Tag: #lenbrook

Lenbrook Media Group Partners with HDtracks to Create Streaming Service for Music Enthusiasts and Audiophiles

Lenbrook Media Group, specialists in high resolution audio technology, and HDtracks, the pioneering service for audiophile quality music downloads, have announced a partnership to develop a streaming service aimed squarely at discerning music fans. Among a set of unique features, the service will offer consumers choice in formats and will be the first subscription service using a novel application of the AIRIA by MQA Labs codec.

“We have wanted to launch an HDtracks streaming service for some time. In Lenbrook we have a partner with global reach to help us launch a service ensuring quality and consumer choice,“ says HDtracks co-founder David Chesky, who has been a leader in high resolution audio alongside his brother Norman. “Fans will get to choose their format – either PCM/FLAC or MQA – in a service that will ensure high resolution audio streaming whether you are in your home or on-the-go.”

The HDtracks service will be the first to use Lenbrook’s AIRIA by MQA Labs, a transparent delivery codec equally suited for streaming from the cloud or wirelessly from a device to headphones. Designed for low-latency wireless communications by the inventors of lossless compression, it brings the benefits of a format-agnostic, scalable codec with an unmatched combination of audio quality, reliability, and data-efficiency.

“Our industry has been built by providing discerning music enthusiasts with choices while using innovation to advance digital music delivery,” explains Lenbrook’s Chief Strategy Officer, John Banks. “As audiophiles ourselves, it’s an exciting prospect to bring a service to life for the millions of global audiophiles that care so passionately about the quality of the music they listen to.”

The service will be available across platforms. In addition to its own applications for mobile, the service will find its way into many of the world’s leading high-end audio ecosystems, apps, and brands, that count on service providers for their content.

Mike Jbara, VP and GM of Lenbrook Media Group adds, “Norman and David are the perfect partners for Lenbrook. Their experience and understanding of the high-end audio fan is unique and their history with quality and innovation speaks for itself. We are ready to embark on this journey with them and think music fans are going to love it.”

Lenbrook Media Group Unveils Plans for MQA Labs

Lenbrook Media Group (LMG), specialists in high resolution audio, has announced a suite of products from the newly formed MQA Labs that bring audio processing enhancements across the music supply chain. AIRIA by MQA Labs™ (also known by its technical name, SCL6) delivers high resolution audio while seamlessly scaling from full lossless to very lossy rates. FOQUS by MQA Labs™ represents an innovative approach for analogue to digital conversion. QRONO by MQA Labs™ brings a variety of audio processing enhancements within playback devices. These technologies are expected to debut in a variety of licensee products before the end of calendar 2025.

Gordon Simmonds, CEO of The Lenbrook Group, LMG’s parent corporation, reflected on the initial decision to acquire the assets of MQA. “These developments confirm our instincts around this team and the value of the IP. While the choice and accessibility of MQA content remains a priority  for us, this was never about a single codec,” he says.

The creation of MQA Labs and its newest product families reflect Lenbrook’s passion to improve the whole audio chain and bring the highest quality recording, distribution and playback technologies to benefit the entire specialty audio industry and its fans.

“The digitization of an analogue signal introduces a range of imperfections to the resulting audio file. One of the most common and critical is something often referred to as time smearing – when the resolution of two sounds is reduced because their timing is incorrectly reproduced within the digital file,” explains Greg Stidsen, Chief Technology Officer at Lenbrook. “MQA Labs’ team are experts in time-domain audio improvements, having invented many of the techniques to avoid or eliminate such audio defects.”

Two of the new product families will address the issue head on: FOQUS, which tackles the analogue to digital processes, and QRONO, which will address converting digital back to analogue.

The third product family is among the most anticipated of LMG’s future products. Previously known by its technical name, SCL6, it is a new codec seamlessly ensuring the best resolution possible regardless of bandwidth availability. Now named AIRIA by MQA Labs, the codec was developed to transform audio across wireless connections. Most recently, LMG successfully completed pilots for use as a distribution codec – perfect for streaming services.  As a transmission codec, it shines as a high-resolution codec with dramatic operational savings and reliability.

Early response from the industry around these new products has been positive.

“We are inspired by the reactions of our partners who are incorporating these technologies into their products,” explains Mike Jbara, Vice President & GM of LMG. “This is a milestone moment for us. We are committed to receiving and applying feedback from the market in how we apply our technologies and ensuring they are more flexible and accessible throughout the music supply chain.”

Radio Paradise MQA Audio Coming Exclusively to BluOS Players. #MQA #BluOS

Radio Paradise, Lenbrook International and MQA today announced a new hifi internet radio service exclusive to the BluOS platform. Radio Paradise, a listener-supported internet radio station known for its high quality audio streams, is now providing MQA-encoded audio on all four of its mix channels, utilising high-resolution 24-bit masters where available.

