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Headphone Reviews
Logitech Ultimate Ears UE900s Headphone Review
Steve Guttenberg  |  Jul 08, 2015

Performance
Build Quality
Comfort
Value
PRICE $399

AT A GLANCE
Plus
UE’s tip-fitting system ensures a perfect fit
User-replaceable cables
Sweet, nicely detailed sound
Minus
Premium pricing

THE VERDICT
The Ultimate Ears UE900s look, feel, and sound right, they’re big on transparency, without shortchanging body and soul.

I was in for a big surprise when I opened the Ultimate Ears UE900s box. The headphone not only comes with a generous selection of sizes and types of ear tips, UE’s color-coded, systematic fitting process makes it easier than ever to achieve the perfect fit. This ensures maximum isolation from external noise and the full bass potential of the UE900s.

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Vote
Is the Resurgence of Vinyl a Fad?
SV Staff  |  Jul 07, 2015
A couple months back, Ken Pohlmann asked whether the renaissance of vinyl records is “just a hipster fad” or a "long-term business opportunity." And just the other day Noel “Paul” Stookey of the ’60s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary called the resurgence in LPs a fad in an interview with the trade publication CE Pro. What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with Stookey? Cast your vote and tell us why you feel the way you do.
Is the Resurgence of Vinyl a Fad?
Yes
56% (733 votes)
No
44% (572 votes)
Total votes: 1305
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A/V Veteran
Remembering Film Composer James Horner
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jul 07, 2015
If you asked me if my passion for things audio and video began with music or movies, I'd have a hard time answering. But one of the things that attract me to movies is their music. Movie scores (instrumental, not the string of pop tunes that often passes for a soundtrack) are certainly far down the list of the most popular music genres, but their importance to the success of a film can't be denied. Most film critics mention the score only if it's prominent enough to annoy them. But for me a great score can turn a middling movie into to good one. It can also (though less often) turn a good film into a great one.

The art of film scoring attracts a wide range of talents, but we recently lost one of the best. James Horner died late last month when the private plane he was piloting crashed in a California forest.

I first discovered Horner's work in 1982...

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Audio Video News
Perfect Together: High Dynamic Range Images and Object-Based Surround
SV Staff  |  Jul 07, 2015
A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Dolby Cinema Through Pixar’s Inside Out
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Audio Video News
Add Gesture Control to Your TV
Bob Ankosko  |  Jul 06, 2015
One of the products that caught our eye at the recent CE Week event in New York City was a “universal controller” called Singlecue that enables TVs and other electronics gear to be operated by hand gestures.
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Apptitude
Why I Love HBO Now (and You Should Too)
Michael Antonoff  |  Jul 06, 2015
Arguably the leading premium channel for movies and original series, HBO adds $23.24 to my monthly cable bill. I get six HBO channels, though they mostly repeat the same shows ad nauseam. Linear redundancy has been a waste of cable bandwidth since the DVR landed, but it’s become even more outmoded in the age of high-def broadband and on-demand viewing.

Refusing to pony up for unbreakable packages to get the few programs they’d watch, younger viewers have been cutting the cord on cable TV...

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Grace NotesAudio Video News
Recording Academy Establishes New Guidelines for Hi-Res Music
Leslie Shapiro  |  Jul 06, 2015
Standards and guidelines are a good thing. Just ask anyone who’s ever had an 11-inch long Footlong from Subway. (Subway, interestingly enough, claims that “Footlong” is a descriptive name not intended to be a measurement of length. Seriously?) As audiophiles, we need to make sure that what is called Hi-Res music, is indeed high-resolution, and not just a descriptive name. The Producers & Engineers Wing of The Recording Academy (who presents the Grammy Awards) has come up with a set of production guidelines for high-resolution music. (In full disclosure, I’ve been a voting member of The Recording Academy for over 30 years.)

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Audio Video News
UHD TV on the Cheap & Other Tech Bits from CE Week
Bob Ankosko  |  Jul 03, 2015
Shown at the recent CE Week event in New York City, the Westinghouse WD65NC4190 65-inch Ultra HD TV just hit bestbuy.com with a $1,400 price tag. Highlights include smart TV functionality with built-in Wi-Fi, HDMI 2.0 with HDCP 2.2 copy protection, and a smartphone control app. A 42-inch model that will sell for $500 was also on display and the company plans to offer the set in 85-, 55- and 50-inch screen sizes.
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New Products
July 2015 New Gear
SV Staff  |  Jul 03, 2015
A waterproof speaker that floats, color-coded HDMI cables, a mammoth outdoor projection screen, and more new gear.
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Portable Player Reviews
Sony Walkman NW-ZX2 Music Player
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jul 03, 2015

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $1,200

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Deluxe build quality and beautiful design
Plays DSD and files up to 192/24
128 GB plus microSD slot
Minus
Heavy
Pricey

THE VERDICT
Sony’s top-of-the-line Walkman music player is comfortingly overbuilt, loaded with bells and whistles. And it sounds fantastic.

The new top-of-the-line Sony Walkman is not the smallest or lightest dedicated music player out there. But is smaller always better? The smallest music player in my possession is the sixth-generation iPod nano. The tiny touchscreen device has about the footprint of a postage stamp, but that doesn’t make it easier to use. There’s not much room for a fingertip to move. For the seventh and final generation, Apple moved to a larger form factor, similar to early nanos except with the touchscreen replacing the clickwheel. Likewise, Sony went for an old-school nano-like form factor in its Walkman NWZ-A17. But that was a relatively lightweight device in more ways than one. For the top-drawer Walkman NW-ZX2, reviewed here, Sony decided on more substantial build quality—and more of it.

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