Hi-Fi Choice

Originally devised as a project by Kevin Lewandowskiin 2000, Discogs has grown to become an incredible resource for fans of both vinyl and CD. In essence, the site is adatabase of music that has been created by Discogs' dedicated community of users. To date, more than 275,000 people have contributed to help build the site's catalogue of more than 6,900,000 recordings from some 4,300,000 artists. It also provides the ability to catalogue your music collection, wantlist and then share your ratings and reviews.

Building on the success of its Recommended badge-winning Mu-so wireless music system (HFC 391), Naim has unveiled the Mu-so Qb. Described by the manufacturer as combining Naim’s priorities of high-quality, engaging sound and understated design, Mu-so Qb appears in a more compact chassis and boasts a speaker arrangement of five offset and angled drivers (two tweeters, two mids and a woofer), although the bass port of its sibling has been ditched to keep size down. Instead, two tuned pistonic bass radiators work alongside a custom-made woofer driven by the 100W amplifier. The Mu-so Qb can connect to your home wi-fi and can wirelessly stream hi-res music stored on your network or browse and play tracks using Spotify Connect, Tidal, internet radio or Airplay.

Adored by hi-fi fans and DJs alike around the world, it was a sad day in 2010 when Technics finally announced that it would cease production of its iconic SL-1200 direct-drive turntable due to dwindling vinyl sales and the riseof more practical music formats. The SL-1200 was originally built for hi-fi fans when it launched in 1972, but its consistent performance, robust build and unique pitch-shifting ability made it the go-to deck for many DJs, who managed to prolong the deck's life long after many hi-fi fans had sold their record collections to car boot sales. Even so, its departure from the market was a surprise and perhaps even a little premature given the growing interest we've seen in the vinyl market in the last few years. Thankfully though, the legendary vinyl spinner looks set to make a comeback later this year.

Norwegian brand Hegel has many years experience in implementing DAC technology, both within its highly regarded integrated amps and standalone digital converters. So the advent of a new ‘reference DAC’ has many eager to hear more. In an eraof DACs becoming smaller and more portable for a new generation of headphone users, it’s refreshing to see Hegel buck this trend and produce a full-width option that unashamedly seeks to put audio quality first. The Norwegian company is a big believer in making its products convenient and simple to use, and the HD30 can be considered a veritable ‘plug ‘n’ play’ hub of digital connectivity.