Ken C. Pohlmann

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Signals
Saving Hi-Res Audio
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  May 19, 2015
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.

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CES 2015
Saygus Smartphone Boasts 320 Gigs of Memory
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Jan 08, 2015
What? A smart phone? In Sound & Vision magazine? S&V never covers phones. True, we usually leave that chore to others. But in this case, we'll make an exception. This phone, one that surely you've never heard of, caught our attention because of its size.

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Scratched and Dented: Tales from Black Friday
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Dec 02, 2014
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.

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CES 2017
Sennheiser Debuts HD1 In-Ear Wireless Headphones
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Jan 06, 2017
Congratulations on waking up from that 10-year coma. Big yawn. While you were sleeping, wireless in-ear headphones became a thing. Actually, they are now a big thing. The HD1 joins Sennheiser’s Momentum lineup as one of the newest offerings.

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CES 2015
Sennheiser Sweats Out Four New Sports Earbuds
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Jan 09, 2015
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.

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CES 2016Signals
Sennheiser Unveils Improved HD 800 S Headphone
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Jan 06, 2016
Sennheiser advises that the new and improved version of its HD 800 is “one step closer to perfection.” It’s dangerous for marketing people to throw around the “p-word” but in the case of the HD 800, the claim isn’t entirely specious. The HD 800 is very highly regarded and the new HD 800 S is said to be even better.

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Signals
Shack Attack: The Future of Radio Shack as We Know it Looks Bleak
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Apr 07, 2015
It's 8 p.m. on a Saturday night. For reasons that really aren't worth explaining, you need to connect from a micro-USB port to a mini-USB cable. But where are you going to find a male-micro-USB-to-female-mini-USB cable? Of course, you head to Radio Shack. The kid there will sell you one. But, going forward, will a New York hedge fund sell one?

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Portable Player Reviews
Sharp GX-M10 Portable CD Stereo System
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Apr 03, 2013

Dainty. Elegant. Classy. Understated. These terms apply to a great majority of iPod docks and speakers. None of them apply to the GX-M10. This boombox is a real bruiser. It weighs a beefy 16.8 pounds (20.2 pounds with batteries), and is 30.5 inches long. Roughly cylindrical in shape, it looks like something you'd use to knock out a Panzer tank. Except instead of being ordinance gray, it is exuberantly orange. If someone laughs at you for carrying around something so outrageous, you can express your displeasure by crushing them with it.

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Shhh! The IoT is Listening!
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Mar 14, 2017
Without question, voice control is the hottest thing in audio. Tomorrow it will be something else. Today it is voice control. In particular, Amazon's Alexa is all the rage and is poised to appear in phones, cars, refrigerators, and pretty much anything else that is powered by electrons. But Alexa is really just the gateway drug to the Internet of Things.

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Shootout: Five Mid-Price Subwoofers
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  May 21, 2007

Let's be honest: No one really cares about treble response. What's that all about anyway? "Air" or something? Give me a break. Frankly, if you are a real music lover or movie buff, you've been listening at loud levels for plenty long enough to fry your ears' high-frequency response anyway. Good riddance. And what's the deal with midrange?

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