LIFESTYLE

Heat the music

Qoobi Audio Innovations Company, a Dutch startup with Russian roots, founded by professionals in the field of design, music and engineering, develops a series of home devices with warm tube sound of studio quality.
7 May, 2019
One of them is Qoobi One - a wireless digital analog converter (DAC) that pulls digital music from a smartphone and massages it into high-end analog audio.
The Qoobi device receives digital music from an Android or iOS smartphone, converts it to an analog format, and outputs it to a home audio system. It works on vacuum radio tubes with the latest Bluetooth 5.0 technology for wireless audio transmission in BT HD.

It is noteworthy that the device is assembled on Soviet-style radio tubes produced at the plant in Saratov, which provides two-thirds of the world supply of radio tubes. They are used by manufacturers of high-quality audio equipment from Europe, America and Asia. There are only four such plants in the world. Thanks to the tubes, the users are able to get the desired hi end sound.

Images: Qoobi
What Qoobi One can do is best described by Qoobi founders: "Compressed digital music is like frozen pizza. Smartphones cook this pizza like a microwave. Convenient but not very tasty. Therefore, we decided to create a device that would cook music like a wood fire stove. Delicious and aromatic."

Non-standard materials were chosen for the production of the case. Anodized aluminum with manual polishing was used to make an internal enclosure that cools the radio tubes, hiding the device's printed circuit board with a digital-to-analog converter and a chip with Bluetooth 5.0 technology support.

Images: Qoobi
Thin quartz glass with engraving for manufacturing of the outer transparent case of the Qoobi One. It looks impressive and reveals the glowing radio tubes.

Inside the device, there is LED lighting, which is controlled by a mobile application.

In 2017, Qoobi One design received a gold award at the prestigious international design competition "A' Design Award & Competition" in Italy.

Images: Qoobi
Matvey Evstigneev, the project leader of the awarded consumer electronics project Qoobi One explains: "The Qoobi design concept originated from the desire to create a unit that is a world apart from any existing sound devices. The design of Qoobi combines two contrast but harmonic natures. Acute sides of a metal figure appear to be frozen into a glass prism. However, being heated, vacuum tubes seem to be melting the glass to enhance the outside world with the warmth and liveliness of music. The main focus was on its usability, reliability, and its sound excellence along with its appealing design. This unique concept is the source of pride to the Qoobi team."

Qoobi One is the first of the three products planned. The company is expected to introduce Qoobi Jr. in 2019 and a studio-class variety known as Qoobi Pro in 2020.

Banner image: Qoobi