Category: Home Audio

You can't put velvet in these earcups and call 'em nice headphones! As Mr. Chappelle would likely attest, there are no better headphones in which to drop the beat into than Dr. Dre's "highly anticipated" Beats. The master of chronic himself has slapped his all-but-forgotten name onto a set of cans (which we covered a few months ago), and is now ready to introduce 'em to the world. Starting on ...

As with quite a few things unveiled at CEDIA Expos, the Ovei is also aimed squarely at folks with wallets so fat they can hardly contain themselves. This home cinema pod made its most recent debut at the CEDIA UK show, where the creators explained that users could slip into the air-conditioned capsule and control their home theater and / or gaming experience via the built-in touchscreen. We are ...

Hooray! As we reported last year, vinyl, our favorite music format, is rumored to be making a comeback. A recent CNN article asserts that from 2006 to 2007, manufacturers' shipments of LPs increased by 36%, while shipments of CDs dropped over 17%. In your face, CDs and MP3s! Hard-core music aficionados laud the analog sound delivered by records as more continuous and superior to digital ...

Sony revealed a few cool home theater displays and components Thursday, revealing pricing and specs on some LCD displays, free content from YouTube and other online content direct to the TV set and a home-theater-in-a-box (HTiB) setup that features tiny but powerful speakers. All in all, a good day for tech watchers and home theater aficionados. The seven new Bravia LCD TVs introduced are all ...

Ripfactory's Ripserver could be the perfect first step in cutting down on CD clutter. Available in 500 gigabyte and 1 terrabyte (1000 gigabytes) configurations, the Ripserver automatically rips and converts CDs to either MP3 or FLAC. The RAID storage option means there are two identical hard drives built into the Ripserver for backup purposes, and extra USB connections allow you to add additional ...

What's a Mako 2.1 THX Sound System? We got a chance to demo, in our more natural settings (i.e. Josh's office at home), Razer's Mako 2.1 speaker system. For the uninitiated, this 2.1 (two satellite speakers and a subwoofer) sound system uses a unique "Ground Plane" technology developed by THX (the people behind breakthrough cinema sound systems) and Razer (the guys behind all the cool gaming ...

Rocky always refused to go down, even if his face got beaten into Hamburger Helper. Despite looking like Rocky sans the steadfastly loyal fan base, the folks behind HD-DVD are trying to get that cinematic comeback-when-the-chips-are-down win... or at least some sort of moral victory. Wired reports that Toshiba, one of the companies that's backing HD-DVD, has paid $2.7 million for a 30-second ...

It appears that the high-definition disc format war between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD is nearing the mop-up stages, as Blu-Ray sales have accounted for 93% of the market share for set-top players since the second week of January. Coming on the heels of Warner's announcement to support Blu-ray rather than its rival, HD-DVD, these figured indicate that HD-DVD could be in its death throes. Interestingly, ...

Forget home-theater-in-a-box (HTIB). For around a million dollars, Swiss-based ultra-high-end audio manufacturer Goldmund will build you a custom-designed media room, specifically tailored and built to withstand peak audio levels equivalent to a jet taking off. When Goldmund invited us to their exclusive Los Angeles showroom during the Consumer Electronics Show, we were skeptical that ...

Robots are everywhere. Especially at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show last week. But here's the good news -- you'll be able to buy many of the robots you'll see talking, posing, and rolling around in the above exclusive Switched video. Check it out. ...

We've been reporting how Green Technology is making the headlines at this year's Consumer Electronics Showcare. Whether developing atmosphere and energy-friendly cars that run on hydrogen fuel cells or batteries made with no lead, cadmium or mercury, businesses are increasingly becoming eco-conscious as they make new products for the consumer. These sometimes wacky, sometimes futuristic items ...

Wondering whether to go with Blu-ray or HD-DVD? The decision is pretty clear, if the lightning fast drama and events over the past few days at CES are any indication. First, last Friday, Warner Bros. announced it was switching its exclusive deal for next-gen disc availability of its movies (everything from 'The Matrix' to 'Lord of the RIngs') from HD-DVD to Blu-ray. This was enough to get the ...

Pioneer is going the way of Jules Verne as it journeys to the center of the earth to develop speaker technology. While yesterdays press conference at CES already had us chomping at the bit over future plasma flat screen technology, we've got to give props to Pioneer's R & D people for using volcanic rock as the material for a key component of its speakers. Constructing the new speakers ...

Who would have thunk it, but those Canadians sure don't mess around when it comes to... well, the "wow" factor. WowWee, a Montreal-based robotics company that brought us the Robosapien and the animatronic Elvis Head, is already dazzling the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas with some brand new products for 2008. Easily the coolest development from those guys that like to say "eh" is ...

These days one has no shortage of things in which to set his iPod. There's a keyboard dock, an old guitar, a faux-turntable, even a toilet paper roll (we wish we were kidding about that last one). At this year's Consumer Electronics Show, which opens next week, new entrant to the electronics market Cue Accoustics will debut yet another thing to set your iPods into -- a much more stylish and ...