LATEST ADDITIONS

A predictable effect of the pandemic on the A/V world has been a slowdown in shipments of new gear shown at CES that typically would have arrived by spring or early summer. One example: NAD’s M33 Masters BluOS Streaming DAC/Amp, which we had reported on at CES 2020. NAD’s eagerly awaited new $4,999 streaming amp was originally supposed to ship in March/April but is now scheduled to arrive in North America in late August. Better late than never!

"I'm a Soundist."

Forward-thinking guitar legend Steve Howe, the maestro of many iconic, nimble guitar riffs that have literally defined a generation or two of aurally challenging songs by the likes of Yes and Asia, is describing his raison d'être. "I'm a sound recorder, in a way," he continues. "I'm like Chet Atkins and Les Paul, who were both sound scientists. They were recording engineers and producers as much as I am, or as much as I hope to be."

Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q Can a TV’s built-in apps stream true 4K, or is it a lower resolution video format that the TV just upconverts to 4K? Also, would streaming via Wi-Fi instead of a hardwired Ethernet connection lower video resolution? —Cliff Parrish, via email

My last blog was limited to placement of the left and right speakers in 2-channel system, or just the left and right speakers in a home theater setup. There’s a lot more involved with a full surround sound setup....The remaining speaker channels we haven’t yet discussed are the center, the surrounds, and possibly Dolby Atmos. I’ll limit this discussion to 5.X or 5.X.4 setups, both with and without four Atmos speakers (for newbies, the 0.4 in the 5.2.4 designation describes the number of Atmos speakers, and the X is a stand-in here for the number of subwoofers, most often one or two). There’s a wide range of additional possibilities, including front height speakers, two additional surrounds (7.X.4), more than four Atmos speakers (though we don’t know of any consumer Atmos sources that offer more than four discrete Atmos channels), or only two rather than four Atmos speakers. But I suspect that 5.1.4 or 5.2.4 (five main channels, one or two subs, and four Atmos speakers) will describe most readers’ setups....