Qobuz Ditches And Welcomes Sonos Into The World Of Hi-Res Music

[JBT]

another development for Qobuz is the announcement by Sonos – possibly the world’s best-known multi-room audio system – that its new S2 software will offer hi-res wireless audio on the new Sonos Play, One, Sonos Amp, and new Playbar with Atmos speakers. The S2 software will be able to stream full 24-bit audio. Currently, the Sonos can only handle Qobuz 44.1 kHz CD-quality stream, which is still a big step up from Spotify’s 320k MP3s, the arrival of S2 will mean that Sonos can deliver the full Qobuz hi-res experience on any compatible S2 speaker. Denis Thébaud is excited about the development and tells me: “It’s great that Sonos is adding 24-bit audio support to their platform. In 2020, it’s a must!”. Thébuad is right; it’s about time that the quality of streaming shifted up a level.



https://www.forbes.com/sites/markspa.../#5fd5d0826231

[80B]

Hopefully this marks a real trend towards better quality sound in general, and continued success for these companies taking the risk. More bandwidth and better digital infrastructure - wired and wireless - should enable this to continue.