LATEST ADDITIONS

Streaming Device Reviews
TiVo Roamio Pro DVR
Al Griffin  |  Mar 21, 2014

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $599

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Slick, speedy interface
3-TB hard disk for seemingly limitless recording
TiVo iOS app streams content in or away from home
Minus
Primitive Amazon Instant Video app

THE VERDICT
TiVo’s next-generation DVR makes TV watching a truly connected experience.

Last summer, after a nearly nine-year relationship, I showed my cable company–supplied DVR the door. Our life together had become increasingly untenable. My main gripe was that its limited-capacity hard drive put me in the constant position of having to delete old recordings to make room for new ones. It also had no connection options to link to a wired or wireless home network. These days, any component that can’t link to the Internet and communicate with computers, phones, and tablets is as good as junk. (We’ll give turntables a pass—for now.) Furthermore, my old DVR whirred and wheezed like the geezer it was, often emitting its loudest groans during music-listening sessions where I had no choice but to pull the plug.

Continue Reading »
Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Nashville
Shane Buettner  |  Mar 21, 2014
Picture
Sound
Extras
Interactivity
Rebel director Robert Altman was buried and resurrected countless times in his long career, beating the system and making vital films right up to his death in 2006. 1975’s Nashville was his high-water mark, a great film and the zenith of his 1970s glory years. A musical, a political drama, a romantic drama, a country music mockumentary, and a tragedy, Nashville defies description as a story.
Continue Reading »
New Products
Prescient Audio PATD12
Mark Fleischmann  |  Mar 20, 2014
Prescient Audio’s Paul Niedermann scowled at the trunk of his car. The supplied loudspeaker system took up too much space. He thought about it and came up with a solution: Prescient’s ThinDriver Technology, which fits a 12-inch subwoofer driver into an enclosure about one-third the conventional size.
Continue Reading »
New Products
Meridian G65 Surround Controller
Bob Ankosko  |  Mar 20, 2014
Founded in 1977 by psychoacoustics expert Bob Stuart, Meridian staked its claim in the world of digital audio before the CD was even born and has lived on the cutting edge of digital technology ever since. In 1994, before the new Dolby Digital surround format (then known as Dolby AC-3) had even made its way into homes, the company introduced the world’s first digital surround controller and named it simply the 565. Twenty years later, the G65 surround controller represents the latest iteration of that iconic processor.
Continue Reading »
Ask S&V
How Do I Get High-Res Audio?
Al Griffin  |  Mar 20, 2014
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q I would like to get my feet wet with high-res audio, but don’t want to make a huge hardware investment. I’ve found some 192/24 tracks I’d like to buy from HDTracks.com. What would be the next step after I download these in ALAC format to my MacBook Air? Can I play them via my Mac’s optical output to the optical input on my preamp-processor (Emotiva UMC-1)? Can I stream them to said pre-pro via Apple TV or Airplay? Since the UMC-1 doesn’t have a USB input, do I need to buy a Dragonfly DAC or something like that? How about a USB headphone amp?  I obviously want a hardware setup that preserves the highest resolution. —Steve Burbidge / Minneapolis, MN

Continue Reading »
SmartStream
Will Short Video Streaming Kill the Feature Film?
Barb Gonzalez  |  Mar 20, 2014
As the popularity of streaming short videos continues to grow, what will happen to feature film length movies, and TV shows? A panel at the Sun Valley Film Festival discusses the changing face of streaming content.
Continue Reading »
Subwoofer Reviews
M&K Sound X12 THX Subwoofer
David Vaughn  |  Mar 19, 2014

Performance
Features
Build Quality
Value
PRICE $3,200

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Powerful, deep, and taut bass response
Outstanding build quality
Sealed push-pull design
Minus
No built-in parametric equalizer
Pricey

THE VERDICT
M&K Sound calls the X12 the subwoofer, and I can’t disagree with them. This is one of the best subwoofers I’ve ever heard in my room.

M&K Sound got started when Walter Becker of Steely Dan commissioned Ken Kreisel to design a studio reference subwoofer and monitoring system for the Pretzel Logic mixing sessions. Partnering with a high-end audio dealer, Jonas Miller, Kreisel developed a revolutionary subwoofer that led to the creation of M&K. As time passed, word of mouth spread throughout the music and movie industries, and M&K would go on to create systems for leading studios and in-home installations for producers, actors, and recording artists.

Continue Reading »
Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Elysium
Chris Chiarella  |  Mar 19, 2014
Picture
Sound
Extras
Interactivity
Neill Blomkamp’s follow-up to his justly acclaimed District 9 is Elysium, another social commentary set in a strangely relatable future. This time he contrasts the lives of the wealthy against those of the downtrodden, with all of Earth having become a decrepit, overcrowded hellhole. A former criminal (Matt Damon) is trying to stay on the straight and narrow, but when he becomes collateral damage of the rich getting richer, his only hope for survival is to infiltrate that utopian space station of the title.
Continue Reading »
Music Reviews
Eric Clapton: Give Me Strength: The ’ 74/ ’ 75 Recordings
Mike Mettler  |  Mar 19, 2014
Performance
Sound
Eric Clapton was at the crossroads of Personal Hell Avenue and Professional Conundrum Street as the calendar turned to 1974. His crippling heroin addiction derailed the creative momentum he achieved with Derek and the Dominos and Layla in 1970, and it took him a few long, painful years to emerge from the haze and return to chasing down his one true muse with guitar (and not needle) in hand. The jam-packed Give Me Strength: The ’74/’75 Recordings box set charts his sonic recovery.
Continue Reading »
New Products
New Gear
SV Staff  |  Mar 19, 2014
The latest crop of new gear includes a hi-rez music player and two speakers: one a kick-ass Bluetooth portable, the other a super-thin model that literally disappears.
Continue Reading »

Pages

X