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Sound
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What's Playing, Pussycat?
IFA 2008
Quick View on Philips New IFA 2008 Gadgets
In addition to their new TVs and AV systems, Philips had a ton of small new gadgets and appliances at IFA 2008 today: new Streamium 160GB micro Hi-Fi systems, the CinemaOne all-in-one home theater unit, the new version of the Wake-Up Light alarm clock, a cool home messaging system bar, a beer draft machine, a barrage of grooming things, food processors, and the new Senseo Latte Select, which does perfect latte macchiatos in seconds. I'll get an espresso instead, because I was getting quite sleepy right there. Full gallery of shiny objects after the jump. More »
ifa 2008
Plantronics Gamecom 777 Dolby Gaming Headset Ears-On Actually Goes to 11
I was able to try the new Plantronics Gamecom 777 gaming headset here at IFA Showstoppers preview (about the only few thing worth trying, since the Garmin Nuvifone was broken). The $99 headset—equipped with a microphone that folds into the headset itself, Dolby Headphone and Dolby Pro Logic II technology—feels good both on your head and in your ear. More »
earbuds
Wooden Earbuds Would Make for a Nasty Splinter
If traditional iPod-white earbuds are a good way to yell "mug me!" we guess that wooden earbuds might send the message "I could be so cheap that I fashioned my iPod from a tree so I probably have no money in my wallet." From Radius, the HP-WCF11M earphones feature 10mm neodymium drives with 18Hz-21,000Hz frequency response, all encapsulated in nature's speaker. Technically the HP-WCF11M are Japan only, but it looks like Radius is moderately US-friendly. [Radius via Akihabaranews]
review
Lightning Review: Earforce X4 Xbox 360 Wireless Surround Sound Headset
The Gadget: Turtle Beach's Earforce X4. It's a wireless surround sound headset that can also plug into an Xbox 360 controller for full Live chatting.
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audiomorons
At last, here is the answer for all your high fidelity problems: the Acoustic System Phase Corrector, a group of 11 maple wood blocks that corrects the blurring of phase coherency. You know, that sound problem caused by those pesky pockets of greater energy density happening between the loudspeakers, the floor, and the front wall. Come on. You know the ones. Listen, just spend $1,975 on this and you will get amazing sound, as their product description says:
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Fantabulous Wood Sound Enhancer Specially Crafted for Rich Morons
At last, here is the answer for all your high fidelity problems: the Acoustic System Phase Corrector, a group of 11 maple wood blocks that corrects the blurring of phase coherency. You know, that sound problem caused by those pesky pockets of greater energy density happening between the loudspeakers, the floor, and the front wall. Come on. You know the ones. Listen, just spend $1,975 on this and you will get amazing sound, as their product description says:
More »
retromodo
First Stereo Sound Recordings Digitally Restored For the First Time
Sound engineers have digitally restored some of the earliest recordings of stereo sound by the technology's inventor, Alan Blumlein. Blumlein, a research engineer at EMI, had lodged a patent for “binaural” sound in 1931 and made several experimental recordings to see if they could sell it to the fledgling film and audio industry. In 1934, EMI decided that nobody really needed surround sound and shelved all projects related to it. File that under late great historical oopses. More »
riaa
The RIAA May Be Forcing Laptop Manufactuers to Disable Stereo Mix Recording
After a frustrating few months of searching for a solution to the audio problems he encountered while ripping on-screen video with his Dell laptop, a ripten editor discovered that others were experiencing the same issue—and that the problem was not confined to Dell laptops. Apparently, the lack of a sound card Stereo Mix recording option is to blame—and numerous forum threads have suggested that the RIAA has put pressure on laptop manufacturers like Dell, Gateway and Pac Bell to remove it. More »
retromodo
Over at The Audiophiliac they're running a story about a visit to the house where abstract painter Jackson Pollock used to live with wife Lee Krasner. Apparently the guy had a pretty cool hi-fi: a Bogun DB-20 tube amp, a Crown turntable and speakers built into a stairwell. Audiophiliac's Steve notes that the door holding the speakers "is covered with Pollock's trademark paint splatters, drips, and blobs," so it probably counts as a minor work of art all of its own. And of course "Pollock loved to play his hi-fi really loud, especially when Krasner was out of the house." I wonder if the volume helped with artistic inspiration? [The Audiophiliac]
Jackson Pollock's Hi-Fi Was Paint-Splattered Too, Played Loud
Over at The Audiophiliac they're running a story about a visit to the house where abstract painter Jackson Pollock used to live with wife Lee Krasner. Apparently the guy had a pretty cool hi-fi: a Bogun DB-20 tube amp, a Crown turntable and speakers built into a stairwell. Audiophiliac's Steve notes that the door holding the speakers "is covered with Pollock's trademark paint splatters, drips, and blobs," so it probably counts as a minor work of art all of its own. And of course "Pollock loved to play his hi-fi really loud, especially when Krasner was out of the house." I wonder if the volume helped with artistic inspiration? [The Audiophiliac]
