Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2015 i Sound & Vision

As we were sending this issue to the printer, Sound & Vision’s editorial staff was also putting the finishing touches on a dedicated “Guide to High-Resolution Audio.” Produced in partnership with the Consumer Electronics Association, the group that represents audio equipment manufacturers and retailers (and also puts on the annual CES trade show), the Guide explains the technical aspects of Hi-Res Audio in layman’s terms, describes how to best enjoy it, and reports on what the electronics and music industries are doing to guarantee that those who adopt hi-res have a positive experience they can be excited about sharing with friends and family. By the time you read this, the full Guide contents should be available on our Website at soundandvision.com. We’ll share some of the features we created for…

Look out, Dolby Atmos. Another object-oriented surround sound system is coming to town. The DTS:X system hit Carmike Cinemas–owned theaters in September with Lionsgate titles American Ultra and Sicario and in November with Mockingjay: Part 2. Carmike upgraded seven theaters in Georgia, Colorado, Illinois, Tennessee, California, and Alabama. DTS:X and Atmos both enable soundtrack mixes to use metadata to steer objects around a three-dimensional soundfield. In addition to its theatrical debut, DTS:X is also following Atmos into home theaters with compatible A/V receivers and Blu-ray Disc releases.…

The latest addition to Comcast’s X1 IP-video platform is an Auto Extend feature that adds 30-minute increments to DVR recordings so you won’t miss events that run past their scheduled air times. The option works only with certain sporting events—NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NCAA men’s football and basketball, and NASCAR—but Comcast promises to expand that. In the testing stage is another new feature called Play by Play, which jumps to highlighted sports moments, analogous to a disc player accessing chapter stops. Also being tested is Welcome Back, which offers brief updates on recent DVR recordings or trending programs. Comcast is rolling out the X1 platform at the staggering rate of 30,000 new boxes per day, now reaching about a third of its triple-play customer base.…

The Mystery of the Disappeared Data When you buy a Blu-ray Disc for $25, you expect the very best quality. When you rent a Blu-ray for $2, do you still expect the best? Or would the budget pricing lower your expectations? Do you simply assume that the bits comprising a rental movie are the same as the retail movie? You might be surprised to learn that not all bits are created equal. And therein lies a mystery. It’s not uncommon to have bonus materials deleted from some rental discs. That seems reasonably OK as long as the feature film is untouched. However, some rental discs have audio tracks that are degraded from the retail versions. If you read A/V forums, you’ll find enthusiasts outraged to discover that a rented title…

Vizio E65-C3 LCD HDTV PRICE $1,000 LET’S HEAR IT FOR THE GOOD, old-fashioned HDTV. You know, the sort that once wowed us with its ability to display crisp, highdefinition broadcasts, Blu-ray Discs, and other next-gen sources of home entertainment. In recent years, however, HDTVs have been upstaged by Ultra HDTVs— fancy-pants upstarts that promise compatibility with all manner of future innovations, from UHD Blu-ray to High Dynamic Range (HDR) video. It should come as no surprise, then, that such sets cost on average 50 percent more than their regular HDTV brethren. Vizio’s E series is the company’s high bang-for-the-buck, entry-level HDTV line—the only 1080p series it sells. And at $1,000 for 65 diagonal inches of screen real estate, the E65-C3 delivers fairly serious bang. The big achievement with the E…

“Be cool or be cast out.” So goes one of the pivotal lines in “Subdivisions,” the indelible lead track from Rush’s transitional 1982 album Signals, and it’s also a statement that aptly describes the band’s own fortunes as it navigated a hard-won ascendance from perennial cult favorite to mass acceptance over the course of its five-decades-and-counting career. The band recently completed a triumphant 40th anniversary tour dubbed R40, celebrating its genuine Rock & Roll Hall of Fame legacy by performing a 23-song set in reverse chronology. (Actually, “Reverse Chronology” sounds like a lost track from the band’s mid-’80s synth-centric period.) I saw Rush’s late-June stop at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, and marveled at the ever-present breadth of the band’s sound and how bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex…

E-mail them to HTLetters@sorc.com. Please note: Questions about the features and functions of a particular product are best directed to the manufacturer. Questions about what product you should buy are best directed to a dealer who knows all the details of your system, your preferences, and your personal habits. All submissions are considered the exclusive property of Sound & Vision magazine and TEN: The Enthusiast Network. We reserve the right to edit letters for brevity. Due to the volume of mail that we receive, we regret that we cannot respond to every letter. Who Screwed My Soundtrack? In Mark Fleischmann’s review of the Klipsch Reference Premiere RP-150M Speaker System (Test Report, October 2015), he states that all movies used were Blu-ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. Later in the…

