LATEST ADDITIONS

A/V Veteran
Phones and Groans
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jun 25, 2018
We rarely discuss smartphones here at Sound & Vision, but I suspect that most readers, if forced to choose which device they’d choose to keep if they had to divest themselves of all but one, would choose their smartphone. But that wouldn’t include me. I don’t check my phone 20 times a day, and Facebook and Twitter are strangers to me. In the past I’ve used my phone mainly for e-mails, news, Listen-In radio, and phone calls.

But my recent experience with a new smartphone offers cautionary lessons also applicable to our more house-bound entertainment goodies: televisions, AVRs, speakers, home assistants, home automation, and more...

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Audio Video News
Apple to Bolster Audio Offerings in ’19
SV Staff  |  Jun 25, 2018
Apple is reportedly looking to step up its audio game in 2019 with plans for new in- and over-ear headphones and a follow-up to the HomePod smart speaker it introduced earlier this year.
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Audio Video News
Elite’s CineGrey Screens Get Greenguard Certification
SV Staff  |  Jun 25, 2018
Elite Screens has announced that the materials used for its Cinegray 3D and 5D ambient-light-rejecting projection screens have received UL 2818 Greenguard and Greengard Gold certifications.
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Audio Video News
DTS Announces Play-Fi App for Headphone Listening
SV Staff  |  Jun 25, 2018
DTS has announced a free app that enables content playing on DTS Play-Fi gear to be streamed via Wi-Fi to headphones connected to a phone or tablet.
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Audio Video NewsNew Products
Bose Launches Noise-Masking Sleepbuds
SV Staff  |  Jun 22, 2018
Bose is rolling out a new set of wireless earbuds that are both unusual and innovative.
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Apptitude
As CDs Go, So Go the Apps
Michael Antonoff  |  Jun 22, 2018
Remember when you'd pop a CD into a computer and click "Import" in iTunes or "Rip CD" in Windows Media Player?
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Headphone Reviews
Focal Clear Headphones Review
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 21, 2018

Performance
Build Quality
Comfort
Value
PRICE $1,499

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Aluminum/magnesium diaphragms
Impeccable construction
Balanced presentation
Minus
Less than spacious imaging

THE VERDICT
Focal’s Clear headphones are admirably well-balanced performers with irreproachable build quality and a gorgeous look.

Is $1,499 a lot to pay for headphones? Well, how much is a lot? Only you can make the definitive decision about what is a good buy and what would be an undue burden on your checking account. Here’s how Focal thought through the problem. This formidable loudspeaker manufacturer gave its emergent headphone line its best shot in the Focal Utopia, a four-thousand-dollar product that we hailed with a five-star review. Its latest offering, the Focal Clear, borrows technology developed for the Utopia and cuts the price by more than half.

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Audio Video News
AT&T Announces New Streaming Package in Wake of Time Warner Merger
SV Staff  |  Jun 21, 2018
AT&T today announced the WatchTV streaming video package that will let wireless subscribers stream more than 30 live channels through a new app in addition to providing access to more than 15,000 TV shows and movies on demand.
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The S&V InterviewAudio Video News
Qobuz: Coming to America
Bob Ankosko  |  Jun 21, 2018
15 Minutes with David Solomon

Move over Tidal. Qobuz (pronounced “ko-buzz”) is coming to the States this fall, armed with a 2-million-track arsenal of hi-res music and a web portal that makes Tidal’s slick homepage seem confined. We checked in with AV industry veteran David Solomon, newly appointed Chief High-Res Evangelist for Qobuz, to learn more about the music service and its unusual name.

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Audio Video News
HDR10+ Developers Now Licensing the Technology Royalty-Free
SV Staff  |  Jun 21, 2018
HDR10+ Technologies — the partnership formed by Twentieth Century Fox, Panasonic, and Samsung — has announced the start of a licensing and logo certification program for the HDR10+ open standard High Dynamic Range (HDR) platform announced last year.
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