Ken C. Pohlmann

Shown above is the special microphone configuration Neural Audio came up with so XM can capture all the channels for a surround sound broadcast of a live performance from a single position.

Maybe I'm just someone who's easily impressed, but the whole idea of sending audio and video data tens of thousands of miles into space to hit satellites that then send the data back to earth amazes

Hi-res audio is having problems. Not your garden-variety problems. These are the life threateningproblems. Where do I begin? Well, Neil Young used Kickstarter to raise $6 million to fund his Pono project and deliver it into the hands of music enthusiasts. Good for him. Good for music. Good for hi-res playback. Of course, nothing is ever that simple.

It is the patriotic duty of every American man, woman, and child to go shopping for a TV on Black Friday. After spending most of Thursday up-armoring me and my vehicle, I went to a Best Buy on Friday morning. Two observations: First, I lived to tell about it. Second, it takes about 20 minutes for the ambulance to drive from the Best Buy to the nearest ER.

I like to sweat. Sweating is good. I like to listen to music. Most earbuds are destroyed by sweat, or else if they are sweatproof, they sound bad. Sennheiser has overcome that conundrum and sold some excellent sports earbuds in the past, but they have doubled-down on the product category with their new Sport Series comprising four new models, all aimed at our inner athlete clamoring to get stronger, fitter and faster.