AV Adviser

Apple TV, a step toward the rumored TV they're developing?

I've already talked of my enjoyment in using the newly designed Apple TV.  What's not to like about it?  It's a breeze to set up, the interface is intuitive and the design is sleek in every regard.  Shows start up almost immediately and the picture looks great. 

Rich Jarovsolsky at Bloomberg thinks it may be a look into what the future may hold if/when Apple brings an actual TV to market.  It seems the only key ingredient missing is Siri. 

New Apple TV Hints at Jobs’s Vision: Rich Jaroslovsky

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

John Hannibal

 

My distributed audio system as baseball central

It's 6:15 in the morning here in Cleveland, Ohio and I'm listening to a baseball game.  It seems quite strange.  It is quite strange. 

The Major League Baseball (MLB) season got underway at 6am east coast time with the Oakland A's taking on the Seattle Mariners at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.  And my fantasy draft isn't until Sunday, but that's another story. 

I'm a big baseball fan.  It's my favorite sport.  So I'm feeling good as I listen to this game right now.  I posted on Twitter that I'm listening to the game and people are asking how I'm doing that.  I've promoted the MLB At Bat smart phone app in the past.  Not surprisingly it's my favorite app.  For the price of $15 you can listen to every single baseball game in the 2012 campaign.  Better yet you can choose which team's announcers you want to hear. 

If my AT&T U-verse package had the MLB channel I might be watching this game but probably not.  I prefer baseball on the radio.  Not only is it fun to listen to the announcers paint a picture but you can be productive while still enjoying the game. 

I can hear the game anywhere in my house by plugging my iPhone into an input on the receiver of my home distributed audio system.  All you need is a mini to RCA patch cord.  Well, that and a distributed audio system, meaning speakers in various rooms of the house.  And with the trend in baseball of more day games there's more hours of baseball to hear throughout the day. 

Well, it's time for my morning workout in the basement.  Of course I have speakers down there.

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

John Hannibal

Smart home solutions getting closer to the common man

Smart home technology is coming to the common man.  That ability to control your lighting, security, home theater and other systems with a simple to use interface at an affordable price is getting closer.

It's still a bit confusing to the consumer.  There's a number of disparate systems that use wi-fi in order to control.  You can buy a climate control device and a remote that navigates your home theater, but they can't work together.  Motorola is showing how that'll soon change with their Connected Home Gateway. 

It was demonstrated at this past CES show.  In a nutshell, the device combines all of these different systems into one.  Install the app on your smart phone and set up commands to perform multiple tasks.  Check out this video from the show.  It'll give you a better understanding of what the future holds.

Now the FCC has given Motorola the go ahead to sell the product.  As I say, the waters are still a little murky but the future is clear.  It's not to say everyone will have or want this type of Jetsonian lifestyle, but what was once out of reach for most is now achievable for many.  

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

John Hannibal

Subwoofers and stereo receivers

Over the past couple of weeks I've received emails from readers asking how to hook up a subwoofer to a stereo receiver.  In reading between the lines I'm assuming they got the subwoofer on the cheap and thought, hey, I'll hook it up to my stereo. 

The problem is that stereo receivers typically don't have a subwoofer output.  Subwoofers came about at the same time surround sound or AV receivers arrived.  Both being integral parts of the home theater. 

Early subwoofer models were sometimes passive, meaning they had no amplifier built in.  These subwoofers had speaker level terminals making it easy to connect from a stereo receiver.  Nowadays most subwoofers have built in amps and simply need the line level subwoofer signal from the receiver sent to the unit.  That's done through an RCA connection. 

So the simple answer is, if your subwoofer doesn't have speaker level inputs you can't hook it up to your stereo receiver.  There is a solution that sometimes works but I'll give it to you with warning, it may damage (fry, smoke, blow up) the amp inside the receiver. 

It's called a speaker level to line level converter.  Xantech makes one.  You just connect the speaker B outputs off the stereo receiver to the converter box then run an RCA patch cord out of it to the subwoofer. 

Personally I wouldn't do it for fear of breaking my stereo receiver.  The amp may not be able to handle this configuration.  For instance, here's a comment on that Xantech piece from a reviewer, "The technical detail should include the fact that this product should NOT be connected to a speaker output that can provide greater than 35 Watts per channel output. I could not use it for what it was intended for after reading the installation instruction. The 35 Watts per channel output was too low for the intended use."

The truth is subwoofers are used for very low frequencies like explosion rumbling you might hear and feel in a movie.  Adding a subwoofer to two channel stereo creates an unnatural sound, unintended by the artist. 

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

John Hannibal

 

Figuring out how to hook up a new TV

I found this "how to" piece the New York Times published this week, Hooking Up a New TV: Which Wire Goes Where?.  It does a nice job of explaining what each of the connections is for and comes complete with photos. 

What it doesn't suggest is to add some audio to the TV.  If the new TV is to be a secondary one, maybe for the bedroom, you're excused from augmenting the sound.  If the TV is to be your main viewing set you really need to add good audio. 

That can be a full blown surround set up with 5 to 7 separate speakers and a subwoofer or if room layout dictates, a sound bar.  The addition of speakers will require some sort of amplifier or receiver which will also be where you do all the connecting.  The only thing you'll be plugging into the back of the TV is a single HDMI cable. 

A beautiful picture needs gorgeous sound.  Otherwise you're really missing the experience intended by the creators of whatever it is you're watching. 

