Audio News for August 26, 2014

by | Aug 26, 2014 | Audio News

Harman Seminar: “The Science of Loudspeaker-Room Calibration” – at CEDIA 2014 in the Coloradio Convention Center at 10 AM Wednesday Sept. 10, Dr. Sean Olive and Todd Welti of Harmon International will host a seminar examining the acoustic interactions between speakers and the listening room and their role in the perceived sound quality of a home theater or music system. These topics are among those that will be covered:  The relationship between speaker measurements and listener preferences; Speaker/room resonances and reflections; Room acoustical treaments based on science; Do’s and don’ts of measuring and calibrating speakers in rooms; Optimizing the sweet spot, Does speaker/room correction thru EQ work?; Demonstration of a room-correction system.

DGG Starts World’s First Classical Label Streaming App – Deutsche Grammophon has launched a free and paid streaming app called “DG Discovery.” It will start with an initial 450 albums and essential works by the 30 most popular composers, performed by 80 artists from DGG’s roster. The free version has 30-second samples of all the tracks in the app’s catalog, and the unlimited access is available at a monthly fee of $3.99 or $2.99 for a 12-month discounted subscription. There is a rapid search function, and the app is browsable by composer or artist’s name, and there is background information on both the artists and the music. Recording dates, venues and production teams are also listed and the Artist Pages has links to artist’s websites and a resource of photos, videos and other AV materials. Over 20 new albums will be added each month. Subscribers can create multiple personal playlists using the Facebook button, engage in social media conversations about their favorite works and interpretations. A tap-and-buy button allows downloads of favorite albums and tracks, with instant access to the iTunes store’s MP3 audio files.

Denon First with Dolby Atmos AVRs – The networked 7.1-channel AVR-X4100W and the 9.2-channel AVR-X5200W are now shipping with Atmos built-in and ready. The 7.1 model supports a 5.1.2 speaker configuration out of the box, but to acheive 7.1 requires another two-channel amp. The 9.2 model supports 7.1.2 out of the box but requires an add-on two-channel amp to drive 7.1.4 or 9.1.2 Dolby Atmos configurations. Both have HDMI 2.0 connectivity and support HDMI UHD passthru content at 60 fps and 4:4:4 pure color. They upsample lower definition sources to UHD at 50/60 fps. Both have Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Apple AirPlay, DLNA networking and can stream the Internet radio stations. They also feature Spotify Connect, Pandora and SiriusXM internet radio. A front-panel USB port on each connects to USB storage devices, and both can be controlled with a Denon app for iOS or Android. Pricing is $1399 for the 7.1 and $1999 for the 9.2 model.

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