Audioholics Featured Reviews & Articles

We recently installed a brand new car audio system as part of a "Pimp Mom's Car" feature in honor of Mother's Day. I mean, Mom had gotten her share of flowers and chocolates - why not go for something different this year? In writing the article and installing the system, there was a clear difference between the stock and finished stereo. It was "night and day", as the saying goes - and when we were done there was no doubt that the audio quality was vastly improved. So much, in fact, that we didn't understand why anyone would drive around with their cars' stock audio solution when, for just a small amount of money and effort, they could upgrade to something much better.

The new Dolby Atmos platform one-ups the competition by adding a new frontier in sound - the upper hemisphere. Theaters featuring Dolby’s new Atmos technology will expand sound into discrete channels above the audience with a system that uses 64 speakers to completely envelop the audience. Dolby’s new technology could be just the next strike in a war of escalation reminiscent of razor blade ads that once one-upped each other with more blades for an even closer shave. Dolby Atmos, with 64 speakers, can create a ridiculously lifelike sonic experience with localized sound in front, beside, behind and now on top of the audience. Atmos will envelop you in such an extreme sonic experience the ticket-booth will have to hand out diapers with their 3D glasses.

We've recently had the opportunity to sit in on the Audioquest "Boombox" dealer demo where they attempted to convince the participants of the sonic superiority of their cables even when using simple and low fidelity audio gear. The reason individuals believe in exotic cables is a matter of concern to social scientists much more than engineers. This article seeks to shed light on some of the prevailing cable myths by looking at a typical Audioquest cable demonstration. Although this article refers to an Audioquest demo, many esoteric cable manufacturers are guilty of the same faulty logic shown here. The point of this article is not to say that these manufacturers make poor quality cables, but simply to show that much of the science and logic surrounding high-end cables is fallacious and not even becoming of poor Sci-fi material. So, buyer beware. Don’t get tricked by a flawed demo or pressure from a sales person. In our opinion, the money you save on expensive cables is better served by improving the bass response in your system via adding another subwoofer or addressing potential room acoustics issues!

Liz reports on Spotify’s new timeline along with a discussion of how it is working for her. Tom looks at Samsung’s new tube offerings (didn’t occur to either of them that it was April 1st so they may have been a joke), Audyssey’s Audio Dock Air (which is a joke, but not in the April 1st sort of way), and a wireless solution from Atlantic Technology. Liz has some Best Buy news. Listener John compares Lossless to iTunes Match to Mastered for iTunes. You’ll want to hear this one. Plus, lots more!

When Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy) and his entourage arrive in the northern province of Winterfell, home to trusted ally and friend Eddard (Sean Bean), patriarch of House Stark, his royal visit sets off a chain of events that will forever change the shifting alliances of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. What follows is the basis of a bestselling fantasy book series called A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. It’s a deep and sprawling world of feuding clans, swords and knights both noble and not so noble. Topped with a healthy helping of sex, loyalty and deceit. HBO has turned the first book of the series into a television drama masterpiece with as much care and attention to detail as the its finest work.

I once had a conversation with my mom. She had a DVD and liked the soundtrack. She took the DVD to the car and didn't understand why she couldn't listen to the soundtrack in the car. I explained that they were different formats. That the music wasn't organized like a CD. That she'd need to buy the soundtrack separately. But she just kept looking at the DVD like it had let her down. And she was right - it had. If we'd had some more forethought, a disc would work the way the typical (uninformed, maybe, but typical) user expects. Because, when a user's expectations are met, they respond positively. But when they aren't... well, that's why we have Internet forums. If Apple had designed the home theater system, the first thing they would have done is sit down in front of a TV and said, "Now, how SHOULD this work?" They wouldn't be sitting in a lab somewhere staring at printout and CAD drawings trying to figure out how to make the most overly complicated cable in the world simply so that they could add copy protection to "stop" pirates that will figure out a workaround in months if not days.

For this special episode of AV Rant, Tom welcomes Clint DeBoer, Editor in Chief of Audioholics and PJ Pesce. PJ is a writer, director, musician and more. He’s worked on tons of stuff over the years and has great insight into the workings of Hollywood and the movie-making machine. Tom and Clint talk with PJ about the movie making process, some of the recent trends in movies (specifically 3D), and who is to blame for bad movies. Warning: mild use of language in this episode.

Welcome to the last podcast where at least one of the core AV Rant members will be standing in the states. This week, Tom admits he was wrong (don’t tell his wife) about iCloud Match. Liz liked Tom’s article on Defining Confusing Audio Terms. Why aren’t we shooting video in 120Hz? We need to get James Camereon on this one! Universal Remote Control tells it like it is and Liz thinks it’s an Onion article. Plus lots, lots more. Come back tomorrow for a special interview podcast with PJ Pesce!

In any industry, you'll run into specific lexicons. These are words that may mean completely different things in a different setting. Go into a theater and tell an actor to "break a leg" and they'll thank you. Walk into an MMA match and you'll receive a completely different reaction. We run across a number of terms that have different meanings depending on who you talk to. We've taken some and listed them along with, when possible, the meanings to the different groups. Enjoy.