Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Japanese audio brand Onkyo files for bankruptcy

asia.nikkei.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 297 posts

Re: Japanese audio brand Onkyo files for bankruptcy

#21

Post by kitsunesoba »

countvonbalzac wrote: post #2

How hard would it be for them to just take their existing stereo and hook it up to alexa or sonos or some other existing streaming service. If the audio quality is good then quality + decent interface seems straightforward?

My circa-2015 Marantz receiver (NR1606) shipped with support for Airplay, Spotify, Pandora, and SiriusXM, so they’ve had decent connectivity with modern services for some time now. The UI isn’t amazing but that’s barely relevant since those services are typically streamed or controlled by a phone app.

Re: Japanese audio brand Onkyo files for bankruptcy

#23

Post by notatoad »

boulos wrote: post #15
garyfirestorm wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately AirPlay doesn't support Atmos music. Despite spending thousand dollar plus on a Denon and Klipsch setup, I quickly found out that my Apple Music Atmos songs play only as stereo using AirPlay. It's probably Apple's fault...but it reduced the value of my receiver for me. Buy a 7.1 channel setup and effectively listen to only 2 channels :/

Yeah, AirPlay is such a disappointment. I'm thinking about investing more heavily into Chromecast related things since they're more amenable to custom code. Unfortunately, there's no way I'll sign up for any Google-based music service (and I work for Alphabet!). Edit to add: Dolby is also a bit of a fiasco. LG TVs went through multiple firmware updates to attempt to correctly negotiate Dolby Vision. I appreciate that…

Spotify on Chromecast works great!

Re: Japanese audio brand Onkyo files for bankruptcy

#24

Post by ethbr0 »

garyfirestorm wrote: post #14
boulos wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many modern receivers support both Chromecast and Airplay, as well as some level of HomeKit / Google Home / Alexa integration. I think for Onkyo, they just fell in an awkward middle. Not as high end as Denon/Marantz/etc. and not as cheap as . Combined with the drastic decrease in people "needing" receivers and speakers (many people now just get a sound bar, or Bluetooth speakers) and the market squeezed them.

Unfortunately AirPlay doesn't support Atmos music. Despite spending thousand dollar plus on a Denon and Klipsch setup, I quickly found out that my Apple Music Atmos songs play only as stereo using AirPlay. It's probably Apple's fault...but it reduced the value of my receiver for me. Buy a 7.1 channel setup and effectively listen to only 2 channels :/

> Buy a 7.1 channel setup and effectively listen to only 2 channels :/

Apple determined that multiple channels were confusing for customers. One should be enough. /mouse/s

Re: Japanese audio brand Onkyo files for bankruptcy

#25

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

Cerium wrote: post #10

Sad to hear. Growing up I had an Onkyo amplifier that I liked a lot. I picked it up at a garage sale for a few dollars and used it through my teenage years.

It is sad. Many classic brands have gone by the wayside. Not all have been satisfactorily replaced.

Onkyo had some very good quality, for a fairly reasonable price.

Re: Japanese audio brand Onkyo files for bankruptcy

#26

Post by midislack »

benreesman wrote: post #20
tomatowurst wrote: post #16

expect more. Japan Inc. has been running on fumes for decades. The US only started 2 years ago, and will likely last another 20~40 years of stagnation.

Not saying your wrong, but why 2 years ago specifically?

When we started our quest to double, triple, even quadruple the money supply.

Re: Japanese audio brand Onkyo files for bankruptcy

#27

Post by bryanlarsen »

agumonkey wrote: post #18
boulos wrote: post #6

It's too bad Denon (DENki ONkyo) didn't buy this Onkyo to make the merger complete :). I'm guessing it wasn't worth it to go downmarket via Onkyo, and it sounds like Onkyo had been accumulating debt for years.

I had no idea Denon was related to Onkyo :)

Denki Onkyo and Onkyo were two different companies. "On" is an obsolete / traditional pronunciation of "sound" so it's not surprising to find it in many audio company names.

Re: Japanese audio brand Onkyo files for bankruptcy

#28

Post by seabrookmx »

boulos wrote: post #15
garyfirestorm wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately AirPlay doesn't support Atmos music. Despite spending thousand dollar plus on a Denon and Klipsch setup, I quickly found out that my Apple Music Atmos songs play only as stereo using AirPlay. It's probably Apple's fault...but it reduced the value of my receiver for me. Buy a 7.1 channel setup and effectively listen to only 2 channels :/

Yeah, AirPlay is such a disappointment. I'm thinking about investing more heavily into Chromecast related things since they're more amenable to custom code. Unfortunately, there's no way I'll sign up for any Google-based music service (and I work for Alphabet!). Edit to add: Dolby is also a bit of a fiasco. LG TVs went through multiple firmware updates to attempt to correctly negotiate Dolby Vision. I appreciate that…

Spotify works great with Chromecasts. I'm still really bummed they killed the Chromecast audio.. there's workarounds but it was the perfect device IMO.

If you're a tinkerer there's also DIY solutions like running snapcast on a Pi.

Re: Japanese audio brand Onkyo files for bankruptcy

#30

Post by indigodaddy »

agumonkey wrote: post #18
boulos wrote: post #6

It's too bad Denon (DENki ONkyo) didn't buy this Onkyo to make the merger complete :). I'm guessing it wasn't worth it to go downmarket via Onkyo, and it sounds like Onkyo had been accumulating debt for years.

I had no idea Denon was related to Onkyo :)

Wikipedia states the companies are not related (even though Onkyo is in both names).
Post reply on HN