OZ Distributors Pitch To Sell Hot New High Res Wireless Audio System

Among those hoping to get the rights to sell the system are Convoy and Qualifi. 

Like Sonos products, Bluesound products let you play audio files from your networked computers and hard drives, the big difference is that this system plays high-res audio files that have resolution greater than the 16-bit/44.1-kilohertz resolution of CD’s. Earlier this month the music industry agreed on a new standard for high res audio with organisations like Apple, Google and Amazon set to start streaming High Res Audio files that have been likened to what 4K is to display. 

 Mirroring the evolution taking place in television technology (from HD to Ultra HD), musicians such as Neil Young and brands such as Sony, EMI, Warmer Music, are now moving to replace MP3 collections with high-resolution files and playback hardware.


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 Earlier this month we reported that the new high resolution audio’s new standard definition is, “lossless audio that is capable of reproducing the full range of sound from recordings that have been mastered from better than CD-quality music sources.” Better than CD means that the audio must chart above the standard 44.1kHz sampling rate, and 16-bit resolution, or the equivalent quality for files that don’t comply with those measurements, such as DSD/DSF files.

Major players involved in the new definitions include the big three music labels (Sony, Universal, and Warner) as well as the Consumer Electronics Association, the Recording Academy’s Producers and Engineers Wing, and the Digital Entertainment Group.

Overnight Lenbrook Industries announced that their Bluesound brand is adding Spotify Connect to its high-resolution wireless multiroom audio system. 


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The system, launched last year in Canada, already streams Slacker, TuneIn, Rdio, Deezer, Juke and High-Res Audio in the U.S.

With Spotify Connect, consumers hand off Spotify-playlist streaming from a smartphone as they enter the house to a network-connected home audio product, which begins playing the Spotify playlist right where it left off when the home product is turned on. 

Spotify also promotes Spotify Connect as reducing battery drain on mobile devices because consumers don’t have to stream Spotify from a mobile device app over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to a home audio system.

 With a Bluesound system, Spotify content can be streamed to multiple networked Bluesound speakers at a time, the company said. 

Spotify Premium subscribers will be able to stream Spotify through their Bluesound systems starting July 1 after installing a software update and upgrading to a new Android or iOS app on their mobile device, which acts as a Bluesound system controller. Spotify’s library consists of more than 20 million songs organized into curated or personal playlists. 

Management at both Convoy and Qualifi were recently involved in a series of conference calls in an effort to secure the Bluesound system which has been described by several people who have used it as “significantly superior to any wireless audio system currently being sold today.