CES is always the best time to discover exciting new technologies. However, the products that stole the show this year were more of the vintage variety: record players .
Record players - or turntables - have been enjoying a steady rise in popularity over the past few years, with revenue from vinyl sales growing 94% in the US in 2021 . Vast numbers of vinyl enthusiasts old and new are digging deep into their dust-collecting record collections and finding joy once more in the old technology.
Whether vinyl’s rising star is down to people seeking a more tangible approach to music in a world of streaming or a collective nostalgia for all things retro, there’s no doubt about it: records and their players are here to stay. And CES 2022 has made that very clear.
The most interesting record players showcased at the Las Vegas tech expo combined the very best elements of physical music playing - the tangibility, the warm sound of crackling vinyl - with the kind of modern conveniences we’ve come to expect from our audio devices.
Chief among these conveniences is wireless Bluetooth connectivity. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a new turntable enter the market without some kind of wireless capability, and the models unveiled at CES proved just how crucial this spec is to everyone – from those buying their first cheap deck to the hardcore vinyl lovers who can tell you the right way to calibrate a tonearm without blinking an eye.
Bluetooth with bells on
One such model is the Cambridge Audio Alva TT V2 , a follow-up to the first-ever turntable to come with aptX HD Bluetooth connectivity (and therefore the ability to stream hi-res audio ). The new Alva TT V2 has had a few enhancements to make it more appealing to seasoned record spinners.
For starters, you can now turn off that all-important Bluetooth transmitter for better sound and more energy efficiency. This is handy if you’re using a wired setup instead of streaming your music to wireless speakers , which, let’s face it, you will be if you’re an audiophile.
The Alva TT V2 is also more flexible than its predecessor, with Cambridge Audio making it easier for you to upgrade your setup over time. The tonearm has a detachable headshell should you wish to swap it out for a better model. A switchable phono stage means you could use the phono stage from your existing stereo amplifier, for example, or try a different phono stage in the future.
It’ll cost you a pretty penny, though: $1,999 / £1,700 (about AU$2,770). While that might be reasonable for the most dedicated of vinyl enthusiasts, what about those who are new to the format and just want to dip their toes in?
Cheap and cheerful
Enter the Victrola Re-Spin , a cute suitcase turntable that will retail for just $99.99 / £99 (around AU$140) when it launches later this year. Coming in a range of bright colors that evoke the candy hues of a Vespa scooter, the Re-Spin is cheap, cheerful, and 20% smaller than most other suitcase record players.
Despite its retro looks, the Re-Spin offers Bluetooth connectivity and has a small built-in speaker, so you can still hear your vinyl if you’re away from your speakers. And, yes, it’s portable with a neat carrying handle. It doesn’t have a battery, though, so it will need to be plugged into the mains if you do take it on a trip.
If the Re-Spin doesn’t sound robust enough for your needs and the Alva TT V2 is way too pricey, Victrola has another new model that could be just right. The Victrola Premiere V1 is an all-in-one music system that can spin your records, stream your vinyl wirelessly to an external Bluetooth speaker , and even boost your TV's audio.
It combines a turntable with built-in stereo speakers and a wireless subwoofer, eliminating the need for lots of annoying cables snaking around the room from your record player to your amp and speakers.
Coming in at $499 / £399 (about AU$700), the Premiere V1 feels like a good middle ground between CES’s cheapest and most expensive turntables - and it has all the modern trappings you’d want from a record player in 2022.
What’s next for record players?
The record player industry is in a strong place, with vinyl sales continuing to rise and technological advances making a traditional audio device much more appealing to today’s music fans.
While we can’t say for sure how turntables will develop over the next few years, we can definitely see the appeal of all-in-one systems like the Victrola Premiere V1, especially for those that live in smaller homes and don’t have the space for a couple of stereo speakers and an amplifier on top of the record player itself.
Future models could come with even more modern trappings like built-in voice assistants, potentially making your turntable capable of controlling your entire smart home . Wouldn’t that be cool? (Or terrifying, depending on how you feel about Alexa et al.)
Bluetooth connectivity is a great addition to the record player, and it’ll be interesting to see whether future turntables take this further. Perhaps we’ll see Wi-Fi support or comprehensive integration with multiroom ecosystems that doesn’t require any extra kit. Sonos, hurry up and make a record player, will you?
Aside from these techy predictions, we can’t see the traditional hi-fi setup going anywhere in the next few years. People will still want to tinker with cables and spend hours choosing the perfect speaker stands, no matter how convenient record players become in the future. As long as manufacturers ensure audiophiles are still catered for as well as newbie vinyl lovers, the future of turntables looks very bright.
PlayStation’s Project Spartacus needs an overhaul to compete with Xbox Game Pass
Regardless of where you stand in the so-called “console war”, it’s hard to deny that Xbox Game Pass has revolutionized what we’ve come to expect from gaming.
Sony has been more successful than Microsoft in terms of gaming hardware, with the PS5 outselling the Xbox Series X and Series S . However, so far PlayStation has offered little-to-no resistance when it comes to software.
While there have been rumors floating around that the company is readying to announce its own Xbox Game Pass rival, nothing yet has been officially confirmed yet. And the gap between the two brands is only set to widen now that Microsoft has agreed to buy Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion .
There’s no point sugarcoating it - it’s no longer enough for Sony to announce a straightforward service that allows users to download from an extended catalog of PlayStation games and be done with it. As Xbox’s collection of gaming brands continues to grow, I firmly believe that the only way that Sony can come close to competing with Xbox Game Pass is if it includes PC support as part of its platform.
What is Project Spartacus?
