audio

Denon is certainly one of the heavy hitters in the AV receiver market, and its full 2007 AV receiver line has now been announced. In general, you can expect Denon's receivers to be pricier than similarly equipped competitors, but in many cases, Denon is trying to justify the price premium with premium features. For example, all the receivers from the AVR-3808CI to the AVR-5308CI feature Denon's new graphical user interface, which replaces the old blocky-text look. Denon is also stressing networking functionality, which is available on the same receivers with the GUI and allows you to you play … Read more

Toshiba announced today they its latest version of the Gigabeat U, the U202, is now available in the United States through direct order. Crave reported on an earlier, Japan-only version of the Gigabeat U (the U201) back in March, when we marveled at its high-quality 1-bit DAC and built-in FM transmitter. This latest version of the Gigabeat U has an updated look, but it seems to have dropped the Gigabeat U201's nifty built-in ability to broadcast playback over FM. We're kinda bummed.

Sure, Toshiba was able to shave about $50 from the Gigabeat U's price, but the … Read more

My grandparents lived very long lives. My mother's father was born in 1893, grew up on a sheep ranch in Australia, fought for the British in World War I, suffered numerous life-threatening calamities and collisions as a semi-professional adventurer, and lived 86 years. My father's parents both lived to the age of 96. And my mother's mother lived to be more than 100 years old. She was a professional musician who played in the big bands, backing movies like Abbott and Costello's Here Come the Co-eds and played most famously in Phil Spitalny's Hour of Charm All Girl Orchestra, chronicled in the book Swing Shift. (Sadly that book was written after the memories of most of the sources had begun to degrade.)… Read more

Our review is up, and the results are in--Cowon's latest player, the iAudio 7, snagged a CNET Editors' Choice award. This little guy has just about every feature you'd want in an ultracompact MP3 player, plus a rechargeable battery life rated at an incredible 60 hours. You'll have to read the CNET review to get all the details.

Or, if you don't care about details and just want some eye candy, then take a gander at our official Cowon iAudio 7 slide show. If you want a slightly less polished tour, then here's a slide show … Read more

We here at Crave are fans of faux food, even more so when the comestible appearance actually masks a gadget. So we're enchanted by these Cupcake Speakers from Semk, first publicized by Technabob. Though we'd prefer they looked more sophisticated--a little more Sprinkles, a little less Hostess, please--we love the idea of turning an otherwise antiseptic tech product into an homage to deliciousness.

So tell us: what are your favorite gadgets that look like food?

We're slated to attend a Denon press event on July 24, where we'll almost certainly get the details on its new line of receivers, but it looks like the good guys over at Audioholics got on early look at a couple of the new models--the AVR-3808CI and AVR-4308CI. You can check out the full details at Audioholics, but here's the short story:

The AVR-3808CI comes loaded with four HDMI 1.3 inputs and a single HDMI output. It also features a new graphical user interface (GUI), and we're betting it probably looks like the leaked photos we blogged before. Like the new Onkyo receivers, the 3808 has built-in decoding for both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, although prospective buyers should be aware that currently no Blu-ray or HD DVD player is capable of outputting these soundtracks' formats to the receiver in bitstream format. The 3808 can also upconvert analog signals to HDMI, along with scaling them to 1080p. Some enthusiasts have lamented that Denon decided to use Faroudja video processing on these models instead of HQV (seen on Onkyo's receivers, like the TX-SR875 and TX-NR905), but we'll withhold our judgment until we actually get our hands on it. There's also an Ethernet jack, and you'll be able to stream digital music files and Internet radio to the receiver. The Ethernet jack also enables custom installers to log into your receiver and make adjustments offsite.… Read more

OK, so I get the iMac, the iBook, the iPod, iTunes, and even (grudgingly) the iPhone. Apple thought up the moniker, so we can't begrudge them for expanding on the very successful franchise. But the iTrip, the iRiver Clix and Cowon's range of iAudio products tested the limits of my patience. And I could have held my tongue if BMW's iDrive had been the end of iOpportunism.

But when I noticed the iLoad--a device for ripping CDs and DVDs to iPod without a computer--on Senior Editor Donald Bell's desk this morning, I felt the need … Read more

With professional music software selling for hundreds of dollars, finding a comparable freeware program is no small potatoes. Audacity is an impressive open-source audio editor that has upped its own ante in the new beta version, Audacity 1.3. If you're attuned to the basics of fading and trimming, this guide urges you on the next step of your journey, mastering MP3 files for Web publishing, cell phone ringtones, and podcasts. Here are a few pointers.

If you haven't yet, download the suite of Windows plug-ins from the Linux Audio Developer's Simple Plugin API (LADSPA). When using plug-ins, remember to select the section of track you wish to affect before opening the tool. Also, if you're planning to make ringtones, check out the special tips at the end of this article.… Read more

Audacity's follow-up to its cult-classic audio editor, Audacity 1.3, warrants the attention of amateur and "prosumer" music editors. Audacity 1.3 adds minor (though useful) editing effects, and greases the wheels with some time-saving functionality. Of Audacity's recently integrated features, the new repair tool, improved equalizer, and souped-up selection bar will have the biggest impact on track masters.

The repair effect bridges two sections of a track over a minor audio irregularity, such as a distortion spike. Docked at the bottom of the app, the selection toolbar adds control to set a track's audio … Read more