LATEST ADDITIONS

3D Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole 3D (Blu-ray 3D)
David Vaughn  |  Jan 17, 2011
Young owl Soren (voiced by Jim Sturgess) marvels at tales of the Guardians of Ga'Hoole, mythic winged warriors who battled to save all owlkind from the evil Pure Ones. When he and brother Kludd (Ryan Kwanten) fall into the talons of the Pure Ones, it's up to Soren to make a daring escape with the help of other brave owls and seek out the Great Tree, home of the Guardians.

The marketing for this film wasn't very enticing, but the story has a lot of heart and is very entertaining. Director Zach Snyder (300, Watchman) makes his animation debut with this fantasy adventure based on the beloved books by Kathryn Lasky.

Continue Reading »
3D Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Coraline (Blu-ray 3D)
David Vaughn  |  Jan 15, 2011
Eleven-year-old Coraline Jones (voiced by Dakota Fanning) has just moved with her parents (Teri Hatcher and John Hodgman) to a new home in Oregon. With her parents distracted by work and no one to play with except an annoying boy, Wybie Lovat (Robert Bailey Jr.), she spends her time visiting her older neighbors. When she convinces herself that her new home is the most boring place on earth, she uncovers a secret door that leads to a parallel world much like her own—but much better. Is the grass greener on the other side or is it all an illusion?

Pixar has changed the way animated films are made, but the days of stop-motion are far from over as director Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas) proves with this visually stunning and wildly entertaining tale of a young girl in search of attention. One caveat—this isn't really a kid's movie. There are some intense sequences in the "other world" that may frighten younger viewers, so a prescreening is recommended for parents with young children.

Continue Reading »
Elemental Totem
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 14, 2011

Totem Acoustic's president and chief designer Vince Bruzzese talks about the company's new Element line of speakers.

T+A Does Blu-ray & Big Speakers
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 14, 2011

German high-end maker T+A introduces an A/V receiver with integrated Blu-ray player and massive new speaker as discussed by CEO Siegfried Amft.

Moon Over Simaudio
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 14, 2011

Lionel Goodfield, VP of Marketing at Simaudio, introduces a new preamp and monoblock in the flagship Moon lineup.

By the Grace of Gracenote
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 14, 2011

Three new additions to Gracenote's portfolio of music- and video-recognition technologies are elucidated by Graham McKenna, Director of Marketing, Michael Jeffrey, Director of Mobile Technologies, and Ty Roberts, Chief Technical Officer.

3D Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Imax Deep Sea 3D (Blu-ray 3D)
David Vaughn  |  Jan 14, 2011
Narrated by Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet, Imax Deep Sea guides you on an astonishing adventure that lets you swim alongside our planet's most exotic creatures. You'll follow green sea turtles as they gather at the cleaning stop so surgeonfish can strip harmful algae from their shells, see Humboldt squid change color four times per second like a strobe light, and witness a mantis shrimp fight off an octopus.

This is the second time I've seen this documentary on home video, but experiencing it in 3D blows away the DVD. Our oceans house some of the most interesting creatures on our planet and this Imax presentation takes you right into the action with freakishly realistic visuals.

Continue Reading »
Vote
Can Recorded Music Ever Be Indistinguishable From Live?
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 14, 2011

Remember the old commercial—"Is it live, or is it Memorex?" The question of whether or not recorded music can be indistinguishable from a live performance has been bandied about since the first days of Thomas Edison's "talking machine," when many listeners claimed the recorded sound was identical to the original.

Of course, our modern ears are more refined than that, but so are modern recording and playback systems, so the question remains, and much has been written about it. Stereophile editor John Atkinson documented an interesting experiment in which he recorded a live piano recital and immediately played the recording for the same audience, and Michael Lavorgna addressed the issue in Stereophile here. Steve Guttenberg provides more food for thought in an article for Stereophile and his Audiophiliac blog on cnet.com.

So I ask you: Do you think it's at least theoretically possible for recorded music to be indistinguishable from a live performance, perhaps with a massively multichannel recording and playback system? Or is the question moot, since they are two different things altogether?

Vote to see the results and leave a comment about your choice; I look forward to reading your thoughts on this one.

Can Recorded Music Ever Be Indistinguishable From Live?
Continue Reading »
3D Audio Alliance Makes Waves
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 14, 2011

SRS CTO and 3DAA spokesman Alan Kraemer talks about the fledgling organization that's out to change the way audio is mixed in the studio and played at home.

DTS Goes to 11
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 14, 2011

DTS's latest technology is dubbed Neo:X, which is designed for 11.1 audio systems; surround-music mixer and DTS consultant Fred Maher provides the lowdown.

Pages

X