For four days at the beginning of each year, the eyes of the world will be on Las Vegas, because the consumer electronics show is actually expected to bring the big news in TV, HiFi and home cinema. But in recent years the CES news has been increasingly determined by 'smart' kitchens, 'connected' cars and other trends. The traditional premieres still exist, you just have to take a closer look to see them. That's why we were there. At the beginning of this little experience report it might be useful to briefly mention the superficially recognizable 'big' trends. Numerous observers and interpreters in the industry usually rightly speculate about this in the run-up to the fair, and 2015 was no exception. So everyone already knew by the end of December what Las Vegas was going to be about: Smart Home, Connected Cars and the so-called 'Internet Of Things'. And in fact there was enough to see in Las Vegas. However, the great revolution, as the noise in the (electronic) forest of leaves suggested in advance, did not materialize. Somehow more would have been expected, especially in the field of 'Smart Home'. Many well-known and unknown manufacturers presented themselves under this banner and also showed quite a number of new products. But the standard that unites everything, the general solution with which you can finally turn a networked house into a really smart one, is still a long time coming. In this context, it was particularly exciting that in the run-up to and in some cases even during the trade fair, a manufacturer that traditionally ignores the CES was discussed. We are talking about Apple, whose 'HomeKit' platform should be suitable for becoming that uniform standard with which products from different manufacturers can not only be networked with one another, but also intelligently controlled. The first HomeKit products were actually on display at CES, but unfortunately there was no big aha effect. It may be nice to be able to operate the socket or the garage door opener via smartphone, but that's not really new either. One thing became clear in Las Vegas: Much of what was shown under the heading 'Smart Home' actually only fits under the much more diffuse generic term 'Internet of Things'; More and more individual devices, from the socket to the kitchen stove, are indeed networked (or can be networked) and theoretically connected to the Internet. The whole thing only becomes 'smart', however, when the individual devices are meaningfully linked, which actually enables intelligent control. Such solutions will come, no doubt about it. At the CES 2015, however, they could only be seen in the first rudiments. HomeKit socket from Elgato's EVE program - many products are already 'connected', but only a few are really 'smart' However, the CES is increasingly becoming an innovation show for international car manufacturers; and that despite the fact that the famous Detroit Motor Show takes place just a week later. Connected car is the keyword here, and includes everything from entertainment solutions connected to smartphones to future technologies such as autonomous cars or intelligent traffic control systems in which all vehicles communicate with each other on the road. The most exciting innovations at the CES are now from the car manufacturers - like this futuristic vision of a future self-driving and of course fully networked S-Class from Mercedes Benz.But of course, the manufacturers who serve the more traditional CES topics were not inactive . For example, it became more than clear that 4k / UHD will be the future in the TV market. Samsung, for example, will be introducing 66 (mostly curved) TVs with UHD resolution of just over 100 new TVs this year, and in certain size classes you will no longer have a choice between Full HD or UHD. In principle, it looks similar with the other TV manufacturers, but Samsung had another (marketing) trump card up its sleeve. Under the somewhat misleading name 'S-UHD', they did not present the next leap in terms of the number of pixels, but the most recent expansion of LED / LCD televisions. Thanks to a backlight with 'Quantum Tot' technology and various other innovations, these new S-UHD devices should be at least on a par with the much-praised OLED displays in terms of color display, black level, brightness and brilliance, and even superior in many areas - at a considerably cheaper price Price. Logically, there was nothing new to report in terms of OLED at Samsung either, at least for the moment the Koreans don't seem to be pursuing this topic very well. OLED is no longer an issue for the time being - Samsung is relying entirely on LCD-based S-UHD technology, which should even offer a better picture with 4k and quantum dot technology. The situation is completely different with LG's Korean neighbors. Here, OLED is still regarded as the high-quality TV technology of the present and future; several new 4k OLED TVs at the LG booth speak for themselves here. An extremely exciting topic in terms of image quality that was discussed again and again in Vegas was 'High Dynamic Range' (HDR), i.e. content with an enlarged contrast or dynamic range. For example, Netflix has announced corresponding streaming offers for the near future, both in 4k and in full HD resolution. Matching televisions will soon also be available, for example from LG or Panasonic. CES in Las Vegas is always a kind of higher, faster, further of the TV industry. In recent years, however, it has been called 'thinner', and Sony presented the previous leader in this discipline: At just 4.9mm at the thinnest point, the X900C is currently the thinnest 4k television on the market. Surprisingly, that wasn't the big sensation at the Sony booth. Rather, the revival of the 'Walkman' brand in the form of a high-fidelity mobile music player attracted the most attention and media coverage. However, this was at least partly due to the fact that