soundbar
The YSP line is my favorite soundbar because of the sonar-inspired tech it borrows from cold war subs. The YSP-3050 is a new 23-driver model, second best compared to the 42 driver YSP-4000. The upgrade from the 3000 now has a front mounted minijack in, and HDMI upscaling. Like the higher end models, these will provide glorious surround, but unless you wall mount, the speaker blocks a few inches of your TV. [Yamaha]
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Yamaha YSP-3050 Soundbar: Same as the YSP-3000 Plus HDMI Upscaling
The YSP line is my favorite soundbar because of the sonar-inspired tech it borrows from cold war subs. The YSP-3050 is a new 23-driver model, second best compared to the 42 driver YSP-4000. The upgrade from the 3000 now has a front mounted minijack in, and HDMI upscaling. Like the higher end models, these will provide glorious surround, but unless you wall mount, the speaker blocks a few inches of your TV. [Yamaha]
More »
tvs
Mitsubishi 149 iSP Series LCDs Loaded With 16 Speakers Up Front
Mitsubishi's 149 iSP series LCDs have a 16-speaker sound bar built-in for people who are too lazy (like me) or don't know how (like my parents) to set up a home theater. The integrated Sound Projector, as it's called, sends sound flying around the walls to act like surround sound—in my experience, it was way better than typical front speaker-only setups but didn't match the immersive feeling of true surround.More »
drunk driving
Party-A-Cargo Brings the Bro-Down to Wherever Your Truck Can Park
Hey dudebro, looking to take a bro-dtrip but afraid you'll make the ultimate braux-pas: not bringing enough beer and having a totally whack sound system? Chill out man, Party-A-Cargo's got your back with its tow hitch mounted kegerator. The Party-A-Cargo Ultimate can store up to 160 glasses of beer and contains a jockey box with two 6 inch by 9 inch speakers and a 10 inch subwoofer. More »
reviews
$4300 Kaleidescape 1080p DVD Streamer Reviewed (Still Not Real HD)
Sound & Vision gave a gushing review to the Kaleidescape 1080p player, a DVD upscaler that streams movies from a home server for the price of a nice used car. They especially liked the Gennum VXP video processor chip, which upscales DVD content to vividly sharp 1080p detail, with very accurate colors and high contrast. The Kaleidescape's updated ability to play content without importing it to the server first was also a big draw. But seriously, $4300? Come on. More »
almost sci-fi
Sonic Crystals to Make Homes, Cars Completely Soundproof
A new technology presented in the New Journal of Physics may lead to completely soundproof homes, cars, or any other space using a meta-material called sonic crystals. One of the developers, who is not Reed Richards but Dr José Sánchez-Dehesa of the Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain, says that this "acoustic cloaking will deviate sound waves around the object that has to be cloaked." More »
classy
VisionArt Hides Flat Panel TVs and Speakers Behind Fine Art For Classy Consumers
If you are planning to install a flat panel television into a tastefully decorated room, chances are you will want to conceal that sucker along with any speaker setups so as not to detract from all of your well-crafted classiness. VisionArt may have an ideal solution that conceals your equipment behind museum quality art prints when not in use. More »
Audiophilia
ASUS Previews HDMI Sound Card With Hidden Video Talents
The Xonar HDAV 1.3 might the first sound card to claim to full HDMI 1.3a support, but ASUS has a few more tricks up their sleeves that could make it interesting to non-audiophiles. The Xonar is capable of performing some corrective post-processing effects on HD video with its "Splendid HD" chip, saving precious CPU cycles. More »
art
Wall Of Sound Is Predictably Not Build From Bricks
In Wall of Sound, artist Maia Urstad has used hundreds of CD players to recreate the classic stone fences bridging farms in Norway. We realize there's a deeper statement here about recycling. We hope that statement is "start building more badass boombox fences in Norway." [ADW and Maia via MAKE]
ipod docks
The guys over at Apartment Therapy Unplugged spotted a pretty sweet media center that'll be coming soon to a living room near you. Made by Geneva Lab, a company known for its high-end iPod speaker docks, the new cabinet system includes four midrange 5.5-inch speakers, two tweeters, a 12-inch subwoofer, a cabinet to hold A/V components, and (of course) a dock for everybody's favorite MP3 player. It's expected to hit stores in late Fall 2008, and will cost $3,500. More pics after the jump.
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Geneva Lab's Shiny New Media Center Has iPod Dock, Unsurprisingly
The guys over at Apartment Therapy Unplugged spotted a pretty sweet media center that'll be coming soon to a living room near you. Made by Geneva Lab, a company known for its high-end iPod speaker docks, the new cabinet system includes four midrange 5.5-inch speakers, two tweeters, a 12-inch subwoofer, a cabinet to hold A/V components, and (of course) a dock for everybody's favorite MP3 player. It's expected to hit stores in late Fall 2008, and will cost $3,500. More pics after the jump.
More »
