ACTIVO CT10 Hi-Res Portable Audio Player with MQA Support

ACTIVO is a new audio brand focused on portable devices and high-resolution music. The CT10 portable audio player is the brand's first product, and the first hi-res portable audio player with MQA support at an affordable price of just $299. The device, probably the first portable player with a decent design since Apple's iPod, is actually designed by groovers Japan, a high-res jazz music label and distribution website. The ACTIVO CT10 is now available in the US!

Audio-Technica is now shipping its ATH-DSR9BT Wireless Headphones with Pure Digital Drive technology. Winner of a CES 2017 Innovation award, the ATH-DSR9BT is one of the first headphones with Bluetooth wireless technology to employ Audio-Technica's new Pure Digital Drive system, which keeps the audio signal completely digital from source to driver to offer a new level in sound quality.

Music technology company MQA and Universal Music Group (UMG) announced that the companies have entered into a multi-year agreement that will encode UMG’s extensive catalogue of master recordings using Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) technology, promising to make some of the world’s most celebrated recordings available for the first time in Hi-Res Audio streaming. A historical development for all the high resolution music enthusiasts.

UNAMAS, the Japanese hi-res music label run by award-winning recording engineer, Mick Sawaguchi, has selected ten albums from their catalogue for encoding in MQA. The recordings, ranging from Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden” performed by the Unamas String Quintet, to Hiroshi Fukamizu’s “Everything for Drums”, will be available from July 15 on music download service, e-onkyo music, priced at ¥3.000 ($29 / £19) each.

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and the Japan Audio Society (JAS) agree to provide the High-Resolution Audio logo (Hi-Res Audio or HRA) to CEA members and promote it to consumers. “Having a common logo will help establish consistency and assist consumers in navigating this exciting, steadily emerging market,” says Gary Shapiro, CEA president and CEO.