other NFC-aware devices) to get going. There's still the emphasis on higher-than-usual quality for wireless audio; likewise, the remote continues to preview calls and messages, play FM radio and take the owner's pick of wired headphones. Sony has only committed to launching the SBH50 "soon" and hasn't mentioned prices, but we'd use the previous headset's $150 price as a rough benchmark. Catch Sony's overview video after the break.

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Portable Audio/Video, Mobile, Sony

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Via: Sony Mobile (Facebook)

Source: Sony

It's been a while since we've looked at enhanced PA speakers, and one of the last big hitters in the category was a little ostentatious. Samson's new Expedition Express keeps things a little lower-key. The one-piece system will take both Bluetooth audio as well as quarter-inch and XLR instrument inputs, but it's subtle enough to feel at home at both the beach and the boardroom. It's also more portable than others -- the small, 10-pound box should be easier to shlep around and lasts a reasonable eight hours on its rechargeable battery. The Expedition Express won't be cheap when it ships this month for $200, and it certainly won't make up for our ham-fisted guitar skills. It might, however, be a solid choice for a backyard party soundtrack.

Filed under: Peripherals, Portable Audio/Video

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Source: Samson

When Slacker launched its big software overhaul in February, many were skeptical that a refresh could bring it back to prominence. Apparently, all that doubt was misguided: Slacker says it's racked up 6 million new listeners in the past three months, 3.5 million of which are on mobile. They're more involved, too -- there are 100,000 new paying customers, iOS installs have tripled and members of all kinds tune in for an average of 25 percent longer. And did we mention that Slacker may even benefit from the rush? Where some peers face a constant fight to stay above water without enough premium customers, Slacker says both its ad-supported free radio and paid on-demand service are profitable. While there's no guarantee the company will hold on to those bedazzled new users, it's good to see renewed competition in a field with fewer and fewer participants.

Filed under: Cellphones, Internet

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Source: Slacker

We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget inquiry is from James, who wants to break into audio mixing, but needs some noisyboxes for his desk. If you're looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

I'm no audiophile, but I would like some decent quality sound for my desktop. I've tried 4.1, 2.1, 2.0 setups but none of them made me very happy, which isn't helping my attempts to get into professional audio work. Is there a lower-end line of speakers that the pros use that I'd be able to afford?

Fortunately for you, James, we can turn this question over to our podcast producer, who suggested that you could do worse than a pair of KRK RP6G2 Rockit speakers, which come in at $400 for a pair. They're studio monitors rather than purely desktop speakers, but if you want to start working in audio then you're probably better off with these. Of course, it wouldn't be Ask Engadget unless we turned this question over to our clever crew of commenters, so if you know of anything that's better (or cheaper) then fire your answer into the comments below.

Filed under: Desktops, Portable Audio/Video

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Nowadays we're spoiled with options in the Bluetooth speaker market, and many of the high-end ones -- especially those from Soundfreaq and Nokia -- even feature dual-system streaming (DSS) that lets one speaker pair with another to enable true stereo playback. But if you already have a pair of old but nice-sounding speakers with 3.5mm input on both, then here's a quick and easy way to add Bluetooth to them. Dubbed Vertus, this Kickstarter project features the above pair of receivers based on CSR's TrueWireless Stereo, a nifty technology that's been made available since early 2009.

Similar to any DSS system, one of the Vertus dongles (the right channel, in this case) acts as the master to receive the stereo stream from a Bluetooth source, and then it'd throw the left-channel stream to the other dongle. So provided that your speakers have their own power source to amplify, it's just a matter of charging these aluminum dongles up (a single charge lasts up to 10 hours), plugging them in and then pairing the right receiver with your audio source. Simple! That said, at $120 this kit may struggle to gain traction in retail, so hopefully the audio quality will somewhat justify the price. Introductory video after the break.

Filed under: Portable Audio/Video, Wireless

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Source: Kickstarter

Given Sony's heritage, it's no surprise that the company loves its audio -- but we can imagine that some might be overwhelmed when the company has priced and dated the cores of its 2013 home and shelf audio lineups in one sitting. Don't worry, we'll break it all down. On the home audio side, both the BDV-N7100W and BDV-7100W home-theaters-in-a-box (N8100W shown above) are already shipping at respective $599 and $699 prices with 1,000W 5.1-channel output, internet-linked Blu-ray players and both Bluetooth as well as OneTouch NFC pairing. TV watchers who can wait until June will also see the STR-DN1040, a $599 7.2-channel receiver with 4K upscaling, Bluetooth, WiFi and 165W per channel; the $449 STR-DN840 receiver, which scales back to 4K passthrough and 150W per channel; and the $399 HT-C660 soundbar, which adds NFC pairing to the same wireless mix as the receivers.

Shelf audio is simpler, with every new entry arriving May 27th. Both the LBT-GPX55 (below) and LBT-GPX77 mini stereos offer a respective 1,600W and 1,800W of output alongside Bluetooth, NFC, a CD player (!) and dual USB ports at a $499 starting price. Those who don't need their walls rattled quite so thoroughly can spring for the $349 RDH-GTK37iP boombox, which puts out a still-substantial 420W on top of Bluetooth, NFC, an iOS dock and attention-getting strobe lights. That's a lot to process, we know. If you're not satisfied even after that deluge of information, however, Sony's pressers await after the break.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio/Video, HD, Sony

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Source: Sony

Mostly known for its extravagant speaker systems, KEF is finally taking a whack at ear gear. Today, the company announced two new types of HiFi headphones, known as the M Series, which include a pair of on-ear cups (M500) and a set of in-ear buds (M200). Priced at $300, the M500 sports a full aluminum frame and sweat resistant padding, along with a 10mm driver for lows and a 5.5mm driver for mids and highs full-range 40mm neodymium driver in each earcup. If enclosed head gear isn't your thing, the $200 M200 offers an aluminum housing and a pair of silicone ear tips with an adjustable arm for improved comfort. Like their pricier sibling These earphones feature a 'DDD' dual dynamic driver system with a 10mm driver for lows and a 5.5mm driver for mids and highs. While we've yet to spend time with the M500 or M200, their press pictures and specs aren't too shabby. Call it a hunch, but we doubt they'll need any celebrity endorsements. For more info on KEF's new headphone line, hit the presser after the break.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Wearables

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