Ken C. Pohlmann

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Signals
The Waffle House Jukebox
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Nov 20, 2023  |  5 comments
For reasons we'd rather not discuss here, it's 4 AM and you're driving to Ellijay. Cold rain turning to snow. And you're hungry. Everything's closed. Then you spot the familiar yellow sign. You know 'em. You love 'em. It's a Waffle House. Turn signal, brake lights.

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Signals
The Yanny and Laurel Mind Games
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  May 22, 2018  |  4 comments
It was an internet sensation, that's for sure. And a real head-scratcher, too. People listened to the same audio clip, and heard two completely different words. Much like the black/blue-white/gold dress craze that visually swept the internet three years ago, yanny/laurel did the same thing, but aurally.

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Signals
They Recorded a Song in a Rolls Royce and You Won't Believe What Happens Next
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Jan 02, 2018  |  2 comments
It seemed like a good idea. Novel, kind of offbeat, hip for sure, and overall just a nice bit of PR. But, of course, on the Internet, everything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

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Signals
This Is Your Captain Speaking
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Apr 25, 2022  |  0 comments
If you happened to be at cruising altitude last Monday, your pilot probably got on the comms and made an unexpected announcement. Effective immediately, the mask mandate had been vacated. What??? Oh no!!! Fortunately, you were wearing your Dyson headphone.

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Signals
THX and Massdrop Launch Audiophile Headphone Amp
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Jan 11, 2018  |  1 comments
I was not familiar with Massdrop until my fearless S&V Editor Bob Ankosko turned me on to it. Good thing he did. This looks like a heck of a headphone amplifier.

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Signals
Tick...Tick...Tick...Tick...Rip
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Apr 09, 2013  |  0 comments

You're probably familiar with Amazon's AutoRip feature. When you buy certain CDs from Amazon, you also get free access to a cloud copy. Now, Amazon has extended the feature to include sales of many vinyl records. When you think about it, a ripped vinyl file is a much more valuable than a ripped CD file.

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Signals
Time for a Comeback
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Jun 06, 2022  |  1 comments
Times are tough. I don't need to tell you that. The $100 tank of gasoline is here, not to mention the $8 pound of hamburger. Ouch! Your humble correspondent has been absolutely devastated. Instead of lighting my Cuban cigars with Franklins, I am forced to use Grants. The horror.

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Signals
Tizen the Trojan Horse
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Jan 27, 2015  |  4 comments
Do you know what Tizen is? Tizen might be in your home right now. You might even be looking at it this very moment. Do you know why Samsung dearly wants to put Tizen in your home theater, and even, if possible, in your pocket? Hmm, my fellow citizens of Troy, maybe we should take a look at that big wooden horse sitting outside our city gates.

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Signals
To Have and Have Not
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Apr 25, 2012  |  0 comments

I recently received a thoughtful e-mail from S+V reader Michael Kiley. He commiserated with my perception that the general level of sound quality has declined. Like me, he worried that the rise of mobile phones as our preferred playback source, the popularity of listening to compressed files stored or streamed (and through earbuds), isn't exactly making for audiophile heaven. Mr. Kiley's letter provided some perspective and got me to thinking…

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Other Tech
To the Victor Go the Spoils?
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Jun 11, 2008  |  0 comments

After 4 years of testy hostility and 2 more years of bare-knuckled conflict, the war between HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc came to an abrupt end. Hours before the start of the Consumer Electronics Show in January, Warner Bros. announced that it was abandoning HD DVD. Warner is the largest studio in the home-entertainment market, and its decision tipped the scales.

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