Grace Notes

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Grace Notes
Picking the Meat from John Carter’s Bones
Leslie Shapiro  |  Jul 03, 2012  | 

By any measure, Disney’s enjoyable Mars epic John Carter was a fiscal fiasco, netting only $72 million in the US and $282.4 million total worldwide, barely clearing its $250 million price tag. Ouch.

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CES 2018Grace Notes
Pioneer Gives Alexa Elite Speaker Status in the Elite F4
Leslie Shapiro  |  Jan 10, 2018  | 
While Alexa got her start in a speaker tower built by a company with little experience in speaker design, now she’s really getting to shine in a smart speaker from Pioneer’s Elite product designers.

 

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Headphone ReviewsGrace Notes
Plantronics BackBeat GO 3 Wireless Earbud Review
Leslie Shapiro  |  May 09, 2016  | 
Absolute power corrupts absolutely; lack of power is just freakin’ annoying. The new Plantronics BackBeat GO 3 is a wireless, sweatproof earbud that solves the lack of power problem in a unique and clever way. The carrying case has a built-in rechargeable battery that provides the power for up to two recharges, giving the Backbeat GO 3 an extra 13 hours of playback. That’s the kind of power a girl could get used to.

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Headphone ReviewsGrace Notes
Plantronics BackBeat Sense Smart Headphone Review
Leslie Shapiro  |  Aug 17, 2015  | 
Everything needs to be enhanced these days to stand out from the crowd—everyone needs a schtick. Potato chips need wacky truffle-oil flavoring, cars need a carbon fiber wrap, and well, most celebrities keep their plastic surgeons on speed-dial. Even headphones need a hook to make a splash in the over-saturated market. While the Plantronics BackBeat Sense wireless headphones look like ordinary headphones, they are packed with enhancements, including knowing when they’re on or off.
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Grace NotesAudio Video News
PreShow: The Coolest yet Creepiest Free Movie App Launching on Kickstarter
Leslie Shapiro  |  Mar 25, 2019  | 
“Attend first-run movies in theaters...FREE!” That’s the Kickstarter headline that caught my eye. Who doesn’t love free movies? However, what lengths will you go through to get those free movie theater tickets? PreShow is a new app launching on Kickstarter by the founder of MoviePass. If funded and launched, the PreShow app will play 15-20 minutes of advertisements in exchange for one free movie ticket credit. How they ensure that you watch the ads is completely freaking me out.

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Grace Notes
Qwikster: Dead on Arrival
Leslie Shapiro  |  Oct 10, 2011  | 

A few weeks ago, the blogosphere was abuzz with commentary on Netflix's impetuous decision to split into two companies: Netflix for streaming TV shows and movies, and Qwikster for home delivery of DVD and Blu-ray movies. Seems that Netflix thought better of it too.

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Grace NotesAudio Video News
Rdio Launches $3.99 Streaming Plan — With a Catch
Leslie Shapiro  |  May 18, 2015  | 
Rdio isn’t new to the highly competitive streaming music market, but they just announced a new price structure that’s garnering some big interest in the music industry. Aiming for the cost-conscious consumer, Rdio has initiated a plan that’s just $3.99 per month, Rdio Select, for an ad-free experience with unlimited skips and 25 downloads. This makes it the cheapest commercial-free subscription streaming service. How does that compare to what they’ve offered before, and why should we care?

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Grace Notes
Real Men Wear Pink (Or Buy Scosche For the Women in Their Life)
Leslie Shapiro  |  Oct 19, 2015  | 
As you probably know, October is breast cancer awareness month. Hard to avoid the pinking of every product under the sun. While I generally oppose the “pink it and shrink it” mentality when designing products for women, I do appreciate a company that puts their money where their pink is - and donates a significant percentage of their proceeds to a cause. Scosche Industries is partnering with the National Breast Cancer Foundation to create the goPINK for Hope line of audio products and accessories. Scosche is donating 25% of all proceeds from the sale of this product line, and all goPINK products are currently discounted by 25%.

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Grace NotesAudio Video News
Recording Academy Establishes New Guidelines for Hi-Res Music
Leslie Shapiro  |  Jul 06, 2015  | 
Standards and guidelines are a good thing. Just ask anyone who’s ever had an 11-inch long Footlong from Subway. (Subway, interestingly enough, claims that “Footlong” is a descriptive name not intended to be a measurement of length. Seriously?) As audiophiles, we need to make sure that what is called Hi-Res music, is indeed high-resolution, and not just a descriptive name. The Producers & Engineers Wing of The Recording Academy (who presents the Grammy Awards) has come up with a set of production guidelines for high-resolution music. (In full disclosure, I’ve been a voting member of The Recording Academy for over 30 years.)

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Grace Notes
Review: Alan Parsons’ Art & Science of Sound Recording
Leslie Shapiro  |  Apr 15, 2013  | 

Alan Parsons’ Art & Science of Sound Recording is a series of videos available on DVD, online streaming, or download that offer a fascinating look into the recording industry, hosted by legendary producer, engineer and performer Alan Parsons. With years of experience at Abbey Road Studios and credits including Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, Parsons is an eminently qualified host.

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Bluetooth Speaker ReviewsWireless Multiroom Speaker ReviewsGrace Notes
Review: Amazon Echo 2nd Gen with Updated Audio
Leslie Shapiro  |  Dec 18, 2017  | 
Smart speakers are all the rage at the moment, and companies can’t afford to let customers slip away. I had a chance to check out the new Amazon Echo ($100, currently discounted to $80) complete with the updated software that improves audio performance.

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Portable Player ReviewsGrace Notes
Review: Bayan Audio Soundbook and Soundbook X3 Jump the Pond
Leslie Shapiro  |  Apr 28, 2014  | 
It’s possible that you’ve never heard of Bayan Audio. The company is better known in the UK, where it has built a solid reputation. Now, Bayan is bringing two new products to North America. The Soundbook and Soundbook X3 are portable Bluetooth speakers packed with some very cool features in very impressive packages. Can they make the jump over the pond and land with a big enough splash in an already crowded speaker market?

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Headphone ReviewsGrace Notes
Review: BlueAnt PUMP HD Wireless Waterproof Sportbud
Leslie Shapiro  |  Apr 14, 2014  | 
As someone whose life seems to revolve around the outdoors, I’m all ears whenever I hear about a new “active” piece of electronics gear. The new BlueAnt PUMP HD wireless waterproof sportbud promised to deliver audiophile-grade performance in a rugged, IP67-waterproof rated Bluetooth-compatible package.As soon as it arrived, I charged it up and hit my favorite bike trail.

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Headphone ReviewsGrace Notes
Review: Cleer Ally Wireless Earphones
Leslie Shapiro  |  Jul 01, 2019  | 
When you’re going truly wireless, your only option is to use Bluetooth, so it has to be the best quality that Bluetooth affords. The new Cleer Ally earphones use Bluetooth 5.0 with aptX, so for the moment, they're pretty much as good as it gets.

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Portable Player ReviewsGrace Notes
Review: Harman Kardon Esquire Mini Bluetooth Speaker
Leslie Shapiro  |  Oct 13, 2014  | 
They say you can’t judge a book by its cover. True that. However, you usually can assume quite a bit by that cover. When I first saw the Harman Kardon Esquire Mini portable Bluetooth speaker ($150), I knew it was something special. Very few speakers can compete with the looks of this one; and on an executive’s desk, looks do matter.

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