Two friends, and an obsession

Fideliq started out as a project for two long-time friends, Steve Landers and Michael Petrossian. Both love good music and technology, and their early experiences with digital audio were frustrating and disappointing. Rather than put up with a poor experience, in sound quality and in use, they set out to do better.

Steve's many years of innovative software development complemented Michael's background in electronics and product design, and so the first Fideliq was born. What some would call an obsession with improving it led to version after version over a number of years, each one teaching us more: about minimising electrical noise, optimising the software, or making it simpler to use.

Along the way a few audiophile friends joined us, a small community to try each upgrade and tell us what they heard and how easy it was to use. It was their encouragement that showed us those obsessive iterations had made a server and streamer to rival others at double the price or more.

The latest Fideliq brings our own app, a quieter design throughout, and dual isolated power supplies.

“If a development doesn't make the music better or the product easier to use, then it's not been a good change.”

To an audio-obsessive, what does “better” mean?

• Sitting down for a few tracks, playing the whole album, then telling yourself it's not so late that you can't listen to just a few more.
• Hearing new detail and nuance in tracks you thought you knew.
• No longer listening to your hi-fi, but to your music.
• Finding new joy in your music.

That's what the love of music, and simplicity, is all about.