Ahead of the big trade show later this year, IFA GPC offered us a few tantalizing new products well-worth checking out.
Providing something of an early teaser for the massive IFA tech expo in Berlin in September, the annual IFA Global Press Conference offers a first look at new gadgets set to be shown off at the show later in the year.
This year’s event took place in Huelva in Spain over the weekend, attracting over 300 media attendees from around the world and it didn’t disappoint – delivering a number of intriguing announcements and unveilings, including an AI-powered razor, an 8K screen and a number of neat new appliances.
For those who weren’t able to attend, we’ve rounded up all the big news from the show and have categorized it by manufacturer below.
Sennheiser’s long awaited first foray in to the world of consumer speakers is edging closer. With its original prototype having wowed visitors at CES back in January, the final retail version of their 3D audio AMBEO soundbar was being demoed at IFA GPC ahead of its release next month.
Packed with 13 separate drivers including two 3.5” top-firing speakers, the AMBEO delivers 5.1.4 immersive sound with compatibility with the three main 3D audio formats (Dolby Atmos, MPEG-H and DTS:X).
Using a combination of acoustic wave guides and digital processing, like most other soundbars, the AMBEO uses reflections off walls via its directional speakers to create a surround effect. On the evidence of our demo however, Sennheiser’s processing appears to be on another level to its rivals, with a real sense of height and separation of sounds delivered. This was particularly acute during a demo of a rainforest scene, with the sound of dripping water genuinely feeling like it was coming from a non-existent speaker behind us thanks to the convincing 360 degree soundstage.
Most impressive of all is its sheer power. With its bass response dropping to 30hz, while there’s the option of adding a separate third-party subwoofer, the amount of low-end the soundbar provides renders this option as all but unnecessary.
There’s no support for Apple Airplay 2 at this stage, but both Google Chromecast and Bluetooth (4.2) are integrated, as well as support for UPnP. On the physical input front, there’s three HDMI (v2.0a) inputs, one HDMI Out (eARC, v2.0a) as well as digital optical audio and aux-in.
The high-end performance will carry an unsurprisingly hefty asking price of €2,499 / £2,200, when it goes on sale on May 28 in Germany, UK, and Australia, while home cinema fans in the US will be able to pick one in early June for $2,499.
A further barrier for some will be that in order to fit in all those drivers, the AMBEO has a fairly sizable footprint compared to other soundbars. As well as being almost 17 cm deep, its 13.44cm height will likely cause an issue when pairing it with TV’s that aren’t wall mounted.
Nevertheless, on this showing the Ambeo soundbar is clearly set to be something of a game-changer for home cinema. With Sennheiser hinting at the show that they may be planning smaller speakers and systems in the future, the home audio market looks to have a new major player that’s set to shake things up.
