Audio News for April 18, 2014

by | Apr 18, 2014 | Audio News

Comcast, Time Warner and Congress All Working Together – Here is yet another good reason to Cut The Cord.

Classical Music – Funny? – Fitting right in with this month of April is an article in the UK’s Telegraph on classical music being funny. Of course it mentions Victor Borge, Hoffnung and Bugs Bunny, and promotes a concert by comedian Rainer Hersch, who appears this month in London. It mentions that the humor of composers such as Beethoven was often extremely coarse because that was the level of their humor in those days.

Pioneer and Clarion Ready Aftermarket CarPlay – This new Apple development will be use ”Siri” to make and receive calls, compose and respond to text messages, use Apple Maps for navigation, select stored music and podcasts, and listen to iTunes Radio streaming service. Models priced from $700 to $1400 require use of iOS 7.1 with a Lightning-to-USB cable. CarPlay also streams Spotify and iHeartRadio and Apple promises more streaming apps in the future. A few specialized cars are already available new with it.

Music Quality on Chromecast – The $35 Chromecast gadget is getting a lot of attention for its ability to turn your smart phone into an all-powerful sonic remote, but it’s not hi-res in music streaming. Streaming maxes out at 192kbps and it routes the sound thru the TV’s audio channels, which are not likely the highest fidelity. With the correct HDMI to VGA adapter you can plug the Chromecast into your audio receiver and speakers for a cheap version of a Sonos setup.

Hauppauge myMusic-Wi-Fi Wireless Music Receiver – The unit wirelessly connects to Apple or Android smart phones and tablets and receives music content from them. Music from Pandora, Spotify and tunes from your music library can be listened to wirelessly on your home music system via a high-quality digital optical audio port or thru a normal stereo jack. It supports Apple’s AirPlay, is small and be located next to one’s home audio system. It is £39.99 in the UK.

Sonos Adds Google Play Music – The fastest-growing music service last year, Google Play Music, has been added to services such as Pandora, Spotify and Beats Music as an option to Sonos owners via their controller app (Android, iOS or web). The Android app has been updated to let users play music from any Sonos speaker in the house.

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