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Audio Video News
The World's Most Gifted Home Theater Receiver?
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 15, 2004
Denon calls it their "flagship" receiver; but if you want to fully carry out the nautical metaphor, you'd have to refer to the new Denon AVR-5805 as the biggest, baddest, boldest combination battleship/aircraft carrier/submarine/destroyer/frigate/(throw in some secret stealth technology reference here) ever to have floated on the home theater seven seas. Denon claims it's "the world's first A/V receiver with 10 built-in amplifiers and 16-channel output...[and] unprecedented multi-source and zone capabilities with perhaps the most comprehensive analog and digital audio/video switching configurations ever offered."
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The World’s Largest Small Camcorder
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jan 07, 2008
It’s not the most portable of camcorders, but it’s guaranteed to make quite an impression the next time you take it to your kid’s soccer game. In fact, the other team might quit before the game even starts when you whip this baby out of the back of your minivan.
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Audio Video News
Them's High Definition Fightin' Words
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Oct 04, 2005
The war of the words over who will reap the lucrative licensing fees from the next-generation high-resolution disc format (i.e., HD DVD vs. Blu-ray) continues to inflict heavy collateral damage on consumer interest and confidence in the potential of a high-definition spinning disc format.
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CEDIA 2012
There’s More Than One Way To Skin a Speaker
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 07, 2012
Soundcast Systems’ awesome wireless, portable, weather-proof speakers are amazing in terms of both sound quality and wireless range. But the Outcast and Outcast Jr suffer from the same problem. They’re both basically white cylindrical towers with no visual personality other than “blah”. Now Soundcast is partnering with Skinit, Inc to provide skin adhesive wraps for the two speaker towers. Soundcast says the skins are easy to put on and feature a “residual-free removal”, so you can remove old and apply new skins whenever your heart desires a new look. Skinit offers a large online library of colors, patterns, photography, art, professional sports leagues, colleges, and universities from which to choose – or you can even customize your own design. Pricing is $49.99 per wrap for either the Outcast or the Outcast Jr, and they’re available from Soundcast Systems’ or Skinit’s websites.
These Sennheisers Aren’t Wired for Sound
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jan 07, 2008
Sennheiser’s new MX W1 wireless earphones are said to be the industry’s first “true wireless” stereo earphones based on Kleer’s wireless audio technology. The Kleer people seem to be very clear about their beliefs that their wireless technology blows the ears off of Bluetooth technology. They say it has something to do with spectral footprints, bandwidth, power consumption, audio quality, and wires.
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Audio Video News
They Aren't Blu-ray, But They Are Portable
Darryl Wilkinson  |  May 23, 2006
Amidst all the hullabaloo about HD DVD and Blu-ray and HDMI and DRM and, well, all the other high-def disc stuff the world is buzzing about, Sony thought they'd squeeze a few more bucks out of the "old" DVD format by releasing a couple of portable DVD players that "offer cutting edge versatility and are designed to fit into any hectic, on-the-move lifestyle."
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They Dared to Compare
Darryl Wilkinson  |  May 13, 2007
No one would ever be willing or able to do this at home, but Rives Audio, XLO, RPG, and VAC put together two identical systems in two identical hotel rooms - but with one important difference. The second room was sonically and electrically treated to clearly demonstrate how important it is to account for the acoustics of the room when it comes to putting together your home theater system. Not only was the equipment/cable setup the same in both rooms, but the demo material was synchronized, as well, so they even took that variable out of the equation. The differences in performance were definitely not subtle.
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CES 2010
They're Not Yolking
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jan 07, 2010
The Sound Egg is a complete 5.1 personal surround sound chair with five speakers and an integrated 10-inch subwoofer under the seat. The company says "the chair is a mobile acoustic chamber that will give you the most realistic sound in audio technology with a full 20 Hz to 20 kHz frequency spectrum." The Sound Egg chair is available in a variety of colors for $1,450 (shipping included).
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This Is Your Speaker Without Wires
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jan 10, 2008
Radiient Technologies’s first products were HDMI switchers and distribution boxes, but they’re going all out to develop high-performance wireless audio transmitters and receivers that can be built-in to speakers or added on externally. Based on the quality and performance of their current HDMI gear, the wireless components should be excellent, too. Not surprisingly, they mentioned that a lot of the video companies they’ve been dealing with have requested wireless video devices, as well. Expect to see product for sale before the end of this year.
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CES 2010
This One Made Me Very Motional
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jan 10, 2010
We can't say too much about it, but PrimeSense is working on a 3D motion-control camera system that's extremely inexpensive, amazingly sensitive, and promises to be incredibly fun and useful. (How often does that happen?) Of course, many companies are developing systems that will let you control your computer or home entertainment system using gestures, but seems to have them beat hands down (and up) when it comes to a device that's affordable (and by that I mean really affordable) and yet very accurate. PrimeSense's technology can be used in place of a mouse or other input device for games and picture/movie viewing. You won't be seeing any PrimeSense branded equipment, but the technology will be coming to store shelves as part of at least one well-known company's products. Next year we may see the technology built into TVs, computers, and anything else that needs input from a remote control or mouse.
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