Lenbrook International, the owner and developer of the market-leading BluOS high-resolution multi-room platform, has announced that all BluOS devices will receive an update in April 2021 to enable Radio Paradise MQA as a native music streaming option. It will be included in all current and future BluOS Enabled devices from leading audio brands like Bluesound, NAD Electronics, DALI Loudspeakers, Monitor Audio, Roksan, Peachtree and PSB Speakers. The collaboration marks the first time an internet radio station will carry MQA-encoded content.

Screenshot of Radio Paradise’s RP Rock Mix in MQA

“As music lovers and audiophiles ourselves it was a revelation to hear the performance difference in music when encoded into MQA, even when only 16 bit/44 kHz masters are available,” explained Bill Goldsmith, long-time radio personality and founder of Radio Paradise. “It’s a unique opportunity for us to provide improved audio performance to our BluOS listeners who are very serious about their content quality. The team at BluOS has been 100% committed to delivering high-res audio direct to the listening room and has long supported our work at Radio Paradise. Our shared values for best-in-class audio make this collaboration a totally natural evolution.”

“Radio Paradise MQA is the perfect vehicle for the musical curation of Bill and the Radio Paradise team,” says Mike Jbara, CEO of MQA. “We are proud to play a part in helping showcase their talent and expertise alongside our long-time collaborators on the BluOS platform team. The world’s best sounding entertainment is what customers of BluOS have come to expect following their years of leadership and innovation In high-resolution audio.” 

“The BluOS ecosystem has the largest selection of MQA enabled players in the world,” states Gord Simmonds, President & CEO of The Lenbrook Group, the company developing the BluOS platform. “We wanted to offer our discerning customers something they cannot get anywhere else. Now our BluOS family of brands and their global customers have an exclusive 24/7 mix of MQA content at their fingertips. To partner with Bill and Radio Paradise and our MQA friends to offer this great sounding music to our customers, for whom high resolution audio and hifi are paramount, is an outstanding alignment of our shared visions.”

Lenbrook International Appoints OLEX Communications as its Exclusive PR Agency of Record in North America and the United Kingdom

Lenbrook International announces changes to its public relations team effective January 6, 2021, as consumer electronics veteran Peter Hoagland retires after representing Lenbrook’s North American distribution business, Lenbrook Americas, for nearly ten years as an independent PR consultant. Hoagland has been instrumental in building a strong market presence for NAD Electronics, PSB Speakers, Bluesound, and DALI Loudspeakers amongst specialist audiophile press in North America. 

“Peter has been respected colleague of Lenbrook’s in the audio industry since the early 1980s when we first met him – his reputation is unparalleled,” remarked Stephen Baker, Senior Director of Sales for Lenbrook Americas. “I speak for the entire senior leadership team at Lenbrook when I say that his professionalism and upbeat attitude will be missed, and that we will reflect on how very fortunate we’ve been to have had his marketing and PR expertise working for our brands over the past decade.” 

Peter Hoagland retires after decades working in the consumer electronics industry, leading the marketing efforts for a number of high-end audio brands as an in-house resource, as well as in a consulting capacity. Hoagland joined Lenbrook’s extended marketing team as an independent PR consultant in 2011, representing NAD Electronics, PSB Speakers, Bluesound, and DALI Loudspeakers. He ends his career with an accomplished track record for building deep relationships with specialist media and enhancing brand reputations.

With Hoagland’s retirement, Lenbrook International will continue the work it started at the beginning of the pandemic to consolidate its global PR operations, bringing oversight of Lenbrook Americas’ PR operations under its purview. For over three years now, OLEX Communications has represented Lenbrook’s own brands in the United Kingdom, helping to grow brand awareness with consumer lifestyle and gadget and tech audiences. Earlier in the year, OLEX Communications was appointed in the US to complement Hoagland’s specialist audiophile work, covering lifestyle and gadget and tech publications, and to grow the market presence of the new Bluesound Professional brand within the commercial integration media landscape. Now, OLEX Communications will become the exclusive public relations agency of record representing Lenbrook International brands in the UK and Lenbrook Americas’ brands in North America, across all media verticals.

“It has been a pleasure working with Peter on our distribution business over the years and I have nothing but the utmost respect for him and the tireless work he has invested into our brands in Canada and the United States,” says June Ip, Vice President of Marketing for Lenbrook International. “Fortunately, we have a reliable and knowledgeable partner in OLEX Communications that can take on the work that Peter leaves behind.”