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

John Hannibal

Tablet becoming integral part of home theater

I'd mentioned as a reason for having Apple TV the ability to send anything off the web to the big screen TV in your home theater.  That's not quite the case.  You can send most video and some photos wirelessly but not web pages.  You need either an iPhone, iTouch or iPad to send the content to Apple TV.  And that's the point, if you have an iPad you don't need to send a mirror image of your screen to the TV.

My customers here in Cleveland often asked if they could sit on their couch with a laptop computer and project the screen onto the TV.  There are solutions to this that cost hundreds of dollars.  The better idea today is invest in an iPad and Apple TV.  As I say, you can then send most video to the screen and use the iPad to conduct any sort of PC function you desire while watching TV.

The tablet is becoming an integral part of the home theater.  Aside from pushing content to the TV you can buy an app that will turn it into a remote control. 

As slick as Apple TV may be it's still a hassle to search for YouTube videos using a hunt and peck alphabet grid.  With an iPad you can open YouTube, search via the keyboard then send the desired video to the TV. 

I can't tell you how many times I've been watching a movie, seen an actor I'd recognized but was unsure of where and opened up IMDB to find the answer.  You have to be careful. Sometimes you'll turn too much attention to IMDB neglecting the movie you're watching. 

You've noticed that TV networks are providing interactive content to go along with a program.  This is especially true of big events. During the Oscars you can use your iPad to watch backstage action.  You can view different angles of a sporting event or entirely different games. 

For the social media fans tweeting during a TV show has become part of the experience.  It's like watching your favorite program with a very large room of like-minded people. 

As more DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) agreements are struck you'll find more and more content disseminating from the internet to your TV.  The tablet acts as the perfect liaison.

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

John Hannibal

A detailed look at the upgraded Apple TV

I've been enjoying the new Apple TV for nearly a week now.  It arrived two days before the new iPad even though Apple said the release date was the same.  It was ridiculously simple to set up and I was browsing content within minutes.

Here's Engadget's in depth look at the new Apple TV, A closer look at Apple TV's software update and 1080p movies.  I've yet to rent a 1080p movie on the device but have watched a number of previews.  There's plenty of free content to enjoy including my Netflix subscription.  Lillehammer, their first original series, looks great and is quality programming on par with anything on HBO. 

There's also plenty of podcasts I enjoy, mostly for educational purposes, and their accessibility with the new Apple TV makes it compelling viewing.  And we're talking a ton of content here from awful to great. 

YouTube navigation is still a bit clunky since you have to use an alphabet grid to search.  That's where the iPad or iPhone and Airplay come in handy.  More on that next time. 

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

John Hannibal

 

Some helpful words about audio in a home theater

I preach about good audio quite a bit.  I practice what I preach as well.  These days I hardly ever experience bad audio.  At this moment I have MSNBC's Morning Joe playing on my home theater in my living room.  I'm sending that audio feed to my distributed audio system so that I can listen to the show throughout my home whether it be during my workout in the basement or as I write this in my office.  And in each of these rooms I have a quality pair of speakers being driven by quality amps.  The warm, full range sound is terrific. 

So when I do hear bad audio I notice it right away.  I feel a need to fix the problem.  I'm on a crusade.

Here's a good story from CNET on the truth of good audio when you're in the market to add some to your home, Myths, Marketing, and Misdirection: Home audio edition.

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

John Hannibal

Wireless video is getting better

It was only a few years ago that a box capable of sending your video signal from source components to the TV would run about $1,000.  Even then it wasn't very robust. As is the case with technology, things become better and cheaper with time. 

Today full 1080P signals can be sent through the air in your home with little interference or picture degradation.  I hooked up the new version of Apple TV to my home theater last week.  There's only two wires to connect, the electrical cord and an HDMI cable.  The content is sent wirelessly from your ISP router to the Apple TV puck (that's the size and shape of it). 

I've been testing Apple TV for a few days now and have not had a single hiccup in delivering the content to my big screen TV.  My three year old Sony Blu-ray player has Netlfix and YouTube and is hard wired via an ethernet connection from the router.  It seems archaic now.  The interface is cumbersome.  The content loading times are horrible.  I'll only be using it to watch Blu-ray discs from now on. 

The reason Apple TV is so much faster is the amount of RAM built into it.  Here's a teardown from Gizmodo that reveals what's inside the new model. 

Aside from Apple TV, which only streams internet content wirelessly, there are other products that can send audio and video from any of your source components to your TV through the air.  It makes for a very clean look.  MSNBC writes about it, How to hide your home theater.

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

John Hannibal

Mastered for iTunes, a step toward better sounding digital files

Last month Neil Young revealed that he and Steve Jobs had talked about ways to make music on iTunes sound better.  It appears Jobs took it to heart and put together a team to take steps toward improving the quality of music sold in the iTunes store. 

It's called Mastered for iTunes and involves software developed by Apple for engineers and producers to use to re-master the digital files. Here's the lowdown from Apple which leads to links with technical details for those wishing to remaster, Mastered for iTunes.

There's some discontent.  The idea of remastering inferior digital files seems a bit misguided to some. Here's a good piece on the subject from NPR's Jacob Ganz, What 'Mastered For iTunes' Really Means.

You'll find these Mastered for iTunes files in the store.  Some of the titles include the new Bruce Springsteen and Coldplay albums, as well as new music by Lana Del Ray, Paul McCartney, Amy Winehouse and many others.  There's also mainstays like Nirvana's Nevermind and the entire Pink FLoyd library.  It's not surprising that there's quite a few classical music releases highlighted.  Classical music fans tend to have a desire for quality sound.

The prices don't appear to be too different than those of regular iTunes files.  If you're buying music on iTunes, checking to see if it's available in Mastered for iTunes is a must. 

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

John Hannibal