PRICE $300 PORTABLE BLUETOOTH speakers range from toy-like novelties you can tote along in the shower to high-end Danish audio lunch boxes designed to survive a day at the beach. In between, you’ll find plenty of other options ranging from cheap and bad-sounding to pricey and good-sounding. With Bluetooth speakers starting to become not just a popular, but a default audio playback system for many people, it’s perhaps time to take the category seriously. BenQ, a company best known for video monitors and projectors, has entered the crowded Bluetooth speaker arena with an attentiongrabbing effort: a compact portable design that uses electrostatic panels—the same tech found in speakers from companies like MartinLogan—to convey sound. If that doesn’t count as a bid for Bluetooth speaker seriousness, I don’t know what would.…

PRICE $299 PSB SPEAKERS’ PAUL BARTON is a quick learner. After decades designing his company’s speakers, he jumped into headphones with the PSB M4U 2 full-size, noisecanceling ’phones. The M4U 2 was hailed by critics and consumers alike, and his next design for NAD, the Viso HP50, was even better, Barton was clearly on a roll. Now, with the M4U 4, Barton may be the first celebrated speaker designer to ever tackle crafting an in-ear headphone. While most in-ear headphones have dynamic or balanced armature drivers, the M4U 4 Hybrid Dual-Driver System uses both. Barton selected a balanced armature driver (BA) for its low distortion and extended highfrequency response, and the dynamic driver for its bass potency. Inside the earpiece, there’s a waveguide linking the BA driver with the proprietary…

ESPN is tired of being just another channel in someone else’s pay-TV system. Its parent company Disney is considering going direct to consumers with a video streaming service, as HBO is already doing with HBO Now. CEO Bob Iger raised the prospect in a CNBC interview, though he added the move is at least five years away, presumably because of existing contracts with pay-TV providers. Analysts said the service could get consumers to shell out between $21 and $28 a month.…

LG 65UF9500 LCD Ultra HDTV PRICE $2,800 LG ELECTRONICS HAS impressed enthusiasts with stunning (and mostly expensive) OLED displays, but the company competes aggressively in traditional LED-driven LCD flat panels, too. The 65UF9500 reviewed here is a 65-inch Ultra HD model near the top of that line, and one of two models designated as Prime Ultra HDTVs (the other being a 79-inch version priced at $7,500). The Prime feature package includes, among other things, a wide color gamut option, enhanced brightness for highlights, and LG’s webOS 2.0 smart TV platform. Of course, it can’t boast the deep blacks and infinite contrast of LG’s OLEDs. That said, does it deserve a space among today’s top “regular” TVs? Let’s take a closer look. Design on a…Quarter LG and competitor Samsung have taken…

Vizio E65-C3 LCD HDTV FULL-ON/FULL-OFF Contrast Ratio: 17,800:1 FOR the picture settings plus additional details on calibration and video-processing tests for this review, go to soundandvision.com. PRE-CALIBRATION measurements were made in Dark Calibration mode at the default settings. Post-calibration measurements were made in the same mode. With the Vizio E65-C3’s Active LED Zones setting on, its black level measured 0.002 foot-lamberts and peak white 35.6 ft-L, for a contrast ratio of 17,800:1. When the Active LED Zones was switched off, the Vizio’s black level measured 0.022 ft-L and peak white 72.92 ft-L, for a contrast ratio of 3,314:1. Highest peak brightness was delivered by the default settings in the Computer mode: a retina-searing 93.4 ft-L. BEFORE calibration, the Vizio’s grayscale was mostly even at all IRE levels. The Delta E…

NEW GEAR, TOP NEWS, HOW TO, AND MORE... 15 Minutes with DLP Inventor Larry Hornbeck When Larry Hornbeck stepped up to the podium to accept an Oscar for inventing the digital micromirror device—the core technology behind DLP video projection—he held up a postage-stamp-sized DMD chip and said: “It’s hard to believe that there are more than 8 million digital micromirrors on this device. Who would ever have believed that [this invention] would change the way the world views cinema.” A couple decades later, I’m still trying to wrap my head around the idea of 8 million microscopic mirrors tilting at precise angles and reflecting light to create stunning images at home and in movie theaters. So I reached out to Dr. Hornbeck, holder of 38 U.S. patents and winner of…

All About That Bass When you consider that subwoofers cover a scant 0.3 percent of the audible spectrum— from 20 to 80 hertz—it might be easy to discount just how important bass is to solid audio playback. I mean, who would complain about having a solid 99.7 percent, right? But when you take those crucial two octaves away, everything else sounds thin and diminished, showing just how important a solid low-end foundation is for your audio playback system. I always suggest that my custom install clients purchase the best subwoofer they can afford, as a sub that plays both lower and louder without distorting raises the performance of the entire speaker system. This is especially true when using bass-shy small speakers and when the bass management in an AVR or…

