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Audio Video News
Multichannel Gets Jazzed Up
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Aug 31, 2006
Jazz fans will have something to sing about on October 24th when Giving' It Up, a collaboration of singer/guitarist/songwriter George Benson and vocalist/songwriter Al Jarreau - both multiple GRAMMY winners, will be released as a Monster Music SuperDisc.
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Custom Installation Equipment Reviews
Multiroom Magic with Sonos
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Nov 23, 2009
So Many Rooms, So Few Wires

My home began as a tiny two-room house on a hilltop in the middle of nowhere back in the late 1800s. A century later, I’m sitting in a cubbyhole office in the original upstairs section. Old and new sections butt up against one another. Some of the home’s old elements have been remade to look new, while its new parts have a patina of old. Straight lines and level floors are few and far between. With two totally separate (in both location and age) upstairs areas, it almost qualifies as a human Habitrail. As they say in the real estate business, it has character.

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Media Server ReviewsStreaming Device ReviewsWireless Multiroom Speaker Reviews
Multiroom Magic with Sonos
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Apr 26, 2010

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
Price: $1,098 (as reviewed)

At A Glance: Robust wireless communication between devices • Supports most audio codecs except Apple FairPlay DRM-protected and WMA lossless • Access to numerous online audio-subscription services • ZonePlayers can stream local analog sources to other zonesI’ve often thought it would be nice to have music in multiple rooms of the house; but, as I’ve alluded, my home is not custom install friendly. I decided that a wireless multiroom system would definitely be the best bet. Sonos, a company that focuses exclusively on wireless multiroom audio, has a system that’s designed to do just thatŃand moreŃin up to 32 independent zones without breaking the bank or tearing down any walls. After I read the endearing tag line, “Wireless that works like magic,” I thought, what better time or place could there be to check out Sonos’ latest system incarnation? So I asked Sonos to send out its Bundle 150 two-zone package ($999 ) plus a ZoneBridge and let the fun begin.

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Audio Video News
Music Gets Surrounded by Award
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jul 13, 2004
Although it's too late to become eligible to submit a surround sound music release for the 47th Annual GRAMMY Awards in February 2005 if you're not already a member of the Recording Academy, fans of surround sound music will have a new award category - Best Surround Sound Album - to heatedly discuss around the office water cooler. While it's certainly not as exciting as Best Hawaiian Music Album, another new category to make its debut in 2005, it's good to see multichannel music getting more professional respect and attention. All genres of music for commercial releases on DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, and SACD with an original mix of four or more channels are eligible. We'll know multichannel music has finally come into its own when a release wins both the Best Surround Sound and Best Hawaiian Music Album awards. Could a surround remix of Zamfir's (Master of the Pan Flute) Greatest Hits be next?
My CES Motto
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jan 07, 2008
With 140,000 attendees (from over 140 countries, supposedly) at the “world’s largest consumer electronics show”, this is a good thing to have.
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Remotely Possible
MySmartBlinds Automation Kits Are Simple, Solar, Smart and Super-Affordable
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jan 11, 2018
MySmartBlinds new Home Automation Kit for roller shades is a followup to the company's existing Home Automation Kit for window blinds. Both kits are designed for DIY retrofits that turn existing manually operated blinds/shades into wirelessly controlled, motorized blinds/shades.
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CEDIA 2014
Nakymatone Easily Turns Walls into Sound Walls
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 12, 2014
Nakymatone has a unique approach to invisible in-wall sound with two stealthy speakers called the Echt and the Mooi. Both speakers measure 23” x 9.75” x 3.5” (H x W x D) but are designed to be fit behind drywall using a 16 5/8” x 9.75” (H x W) hole. The speakers utilize a special removable handle that allows installers to slide the speaker into the hole and then pull it flush up against the drywall before fastening it in place an applying a 1/16” plaster skim to blend it in with the surface of the wall. The acoustic panel consists of an aluminum honeycomb core with doped paper skin. Both models have a sealed, acoustically tuned aluminum enclosure; while the higher-end Echt’s enclosure is also anodized for higher performance sound quality.

According to Nakymatone, the frequency response of the Mooi is...

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Audio Video News
Name That Tune (and Distribute It)
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Aug 08, 2005
Digitally distributed music is hip these days. Actually, it's always been hip (even when analog was the method of distribution), but now it's hipper - and cheaper.
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CEDIA 2013
NEARly New Outdoor Speakers
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 25, 2013
No, they’re not stylized Daleks from Dr. Who or PVC termite mounds. The objects pictured above are actually a couple of pretty impressive all-weather speakers from NEAR. There are a couple of things that are newsworthy about these speakers, not the least of which is that they are the first environmental speakers designed by NEAR specifically for the consumer/custom installation market in about a decade and a half. In fact, it’s been exactly 14 years since NEAR last had a booth or display at a CEDIA EXPO.
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CEDIA 2011
Neat Idea, Horrible Name
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 12, 2011
ihiji is a service company aimed at helping custom installers help their clients. It’s a neat concept for two things you won’t see: the graph above that kind of reminds you of a nuclear fallout pattern, and the install company’s truck that won’t be parking in front of your home. ihiji’s servers constantly monitor your home’s AV and automation system and can pinpoint problems with IP communication (which are then displayed on the network connection graph), allowing the installer to potentially solve the problem (by sending a reboot command, for example) without ever leaving the shop. It saves on service calls, service fees, and aggravation on everyone’s part.

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