LATEST ADDITIONS

Audio Video News
Samsung Announces HDMI 2.0a Update for TVs
SV Staff  |  Sep 08, 2015
Samsung has announced a free firmware update for its 2015 SUHD and UHD TVs that adds support for the new HDMI 2.0a specification.
Continue Reading »
Audio Video NewsNew Products
Pioneer Adds 3 AV Receivers to Elite Series
SV Staff  |  Sep 08, 2015  |  First Published: Sep 07, 2015
Pioneer has added three Dolby Atmos-equipped, 9.2-channel receivers to its Elite Series: the SC-99 ($2,500), SC-97 ($2,000), and SC-95 ($1,600).
Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
How Big Data Drives Personalized Music Recommendations
SV Staff  |  Sep 08, 2015  |  First Published: Sep 07, 2015
Ever wonder how music apps like Songza and Rdio figure out what music to recommend to listeners—especially listeners with unpredictably eclectic tastes that run from metal to Mozart?
Continue Reading »
Headphone ReviewsGrace Notes
Optoma NuForce NE750M and NE800M Review
Leslie Shapiro  |  Sep 07, 2015
When Optoma, a home-theater projector company, and NuForce, an audio company joined forces, I’ll admit it I was initially confused. NuForce made nice, niche audio products, and Optoma is mainly only doing projectors. What would their combined efforts produce? Light-emitting earbuds? Projectors with built-in speakers? But it actually makes sense; Optoma purchased NuForce to be able to provide both excellent video and audio to consumers, and they’ve kept the high quality that you would expect from NuForce. How do two new pairs of earphones, the NE750M and the NE800M from Optoma NuForce sound? Let’s find out.

Continue Reading »
Tech2
Max Richter's Sleep: Not Meant to be Enjoyed While Awake
Lauren Dragan  |  Sep 04, 2015
Sleep. On average, we spend a third of our day asleep. It’s a large portion of our lives, and one that British composer Max Richter wants to consider. In addition to several albums, Richter has composed for movies, television, and now for an audience that is (he hopes, anyway) asleep. Richter’s most recent project, the recording of which is available today, is eight hours long, and composed specifically for a listener who is in a somnambulant state. And later this month, Sleep will become the longest single continuous piece of music ever broadcast live on the BBC.
Continue Reading »
Ears On
What's in a Misnomer? A Look at a Few CE Classics
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 04, 2015
What's in a name? At times, not a whole lot of sense. The consumer electronics industry has a genius for giving dopey names to things: unintentionally misleading names, deliberately misleading names, duplicative names, redundant names, outright laughable names. Here are just a few:

Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
Poll Recap: Disc-Based Viewing Key for Half of Respondents
SV Staff  |  Sep 04, 2015
Earlier this week we asked how much of your home entertainment viewing is disc-based as opposed to streaming from a subscription service such as Netflix, buying/renting digital content online, or video on demand via cable or satellite. Turns out that discs play an important role for about half of survey respondents...
Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
LG 4K OLED TVs Now Support HDR Streaming
SV Staff  |  Sep 04, 2015
Owners of LG’s EG9600 and EF9500 series 4K OLED televisions will be able to stream high dynamic range (HDR)-encoded content via the Amazon Video app available through LG’s webOS Smart TV platform
Continue Reading »
Audio Video NewsNew Products
Def Tech Announces Super Slim Soundbar
SV Staff  |  Sep 04, 2015
Definitive Technology has taken a minimalist approach in the design of its new W Studio Micro soundbar/wireless streaming system, which squeezes seven drivers into an enclosure that’s 43 inches wide and only 1.75 inches tall.
Continue Reading »
AV Receiver Reviews
Sony STR-DN1060 A/V Receiver Review
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 03, 2015

Audio Performance
Video Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $600

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Wi-Fi, AirPlay, Bluetooth
MHL on front and rear
Google Cast, Spotify Connect
Minus
Confusing A.F.D., HD-D.C.S. terminology

THE VERDICT
If you can do without Dolby Atmos in this seven-channel AVR, Sony’s well-thought-out wireless functionality and sweet, golden sound are an unbeatable combination.

Let me say this up front: The Sony STR-DN1060 doesn’t do Dolby Atmos. Whether this is a serious omission in a seven-channel receiver today is debatable—but I’d say not. Most of the first-generation Atmos receivers have shortcomings of their own. For one thing, they lack the forthcoming DTS:X, the other flavor of object-oriented, height-enabled surround sound. More critically, seven-channel models can offer only Atmos 5.1.2, with two height channels in front or directly above the listener but none in back. That is at best a limited version of the Atmos experience because it doesn’t create the full dome-shaped soundfield of 5.1.4.

Continue Reading »

Pages

X