Rewind: Dyson’s OnTrac to take on the AirPods Max, a new Denon streaming amp and more

(Image credit: JBL)

Happy Monday and welcome to our latest Rewind column, where we once again break down the top hi-fi and home cinema stories to break in the past week.

The headlines, and What Hi-Fi? homepage, was dominated by the flood of deals erupting from Amazon Prime Day 2024. But between them there were a number of key news releases from big name hi-fi and home cinema brands.

Here’s what you need to know.

Dyson “mastered sound physics” with its new OnTrac headphones

Dyson OnTrac headphones with red and green colour options — (Image credit: What Hi-Fi?)

Last week Dyson unveiled its second pair of wireless headphones. Thankfully unlike its first pair, which had a weird air purifier attached, the new OnTrac are a much more traditional set of headphones. They’re being marketed as a direct rival to the Apple AirPods Max, and are set to launch with a premium £450 price tag. Dyson was keen to sell their audio quality, which it claims have been made using its mastery of “sound physics”. We didn’t get a chance to listen to the headphones at the launch event, but Dyson’s bold claims around their audio quality piqued our interest.

Read the full story: The Dyson OnTrac wireless headphones are eye-catching, but can they compete with Apple AirPods Max?

Denon unveiled its new Home Amp

A black Denon Home Amp seen from the front at a slight angle. On the front are icons for 1, 2, 3, Play/Pause, Minus and Plus. — (Image credit: Denon)

Denon unveiled its latest Home Amp last week. The streaming amp appears to be a cheaper take on the Marantz Model M1, which was unveiled in June. Like the M1 it’s built to work with Denon's HEOS multi-room ecosystem and has 100W of power per channel into 8 ohms. With a retail price of £200, this could make it a great value streaming amp for any buyer on the hunt for a “just add speakers” solution, if it delivers the goods in the real world.

Read the full story: The Denon Home Amp is a cheaper take on its cousin, the Marantz Model M1

FiiO unveiled another retro portable player

FiiO DM13 Portable CD player — (Image credit: FiiO)

FiiO seems hellbent on pulling at our retro-loving heartstrings at the moment. Mere months after the company unveiled a new cassette player, last week it was back in the headlines, this time with a portable CD player, the DM13. Apparently inspired by the iconic Discman, the dinky unit will be available from September for £179 / $179.

Read the full story: FiiO's throwback era continues with a Discman-inspired portable CD player

JBL launched new loudspeakers and AVRs

JBL Stage 2 floorstanders and centre channel — (Image credit: JBL)

JBL launched two treats for home cinema fans last week. The first is its new line of Stage 2 loudspeakers, including eight units which can be combined to create a pretty enticing looking, Dolby Atmos surround-sound package. The second was JBL’s accompanying Modern Audio range of AV receivers. The new range includes five AVRs, ranging from the affordable, 5.2-ready MA310 up to the top of the line 9.2-ready MA9100HP.

Read the full story: JBL's new loudspeaker range is designed to deliver a blockbusting cinematic experience

Read the full story: JBL sets its sights on Denon with a new range of affordable 8K home cinema receivers

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Alastair is What Hi-Fi?’s editor in chief. He has well over a decade’s experience as a journalist working in both B2C and B2B press. During this time he’s covered everything from the launch of the first Amazon Echo to government cyber security policy. Prior to joining What Hi-Fi? he served as Trusted Reviews’ editor-in-chief. Outside of tech, he has a Masters from King’s College London in Ethics and the Philosophy of Religion, is an enthusiastic, but untalented, guitar player and runs a webcomic in his spare time.