LATEST ADDITIONS

SmartStream
NVIDIA Shield Review - 4K Streaming for Android TV
Barb Gonzalez  |  Aug 19, 2015
The NVIDIA Shield follows the Nexus Player as one of the first stand alone media players with Android TV. A sleek, angled device, the Shield’s focus may be on gaming but it performs as one of the best streaming devices available. Still, it is limited by Android TV’s app selection and interface.
Continue Reading »
The Connected Life
6 Tips for Keeping Your Wi-Fi Network Secure
John Sciacca  |  Aug 19, 2015
ABC’s Nightline recently ran a segment called “Smart Homes, the Future of High-Tech Living” where they discussed different aspects of living in a smart home. Part of the segment demonstrated a smart home’s potential vulnerability to being hacked, giving outsiders access to your home and data. Nightline drove the point home by having a hacker sit outside a home with a high-powered directional antenna while he logged into the Wi-Fi network and started wreaking all manner of havoc, including unlocking her front door.
Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
Win Fame & Fortune: Write the Soundtrack to CES
SV Staff  |  Aug 19, 2015
But time is running out… The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is accepting submissions for the Be Our #CES2016 Soundtrack contest through Tuesday, September 1.
Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
Atmos For All With New Pioneer Budget Speakers
Rob Sabin  |  Aug 18, 2015
In what amounts to a price breakthrough in the still fledgling Atmos-enabled speaker category, Pioneer has announced an Andrew Jones-designed bookshelf model that sells for only $300 a pair.

Continue Reading »
Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Maps to the Stars
Corey Gunnestad  |  Aug 18, 2015
Picture
Sound
Fame, wealth, power, and success are the enviable goals of most people in Hollywood. Once achieved, the struggle and pressure to maintain them are unrelenting and will drive some to drastic lengths to ensure their survival.

Havana Segrand (Julianne Moore) is an actress in the twilight of her career who still lives in the shadow of her more famous deceased mother. Constantly plagued by jealously, insecurity, and personal demons, she is desperate to keep her star status active while the delicate balance of her life and sanity rapidly unravel.

Continue Reading »
Headphone Reviews
Audeze EL-8 Closed-Back Headphone Review
Steve Guttenberg  |  Aug 18, 2015

Performance
Build Quality
Comfort
Value
PRICE $699

AT A GLANCE
Plus
High-resolution sound
Planar magnetic drivers
Made in the U.S.
Minus
Lacks mic and phone controls

THE VERDICT
The Audeze EL-8 may be the first planar magnetic headphone sensitive enough to come alive with portable music players.

I’ve reviewed a lot of headphones, but I’ve never encountered anything quite like the Audeze EL-8 before. It’s the first high-end planar magnetic headphone to come alive and sound fully transparent with portable music players. Now, sure, we’ve heard similar claims for other high-performance, full-size headphones; and yes, they play, but too much of the headphone’s potential is forfeited with portable devices. The EL-8 sounds scary good with my humble little iPod classic.

Continue Reading »
A/V Veteran
Blu-ray vs. Streaming and Avoiding the Pre-Packaged Media Apocalypse
Thomas J. Norton  |  Aug 18, 2015
Join me in the WayBack Machine for a trip to 1995. Somewhere in North America a Stereophile Hi-Fi Show is in progress, and the writing staff is gathered for an Ask the Editor’s session. A question arises about the then fledgling music downloading technology. I recall I answered that, “We’ll be able to do it before we can do it well.”

As it turned out that was correct, though I’m no soothsayer...

Continue Reading »
Signals
Gunfight at the 4K Corral
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Aug 18, 2015
Tombstone, Arizona Territory. October 26, 1881. It is a Wednesday, around 3:00 p.m. In a vacant lot adjacent to the O.K. Corral, four lawmen including Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday square off against five outlaws. Within 30 seconds, 30 shots are fired. When the gun smoke clears, three men lie on the ground, wounded. And three men lie on the ground, dead. Only Wyatt Earp walks away without a scratch. A Wild West legend is born.
Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
Music Mixed in Auro-3D Slated for Release
SV Staff  |  Aug 18, 2015
Auro Technologies and Sono Luminus have announced the upcoming release of three albums recorded in Auro-3D surround sound, which has three vertical layers of sound, including height and overhead.
Continue Reading »
Remotely Possible
Logitech Harmony Adds Even More Smart Home Integration
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Aug 17, 2015
If you’re an AV aficionado, enthusiast, geek, or however you think of yourself, Logitech’s Harmony is most likely the first—and maybe only—name that comes to mind when you hear the term “universal remote control.” Although none of the company’s remote controls are perfect (the perfect universal remote control only exists in that magical fantasy world inhabited by unicorns and hard drives that never crash), Harmony’s remotes have been good enough to pretty much crush the competition in the $30 to $350 range. Despite their king-of-the-hill position, Logitech nearly sold off the Harmony division in 2013. It’s a good thing they didn’t, because since then the company has embraced home automation in many of its universal remote controls—and recently Harmony has turned that embrace into a giant bear hug.
Continue Reading »

Pages

X