many mainstream journalists reacted with amazement at the targeted price of around 1,200 US dollars. This is certainly ambitious and also quite surprising for Sony, but as Astell & Kern has been successfully proving for years, there is definitely an interesting market in this price region. Sony: The new WALKMAN is a $ 1,200 high-res player - brave decision! At Astell & Kern or iriver, however, you will react quite relaxed to this message. On the one hand, you have a not inconsiderable market and experience advantage there, on the other hand you are entering a very promising new playing field with the AK500 system. The desktop system designed around the network player AK500N is Astell & Kern's first product for stationary use at home and combines the manufacturer's high level of expertise in high-resolution music with useful equipment, DLNA streaming and bit-accurate CD ripping. AK500 - The first stationary system from Astell & Kern With which we would finally have arrived in a completely different area of the trade fair. Because while the TV manufacturers and other mass providers are mostly bustling in the Las Vegas Convention Center, the hi-fi and high-end industry has been gathering in the Hotel Venetian and the Mirage across the street for several years. In the cozy atmosphere of elegant hotel suites you can hear and see what's new on several floors to your heart's content. If you have the time, because the offer is quite extensive. Messe a lá Las Vegas - the Venetian Hotel and Casino has been the CES location for hi-fi and high-end for several years. Not surprisingly, the German manufacturers present were all about streaming and high-resolution music. Dieter Burmester, for example, presented the 'small' music center MC 151, which is technically largely based on the MC 111, but dispenses with its preamplifier unit and the graphic display. Also new from Berlin: The BA 31 loudspeakers to round off the Ambience series, as well as prototypes of extremely high-quality InWall loudspeakers in elegant aluminum surrounds. Dieter Burmester with the BA31 and the MC 151 Audionet shared the suite in the Mirage with the record player specialists from Scheu Analog, but for the Bochum-based company too, the signs of the times are at least in equal parts digital. In the demo system, for example, the PAM G2 phono preamp played in perfect harmony with the DNP streaming client. Thomas Gessler in the Audionet suite and Scheu Analog in the Mirage MBL was also classy. While the completely new Noble-Line drove the Radialstrahler 101E Mk.II to top performance, there was a first impression of the matching streaming player and app in the adjoining room with slightly smaller cutlery, which will probably be available as a finished product in the course of the year buyers will give. Streaming network player with beautifully designed app from MBL T + A also relied on digital music quality in Las Vegas, albeit with a very unique approach. Company boss Siegfried Amft describes the new PDP 3000 HV as a high quality DSD player. The combination of SACD drive and DSD-capable DAC is intended to get the best out of all digital formats. More information about the PDP 3000 HV (click here) Siegfried Amft is proud of the P 3000 HV, which complements the extremely successful HV series. Other German manufacturers, such as Avantgarde Acoustic or Clearaudio, did not necessarily have to show new products, but still used the CES to present themselves and make international contacts care for. On the other hand, there were real innovations to be seen at Chord Electronics, for example. In order to build on the resounding success of the Hugo choir, the British presented the Hugo TT (Table Top) as a stationary version in Las Vegas. Although it is a device for use at home, the Hugo TT still has a rechargeable battery to ensure a stable and interference-free power supply. A new asynchronous USB input (type B) can serve as an input for both HD and SD streams. The successor to the Chordette DAC CuteHD, appropriately named 2Qute, also celebrated its premiere at the CES. As a result, the Chordette range now also benefits from Hugo's award-winning DAC technology. More information about the Chord Hugo TT (click here)More information about the Chord Chordette 2Qute (click here) Two world premieres at Chor Electronics - DAC guru Robert Watts (left) and company boss John Franks also present the Chordette 2Qute and the Hugo TT Innovation at Lyngdorf Audio. The new power amplifier SDA-2400 (2x 400 watts) has both analog and digital inputs, so it can help many media players, network streamers or preamplifiers in terms of sound and performance on the jumps. Lyngdorf Audio - The SDA-2400 power amplifier has both analog and digital inputs. Aside from the actual trade fair, there was also the opportunity to take a look at three new products from Rotel. The RSP-1582 is a 7.1 AV processor trimmed for the best possible sound, which, in addition to 4k capability and high-quality Burr-Brown DACs, also offers a parametric 10-band equalizer and aptX Bluetooth. However, the new 3D sound formats such as Dolby Atmos or Aura 3-D are initially not an issue for Rotel. The stereo preamplifier RC-1590 and the two-channel power amplifier RB-1590, which were also shown in Las Vegas, also offer the best prerequisites for top sound. More information about the RSP-1582 toboggan (click here) More information Presented away from the trade fair: AV processor RSP-1582 and stereo combination RB / RC-1590 from Rodel Okay, the CES may no longer be a real hi-fi trade fair, and in the home cinema and TV sector it is after the almost hysterical ones Innovation rounds have become a little quieter in recent years. Other topics dominate the reporting today. But you shouldn't be fooled by this, even for fans of high-quality picture and sound reproduction there is still a lot to see and hear if you just look closely enough.
