LATEST ADDITIONS

Audio Video News
Best Gear of May 2022
Bob Ankosko  |  May 26, 2022
Ready for a subwoofer that can play very low and very loud in very large spaces? Or how about a versatile set of headphones that put excellent noise cancellation and sound expanding spatial processing at your fingertips as you look ahead to that awesome summer vacation you just locked down? Both made our Top Picks list in May along with an affordable smart projector that will take movie time to the next level and a trio of high-end speakers from a brand you never heard of that will leave you speechless.
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Headphone Reviews
Cleer Alpha Noise-Canceling Headphones Review
Leslie Shapiro  |  May 25, 2022

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $250

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Soundstage-widening Dirac Virtuo processing
Adjustable Ambient Sound mode
Smart Noise Cancellation
Solid build quality
Minus
Overly sensitive touch controls
Bass lacking in certain modes

THE VERDICT
Cleer's Alpha Noise Canceling headphones are a good-sounding, airplane-ready offering packed with enough features to make them a top value compared with similar models from Sony and Bose.

Cleer Audio's new Alpha headphones, the company's flagship wireless noise-canceling model, is jam-packed with extras to augment its very good overall sound quality. At $250, the Alpha isn't a budget offering, but its many advanced and customizable features make it worth the price. With everything from app-controlled ambient audio level adjustment to smart noise-cancellation and Dirac Virtuo processing, the Alpha is primed to take on any travel adventure.

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SmartStream
Roku's OS11 Upgrade Is Here at Last
Barb Gonzalez  |  May 25, 2022
After a two-month rollout, the new Roku OS11 operating system upgrade has finally arrived. It brings new customization features, including new content discovery and recommendations on the home screen, a voice keyboard for login, a slideshow screensaver featuring your photos, and new sound modes. The features may seem subtle, but they change and enhance the Roku experience.  
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Ask S&V
Single Driver vs. Multiple Drivers: Which Is Better?
Al Griffin  |  May 24, 2022
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q I’m still using my first system that I bought in the late 1960s. Time for an upgrade! I’ve seen speakers with four drivers and speakers that use only one driver. Can you explain the advantages of one design over the other? For example, is it possible for a tower speaker with a single driver to sound better than one with three or more drivers? —Michael Oleson, Fort Worth, TX

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Audio Video NewsNew Products
Denon and Marantz Preview New CD Players and More at Munich Audio Show
Bob Ankosko  |  May 23, 2022
Denon and Marantz showcased new CD players at the High End Munich audio show that wrapped up yesterday, with Denon also previewing a pair of integrated amplifiers, one with built-in wireless streaming capability.
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Signals
The End of the iPod
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  May 23, 2022
One minute you are the Shiny Object that everyone is clamoring for. Then the next minute you are Yesterday's News, thrown onto the trash heap of history, in favor of the next Shiny Object. Alas, the iPod.

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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Heavy Metal
Chris Chiarella  |  May 20, 2022
Picture
Sound
Extras
Adult-skewing animation wasn't a new genre by 1981 (thank you, Ralph Bakshi), but was the world at that time ready for Heavy Metal? Inspired by the illustrated fantasy publication of the same name, this R-rated feature film served up a disparate series of sex-and-violence-filled short stories, loosely held together by the presence of a deadly mystical sphere called the Loc-Nar. Since each issue was an anthology, with assorted tales from a variety of creators, the range of dramatic tones and visual styles here perfectly captures the spirit of the magazine.
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Spatial Audio File
United in Spatial Audio Gold
Mike Mettler  |  May 20, 2022

Welcome back one and all to the latest weekly installment of Spatial Audio File. As a card-carrying Spatial Audiophile, it's my sacred honor to select five (count ’em) prime Spatial Audio releases on Apple Music by vetting and recommending key individual tracks and (every now and then) full albums via deep-dive listening sessions on my home system and headphones alike. What you will find here is the very best in the immersive Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos universe that’s available in the ever-expanding Apple Music library so you can experience the aural wonders of it all for yourself.

And this week’s fab five are. . .

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The S&V Interview
High Dynamic Range, HDR10+ Style
Bob Ankosko  |  May 19, 2022
15 Minutes with Bill Mandel, Co-Manager at HDR10+ Technologies, LLC

Sound & Vision talks high dynamic range and the evolution of HDR10+ with Bill Mandel, head of the Visual Solutions Lab at Samsung Research America and co-manager of HDR10+ Technologies, LLC.

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Subwoofer Reviews
M&K Sound X15+ THX Dominus Certified Subwoofer Review
David Vaughn  |  May 18, 2022

Performance
Features
Build Quality
Value
PRICE $5,999

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Deep bass response with extremely high output
Impeccable build quality
THX Dominus Certification
Minus
No built-in parametric EQ or room correction
No control app or handset

THE VERDICT
The performance of M&K Sound’s THX Dominus Certified X15+ is over the top. Highly recommended if you demand bass that can go extremely deep and loud even in the largest of rooms.

Let me state from the outset that I'm a fan of M&K Sound speakers. I have owned an M&K S-150 surround system for the past 18-plus years and have zero desire to change it out anytime soon. The first time I auditioned it in a Magnolia Hi-Fi store back in 2002 made me an instant admirer of the brand, and it took me two years of saving up to be able to afford a full 7.1 speaker package. I fully bought into M&K's—and THX's—principle that using a subwoofer/satellite configuration to separate and optimize the reproduction of low frequencies improves midrange purity and accuracy.

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