Upgrade Ideas My current 5.1 audio setup is driven by a Marantz SR7007 A/V receiver. Since I’d like to get a little more punch from it, I’m looking at upgrading to an external five-channel amp: either an Outlaw 5000 or Marantz MM7055. Here’s my question: If I connect an external amp to my Marantz receiver, will I still be able to use its Audyssey processing, or do I lose that ability? Garry Briand / via e-mail Yes, you can use your receiver’s Audyssey MultEQ XT processing when an external amp is connected. The Audyssey calibration/equalization results are based on measurements that your receiver’s included calibration mic makes of test sounds conveyed by the system’s speakers. It doesn’t matter if the receiver’s built-in amps or an external multichannel amp is used…

Leave it to Dave Edmunds to always want to take things a little bit left of center. “I’ve never liked listening to albums, and I’ve never liked making them,” admits the Welshborn guitarist and producer known for his modern rockabilly sensibilities (see Rockpile’s Seconds of Pleasure and solo hits like “Slipping Away” and “Girls Talk”). “I’m a singles guy; always have been.” That said, Edmunds agrees he found the right album-length formula for the 15 songs he compiled for 2013’s …Again (RPM), but he decided to shift gears for the just-released all-instrumental On Guitar… Dave Edmunds: Rags & Classics (RPM). “The 10 album tracks are pretty similar to the originals, but you’re shocked when a guitar comes in instead of a vocal,” he explains. It’s a valid point, especially when…

I know you don’t want to be the guy or gal who gives questionable—OK, useless— presents. Apart from the awkward head-nodding and forced smiles, the act of giving a bogus gift reflects badly on you, as in: I ran in Target a quarter to five on Christmas Eve and grabbed the first [tie/sweater/gloves/underwear] I saw. Don’t go there! We’ve already screened a dozen gifts for you at prices starting as low as 30 bucks. All you have to do is find a match for that special person(s) on your list. How hard can that be? Hi-Res, High Style If money’s no object and you’re looking to spoil someone special, why not give the gift of music? Having perfected the art of building world-class portable music players like the AK380, Astell…

LG 65UF9500 LCD Ultra HDTV MEASUREMENTS were taken with a DVDO AVLab TPG 4K generator, AVFoundry VideoForge generator, X-Rite i1Pro2 Enhanced spectroradiometer, and Klein K10-A colorimeter, together with SpectraCal CalMAN 5 calibration software. FULL-ON/FULL-OFF Contrast Ratio: 17,500:1 PRE-CALIBRATION measurements were of the ISF Expert 1 preset with default settings. Post-calibration, with the LED Local Dimming set to High, black level measured 0.0026 foot-lamberts and peak brightness measured 44.6 ft-L, for a contrast ratio of 17,161:1. (The LG’s local dimming scheme takes the LED backlight to full off [infinite contrast] when presented with a 100% black test pattern, but there’s a delay of several seconds before it begins to react, which allowed for a reliable measurement.) AVERAGE Delta E for pre-cal grayscale was 3.10 overall, but the numbers grew progressively worse…

Zvox SoundBase 570 PRICE $350 THE SPEAKERS BUILT INTO TVS continue to be dreadful. But many people find component systems an intimidating solution. According to the folks at Zvox, “there are too many boxes, too many cords, too many remote controls, and too many owner’s manuals in the world today.” If you feel the same, you may be a candidate for a soundbar. If you want your TV to sit atop your audio system, make that a soundbase. Zvox pioneered this product category (they actually trademarked the SoundBase name) and offers models from $250 to $500. The SoundBase 570 ($350, reduced from $400) falls somewhere around the middle. For TVs Up to 60 Inches The SoundBase 570 is designed to go with TVs from 26 to 60 inches. The TV’s…

Artison RCC Nano 1 Subwoofer PRICE $999 EVER SINCE THE FIRST HOMINID bashed another hominid over the head (with the femur of a third hominid), humankind has pursued one arms race or another. From the atlatl to the AR-15, man’s competitive genius always finds a way to up the ante. One rather more constructive expression of this innate drive can be seen in the long-standing contest to extract more and more bass out of smaller and smaller boxes.   Witness the RCC Nano 1. At just 7.5 x 8 x 9 inches and a flyweight 18 pounds, the new micro-subwoofer from Artison, a Nevada maker best known for elegant on-wall speakers, packs some fairly high tech to squeeze a claimed 32 hertz from a sub having the approximate footprint of…

La Boite Concept • laboiteconcept.com / pleasedonotentershop.com If you’re French, you don’t just build a speaker, you build a French speaker—one that takes design seriously. So seriously that you might end up with a speaker that looks nothing at all like a traditional (boring) speaker. La Boite Concept made a name for itself in Europe with the imaginative High-Fidelity Laptop Dock, a small desk featuring an integral sound system and high-quality USB DAC. The Cube is an extension of that concept that would seem to be ideally suited for small living spaces. Developed in collaboration with Paris-based designer Samuel Accoceberry, the Cube is essentially a small coffee table that doubles as a wireless speaker system. It’s a highly compact affair, standing only 18.5 inches tall and measuring 19 inches across,…