Featured Articles & Reviews

Typically when we've reviewed CD ripping services we hear from a lot of end-users who would rather rip their own CDs to hard drive and can't understand why on earth you'd want to pay someone like RipDigital to do it for you. We get it. You're awesome. Now, if you can step away from the mirror for just one second, we'd like to show you a whole new world... a world of custom installers and people who generally value their time at a higher rate than those who can afford to rip 100s of CDs while they eat Slim Jims and check out reruns of Star Trek ToS (no offense, Gene). It's the CE professional that truly is targeted by this type of service. If you're doing an AV installation and your client has tons of CDs in his or her collection, there's got to be a better solution than paying one of your guys to sit there and rip each one to disc.

McIntosh Laboratory is offering iPhone and iPad users the opportunity to enjoy an iconic McIntosh experience anywhere and anytime with its new FREE AP1 Audio Player iPhone/iPad App, available now for downloading at the iTunes Store. Designed to envelop McIntosh fans in a portable aura of the company that defines the "platinum standard" in upscale audio, the AP1 Audio Player offers virtually all features of the existing iPod App, while tailoring the portable playback/control experience for the unique McIntosh style. With the new App, iPhone and iPad users will now be able to select tracks, artists, play lists and albums as well as control the volume of the music, with all controls fully customized and consistent with McIntosh styling and functionality.

PowerDVD 6 Deluxe is an application that is simple to use and has a well-thought out and flexible interface. There have been some significant upgrades since Version 5 includng Dolby Pro Logic IIx support and Smart adaptive video deinterlacing.

WinDVD 7 Platinum is designed for movie nuts, bleeding-edge technology aficionados and even has some excellent features optimized for business travelers. There is a host of new features in version 7 including UPnP player, H.264 support, brand new interface design & controls, and external subtitiles control.

ADS Tech is a worldwide company specializing in USB and IEEE-1394/FireWire solutions for the personal computer. Since the company's inception in 1992, the cornerstone of the company's success has been to introduce niche or high-end technologies to the consumer marketplace with quality devices sold at a reasonable cost. Over the years, ADS Technologies, Inc. has brought a wide range of products to market including VGA-to-TV scan converters, video capture and TV Tuner cards, which enabled ADS Technologies to sustain steady growth and sales during the mid-1990's. They have only continued in growth and now manufacture higher end products marketed under the “PYRO” brand in addition to their more consumer-oriented products.

We hear from a lot of custom installers at Audioholics. This may be due in part to our coverage of trade shows and it might be due to the many articles we have written on select CEDIA classes. In either case, there is a common issue that needs to be dealt with when installing the ever-more-popular music server systems: getting the music onto the hard drives for playback. While a majority of these systems feature easy loading and digitization procedures, the simple fact remains that neither the client nor the installer wants to go through the hassle of encoding hundreds of CDs. Enter ReadyToPlay. Founded in 2003, this Silicon Valley company saw a growing need for digitization services to help a rapidly-expanding market for home audio distribution and music server systems.

When I was asked to review Nero 6 Ultra edition, I thought - what a great idea. With all of the media integration happening in today's digital media-drive market, it's a no-brainer that consumers are going to quickly get to the point where they want to do more with their CDs and DVDs beyond simple data storage options presented by the Windows operating system. Reviewing a suite of software tools is not an easy task. For reasons that are obvious, I can only summarize some of the key features and applications contained within Ahead Software's flagship all-in-one CD/DVD media application. The best way to cover this Swiss army knife of software is to go through some of the key applications one by one and try to give a clear picture of just what this compilation of programs can do.