CES 2015

If there was one thing that was abundantly clear at the show, immersive audio isn't going anywhere. While the software continues to trickle out, the flood gates have opened for hardware with just about every manufacturer on the floor demonstrating something that would help you in your pursuit of immersive audio.

There were no big surprises in streaming announcements at this year’s CES.  Few new media players were shown, as the Fire TV and Nexus Android TV were released in November. Streaming 4K and HiRes Audio became a reality in 2014. Instead, it was the trends and the new technologies that will move online streaming to the next level that were the news at CES 2015.

New headphone company Phaz has announced a line of Bluetooth headphones that charge your phone while you listen to music.

To date I haven’t been much of a headphone person, but I still recognize their importance and appeal in today’s market. Headphones, in short, are now a very big deal for many consumers...

If your audio memory extends back far enough you’ll recall Audio Alchemy. That company marketed an extensive line of inexpensive DACs long before streaming and downloading digital music was possible and D/A converters were the hot ticket...

For those who can split their attention, Sharp offers MultiView that displays four separate streams onscreen. Easily controlled by Sharp’s tablet app, users can choose videos from myriad online video streaming services. MultiView is part of Sharp’s SmartCentral 4.0 that has been fully redesigned from last year’s Smart TV user interface.