Audio News for September 4, 2015

by | Sep 4, 2015 | Audio News

New Bose Headphones – have boosted battery life and a higher pricetag. The SoundLink Around-Ear Wireless II is a Bluetooth and NFC model boasting 15 hours battery life ($279). The bulky removable Bluetooth control module has been removed. It has built-in EQ technology and an in-line mic which balances volume based on ambient sound, and comes in black or white with a matching case. Bose has been the No. 2 headphone brand for two years; Beats is No. 1.

DTS Is Buying iBiquity Digital – For about $172 milllion DTS will buy the developer of the digital in-band HD radio broadcasting system now used nationwide. DTS said it will enable them “to strengthen our position in the large automotive OEM market.” More than 2200 radio stations out of a total of 15,358 now broadcast HD Radio signals, but decoding is not widely available in home or mobile audio products. (By the way, HD does NOT stand for High Definition, and everwhere else in the world digital stations are at another frequency – a better-sounding solution than in-band, which worsens the normal analog signal…Ed.)

NBC Alarm Over Hearing Loss With Earbuds – Although we think ear buds are terrible, if their fidelity is improved, there would be less hearing damage, but we certainly agree with the rest of NBC’s statement:  “…better fidelity in ear buds has nothing to do with hearing loss by itself. IMO, all students should receive wideband (not just speech frequencies) hearing tests while in school so they can catch the beginning of hearing problems early. Because once it’s gone, it’s gone. And gone doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t hear speech, it can mean that you can’t hear music the way it’s supposed to be heard — you lose all that high frequency “airiness” that makes music sound great. As an ex-recording engineer, I’d gladly pay $100,000 to get my hearing back to where it was when I was 20 or 30.”  [The hearing tests most hospitals do are NOT wideband – only lower speech frequencies…Ed.] And right about hearing losses with age (even with those not exposed to hearing damage) – many of us could afford really great and expensive speakers now, but our hearing losses make them much less needed.

Amazon Video Now Available to Prime Video Members – Amazon Prime members can now download Amazon Video content to their Apple or Android devices for offline viewing. This is a clear shot against their major competitor, Netflix. Fire device owners have been able to download videos for some time. In order to use the feature, Amazon Video app may need to be updated.

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