audio

It's not too hard to remember a time when it required two hands to get a simple plug out. Things have since changed, and many manufacturers, especially in the gaming industry, are moving toward wireless peripherals, or including breakaways to remedy consumers stumbling over cords and taking the entire machine with them. The coolest one in recent memory is Apple's MagSafe power adapter, which not only makes your Mac laptop easier to plug-in, but keeps flying laptops at a minimum.

Replug is a handy product that's done the same thing for audio jacks. It's a two-part … Read more

Remember how every stomp by the T-Rex in Jurassic Park caused a puddle of water to vibrate? Now you can replicate the same heart-pumping effects at home with the JL Audio Gotham G213 subwoofer. This no-holds-barred goliath packs a pair of oversized 13.5-inch drivers powered by a meaty 3,800W amplifier. That's easily more than three times the juice pumped out by an average A/V receiver found in Asia.

Unadulterated brute muscle aside, this beautifully crafted, glossy-black piece also has a built-in audio equalization function. Dubbed "ARO" or Automatic Room Optimization, it smooths out the … Read more

Tom Hannaher of ZVOX Audio and I were chewing the fat about the state of the consumer electronics business when the subject veered over to flat-screen TV manufacturers. They're all under incredible pressure to slash prices while they load on more and more features, and it's getting kinda scary.

I've had folks in the TV biz tell me not to wait any longer to buy a flat display because the manufacturers are starting to substitute lower-quality parts to keep lowering retail prices. But long before they do anything drastic that would affect picture quality or reliability, they … Read more

CHIBA, Japan--Who said work and drinking don't mix?

A number of years ago, during an economic downturn, JVC had to lay off an engineer who had worked for the company for around 20 years. Sometime later, the engineer was in a tavern with a friend when he contemplated the squid snacks.

Why, he thought, are the squid so flexible? The bartender told him they soak in sake first.

The engineer had an insight into how to tackle a problem that had vexed acoustic engineers for years: how to make loudspeaker cones out of wood. Making speaker cabinets from wood … Read more

Like so many die-hard audiophiles I love tube amplifiers. They sound, well, tubey, that is, warmer, richer, and in many ways, more lifelike than transistor based designs. But the other thing about tubes is they look cooler than transistor based amps. Take a gander at these beauties from Emille Labs. Their stunning industrial design, gorgeous machined metal chassis, and solid build quality is altogether lacking in mass market audio components. If you enjoy living well, and like owning well-made products, by all means, check out what high-end audio companies are offering these days.

What's better than Nero 7's suite of multimedia apps, which bursts with tools to record, edit, save, and distribute audio, video, and data CDs and DVDs in a dozen permutations?

The so-new-you-can't-buy-it release of Nero 8. Tune into the First Look video below, and watch this space on Monday for a full review.

As an audio guy I'm super curious about HD DVD and Blu-ray's high-resolution audio formats, Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD-Master Audio. Yes, they've been around for awhile now, but listening to the super duper formats hasn't been easy. I haven't yet heard them at home, and show demos haven't been of much help in determining the sonic advantages of the lossless formats. The potential for much better than standard Dolby and DTS sound is there, but getting there, well, I'm still waiting.

Thomas J. Norton's recent Ultimate AV column described in detail … Read more

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Pro-audio manufacturer M-Audio has unveiled a new $99 vocal recording package called Session Music Producer. Unlike their previous podcaster-targeted product, Podcast Factory, the Session Music Producer bundle consolidates the microphone and computer audio card into a single, idiot-proof USB microphone appropriately named the Producer USB. If nothing else, the sheer magnitude of M-Audio's 16mm cardioid capsule Producer microphone (see photo) will intimidate rival podcasters into submission.

Beyond its monolithic size and inexpensive price, there are two factors to the Session Music Producer bundle that are worth noting. First off, it comes bundled with M-Audio's capable Session multitrack recording … Read more