Hi-Res Wireless Audio (HWA) Union officially established

HWA’s high-definition audio wireless transmission standard seeks to greatly enhance the user experience of enjoying high-quality music via wireless devices through the facilitation of high-quality music reproduction. The establishment of the HWA Union will greatly promote the sustained and healthy development of the HD audio ecosystem.

High-resolution music can achieve a quality that is close to original sound reproduction, which is fast becoming a need for music lovers; the mobility of wireless connection will undoubtedly bring more convenience and become the inevitable trend of the development of headphones and stereo equipment. As a wireless HD audio technology standard, HWA satisfies these two requirements. The HWA technology standard covers the wireless transmission system on the digital transport, the audio codec for wireless transmission, the wireless receiving system for headphones and stereo equipment, and the digital-to-analog converter (DAC) performance, which compensates all the technologies shortcomings of the wireless digital music experience today.

If MP3 and CD players create the first era of digital music, and smartphones have created the second era of digital music, then HWA technology will lead high-quality music into a new era via wireless connectivity. In the near future, our headphones and home stereos will no longer need to be wired to connect to a smartphone or player, allowing us to experience high-quality music in a free and simpler way.

The HWA Union is bringing this scenario into reality. Initiated by the China Electronic Audio Association and Huawei, many influential manufacturers have joined the HWA HD Union and became the members of the first Board of Directors, they include AKM, China Electronics Technology Group Corporation,  Cirrus Logic, Edifier,  Guoguang Electric, HiFiMAN, HiVi, Huawei, Institute of Acoustics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Savitech, iriver, Sennheiser and Taihe Music Group, comprising of representatives of smartphone manufacturers, headphones manufacturers, audio equipment manufacturers, audio chip manufacturers, professional testing organizations as well as music content providers.

At the press conference, Axel Grell, Portfolio Management Consumer at Sennheiser shared that the company has been evaluating HWA since March this year and is delighted to be a member of the HWA Union. He also shared that Sennheiser is working on three products which will support HWA, the first in the form of a pair of Wireless Bluetooth Neckband Earphones will be available in Spring 2019.

As the advocate of the HWA Union through its Secretary-General, Chen Lixin, expressed the following during the establishment of the HWA HD Audio Transmission Standards and Industry Union, “For the longest time, high-quality music is either limited to digital audio player, headphones, stereo equipment, or limited by the source of music, restricting the access of high-quality music to enthusiasts. Today, we are very happy to witness the establishment of the HWA Union. It is much joy to share the joy than enjoy alone, we look forward to more firms joining HWA, allowing high-quality wireless music experience to be available to hundreds of millions of smartphone users, and facilitate wireless home entertainment into homes around the world.”

Huawei, as the initiator of the HWA Union and one of the core contributors to the HWA technology standard, through its vice president of Huawei’s consumer BG mobile phone product line, Li Changzhu, expressed the following, “High-quality playback and ease of use are two critical points of pursuance for music experience on a smart device and also our original intent to participate in research and initiate the founding of the HWA Union. It is known to everyone that, in March of this year, we released the P20 mobile phone in Paris, France. The P20 is our first product to support HWA. The Mate 10 series will be upgraded in September to support HWA. In the future, we will actively promote the healthy development of the HWA Union and cooperate with the entire HD audio ecosystem and industry to create the ultimate wireless high-quality music experience for consumers around the world.”

The HWA technical standard allows for the high quality and convenience of music, like how “the autumn river shares a scenic hue with the vast sky.” We look forward to the rapid adoption of HWA technology, bringing the ultimate high-quality, presence music experience to millions of consumers.