YOU’LL NEVER BE TEMPTED to take this headphone on the bus. The earpieces of Audio-Technica’s ATH-AD900 are huge, measuring about 4.5 inches in diameter and concealing a big 53mm driver. Unlike almost all other headphones, the ATH-AD900 does not have an adjustable band. Instead, it features a pair of spring-loaded, padded “wings” that support it on your head. The soft padding and big earcups made the ATH-AD900 super-comfortable for Howard, Joe, and me. But it felt droopy to Will, and Geoff found the feel of the wings on his bald pate intolerable after a few minutes.
I haven’t tried every audio-oriented app for Android phones, but I’ve tried a bunch. Not surprisingly, the one I like best by far costs $6.99, which for an Android app is a truly Rolls Royce price. Yet it’s also the most insane deal of all time for DIY audio measurement software.
After launching last year with a couple of innovative under-TV sound systems, upstart company AudioXperts made a much bigger splash at the 2013 CEDIA Expo with a full line of audio products, which we saw in a press event this morning.
A longtime fave of home theater enthusiasts, Axiom sells its speakers direct through its Web site. The M3v3 ($378/pr) features a 1-inch titanium-dome tweeter and a 6.5-inch aluminum-cone woofer, crossed over at 2.2 kHz and mounted in a rear-ported cabinet. At 13.5 inches high, it's one of the largest speakers in this roundup.
Bang & Olufsen knows its customers value style and ease of use more than being the first on the block with the latest thing, so the Danish company tends to wait for the bugs to be worked out of new technologies before it embraces them.
In order to get the transition between your subwoofer and your main speakers close to perfect, you need measurement gear. Measurement makes your sub setup faster and more accurate. Instead of listening to bass lines to gauge the evenness of your bass response, you just run a quick measurement and get a precise result.
The sound that most amazed me during Day 1 of the CEDIA Expo came not from a $50,000 speaker, but from a cardboard box. A cardboard box supporting the Bass Egg Verb, that is. We've seen devices like this before, that turn any box or table or whatever into a speaker. The difference between those and the Bass Egg Verb is that it doesn't suck and it plays loud as hell.
Like marching and making your bunk, bass management looks easy. But sometimes there’s a huge difference between doing seemingly straightforward tasks, and doing them right.
Of all the Bluetooth speakers introduced today, the new Nicki Minaj-endorsed Pink Pill from Beats by Dre has to be the most significant. Faithful (really faithful) readers of this website may remember Ken Pohlmann and Leslie Shapiro's review of the Pill (as well as my measurements).