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- PMC Prodigy 1 review - What Hi-Fi?
The PMC Prodigy 1 standmounters we have here make up a two-strong range alongside the Prodigy 5 floorstanders, together opening up PMC speakers to a wider audience looking for compact loudspeakers for small-to-medium-sized rooms below the £2000 $2000 AU$4000 mark
- MP3, AAC, WAV, FLAC: all the audio file formats explained
WAV and AIFF are arguably the most popular uncompressed audio file formats, both based on PCM (Pulse Code Modulation), which is widely recognised as the most straightforward audio storage mechanism in the digital domain Both WAV and AIFF files use similar technology, but store data in slightly different ways
- What is DSD audio? A niche digital music format for audiophiles . . .
It was designed to be a simpler, more space-efficient way of storing digital music data than PCM Importantly, DSD was also designed to be easy to convert to PCM files with sampling rates based on multiples of 44 1kHz Around the same time, Sony and Philips were developing a replacement for CD, something that ultimately became the SACD disc
- High-resolution audio: everything you need to know | What Hi-Fi?
The vast majority these days support PCM files up to 192kHz or 384kHz, as well as DSD and often MQA, and have built-in access to streaming services for a best-of-both-worlds solution Our favourites include the budget Sony NW-A306, mid-range Astell Kern A norma SR35 and high-end Astell Kern A ultima SP3000 Desktop
- HDMI ARC and HDMI eARC: everything you need to know
HDMI, which stands for 'High-Definition Multimedia Interface' (keep that in your back pocket for future pub quiz use), first appeared 20 years ago and quickly transformed how we connect our TVs, projectors, soundbars and AV amplifiers It's evolved significantly since then, too, going from a
- Coaxial vs optical vs HDMI: which is the best audio connection to use . . .
Like coaxial, one of the issues with optical is that it doesn’t have enough bandwidth for the lossless audio formats such as Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks found on most Blu-rays and 4K Blu-rays An optical connection also can’t support more than two channels of uncompressed PCM audio
- 5 mistakes everyone makes with Sonos Dolby Atmos soundbars
Any source device you have needs to be set to output bitstream audio You can find this option in the audio settings of TVs, Blu-ray players and streaming sticks In PCM you'll only hear the audio in stereo but sending bitstream means your Sonos soundbar will be able to receive those lovely Dolby formats, including Atmos
- iFi Zen DAC 3 review - What Hi-Fi?
The highlights are a shift from the last generation’s USB-Type B input to a USB-C and improved file compatibility that now takes in 32-bit 768kHz PCM and DSD512 hi-res music streams MQA decoding ability continues too, though given Tidal ’s move away from the format, that doesn’t seem so significant for most people
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