Audio News for March 28, 2008

More Spending on Home Electronics and Remodeling – With the dollar’s value plummeting, gas over $3 a gallon and airline travel a thoroughly unpleasant experience, more people are staying close to home vs. traveling, and spending their disposable income on home gadgets and remodeling. Experts foresee more homeowners getting into “green” strategies to aid the environment, and banks are offering special deals to those embarking on green renovations. When shopping for gadgets to keep us entertained when at home, consumers are finding price cuts in many video displays and home electronics, and an effort to reduce some of the cable and cord clutter using wireless and other technologies. Rented movies – physical discs or downloaded via the Net – video games, and home theater are among the popular entertainment choices. There are now even e-clutter consultants who promise to organize your mess of home electronics into a more seamless system.

SACD Playback for Your Car – SACD car audio products are finally beginning to hit the market after all these years. Odd, since there were DVD-Audio units early on, and that format now seems to be winding down. Sony Electronics Car Audio has the MEX-DV2000 and the XAV-W1. Both are surround sound SACD units, with the first fitting in a 1-DIN-size dashboard space and the second a 2-DIN space. The XAV-W1 is also a video DVD player with a 7-inch screen, and is satellite radio and iPod ready. It can be connected to Sony’s HD Radio tuner and displays station calls and genre titles. Both head end units deliver 52 watts to four channels. Some dealers on eBay are selling the audio-only MEX-DV2000 for about $190.

More New Audio Gadgets from Sony – A bunch of new headphones,  digital music players, speakers, Bluetooth receivers and audio recorders have been released by Sony Corporation. The new phones include over-the-head earbuds, behind-the-neck earbuds, over-the-ear earbuds, around-the-neck headphones and around-the-ear headphones. They range from $20 to $100.  There is a higher quality EX line of earbuds ranging up to $300, and the latest noise canceling headphones, the MDR-NC40, offer 40 hours listening on just one AAA battery.  The DRC-BT15 Stereo Bluetooth Receiver is a $130 device converting standard headphones into Bluetooth headsets, and there is also a Bluetooth Speaker for $160 which will output any Bluetooth music-playing device wirelessly.  Several new digital music players offer 4GB, 8GB or 16GB capacities, built-in noise canceling and an FM tuner, plus a 1.8-inch LCD screen.  A new line of voice recorders is touted as “the Swiss Army Knife of digital voice recorders.”  They are PC and Mac compatible and two of them are designed to work with Dragon’s NaturallySpeaking voice recognition software to let users easily convert voice to text. Sony’s new line of clock radios, available in May, will add iPod and iPhone compatibility.