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Audio Video News
Focal Offering Sib Evo Atmos Sub/Sat Systems
SV Staff  |  Jul 11, 2017
Focal, the respected French speaker and headphone manufacturer, has updated its affordable Sib satellite loudspeaker line to to embrace the Dolby Atmos-enlightened among us.

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A/V Veteran
OLEDs Here and There
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jul 11, 2017
All of us are familiar with LG’s successful use of OLED technology for flat screen UHDTVs. We also know that Sony is marketing its own OLED sets this year. But Sony buys its OLED panels from LG Display (an independent entity from LG itself, though connected to it in some inscrutable way). In fact, LG Display is currently the only company in the world that manufactures OLED panels for consumer televisions. LG’s arch-rival Samsung is a leader in producing OLEDs for cell phone displays, but a few years back decided against marketing OLED HDTVs, at least for now.

Other companies are also marketing OLED sets, but none of them are currently available in the US. And at present all TV OLED panels come from LG Display. But that doesn’t mean that these sets are identical. Each maker uses its own unique electronics and video processing.

While you can’t yet purchase an OLED display here in the US apart from an LG or Sony, it’s useful to know a little about others offering this technology. The more OLEDs sold worldwide, the more viable the technology will remain and, ultimately, the faster its currently high prices will drop...

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Signals
After Nearly 30 Years, Sony Rediscovers Vinyl
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Jul 11, 2017
I must admit, the news took me by surprise. I know that vinyl is officially a thing, and a growing thing at that. But I was shocked, shocked I tell you, to learn that Sony was getting back into the LP business.

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Audio Video News
Vudu Converts Discs Via Phone
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jul 10, 2017
Walmart-owned Vudu will convert your Blu-ray or DVD titles via smartphone. Using the Mobile Disc-to-Digital feature on the Vudu mobile app, scan the barcode on the packaging. It’s not free—you’ll pay $2 per title for standard-def or $5 for high-def.
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New ProductsPremiere Design
Teac AI-503 USB DAC/Integrated Amplifier
Bob Ankosko  |  Jul 10, 2017
As much as it might look like it, this is not your father’s long lost amplifier—the one you remember sitting on a rack in the den next to the Dual turntable and AR-3s—recently discovered in a remote corner of the attic. Nope, behind those vintage VU meters is a thoroughly modern USB DAC/integrated amp designed for the post-analog age or, more specifically, the Age of Hi-Res Audio. Simply put, Teac’s mission with the compact AI-503 is to preserve the fine details and nuances of your carefully curated music collection, whether you’re pulling tunes off your home network, a USB thumb drive, or a digital audio player.
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Headphone ReviewsGrace Notes
Zipbuds 26 Bluetooth Wireless Sport Earphones
Leslie Shapiro  |  Jul 10, 2017
I worry when I see any product claiming to have audiophile sound. As if any company is going to advertise their new headphones with tone-deaf, mediocre sound? How about I-don’t-give-a-crap sound? Let’s just say that I start off a bit skeptical when I read claims like that, especially from a company who is a relative newcomer to the market. After some quality listening time with the new Zipbuds 26, I’m cutting them some slack. These earphones sound really good. Claim away.

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Audio Video News
Cary Audio To Roon: We're Perfect Together
SV Staff  |  Jul 07, 2017
Cary Audio has announced that both its DMS-500 reference network audio player and AiOS all-in-one network receiver are now certified Roon Ready, meaning they can act as the hub for Roon Labs' award-winning music player interface.

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Headphone Reviews
Focal Utopia Headphones Review
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jul 07, 2017

Performance
Build Quality
Comfort
Value
PRICE $3,999

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Beryllium diaphragm
Rock-star cosmetics
Fine-tuned highs and timbre
Minus
Expensive

THE VERDICT
Focal’s Utopia headphones are a bleeding-edge statement from a pedigreed loudspeaker manufacturer that has made the most of its speaker-designing experience.

When I look back on all the dumb things I did as a kid, surely one of the dumbest was pitching rocks and dirt balls at a wasp nest. With each impact, a cloud of wasps rose from the nest. It was mesmerizing—until one of us got stung. Reviewing Focal’s Utopia headphones isn’t at all stupid, but I suspect the results are going to be similar: a cloud of wasps, maybe a sting. Some readers will look askance at $3,999 headphones, especially since the things I have on hand for comparison cost a fraction of that. I don’t often breathe such rarefied air.

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Ears On
New Tab on the Block
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jul 07, 2017
Though I live in an apartment packed with LPs and CDs, my work as an audio reviewer sometimes requires me to access music from a mobile device, either directly from the device itself or streaming to an a/v receiver or wireless speaker(s). I use a tablet for that. Ideally, the tablet should hold a generous selection of music files, the higher-res the better, and make it easy to manage them. Unfortunately the tablets I've owned up to now have done neither of those things. So it's time for a new tablet. And it's not an iPad.

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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Fantastic beasts and Where to Find Them
Avi Greengart  |  Jul 07, 2017
Picture
Sound
Extras
In the Harry Potter universe, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a school textbook. The movie of the same name provides the back story of its author. I hope there is no test, because I found the movie long and overstuffed.
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