Zorloo is a Hong Kong based company focused on affordable premium portable audio products that has successfully funded 5 crowdfunding campaigns in Indiegogo and Kickstarter. Those have included earphones with a built-in, high-quality DAC, integrated in the cable. The company decided to take this concept further and create the first Hi-Res Audio and MQA-ready earphones... augmented with wireless features.
While wired earphones are still the only way available to enjoy high-resolution audio content, now that streaming services are offering also lossless and MQA encoded music subscription options, it makes even more sense to have the possibility to just connect a cable and enjoy the quality, or unplug it and simply enjoy the convenience of true wireless earbuds, while still enjoying decent audio quality (but not Hi-Res Audio) in AAC and aptX over Bluetooth.
To do this, Zorloo had to look for the best way to combine the best of wireless and wired technology into a single design. And that's what they did in the Zophia earbuds, which allow users to enjoy the convenience and tangle-free operation through wireless, plus the high-fidelity of lossless and Hi-Res music when using the wire connection. But implementing this is not just a question of adding a connector and unplugging the cable. The Zophia need to be designed and fully-featured true wireless stereo earbuds with built-in battery and Bluetooth radio, but they also feature a patent-pending technology that automatically switches to the corresponding wired or wireless operation upon the connection status of the cable.
When in wireless mode, the Zophia true wireless earbuds support Bluetooth 5.2 and are able to deliver low latency audio for different usages, such as gaming, thanks to the use of a Qualcomm QC3040 SoC. This platform not only offers AAC and aptX codecs over Bluetooth, but also supports clear conversations with sophisticated echo cancellation during calls. The built-in battery allows for five hours of playing time plus an additional 20 hours on the charging case.
The innovation is based on the fact that the Zophia earbuds come with a proprietary 4-pin receptacle interface (backward compatible with the standard 2-pin 0.78mm) that allows users to connect the earbuds to the Zophia USB-DAC cable. This wired connection is able to support sampling frequencies up to PCM 768kHz and DSD512 (22.5MHz). The added support of an MQA renderer feature adds to the value of the solution, allowing users to enjoy the high-resolution audio masters available on Tidal.
Otherwise, Zorloo says that the Zophia earbud design used the company's experience with previous earphone models, featuring an ergonomic design that fits comfortably in the ears, and using a custom 6mm neodymium dynamic driver with extended frequency response, carefully tuned to accommodate the dynamics of HRA playback. Finally the earbuds are made in a transparent black resin that adds charisma to the whole design, while also supporting playback control with a simple click on the earbuds.
The Zophia USB-DAC cable allows users to bypass the internal conversion stage from Android smartphones using a digital USB-C connection. When used with an MQA-enabled app, it also makes those smartphones and some Android-based dedicated music players capable of decoding MQA files without requiring any further equipment. The Zophia cable indicator light will show when an MQA file is being rendered by turning magenta (red for standard hi-res PCM content).
The whole Zophia package includes the wireless earbuds, USB-DAC cable, charging case, USB charging cable, USB connector, USB-C to USB-A adapter, and eartips (L/M/S sizes). The USB-DAC cable, which uses an ESS Sabre DAC from ESS Technology for wired operation is available in Standard or MQA versions. The Standard cable uses an ESS Sabre 9270C SoC, supporting PCM 384kHz and DSD64, while the MQA version uses the ESS Sabre 9281ACPRO SoC, being able to support PCM up to 768kHz and DSD512.
Zorloo will launch a crowdfunding campaign for the Zophia Wire.less. The suggested retail prices are USD $189 for the MQA version and USD $149 for the standard version. There will be an early-bird special offer during the crowdfunding campaign.
www.zorloo.com/zophia