Back in December 2021, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reported that Sony was developing a new service that could take on Xbox Game Pass. Codenamed ‘Project Spartacus’, the upcoming platform is reportedly due to launch in Spring 2022 and will give PlayStation users access to “a catalog of modern and classic games” for a monthly subscription fee. Even Xbox boss Phil Spencer recently said that it was “inevitable” that PlayStation will release its own Game Pass equivalent in the near future.
According to Schreier, Sony’s gaming service could be split into three tiers, with the base level expected to give users essentially the same benefits as PlayStation Plus , namely access to multiplayer online gaming as well as several free downloadable games a month.
The second tier is suggested to be the one that’s most similar to Xbox Game Pass, granting PS4 and PS5 owners the ability to download as much as they wish from an extensive library of PlayStation games. Meanwhile, the third and most expensive tier would grant access to all of the above, as well as a selection of classic PS1, PS2 and PSP games.
What Project Spartacus will need to compete with
Although Xbox Game Pass first launched back in 2017, the platform grew significantly throughout the pandemic as Microsoft began to place a larger emphasis on the gaming side of its business. According to Microsoft, the number of Game Pass subscribers has r ecently passed 25 million subscribers - though interestingly, this growth still managed to fall beneath the company’s expectations .
It’s easy to see how Microsoft’s subscription service has managed to build a good reputation within the gaming community in just a few short years. For $9.99 / £7.99 to $14.99 / £10.99 a month, users receive unlimited access to an impressive list of gaming titles , including some of the best Xbox Series X/S games available.
The list of games available on Xbox Game Pass is updated fairly frequently, with a recent estimate suggesting that Microsoft added over $6,300 worth of games to Game Pass in 2021. Considering the number of gaming brands that now sit underneath the Microsoft umbrella, Sony may have a difficult time competing with the selection available on Xbox Game Pass given that future Bethesda projects like Starfield will be exclusive to Xbox and PC after Microsoft acquired ZeniMax Media last year for $7.5 billion.
It also remains to be seen whether any upcoming Activision Blizzard titles like Overwatch 2 could become Xbox exclusives once the deal closes in 2023. However, as it stands, Xbox has highlighted its commitment to continuing to support the PlayStation community in the future.
So how likely is PC support for Project Spartacus?
One of the biggest selling points for the Xbox Game Pass is that it grants its users access to highly anticipated releases such as Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite immediately from day one.
According to initial rumors regarding Sony’s Game Pass rival, it seemed unlikely that the Japanese company would offer its subscribers day one access to the biggest PlayStation releases. However, Microsoft has since announced its intention to purchase Activision Blizzard, which likely threw a wrench in Sony’s plans.
In addition to day one access to new releases, Project Spartacus will still likely need to include PC support as part of its offering in order to compensate for a less impressive gaming library compared to Xbox Game Pass.
It’s difficult to gauge just how likely Sony is to make its games accessible on PC. Still, it wouldn’t be completely unexpected given how big-name PlayStation titles such as God of War , Horizon Zero Dawn , and Days Gone have already made their way to PC and how many more are expected to follow suit, including Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection and Death Stranding: Director’s Cut . But even with that in mind, PlayStation’s monumental task of catching up to Xbox Game Pass will be no easy feat.
Xbox boss says Facebook and Amazon are its main gaming competitors
Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has said huge tech companies like Facebook, Amazon, and Google are the brand’s main competitors in the gaming industry, as opposed to its traditional rivals.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal about Microsoft’s recently agreed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Spencer described Xbox’s current competitors - including Sony, Nintendo, and Valve - as unlikely to disrupt the industry, but was more concerned that larger tech companies would muscle into the gaming space.
“Nintendo’s not going to do anything that damages gaming in the long run because that’s the business they’re in,” he said. “Sony is the same and I trust them… Valve’s the same way.
“When we look at the other big tech competitors for Microsoft: Google has search and Chrome, Amazon has shopping, Facebook has social, all these large-scale consumer businesses,” he added.
“The discussion we’ve had internally, where those things are important to those other tech companies for how many consumers they reach, gaming can be that for us.”
Spencer goes on to suggest that just as these other, larger tech companies have come to dominate their spaces by providing services across platforms to reach as many consumers as possible, Microsoft could seize the gaming space by setting its sights higher and reaching more players across the industry as a whole.
“I think we do have a unique point of view, which is not about how everything has to run on a single device or platform,” he said.
“That’s been the real turning point for us looking at gaming as a consumer opportunity that could have a similar impact on Microsoft that some of those other scale consumer businesses do for other big tech competitors.”
Analysis: better the devil you know
The idea that Silicon Valley tech giants like Facebook, Google and Amazon might soon be mainstays of the gaming industry won’t fill many with optimism. While the console war that’s been fought between Xbox, Sony and Nintendo for the past two decades hasn’t always acted in the interests of players, its replacement with a larger fight by bigger and hungrier companies may bode no better.
But it’s a fight we should expect, as the tech giants have made their interest in gaming clear for quite some time. Google made its first full-throttled pitch into the industry in 2019, with its cloud gaming console Stadia . A poor library of content, unimplemented features, and a miserly pricing model quickly stunted its appeal, however, and cloud gaming has since been picked up by Sony’s PlayStation Now , Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming, and even Nvidia’s Geforce Now .
Amazon, meanwhile, had more success on the software side with the launch of hit MMORPG New World last year. Even then, it didn’t have an easy ride. The game suffered a dip in players soon after launch, and was released only after another Amazon game, Crucible, flopped the year before.
Spencer is right to expect larger firms to try to grab a piece of the ever-profitable gaming pie, but maybe he should be a tad more pessimistic about their ability to quickly do so. Neither Facebook, Amazon, nor Google have yet shown they can waltz into the industry on their first try. Don’t expect the Microsoft-Nintendo-Sony triumvirate to go anywhere anytime soon.