Digital Audio
Looking back, high fidelity audio or Hi-Fi has been the representation of audio quality for decades. Way back then, Hi-Fi simply meant the reproduction of music at its most accurate. This was achieved by vinyl record playback, tape cassettes all of which were analogue source devices. Later still came CD’s, a stepping stone into the digital age and now digital audio streaming.
Today's hi-fi landscape covers many medium both analogue and digital. We’ve seen the rise of compressed digital files like MP3s with their convenience and accessibility over the years. In our search for unprecedented clarity and conveniences, digital audio have matured into the playback of high-resolution digital files without the negativity of compressed format like MP3s.
Advancements in digital audio like variable bitrate encoding, MQA, and Bluetooth codecs like aptX and LDAC have revolutionised streaming, delivering exceptional sound quality as well as 32-bit digital high resolution tracks. Not to be outdone we are also seeing a resurgent in CDs.
To summarise the modern definition of hi-fi - It encompasses many form of music from analogue vinyl listening to the more popular, digital music from CDs to high-resolution digital files and streaming, each with its own tonal characteristics.