CES Audio Innovations Sound Sweet

Decompressing your tunes

Squeezing your music down so you can fit hundreds of CDs-worth of songs on a small portable player does some real damage to its sound quality, eliminating much of the range and depth of the music. IHome, maker of a variety of iPod docks and speaker cases, says it has found a way to undo the effects of compression automatically as your music plays. The company’s iP1 ($299, due out in May) sounded impressive in the demo I attended. In a recording of Tony Bennett singing “New York, New York,” the system brought out the sounds of the individual instruments in his backing band. In a contemporary hit by Rihanna, the iP1 pumped up the bass considerably while also brightening up the top end of the music.

-- By Edward M. Albro, PC World