Audioholics Featured Reviews & Articles

This article explores the question why we measure audio component performance. We take you on a tour of the various A/V components we review, and how our measurements can and cannot be correlated audibly. After Audioholics covers a product and its readers weigh in with their opinions in our forums, you can rest assured the product performance is pretty well covered. You’ll know what to expect should you plan on buying it for your own usage. Nobody has all of the answers but collectively we can at least approach an educated assessment to help other Audioholics reach their goal of sonic nirvana while weeding out the average from exceptional performing audio equipment.

The SOPA and PIPA bills are withering away as Internet activism seems to have scored a victory. Several well-established corners of the Internet went dark Wednesday in protest of the anti-piracy bills facing the House of Representatives and Senate respectively. The bills would give content owners heavy-handed powers to shut down or block sites accused of copyright infringement without the benefit of legal discourse or due process. Even worse; the ability to block, shutdown or sue websites accused of piracy involves entertainment industry lawyers tinkering with domain registries, the very backbone of the Internet itself. In a nutshell: Politicians want to give lawyers the ability to tinker with the inner workings of the Internet! What could possibly go wrong?

After a carpel-tunnel inducing, twitch-fest Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 marathon - my ears are still ringing from the machine gun and artillery fire. But I'm thoroughly invigorated and pleased to report that the latest installment of the Modern Warfare franchise is the best yet. Unlike the lateral movement that was Black Ops, Modern Warfare 3 is a clear step forward in depth, game options, weapons, builds and overall polish from its predecessor Modern Warfare 2. The all-new MW3 engine is no slouch either, bringing lighting, detail and overall graphics quality that are just a tiny cut above previous Modern Warfare games.

HDMI Licensing is the organization that licenses HDMI. It's a conglomerate of founders/members that determine the spec and issue licenses and disseminate the design spec for manufacturing members to know how to properly implement the technology into their products. This week, HDMI Licensing created a whole new organization, HDMI Forum, Inc. The new organization is supposedly intended to bring more people into the process of developing the HDMI specification. Presumably, these additional members would be manufacturers, and presumably, they would be comprised of existing HDMI Licensees as well as other concerned parties.

The health and CE markets appear to be merging from what we observed at CEDIA 2011. New sorts of products were born. Future Automation, for example, is the market leader in flat screen mounting solutions and high-tech automation devices. They devised a way for people that are bed-bound to still enjoy their TV without having to travel to their family room or reach for their TV remote at their desk. A company called Presto aims at convenience and ease of use to assist the disabled in staying in touch via wireless email and printing, all without the need of a computer. Take into consideration that a lot of these systems do require a monthly service fee, but that’s a small price to pay for its service and maintenance and enhancement of our lives and security.

Liz names her first podcast... and we note the deplorable lack of innuendo. Oh well, she's still learning. If you haven't already, please check out Tom's Master of Macabre story entitled "Fresh Air" and vote here. This week, Tom and Liz are still in need of a Netflix segment song but that doesn’t mean they don't talk about Netflix and their new Dreamworks Animation deal. Clint has an experience on a plane that leads Liz to ask a question about SPL and hearing damage. Liz's Koss Pro4AA Headphones are back (link to the new model, Liz's are vintage) which leads to a discussion of listening tests. Tom tackles a few listener questions, rants a bit on Bose and Atlantic Technology, and Liz sends out an Amazon warning that is completely lost on Tom. Will people cutting the cable finally bring about TV a la carte? Tom doesn't think so. This week's Soup to Nuts is on how to get the Internet into your home theater.

Steve Wilson (of Porcupine Tree) is set to release ‘Grace For Drowning’ on September 27th, 2011. This album represents a milestone in audio fidelity as the first-ever new rock album released primarily as a Blu-Ray video disc, with high definition music in 5.1 surround sound and accompanying video content for every song. The video content includes music videos starring Wilson (he’s only appeared in two previous music videos) as well as excerpts from the recording, mixing, and mastering sessions, presented in interactive formats that bring fans closer than ever to the production process. If you are a fan of progressive rock or genuinely good music in general, you owe it to yourself to pick up "Grace for Drowning" in any of the formats it will be offered in.

When the release of Star Wars was finally announced as heading to the Blu-ray format, it was met with much trepidation from fans. Fear and rumor spread across the Internet as to what new and dire bastardizations Lucas would perpetrate upon our beloved childhood memories. But having spent a weekend watching Star Wars on Blu-ray along with loads of special features, I am happy to report that the film has never looked or sounded so good – of course there are a few new edits, but fortunately for us they’re subtle and minimal. Give George Lucas credit... what frustrates us about what he’s done to Star Wars is exactly what makes the series’ arrival to the pinnacle of home video technology something truly special.

This year, like many others, the Audioholics Team embarked on its trail to CEDIA at Indianapolis. The focus of my CE research and technology would make a drift towards usefulness and practicality, but never excluding the high fidelity arena. Not many women could say this, or so the populous says. According to research, 50-63% of women have the final say and power for purchase, but for some reason they are not engaged like men in consumer electronics. The A/V market is like a rough diamond” that needs to be properly “cut” and “packaged” and “presented” to the buyer in a more emotional fashion that makes it hard to walk away. Check out my take on the CEDIA show which includes some of the highlighted products that really stood out and connected with me.