Lenbrook Media Group Created to Commercialize BluOS, MQA, and SCL6 Technologies

The Lenbrook Group of Companies, owner of NAD Electronics, PSB Speakers, Bluesound, and the renowned BluOS hi-res multiroom platform, has created a new business unit, Lenbrook Media Group. The mission is to more effectively enable the commercialization and development of Lenbrook's content management solutions, as well as pursue new licensing opportunities. With the BluOS content management platform at its core, this group will also oversee the growth of content encoding solutions MQA and SCL6, which Lenbrook acquired in the autumn of 2023.

PSB Speakers, together with hearables start-up Sonical and audio codecs specialists MQA, announced a partnership that intends to define a new category of high-resolution audio headphones. The collaboration is aimed at creating true hifi headphones and smart earbuds, combining MQA's SCL6 high resolution wireless audio transmission and Sonical’s CosmOS platform. Planned for release under the PSB Speakers brand by Q1 2024, the resulting products will be the first headphones to feature Sonical’s ear computing platform, enabling a variety of apps and software upgrades.

ESS Technology announced their newest addition to the Sabre audio series of DACs, the ES9033Q, a 32-bit, 2-channel DAC with built-in 2Vrms, ground-centered line drivers, resulting in an optimum system performance with no need for external amplifiers. The new Sabre ES9033Q DAC simplifies stereo line level setups with best-in-class performance in one small package, offering D/A conversion with a DNR of 122+dB A-weighted with DRE, and -108dB of THD+N per channel.

Just a few short days after launching its new Sabre Smart Power-Amplifier (SPA), a new-generation device designed to boost the audio quality and efficiency of portable and wearable devices, ESS Technology announced the ES9219, the 3rd generation of Sabre DAC headphone System-on-Chip (SoC) solutions for mobile devices. The ES9219 Headphone SoC with 32-bit, QUAD DAC Technology and 2Vrms output adds crosstalk reduction and THD compensation while reducing BOM size and cost.

ESS Technology announced a series of USB Low-Power Audiophile CODECs that feature QUAD DAC Technology. Intended for use in headsets and audio adaptors that demand high-quality sound, the new line of CODECs can support end-to-end high-resolution audio quality. An ideal platform for USB-C audio products, the new CODECs include the flagship ES9281PRO model, which also offers an integrated hardware MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) renderer.

ESS Technology has announced that it will be launching versions of its popular SABRE audio DACs that feature integrated MQA rendering. This will enable easy implementation of MQA across a wide variety of applications, including more mobile devices. As MQA technology is becoming widely accepted as a standard for distributing high resolution files and streams across a variety of platforms, the new ESS chips will enable manufacturers to easily implement MQA support.