A Sony over-the-air firmware update will bring 360 Spatial Sound Mapping capabilities to the company’s HT-A7000 and HT-A5000 sound bars when connected to Sony SA-RS3S and SA-RS5 rear speakers, it said Wednesday. The rear speakers will be available for preorder soon, Sony said. The update will be available Thursday at 9 p.m. EDT via a download that can be extracted to a USB drive or over Wi-Fi via the sound bar, it said. 360 Spatial Sound Mapping technology creates multiple “phantom speakers” by synthesizing sound waves based on positional information of the sound bar, it said.

Bryston’s BR-20 preamplifier/high-resolution streamer is now Roon Ready-certified, the company emailed Wednesday. Roon gives users a way to browse, organize and listen to music. The BR-20 will automatically discover and connect to Roon without the need for user configuration, the company said.

IKEA introduced a Bluetooth speaker with Spotify Tap, saying Tuesday that the Vappeby is the first speaker to offer the feature. Spotify launched Tap in September in headphones, highlighting Samsung, Microsoft Surface, Bose, Skullcandy and Jabra as brands offering the feature, which allows users to launch a listening session with one tap. Users can begin streaming from where they left off, and another touch advances the stream to the next song. Vappeby, which doubles as a rechargeable, portable lamp, is not part of Ikea’s line of Sonos-enabled Symfonisk products that include speakers ($119 each), a frame speaker ($219) and speaker-lamps ($229). The Vappeby is due in stores next month at $64.99. IKEA didn’t respond to questions on product positioning differences for the Sonos and Spotify product lines. The Vappeby has a handle and is IP65-rated for water resistance, it said.

Monoprice introduced over-ear wireless headphones with Dirac Virtuo technology that’s said to expand the sound stage to produce a more immersive sound. The $129 Monolith M1000ANC Bluetooth 5 headphones, with active noise cancellation, have 40mm drivers and 60 hours’ playback on a charge, Monoprice said Thursday. The headphones come with a USB Type-C charging cable, carry bag and 3.5mm audio cable. A five-minute charge provides up to 2 hours’ playback, the company said.

True wireless stereo (TWS) shipments passed the 100-million-unit mark for the first time in Q4, growing 21% to 103.8 million vs. 46% growth in the year-earlier quarter, reported Canalys Wednesday. Apple continues to dominate the market, but a delay of the third-generation AirPods from Q3 to Q4 hurt 2021 sales, with AirPods shipments falling 11.4% to 86 million units for the year. AirPods’ Q4 sales bumped 20% year on year to 40.4 million, but Apple’s share in the quarter slipped from 39.3% to 38.9% year on year. The AirPods maker is “being challenged to deliver on the spatial audio experience with improvements discernable to the average listener and better ecosystem integration to stay ahead,” said Canalys analyst Sherry Jin. Competition from Sony, Bose, Jabra and Skullcandy is challenging smartphone vendors to improve integration of their branded TWS devices within their ecosystems to ensure the devices “are not just simple audio accessories to smartphones,” said analyst Cynthia Chen. HD audio consumption, gaming and remote productivity are opportunities for TWS manufacturers to drive next-generation content and technology, possibly being an entry point to the metaverse, said Chen. For full-year 2021, TWS earphones’ share of the smart personal audio market reached 63%; their improved availability and accessibility is making wireless earphones “obsolete” and wireless headphones “a niche,” said Chen. Still, a large number of users continue to rely on wired devices. Vendors should encourage users to move toward wireless devices to enjoy an improved mobile user experience, while addressing key concerns over price, comfort, battery life and ease of use, Chen said.

Zvox bowed what it’s billing as the world's first true wireless earbuds that combine hybrid noise cancellation with dialogue-clarity technology. The AV30s are available now at Zvox.com and Amazon for $99.99, including recharging case and three different sizes of ear domes, said Zvox Tuesday. "More and more people are watching movies, TV shows and sporting events on tablets, phones or laptop computers," said Zvox founder Tom Hannaher. Many who grew up listening to loud music “could use a little dialogue boost to help them understand what people are saying,” he said. He called the AV30s the “perfect solution” for the 95 million Americans who are 50 and older.

Bowers & Wilkins highlighted spatial audio in the launch of the Panorama 3 sound bar with a Dolby Atmos decoder and tuning by B&W engineers. It’s the first Panorama redesign since the Panorama 2 hit the market in 2013 and is upgradeable over time, including for multiroom capability soon after launch, the company emailed Thursday. It will be compatible with other Panorama sound bars, B&W Zeppelin music systems and the company’s Formation products in a multiroom setup, the company said. Like the first two, the Panorama 3 is billed as a full-range stand-alone speaker system that doesn’t require additional bass from an external subwoofer. The $999 Panorama 3 has 13 drivers, including the series’ first upfiring units for Atmos, plus two subwoofers, all with 400 watts of amplification. It includes AirPlay 2 and aptX Adaptive Bluetooth for iOS and Android users to stream music from mobile devices; it also has Spotify Connect. An HDMI cable links the sound bar to a TV. Users can control volume and power via the TV or cable box remote, the company said. Capacitive touch-control buttons on the top light up when touched, and the sound bar can be voice-controlled by Amazon’s Alexa digital assistant. Other streaming services available via the Panorama 3 include Deezer, Last.fm, Qobuz, SoundCloud, Tidal, TuneIn and the Bowers & Wilkins Music App.

Sonos began taking preorders for a less expensive, no-mic version of its Roam portable speaker Tuesday. The $159 Roam SL has a March 15 availability date. The $179 Roam, which has a mic and Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice control, remains in the line, a spokesperson emailed. Sonos raised the price of the Roam by $10 last fall from its April launch price of $169. On why the company introduced a non-mic version, the spokesperson said the lower priced Roam is a “more affordable way to enjoy the Sonos experience.”

High-end audio company Astell&Kern bowed an “audiophile-grade” Bluetooth speaker. The $499 unit has support for aptX HD and LDAC Bluetooth codecs, allowing users to play “better than CD-quality audio” wirelessly from a smartphone or other Bluetooth source, the company emailed Wednesday. The BE100 has a dedicated 32-bit hi-fi digital-to-analog converter, 3.5mm Aux input, 4-inch Kevlar woofer and two silk dome tweeters. Users can set five bass and treble settings that are viewable on the speaker’s front LED display; a multifunction wheel changes speaker modes, powers the speaker on/off and provides volume control. Its 55-watt class D amplifier was designed in house. The BE100 will be available March 7, the company said.

Hifiman launched a quarter-sized portable digital-to-analog converter (DAC) with a 40-milliwatt+2 class AB amplifier, it said Wednesday. The HM800’s internal Himalaya DAC module supports the PCM signal transmitted by the Integrated Interface of Sound audio interface, with a maximum 24-bit resolution, the company said. It has a USB-C input and comes with four cables for connection to MMCX coaxial, MMCX-0.78 and MMCX-0.75-pin connector cables. The company also bowed its first desktop DAC/amplifier in 10 years. The 9.5 x 9 x 2.5-inch EF400 ($599), has a Himalaya R2R DAC, a class AB amplifier and four balanced outputs. Maximum power output is 4.4 watts per channel, suitable for driving the company’s planar headphones, it said. Both DACs are due to ship in March.