Did you read that headline in Seinfeld's voice? While contrast ratio, black level, and light output all rightly occupy the top of the list of specs one considers when purchasing a new display, color is often completely overlooked.
Good color reproduction usually won't make or break a display, but it can make one that's good into one that's great.
Yet for all its importance, it's rarely understood - and it's regularly done wrong.
Whether it's at a restaurant, buying a TV, or getting a used Blu-ray from Amazon, we all want good customer service. At the very least, we want a pleasant experience.
What's interesting is that while some companies are striving to make you feel warm and fuzzy, others couldn't care less.
There is a way to make your music sound better. Well, OK, there are LOTS of ways to make your music sound better. If you're looking to improve your digital music, beyond new speakers, amps, and so on is a bit of technological wonder called the DAC, or Digital/Analog Converter. This is what turns your music files into something analog you can actually hear.
Receivers these days tend to have built in DACs, but just because they're there doesn't necessarily mean they're any good. A great sounding DAC can smooth out your digital audio, making it sound more natural and realistic.
Firestone Audio's tiny ILTW packs a lot into a tiny frame, for not a lot of money.
Altec Lansing is a name I hadn't heard in a while. I vaguely recall some cheap computer speakers I had, perhaps back in the 66 Mhz days (486DX2-66 FTW!). But I shall not prejudge, especially when the new inAir 5000 Wi-Fi speaker is an attractive piece of kit. Also because that's not what I'm paid for. Ok, "paid" but you get the idea.
Julia Nunes is the future. A future where talented artists bypass traditional music publishing conglomerates and make their income directly from fans.
Settle Down was bankrolled by fans, for fans. That it's a great album is almost secondary to its importance as a tangible example of what this next generation of professional musician can accomplish.
A few weeks ago I reviewed the Altec Lansing inAir 5000. It wasn't bad, but for $500 I would have hoped for more. That seems to be the case with many Wi-Fi audio systems these days, and that got me thinking:
For the same amount of money, could I build an audio system with similar functionality, similar footprint - and that actually sounds good?
A few weeks ago I wrote about building a WiFi audio system without resorting to the use of a glorified iPod dock, with all of its inherent disadvantages.
The Aperion Audio Zonas offer a different way to do the same thing, or offer the flexibility of wireless speakers for surround channels, sound reinforcement, sound in another room, or anything else you can think of.
I took a mini-vacation a few weeks ago to Venice, Florida. My Dad had rented a house for a month and, figuring I could use a few days off, I went to visit. Now first of all, I was the youngest person in the zipcode by half. I've never seen such a concentration of gray hairs.
While there, I was volunteered to do some pro bono work helping diagnose a home theater system that had never worked properly, despite "professional" installation.
Between the words I think and the words you read, there are several stages of editing. The first takes place within my brain. The last, at the hands of a copy editor [hah! - Ed]. In both cases, this is a good thing.
But sometimes, a great line gets pulled that I don't think should have been cut.
So here, for your perusal, are some choice lines of mine, from various articles, someone deemed unworthy for mass consumption.