The First Two Blu-ray 3D Discs Issued – They are the animation feature Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, and the music album Goldberg Variations Acoustica from AIX Media Group. The AIX release is the first 3D disc featuring a music performance recorded especially for the new format and is the first Blu-ray 3D to use Dolby Labs TrueHD lossless audio format. The disc is a 53-minute improvisational performance by a sextet of LA’s most talented studio musicians and artists – the AIX All Star Band. It is based on Bach’s original, but undergoing a contemporary transformation in the hands of the AIX ensemble. In addition to both 3D and 2D 16:9 versions of the studio video, the disc boasts a choice of either a sonic “stage” perspective or “audience” perspective, a 96K/24-bit PCM stereo mix, and a lower-resolution standard Dolby Digital 5.1 option. No dynamic processing, EQ or artificial reverb is used on AIX recordings. Upcoming 3D music releases will include Rita Coolidge, James Walker and Free Flight, and The Old City String Quartet.
GefenTV HT Audio Processor – A compact processor and amp at about $999 is a new product from Gefen, designed for plug and play creation of surround sound home theater using primarily audio taken from the HDMI output of any Blu-ray player, gaming system or set-top box. It also has a digital audio input and either six channels of 25 watts per channel ouput or six line-level RCA outputs for hooking to powered speakers. It has two HDMI outputs with 1080p HD video and 3DTV pass-thru capability, as well as multichannel audio support of lip sync, and the lossless Blu-ray codecs, Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio.
Adolescent Hearing Loss on the Rise – A new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds that more American adolescents may suffer from early signs of hearing loss than previously estimated. The study found a 30% increase in minimal levels of hearing loss in people ages 12 to 19, and a 77% increase in more serious hearing problems. In 1994 about one in 20 children experienced hearing loss, but that figure jumped to about one in 5, or an estimated 6.5 million adolescents, by 2006. Hearing loss can result in developmental delays for school-age children. More studies are planned, focusing more specifically into questions on noise and music. The president of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association said, “I believe this is rooted in a cultural paradigm shift in terms of how electronics have become ‘the thing’ – everyone has something in their ears.” He also said “It’s important that families keep in mind that hearing cannot be replaced.” Apple has detailed instructions at their web site about how to set the volume limit on iPods, and the Listen To Your Buds website has resources to help your child understand when it’s time to turn down the volume.
Squeezebox Touch – The Squeezebox line of music players from Logitech bring your iTunes music library and Internet-based streaming audio out of the realm of your computer and into your home, and for a more affordable price than the high-quality Sonos family of home-audio devices. The latest is the slim $300 Squeezebox Touch, designed to be attached to a set of external speakers such as in your home theater or audio system. It gives the user the ability to control music playback right from the device, and comes with a 4.3-inch color LCD touchscreen enabling hands-on control. To use it, you install its server preference pane on the computer you want to stream from. The software reads your iTunes library and playlist, but you can also choose a separate Music Folder if you wish. It connects to your network via Wi-Fi or Ethernet, and gives you instant access to all the music, albums, artists, genres, playlists and more on your PC or Mac.
