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The S&V Interview
Jon Anderson and Jean-Luc Ponty: Owners of a Lovely Spark
Mike Mettler  |  Nov 11, 2015
Creative sparks don't always fly when veteran musicians get together to collaborate. But that's exactly what happened when two progressive titans, vocalist Jon Anderson and violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, came together to form the Anderson Ponty Band, a.k.a. APB. Their oh-so-apropos debut, Better Late Than Never (Liaison Music), mixes fine, edgy originals with rearranged and revamped covers of classic material like Yes's "Roundabout" and Ponty's "Mirage" — renamed here as "Infinite Mirage," as it now features Anderson singing new lyrics he wrote just for the song. “We work together like family,” marvels Ponty, 73. Agrees Anderson, “We’re musical brothers, you know?” I called Anderson, 71, during an APB tour stop to discuss working with Jean-Luc, our ongoing mutual love of surround sound, and the ever-escalating legacy of Yes.
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Audio Video News
Sony Unveils First 4K Ultra HD Discs
SV Staff  |  Nov 11, 2015
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) has announced the first six movies it plans to release on Blu-ray in the 4K Ultra HD format early next year.
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Audio Video News
Music Retailers Adopt Hi-Res Logo
SV Staff  |  Nov 11, 2015
A number of hi-res music retailers have agreed to adopt the Hi-Res Music logo shown here and integrate it into their websites and branding materials, according to an announcement from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), made in cooperation with The Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) and The Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing.
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Audio Video News
Sonos Trueplay Speaker Tuning Now Available
SV Staff  |  Nov 11, 2015
Sonos has announced that its Trueplay speaker tuning software is now available via a free update.
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A/V Veteran
Ultra HD's Brave New World: More Than Just 4K
Thomas J. Norton  |  Nov 10, 2015
As we’ve taken pains to point out previously here at Sound & Vision, there’s more to Ultra HD than just 4K resolution. The latter merely offers eight times as many pixels as 1080p HD. That’s unlikely to make much difference on any but the very largest sets viewed from 6-8 feet from the screen. Advanced color and high dynamic range (HDR), are also a part of the specs for Ultra HD (or UHD for short), and will definitely up the ante in the eye-candy department even on a small set viewed from across the room.

While advanced color and HDR remain, for now, small players in the psychodrama that most folks still refer to as simply 4K, they’re definitely on their way...

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Audio Video News
DTS:X Coming to Movie Theaters
Mark Fleischmann  |  Nov 10, 2015
Look out, Dolby Atmos. Another object-oriented surround sound system is coming to town.

The DTS:X system hit Carmike Cinemas-owned theaters in September with Lionsgate titles American Ultra and Sicario and in November with Mockingjay: Part 2. Carmike upgraded seven theaters in Georgia, Colorado, Illinois, Tennessee, California, and Alabama.

DTS:X and Atmos both enable soundtrack mixes to use metadata to steer objects around a three-dimensional soundfield. In addition to its theatrical debut, DTS:X is also following Atmos into home theaters with compatible A/V receivers and Blu-ray Disc releases.

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Audio Video News
Hollywood and DEG Finalize 4K Disc Packaging
SV Staff  |  Nov 10, 2015
The Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) today announced that it has developed packaging for the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs heading our way early next year.

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Audio Video News
Bond Tech: 193 Gadgets and Gizmos Cataloged
SV Staff  |  Nov 10, 2015
The guys at BurgerFiction.com have created a video that catalogs every gadget used by James Bond since the beginning.
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Audio Video News
Monster Introduces ClarityHD Earbuds
SV Staff  |  Nov 10, 2015  |  First Published: Nov 09, 2015
Monster today introduced the ClarityHD line of earbuds intended to replace the cheap ’buds that come with smartphones and other portable devices.

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Audio Video News
CE Hall of Fame to Induct Audio Pioneer Floyd Toole
SV Staff  |  Nov 09, 2015
Dr. Floyd Toole, the pioneering acoustic researcher who correlated technical loudspeaker measurements with what listeners identified as "good" sound in double-blind testing, is being honored at the 16th annual Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame Dinner tonight in New York City.
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