AV Adviser

Home Theater Christmas Shopping On A Budget

The custom AV industry, unlike consumer electronics, is not driven by the holiday season.  It's rare that someone will build a home theater as a Christmas gift.  Custom integration usually is bundled with some sort of remodel project or a cash windfall such as stock transactions or work bonuses.  Though someone may want to augment an existing system with a new AV product as a present under the tree.

CNET has some timely tips on shopping for these items with a budget in mind.  There's Budget shopping tips: Home audio and Budget shopping tips: Blu-ray players.  They contain some very useful information you should keep in mind before you lay your money down.  

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

My New AV Receiver Is On The Way

Just because I'm in the AV industry doesn't mean that I have the best system money can buy.  The key phrase is "money can buy".  The AV industry doesn't pay like, say, a Wall Street financier. I can only buy what I can afford. 

So two weeks ago when my 10 plus year old Yamaha RX-V1500 receiver started shutting down after being on for about an hour I knew its days were numbered.  I tried some remedies.  I sprayed Dust-Off (compressed air) onto the circuit boards and other internal components.  I placed a cooling fan on top of it.  The fan kept it from turning off for a couple of extra hours.  Alas, now it won't even turn on.

Maybe the receiver merely needs a cheap resistor or something (though I suspect it to be the power supply).  I could find a friend who does this type of repair work and ask if he'd do it for free but that's hardly right.  That's how he makes a living. 

Taking it to a repair center like Electra Sound in Cleveland will cost well over $100.  And that's just for the labor.  It's just not worth it for an old receiver that is lacking all the modern features, namely HDMI.

So while the RX-V1500 was going through its death throes I purchased a new Yamaha RX-V667.  Well, it's not exactly new.  It's a model from last year and it's a refurbished piece that Yamaha sells on their site.  A refurbished receiver, or B stock as they call it, comes with a one year warranty instead of two.  That's something to consider, but with a price of nearly half that of a new one it makes sense for me. 

Since I have an SACD/DVD-A disc player I had to have a receiver with discrete, multi-channel analog inputs.  That feature is becoming much harder to find in lower priced receivers since the aforementioned formats never really caught on. 

I also wanted a phono input (turntable) as opposed to adding on an external phono pre-amp.  As I've said, I am not an audiophile.  I like good sound but, more importantly, I simply love music.  Audiophiles tend to be obsessed with the equipment where as I'm obsessed with the music. 

Over the weekend when my old receiver finally shut down completely I took the only HDMI cable I use and unplugged it from my Blu-ray player and plugged it into my U-verse (TV) receiver.  Now I was forced to listen to TV programming through the internal speakers of the TV.  God forbid.  It's only temporary I kept telling myself. 

What really surprised me was the superior picture on my 55" Sony SXRD rear projection TV using HDMI instead of analog component video.  My son was the first to comment.  The picture was, indeed, noticeably better.  That compensates for the lousy audio I'm stuck with for now.

Tomorrow the new receiver arrives.  My son and I will hook it up and I'll tell you how it goes. 

If you have a  question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

Comparing Three Internet TV Devices

In the consumer electronics world nothing beats a good shootout.  A shootout is when you compare different makes and models of a piece of equipment that do roughly the same thing.  The typical shootouts involve video projectors where you can easily see the differences when running side by side. 

Here's a good one from ZD Net involving three different devices that allow you to watch internet TV on your main viewing television, Internet TV Shootout: Apple TV, Roku and Sony Blu-Ray DVD Player.  I like the idea that it's three fairly dissimilar products that all have internet TV built in. 

Personally, I use the Sony Blu-ray player as it allows me to watch Netflix, You Tube and Hulu Plus and plays physical media.  Though I dropped Hulu Plus because the stream kept breaking up even with my faster than normal DSL connection.  Apple TV has intrigued me for some time but, in the end, with all of the shows I record onto my U-verse DVR in a week I don't have that kind of free time. 

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

 

First Of Many Audio Video Gift Lists

Everyone likes putting together lists.  I'm currently working on my end of year music lists.  Music being a passion of mine.  You'll find many a list of gift suggestions for the holiday season.  Of course we're concerned with home entertainment and consumer electronics here at AV Adviser. 

The first I'll present is from Tech Crunch.  I've chastised tech publications in the past for reviewing home theater equipment without the necessary background.  They feel a right since everything has a chip in it now. 

