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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Shaft
Brandon A. DuHamel  |  Jul 29, 2022
Picture
Sound
Extras
Along with Melvin Van Peebles' Sweet Sweetback's Baadassss Song, Shaft helped launch the Seventies era of so-called "blaxploitation" films that would dominate the world of Black entertainment for nearly a decade. Directed by prominent Black photographer Gordon Parks with Richard Roundtree in the title role and featuring a sizzling soundtrack by Isaac Hayes, Shaft didn't quite fit the mold of its subsequent ilk.
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Spatial Audio File
Now Here You Go Again, You Say You Want Your Spatial Audio
Mike Mettler  |  Jul 29, 2022

I don’t know about you, but I love hearing what I call “the humanity of performance” while listening to music. What I mean by that is, whenever I hear singers take breaths before or after they sing their lines (or even when they do it in the middle of them!), and/or I discern things like chairs scraping across floors or fingers moving across fretboards, I’m totally cool with it.

These recording elements all give me a sense of space (i.e., where the recording took place and the proximity of those involved) and even the character of the performers, to some degree. Certain producers like their recordings to be more insular than that, which is certainly fine in isolated cases—but the more “real” a recording is the better, imo.

The reason I bring this up is there are plenty of human elements involved in the five tracks I’ve selected for this week’s Spatial Audio File. As always, I’ve thoroughly spec’ed and checked each track by way of my personal deep-dive listening sessions on both my home system and headphones alike. You’ll find each and every one of them amidst the scores of stellar Made for Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos tracks within the ever-growing Apple Music library. >p> Let’s all now plug directly into the inherent sonic sea of humanity at hand as we collectively check out this week’s five-spot of truly immersive tracks, which are. . .

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Turntable Reviews
Monolith By Monoprice Belt-Drive Turntable Review
Michael Trei  |  Jul 28, 2022

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $250

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Quality turntable at a budget price
Excellent pre-mounted cartridge
Versatile hook up options
Minus
Setup is a bit fussy
Inaccurate speed as shipped
No analog cable included
No leveling feet

THE VERDICT
While it is possible to spend less, the Monolith turntable marks a perfect entry point for a turntable that sounds good, offers a host of hookup options, and has a clear upgrade path.

As someone who works with turntables almost every day, one question I get pretty frequently is, "How much do I need to spend to get a real taste of what the buzz with vinyl is all about?" Defining the entry level for record players can be tricky. Spend too little and you're probably going to be disappointed and lose interest pretty quickly. Spend too much and you're likely to dismiss playing records as just another overpriced fad.

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SmartStream
Netflix Will Offer an Ad-Supported Subscription Tier
Barb Gonzalez  |  Jul 27, 2022
Commercials are coming to Netflix, one of the last of the major streaming services to offer a low-priced ad-supported tier. Now that Netflix has partnered with Microsoft's Xandr digital video advertising arm, it's clear that the streaming giant is preparing to include advertising.
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Music Reviews
Elton John: Madman Across the Water - 50th Anniversary Edition
Mike Mettler  |  Jul 27, 2022
Performances
Sound
Elton John could do no wrong as the calendar came to the close of 1971. Madman Across the Water, his third album in that calendar year alone, came out in November, and it was considered to be the best entry in his Trident Studios orchestral trilogy, featuring production by Gus Dudgeon and arrangements by Paul Buckmaster. (The previous two releases in said trilogy were April 1970's self-titled Elton John and October 1970's Tumbleweed Connection.)
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Audio Video News
Audio Advice to Host Live Audio/Home Theater Event
Bob Ankosko  |  Jul 27, 2022
The countdown to Audio Advice Live has begun. In just over three weeks, the 44-year-old specialty consumer electronics retailer Audio Advice is hosting a three-day high performance audio and home theater event in its hometown of Raleigh, NC to showcase the latest and greatest gear from more than 60 brands, including many marquee names in A/V.
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Ask S&V
Will My Older A/V Receiver Pass 4K to My New TV?
Al Griffin  |  Jul 26, 2022
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q I have an older Pioneer VSX-820 receiver (circa 2010) and currently have my 4K Roku streaming stick plugged in to one of its HDMI inputs. I plan to upgrade to an Ultra HDTV (Vizio M65Q7-J01). If I continue to connect my Roku stick to the receiver, will it pass a 4K signal to the new TV? —Chris Murphy, via email

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Signals
Does Music Have Healing Properties?
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Jul 25, 2022
For many people, music is a form of entertainment. For others, music is their avocation. For some, music is their job. Or maybe it's an artistic calling. For some people, music supposedly can be used to heal.

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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Northman
Roger Kanno  |  Jul 22, 2022
Picture
Sound
Extras
The Northman is a stylish, brutal, and satisfyingly well-made film about a Viking prince named Amleth whose uncle murders his father and kidnaps his mother. He swears vengeance against his uncle and after locating him years later, devises a plan to exact his revenge, even though all is not as it seems. Writer-director Robert Eggers' is also the man behind the critically acclaimed The Lighthouse, a psychological thriller that can be challenging to watch at times. This film, while a little less disturbing and more accessible to squeamish viewers, still has its fair share of gory violence and frightening imagery.
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Spatial Audio File
You Are Never Gonna Keep Spatial Audio Down
Mike Mettler  |  Jul 22, 2022

While I was listening to the five song selections I made for this week’s Spatial Audio File column, I was struck by the fact that we as listeners can easily have our attention sidetracked by catchy choruses—you know, the ones you just can’t help but sing along with every time you hear them. Call it the “Bohemian Rhapsody” syndrome—which, by the way, is not a bad thing at all, mind you. If anything, it proves the artists/songwriters at hand have handily succeeded in their mission to hook you with their music. But as we’re joyfully singing along, we’re not really paying attention to the music itself since we’re technically “competing” with what we’re hearing in the moment.

Hence, once I got my reflexive singing out of the way—either out loud, or in my head—I buckled down to refocus my critical listening of these five tracks, each of which I thoroughly spec’ed and checked by way of my personal deep dive listening sessions on both my home system and headphones alike. You’ll find all of them, alongside a veritable singalong fest of other stellar Made for Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos cuts, within the burgeoning Apple Music library.

Let’s curb our ready-to-sing enthusiasm but instead ramp up our ready-to-listen eagerness by checking out this week’s quintet of readily engaging immersive tracks, which are. . .

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