Editorial January 2025

January 2025

Another year and some more life experience under the belt!

2024 was a rough year for many but the less said about that the better. Hi-Fi is alive and well and streaming and the Internet seem to be working OK and hence all is good in the world.

I find myself wondering about the impact AI might have on our ears and our listened experience. I was engaged in the impossible debate over the nuances of that good old never ending cesspool of controversy that is cabling and my attitude to it has always been that if you can hear it then it’s the right thing for you. The same applies for algorithms that manipulate streaming digital sources, and to DSP in of all things, car sound. Digital Signal Processing is possibly the final frontier in our sonic journey until we’re directly plugged in via our brain stems?

Perhaps it is here that AI might find itself playing a role. A deep analysis of our listening preferences and biases might see unique sound being generated for each of us, taking into account the components we use and the room we’re in. It poses a fascinating possibility and it is one that both excites and annoys me. It excites me because any improvement on the listening experience of music that I love has to be a good thing. It annoys me in that it might reveal just how biased I am despite my claims to open mindedness in matters audio!

No matter the outcomes music today in 2025 is just better than it has been at any point previously. We should all relish and celebrate that and there is no better way to do so than by getting stuck in, cranking up some tunes and letting them flow through you.

And as always, as the tech comes to us we’ll be the first to let you know what we think!

William Kelly

Publisher