APTX today announces that Chord Electronics Ltd., the renowned British manufacturer of high-end audio equipment, has included apt-X in every Stereo Bluetooth enabled module in the company’s recently launched Chordette range of compact Hi-Fi components. Available under license agreement to consumer electronics OEMs and mobile computer OS developers, apt-X audio coding ensures that the performance of Wireless audio systems, such as Bluetooth, truly facilitates the precision reproduction of the full spectrum of audio frequencies (20Hz – 22kHz) required for a genuine Hi-Fi sound experience.
apt-X makes Hi-Fi systems Bluetooth-friendly
Chord implements apt-X in four of nine new Chordette modules – PEACH, GEM, MAXX and TOUCAN BLUE – to guarantee both the stereo quality and signal integrity of wireless audio content streaming from diverse types of Bluetooth A2DP enabled media players such as Apple iPod, iPhone and Mac, as well as PCs, mobile phones and gaming consoles. Hi-Fi users typically prefer listening to music archived in high-definition uncompressed and “lossless” formats (eg, FLAC) rather than highly-compressed “lossy” formats (MP3, AAC).
Commenting on the deployment of apt-X in Chordette modules, John Franks, CEO of Chord Electronics said: “The PEACH – the next-generation DAC module in the Chordette range – is designed to interface Hi-Fi systems to digital audio sources streaming high-quality stereo audio via Bluetooth A2DP. For true Hi-Fi sound, Stereo Bluetooth really needs apt-X.”
Game-changer for Stereo Bluetooth
Noel McKenna, CEO of APTX, said: “These are extraordinary times for apt-X in several respects. First, there’s the healthy uptake of apt-X by more and more consumer audio brands, both the mass-market types and niche pro-audio high-ends like Chord. Second, there’s the up-lift in brand awareness of apt-X thanks the growing number of CE products carrying with the apt-X logo now selling via major electronics retailers like Amazon and Apple Store. Third, and not least, there’s the turnaround in industry respect for Stereo Bluetooth as the go-to wireless technology for streaming high-quality audio.” Back in January, APTX, together with Creative, won the “Best of CES” Bluetooth SIG award at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas for the Inspire S2, a wireless 2.1 speaker system featuring apt-X.
The Chordette range comprises the following modules: the Chordette TOUCAN BLUE is an apt-X enabled Stereo Bluetooth headphone amplifier; MAXX is an apt-X enabled Stereo Bluetooth high-power amplifier; PEACH is a 4-input high-performance DAC (apt-X enabled Bluetooth, USB, coaxial SPDIF, optical TOS-link); and GEM, a standalone DAC featuring inputs for apt-X enabled Bluetooth and USB. The remaining modules in the identically-styled, frame-mountable Chordette line-up includes two high-spec power amplifiers (SCAMP and DUAL), a low-noise cartridge pre-amp (PRIME), a dual headphones amp (TOUCAN), and a compact Windows 7 media PC (MOGUL).
