onkyo

Hands-on with Onkyo's sweet new $149 ES-FC300 headphones

LAS VEGAS--It seems as if almost every audio company is getting into the headphone market, so it's not surprising Onkyo has gotten into the game with two on-ear and two in-ear models.

I spent a little time with the two on-ear pairs, the ES-FC300 ($149) and ES-HF300 ($179). The difference between the two is the cord -- the FC300 has a tangle-resistant flat cable while the more expensive HF300 features an "audiophile-grade" 6N copper cable.

I liked the understated look of the headphones and found them pretty comfortable to wear. They're fairly lightweight but don't … Read more

Onkyo to offer Dolby TrueHD 5.1 channel music downloads

At the end of May, Onkyo will start selling Dolby TrueHD 5.1-channel music downloads, first in Japan, and by the fall of this year worldwide. That's either a brave or foolhardy move.

Multichannel music formats -- starting with quadraphonic LPs and tapes in the early 1970s, DTS encoded surround CDs in the 1990s, and DVD Audio and SACD in the early 2000s -- have all suffered from a lack of consumer demand. Very, very few surround releases were initially recorded in surround; most rock and jazz titles are remixed from older stereo recordings. The Blu-ray format has now … Read more

Onkyo's 2012 midrange receiver line goes up to 8 HDMI inputs

If you thought midrange AV receivers were going to max out at six HDMI inputs, you were wrong.

Onkyo announced its 2012 line of midrange AV receivers this morning, with the TX-NR515 and TX-NR616 each featuring eight HDMI inputs, enough to handle your cable box, PS3, Xbox 360, Roku LT, Apple TV, and three other home theater gadgets. The front-panel HDMI input on those two models is also MHL-compatible, which means you can connect a compatible smartphone or other MHL gadgets like the upcoming Roku Streaming Stick.

Here's a quick breakdown of the new models and most important features:… Read more

Onkyo's new iPad/iPhone speaker sounds sweet

Onkyo's new "iOnly" family of iPod speakers has three models, iOnly Play (ABX-100), iOnly Stream (ABX-N300), and iOnly Bass (SBX-300).

I have the SBX-300 in for review, and it sounds pretty nice. The look is basic, but the black cloth speaker grilles, brushed-aluminum base and carry handle, and the retractable dock give the SBX-300 a nice sense of style. An LED display peeks through the upper right hand side of the grille and indicates volume and bass boost level. The Active Bass Control Circuit boost is available in two steps, via the small remote control. Power is … Read more

Intel to help more companies build ultrabooks

Intel will step in to help smaller companies build ultrabooks, as the chipmaker continues its push to make the new supper-skinny laptop category a success, CNET has learned.

With the goal of getting smaller PC makers to supply branded ultrabooks, Intel will hold a meeting Wednesday in Taipei as a "matchmaker" between large device manufacturers--so-called ODMs or original design manufacturers--like Foxconn, Pegatron, Compal, and Quanta and smaller brands, according to an industry source familiar with Intel's plans.

The list of prospective ultrabook brands will include companies like Epson, Onkyo, Viewsonic, Mustek, Motion Computing, WiPro, and Positivo, according … Read more

Onkyo's new iPhone app brings multiroom control

Onkyo has released a revamped iPod Touch/iPhone app that enables users to wirelessly control music and components in a multiroom setup.

The "Onkyo Remote 2" will control 2010/2011 network receivers, plus the TX-8050 Network Stereo Receiver, and enables control of Internet radio, full access to digital music libraries, and commonly used functions.

The remote will control connected components compatible with Onkyo's RI (remote interactive) system.

The app features an updated look and controls including play, stop, skip, and pause; volume, bass, and treble adjustments; listening mode and input source selection; network source selection; and radio stations.

The app is available for free from the Apple iTunes store, but Onkyo has yet to reveal details of iPad-specific control, or of an update to the Android Remote released in July that was based on version 1.… Read more

Stereo still rules the music world

Whether you listen to music from the cloud, MP3s, CDs, LPs, cassettes, or 8-track tapes, it's always in stereo. So while multichannel SACD, DVD-A, or music-only Blu-ray discs trickle out, only a very small handful of recently recorded music is available in multichannel sound. If there was any real demand we would have surely seen an uptick in the number of surround releases, but that's not happening. Stereo rules the music world, which is why high-quality hi-fis aren't going out of fashion. Onkyo's new A-9070 integrated amplifier and C-7070 CD player are both sound investments.

The … Read more

How can 30-year-old receivers sound better than new ones?

It's a strange turn of events, but mainstream manufacturers long ago gave up on the idea of selling receivers on the basis of superior sound quality. I'm not claiming today's receivers sound "bad," but since almost no one ever listens to a receiver before they buy one, selling sound quality is next to impossible.

Back in the days when brick-and-mortar stores ruled the retail market, audio companies took pride in their engineering skills and designed entire receivers in-house. Right up through the 1980s most of what was "under the hood" was designed and … Read more

Spotify coming to 2011 Onkyo network receivers

Onkyo's network AV receivers already have an extensive suite of streaming music services and it's about to get better. Onkyo announced today that it will be adding the recently launched Spotify streaming music service to its network receivers via a firmware update. The update is already available for the TX-NR609 (which we reviewed last month), with the rest of its 2011 networked-enabled receivers to follow. Streaming Spotify on Onkyo receivers will require a premium Spotify account, so you'll need to pay $10 a month to access the service.

The Onkyo TX-NR609 is the first AV receiver we'… Read more