Audio News for October 10, 2006

by | Oct 10, 2006 | Audio News | 0 comments

Motorola iRadio Debuts Public Radio Content – Currently in trials in several major U.S. cities, Motorola iRadio may be competitor to the two satellite radio services focusing primarily on vehicles. The new digital music service offers a listening experiences that easily transitions from one location to the next – car stereo, home stereo and mobile phone. The growing library includes 600 channels of music and talk, best-selling audio book content, language and education and self-help courses, local news and weather and classic radio shows. An award-winning lineup of programming from NPR, PRI and American Public Media has been added to the commercial-free, CD-quality music programming. Offerings already include the entire music catalogs of Universal, Sony BMG, Warners and multiple independent labels.

HDMI Training for Consumer Electronics Installers
– HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) is the de facto standard digital interface for hi-def consumer electronics devices. Delivering all-digital audio and video via a single cable, HDMI simplifies cabling and provides consumers with the highest-quality home theater experience. HDMI Licensing, LLC has announced a free 40-minute online training program for HT installers, providing a technical overview of HDMI, installation techniques and common installation issues. The HDMI training is now available at www.hdmi.org

Top-of-Line SACD and Universal Players Are Two-Channel Only
– The latest Marantz SACD/CD players – SA-11 and SA-15 – boast many high performance improvements but are deliberately designed for stereo playback only. Even the firm’s under-$1000 SA-8001 is now stereo-only.  The latest Esoteric player – the SA-60 – is billed as a universal player, but surprisingly it has no video circuitry or output for DVD-Audio.  This is undoubtedly to avoid any degradation of sonics from the video signals, but how about the majority of DVD-A discs which require video display in order to navigate at all?  Also, the Esoteric does have multichannel outputs, but the stereo analog output section is tweaked for enhanced sonics vs. the other four channels. The player is the first to allow upsampling of any audio source to DSD format and then back to analog, with various user-selectable settings.

Avoid Scratching Your Video Display
– Most consumers may not realize that typical household cloths and improper chemical cleaning solvents are abrasive and can damage your HDTV or LCD display screen. Earlier video screens had glass covers which were impervious to such damage. It is usually impossible to repair a scratched screen coating.  Most manufacturers recommend against alcohol or ammonia-based cleaners because they can turn the screen’s surface yellow, make it brittle, and can cause cracking. InnoTide International has developed a new specialty cleaning product to reduce the risk. It combines an integrated fluid reservoir handle with a spray nozzle and microfiber foam pad.
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