LATEST ADDITIONS

Music and Soundtrack FeaturesThe S&V Interview
Genuine But Better: How Bob Clearmountain Mixes The Band in Surround
Mike Mettler  |  Jul 02, 2021
Bob Clearmountain knows how to move mountains with his mixes. Ok, ok, maybe I'm exaggerating just a little bit here—but the fact is, Clearmountain has been a go-to mixer/engineer/producer for A-list musicians for decades, having shepherded the sound of landmark albums by artists like Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, Simple Minds, Bryan Adams, and Roxy Music. (And that barely scratches the surface of his top-shelf mixing C.V., btw.)
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The S&V Interview
A Hi-Res Call to Arms
Bob Ankosko  |  Jul 01, 2021

15 Minutes with Jon Kiachian, VP, Hearing Health Technologies at Knowles Corp.

Jon Kiachian has spent the past 16 years working with the likes of National Semiconductor and Texas Instruments in technology-management positions. Today he is a vice president and general manager at Knowles, the global company responsible for developing the tiny microphones that allowed us to hear sound from the surface of Mars earlier this year. Kiachian oversees the business unit that develops technology to improve sound quality in a variety of electronics devices — a pursuit that’s more important than ever as high-resolution (hi-res) music reaches the masses through the likes of Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz, and other streaming services. In his role at Knowles, Kiachian has become a hi-res evangelist of sorts who believes audiophiles are “duty bound” to convince the millions of listeners who settle for bad sound that there’s a better option — a way to make the music they love really come alive.

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Subwoofer Reviews
SVS 3000 Micro Subwoofer Review
Daniel Kumin  |  Jun 30, 2021

Performance
Features
Build Quality
Value
PRICE $800

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Highly compact form factor
Notable extension and output for size
Excellent control app
Minus
No auto-EQ/correction

THE VERDICT
The first micro model from sub specialist SVS features the company's well-regarded control app, and it delivers all the bass most people will need while not taking up much space.

Once upon a time, there were three bears, with three subwoofers. You probably can guess how this story ends.

Designing a subwoofer is simple: big box, big driver, powerful amplifier. You wind up with something the size of a small refrigerator, but it does the job. Designing a good miniature subwoofer is a bigger engineering challenge, but the recipe is also fairly well known: small box, very powerful amplifier, small drivers with lots and lots of excursion, or throw.

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REVIEWS===========Audio Video NewsNew Products
Dynaudio Updates Entry-Level Emit Speaker Series
Bob Ankosko  |  Jun 29, 2021
Danish speaker specialist Dynaudio has updated its entry-level Emit series with five models ranging in price from $799 to $2,249/pair.
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Signals
Thank You, Jay Homel
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Jun 28, 2021
Hey man, I wanted to give you a shout-out. I really appreciate your kind words. Your comments jogged some memories, and I wanted to share them with you. I don’t have your contact information, so I guess I’ll instead just use this public forum.
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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Gattaca
Roger Kanno  |  Jun 25, 2021
Picture
Sound
Extras
Gattaca tells the story of a future where genetically engineered humans are provided all the benefits of an advanced civilization while those that are genetically inferior are relegated to more menial jobs and not afforded the same opportunities as society's elite. Ethan Hawke plays Vincent, an "in-valid" who takes on the identity of one of the genetically elite, Jerome (Jude Law), to realize his dream of becoming a navigator at Gattaca, a prestigious space exploration corporation. The film moves slowly, but with stylish cinematography and excellent performances, it holds up well nearly 25 years after its initial release.
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Audio Video News
Best Gear of June 2021
Bob Ankosko  |  Jun 24, 2021
Talk about extremes. The summer’s first official batch of Top Picks range from a $60 set of noise-cancelling wireless earbuds from a brand you never heard of to an $18,000 state-of-the-art surround processor from one of Europe’s premiere electronics companies. Both will surprise you.
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SmartStream
Hands on: Apple Spatial Audio and AirPods Max
Barb Gonzalez  |  Jun 23, 2021
Apple has boosted the music quality of Apple Music with Spatial Audio. This immersive audio format was released on the service around the same time as the AirPods Max, Apple’s new over-ear headphones. The combination is impressive, and I spent some time testing the headphones with Spatial Audio.
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Surround Processor Reviews
Trinnov Audio Altitude16 Surround Sound Processor Review
David Vaughn  |  Jun 23, 2021

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $18,000

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Phenomenal sound quality
Software-based platform makes upgrades easy
Superior room correction processing
Minus
Pricey!
Basic remote control
Typically requires pro installation

THE VERDICT
The Altitude16 may be a luxury purchase, but for those seeking an upgradeable surround sound processor with fantastic sound quality, cutting-edge room correction, and support for all the latest immersive audio formats, it's a true standout product.

I've been reviewing A/V gear for over 15 years, and it's rare that something new comes along that will intimidate me. But all that changed when I found out I'd be reviewing the Trinnov Audio Altitude16, an $18,000 surround sound processor offering up to 16 discrete output channels plus the company's proprietary Optimizer speaker/room correction, that's arguably the most sophisticated and flexible offering of its kind on the market.

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Ask S&V
Help! I Have Legacy Gear & Want to Stream in Hi-Res
Al Griffin  |  Jun 22, 2021
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q My partner and I want to get set up for high-resolution audio and are hoping to use the Tidal service for better-than-CD-quality streaming. We have a Sherwood stereo integrated amplifier from the 1980s, along with big, beautiful, fantastic-sounding speakers and we don’t want to give those up. I’ve tried researching the huge range of available tech options but just don’t know how to make it work. We use Android devices and own a Fosi Audio DAC-Q4 [digital-to-analog converter/headphone amp]. We also have a spare computer that can be used to run Tidal. —Victoria Baker, via email

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