The music industry constantly sings a new tune, doesn't it? It doesn't seem like too long ago in the past when everyone walked about hunched, hands in the pocket, a Walkman playing songs solely for the listener. Compression technologies changed, and the audio cassette gave way to shiny discs that provided high fidelity to sound and tones. Even CDs had to give way to MP3s, hundreds of them carried about now in small Personal Media Players and in pendrives. But the miniaturisation of music hasn't sounded the death knell for the connoisseur, who have revelled in the beautiful options now available for the best audio experience in town. Multi-tasking home-theatre systems (HTS) are the most favoured melody makers for homes alongside the good ol' hi-fi systems. Another sound device that has become popular is the sound dock, mainly because of the abundance of MP3 players and, of course, the genre-defining Apple iPod.
Music systems today start from as low as ` 3,000 and are versatile devices that take USB drives, DVD movies and MP3 discs in their stride. Together, these three major forms of digital tuners are stationing themselves in many households. And where HTSes are adapting to Blu-ray and 3D technologies, sound docks are also familiarising themselves with movie playback. Hi-Fi systems have become tinier but the small form factor has not compromised their performance. The resonance is still the same if not better.
SO WHAT'S NEW IN MUSIC SYSTEMS? Well, a lot of things. While home-theatre systems support hi-definition video and audio, sound docks from makers like Philips are soon going to support Android mobile phones as well. USB 3.0 ports are a distinct possibility. Slimmer sound drivers are making it easier for companies to produce tinier systems. Virtual surround sound (contrasted with mechanical surround with the speakers at various locations) is becoming popular. Soundbars with virtual surround sound are not only less fussy than the 5.1 or 7.1 channel set-ups, but they also save on room space.
