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Headphone ReviewsSurround Sound System Reviews
JVC Exofield XP-EXT1 Personal Home Theater System Review
Daniel Kumin  |  Apr 07, 2021
Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $999

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Solid headphone-surround
Impressive Dolby Atmos, DTS:X effects
Long battery life
Minus
Substantial vocal tonality shifts
Uneven bass presentation

THE VERDICT
JVC’s Exofield XP-EXT1 delivers an impressive rendering of effects in immersive soundtracks, but it comes up short as an all- around wireless home theater headphones solution.

True surround sound from headphones has been an audio holy grail for decades, but with the ever-increasing power and value of digital signal processing, we're now getting closer to drinking from that particular chalice. JVC's latest effort is the XP-EXT1 Personal Home Theater System, a set of wireless over-the-ear cans with a slim processor/transmitter that uses the company's Exofield DSP processing to digitally rejigger surround-encoded soundtracks, including Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, for your in-head listening pleasure.

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Audio Video News
BluOS Adds Streaming Options, Access to MQA Music
Bob Ankosko  |  Apr 06, 2021
Lenbrook International today announced a significant update for its BluOS multi-room music platform that adds native support for three new music streaming services and provides exclusive access to MQA-encoded music through Radio Paradise, an eclectic listener-supported internet radio station based in Southern California.
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A/V Veteran
TVs on the High Seas
Thomas J. Norton  |  Apr 06, 2021
The big news story of last week wasn't out of Washington D.C., or about the current state of Covid, or who has just cancelled who or what, or even the new line of TVs ready to flood your local Costco, Sam's Club, Best Buy, or any number of other retailers. It involved a giant cargo ship, the Ever Given, getting stuck in the Suez canal with hundreds of other ships lined up behind it and unable to get through with their cargo. What's this have to do with home audio and video?
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Signals
Black Widow: Release the Kraken!
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Apr 05, 2021
Which of these do not belong together?

  • Peanut butter / Jelly
  • Horse / Saddle
  • Hand / Glove
  • Movie theaters / The future

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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Tenet
Chris Chiarella  |  Apr 02, 2021
Picture
Sound
Extras
This is how director Christopher Nolan does time travel. Actually, to hear him tell it, this is how he does a spy thriller, inspired by the Bonds of his youth and enhanced with all of the mind-bending trappings we've come to expect from one of filmdom's brainiest auteurs. The central conceit of Tenet—one that commands audiences to pay full attention lest they be left behind—is the recent discovery of a temporal anomaly, possibly man-made, that can send certain objects backwards in time, rather than in the usual direction.
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Throwback Thursday
Charlie's Playlist: Man vs. Machine
Michael Antonoff  |  Apr 01, 2021
It didn’t rise to the level of Kasparov versus Deep Blue, but still, it was another example of man vs. machine. This time it was radio DJ Charlie Bermant playing music from 1967 versus playlists I asked two different smart speakers to generate.
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Audio Video NewsNew Products
New Gear for Spring 2021, Part 2
Bob Ankosko  |  Apr 01, 2021  |  First Published: Mar 31, 2021
The pandemic lingers yet life goes on in various forms around this great nation and A/V companies continue to move forward with new products and updates to existing gear. Recent weeks have revealed a number of intriguing entries, including a 23-speaker reference sound system for the road. Can you guess which vehicle?
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Bookshelf Speaker ReviewsDesktop Speaker Reviews
IK Multimedia iLoud MTM Powered Monitor Review
Daniel Kumin  |  Mar 31, 2021

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $700/pair

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Superbly accurate tonal balance
Remarkable bass extension
Highly adaptable onboard EQ options
Onboard auto room correction
Minus
Finite output may not suit far-field listening
No auto on/off
No built-in sub integration option

THE VERDICT
IK Multimedia’s powered monitor is a great desktop audio option, and it also delivers sufficient output for far-field listening in small-size rooms.

With few of us straying far from home these days, or from our computer with its constant stream of information, entertainment, hope, and fear, desktop audio is having a moment.

For this reason, many are discovering a need for some- thing better than the crappy 2.1-channel "computer speaker" systems we bought back in the early 'aughts. What we need is an ultra-compact active monitor—like IK Multimedia's iLoud MTM.

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SmartStream
Hands-On: Vidgo Live TV Streaming
Barb Gonzalez  |  Mar 31, 2021
The Vidgo Live TV streaming service launched at the end of 2019. Similar to lesser-known PhiloTV and FuboTV, it is holding its own against the popular YouTube TV and Hulu+Live TV. The experience is not as robust as what you'll get from YouTube, Hulu, AT&T TV, or Sling TV, but it may be enough to give basic cable channels to those who've cut the cord.
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Signals
Fractured Fairy Tales
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Mar 29, 2021
Okay, children! Time for a bedtime story! Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Goldilocks. While walking through the forest, she came upon a quaint little village. In that village there were three ways to watch movies...
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