Audio News for January 7, 2014

by | Jan 7, 2014 | Audio News

New York Times Favorite Classical Recordings of 2013 – Among the paper’s critics’ selections for the year that we have reviewed were: SCHUMANN: Sonata in g, etc. – Ochida, p. (Decca); SHOSTAKOVICH: String Quartets – Pacifica Quartet (Cedille); BEETHOVEN: Quartets 3, 5, 16 – Hagen Quartett (Myrios); BACH: Double and Triple Concertos; WAGNER: Sel. – Jonas Kaufmann/Donald Runnicles (Decca)

Best Jazz Discs of 2013 –  The Chicago Tribune’s jazz reviewer, Howard Reich, selected his list of the best recorded jazz for 2013, and it included: Patricia Barber’s Smash, Nicholas Payton’s re-doing of Sketches of Spain, Gregory Porter’s Liquid Spirit, Marty Ehrlich’s A Trumpet in the Morning, and Marcus Roberts’ Trio’s From Rags to Rhythm.

Benedictines of Mary Again Top Traditional Classical Album of 2013 – Universal has announced that the Sisters have made the top listings for the second year in a row. Founded in 1995, the benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, are a young monastic order of Sisters in Missouri. They work on their farm and live mostly off the land, singing together eight times a year as part of their monastic schedule. Their Prioress vacated her seat in the horn section of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra in Ohio to enter religious life. Their gimmick-free and genuine music-making includes poignant chants, intricate harmonies and rousing hymns of glory and redemption. And their albums are on Decca.

Forecast of Growth of Sensors Industry – The high power consumption and large size with associated cost of sensors have limited their use in new electronic products such as wearable devices. However, this is changing, with the market moving towards smaller IC chips which can reduce overall cost to a great extent. The use of sensors for upcoming applications in health monitoring and indoor navigation will drive the market to new horizons. The product segments on Touch and Image are relatively mature, but Motion and Pressure are expected to increase greatly.  A new report on sensors analyzes the overall market thru various models. Major players include Sony, STMicroelecronics, Aptina Imaging, Bosch Sensortec, Samsung and Texas Instruments.

DEG Honors Industry’s Finest at CES 2014 – The Digital Entertainment Group gives its top honors for digital entertainment products and retailers excelling in marketing those products during the current International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. They voted overwhelmingly for Target to be the 2013 DEG Retailer of the Year. The Emiel N. Petrone Innovation Awards went to Sony for their XBR X850A Series 4K (NOT) Ultra HDTV, to LG for their LAP340 Sound Bar, to Panasonic for their DMP-BDT330 Blu-ray Player, and to Samsung for their KN55S9C OLED HDTV (as Most Innovative Home Entertainment Product). The DEG Creative Excellence Award Blu-ray Disc titles were:

New Release Title of the Year: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Warner Bros.)
Classic Title of the Year: Wizard of Oz (Warner Bros.)
3D Title of the Year: Life of Pi (Twentieth Century Fox)
TV Title of the Year: Breaking Bad – The Complete Series (Sony Pictures)
Music Title of the Year: Cabaret (Warner Bros.)

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