Tech Crunch steers clear of recommending straight up AV equipment like speakers, except for the Bose Cinemate.  Instead they opt for items that are much more in their wheelhouse like internet content players. Here's their short list of gift recommendations, 2011 Holiday Gift Guide: 6 Audio/Video Gifts That Will Light Up The Holidays.

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

 

iTunes Match, Is It For Me?

Back in June when Apple announced iCloud and iTunes Match I thought it would be just right for me, iTunes Match Works For Me.  That was before Spotify came along and now I'm not sure I see a reason for it. 

When you subscribe to Spotify's premium service the desktop software scours your hard drive (in my case plural)and adds your library to it.  This way you can use the Spotify app to play not only songs from Spotify but your own personal collection that might not be on the service.  Think Beatles. 

It also allows you to make any combination of your personal library and Spotify content into a playlist available offline.  For example, if you make a playlist containing some Beatles  songs and don't take that step to make it available offline, those Beatles songs won't play on your mobile device over 3G or wi-fi.  They have to be physically downloaded to that device.  The drawback comes from the fact that once you're away from home you can't access those songs in your personal library unless you'd made an offline playlist in advance.

That's where iTunes Match trumps.  Once you've uploaded your personal library to iTunes Match you can access and download any of those songs to your mobile device via 3G or wi-fi. So the fact that I can grab a song while on the road that I hadn't previosuly downloaded is nice.

Otherwise I'm not sure why I'd need iTunes Match.  Granted, it will take a song in your library with an inferior bit rate of, say, 128 and upgrade it to the equivalent of a nearly 320 file (Apple uses a unique encoding).  I do like the idea of making my library sound as good as possible.

The $25 annual fee only allows for 25,000 songs to be uploaded to the iCloud.  Music freaks like me have well over 25,000 songs. 

Also the idea that you can download the Match songs to any of your Apple devices doesn't hold much appeal to me.  I only have an iPhone.  Then again, my wife's iPhone is tied to the same iTunes account as mine.  This would allow her access to the iTunes Match library.  Now that could be enough reason for me sign up. 

Here's some musings by Bob Boilen at NPR's All Songs Considered on his experience with iTunes Match, iTunes Match: Thousands Of Songs, With A Couple Of Hitches.

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

Sony's 3D Visor Already Modified For Virtual Reality

At the end of October I wrote about the new Sony personal 3D device, the HMZ-T1, Sony Introduces Personal 3D, HD Viewing.  In the story I reminisced about the 90s when we were promised virtual reality goggles in the near future.  I compared the Sony 3D visor to that device. 

Wouldn't you know it, someone has already taken the Sony HMZ-T1 and modified it to become a virtual reality device.

So if you've got a tech savvy teen and don't mind spending $800 dollars on their Christmas gift this may be the ticket. 

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

Black Friday Audio and Video Deals In Cleveland And Across The US

A week from today all heck breaks loose once more as the, now traditional, black Friday retail event takes place here in Cleveland and around the country.  It sure is a gloomy name for a chance to get quite a deal on a TV, Blu-ray player or AV receiver.  Yeah, I know black refers to "in the black" as in the retailer is making money.  There's little money to be made on these loss leader products that entice people to get up before dawn and deal with lines and massive crowds. 

This year it seems the start time for black Friday has moved to it's natural conclusion, midnight.  Every year the doors to the stores would open a bit earlier.  Now many retailers are kicking things off at midnight. 

I've never participated in this new American tradition which seems to bring out the worst in people right at the start of the holiday season.  I'd rather eat leftover turkey and listen to Christmas music. 

On the other hand this compiled list of audio/video equipment has me tempted.  HDTV Magazine has come up with a list of retailers including Best Buy, Sears, Target and K-Mart and what each retailer is selling at a staggering discount.  Black Friday Deals 2011.

 

You've got a week's notice now to plan your strategy.  And once you've scored your equipment get in touch with me so I can hang it, hook it and set it up correctly for you. 

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

Rumors About The End Of The Compact Disc

Last week Side-Line Music Magazine, surely you've heard of them, reported that major label sources have confirmed that the compact disc (CD) will be discontinued by the end of 2012 if not earlier.  Here's the story, CD-format to be abandoned by major labels by the end of 2012. 

I did some Google news searching to see if any major news media had reported this and came up empty.  In other words, take this Side-Line story with a large grain of salt.  Though it is true the CD's demise is inevitable. I've contended for a few years now that the vinyl LP will outlast the CD in the marketplace. 

