What is Higher Audio?

Higher Audio

What is Higher Audio? It's anything and everything that pushes the art of audio beyond its normal - sometimes mundane - boundaries. Here's what we mean:

We were going to call our “Higher Audio” tab “Hi Res Audio”, but, on reflection, that seemed limiting. We wanted it to be our section for everything that is better than “standard” high quality audio.

The trouble with calling it “Hi Res” is that it makes you think about the digital side of things: 24 vs 16 bit, higher sample rates, and even Direct Stream Digital, which is a one-bit format with a very high sample rate.

It certainly will cover that digital stuff, but we also wanted to reserve the section for audio equipment that’s above and beyond the norm. Products that go that extra mile to sound good. This makes sense not least because to appreciate the higher quality digital formats, you need the analogue side to be exceptional.

We also wanted to help anyone trying to find higher quality audio. It’s not always easy to find, and when you do find it, it’s sometimes difficult to know how to play it. People sometimes say that they can’t hear the difference. Well, some can’t, but, often, it’s because they’re not listening in a way that would reveal that difference.

When you find a great audio source, and listen to it on superlative equipment, it’s amazing. Very few people have actually had this experience, in a world where damaged, compressed audio formats are the norm. The idea behind Higher Audio is that we want to change that.