Here's the problem we as consumers would have if the CD were to stop being produced too soon.  No CD versions of new releases, though there would be smaller players still making CDs, would mean we'd be stuck listening to the inferior sound of an MP3.  Before the CD is abandoned there needs to be a better digital format, one with a better sampling rate. 

There's been some lively discussion over this story on the internet.  Those that contend one can't hear the difference between a 320 MP3 and a CD.  Although there's plenty who wouldn't be able to tell them apart there's a great number of people who would.  Being in the business I've trained my ears to be a critical listener.  Granted, at 53 I've lost some high end sound but I've done blind testings for kicks with colleagues in the past and we hear the difference.  I can also take an untrained listener and point out the differences at which time they, too, will be able to separate the good from the mediocre sound. 

There's digital formats with better bit rates like flac and other high res files available at boutique on line shops, but these superior digital downloads need to be widespread and available in places like iTunes before I'm comfortable with saying goodbye to the CD.

What about the artwork and liner notes that the CD format offered?  Tablet devices can show even better graphics than a CD booklet.  Some digital releases already come with digital booklets. 

Someone also worried that without physical media some music will be lost forever.  On the contrary, the internet has given us a place to store everything ever recorded.  Take a look at the plethora of vintage Youtube music videos that have been rescued from decaying VHS tape.  Those rarities were only enjoyed by a few who owned copies but are now available to everyone in the world.  All physical formats eventually deteriorate.  The fact that they've been uploaded into cyberspace will preserve them. 

The future is streaming anyway.  Unfortunately right now we're only able to do that at less than desirable bit rates of 160.  Bandwidth will increase in the future and should solve that issue.  Ownership will slowly diminish.  That's not to say there won't be those who want physical copies.  There will always be collectors. 

And lastly, someone posed "what if there's no electricity, as in some apocalyptic scenario?".  In that case we're back to live music on acoustic instruments. The music never stops. 

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

Reminiscing About The Good Old Days?

Last night I got together with a group of colleagues in the audio video business here in Cleveland.  Some are still involved in the industry and others have long since gone on to a new profession. 

It was great seeing friends I hadn't seen in awhile and meeting new folks as well.  People that were before my time.  At 16 years in the av industry I was the least seasoned of the bunch.  We're talking old school vets here.  

Talk ranged from current affairs and what's going on in each others lives but would always circle back around to tales on the retail sales floor.    As in any business there's crazy stories to share and lots of laughs. 

Ah, the good old days.  When all you had to sell was a turntable, a receiver or maybe separates and a pair of speakers.  We were all in it because we loved music.  It was a simpler time then but would I want to go back to those days?  Sometimes the answer is yes.  When I'm overwhelmed and confused my new technology I sometimes yearn for simpler times.  But in the end I like the new technology. 

What's great about today's AV world is that you can always go back to the old and focus on 2 channel stereo, but you can also challenge yourself and dive into the latest and greatest in home automation.  You can listen to a vinyl copy of your favorite Yes album and then open up Spotify and stream the a batch of new releases through your distributed audio system.  I wouldn't trade the present for anything. 

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

 

The Digital Era Has Only Just Begun

I was just reading an interview with Anand Shimpi that he did for The Verge, 5 Minutes on The Verge: Anand Shimpi.  Shimpi is somewhat of a PC guru, having begun blogging about the industry in the late 90s. 

At the end of the short interview he's asked where he sees possible tech growth.  Well, here's the question and his answer.

The Verge:  What's missing in technology that nobody seems to be working on?

Shimpi:  Your broad question deserves a similarly broad answer.

Home automation, automobile electronics, home audio and video (receivers, TVs, and to a lesser extent, projectors) and the medical field are all in dire need of help from some truly passionate individuals from our industry. There's an incredible amount of business opportunity in all four of these areas, and perhaps the greatest upside in the latter. We just need folks to solve the unique problems each poses.

I sure would like a less broad reply, like specifics.  For this blog I'm more interested in where he sees opportunities in home automation and home audio and video, though being a Clevelander (a medical center in the United States) I'm interested in the medical field as well. 

The digital convergence or merging computers and home electronics over the past decade has been rapid and brought us devices and services never imagined.  What sort of future does Shimpi envision.  Where can talented people lead us in home integration? 

I'll tell you what, I'm going to reach out to him via Twitter and see if he might give some more insight. 

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal