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On this week's show we look at how the strategies keep changing in the streaming wars. We spend your money and design a home theater system for less than $2000. And as usual we read your email and take a look at the week's news. News: Broadcast Schedule's New Paradigm 75% of Streamers Have Tried an Ad-Supported Plan Google TV users will soon be asked to rate apps Viewers can now add Apple TV+ to a DIRECTV subscription Top Streaming Services Change Up Strategies A Business Insider article suggests the streaming wars have shifted from competition to strategic alliances and distinct priorities. Netflix now prioritizes engagement over subscriber numbers, revamping its homepage with vertical video to rival YouTube and TikTok. Disney focuses on subscriber growth through bundles with Hulu and ESPN, aiming for profitable expansion. Warner Bros. Discovery's Max emphasizes profitability, leveraging high-quality content to retain subscribers rather than competing with Netflix's scale. Engagement is key as streamers build ad businesses. Netflix, with 8% of U.S. connected TV watch time, uses engagement to reduce churn and support its $2.2 billion ad business. Amazon's Prime Video scales ads by enabling them for all users unless they opt out, using shopping data to boost ad effectiveness. While Netflix and Amazon focus on engagement for ads, Disney, Paramount+ (79 million subscribers), and Peacock (41 million) prioritize subscriber growth, though neither is profitable yet. Profitability is critical for WBD, which has cut Max's content spending to focus on financial sustainability, leveraging HBO's legacy content. Its bundling with Disney+ and Hulu supports international growth. Apple TV+ faces high churn due to its limited library, leaving its strategy unclear. As streamers balance growth, engagement, and profitability, alliances and niche strategies redefine success in a crowded market. Home Theater System for under $2000 Ok so you bought a house and spent all your money but you already had a 70” TV from your previous home. And while that has been great you want something more out of your TV watching experience. Somehow you scrape together a $2000 budget and want to know what kind of “Home Theater” System you can cobble together to provide you with immersive surround sound. For this exercise we are assuming a typical living room (e.g., ~15x20 ft) and a focus on movies and general entertainment. We will emphasize value and performance while keeping the setup beginner-friendly. Key Considerations Room Size: Our medium-sized living room can benefit from a 5.1 or possibly a 5.1.2 (Dolby Atmos) setup for surround sound. We have chosen to stay with a 5.1 system for budget concerns. Priorities: Clear dialogue, deep bass, and immersive surround effects are key for movies and gaming. Music performance is secondary but still considered. Components: You'll need an AV receiver, speakers (front, center, surrounds), a subwoofer, and a streaming device. Setup: We opted for wired speakers for reliability and cost savings over wireless systems, which can eat into the budget. Recommended System AV Receiver: Denon AVR-S760H 2021 Model ($500 from Amazon) We are on a budget so a 2021 model that does everything you need for a small family room on a budget is absolutely the right call here. Don't overlook last year's models on your A/V equipment. No one will walk into your house and whisper about last years (or four years ago) model behind your back. This is a 7.2-channel receiver with 75W per channel, supporting 4K/120Hz, Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, and room calibration (Audyssey). It's versatile, beginner-friendly, and handles modern formats for movies and gaming. 6 HDMI inputs (3 with 8K support), Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and HEOS for streaming. Refurbished units can save even more. Speaker System: RSL CG3M 5.1 home theater system ($850 Direct from RSL) We splurged a little on the speakers. The CG3Ms will not disappoint! We have been fans of RSL since we had Joe Rogers on the show about 15 years ago. He is a musician and understands what music is supposed to sound like and has designed speakers with that in mind. This compact speaker system will put you right in the middle of a concert or movie! You really can't get better at this price. The 300 watt 10” subwoofer is plenty for your small to medium sized family room. Speaker Wire and Cables: Monoprice ($50 Budget) Pretty much from day one we have been saying buy good cables but don't spend a lot of money doing so. $50 at Monoprice goes a long way for your Speaker and HDMI cables. Streaming Device: ($150 Budget) A streaming device enhances your home theater by providing access to all kinds of entertainment options, including Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+,and YouTube. These dedicated streaming devices offer faster performance, regular software updates, and broader app compatibility. They also support advanced features like 4K HDR, Dolby Atmos, and voice control, elevating your viewing experience with superior picture and sound quality. Additionally, devices like Roku, Amazon Fire TV, or Apple TV are portable, affordable, and easy to set up, making them a versatile upgrade for any home theater, regardless of your TV's age or brand. Sales Tax: $90 - $150 Unfortunately we can't forget the tax man. There are a few places in the US that do not have a sales tax and other areas range from 6% up to 10%. Total Cost: ~$1,640-$1,700 This leaves ~$300-$360 for a programmable remote, Atmos, or height speakers. Or a year of a new streaming service. This system balances cost, performance, and future expandability, delivering an elevated experience for your new home without breaking the bank.
Erin made a trip to a HiFi shop in Alabama! Erin found his perfect pairing in the KEF and McIntosh room, but quickly went on! Erin do we even know you any more? Erin came across a Danish speaker company; Davone. 2 sub outs, with 4 subs on a older Denon? Joe talks about his HTP-1 from Monoprice's Monolith line. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dailyhifi/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dailyhifi/support
In this podcast episode, renowned tech expert Dave Hamilton dives into the world of Mac-centric productivity, uncovering the unique advantages Macs offer over Windows machines. Dave is a seasoned podcaster, publisher, and self-professed nerd with a rich background in educating numerous computer users over thirty years. We cover the longevity, cost-effectiveness, and quality of life benefits of Macs, their top productivity features like seamless device integration, Dave's travel tech tips including a 4K OLED screen and charging essentials, Mac-specific productivity tools focusing on scripting and audio editing, and much more! Join Dave and me as we discuss the following three questions and more! After over 900 episodes on MGG, what are the three most common questions about tech you still get today? Apple computers still have somewhat of an aura of being made for creative people and not professionals; what are your top three reasons any professionals, including us lawyers, would want to switch from PC to Mac? What are your top three favorite productivity functions you can do only on a Mac? In our conversation, we cover the following: [01:15] Dave's Personal Tech Setup and Upgrade Considerations [15:56] Navigating Mac Upgrades, Backup Strategies, and Choosing the Right Wi-Fi System [38:59] PC to Mac Transition: Insights on Integration, Compatibility, and Battery Life for Professionals [54:48] Investing in a Mac: Exploring Longevity, Total Cost of Ownership, and Support Benefits Over Windows [59:14] Mac Productivity Unleashed: Leveraging Automation, Scripting, and Audio Routing for Peak Performance [01:21:58] Behind the Podcast Curtain: Tools and Tricks for Pro-Level Recording and Editing Resources: Connect with Dave: Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/davehamilton.com Facebook: facebook.com/hamilton.dave Instagram: instagram.com/davehamilton/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/davehamilton/ Mastodon: podcastindex.social/@DaveHamilton Twitter:twitter.com/DaveHamilton Website: macgeekgab.com/ Hardware mentioned in the conversation: 4K Portable Monitor - KYY 15.6: viewsonic.com/us/vx1655-4k-15-6-3840-x-2160p-uhd-portable-monitor Anker Nano Charging Station: anker.com/products/a9129-charging-station-67w Earthworks Ethos microphone: earthworksaudio.com/products/ethos/ Monoprice monitors: monoprice.com/category/computers-&-gaming/monitors-&-displays/desktop-monitors PreSonus Quantum 2626 Audio Interface: presonus.com/en-US/interfaces/thunderbolt-audio-interfaces/quantum-series Shure MV7 Microphone: shure.com/en-US/products/microphones/mv7 Synology Disk Station Manager: synology.com/en-global/dsm ViewSonic monitors: viewsonic.com/us/products/shop/monitors.html VX1655-4K-OLED 15.6 Inch 4K: viewsonic.com/us/vx1655-4k-oled-15-6-uhd-oled-portable-monitor Software, Apps & Cloud Services mentioned in the conversation: Audio Hijack: rogueamoeba.com/audiohijack/ Backblaze: backblaze.com/ BetterTouchTool: folivora.ai/ Carbon Copy Cloner: bombich.com/ Eero: eero.com/ Fission: An audio editor mentioned for quick edits, specifically for ad breaks. Hindenburg: hindenburg.com/ Keyboard Maestro: keyboardmaestro.com/ Logic Pro: apple.com/logic-pro/ Logic Pro: apple.com/logic-pro/ Loopback: rogueamoeba.com/loopback/ Mail Butler : mailbutler.io/ MailSuite: smallcubed.com/ TextExpander: textexpander.com/download Thunderbird: thunderbird.net/ TP-Link DECO: tp-link.com/us/deco-mesh-wifi/ WordPerfect: wordperfect.com/en/
In this episode, we dive into the world of portable power solutions as we explore the Monoprice Compact 20,000mAh Power Bank. Whether you're a tech enthusiast, a frequent traveler, or just someone who values staying connected on the go, this power bank has something to offer. With a substantial 20,000mAh capacity, it can keep your devices charged multiple times over, ensuring you never run out of power when you need it most. Follow AndroidGuysTwitter: https://www.twitter.com/androidguysTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@androidguysofficialInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/androidguysYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AndroidGuyscomOfficialWebsite: http://www.androidguys.comFollow Scott WebsterTwitter: https://www.twitter.com/swebster77Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottwebsterFollow Luke GaulTwitter: https://www.twitter.com/lukegaulInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lukegaul
On this week's episode of the Window's Central Podcast, Dan and Zac discuss Microsoft killing off Windows WordPad, Microsoft Paint's new AI feature, how a cheap MacBook could hurt Microsoft, Microsoft remembering the Surface Duo exists, review the Windows 11 2023 Update, the Razer Blade 14 (2023) Mercury Edition, the Monoprice 35 Zero-G UW-QHD (38035) Gaming Monitor, and more! Links: Windows 11 2023 Update Review - Windows Central Microsoft will add this powerful Paint feature for FREE - Windows Central Microsoft is killing the classic Windows WordPad app after almost 3 decades - Windows Central How a cheap MacBook could hurt Microsoft - Windows Central Razer Blade 14 (2023) Mercury Edition review - Windows Central Monoprice 35 Zero-G UW-QHD (38035) Gaming Monitor review - Windows Central Windows Central Podcast Sponsors: Indeed: Hire better with Indeed. Visit indeed.com/wcp to start hiring now. Follow us on Twitter: @Daniel_Rubino @ZacBowden
This week a listener asks if his separates from the 80s are as good as his more modern home theater equipment. We also read your emails and look at the week's news. News: YouTube TV is Reportedly The Only Live TV Provider To Add Subscribers In The 2nd Quarter of 2023 (Cable TV or Streaming) 75% of Smart TV Owners Use Non-TV Viewing Functions LG Unveils New ‘Magnit' Micro LED Screen YouTube offers new billing options for NFL package Other: Best Ever Audiophile Speakers, for REAL! Soundbar Mouts from Monoprice.com Vintage vs Modern Gear We received the following email from Chris asking us to take a look at Vintage vs Modern Gear: In your latest episode, you were discussing receivers. And I got to thinking: Are the receivers of today drastically better than the component stereo systems of the 80s? So if today, you put a component system from the 80s in the same environment as a receiver from the 2020s, could you tell the difference? We have seen the resurgence of the turntable, will we also see the resurgence of the component stereo? Separate tuner, amp, equalizer, etc. Can you explain a little in layman's terms the way the music is delivered today via compression and frequency reduction (Spotify, XM, Apple Music, etc)? Meaning does the vinyl LP for example, go from -20 kHz to +140 kHz whereas streaming compresses to -10 kHz to +80 kHz, so you could get a better audio experience with vinyl? Vintage Gear Size and Weight - Vintage amplifiers are heavy by today's standards. In their heyday, owning one that weighed fifty to one hundred pounds wasn't unheard of. A majority of that weight came from the massive transformers housed inside. Those large transformers let the amplifier drive demanding speakers with ease and let the system run at a higher current. Most vintage receivers used Class A/B amps, which were more efficient and ran cooler than their Class A counterparts. Power - During the "power wars" of the '70s and '80s, manufacturers kept increasing how much power their amps could output, really pushing the limits of the amplifier technology of the time. For example, the Pioneer SX-1980 from 1978 cranked out an astonishing 270 watts per channel. Electronics - a majority of amps were hardwired and didn't have an over-reliance on a circuit board, meaning they were more user serviceable if you knew what you were doing, and often cheaper to fix if you didn't. New Gear Performance - Class A/B amps sound better today than ever, given the significant improvements in transformer technology and component circuitry. Modern amplifiers have less distortion than older ones, and you get better performance for a lot less money. It's a digital world - With modern amplifiers and receivers, you're gaining modern connections. From HDMIs to optical and coaxial connections, having digital inputs on your amplifier means you can hook up your TV, gaming consoles, CD player, and more. The sound quality is clearer and more precise. You can also use Bluetooth or Wi-Fi and an app-based interface to stream your music for extra convenience. Which one sounds better? Ready for our non-answer? It depends. There are certainly receivers from the 70s and 80s that sound better than receivers built today. But you are talking about the high end products. For example, the classic Pioneer SX1980 is rated at 0.03% THD and back in 1980, it would cost you $1,295 to pick one up. That's about $5,450 in today's dollars. Yamaha's A-S501 is rated at 0.019% THD, and can be had for $549. Vinyl vs Digital Frequency response - Both can reproduce sound that is beyond what a human can hear. It comes down to how the digital music is sampled and in some cases compressed. Low quality mp3 and AAC files throw away much of the recording so you are not getting all of the original. Let's put that aside because none of us listen to low quality music. There is a debate, however, about high quality mp3 and AAC (anything greater than 256Kbps sampled at 44.1KHz) vs lossless. I personally can't hear the difference and have done many blind A/B tests with those who claim that they can hear the difference only to conclude that none of my self proclaimed audiophile friends can hear the difference either. I won't say that no one can hear the difference reliably, but I will say that the number of those who can is very small. When it comes to vinyl it's a preference for the sound. I prefer the clean sound of high quality digital. It's easy to take my entire library with me everywhere I go. Braden loves his vinyl. It's warmer and more nostalgic. One is not better than the other, it's a personal preference. I am happy that I can now have an audio experience that was only available to people with deep pockets back in the 80s. Today, everyone can have a system that my 20 year old self only dreamed about. And you can take it on the go!
New Monolith M2100X, M3100X & M5100X amps from Monoprice. PS5 beta firmware adds Dolby Atmos for games & streaming. Samsung’s 89″ Micro-LED TV and Sony’s 2023 A95L QD-OLEDs get pricing. Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAPzZq 00:00:00 – Intro 00:03:22 – What We Watched Rob watched Knock at the Cabin. 00:14:26 – Listeners of the Week Our […] The post AV Rant #872: The One With the Dog appeared first on AV Rant.
Post-July 4th holiday here in the USA and everyone has all of their fingers. Which enables some of us to use clicky keyboards during the podcast recording! What could be more perfect. And just look at that list of topics. Where's AMD HYPR-RX AMD? Where's your Microcenter? And where's that new power connector to replace 12VHPWR already?Timestamps:00:00 Pre-roll and Intro00:53 Food with Josh03:22 RIP 12VHPWR already?06:50 Microcenter exclusive Ryzen X3D10:32 RTX 4080 sees a $200 price cut12:57 Mandatory Arc coverage - a low-profile A38015:17 Get your discounted Radeon RX 6950 XT while you can17:22 Where is AMD HYPR-RX (and FSR 3.0)?19:06 The Book 808822:31 YouTube limits some adblock users to 3 videos24:28 Security Corner34:45 Podcast Sponsor - Hello Fresh36:11 Gaming Quick Hits44:16 Monoprice 28-inch CrystalPro USB-C Monitor review55:12 Picks of the Week1:03:25 Outro ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Catch up with the Monoprice Mic and be quiet! Dark Power 850w reviews, plus SSD performance software from Solidigm, and a big balanced build discussion.This was recorded the night before NVIDIA announced the GeForce RTX 4060 Family but we still had plenty to discuss, as you can see from the list of topics in the time stamps below.Timestamps:00:00 Intro01:14 Burger of the Week02:34 Intel Arc Balanced Builds (and build pricing discussion)15:49 ASUS changes their AM5 motherboard warranty policy20:13 Logitech and iFixit team up27:20 EU approves Microsoft Activision-Blizzard deal28:41 A mandatory update for Windows 1033:21 Scrutinizing Solidigm Synergy SSD software37:10 Games demos coming back?42:37 Podcast sponsor - Bloomberg Careers43:52 Security Corner54:11 Gaming Quick Hits59:28 Our be quiet! Dark Power 13 PSU review1:05:23 Monoprice Dark Matter Sentry mic review1:11:53 Picks of the Week1:19:00 Outro ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Are you ready to overreact to the latest explosive computer hardware drama?? Sure, AMD has found the root cause already (I added their latest statement to the show during editing), but when we recorded this the subject was very hot. Get it? HOT. Like Josh. He hosted, by the way. Sebastian's voice was worse than usual, and his video/audio sync was off anyway. We've got Security Scares, Rumors, Vintage news, Reviews and all that podcast host craziness to go along with it all. Enjoy.Timstamps:00:00 Intro02:07 Burger of the Week04:36 We may have a Ryzen 7000 problem on our hands14:09 UPDATE (added just before publishing): AMD says they have identified the root cause15:09 AMD Ryzen Z1 Series for gaming handhelds21:45 MSI un-launches their RTX 4060 Ti SUPER 3X23:40 AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT rumors28:26 NVIDIA RTX 4060 Ti rumors34:23 Gettin' vintage wit' it37:38 Podcast sponsor - Bloomberg Careers38:57 Jeremy reviews a Monoprice headset44:13 Security Corner52:24 Gaming Quick Hits56:49 Lexar's ARES DDR5-6000 memory reviewed1:02:32 Picks of the Week1:13:03 Outro ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Adam Bell and Peter NikolaidisThe Blurring The Lines Podcast Intros, catchup from Costa Rica and Seychelles, peak performance, leaving some in the tank, performance plateaus, new 4K monitor from Monoprice, moved from Lastpass to 1Password and Keeper, Mansplained by Apple, the bluetooth conspiracy, ecobee and homekit and home automation, beer in Seychelles, spiced rum, eating […]
Tom reviews the affordable Dark Matter Sentry USB Microphone from Monoprice. Netflix announced price drops for dozens of countries. 2022 reports show Samsung, TCL, and LG dominating TV sales. And a helpful correction informs us that playing Atmos Music from Amazon Music Unlimited on your home theater system is now possible. Pictures shown in this […] The post AV Rant #850: Monoprice Dark Matter Sentry Mic Review appeared first on AV Rant.
This week give you our impression of the Monoprice SS-Pro 8 Speaker Selector, take a look at the streaming scorecard for 2022, and we wrap up with our list of music to demo your sound system. We also read your emails and take a look at the week's news. News: With NextGen TV Transition `Stalled,' NAB Asks FCC for ATSC 3.0 Taskforce LG's new OLED TVs will get an audio upgrade to please home theater lovers Netflix Lets Priciest Plan Download to Extra Devices, Adds More Spatial Audio YouTube TV Drops MLB Network Other: Netflix: secret codes to unlock scores of hidden films and TV shows | Daily Mail Online Monoprice SS-Pro 8 High Power Dual Source 300 Watt 8 Pair Impedance Matching Speaker Selector The Monoprice SS-Pro 8 ($100) is a powerful and efficient dual source, audiophile grade speaker selector for up to 8 pairs of speakers. Featuring robust transformers, the SS-Pro 8 allows you to play all 8 pairs of speakers at once without damaging the amplifier, able to withstand up to 300 watts peak of power per channel. A front panel A/B switch allows you to choose between two amplifier sources, and easily removable snap-in connectors make installation easy. A rotary switch located on the rear panel can be used to set the appropriate impedance based on the number of pair of speakers connected. 8-zone speaker selector that allows you to connect up to 8 pairs of speakers or 8 listening zones and control each zone with front panel push-buttons Utilizes audiophile-grade impedance-matching transformers to safely distribute maximum power throughout your system Easy to use front panel switch to choose between sources Designed for use with either 4 ohm or 8 ohm speakers Protection circuit ensures your amplifier is protected Streaming Scorecard for 2022 Amid all the doom and gloom in the streaming industry regarding slumping stock prices and hefty losses, streaming audiences continue to grow at a significant pace, with Americans streaming more than 19 million years worth of content last year, according to new data from Nielsen. In total, Americans streamed more than 19.4 million years of content last year, up 27% about 15 million years in 2021. The increase was driven by the breadth of new and expanded services, coupled by the depth of content—particularly streaming originals, Nielsen reported. Full article here… Rick Beato's Preferred AV Demo List Instead of the typical audiophile spin, music educator Rick Beato provides a musician's perspective on how to choose and how to listen to music. Full article here… From the article: Throwing my two cents into this discussion, I like that Beato had many popular recordings in his list from artists as diverse as Jay-Z, Steely Dan and Linkin Park. It's my opinion that besides the lack of knowledge audiophiles have on the production process and mastering in particular, the lack of emotional connection to a piece of music is where system demos most often fail with consumers. Explaining mastering in the most basic of terms, it is the process in which engineers make sure a recording sounds balanced, full and even. The problem with a lot of popular music over the past few decades has been the issue in which the dynamics of recordings have been squashed or evened out in order for it to sound better on the radio or through a set of earbuds. The problem with heavy levels of mastering, which uses tools such as compressors and limiters, is these tools can remove the musicality and dynamics from a recording. Production professionals will sometimes refer to this trend as the “loudness wars.” Using the criteria of content that people recognize and music that is well produced, including mastering that lets the music breath, here are some of my top demo choices: Ara's List: Diana Krall Live in Paris - Fly Me to the Moon Stevie Ray Vaughn - Tin Pan Alley Pearl Jam - Yellow Ledbetter First 5 seconds of California Roll - Snoop Dog Ennio Morricone - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Explosions in the Sky - Your Hand in Mine (Theme from Friday Night Lights Movie) Madeline Edward - Mama, Dolly, Jesus Michael Ray - Holy Water Hailey Winters - Everything She Ain't
This time we report, speculate, paraphrase, and pontificate on another week's worth of product launches, press releases, and insecurity news. Also, a burger. Apple M2's many things, Intel does 13900KS and Gen 4 scalable Xeons, CAMM winns finally, 30TB of Micron and Monoprice small speakers. See the timestamps below for all the rest!Timestamps:00:00 Intro01:11 Burger of the Week02:50 Intel launches Core i9-13900KS04:27 More Intel: the 4th Gen Xeon Scalable processors09:52 Apple announces M2 chips and things that use them18:58 CAMM might be the new laptop memory standard23:18 Put your Radeon RX 7900 XTX under water25:04 G.Skill Flare X5 6000 CL32 Ryzen memory29:53 Podcast sponsor - Rocket Money31:08 Razer NAGA v2 mouse33:14 Micron 9400 Pro enterprise SSDs36:23 Security Corner44:32 Gaming Quick Hits47:00 Monoprice DT-3BT desktop speaker review54:18 Picks of the Week1:02:33 Outro ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Lee Overstreet joins us while Tom is away this week. Monoprice’s Monolith Audition Series speakers look solid at low prices. And Epson’s EpiqVision LS300 & LS800 bring improvements over last year’s Ultra Short Throw projector models. Pictures shown in this episode:https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAduWt 00:00:00 – Intro & What We WatchedVisible progress in Rob’s apartment. And he watched […] The post AV Rant #832: New Bulb, Who Dis? appeared first on AV Rant.
Lee Overstreet joins us while Tom is away this week. Monoprice’s Monolith Audition Series speakers look solid at low prices. And Epson’s EpiqVision LS300 & LS800 bring improvements over last year’s Ultra Short Throw projector models. Pictures shown in this episode:https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAduWt 00:00:00 – Intro & What We WatchedVisible progress in Rob’s apartment. And he watched […] The post AV Rant #832: New Bulb, Who Dis? appeared first on AV Rant.
This week we spotlight some huge “desktop” speakers from Monoprice and take a look at why NFL fans want Youtube or Amazon Prime to pick up Sunday Ticket. We also give you some tips to keep your turntable in tip top shape. All that plus your emails and the week's news. News: This Year's Cheap Mini-LED 4K TVs Are A Dream Deal, Except For One Problem Broadcast And Cable TV Viewing Didn't Equal Streaming in September TiVo is making its case as a smart TV platform Other: Toronto audiofest Monolith by Monoprice MTM-100 100 Watt Bluetooth Powered Desktop Speakers Product spotlight The Monolith™ MTM Desktop Speakers (MSRP $499.99 direct from Monoprice) deliver stunning audiophile performance for your desktop! These speakers feature an accurate frequency response, exceptional sonic clarity, punchy, powerful bass, and present a spacious, and musical soundstage. Set up is a breeze: Connect easily through analog RCA and 3.5mm inputs or through the optical or USB digital inputs. Pair your device wirelessly using the Bluetooth® with Qualcomm® aptX™ HD Audio for high quality, CD audio level Bluetooth performance. A headphone jack adorns the front, allowing you to easily switch between the speakers and headphones. The Monolith MTM powered speakers are a perfect, great sounding addition to a home office, gaming, or bedroom system. 50 Watts per Speaker Flat Frequency Response (50Hz ~ 20kHz) Dual 4" Woofers per Speaker 1" Silk Dome Tweeter 5.25" Passive Radiator 45Hz-20Khz Frequency Response +/- 3db Bluetooth 5 with aptX HD Toslink Optical Input USB-C Input RCA & 3.5mm Inputs Subwoofer Output Front Headphone Jack Remote Control Dimensions (each) 6.3" x 14.0" x 7.9" (160 x 355 x 200 mm) Survey: Fans Hope YouTube or Amazon Win the NFL Sunday Ticket Bidding War Nearly two-thirds of NFL fans said they are most likely to subscribe to Sunday Ticket if it lands on either YouTube or Amazon Prime Video, according to a survey by The Streamable Full article… How to Clean a Record Needle for Perfect Playback We have talked about listening to music on vinyl lately and this prompted long time listener Stan to send in an article about cleaning your record needle for perfect playback. And with the Holliday's quickly approaching some of you may be thinking about buying a turntable for yourself as a present. So if you currently own a turntable or are thinking of buying one, we thought this may be of help to you. The following was taken from the Pro-Ject website. How a Dirty Turntable Stylus Impacts Sound Quality Clean record player needles help prevent playback issues. When dust interferes with the stylus reading the record grooves properly, you will hear a slight scratching or popping sound when you play the records. If you hear these sounds, it's time to inspect your record player's stylus to see if there is any visible build-up that's removable. When a stylus is dirty, you are more likely to hear the needle jump as it navigates the turntable. This is referred to as record skipping, and it can affect the sound of the music. Dust and grime will also cause additional wear on the stylus tip, which will be heard as you play your music. If you don't keep your stylus clean, it will wear down more quickly. In effect, a clean stylus will help you save money because you won't need to replace it as often. Tips to Follow when Cleaning a Turntable Needle Cleaning a record needle should be done once a week. If listening to records is somewhat infrequent, you will be able to clean the needle every other week instead. Most record player needles last for about 1,000 hours, so the first time you hear static during playback, it most likely only needs to be cleaned. When using a brush to clean the tip of the stylus, make sure that you brush in the direction that the record spins. This helps to ensure that the cantilever is not damaged during the cleaning. Even if your stylus looks clean, before playing a record, whether it's new or used, use an anti-static record brush to ensure no dust is hidden in the grooves that will transfer to the needle. When cleaning your stylus, use a cleaning solution to get a deeper clean when using a stylus brush. If you are uncomfortable using a stylus cleaning brush on the tip of the stylus, try using a stylus cleaning gel pad. This method may cost more, but it's an option that many feel is less abrasive than the brush bristles. You may have also read forums about cleaning record needles with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. To start, gently place a small piece of the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on the platter. These sponges can be purchased at any hardware store. It needs to be an all white pad because the blue ones are a bit more abrasive and could cause unwanted damage. Lower the tonearm down to touch the pad, and then raise it back up. Do this process about two to three times or until the debris is removed. Vinyl Records Cleaning and Proper Storage Helps Even if you clean your stylus every time you use your record player, there is a good chance that dust will transfer from your records unless you have clean vinyl as well. Cleaning records revitalizes them and gives you better sound during playback. We'll discuss cleaning records next week.
Monoprice expanded their Monolith THX Certified In-Wall Speaker lineup, and Amazon Prime Video finally updated their user interface. We get back to what we’ve watched over the past two weeks. And check out our interview with Jason Ehrlich, Sales Development Specialist, from Kinetics Noise Control, Inc. We delve into soundproofing and acoustic treatments: http://www.avrant.com/av-rant-817-interview-with-jason-ehrlich-from-kinetics-noise-control-inc/ Pictures shown […] The post AV Rant #818: Will We Recommend Flat Passive Subs? appeared first on AV Rant.
Pre-show: Two is one, one is none. Zoom F3 USBPre2 MixPre-3 Follow-up: Cleaning apps and “launch services” launchd Launch Control A hint more on Casey’s frivoLiss ethernet project Many recommendations for Monoprice slim 6A patch cables Jonathan Litt reminds us about fire stops PoE “medusa” cables exist, for USB-C and barrel plugs Why bother with ethernet at all? (via Andrew Larson) Millimeter-wave IPv6 Pi-Hole NAT On USB-C KVMs and the Studio Display (via Alex) Magic cable Demonstration (YouTube timestamp link) GSuite is now free for “personal use” Casey’s Fastmail referral link Apple Fitness+ “Studio Tour” iJustine Etalk KCAU-TV John on “filling your TV” Quinn Nelson’s Rivian and bad controls Quinn’s Instagram video (seek to 1h10m47s) 2001 Buick Apple Pre-Announces Accessibility Enhancements Shelly Brisbin’s take TextSniper ADB #askatp: Is there any bespoke music app for listening to concerts? (via Bill Steinbach) Live Phish Barrowclift’s iOS Music Player Showcase What Safari extensions are we running and recommend? (via Robert Bateau) John Safari Reload Button Safari Keyword Search Instapaper Downie Hush Fixarriffic NetNewsWire Marco 1Password 1Blocker Casey Noir (App Store link) StopTheMadness Super Agent Vinegar (App Store link) How does one remember how one enrolled in a service? (via Brian Hamilton) Ashley Bischoff’s idea Post-show: Casey’s Ethernet adventure continues Sponsored by: Squarespace: Make your next move. Use code atp for 10% off your first order. Trade Coffee: Incredible coffee delivered fresh from the best roasters in the nation. Get $30 off your first order. Linode: Instantly deploy and manage an SSD server in the Linode Cloud. New accounts get a $100 credit. Become a member for ad-free episodes and our early-release, unedited “bootleg” feed! Become a member!
Another week, another negligent podcasting job. Now, before you start pointing fingers, Brett wasn't available this week, so there was no one to mention Micro Center or Apple. Also, other excuses.The Ryzen 7 5800X3D is getting some air time, Intel ARC GPUs in South Korea, RX 6950 XT early listings and GDD6X memory bandwidth and our looks the some Monoprice BT headphones! Plus hospital software security fail and more!Timestamps:00:00 Intro00:44 Burger of the Week03:28 First AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D review (at TPU)19:07 Zen 4 is all about the OC23:21 Intel Arc laptops ARE available (in Korea)28:01 Podcast Sponsor: Kolide29:26 AMD Radeon RX 6950XT listed for sale early33:36 GDDR6X gets bigger, faster, and stronger34:45 Weird West39:39 A scary hospital robot42:07 Jeremy reviews Monoprice ANC headphones51:45 Picks of the Week59:34 Outro★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
This week Monoprice introduces three new THX Certified compact on-wall home theater speakers and we discuss Plex’s latest beta features that can help you navigate every streaming service you have. We also ask the question if all the content creation going on right now dilutes the quality of what we are watching. Plus we read your emails and discuss the week’s news.
This week Monoprice introduces three new THX Certified compact on-wall home theater speakers and we discuss Plex's latest beta features that can help you navigate every streaming service you have. We also ask the question if all the content creation going on right now dilutes the quality of what we are watching. Plus we read your emails and discuss the week's news. News: YOUTUBE TV ADDS 5 CHANNELS TO LINEUP AirPods security flaw could put some private data at risk HBO Max's Apple TV app gets a much-needed overhaul TP-Link's first WiFi 6E mesh system is available to order TCL's latest smart TVs boast 144HZ refresh rates, HDR10+ Other: 35mm cinema film and digital audio - by Nava Whiteford Michael J. Kohut - Wikipedia Michael J. Kohut Inventions, Patents and Patent Applications Monoprice Introduces three new THX Certified compact on-wall home theater speakers Monoprice has just added three THX certified on-wall home theater speakers to its popular Monolith line. The Monolith M-OW3 combines front left, center, and right channels into a single thin wall-mounted speaker. Each channel features a high-performance 4.5-inch concentric driver with an inset 20mm silk dome tweeter, an optimized waveguide, and two 4.5-inch passive radiators. Monoprice claims a flat frequency response from 70Hz to 20kHz and it has been THX Certified Select Certified. Sensitivity is 84.8dB with 4 ohms nominal impedance, five-way spring-loaded binding posts and keyhole slots on the back for easy wall mounting. The smaller Monolith M-OW1 speaker pair also uses the same drivers per unit. Ideally suited for use as front-, center- and surround-channel speakers. Lastly, the Monoprice's Monolith THX Certified Compact Satellite speaker pair. Monoprice bills them as a perfect solution for front left and right, height or surround channels, again featuring the same drivers. Though smaller in form factor than the other on-wall options, these cube shaped speakers have a flat frequency response down to 80Hz. All of the speakers are available immediately. The Monoprice Monolith M-OW3 is $500; the Monoprice Monolith M-OW1 also costs $500, and the Monoprice Monolith Compact Satellite speakers are $250 per pair Plex's latest beta features can help you navigate every streaming service you have Plex's latest beta features are a modern solution to a modern problem — having to search through HBO Max, Netflix, Disney Plus, and like, three other services to find something to watch. The company announced a new “Discover” feature, which aggregates and recommends content from various streaming services and a universal watchlist that gathers everything you want to watch all in one place. Full article here… State of Play The video streaming industry has reached a tipping point The amount of video programming today is staggering—and growing. As of February 2022, Gracenote, a Nielsen company, listed more than 817,000 unique program titles across U.S. traditional TV and streaming services, with many of those titles featuring hundreds of individual episodes and chapters. Back in December 2019, there were just over 646,000 unique program titles. While many of those titles form the bedrock of the traditional TV universe, more recent content, especially during the past two years, has been developed for over-the-top (OTT) release across the growing expanse of streaming services. And as choice proliferates, consumers will increasingly rely on content platforms and services to provide them with the content they're most interested in.
We talk about a system build with a receiver and speakers and (SVS) sub all for $2,000. Mission Speakers are also talked about. Dirac talked to Joe! Dirac with magic beans? Michael talks Home Theater tours in Florida! Anthem 90 processor? Is it worth it? Monoprice has a two 10" driver sub, and two 12" sub model, as well as the two 15" subs. Crowson bass actuators, are awesome and pricey and we talk about them! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/dailyhifi/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/dailyhifi/support
There's GTC coverage, Intel has got a new bag of tricks with their ATX PSU spec, and a nice review of the Monoprice IGZO Monitor, plus some DLSS and FSR2.0 talk. Check the topics below!Timestamps:00:00 Intro02:04 Burger of the Week03:44 NVIDIA Hopper at GTC 202210:07 Podcast Sponsor - Kolide11:31 AMD RSR and FSR 2.0 at GTC 202220:28 Intel's BIGGEST ATX Revision Since 2003!29:12 Podcast Sponsor - New Relic30:35 Jeremy Reviews a Monoprice IGZO Monitor45:38 A FAIRLY SPECIAL GUEST Appears (and then we talk about the Apple display)53:46 Picks of the Week1:02:30 Outro★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Chokes, scalloped potatoes, Monoprice amps, phase inverters, and more! It's the 88th episode of the Truth About Vintage Amps. This week's episode is sponsored by Jupiter Condenser Co., Amplified Parts and Grez Guitars. You can also use the discount code FRET10 to save 10% off your Izotope purchase and, if you head over to BED|STÜ shoes and use the discount code FRETXBS, you'll save 20% off your BED|STÜ order and help support the FJ. Support us on Patreon.com for added content and the occasional surprise. Some of the topics discussed this week: 2:31 Before you start charging people to fix amps... 5:57 RIP listener Bill Eldred; happy birthday, Clayton 7:04 John Vanderslice's new podcast, 'Keep the Dream Alive' 9:09 Skip's music recommendation: Brave Combo 10:24 economycandy.com for all your vintage candy needs 12:02 Live taping of the TAVA's 100th episode at the 2022 Fretboard Summit? (Chicago, August 25-27) 13:22 Skip sounds like Jerry Garcia, redux; Jerry Garcia Funny Story (YouTube link); what to do with a busted Monoprice Stage Right 15-watt, 12" combo? 20:35 How did Fender circuits get named? El Pato red enchilada sauce (in the big can) 24:36 Tweed Deluxe vs. Ampeg M-12, redux; replacement reverb tank for a Gibson Falcons (4FB3D1B) 27:02 Chokes: What are they, why and more? henrys; scalloped potatoes 34:34 A Cromwell lap steel and matching amp; pre-servicing an amp to clean out pests, etc. before you send it to a tech; more scalloped potatoes; Aleene's Tacky Glue 39:34 Recovering old cloth-covered wire; Otis Amps on the Sonic Artifacts Podcast 43:18 Boutique builders: Vintage 47 amps (link); Swart amps; Dr. Z; BC amps (link) 46:53 Kalamazoo Reverb 12 revisited; 5E3 vs. 6G3 (Deluxe) schematics 50:01 Phase inverters in the 6G3, 5E3 and Ampeg M-12 amps 51:02 A typewriter baffler from listener Bob K. 54:25 Phase issues with different sized speakers?; using a 9v battery to test the phase of a speaker; Nashville Amp Works 58:49 The Beginner's Corner for Tone Geeks, by Marty from the Oregon Coast; Sarno Music Solutions Earth Drive pedal (link); Neil Young's 'Live Rust'; non-alcoholic hoppy water 1:11:30 The Ampro combo amp revisited 1:15:33 Recommended reading: the Ampeg book, the Gibson amp book 1:16:54 The TAVA Angela Super Single Ended amp group build... happening soon (we hope)! 1:18:27 Simple recipes: Cast Iron Roast Chicken (link), Herb Salad (link); an Ampeg flip-top B-15 with replaced coupling capacitors; Cornell Dubilier capacitors, mylar versus polyester; Johnnie Taylor "It's Your Thing" 1:33:52 Recommended sources for good resistors and caps for new builds; Skip still has a TEAC a7010 reel-to-reel tape deck available 1:40:32 A circuit for weirdos: Epiphone EA-70 with tube compression 1:41:10 Recommended reading: Trustee from the Tool Room The Truth About Vintage Amps is hosted by amp tech Skip Simmons. Co-hosted and produced by the Fretboard Journal's Jason Verlinde. Email or send us a voice memo to: podcast@fretboardjournal.com or leave us a voicemail or text at 509-557-0848. And don't forget to share the show with friends.
We kick off with an Eternals movie review before tackling Netflix’ price hike, warning against updating your NVidia Shield right away, and another Monolith Series release from Monoprice. You’ll also want to stick around until the end for an impromptu venting session that lives up to our AV Rant name! Pictures shown in this episode:https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzz4Hr 00:00:00 […] The post AV Rant #791: Tom and Rob Disagree! appeared first on AV Rant.
Happy New Year! HDMI got a new spec. Monoprice got new Monolith Class-D amps. TCL got their Google TVs back on store shelves. And Rob got an Optimus Prime! Pictures shown in this episode:https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzwCdf 00:00:00 – Intro & Listeners of the Week Our Listeners of the Week are Bob, Billy, and Jason for their PayPal […] The post AV Rant #788: Roll Out! appeared first on AV Rant.
Tom reviews the Monolith M1070 planar magnetic, open-back headphones. Audyssey launched MultEQ-X. HDMI Licensing has declared HDMI 2.0 no longer exists. And we tackle a ton of questions. Packed show! Pictures shown in this episode:https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzvTt4 00:00:00 – Intro & Listeners of the WeekOur Listeners of the Week are Chad for his PayPal donation, plus our […] The post AV Rant #787: Monoprice Monolith M1070 Headphone Review appeared first on AV Rant.
Monoprice has a new affordable series of Monolith Encore speakers. And we go extra long this week to get to more of your home theater and AV questions! Pictures shown in this episode:https://flic.kr/s/aHsmX7QgJg 00:00:00 – Intro & Listeners of the Week Our Listeners of the Week are Jonathan and Gav for their PayPal donations, plus […] The post AV Rant #781: Dolby Circle of Hell appeared first on AV Rant.
Microsoft's fall 2021 Surface event is only a couple days away! Dan and Zac talk about what to expect, and what not to expect. They also celebrate the one year anniversary of Surface Duo, a new Windows 11 build, some review roundups, and Microsoft says your password sucks. Links: What to expect from Microsoft's fall 2021 Surface hardware event | Windows Central The Surface Pro 8 may have leaked, with 120hz display and Thunderbolt in tow | Windows Central Microsoft will let you say goodbye to your password in the name of security | Windows Central Surface Duo one year later: Slow progress, mixed bag | Windows Central Dell XPS 17 9710 review: 11th Gen Intel and RTX 3060 push this juggernaut laptop to new extremes | Windows Central Razer Huntsman V2 review: Refined, streamlined and still top of the tree | Windows Central Dark Matter by Monoprice 27-inch Gaming Monitor review: IGZO never looked so good for $350 | Windows Central Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22000.194 is here for the Beta Channel | Windows Central
We have a fantastic show for you today! Hisense announced what appears to be one of the best Ultra Short Throw Projectors on the market. We discuss Ara's experience with his and how this may be the one to replace your regular TV. Qualcomm has something for audiophiles with their AptX Lossless codec for CD Quality Sound Over Bluetooth. Finally we take a look at a $5 smart plug from monoprice. Who would have thought that you can start your home automation journey for $5. As usual we read your emails and news stories for the week. Hisense's new laser TV is pricey, but could prove its best home cinema experience yet Hisense has just announced its latest laser TV, the new L9G. In what promises to be a premium home entertainment device, the L9G TriChroma laser TV will use a 3000 Lumen ultra-short throw projection to create a razor-sharp and color-accurate image. Full article here Hisense L9G TV Series features 4K Ultra-Short Throw – Positioned just inches from the wall, the L9G Laser TV casts a massive image at beautiful 4K resolution. Up to 3.5x more screen than a 65” TV. TriChroma Laser Engine – The L9G uses pure red, green, and blue lasers to achieve new levels of color performance, reaching 107% of the BT.2020 color space. High Dynamic Range – With a brightness of 3000 Lumens, L9G's High Dynamic Range delivers incredible specular highlights and depth of color, to give every scene the stunning details it deserves. Smooth Motion – The Digital Micromirror Device reacts faster to movement than LED or OLED, creating motion that's smoother than any other type of display. MEMC Technology helps too, making fast-action in sports, movies, and games more fluid. DLP Technology Powered by Texas Instruments – The projection technology used in 9 out of 10 cinemas worldwide to create laser-focused detail is now available at home. Every piece of content feels like it's fresh from the theater. Long Lifespan – X-Fusion™ laser light technology provides up to 25,000+ hours of entertainment without the need of replacing a bulb – because there is none. Ambient Light Rejecting Screen – The included UST ALR screen is perfectly paired with the L9G projector to produce a color-accurate picture with incredible viewing angles and brightness uniformity. Dolby Atmos® – L9G's 40W Dolby Atmos sound reveals every detail of the audio mix with unparalleled clarity and depth. A high-speed HDMI port with eARC also allows pass-through so users can enjoy high bitrate audio through their home theater. Android TV OS – Android TV OS brings more than 5,000 apps and games to the biggest screen in the home. Watch live sports and news from popular channels or gather around to watch the hottest videos with 1,000+ Chromecast compatible apps. WiSA Ready – integrate your wireless multi-channel surround sound, the L9G is WiSA Ready. Smart Home Ready – Built-in WiFi, Google Assistant, Works with Alexa and Control4 certified, the L9G can integrate with smart home IoT devices and control systems. Eye-Safety (And Kid Resilient) – The L9G features a proximity sensor that shuts off the laser light source when a moving body gets too close. This protects the eyes and is also a great feature to stop the little ones from placing items on the laser console. Users also have the option to turn off the eye-safety feature. Qualcomm AptX Lossless Offers CD Quality Sound Over Bluetooth But It Won't Be Available On Existing Devices Qualcomm has done something nice for all the audiophiles who are still getting used to listening to music on Bluetooth headphones. The company has decided to announce the latest Bluetooth audio codec called the aptX Lossless. Full Article Here … Stitch Wifi Outlet One of our listeners, Tom, sent us an email a couple weeks ago alerting us to a really inexpensive smart home outlet made by Monoprice called “The Stitch”. This line has been around for at least a couple of years but this was the first we had heard of it. We purchased it for $5 but it's currently being sold for $8.50. The Stitch is a 10A Outlet that works with Alexa and Google Home and has an iOS and Android app. The outlet is really small and can be used anywhere and does not require a hub. Setup was a tale of two experiences. The first attempt resulted in nothing but frustration then ended with us giving up and thinking that the outlet was not working. So we set the outlet aside and went on with our day. Being stubborn and not being happy that a smart home device got the better of us, we tried again the following day. This time everything worked exactly as advertised and within seconds had the device connected to our network. Now that the outlet was functioning we were able to put it through its paces. To sum it up, it worked well. We were able to set up scenes and automations based on time of day, events, and timers. We liked the timers which could come in handy if you needed to set up a temporary automation. There is even a “Circulate” mode which turns on devices for configured durations at times defined by you. There is not much more that needs to be said about a $5 outlet so we will leave this here. If you are on Google Home or Alexa we highly recommend this outlet for your automation needs. If you are on HomeKit you can still use this in your home but more for standalone types of tasks like turning lights on and off at specific times. This device is the deal of the year for simple home automation. Beyond the outlet, Stitch has an entire line of home automation products. There is a five piece starter kit for $90 that includes: Smart LED Light Bulb Smart Outlet Door/Window Sensor Motion Sensor Water Sensor
Monoprice has some beefy new Monolith subwoofer models, and we read the Onkyo TX-RZ50 AV Receiver manual cover-to-cover so you don’t have to. 00:00:00 – Intro & Listeners of the Week Our Listeners of the Week are Raf for hid PayPal donation, plus our 131 Patreon Patrons. We also want to thank Andrew for giving Tom […] The post AV Rant #769 – Morally Questionable Generator appeared first on AV Rant .
Milap Neupane joins the Rogues to talk about how to know how robust your Rails apps are. Sometimes you forget to optimize database queries or network calls for performance during development, which impact the load that the application can support and when its performance begins to degrade. Milap breaks down how to determine where these moments occur and what to do to get better performance from your applications. Panel John Epperson Luke Stutters Valentino Stoll Guest Milap Neupane Sponsors Dev Influencers Accelerator Raygun | Click here to get started on your free 14-day trial Links Load Test Your Rails Apps with Apache JMeter Building, Testing and Deploying AWS Lambda Functions in Ruby Apache JMeter™ Milap Neupane Blog LinkedIn: milap neupane Twitter: Milap Neupane ( @_milap ) Picks John- Which test framework should I learn, RSpec or Minitest? John- Monoprice Luke- Apache Web Server Hardening and Security Guide Luke- Agile is Dead • Pragmatic Dave Thomas • GOTO 2015 Milap- Gophercises Milap- lofi.cafe Valentino- Effective Data Synchronization between Rails Microservices - Austin Story Valentino- GitHub | amancevice/yake Valentino- Asynchronous Background Processing for Ruby or Rails using AWS Lambda Extensions. Contact Valentino: Doximity Technology Blog Work @ Doximity GitHub: Valentino Stoll ( codenamev ) Twitter: V ( @thecodenamev )
Milap Neupane joins the Rogues to talk about how to know how robust your Rails apps are. Sometimes you forget to optimize database queries or network calls for performance during development, which impact the load that the application can support and when its performance begins to degrade. Milap breaks down how to determine where these moments occur and what to do to get better performance from your applications. Panel John Epperson Luke Stutters Valentino Stoll Guest Milap Neupane Sponsors Dev Influencers Accelerator Raygun | Click here to get started on your free 14-day trial Links Load Test Your Rails Apps with Apache JMeter Building, Testing and Deploying AWS Lambda Functions in Ruby Apache JMeter™ Milap Neupane Blog LinkedIn: milap neupane Twitter: Milap Neupane ( @_milap ) Picks John- Which test framework should I learn, RSpec or Minitest? John- Monoprice Luke- Apache Web Server Hardening and Security Guide Luke- Agile is Dead • Pragmatic Dave Thomas • GOTO 2015 Milap- Gophercises Milap- lofi.cafe Valentino- Effective Data Synchronization between Rails Microservices - Austin Story Valentino- GitHub | amancevice/yake Valentino- Asynchronous Background Processing for Ruby or Rails using AWS Lambda Extensions. Contact Valentino: Doximity Technology Blog Work @ Doximity GitHub: Valentino Stoll ( codenamev ) Twitter: V ( @thecodenamev )
Milap Neupane joins the Rogues to talk about how to know how robust your Rails apps are. Sometimes you forget to optimize database queries or network calls for performance during development, which impact the load that the application can support and when its performance begins to degrade. Milap breaks down how to determine where these moments occur and what to do to get better performance from your applications. Panel John Epperson Luke Stutters Valentino Stoll Guest Milap Neupane Sponsors Dev Influencers Accelerator Raygun | Click here to get started on your free 14-day trial Links Load Test Your Rails Apps with Apache JMeter Building, Testing and Deploying AWS Lambda Functions in Ruby Apache JMeter™ Milap Neupane Blog LinkedIn: milap neupane Twitter: Milap Neupane ( @_milap ) Picks John- Which test framework should I learn, RSpec or Minitest? John- Monoprice Luke- Apache Web Server Hardening and Security Guide Luke- Agile is Dead • Pragmatic Dave Thomas • GOTO 2015 Milap- Gophercises Milap- lofi.cafe Valentino- Effective Data Synchronization between Rails Microservices - Austin Story Valentino- GitHub | amancevice/yake Valentino- Asynchronous Background Processing for Ruby or Rails using AWS Lambda Extensions. Contact Valentino: Doximity Technology Blog Work @ Doximity GitHub: Valentino Stoll ( codenamev ) Twitter: V ( @thecodenamev ) Special Guest: Milap Neupane .
1000 Episodes in Review It's our 1000th episode so we thought it would be fun to go down memory lane. It has been so much fun getting to know all of you. Some we know well and have developed personal relationships with. Others came and went as things in their lives changed. To Industry members, thank you for your support! To our listeners, thank you for subscribing, downloading and listening to our show. It's because of you that we are here today and will be here tomorrow! There was a big gap in our records between 2005 and 2007. We switched to Google Docs in 2007 and have been able to keep everything we wrote archived there. But from memory some highlights were: We became the official podcast of AVS Forum and were introduced to members at their CES Party We had an affiliation with HDTV Magazine Met Mark Cuban (owner of HDNet at the time) and Interviewed the President of Syntax-Brillian at the HDTV Conference in Beverly Hills Dolby Flew us to San Francisco to demo some of their projects they were working on. While there we recorded two shows of their now defunct Dolby podcast Oppo and Monoprice were big supporters of the show early on as was Olevia TVs Sonos - The first real product we reviewed on the show back in 2005 A few of our day job colleagues mocked us for doing a podcast. LOL jokes on them HT Guys TV Tech Timeline Braden (Sony CRT...) -> Panasonic Plasma 480p EDTV -> JVC LCoS 1080p Rear Projection -> Epson 1080p Projector(s) -> (Lots of 4k TCLs) -> Sony 4k LED Ara RCA CRT -> Samsung DLP-> Panasonic Plasma-> JVC Projector-> Vizio 4K TV Optoma UST Reviews of all the Rear Projection TVs from 2007 - JVC HD-61FN97 61" HD-ILA Our bottom line at the time - The JVC HD-61FN97 is an excellent value. It looks great, does a wonderful job with HD content, a great job with DVDs and a pretty good job with standard definition TV. Blacks are good, contrast is solid, colors are excellent and detail is vivid. We try to look for great values to help you (and us for that matter) get a little more out of each hard earned dollar. You'd be hard pressed to find a better looking 61" TV at its price. At an online street price of $2125 this is an awesome TV for the money. It really helps bring the big screen home. Our first mention of home automation was in March of 2007. We wrapped up our discussion with - One day home automation will be standard. We'll wonder what people ever did without them. But for now your options are somewhat limited. You can spend a lot of money to get it custom built and done just right, with a system like Crestron, AMX or Control4, or you can try to put it together yourself if you don't mind the occasional hiccup that comes with a home made system. This can be one of the most fun home projects you've ever worked on. And it lasts forever - it's the gift that just keeps on giving. Our earliest “Kaleidescape Killer” comment was also in 2007 when we showcased a $2500 Linux based machine with full DVR and DVD server capabilities. The company was called Interact-TV and they are no longer in business. Our Top Ten shows in HD from 2007: Ara: American Idol (Fox) Dancing with the Stars (ABC) Football/Basketball/Sports Center/Etc on ESPN Planet Earth/Sunrise Earth (Discovery HD Theater) Lost (ABC) CSI Miami (CBS) CSI (CBS) Bikini Destinations (HD Net) Heroes (NBC) NHL Hockey on HD Net Braden: The Unit (CBS) Las Vegas (NBC) Numb3rs (CBS) Monday Night Football (ESPN) Lakers Basketball on KCAL 24 (Fox) I Shouldn't Be Alive (Discovery HD) Destination HD (Discovery HD) Planet Earth (Discovery HD) CSI Miami (CBS) SlingMedia VS Major League Baseball Issue: Slingboxes infringe on the local cable company's right to broadcast the content. Interactive TV Still not a thing DVDpedia In an attempt to build a video server or “Kaleidescape Killer” out of a Mac Mini Ara used DVDpedia to catalog and display album art and id3 data about his library. It worked OK but was quickly abandoned for Boxee and then eventually Plex. Plex is indeed the Kaleidescape Killer! Vudu Movie Download Set Top Box ($399) - October 2007 What we liked: High quality movies on demand Large selection with more coming every week Easy to use remote and easy menu navigation Up and running in five minutes What we disliked: No lease option to defray $400 entry price Not a large selection of Dolby 5.1 Downloads interfered with VOIP telephone service Bottom Line: This is the best home video on demand system the HT Guys have seen. The video quality is first rate! The user interface is clean and simple. You will have the system up and running in no time. All of this is with the initial release of the system software. With more movie releases coming, HD, external storage, and new software updates this product will only get better. At $400 for the Vudu box its not for everyone, but you will get a very good video on demand system for the investment. HDDVD - Bluray - a comparison Conclusion Blu-ray clearly has an advantage in specs, higher storage capacity and higher maximum bitrate. HD-DVD seems to hold the edge in "market readiness" if that's a real term. All the features you want were required in the spec from the beginning, so you know your player supports it. Man it would be nice if the studios would create discs in both formats so we didn't have to buy two players... Netflix Watch Instantly Technology Minimum Requirements Computer running Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or higher, or Windows Vista Internet Explorer version 6 or higher Windows Media Player version 11 (DRM version 5145) or later An active broadband connection to the Internet 1.0 GHz processor 512 MB RAM 3 GB free hard disk drive space Recommended in addition to minimum requirements An active broadband Internet connection of at least 1.5 Mbps 1.5 GHz processor 1 GB RAM The Death of Rear Projection TVs - Jan 2008 Harmony One Universal Remote - As with any Harmony remote, the One is a great choice for your home theater. It's new, sexy and easy to use. The touchscreen is cool and the larger buttons make it a bit easier to use. But overall it doesn't represent a huge departure from the 880. Of course we're gadget freaks, so we'll both be using them, but if you want to save some money, the 880 remains a great option. Bang for the buck, the 880 is still probably the way to go. For the coolness factor, the One is where it's at. Mobile Digital TV Standard - Although ATSC 3.0 has a provision for this most people are just using IPTV over the Cell Networks Orb Speaker Review - we did a review of these cool spherical speakers that sounded pretty good at the time. The cost for a 5.1 system was $1597 in June of 2008. The company is still around and today you can get an improved 5.1 system for $740. Is TidalTV the Next Big Thing? - a new service that mimics the Cable or Satellite experience over the Internet. So the answer is No and Yes! This was in 2008 Popcorn Hour A-100 Review Not a week goes by that we don't hear something about the Popcorn Hour A-100 network media player. We tried relentlessly to get a demo unit for review, but to no avail. Finally, slightly weary but committed whole-heartedly to the show, Ara decided to pony up the cash and purchase one. It arrived last week and we got a chance to play with it. All in all, not a bad little unit. If you want an inexpensive network media player that can play anything, the Popcorn Hour is the best we've seen so far. It requires some IT expertise to get it up and running and to use it on a day-to-day basis, but it works like a champ. Even streaming 1080p HD content over the network looked good, granted it was all that was happening on the network at the time, but it still looked good. If you want something with a little more visual appeal, stick with AppleTV, the PS3 or the Xbox 360 (or Vudu when it adds local network playback). But all of those options are a bit more expensive and not quite as flexible. Vudu HDX Movies Black Friday Roundup 2008 Panasonic Viera 50" 720p Plasma HDTV 899.99 min 10 per store Sony 40" 1080p LCD HDTV & Sony Blu-Ray Player Bundle (Model # KDL40V4100 and BDPS350) - $1,199.98 Sony Blu-ray Player (BDP-S350) -- $179 (with a firmware upgrade and a 1 GB USB stick this will be come BD Live Compliant) Mitsubishi 65" Home Theater 1080p DLP HDTV (Model # WD65735) - $1,199.99 IPTV - Can it replace Cable and Satellite? Note- This was us just talking about the subject LONG (2009) before it was even dreamed of in it's current state - If you had to, you could cut the cord between you and your cable company and not miss a beat. But in reality if you won't have the same video quality. The other thing to consider is that the Cable or Satellite box has an simple well understood interface. Connecting a computer to the TV requires using a keyboard and a mouse and there are no channel numbers. You'll have to bookmark your sites. Companies like Apple, Netflix and Boxee are all trying to provide a ten foot interface that is Grandma proof but we still have a ways to go. Finally, cable companies are not going to be happy with subscribers that watch a lot of Internet streamed content. So even if the quality improved you may not be able to stream a months worth of TV into your home. If you are a light TV watcher that is computer savvy then you may be able to cut the cable cord completely. But in actually, for most of us, IPTV is a good way to augment what we already have. If you are on the road you can watch something on your terms. If you forget to record something then its a great backup. Its also a great way to watch old TV shows that are no longer aired. What if AppleTV Replaced my DVR? The concept at this point in time was to buy subscriptions to your favorite TV show. But as we see today, that's not even required. Plus we now have boxes from Apple, Google, Amazon and Roku. It's safe to say that the AppleTV type STBs have replaced the DVR Zune HD The Zune HD is a powerful portable media device. It has a beautiful OLED screen, small form factor, smooth touch screen menus, and wonderful 720p output to a TV. However, for Microsoft to steal some iPod users, more apps and video content need to be available in the Zune Marketplace. The Zune HD has solid hardware that is almost as sexy as the iPod. What would make this device perfect for a home theater would be Hulu and Netfilx support. Microsoft has also stated that they will release games for the Zune HD, since Xbox Live and the Zune Marketplace already seem to be linked, the possibility of it being a good portable gaming device are great. The Zune HD is a solid device. With future updates it may take a run at the iPod's dominance in the market. RedEye Universal Remote Control (MSRP $190) 2010 - This remote eliminated the need to be in the same room with your gear and will work with your iPod Touch or iPhone. LED TV Technology was just coming on the scene in 2010 Quartics(2010) Quartics Inc. is a semiconductor company based in Irvine, CA, with offices in India, China and Taiwan. Quartics was formed in 2003 to focus on semiconductor architecture for video-based media, aiming to overcome a raft of modern digital challenges. To date, the company has been granted 10 patents, with 40 pending, in media processing architecture, video and graphics processing and QoS algorithms. We don't know if these patents were sold or even used. But the company does not seem to be in business any longer Life|ware Today as part of our ongoing series on home automation we discuss Life|ware. Life|ware™ is software developed by Exceptional Innovation that allows you to seamlessly merge control of your home along with your world of digital entertainment. Life|ware lets you control your home through your TV with a Media Center PC, Media Center Extender or Xbox 360™, from your home or office PC or notebook, or from a Life|point touch screen. You can even use your iPhone or iPod Touch and iPad as a Life|ware client with full two-way functionality. One of the biggest draws to Life|ware is that it works with numerous third party devices. Life|Ware provides bridges to lighting, HVAC, Media and more. The system will go from IP to IR, RF, or RS-232. Life|ware is OS agnostic as well. The control software will run on Windows, Mac OS, and LINUX machines. But if you don't want to mess with loading the software on your own equipment Life|Ware sells a complete line of home automation controllers, servers, and bridges. We can't find a trace of this company any longer. It may have been sold or merged Are High End Audio/Video Retailers a Dying Breed? “If the AV business cannot more clearly illustrate why specialty audio is in fact special, then expect more stores and regional chains to fold in the coming months even as the economy improves, simply perhaps fueled by the fact that mainstream home theater gear is just too good.“ Crystal LED HDTV Technology So when can I have one and how much will it cost? Sony isn't answering any of these questions. Our hunch is that it will cost about what an OLED TV will cost. And if Sony wants this technology to have a chance it needs to come out at about the same time as OLED. We know that Samsung will be releasing their OLEDs in the second half of the year. Our prediction is that you will be able to buy a Crystal LED TV from Sony by the summer of 2013 and it will run about $6,000. The best we can tell is that this tech never made it into consumer TVs. Sony still has a page dedicated to it but more in the commercial side of it's business. Revolv Home Automation Hub 1/2013 The beginning of the “Year of Automation” The best we can tell is that Revolv was bought by Nest and lives on in their products Conclusion When we first learned about a device that could unify all the various home automation and control devices out there we were sceptical. But after putting the Revolv Home Automation Hub through its paces, we can say, yes you can control everything regardless who makes it. Well maybe not everything yet. But we are sure the engineers at Revolv are working diligently to make that happen! Is a 7.1 System Worth it? Bottom Line - A properly installed 7.1 system with 7.1 content will take your home theater to the next level. You will definitely be able to hear a difference, especially with good content like the movie Super 8 . However, if you are not watching Blu-rays or your room doesn't support proper placement of the rear surround channels, a better approach would be to upgrade your 5.1 system or just save the money. This was from 2013. Consistent with our ATMOS recommendations too Netflix SuperHD (6/2013) Netflix SuperHD claims to provide superior 1080p video quality for the same price as regular streaming. But not everyone is eligible. Requirements Netflix Super HD requires an internet connection with at least 5Mb/s download. Not all devices can play Super HD. Super HD is only available via Internet Providers that are part of the Open Connect network. Supported devices include Sony PlayStation 3, Apple TV with 1080p, Roku with 1080p, Nintendo Wii U, Windows 8 App, TiVo Premiere DVR Blu-Ray Players, Smart TV's, Home Theaters, and Streaming Players with existing Netflix 1080p support Bottom Line Netflix is really pushing the streaming frontiers and they have come a long way. We can now sit on our couch on any given evening and find a high quality movie at a moment's notice. We anxiously await the day when we will be able to stream Blu-ray quality movies whenever we want. From what we have seen that day is not too far away! Is Blu-ray a Dead Format? Also from 6/2013 Ask anyone who knows something about home theater what is the highest quality audio and video available to mere mortals today and they will tell you Blu-ray. Blu-ray video is stunning and the audio is simply amazing. But we don't have to tell you that. So does Blu-ray have a future? The following are some reasons why Blu-ray may not be around for too much longer. . . . Time to Bury Blu-ray? Its probably too early to put the last nail in the Blu-ray coffin right now. There needs to be one or two more paradigm shifts before Blu-ray goes away. The first is the studios realizing that DRM is more hassle than it is worth. Once this hurdle is crossed in-store Kiosks or online downloads will soar. Prices will come down and the world will be saved from all that plastic being created. The second is a jump in online speeds. Once gigabit Internet is ubiquitous there will be a shift to storing content in online lockers and again the world will be saved. The big question is when? Based on what we are seeing we are betting on within 5 years. ZyXEL 500 Mb/s Fast Ethernet Powerline Wall-Plug Adapter We reviewed almost a dozen powerline Ethernet adapters. They never achieved their advertised speeds, but they did work and depending on what you needed them to do they were an excellent solution. However, with faster mesh network Wifi it's not really a thing any longer. Aereo In April of 2014 we interviewed a broadcaster who opposed our stance on Aero's business plan. He felt Aero was making money off of the local broadcasters. We felt Aero was providing a service to allow us the viewer to watch our local stations. The Courts agreed with the broadcaster. But today we have Locast. And so far they have been in business for a couple of years. SmartThings Home Automation Hub And so continues the many years of “The Year of Automation”. This was before Samsung bought the company. A full year after we kicked off the “Year of Automation” Pono Player (1/2015) Neil Young's "high resolution" PonoPlayer is on sale for $400. PonoPlayer, a triangular portable music player that promises only the highest of fidelities. We were Skeptics from the beginning: The point is that you don't need fancy hardware to make music sound good, and that no amount of hardware will make your ears hear better than the limits of biology and physics. Ara's first DIY Speaker project was in Jan 2015 Axiim Q Wireless Home Theater System 2/2016 The first Wisa system we reviewed. We are happy to say it's still around today! Conclusion Many of our listeners have asked us to recommend wireless solutions for their home theater over the years. We have tested and rejected all but a few and the acceptable solutions still required some speaker wire from an external amp. Not exactly wireless! The Axiim Q Wireless Home Theater System is the first one that delivers on the promise of a truly wireless system that is simple to install, looks fantastic and sounds great! We hate having to send it back! It would be so easy to bring 5.1 to your master bedroom that we are seriously thinking about buying one! What is HDR? (4/2016) To Sum it Up Getting the best picture from an HDR TV will require HDR content. To guarantee your TV will support HDR look for the “Ultra HD Premium” label. If you really want a UHD TV that does not have the “Ultra HD Premium” label buy a TV that has or comes close to 1000 nits brightness. HDR from cable, satellite, and OTA are still a bit off. We will stop here in 2016 because we'll save some for the next 1000 shows. Along the way we have had dozens of interviews, product reviews, buying guides, and lists that were not mentioned in this episode. Some weeks we struggled to come up with show ideas, some weeks we had too many. But we always managed to have a show ready for your Friday morning commute.
从蓝牙头戴聊到了荒岛耳机。设计，声音，舒适度，这些都想要；RPT-01 哪个都不够好，为什么还值得夸这么久？如果你喜欢我们的节目，欢迎在你收听的平台留言参与互动；转发与分享是对我们最大的支持。如果你想用最直接的方法支持「声波飞行员」，可以在「爱发电」搜索并为我们打赏，增加它继续飞行下去的动力，谢谢。[00:00:03] BGM#1. Sparks - The Existential Threat[00:02:22] 节目开始；我们都用头戴式的蓝牙耳机；非大众的产品需求；TWS 与口罩互斥吗；孟获不看NBA；[00:06:47] 振宇热爱BOSE；对于BOSE QCE 的不同印象；[00:16:50] 关于Beats Solo Pro；[00:18:24] 说到「蓝牙模块」；Fiio BTR5 与Qudelix 5000；[00:34:14] Oriolus DPS-L2 的笑话和吐槽；[00:35:35] BGM#2. Syd Barrett - Baby Lemonade[00:37:40] 孟获发问时间：各位理想的蓝牙头戴耳机是什么样子；继续撺掇振宇买Drop x THX Panda；[00:46:56] 无线版Sennheiser hd25 的制作过程；Monoprice 这个神奇牌子；[00:52:10] 回到Adidas RPT-01；有理想永远是好的；BOSE 的创新精神体现二例：肩扛音箱Soundware 和蓝牙眼镜Frames；被嫌弃的Koss；[00:58:49] BGM#3. ゆらゆら帝国 - 冷たいギフト[00:59:25] 结束语；无奖竞猜一则。#联合飞行：der糕@TestV / 振宇@无业游民#飞行员：包雪龙 / 孟获
Welcome to Episode 99 Main Topic Automated Mitigation https://docs.aws.amazon.com/wellarchitected/latest/reliability-pillar/design-your-workload-to-withstand-component-failures.html Announcements Patreon Update: 21 patrons, $95/month Nicholas Andrew Tatro rootisgod Bruce Robert Matt David S0l3mn Trooper_Ish LinuXsys666 gimpyb Mark DeMentor Jon Marc Julius Andi J Charles 22532 Folks are falling into the new Tiers, Thank you! Get your Iron Sysadmin Merch at Teespring! https://teespring.com/stores/ironsysadmin Upcoming guest : Alex from the Self Hosted Podcast. Reviews Charles on Apple Podcasts - I enjoy listening to you all. Please keep it up.
从蓝牙头戴聊到了荒岛耳机。设计，声音，舒适度，这些都想要；RPT-01 哪个都不够好，为什么还值得夸这么久？如果你喜欢我们的节目，欢迎在你收听的平台留言参与互动；转发与分享是对我们最大的支持。如果你想用最直接的方法支持「声波飞行员」，可以在「爱发电」搜索并为我们打赏，增加它继续飞行下去的动力，谢谢。[00:00:03] BGM#1. Sparks - The Existential Threat[00:02:22] 节目开始；我们都用头戴式的蓝牙耳机；非大众的产品需求；TWS 与口罩互斥吗；孟获不看NBA；[00:06:47] 振宇热爱BOSE；对于BOSE QCE 的不同印象；[00:16:50] 关于Beats Solo Pro；[00:18:24] 说到「蓝牙模块」；Fiio BTR5 与Qudelix 5000；[00:34:14] Oriolus DPS-L2 的笑话和吐槽；[00:35:35] BGM#2. Syd Barrett - Baby Lemonade[00:37:40] 孟获发问时间：各位理想的蓝牙头戴耳机是什么样子；继续撺掇振宇买Drop x THX Panda；[00:46:56] 无线版Sennheiser hd25 的制作过程；Monoprice 这个神奇牌子；[00:52:10] 回到Adidas RPT-01；有理想永远是好的；BOSE 的创新精神体现二例：肩扛音箱Soundware 和蓝牙眼镜Frames；被嫌弃的Koss；[00:58:49] BGM#3. ゆらゆら帝国 - 冷たいギフト[00:59:25] 结束语；无奖竞猜一则。#联合飞行：der糕@TestV / 振宇@无业游民#飞行员：包雪龙 / 孟获
Whole House Audio Journey with the Chromecast for Listener Matt As a teenager growing up in the 80's I had a subscription to Audio Video Interiors magazine. I would marvel at these huge custom home theaters with in-floor console CRT Runco projectors and AMX or Crestron controls. Fast forward past the Beastie Boys cassettes and Van Halen CDs, once MP3s hit the scene and you could store vast amounts of music on a computer, I was cobbling together homemade systems connecting computers to amps around the house. Then Google Chromecast and their Chromecast Audio ‘puck' came to market. I purchased an AudioSource ‘auto-power' on Amp from Amazon, plugged the Chromecast Audio into the RCA jacks and I could pull up music on my phone and cast to the amp from anywhere in the house and it would turn itself on and just play. In the early 2010's if you were hosting a party and you just pulled out your phone, hit play and all the speakers in the house kicked on, it was like magic. But that was just one amp with a Niles 6 zone speaker selector. What if you have multiple rooms and amps that you want to tie together? Google announced that they were creating the concept of a Speaker Group, where you could add multiple chromecast devices into a group and sync them together. This I thought was going to be the Holy Grail of whole house audio, no more amps everywhere just get an AndroidTV with Chromecast, add a good soundbar / sub and then when you have a house party, use the Speaker Group to sync all the rooms. I also have an Onkyo amplifier with Chromecast built in which you could also add to the Speaker Group. I got all of this to work, I have a game room with a Hisense Android TV and soundbar, the main living area Onkyo with builtin Chromecast, and an Audiosource amp with Chromecast Audio dongle for outside. (Quick side note, my love to Monoprice, they have an in ground subwoofer with 4 satellite speakers that sounds great and passes the outdoor Decorating Committee standards). I put the Game Room Hisense TV, Onkyo with builtin Chromecast, and the Chromecast Audio into one speaker group called “Whole House” and it was amazing.... until it wasn't. You see, while Google likes to ‘give-th' Google will also ‘take-th' away when they feel like it. Suddenly things started dropping out of the Speaker Group, I couldn't see my Onkyo anymore, the HisenseTV was gone. As a software engineer I dug down in my bug hunting skills but could not find anything different in my network that had changed. Until someone posted a discussion in Reddit from a Google Tech (yes someone actually found a Google Help Desk person) that read: It appears that Google is no longer going to support Speaker Groups with third party hardware. While you can individually cast something to the Hisense TV or the Onkyo amp, you can no longer put them together in a group to play the same music. I was so angry and frustrated that Google had removed a feature that worked, I almost jumped over the fence into the Apple walled garden... until I realized it would cost $800 for 4 AppleTVs... which is more than a 75” Hisense TV. So I bought another Chromecast Audio dongle off Ebay for $50 (the full retail price in 2015), hooked it up to the Onkyo and I'm somewhat back in business, other than having to manually turn on the Onkyo. But it's sad that I had to purchase a discontinued device to get everything to work the way I wanted. I know there are lots of options, the Apple-verse, Amazon Fire world, Sonos. The problem I find is that once you have invested so much into one eco-system, it is so hard to switch out. Locast2Plex A couple of weeks ago we received two emails from listeners asking if we had tried locast2plex. Locast2plex turns your locast account into a virtual tuner for your Plex Server. We thought, fantastic! However, it's not as simple as turning on a setting and bam you're done. There is some heavy lifting that needs to be done. We go through the steps. This is not an instructional segment but more of an inventory of what you need to do if you want this capability for your Plex server. Before we get into the steps you might ask what does this get you? Good question! There are two selling points for going through this somewhat complicated process. First, it allows you to record all your locast local channels using the Plex DVR and second, it gives you access to your locast local channels anywhere you have an Internet connection. There is a third reason as well. ALL the locals from your area come in and they never fade based on atmospheric conditions. Step 1) You need to download the locast2plex script from github. The “code” comes as a zip file that contain configurations and other files needed to run as a python script. You will need to have an always on computer that is running the script. This is what actually simulates a physical tuner. Step 2) designate an always computer to host the script. We chose an $35 RaspberryPi. They are quiet and barely use any energy. We are not discussing the setup of a RaspberryPi in this post. But you can buy them preconfigured from Amazon for less than $50. Step 3) uncompress the zip file. We renamed the folder to locast2plex for simplicity Step 4) update the file config_example.ini with your locast user settings. Then change the name of this file to config.ini. You will also need to know the ip address of the computer hosting the script. We updated our router to always give our hosting computer the same ip address. If you don't do this you will need to update config.ini each time the hosting computer gets a new ip address. In config.ini update the ip address of the host computer. Step 5) Open up a terminal window and navigate to the locast2plex directory. Then run the following command python3 main.py. That starts everything and downloads the channels. If you are successful you will see “Locast2Plex is now online”. Do not close this window or your tuner will stop working. From here we move to your computer that is running your Plex Server. Step 6) On your server you will need to add the locast2plex tuner. There is a LiveTV & DVR setting under the MANAGE section of the server settings. Here you will add the tuner. You will have to manually input the ip address of your host computer and be sure to append a :6077 to it so Plex knows which port to find it at Step 7) input your local information, country, zipcode etc. This will allow plex to download the channel guides for your area Step 8) watch! This is pretty complex to do if you are not comfortable with computers. As stated before it's nice to be able to watch every channel and record them as well. The quality is decent but not as good as the IPTV streamers. Still having access to your locals while on vacation is a plus. Locast only costs you a $5 a month donation and Plex is free. So you have nothing to lose.
1:31:59 – We’ve avoided discussing Audio Science Review. But the time has finally come. And our take might not be what you’d expect. Our Listeners of the Week are Kevin for his PayPal donation, plus our 126 Patreon Patrons, as well as Infinite Gary for talking us up to Monoprice, and Dale for telling VideoSecu we […] The post AV Rant #742: ASR Flame ON! (Audio Science Review Rant) appeared first on AV Rant.
Paul gets a standing desk. Drew didn't mess up his computer this week (sort of). Drew gets some new board games (but doesn't have anyone to play with) and the boys talk about some new/re-releases that they're itching to play. Paul has an encounter with a math teacher. Recorded 01/21/2021 Show Links Workstream by Monoprice Sit-Stand Dual-Motor Height Adjustable Table Desk Frame Workstream by Monoprice 3-piece Desktop for Motorized and Manual-Crank Height Adjustable Desks, White UPLIFT Standing Desk NTE Electronics 3/4" Split Loom Cable Organizer 10' Cable Box Inland Cable Clips 6 PK NZXT Kraken Z73 NZXT H710i Castles of Mad King Ludwig Collector's Edition Rococo Deluxe
Our Holiday gift guide series wraps up with a little different format and picks from Kirk McElhearn, Elle Newman, and Mike Schmitz. We find out what a “fiber artist" is, talk about some interesting foods, and a wide-ranging selection of apps, among other great gift ideas. This edition of MacVoices is supported by MacVoices Magazine, our free magazine on Flipboard, helps you do more with your Apple tech. Show Notes: Links: Kirk McElhearn’s picks: Modernist Bread Modernist BreadCrumbs podcast Lego Empire State Building Lego Roman Coliseum MacBook Air A Week with the New Apple M1 MacBook Air (Kirk McElhearn on the Intego Mac Security Blog) Tudor face masks Elle Newman’s picks: UHF Wireless Microphone System Headset Mic/Stand Mic/Lavalier Lapel Mic with Rechargeable Bodypack Transmitter & Receiver Kobo eReaders KnitPicks Nerd Sock Yarn Club Membership Crafty Housewife Yarns & Fiber Arts Community Literati Book Clubs Mike Schmitz’ picks: Positive Grid Spark Guitar Amplifier, Electric, Bass and Acoustic Guitar 40-Watt Combo Amp Hidrate Spark Steel Smart Water Bottle Keychron K8 Wireless Bluetooth/USB Wired Mechanical Keyboard, Tenkeyless 87 Keys RGB LED Backlit Gateron Brown Switch N-Key Rollover Capisco Ergonomic Office Chair with Saddle Seat Satechi 7-Port USB Charging Station Dock Monoprice 1.5-Feet USB 2.0 A Male to B Male 28/24AWG Cable (Gold Plated) Chuck’s pick: Eve Water Guard - Apple HomeKit Smart Home Water Leak Detector Parallel’s Toolbox MacScan 3 by SecureMac Malwarebytes Support: Become a MacVoices Patron on Patreon http://patreon.com/macvoices Enjoy this episode? Make a one-time donation with PayPal Connect: Web: http://macvoices.com Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/chuckjoiner http://www.twitter.com/macvoices Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/chuck.joiner MacVoices Page on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/macvoices/ MacVoices Group on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/macvoice LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuckjoiner/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chuckjoiner/ Subscribe: Audio in iTunes Video in iTunes Subscribe manually via iTunes or any podcatcher: Audio: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesrss Video: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesvideorss
Samsung nixes modularity to make MicroLED TV consumer-ready A few years ago Samsung unveiled The Wall, a huge display that was more billboard than home entertainment. Now the company is bringing the technology behind it, MicroLED, to consumer-ready TVs – although we'd imagine it's still too much for most consumers to handle. Full article here... 5.1 Speaker Buying Guide In our last buying guide of 2020 we take a look at speaker systems. For this list we are looking at a 5.1 setup which will be more than what 90% of our listeners need. If you are in the other 10% who wants more, all these speakers can easily be upgraded to a 7.1 or 5.1.2 system for a few dollars more. Entry System All our guides this year have started with an entry level system. In years past our entry speakers cost around $400. This year we have a REAL entry level system from none other than Monoprice that costs far far less. Monoprice HT-35 Premium 5.1-Channel Home Theater System with Powered Subwoofer (MSRP $160) That's right! Only $160 for a 5.1 system that compact and sounds pretty good. It will perform better than most soundbars in the same price range simply because you will have a true surround system. The HT-35s are efficient speakers that can handle up to 100 watts. We are not going to tell you these are the best speakers money can buy, but we will tell you that you will be hard pressed to find a better value out there and these are a perfect match for that $500 TV and $250 receiver you bought at a Black Friday sale. The 200 watt, 8" subwoofer won't rock your world but it will do the job for most family rooms. They also have a system with upfiring ATMOS speakers built into the left and right speakers for $180. Sound Bar + While the previous system was very inexpensive, many won't want to set up a 5.1 system requiring wiring to go from the front of the room to the back. For you we have a soundbar. Not a sound bar that just presents the listener with LCR speakers, but a soundbar that creates an actual surround experience. JBL Bar 5.1 Surround (MSRP $430) The JBL system is more expensive ($430) than the simple solutions you get from LG, Samsung, and Vizio and less than the Sonos systems when you include a subwoofer. JBL uses a proprietary technology called MultiBeam to create a virtual surround sound. In the right dimensioned room this will work well. In others, it will offer a wider soundstage and clearer dialog. We chose the JBL soundbar over the LG, Samsung, and Vizio soundbars because JBL is a speaker company. Sonos makes great sounding products too but they cost much more so it puts the JBL right in the sweet spot. Features include: 4K pass-through HDMI ARC Wireless subwoofer Airplay 2 and Chromecast Bluetooth Streaming Soundbar output 5 x 50W Subwoofer output 300W Quality System Our Quality system is one that is perfect for the family room and the media room alike. It's a system that will last you for years and won't require upgrading, unless you are completely upgrading the entire room. In that case see our Ultimate system below. RSL CG3 5.1 Home Theater Speaker System - Special Edition (MSRP $999) The RSL CG3 Special Edition 5.1 system is not like other speakers costing a thousand dollars because the CG3 uses a patented design developed by Joe Rogers that delivers more realistic sound than other speakers. Compression Guide technology directs air within the speaker enclosure from areas of high compression to areas of low compression. This prevents the drivers from interfering with each other creating the clean sound that RSL speakers are known for. The other benefit of these speakers is that they sound fantastic when you are listening to music. RSL offers an in-ceiling speaker for $125 if you want a 3D audio version of these. Speaker Output 125W Speaker Frequency Response 100-20,000 Hz ± 3db Subwoofer Output 350W Subwoofer Frequency Response 24-200 Hz ± 3db Ultimate System Our Ultimate system is one that is for serious media rooms and as such will cost more than double our Quality system. Prime Tower Surround System + SB2000 SW (MSRP $1549.99 + $799.99 for a total of $2349.98) We have used SVS products for over ten years and are completely pleased with everyone of them. In our home we have amplifiers (Prime Wireless SoundBase), wireless sub transmitters (SoundPath Wireless Audio Adapter), subwoofers, and of course speakers! For our ultimate system we selected the SVS Prime Tower System because it can fill a large space with immersive sound for movies and clear detailed and accurate sound for your music. The towers can handle up to 250W and the satellites up to 150W which means you can fill a large room with that glorious surround sound we all love. The speakers as priced here are for the Black ash finish. They also have a Piano Black high gloss for an additional $350. You can easily upgrade the speakers to a 7.1 or Atmos system. The subwoofer we are pairing with this system is a room filling beast with 550W and a peak of 1500W. The SB2000 has a bass extension as low as low as 19Hz so you will feel the bass as your walls rattle! SVS has made setting up the SB200 easy with their iOS and android app. So no crawling behind the subwoofer to access the control, although you still can if you want. This subwoofer also comes in a high gloss piano finish in both black and white for an additional $100.
Last ep of the year. Din Din at SteveSteve's. We had curry and stuff. Yaaaay!In this episode we discuss:-Church without religion-Gourd Loaf-The Cyclical nature of podcasting-More Gourd loafWe will be on our regular schedule again starting January 4th at 4 AM. Thank you all for being with us through all the crazy this year!
What is the best home office set up for health and productivity? No doubt your virtual work has increased since COVID began, but should you spend more time sitting, standing, or even on the treadmill as you work? Unsure what equipment is going to keep you healthy, productive, and moving like a BOSS? Surprisingly, there is a TON of debate around what type of desk or sitting recommendation is most effective for health and work output. The winner isn't clear cut. If you want to beef up your workspace, then Check out Movement Debrief Episode 137 below to learn how. Watch the video here for your viewing pleasure. If you want to watch these live, add me on Instagram. t Show notes Check out Human Matrix promo video here. Here are some testimonials for the class. Want to sign up? Click on the following locations below: February 20th-21st, 2021, Atlanta, GA (Early bird ends January 17th at 11:55 pm!) April 10th-11th, 2021, Warren, OH (Early bird ends March 14th at 11:55 pm) May 29th-30th, 2021 Boston, MA (Early bird ends April 25th at 11:55 pm!) August 14th-15th, 2021, Ann Arbor, MI (Early bird ends July 18th at 11:55 pm!) September 25th-26th, 2021, Wyckoff, NJ (Early bird ends August 22nd at 11:55 pm) November 6th-7th, 2021, Charlotte, NC (Early bird ends October 3rd at 11:55 pm) Dickinson College in Carlisle PA (POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19) [Approved for 14 Category A CEUs for athletic trainers] Montreal, Canada (POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19) [6 CEUs approved for Athletic Therapists by CATA!] Or check out this little teaser for Human Matrix home study. Best part is if you attend the live course you'll get this bad boy for free! (Release date not known yet :( Here's a signup for my newsletter to get nearly 5 hours and 50 pages of content, access to my free breathing and body mechanics course, a free acute:chronic workload calculator, basketball conditioning program, podcasts, and weekend learning goodies. A systematic review of standing and treadmill desks in the workplace - This provides an excellent overview on standing and treadmill desk efficacy. Taking a Stand: The Effects of Standing Desks on Task Performance and Engagement - A great studying measuring many standing desk-related variables The truth behind standing desks - The blog through Harvard Medical School provides a great outline around standing desks College of Optometrists in Vision Development - If you need to find a solid behavioral optometrist who looks at more than seeing clearly, this is the place. Newegg - They have great deals on electronics Dr. Kareen Landerville - She's the behavioral optometrist who I work with F.lux - This app helps reduce blue light Bestbookstand - This is my favorite thing to hold my books while I read Sony XM4's - My favorite headphones (I will likely get the newer version, but the XM3's were fire) Monoprice headphones - These are a great low budget noise canceling headphones Status BT's wireless earbuds - These are pretty inexpensive earbuds and sound great. Secret Lab - My colleagues swear by this chair. It's comfy as all hell. How to set up your home office Question: Hi Zac! Any chance you can squeeze in some recommendations on home office set up in your next live session? Curious if you have preferences for types of chairs, desks, standing vs sitting. Answer: With this whole COVID thing going on, there is no doubt a lot more remote work to be had, which comes with increased sedentarism. Anything that can be done to offset the lack of movement is going to be quite important. With the increased popularity of stand-up desks, are these worthwhile to invest in? As of right now, the research is mixed. Let's first look at the difference in mobility in comparing three options: sitting, standing, and treadmill desks. By measuring calorie burn in each position, there is not a major difference in calories burned. You burn about eight extra calories per hour compared to sitting. Whereas a treadmill desk burns well over 100 extra calories per hour compared to both options. There may be some positive after-eating glucose responses, but the research here is mixed. Though treadmill desks may have you moving more, there doesn't seem to be much difference between sitting and standing. The issue in both of these cases is a lack of movement. No one posture or position for long periods of time is desirable. This may contribute to increased tissue ischemia, and subsequent pain or discomfort. The key is you need to move! My other question was do these desks impact work performance at all? According to the aforementioned systematic review, most typing and mousing activities were not reduced with a standing desk. In fact, one study showed greater task engagement when working at a standing desk for 30-minute bouts. In comparison, a treadmill desk seems to reduce performance in typing, mousing, and other fine motor tasks. One thing that is missing in the literature is can meaningful work be pursued while you are standing or on a treadmill? No one is measuring if the next great American novel can be written well and without interruption on these devices. Or if Zoom calls can be performed while staying on task. We just have a lot of unknowns. Given the current body of literature, and the cost/benefit analysis (standing desks are HELLA expensive), I'm going to sit this one out for right now (HA!). [caption id="attachment_13061" align="aligncenter" width="810"] This is my current desk setup. The dual monitors KILL[/caption] What I would recommend instead is taking periodic breaks as you work. Go out for a walk, do some pushups or kettlebell swings; anything to break up the monotony. The research varies on how long we can focus, so find your sweet spot between 30 and 90 minutes, and get up and move. I go for short walk breaks of 5-15 minutes periodically throughout the day. Stay off screens during this time. You need to rest. If you are sitting, get a chair that's comfortable. I found an old chair that works well for me, but many of my colleagues swear by Secret Lab. When I'm due for a chair, I'll probably go this route. One other thing I would strongly encourage you to get is a separate bigger monitor, especially if you work on a laptop. This has been the biggest game-changer for me productivity-wise. If you have a small screen that you have to focus on for extended periods of time, your eyes will strain WAY more, which can fatigue your eye muscles; especially if you split-screen on your laptop. When you have a bigger monitor, your focus can be a bit more diffuse, which is a huge win. Doing this as well as air casting my movement consults on my TV has significantly reduced the eye strain I used to experience on calls, and I can keep better focus. I would also strongly recommend getting evaluated by a behavioral optometrist. I like COVD-trained. I worked with one in the past when I did PRI Vision, and my reading comprehension was quite a bit better. I also recently met with an optometrist in Vegas with who I will be doing vision therapy to better help my ability to focus on screens. She also updated my prescription to help reduce eye fatigue. Even if you see well, your eyes may not work well together or have other skill deficits. Vision therapy can improve upon these areas. You may also look into apps and glasses to reduce blue light at night. Also positioning your desk near a window is big, as looking off into the distance periodically can help give your eyes a break from the constant convergence required for screen use. The other thing I would strongly recommend investing in is a good pair of headphones. Preferably ones that have noise-canceling, that way the volume can stay low, and your ears can stay protected. I have two pairs that I use. If I'm not moving around much, The Sony WH100XM3 (the 4 is currently out) is amazing. Best noise canceling in da game. [caption id="attachment_13063" align="aligncenter" width="451"] Plus you look like a cool DJ on calls[/caption] If I have to move around for a call, they suck to demo exercises in. That's where a lot and can't do the ear coverage, the Status BT Transfer are my go-to. If you are someone who has to read a lot for your job, and you don't want to hold onto a big textbook, I strongly encourage that you get a bookstand. I like the BestBookStand brand. Sum up There is minimal activity or productivity differences between all desk types; movement is the key. Using a big monitor and glasses can reduce eye strain Use noise-canceling headphones to reduce ear strain Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
Following up on our software unitasker ep from a few weeks ago, we're now moving into the physical realm. This week we run down a few of our favorite devices, trinkets, and doodads that make it just a little bit easier to get things done.Here's a quick list of the stuff we mentioned on this ep which should be easy to search for:BradGenki Covert Dock by Human ThingsRetractable cables (Digital Ant's look pretty good)Charging station (bamboo or other)Articulated HDMI extenders (Monoprice is a good bet for these)WillAnker Multiport USB Chargers MagSafe-like USB cables - Digital Ant Gen-X MicroA good headlamp - Black Diamond Spot 325USB-powered lights stuck under the bottom edge of your monitorUSB pantry/closet light Amico Motion Sensor Closet LightSoldering extra hands - KOTTO Third Hands Unipod thingy for webcam/whatever - Dinkum Systems Action Pod ProCable grabbers - Bluelounge CableDrop Nano bubble grip surfaceSupport the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod
In this episode, we talk to Brad Balfour, senior developer at Bloomberg, about how his team began to implement Vue in their existing applications. We also discuss how Vue let their team move faster, and how the Vue component ecosystem allows for quick development using existing solutions. We also talk about the experience of learning and implementing Vue on a large project with an existing team. Panel Steve Edwards Lindsay Wardell Austin Gil Guest Brad Balfour Sponsors Cloudways | Use promo code "DEVCHAT" for 30% off for 3 months on all plans "The MaxCoders Guide to Finding Your Dream Developer Job" by Charles Max Wood is now available on Amazon. Get Your Copy Today! Links Vue Query Builder | Vue Query Builder Picks Brad Balfour: Follow Brad on Twitter > @bradbalfour, Website This is Akimbo KelbyOne | Online Photoshop, Photography & Lightroom Training Austin Gil: Follow Austin on Twitter > @Stegosource Fitness Blender HASfit Lindsay Wardell: Follow Lindsay on Twitter > @Yagaboosh Monoprice.com Stellaris | Paradox Interactive Steve Edwards: Follow Steve on Twitter > @wonder95 Demystifying: The Dark Art of SFC Compilationy Mondays with Mother FB show Follow Views on Vue on Twitter > @viewsonvue
In this episode, we talk to Brad Balfour, senior developer at Bloomberg, about how his team began to implement Vue in their existing applications. We also discuss how Vue let their team move faster, and how the Vue component ecosystem allows for quick development using existing solutions. We also talk about the experience of learning and implementing Vue on a large project with an existing team. Panel Steve Edwards Lindsay Wardell Austin Gil Guest Brad Balfour Sponsors Cloudways | Use promo code "DEVCHAT" for 30% off for 3 months on all plans "The MaxCoders Guide to Finding Your Dream Developer Job" by Charles Max Wood is now available on Amazon. Get Your Copy Today! Links Vue Query Builder | Vue Query Builder Picks Brad Balfour: Follow Brad on Twitter > @bradbalfour, Website This is Akimbo KelbyOne | Online Photoshop, Photography & Lightroom Training Austin Gil: Follow Austin on Twitter > @Stegosource Fitness Blender HASfit Lindsay Wardell: Follow Lindsay on Twitter > @Yagaboosh Monoprice.com Stellaris | Paradox Interactive Steve Edwards: Follow Steve on Twitter > @wonder95 Demystifying: The Dark Art of SFC Compilationy Mondays with Mother FB show Follow Views on Vue on Twitter > @viewsonvue
On today's show we take a look at streaming services from different points of view. What's the best service for your watching habits. We finish with looking at the different Active HDMI cables available at Monoprice.com. But of course no show is complete without reading your emails and checking out the news of the week! The Best Streaming Service for your Watching Habits - TechCrunch The Best Monoprice Active HDMI Cables - AVS Forum
On today’s show we take a look at streaming services from different points of view. What’s the best service for your watching habits. We finish with looking at the different Active HDMI cables available at Monoprice.com. But of course no show is complete without reading your emails and checking out the news of the week!
Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales -AMD Ryzen 3 3200G: https://www.newegg.com/amd-ryzen-3-3200g/p/N82E16819113571?item=N82E16819113571&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=IGNEFL052220&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL052220-_-EMC-052220-Index-_-ProcessorsDesktops-_-19113571-S4A1C&ignorebbr=1 -AMD RX 5700: https://www.newegg.com/asus-radeon-rx-5700-dual-rx5700-o8g-evo/p/N82E16814126348?item=N82E16814126348&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=IGNEFL052220&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL052220-_-EMC-052220-Index-_-DesktopGraphicsCards-_-14126348-S1A4C&ignorebbr=1 -Logitech G Powerplay: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071WZ56G9/ -DarkFlash DLM 22: https://www.newegg.com/white-darkflash-dlm-22-micro-atx-mini-itx/p/2AM-008X-00009 -EVGA RTX 2060(refurbished): https://www.newegg.com/evga-geforce-rtx-2060-06g-p4-2166-rx/p/N82E16814487509?&quicklink=true -Logitech G332 Special Edition: https://deals.dell.com/en-us/productdetail/4hl3 -Monoprice 27 inches, 165Hz, 1080p: https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=40774 -Alienware Aurora Pro Gaming R9 Prebuilt: https://www.dell.com/en-us/member/shop/desktop-computers/alienware-aurora-r9-gaming-desktop/spd/alienware-aurora-r9-desktop/wdaurr940s?AID=4485850&cjevent=410924df9b7211ea82e505f30a1c0e12&gacd=9694607-23736398-5750457-266319267-127795103&dgc=af&VEN1=12578053-4485850-40b573ba9b7211eab7ecc2ead178cde80INT&dclid=CKurr_GZxekCFQw4TwodBk0ENA
With the coronavirus situation, many people are experiencing working from home - perhaps for the first time. Working from home can be a great experience but like most things, there are pros and cons and ways to take advantage of the benefits while mitigating the negatives. Join us for this episode of The Small Business Show to learn about how your hosts Dave Hamilton and Shannon Jean make the most of the day when working from home. After you listen, please support our show by leaving us a 5-star review on the podcast directory of your choice. Show Notes and Chapters 00:00:00 Small Business Show #266 for Wednesday, March 11, 2020 00:02:00 Face-to-Face Connections are Important 00:04:56 Embrace isolation Earphones Apple's AirPods Pro JBL Noise Canceling Headphones Earin M-2 Structure Manage Distractions Studio Shed Accessory Dwelling Units 00:14:42 SPONSOR: PDFpen and PDFpenPro is your ultimate PDF viewing and editing app for the Mac. 00:16:29 The software you need Slack - A great hub for everything you have going on Trello – Cards for each project to help compartmentalize things LinkedIn – Great for community connections 00:24:23 Your (new) workspace Dedicate space Create boundaries with your family Get a good monitor - Monoprice 27” CrystalPro 4K UHD A Good chair - Herman Miller Aeron Chair Open For Business - Great resource for tools Take breaks Mint Candle – Yankee Candle Jack Frost Standing Desk – Autonomous Desk 00:37:13 SBS 266 Outtro Find us: feedback@businessshow.co Freakonomics Podcast Please leave us a 5-star review
Today, David Trinh, the Director of Online Marketplace Sales at B-Air Intertex, joins us. David has had more than fifteen years of experience, working across different online marketplaces. He has also had a lot of experience in the B2B category, which is exploding right now, both on Amazon and on other channels. In today's episode, David discusses his career trajectory and he explains how he gained his experience in online marketing. David started his career running a successful online action-figures collectible business with his father, where they manufactured highly-detailed action figures for collectors, and distributed them on eBay. Later, David decided to get onto Amazon, with the idea of selling cell phone accessories. Although the market was over-saturated, and he was unable to recover after the recession, this venture was still a great learning experience for him. David then joined Newegg-Rosewill (Newegg's inhouse brand), to run their Amazon account. About two years later, David found his way to Monoprice, where he stayed for eight months until he was poached by B-Air, which is where he is, currently. Be sure to tune in today, to find out about David, his career, and what he has learned about the B2B market. Find out more about B-Air Connect with David Trinh Connect with Kiri Masters
How to setup Hubitat C5 Hub & Monoprice 11995 Outlet (Part 6) In this video, I show you an interesting Zwave smart outlet to use with your Hubitat. It gives ...
Today the panel is talking about their development environments and preferences. Most of them run on Macs, but they talk about other operating systems. They discuss some of the pros and cons of using Apple products. While Apple has conveniences to help you restore data, many of them have had issues with cabling and the fact that Macs are not easily extendable. They agree that the speed at which a development environment gets up and running is less about the hardware and more about how the environment is set up. The conversation turns to which development platforms they are running. They discuss the value of Docker as a development environment. The panel compares the features of database management systems such as MySQL, MariaDB, and Postgress. David feels that getting up and running in an environment is the most important thing, but the panel challenges him to consider the maintenance required in some environments. The Ruby experts discuss the merits of using RVM and what they like about it, testing libraries they are using, and how they feel about certain gems. The tradeoffs between security and ease of use are discussed. They conclude the show by talking about the benefits of mechanical keyboards and duo vs. single monitor setups. Panelists David Kimura John Epperson Charles Max Wood Sponsors Sentry | Use the code “devchat” for $100 credit Cloud 66 - Pain Free Rails Deployments Try Cloud 66 Rails for FREE & get $100 of free credits with promo code RubyRogues-19 RedisGreen ____________________________ > "The MaxCoders Guide to Finding Your Dream Developer Job" by Charles Max Wood is now available on Amazon. Get Your Copy Today! ____________________________________________________________ Links Linux Time Machine NetBeans VIM Docker MariaDB MySQL LIV8 Lazy Docker RVM RSpec Mini Test Ruby 2.7 Release Ruby 2.7 features What’s New in Ruby 2.7 Ruby changes reference Picks David Kimura: DeWalt Laser Distance Measurer Melamine boards Charles Max Wood: OBS The Man in the High Castle John Epperson: Monopress cable Glengoyne Cask Strength, Monoprice
Today the panel is talking about their development environments and preferences. Most of them run on Macs, but they talk about other operating systems. They discuss some of the pros and cons of using Apple products. While Apple has conveniences to help you restore data, many of them have had issues with cabling and the fact that Macs are not easily extendable. They agree that the speed at which a development environment gets up and running is less about the hardware and more about how the environment is set up. The conversation turns to which development platforms they are running. They discuss the value of Docker as a development environment. The panel compares the features of database management systems such as MySQL, MariaDB, and Postgress. David feels that getting up and running in an environment is the most important thing, but the panel challenges him to consider the maintenance required in some environments. The Ruby experts discuss the merits of using RVM and what they like about it, testing libraries they are using, and how they feel about certain gems. The tradeoffs between security and ease of use are discussed. They conclude the show by talking about the benefits of mechanical keyboards and duo vs. single monitor setups. Panelists David Kimura John Epperson Charles Max Wood Sponsors Sentry | Use the code “devchat” for $100 credit Cloud 66 - Pain Free Rails Deployments Try Cloud 66 Rails for FREE & get $100 of free credits with promo code RubyRogues-19 RedisGreen ____________________________ > "The MaxCoders Guide to Finding Your Dream Developer Job" by Charles Max Wood is now available on Amazon. Get Your Copy Today! ____________________________________________________________ Links Linux Time Machine NetBeans VIM Docker MariaDB MySQL LIV8 Lazy Docker RVM RSpec Mini Test Ruby 2.7 Release Ruby 2.7 features What’s New in Ruby 2.7 Ruby changes reference Picks David Kimura: DeWalt Laser Distance Measurer Melamine boards Charles Max Wood: OBS The Man in the High Castle John Epperson: Monopress cable Glengoyne Cask Strength, Monoprice
Today the panel is talking about their development environments and preferences. Most of them run on Macs, but they talk about other operating systems. They discuss some of the pros and cons of using Apple products. While Apple has conveniences to help you restore data, many of them have had issues with cabling and the fact that Macs are not easily extendable. They agree that the speed at which a development environment gets up and running is less about the hardware and more about how the environment is set up. The conversation turns to which development platforms they are running. They discuss the value of Docker as a development environment. The panel compares the features of database management systems such as MySQL, MariaDB, and Postgress. David feels that getting up and running in an environment is the most important thing, but the panel challenges him to consider the maintenance required in some environments. The Ruby experts discuss the merits of using RVM and what they like about it, testing libraries they are using, and how they feel about certain gems. The tradeoffs between security and ease of use are discussed. They conclude the show by talking about the benefits of mechanical keyboards and duo vs. single monitor setups. Panelists David Kimura John Epperson Charles Max Wood Sponsors Sentry | Use the code “devchat” for $100 credit Cloud 66 - Pain Free Rails Deployments Try Cloud 66 Rails for FREE & get $100 of free credits with promo code RubyRogues-19 RedisGreen ____________________________ > "The MaxCoders Guide to Finding Your Dream Developer Job" by Charles Max Wood is now available on Amazon. Get Your Copy Today! ____________________________________________________________ Links Linux Time Machine NetBeans VIM Docker MariaDB MySQL LIV8 Lazy Docker RVM RSpec Mini Test Ruby 2.7 Release Ruby 2.7 features What’s New in Ruby 2.7 Ruby changes reference Picks David Kimura: DeWalt Laser Distance Measurer Melamine boards Charles Max Wood: OBS The Man in the High Castle John Epperson: Monopress cable Glengoyne Cask Strength, Monoprice
My guest is Marcus dePaula - audio engineer, podcast producer and website designer at Me Only Louder. We discussed podcast production in depth (see the partial list of topics below) and at the end of the episode we shared some stories from our pro-audio pasts - Marcus engineering Live concerts and me engineering music in the studio. We discussed: Two Shure SM7b’s with high-mid frequency boost enabled and Popper Blockers inserted inside the grille. Two Audio-Technica AT875R mini shotgun mics. Two Samson MBA38 mic boom arms with custom integrated Mogami 2552 mic cable and Switchcraft AAA Series Low-Profile XLR connectors Sound Devices MixPre-3 (1st gen) with limiters enabled Monoprice 4-output headphone amplifier (for guest headphones) 2019 15” MacBook Pro with LG 4K Ultrafine display Logic Pro X and Adobe Audition CC Kensington Expert Mouse trackball (right hand) Contour ShuttlePRO v2 (for left hand editing control) iZotope RX 7 Standard Softube Console 1 control surface and plugins with SSL 4000 E (gate+EQ+saturation) and British Class A Console (compressor) channel strip effects emulators iZotope Ozone 8 Elements - mostly for Maximizer on every track! Audient iD14 USB audio interface (with Burr Brown DA converters) Ultimate Ears UE7 Pro custom in-ear monitors (made in 2005) Sony MDR7506 headphones Pair of KRK Rokit 5 G3 powered monitors on foam isolation pads One KRK 10S powered sub 12 custom-built 48”x17”x3” fabric and Rockwool “Safe’n’Sound” batt insulation acoustic panels Thanks for being a great guest, Marcus! DID YOU KNOW........We exist for the purpose of helping you, so please comment below with any questions or remarks. We appreciate you listening. Want to Start a Business or Have a Career as a Podcast Producer/Engineer? Listen and Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, TuneIn, Android, RSS, Email
CEDIA 2019 Last week more than 20,000 home tech pros and 500+ exhibitors convened in Denver for the 2019 CEDIA Expo. This week the HT Guys run down some of the cool product announcements that came out of the show. Sony Electronics Brings 16K-capable Display System to Consumers' Living Rooms with Crystal LED Residential Solutions PARAMUS, N.J., Sept. 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Electronics Inc. today announced the availability of its award-winning Crystal LED display system for home installation. Having initially introduced the technology for use in commercial and entertainment venues, Sony Electronics now offers residential configurations and installation, giving consumers an unrivaled home theater technology capable of displaying 8K HDR video content and beyond – up to 16K. Crystal LED is a modular technology, enabling it to be installed in virtually any desired size and resolution to accommodate consumers' needs and residential space availability. Sample residential configurations include: Full HD Size (18 Units) ~110-inch Diagonal ~8ft (W) x 4ft (H) 4K Size (72 Units) ~220-inch Diagonal ~16ft (W) x 9ft (H) 8K Size (288 Units) ~440-inch Diagonal ~32ft (W) x 18ft (H) 16K Size (576 Units) ~790-inch Diagonal ~63ft (W) x 18ft (H) Sony's Crystal LED direct view display system uses ultra-fine micro-LED measuring 0.003 mm² – half the width of a human hair – which are 100 times smaller than traditional LEDs. The display recently received a prestigious 2019 Display Industry Award for "Display of the Year" from the Society of Information Display, recognizing Crystal LED's unprecedented visual experience. The technology delivers crisp, blur-free moving images with high frame rate up to 120p for razor-sharp motion rendition that is far beyond the reach of conventional video. Additional technical highlights: HDR with high brightness (1,000 nits) 10-bit grayscale Precise color reproduction Extraordinary color gamut – 140 percent of sRGB High frame rates up to 120p Nearly 180-degree viewing angle Spectacular 3D Non-standard aspect ratios 99 percent black surface area for delivering high contrast and high resolution Each module (360×360-pixel) will cost $10,000. Which means a 1080p setup will need 18 modules costing $180,000 and will produce a screen that is 120 inches on the diagonal. A 4K-capable display will require 16 feet of wall width and produce a 220-inch screen. For that you will need 72 modules and a whopping $720,000. LG Debuts Expanded 4K UHD CineBeam Projector Lineup In U.S. LG Electronics USA introduced a new LG CineBeam 4K UHD projector. The new projector (model HU70LA), which is on display this week at the CEDIA EXPO 2019, has a suggested retail price of $1,799 and will be available at select LG-authorized retailers in October. With a compact design, the HU70LA LG CineBeam LED Projector provides an impressive home theater experience with a deep and rich picture up to 140 inches (measured diagonally), and brightness of 1500 ANSI lumens that covers approximately 92 percent of the DCI-P3 color space. The projector employs a four-channel LED light source to generate red, green and blue, with the additional fourth LED boosting image brightness, contrast and generating more vivid colors with more nuanced tonality (compared to conventional LED projectors) by adjusting green levels. The HU70LA, as well as the HU85LA, are IP controllable via Control 4, Savant and Crestron. The HU85LA CineBeam Laser Projector (MSRP $5999.99), also demonstrated at CEDIA Expo, is LG's first Ultra Short Throw model, generating 2,700 ANSI lumens to deliver vibrant and crisp images up to 120 inches (measured diagonally) from placement of only 7.2 inches away from the wall. The stylish projector is housed in a minimal design for a cinematic viewing experience. Sony VPL-VW295ES 4K SXRD Home Cinema Projector Winning the TWICE VIP award for Home Theater Projectors is the Sony VPL-VW295ES (MSRP $4499.99). Native 4K resolution for lifelike pictures 1500 Lumens Deep Blacks with 4K SXRD Panels HDR10 and HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma) TRILUMINOS™ color, reproducing more tones and textures than a standard projector system Both HDMI inputs are compatible with HDCP 2.2 Select from nine calibrated picture modes, including two theater film modes, theater digital, reference, TV, photo, game, bright cinema and bright TV. Home Assistant Open source home automation that puts local control and privacy first. Powered by a worldwide community of tinkerers and DIY enthusiasts. Perfect to run on a Raspberry Pi or a local server. It works with 1467 products that include the Amazon Echo, ecobee Thermostats. Zwave, Zigbee, Plex and so many more. They have a demo you can check out here (Home Assistant Demo) Savant AppleTV App Savant®, a leader in smart home technology, has introduced the Smart Home App for Apple TV, an on-screen control platform that provides fast and intuitive access to smart home functionality via high-definition graphics. The graphical control icons can be shown full screen or as an overlay to live TV or a movie that is currently playing. Savant's Smart Home App for Apple TV provides an easy-to-navigate menu of icons in a large visual format representing key features such as climate, lighting, audio, Savant Scenes and more. This amazing on-screen experience is part of the company's Pro App software that provides an intuitive interface with smart home functionality via touch panels, mobile devices, the award-winning Savant Pro Remote—and now the TV! Users can easily select their favorite channels, choose to control or view the status of a service in the home or to activate a Savant Scene. “The Savant Smart Home App for Apple TV has been designed to round out our control offering, delivering to the user a consistent and powerful experience whether they are controlling the system on a mobile device, touch panel or tablet, remote control, voice engine, TV, or even an Apple Watch,” said VP of Design Andy Hamm. “We strive to create experiences that are engaging and ultra-intuitive, making it easy, effortless and fun for anyone to interact with their Savant system. “ The Savant Smart Home App for Apple TV will become available late 2019. Redcarpet Home Cinema Streaming Server Red Carpet Home Cinema is a unique luxury service offering major Hollywood movies for personal viewing in the home during the theatrical window at a premium price. Red Carpet Home Cinema subscribers must have a credit card limit of at least $50,000, and need to pass Red Carpet's strict vetting process and install a special $15,000 media server in their home theater. Once that's done, customers can spend between $500 and $3,000 to watch first-run movies in the comfort of their own home. Blockbusters tend to cost more than dramas, but regardless of the final price tag, each customer can view their rentals twice over a single 36-hour period. Denon AVR-X3600H Winning the TWICE VIP award for A/V receivers is the Denon AVR-X3600H a 9.2 channel 4K Ultra HD AV receiver with 105W per channel and advanced HDMI (8in / 3out with eARC) section. Supports 3D audio formats Dolby Atmos®, Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization Technology, DTS:X™, DTS Virtual:X® and new IMAX Enhanced. Works with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Siri for seamless voice control. The 8 HDMI inputs and 3 outputs with eARC and full HDCP 2.3 support on all ports are compatible with the latest HD and Ultra HD TVs, Blu-ray players and game consoles. The powerful DSP is capable of 11.2 channel processing, allowing you to extend the system with an additional power amplifier. ($1100 MSRP More info) SSF™ HDMI Active Optical Cables Cleerline SSF™ HDMI Active Optical Cables provide 4K UHD signal transmission and are fully 18 Gbps compatible. Each cable incorporates 4 strands of SSF™ optical fiber, giving the cable greater strength and flexibility as well as maximizing bandwidth potential. In addition to SSF™ fiber optic technology, SSF™ HDMI AOC incorporate the latest chipset technology, designed to eliminate heat production and improve the longevity of the cable. Unlike other HDMI Active Optical Cables, which may use plastic optical fibers or traditional glass, SSF™ AOC include SSF™ optical fibers. The Glass, Glass, Polymer construction of SSF™ fiber gives each fiber up to 200 times the durability of standard glass fiber. This increased strength allows SSF™ AOC to easily withstand higher loads during installation. SSF™ technology also provides a higher degree of flexibility to the glass. All cables feature a plenum outer jacket. Features And Benefits: 18 Gbps, 4K60 4:4:4 Full HDMI 2.0 features, 4K60 4:4:4 HDCP 2.2 HDR, WCG Audio Return Channel Increased durability and flexibility High definition signal transmission No pricing available at this time KLH Unveils Maxwell Monitor One Concentric-Driver Bookshelf A first for KLH, the Monitor One incorporates a concentric design meaning the tweeter is mounted directly into the center space of the voice coil of the mid/bass driver. This, along with use of premium internal components and fine attention paid to crossover points, top grade parts, and voicing, results in a balanced and nuanced sound with a very wide 180-degree dispersion, making the entire room the sweet spot. KLH is employing this same approach in its Maxwell In-Ceiling speakers which come to market this month. Both versions utilize a 1-inch silk dome tweeter and 6.5-inch Kevlar/fiberglass laminated cone, with an robust edge wound voice coil. Boasting a new industrial design with exotic finishes including high-gloss Figured Koa, Cocobolo and Ferrari red, and utilizing premium components and concentric drivers, these powerful and nuanced $999 per pair 2-way monitors rival competitors similar designs up to twice the price. Samsung SmartThings Cam The SmartThings Cam won the TWICE VIP award in the DIY Home Security Category. Coming in at $90 it does not require a hub to use. This could be the gateway drug to the rest of the SmartThings ecosystem. Know what's going on when you're away from home. A full HD camera delivers a clear, detailed view, allowing you to monitor your home 24 hours a day from the convenience of your smartphone, tablet, Samsung TV or fridge. The SmartThings Cam intuitively distinguishes between a person and an object alerting you immediately if necessary, while minimizing false triggers. Control up to two SmartThings Cams and view rolling 24-hour recordings for free. All your footage is safely secured on your personal cloud and can be accessed remotely any time. Sony GTK-PG10 Portable wireless speaker The GTK-PG10 won the TWICE VIP award in the Home Audio Category. It kind of looks like a subwoofer that expands to look like a BBQ grill. It's not cheap at $250. It has 8 user reviews at Sony's site with a score of four out of five stars. With a dedicated outdoor party mode that spreads sound further, the GTK-PG10 is tailor-made for outdoor use — it even has a splash-proof top panel to rest your drinks on. Outdoor party mode spreads sound further Splash-proof top panel with integrated cup holders Rechargeable battery provides up to 13hr playback (not using bluetooth) Bluetooth® connectivity for wireless music streaming FM tuner lets you enjoy your favorite radio shows Vivant Integrates two-way control with Control4 Leading security and smart home company, Vivant, has announced that it's system now provides two-way integration with Control4. With Control4's SDDP technology embedded in Vivint's Smart Hub panel, Control4 users will be able to monitor and control their Vivint security system via standard Control4 interfaces. In addition, any security sensor in the Vivint ecosystem can be incorporated into Control4 scenes and alerts. For example, if someone trips a motion sensor in the living room after sunset, the event could trigger Control4 to turn on the lights in that room to a dim level and flip the TV to CNN on mute. Monolith by Monoprice M-215 Dual 15" THX Certified Subwoofer A Tower of Bass! The Monolith THX® Ultra certified subwoofer sets the standard for bass output, low distortion, and affordability. With chest thumping bass that plays down to well under 16Hz, the Monolith THX Ultra Dual 15" (MSRP $2499.99) Subwoofer unleashes cinema level volume, with the ability to convey and articulate the subtle nuances of music. Dimensions 42.32" x 20.0" x 27.55" (1075 x 508 x 700 mm) and 215.6lbs (98KG). Monoprice also unveiled their new Monolith speakers. The Monolith speakers are available with Atmos at $999, or without Atmos at $849, and are expected to be out November 2019. Epson launches LS-500 4K ultra short-throw Laser Projection TV Launching at CEDIA, the Epson LS-500 is a Laser Projection TV, delivering a 4K HDR image up to 130 inches in size from just centimetres away from the screen on your wall. Equipped with Epson's proprietary 4K PRO-UHD2 3LCD technology, Epson Laser Projection TV combines an advanced Ultra Short Throw Laser Projector – along with an Ultra High-Definition Ambient Light Rejecting Screen – to produce vivid colors and deep blacks for an exceptionally bright, colorful, and sharp picture – in virtually any viewing environment. Full 10-bit color processing accepting 100 percent of the HDR source information to faithfully reproduce HDR content for an exceptional visual performance. Capable of displaying 4K HDR content at an exceptional level of brightness for both color and white content. This not only provides for an amazing viewing experience but sets a new standard in this class of projection – allowing for all-day viewing in virtually any lighting environment. The Epson LS500 Laser Projection TV will be available in the first quarter of 2020 through Magnolia and Professional Home Theater Installers. The Epson Laser Projection TV will be available in black and white models with 100-inch (MSRP $4,999) and 120-inch (MSRP $5,999) SKUs.
Power Amplifiers for the Rest of Us As we add more speakers to our home theaters our current AVRs may not have enough amplifiers to drive the system. A solution to this problem is a seperate amplifier. Power amplifiers have minimal functionality beyond driving speakers but they have quite a bit in the way of design to provide a clean signal to get the most out of your speakers. So why go with a seperate amp? There are a few reasons. First is power. Seperate amps typically have more power and can drive low impedance speakers more easily than low to mid range receivers. Of course high end AVRs can do this as well so why not just buy a high end receiver? That brings us to our second reason. More channels. If you want to run a 7.2.4 Atmos system you need 11 amps. Sure there are AVRs that have 11 amplifiers but they really cost a pretty penny. An alternative is buying a mid range AVR that can support an Atmos 7.2.4 system via pre-outs and augment it with and external amp. The last reason we will discuss, although there are a few more, is the quality of the power. Since amplifiers do one thing they can maximize the design for that one thing. AVRs have to do a lot and it all has to packed into an enclosure that is about the same size as a seven channel amplifier. There are plenty of amplifiers and some cost more than our entire home theater! We provide you with a couple “entry” options to consider. Emotiva A-500 $530 Best Bang for the Buck! We start out with a five channel amp from Emotiva. You absolutely can not go wrong with this amp! Ara uses the seven channel version of it in his media room and loves it! You'll want to power your front speakers with this and use the remaining two channels for your surround. Then you can use the amplifiers in your receiver for the remaining channels, Atmos and rear surrounds. If your receiver does not allow you to assign amps to channels then route any channel (probably your Atmos) that does not have an amplifier to this amp and use the AVR to power what's left. From the Emotiva Website: The BasX A-500 is a five channel power amplifier that offers true audiophile sound quality at an affordable price. The BasX A-500 includes a carefully chosen set of important features, including a heavy-duty power supply, high-quality Class A/B amplification, transparent audiophile-quality fault protection, a trigger input and output, and industry standard unbalanced audio inputs. Modern manufacturing techniques, and careful design and parts selection, have enabled us to deliver all of this performance and great sound quality in the BasX A-500 at a far lower price than you might imagine. Monolith by Monoprice $1600 Hey it's Monoprice We have always been fans of Monoprice for their high quality cables at low prices. But they are much more than that today selling all kinds of electronics from home theater to home automation. Ara has a pair of their Planar Headphones that sound like headphones costing three times more. We don't have direct experience with this amp but it's five star customer rating and positive review from Audioholics (4½ star) make it something you should really consider for your home theater. From the Monoprice Website: The Monolith 7X is a state-of-the-art, high-performance, audiophile-grade multichannel home theater amplifier. Rated at a full 200 watts per channel into 8 ohms and 300 watts per channel into 4 ohms, the Monolith 7X is capable of driving the most demanding home theater systems and reproducing the most dynamic soundtracks, while also articulating all the subtle sonic details found in music. Supercharge your existing receiver or create the foundation of a no compromise home theater system with the Monolith 7X.
TECH TUESDAY: We had the privilege of getting some behind the scenes audio from a local Orange County church talking about what they use for their lyrics, slides and equipment in their sound booth! EASY WORSHIP: https://www.easyworship.com MOTION WORSHIP: http://www.motionworship.com MONOPRICE: https://www.monoprice.com
Monoprice Monolith Cassette Series Smart Boombox Almost at the same time as when we started our podcast we discovered Monoprice. For us Monoprice was a company that built and sold high quality HDMI cables at a fraction of the price as big box retailers. They have come so far over the years to where they sell electronics, speakers and home automation products. But today we are super excited about their new high end product. The Monolith Cassette Series Smart Boombox is a $1,300 piece of modern engineering that really puts Monoprice over the top! It's time to dig up your cassette collection with the built-in cassette player, listen to the latest tunes on AM/FM radio, or stream wirelessly with a BT connection. This boombox also includes a Smart Assistant so you don't even need to push any buttons! With two built-in speakers producing 1000 watts of Class D power, it's time to make the Monolith Cassette Series Boombox the life of the party. This thing has some serious street cred too! Check out the features: 24bit/192Khz DAC: We took a pure, analog signal path and converted it to digital with our high resolution 24bit/192Khz DAC. To get the most out of analog, one must convert it to hi res digital. Bluetooth with aptxHD: The best in CD quality Bluetooth wireless connectivity for your lesser quality cassette tapes. AM/FM: Radio doesn't need to be confined to your car or streamed from your computer. Use the retro antenna to tune to your favorite station. Antenna will automatically point North for the best signal. Smarts Inside: Easy to use, everyday functions that were once a simple press of a button, can now be accomplished with a turn of phrase: Say "Monolith, Be Kind Rewind" and the player will automatically rewind the tape Say "Monolith, Skip to next song" and the player will automatically skip to the next track. Dual Speakers: 1000 total watts of Class D power with enhanced bass easily filling a large size room with deep, rich and detailed sound. Let's get the party started! Dolby Noise Reduction: Dolby A, B, C, and S noise reduction formats included. Each format varies in effectiveness in reducing background hiss on all your favorite recordings from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. HX Pro: Adds additional high frequency headroom, improving the signal to noise ratio. It's so good, it's always on. Compatibility: Type I, II, III, and IV compatible. Additionally, the Monolith Portable Cassette Player is also DCC compatible. We believe no format should be left behind. Comfort: Comes with a memory foam shoulder cushion so you can hold the boombox for hours at a time.
Almost at the same time as when we started our podcast we discovered Monoprice. For us Monoprice was a company that built and sold high quality HDMI cables at a fraction of the price as big box retailers. They have come so far over the years to where they sell electronics, speakers and home automation products. But today we are super excited about their new high end product.
Samsung Galaxy S10 review! Monoprice’s $160 Mini Delta printer, help blocking spam calls, aptx HD & LDAC Bluetooth streaming for your laptop, and more in TekThing episode 220 Patrick Norton and Shannon Morse! Read the full shownotes for episode 220
On 'The New Screen Savers' recorded on Saturday, December 8, 2018, with Leo Laporte and Jason Howell:Leo and Jason discuss Canada's arrest of a Huawei exec, Australia's anti-encryption law, Google shutting down Allo, and Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 855 SOC. Jason reviews the Google Pixel Slate. This premium Chrome OS tablet features a 12.3" Molecular Display and starts at $599. We continue our Holiday Gift Guides with Jason's picks for high-end headphones from Monolith by Monoprice and HIFIMAN; and gaming headsets and other video game accessories. Sam Machkovech shows how you can play your old-school Super Nintendo game cartridges in 1080p goodness with the Analogue Super Nt. Is it possible to transfer to a new Google account and keep all your data? Find out in our mailbag. Hosts: Leo Laporte and Jason Howell Guest: Sam Machkovech The New Screen Savers records live every Saturday at 3PM Pacific on twit.tv/live. Episodes are available for download and streaming later that evening at https://twit.tv/shows/new-screen-savers. Sponsors: LastPass.com/twit RocketMortgage.com/NSS SlideBelts.com/TWIT code: TWIT
On 'The New Screen Savers' recorded on Saturday, December 8, 2018, with Leo Laporte and Jason Howell:Leo and Jason discuss Canada's arrest of a Huawei exec, Australia's anti-encryption law, Google shutting down Allo, and Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 855 SOC. Jason reviews the Google Pixel Slate. This premium Chrome OS tablet features a 12.3" Molecular Display and starts at $599. We continue our Holiday Gift Guides with Jason's picks for high-end headphones from Monolith by Monoprice and HIFIMAN; and gaming headsets and other video game accessories. Sam Machkovech shows how you can play your old-school Super Nintendo game cartridges in 1080p goodness with the Analogue Super Nt. Is it possible to transfer to a new Google account and keep all your data? Find out in our mailbag. Hosts: Leo Laporte and Jason Howell Guest: Sam Machkovech The New Screen Savers records live every Saturday at 3PM Pacific on twit.tv/live. Episodes are available for download and streaming later that evening at https://twit.tv/shows/new-screen-savers. Sponsors: LastPass.com/twit RocketMortgage.com/NSS SlideBelts.com/TWIT code: TWIT
The 2018 edition of CEDIA Expo is now history. CEDIA is one of the two big annual trade-only shows covering AV gear. CES, held each January in Las Vegas, is the big Kahuna. Apart from every electronic gadget on the planet (and some not so electronic) the main event at CES is the launch of all the new Ultra HD TVs for the coming year (not to mention the 8K sets waiting for their close-ups)...
Home: On - a DIY home automation podcast from The Digital Media Zone
We’re in San Diego, California, live-ish at the 2018 CEDIA Expo. We had some great discussions with Control4, Insteon, Sonos, Monoprice and the Z-Wave Alliance—organizations that each span the gap, to some degree, between the installer channel and DIY consumers. The post Home: On #109 – CEDIA Live! appeared first on The Digital Media Zone.
Samsung debuts their Harman-powered smart speaker, Monoprice wants to be the Wayfair of the audiovisual space, selling shading solutions to your residential clients. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Samsung debuts their Harman-powered smart speaker, Monoprice wants to be the Wayfair of the audiovisual space, selling shading solutions to your residential clients.
Samsung debuts their Harman-powered smart speaker, Monoprice wants to be the Wayfair of the audiovisual space, selling shading solutions to your residential clients.
WATCH PART 1 FIRST! I sat down with two fellow millennials-in-ministry, also podcast buffs, to break down the medium of podcasting. Part 1 will cover the basic question of 'what is podcasting,' and then start to dive into the question of 'how do you make a podcast?' Part 2 will finish up the HOW and go into 'why make a podcast?' So across the two episodes we go through what podcasting is, 14 steps from start to finish on how to make your own podcast, and why it all matters. Resources Mentioned in the Podcast: 1. The Podcasters Studio "Podcasting 101" : https://bit.ly/2GydPjk 2. Rode Procaster Microphones: https://amzn.to/2fdB9GW 3."People of the Story" Haddonfield UMC Podcast: https://apple.co/2uJcqF9 The Sub $200 Podcast Setup: 1. BEHRINGER ULTRAVOICE XM1800S 3x Microphones ($40) https://amzn.to/2GQWeqk 2.Monoprice 8-Channel Mixer with USB ($80) https://amzn.to/2q3Ie22 3. ammoon MS-12 Table-Top Mic Stand ($10 x2) https://amzn.to/2JhlAft 4. AmazonBasics XLR Cables ($6 xHowever many) https://amzn.to/2GUjPpZ 5. Mudder 5 Pack Foam Windscreen ($8)https://amzn.to/2q3MwGJ Gabrielle's Favorite Podcasts: 1. Good Christian Fun: https://www.goodchristianfun.com 2. History Chicks: http://thehistorychicks.com 3. Crackers and Grape Juice: http://crackersandgrapejuice.com Paul's Favorite Podcasts: 1. Serial Season 1: https://serialpodcast.org/season-one 2. My Favorite Murder: https://www.myfavoritemurder.com 3. Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast: https://www.gilbertpodcast.com James' Favorite Podcasts: 1. The Liturgists: http://www.theliturgists.com/podcast/ 2. How I Built This w/Guy Raz: https://n.pr/2heq0a0/ 3. Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast: https://www.life.church/leadershippodcast/
So you wanna do a podcast. I sat down with two fellow millennials-in-ministry, also podcast buffs, to break down the medium of podcasting. Part 1 will cover the basic question of 'what is podcasting,' and then start to dive into the question of 'how do you make a podcast?' Part 2 will finish up the HOW and go into 'why make a podcast?' So across the two episodes we go through what podcasting is, 14 steps from start to finish on how to make your own podcast, and why it all matters. Resources Mentioned in the Podcast: 1. The Podcasters Studio "Podcasting 101" : https://bit.ly/2GydPjk 2. Rode Procaster Microphones: https://amzn.to/2fdB9GW 3."People of the Story" Haddonfield UMC Podcast: https://apple.co/2uJcqF9 The Sub $200 Podcast Setup: 1. BEHRINGER ULTRAVOICE XM1800S 3x Microphones ($40) https://amzn.to/2GQWeqk 2.Monoprice 8-Channel Mixer with USB ($80) https://amzn.to/2q3Ie22 3. ammoon MS-12 Table-Top Mic Stand ($10 x2) https://amzn.to/2JhlAft 4. AmazonBasics XLR Cables ($6 xHowever many) https://amzn.to/2GUjPpZ 5. Mudder 5 Pack Foam Windscreen ($8)https://amzn.to/2q3MwGJ Gabrielle's Favorite Podcasts: 1. Good Christian Fun: https://www.goodchristianfun.com 2. History Chicks: http://thehistorychicks.com 3. Crackers and Grape Juice: http://crackersandgrapejuice.com Paul's Favorite Podcasts: 1. Serial Season 1: https://serialpodcast.org/season-one 2. My Favorite Murder: https://www.myfavoritemurder.com 3. Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast: https://www.gilbertpodcast.com James' Favorite Podcasts: 1. The Liturgists: http://www.theliturgists.com/podcast/ 2. How I Built This w/Guy Raz: https://n.pr/2heq0a0/ 3. Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast: https://www.life.church/leadershippodcast/
Speaker Cables - What does High Quality Cost? I was going through some of my typical AV websites the other day and came upon an article at Electronic House about speaker wires and was very interested to see what a site for installers had to say about the subject. We have been saying for years now that you should buy high quality cables to get the most out of your system. However, we have also been saying that high quality cables don't have to cost a lot of money. We will examine the article, credited to EH Contributor, and give you our take. First assertion: Copper and silver are the two most common conductors used in speaker cables. Make sure the cable manufacturer is using high-purity conductors. A quality speaker cable manufacturer should be able to tell you what purity level the conductors are that they're using to build the cable. This makes sense and from physics we know that copper is good, silver is better, and gold is really good! But if you want the BEST, you are talking platinum. For that, may we recommend the Wireworld Platinum Eclipse 7 Speaker Cable New 7 Series? As one reviewer put it all that matters is sound. Two five meter cables will cost you a cool $40K! I recently decided to upgrade my audio system and decided that I needed a firm budget to keep costs under control and to avoid the temptation of overspending on products that are ridiculously overpriced. These cables fit the bill nicely. As I was about to put these in my cart, I had an existential crisis and thought that perhaps the $40k would be better spent on feeding, clothing, and housing an entire town of people in Africa. This only lasted a second however and I decided on the cables because really, the sound is all that matters in the end, am I right? Bravo Wireworld, bravo. All kidding aside, you are looking for cables made out of copper. You will find some really cheap cable made out of copper clad aluminum CCA. Those will work just fine and the vast majority of people won't notice the difference between CCA and solid copper. Since solid copper wire is not expensive at all, we recommend going with solid copper wire. Second assertion: Quality cable manufacturers will typically braid conductors together to ensure the conductors aren't running parallel next to one another. By running parallel, they could be acting like an antenna, thus making them more susceptible to picking up radio-frequency interference (RFI) from cellphones, Wi-Fi or traditional radio signals. This is true! But only if you can hear frequencies well above what the typical human can hear. In reality at 20KHz there is less than .01 db difference. However, if you don't believe instrumented test results. Go ahead and buy braided cables. Just don't spend a lot of money. Here is an option that will set you back about $25 for a pair of 10 foot cables - Monoprice Affinity Premium 14AWG Braided Speaker Wire with Gold Plated Banana Plug Connectors. If monoprice scares you, SVS has some high quality braided cables that will set you back $100 for a pair (SoundPath Ultra Speaker Cable). Third assertion: A well engineered cable can be hampered by a poor quality connector. Make sure the speaker cable you're interested in has a well engineered design and is made of conductive materials such as copper and silver. It is OUR assertion that the statement is true. A poor quality connector will hamper the cable. It's also OUR assertion that a high quality connector will make the install clean and easy to connect. We choose to use banana plugs for convenience and aesthetic. However, there is no sound quality difference between bare wire and banana plugs. Fourth assertion: Teflon is considered by most to be the best insulation for wire conductors. It is believed to have the least impact on the conductors. However, there are other insulation materials out there that work well, so do your homework before choosing a cable purely because it has Teflon insulation. Let's assume that the “It is believed to have the least impact on the conductors” portion of the statement is true. That doesn't mean that PVC insulation is bad. In fact, the difference is negligible at best based on instrumented test results. This was a throw away assertion. The author then states “However, there are other insulation materials out there that work well, so do your homework before choosing a cable purely because it has Teflon insulation”. So why bother even making the assertion? At the end of the article the author makes three recommendations for speaker wire: AudioQuest Type 4 – $209.00 per 6' pair www.AudioQuest.com Kimber Kable 8TC – $401.00 per 6' pair www.Kimber.com Cardas Audio Iridium – $260.00 per 2m pair www.Cardas.com Which we think are ridiculous! Nothing in this article changes our recommendation. Buy high quality wire but don't over pay. With that said here are some recommendations we have. If you must have braided wire, and we don't think you need them, buy the monoprice wire we discussed earlier. For all other wire, these are our recommendations: Mediabridge 14AWG 2-Conductor Speaker Wire (100 Feet, White) - 99.9% Oxygen Free Copper - ETL Listed & CL2 Rated for In-Wall Use $29.99 for 100 feet of 14 gauge wire. C&E 100 Feet 14AWG CL2 Rated 2-Conductor Loud Speaker Cable (For In-Wall Installation) $26.95 for 100 feet of 14 gauge wire. Monoprice 102821 250-Feet 14AWG CL2 Rated 2-Conductor Loud Speaker Cable $64.58 for 250 feet of 14 gauge wire. We also recommend buying some banana plugs to make installs easier and cleaner: Sewell Direct SW-29863-12 Deadbolt Banana Plugs, 12-Pair $23.95
The Give Me Five Podcast: An Uncultured Look at Pop Culture and Nostalgia
On this week's Give Me Five Podcast and Book Club, we talk about a new book set right in our backyard, Orlando, and a book series set in a far away land. We also get technical and discuss the new affordable 3D printing option from Monoprice. $150 3D Printer?!? If that doesn't get your nerd-alert up, Rob will tell us about the new Ren Faire that hit Orlando, and finally we will close things out with the 4-episode Crisis on Earth X crossover event that ran through Supergirl, Arrow, Flash and Legends of Tomorrow on the CW. This leads in to our question, what are your five favorite crossovers? Segment Times: 10:38 Red Queen's War Trilogy - Mark Lawrence (Book series) 18:53 Naked Alliances S.K. Nicholls (Book) 28:43 Ren Faire 36:41 Monoprice Mini-Delta 3D Printer 46:37 Crisis on Earth X Crossover 58:50 The Question: What are your five Favorite Crossovers Let us know at givemefivepodcast@gmail.com or at our Facebook Page : https://www.facebook.com/givemefivepodcast/ Opening theme Special thanks to The Midnight for the use of their song Vampires (instrumental version) Their albums can be purchased here: The Midnight on Bandcamp
HDMI 2.1 Well you knew it wouldn't last forever, but HDMI 2.0 is about to become the old standard and you guessed it, you will need another cable. But do you really need to upgrade? The HT Guys will help you sort it out. What's New? Higher Video Resolutions Dynamic HDR eARC Game Mode 48G cables Let's look at each one in a little more detail: Higher Video Resolutions - 4K50/60, 4K100/120, 5K50/60, 5K100/120, 8K50/60, 8K100/120 10K50/60, 10K100/120. Right now there aren't any TVs on the market that can make use of these new resolutions nor are there any plans for content providers planning on supporting these new resolutions. Based on resolution support, we say no need to hold off a purchase based on the new resolutions. Dynamic HDR - The current HDR being used by the studios embeds metadata telling the television how to handle the image. This is done for the entire movie which means that some scenes look good and others not so much. It's a compromise. Dynamic HDR now embeds this data for each frame or series of frames. Note - Dolby Vision HDR already supports this on the current cable. You aren't missing much here. Buy a TV that supports Dolby Vision HDR and no need to wait for HDMI 2.1. eARC - Support for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. While you will need new TVs and receivers to support this feature, you won't need cables. Today's current HDMI cable will support this. This is only an issue if you are using apps on the TV to provide the audio to your receiver and you want Dolby Atmos or DTS:X. However, if you want to buy a TV now that doesn't support HDMI 2.1, go ahead. You can fix this issue by buying a $100 set top box and provide the video and audio directly to your receiver without going through the TV first. Game Mode - VRR features variable refresh rate, which enables a 3D graphics processor to display the image at the moment it is rendered for more fluid and better detailed gameplay, and for reducing or eliminating lag, stutter, and frame tearing. Translation - Faster gaming! Our take, if you are a serious gamer you may be interested in this. The HT Guys are not gamers. 48G Cables - enable up to 48Gbps bandwidth for uncompressed HDMI 2.1 feature support including 8K video with HDR. The cable is backwards compatible with earlier versions of the HDMI Specification and can be used with existing HDMI devices. You will need this to make use of the new video capabilities. Our take, buy them after they have been out for a while and then buy from Amazon Basics or Monoprice.
En este episodio, Fede habla de los cables que todos usamos para conectar, cargar y gestionar a nuestros dispositivos electrónicos. Son más complicados de lo que muchos piensan. Fede describe las diferencias mayores entre cables, si los cables caros valen la pena, estrategias para elegir cables buenos y como cuidarlos.
Wrong Variants Derrick from The Current Source sent in his stomp box as some "reverse" swag. Recommend putting an LED in the Bass' eyeball for power notification. Parker Finished and ordered the Raspberry Pi Compute Module LVDS test board. Started researching more about I2S Audio. Inter-IC Sound Standardized by Philips Semiconductor which is now NXP One way to represent PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) Audio TAS5731 Stephen Synthesizer Update Got the envelope working. Envelope controls the volume and signal amplitude. There was a hardware bug in that the envelope turned on before the frequency changed to the next note. Stephen fixed it in software by adding a small 10ms delay before opening the envelope. Pick Of the Week (POW) Kinda unusual this week but DRAGONLOCK 3D printer files for dungeons and stuff. MonoPrice is having a sale on 3D printers. Rapid Fire Opinion (RFO) Heads up – WS2812B NeoPixels are about to change! - By Particle.io 1. “RGB port refresh rate increased from 400Hz to 2000Hz, there’s LOW Frame Frequency and No Flicker appear in HD Video Camera, it improves excellent Large-Screen display effect.” 2. “RGB port current-output reduced from 17.5mA to 16.5mA, it can’t be recognized by naked eyes and won’t affect the mixed OLDs & NEWs. However, it’s recommended to separate these old & new chips if your demand performance-critical.” 3. “Old & New chips go all the way in PINs, application circuits, operating voltage, and PCB drawings, and the software is also fully compatible.” 4. “Old & New chips are exactly the same as in Timing, Data transmission and Data structure. However, the Reset Time increased from >50us to >280us. It won’t cause wrong reset while interruption, and what’s more, it supports the lower frequency and inexpensive MCU. When the “Reset Time
beginner audiophile | hifi | gear reviews | stereo | hi-end audio
On today's Beginner Audiophile, we “bake off” 4 different speaker cables from Monster, Blue Jeans, Analysis Plus, and Monoprice to see if A: if we can hear any difference, and B: if the difference is palpable enough for us to make a buying decision. We also give an Anthem update, and announce the winner of … Continue reading 7: Do Speaker Cables REALLY Matter?? →
In Wall Subwoofers We recently received an email from Jim in Carlsbad CA asking why there weren't many reviews of in wall subwoofers. This got us thinking about it. It seems reasonable because how many reviewers are going to commit to ripping a hole in their drywall to test out something that they are going to have to give back when they are done? So how do you make an educated decision? This is one of the situations that you may have to rely on other members of the audio community who are not professional reviewers. Whether it be AVS Forum, Amazon customer reviews, or one of dozens of consumer sites people love to share their experience. The trick is how to separate truth from BS. A general rule of thumb we use when looking at consumer reviews is that 10% of the reviewers hate everything and 10% are too easy on any given product. So they typically cancel out. If you get 80% good ratings then you are looking at something that is a good product. We use this rule for anything we buy online. By the way, most in wall subwoofers are passive so your receiver will need an amplifier available to drive it. If you don't have an available amp you will need to factor one into the cost. Before we look at some in wall options let's look at some of the pros and cons of going this route. Most of these are the same for in wall speakers as well. Pros: Space - Since these are mounted in wall they do not take up space and thus are easier to fit in with any decor. They typically have high spouse acceptance factor as well. Increased Gain - Mounting in the wall will use the space between the studs as an enclosure to extend the bass. Cons: Installation - If you are not handy cutting into drywall you will need to hire someone to install the subwoofer increasing the overall cost. Amplification - In wall subwoofers will require an external amplifier. Since most receiver do not amplify the subwoofer output you'll need to buy a separate one increasing the overall cost. Fewer Upgrade options - once you get your subwoofer installed you are pretty much committed. Unless you can find another model that is the same dimensions. It's not like you swap out subwoofers all the time but you may upgrade in a few years. In wall makes that upgrade more difficult. Calibration - You have heard of the subwoofer crawl right? You won't easily be able to find the right spot for your subwoofer. Since the cavity of the wall is used to extend the bass no SPL measurements will be the same as those taken when the subwoofer is in it's final location. If the position is more important you will have to take other measure to get the audio just right. Here are three in-wall subwoofers that have received an 80% or greater favorable rating by consumers: In the low price category we have the Aria In Wall Subwoofer 10 Inch Passive 200W max $30 (Monoprice). Monoprice does not even try to pretend this is a subwoofer replacement but more of a “bridge” to help offset the frequency gap of compact speakers. But at $30 it may be perfect for casual listening. The subwoofer gets 4.5 out of 5 stars from 39 reviewers. The biggest complaint is that it's installation instructions are not clear. Specifications Impedance - 8 ohms Frequency Response - 35 Hz to 3.0 kHz Power Handling Capacity - 100 watts nominal / 200 watts max Woofer - 10" Non-press Cone Woofer Sensitivity - 88dB ±2dB (1.0m/2.0V) Cut-out Dimensions - 10.6 x 10.6" Overall Dimensions - 11.9" x 11.9" Mounting Depth - 3.6” Our mid price subwoofer is the Klipsch Architectural RW-5802 300 W RMS Woofer $499. This one rated 5 stars but from only 4 users. The RW-5802 sits in an enclosed cabinet that should make it easier to install and reduce vibration and sound in adjacent rooms. Specifications Dual 8 (30.5cm) front-firing, cerametallic cone, cast aluminum frame driver woofer Sealed integrated enclosure for maximum installation flexibility 45-140Hz Frequency Response 90dB Sensitivity at 1-Watt 1m Dimensions - Height 20.8 x Width 11.8 x Depth 3.7 Our high end in wall subwoofer is the Definitive Technology In-Wall Sub 10/10 $800. This is also an enclosed cabinet which makes installation easier. It scores a perfect 5 stars from all three reviewers! Specifications Outer Dimensions: 15-1/2" W x 21" H Cut-out Size: 14-3/8" W x 3-13/16" D x 19-7/8" H Frequency Response: 16 Hz – 200 Hz Nominal Impedance: 4 ohms Driver Complement: One 10" Long-Excursion Woofer coupled to a 10" Infrasonic Radiator Enclosure: Non-resonant Sealed Medite Weight: 30 lbs. In doing research we also discovered the Theater Solutions SUB8S 250 Watt Surround Sound HD Home Theater Slim Powered Active Subwoofer $98. It's not an in wall subwoofer but it is pretty cool nonetheless. It only measures 4 and ¾ inches high so it can be placed under a lot of furniture. It also comes with a wall mount that allows for it to easily be attached to a wall. Just be sure to buy 90 degree adapters for your RCA cables. So it's kind of the best of both worlds. It's not huge so think small family room. It's rated 4 stars by 112 users so it seems like a good bet. Especially for something that costs less than $100. Specifications 8" high efficiency low frequency front firing subwoofer 100 Watts RMS and 250 Watts Max in cabinet amplifier with a frequency response of 35 Hz - 150 Hz High Level L/R Input and Output spring terminals and L/R RCA Inputs Built-in Auto Shut Off RCA Cable, "Y" RCA Adapter and full instructions included
Monoprice Monolith M560 Planar Headphones When we first got into the HDTV thing way back when Monoprice was our goto company for high quality cables that didn't cost an arm and a leg. Since then they have grown into a big company that sells so much more than cables and rock bottom prices. Let's go back to September when Monoprice announced that they were releasing two new Planar headphones, the Monolith M1060 ($299 Not available until February) and the Monolith M560 ($199). Now we have to determine if the they are doing the same thing with headphones as they did with cables back in the early days. Are these high quality and at low price? A planar magnetic driver is a flat membrane that is surrounded by magnets. When current is delivered, the membrane produces sound. The size of the driver in the Monolith M560 is 56mm. Planar magnetic transducers offer numerous benefits: Responsiveness - Since the force created by the magnetic field is distributed across most of the diaphragm surface, the planar magnetic diaphragm moves faster and with far greater accuracy to the input signal. Frequency and Distortion - The magnetic force that drives the lightweight diaphragm delivers rapid acceleration thus achieving a wide frequency response, low distortion and excellent sound quality. Durability - Because the circuit pattern is spread flat across the diaphragm surface it can dissipate the heat generated by the current passing through it more efficiently. Additionally, planar magnetic transducers have few moving parts and can maintain performance without any sonic degradation. Dynamic drivers continuously degrade in performance over their life due to a multitude of moving parts and use of glue joints. Amplifier Friendly - The circuits found in planar magnetic diaphragms present an almost purely resistive load to amplifiers, making it easy to drive. The impedance over the entire frequency range is completely flat vs. dynamic speaker which could have variances in impedance values over the frequency range. Fit and Finish The M560s don't look like your typical headphones, They are bigger than anything I have ever owned. You may have heard the term “Cans” being used for headphones well that's a good description. But they are beautiful cans! They have wooden cups that are held in place magnetically the can easily be removed to give you a more open sound stage. The M560s are well built and look sophisticated. Monoprice includes a nice detachable braided cable and a carrying case. I took these on a recent trip and the case fit in my laptop bag but it was not really something I would recommend for airplane use. However, it was nice to be able to use them in the hotel. Performance I have only had one other set of headphones that I would say was high quality, B&W P5, so my sample size is pretty low. I have listened to some real high end headphones at T.H.E. Show as well so I wouldn't say I am an expert on headphones. My review will be about how good the audio was and the fact that almost anyone can afford these without a lot of heartburn. First word of caution. These headphones need to be broken in. Don't do any critical listening until you have put about 48 hours of audio through them. Your patience will be rewarded. The frequency range of these things is 16 Hz ~ 40 kHz. To verify that I had to employ my daughters and the neighbor dog. Fortunately I can hear the low end! I ran tones through the speakers and was able to hear down to 40hz and up to 16KHz. My daughters could hear the tones clearly up to 18KHz. The neighbor dog didn't really say if he could hear anything past that. Now I know I can get fancy equipment to measure these things but that's not how we work. We just tell you what we experience ourselves. As far as listening to music goes I listened to all kinds of music, Rock, Jazz, Blues, and Classical. All sounded great. I really liked the low end and when I removed the ear cups the bass seemed deeper to me. It did feel more open kind of like I was listening in a room as opposed to hearing the music piped right into my head. The high end was good, not too bright, but not as good as the low end either. I was able to clearly make out the triangles in Ode to Joy. It is clear to me that the low end is where these headphones really shine I also watched some movies and I could hear nuances in the sound track that I couldn't hear even on my Kef Q-Series. I am sure it's because there is no there sound pollution to interfere with the watching experience. Wearing the headphones for extended periods was easy to do. They are very comfortable and not too terribly heavy. Conclusion Can I say these are as good as the Oppo or HifiMan? I can't because I have never listened to those headphones. But it's a good bet that most of you don't want to spend better than a thousand dollars for audiophile grade headphones. However, there are many of you you who do want a high quality experience when listening to your music. And for $200 the Monoprice Monolith M560 will definitely deliver! I was going to give these away as a contest for the new year. But after spending some time with these headphones I decided to keep them!
Welcome to episode 22 of the EdTech Situation Room from September 14, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) had a special show. Rather than discuss a variety of recent technology news headlines, episode 22 focused exclusively on Dr. Nicholas Kardaras' August 31, 2016 article for TIME Magazine, "Screens In Schools Are a $60 Billion Hoax." The article highlights many of the key points in Kardaras' newly published book, "Glow Kids: How Screen Addiction is Hijacking Our Kids—and How to Break the Trance." Jason and Wes highlighted several of the valid points from the article regarding screentime, the powerful physiological influence of digital screens, and digital addictions. They also acknowledged misdirected educational technology movements, like the interactive whiteboard craze of the 2000's and the race for educational technology companies to move standardized student assessments onto digital screens. Jason and Wes took issue, however, with Kardaras' assertion that students in schools are better served with completely screen-free learning experiences. Referencing Neil Postman, John Seely Brown and other authors, they discussed how part of our obligation as educators it to prepare students to navigate the maze of digital distractions and information flows which characterize our modern age. Wes discussed the transformative benefits which digital technology can bring in differentiating reading experiences for students, and highlighted the example of his wife's 3rd and 4th grade classroom in Oklahoma City which serves homeless students and families. Shelly Fryer (@sfryer) has taught in a 1:1 iPad classroom for the past 3 years, and uses apps like News-O-Matic to provide developmentally appropriate reading articles for students. Her students also use their technology tools to make and create, showing and sharing their learning and their developing skills. Jason took on the question, "If everything Kardaras' argues is true, then what for schools?" He pointed out we can't "un-invent" digital screens, so it's important to help students become more saavy, intentional, and constructive users of digital screens to support learning and healthy living. Geeks of the week included amazing and affordable headphones from Monoprice (via Jason) and the free coding app for young kids, PBS Scratch Jr (from Wes). Check out past episode shownotes on http://edtechsr.com/links and be sure to follow @edtechSR for updates on Twitter http://twitter.com/edtechsr as well as on Facebook. If you listen to the show, please submit our listener survey using the shortened link http://wfryer.me/edtechsr which forwards to a Google Form. Your feedback and suggestions on the show are appreciated!
Don’t touch that dial! This week Kyle and Matthew sit down with Channel 101 veterans Paul Isakson and Adam Garland to talk about the long-running L.A. institution, monthly screening competition, and comedy career launching pad founded by Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab. Kyle and Natalie celebrate their own Channel 101 pilot getting picked up, and the gang swaps stories and secrets from their shoots, along with tips for making your own Channel 101 pilot. Because making stuff is rad! Submit your own pilot to submissions@channel101.com. This episode is sponsored by Loot Crate. Give yourself a geeky gift this month! Visit www.lootcrate/thisisrad and enter the promo code thisisrad for $3 off on any new subscription. Weekly Rads: Will Smith in Suicide Squad, Scare LA, Ren & Stimpy, Channel 101 Raddendums: The Most Extraordinary Space Investigations, Acceptable TV, Tom Kaufman, Laser Fart, Yacht Rock, House of Cosbys, Andy Applesauce, Dead Kevin, The Not-Invited, Intimate Indiscretions, The Nuggets, New York Stories, Cautionary Tales of Swords, Spookhouse Storytime, www.channel101.com, Ned Nerpel: All Nipple Boy Detective, Demorge Brown, Willy Roberts, Pauly Tamale, Fishbowls Are Definitely My Thing, Carjumpers, Justin Roiland, 2 Girls, 1 Cup: The Show, The Mountain, The ‘Bu, Derrick Comedy’s Bro Rape, Natasha, Pop-It, Trippin or Stylin, Twitter’s Holiday, Laser Fart, Hallelujah Mountain Springs, Kill the Baby, 3 Love, Nichole Bagby, Everything, Kinja Deals, Monoprice.com
Working on the HelpSpot website, renaming your company, hiring consultants you can trust, Stripe is screwing Butov, search advertising, sales update on Quintu and Scribbleton, HelpSpot Vault, getting PR as a bootstrapper, discussing a possible survey tool in the HelpSpot ecosystem, Andrey’s new project Sourcecase. Ian’s office tree Monoprice audio microphone isolation shield Web Archive […] The post Bootstrapped, Episode 70, “I made a lot of money off Twitter” appeared first on Bootstrapped.fm.
GeoGearHeads; The weekly show for Geocaching and Location-Based Gaming
For the two hundred tenth edition of the GeoGearHeads , , , and talk about geocaching with a smartphone. The Bad Cop found "" for averaging waypoints on iOS. He also likes his "." Darryl mentioned his "," "," "," and "" batteries. They also talked about the "" case for weather protection and external battery power. shortyknits and scottberks use the "." The Bad Cop uses the Monoprice "." The live video session from this Google+ Hangout On Air can be found on . Subscribe to the feed: Social Media: Voicemail: +1 206-350-3647Email:
Hey! Aaron from the future (2019) here. You can check out my updated gear guide at https://kit.com/thepodcastdude. There are a few things you’ll need to buy if you want your podcast to sound great. In this episode, I talk about why a great microphone is an essential investment for your show, and how much you’ll need to invest if you want your show to sound great and stand out from other podcasts. My goal was to create a comprehensive podcasting equipment guide for a beginner podcaster. I won't talk about every microphone, interface or pre-amp available, but I'll cover the essential pieces of gear you’ll need to get your show started. Podcasting Equipment Guide There are a lot of things you'll need to buy if you want to start a podcast. In this episode, I talk about why a great microphone is an essential investment for your show, and how much you'll need to invest if you want a great setup that will set you apart from other podcasters. My goal was to create a comprehensive podcasting equipment guide. I don't talk about every microphone, interface or pre-amp available, but I cover the essential pieces of gear you'll need to get started, and share what some of the best podcasters in the world are using to record shows. After listening, you'll know what the best options are for your budget. Key Takeaways: A great microphone is the most important piece of gear you'll buy. To stand out from other podcasts in a crowded market, you have to provide great content and high quality sound. Great sound quality makes your show easier and more enjoyable to listen to. You only get one chance to make a first impression. Make it a good one. If you have a tight budget, consider buying used gear online. When deciding which interface to buy, consider how many mic inputs you'll need. Always, always, always use a pop filter. Wear headphones to avoid causing echo from guests in your recording. If you're serious about making a great podcast and growing your audience, don't settle for the cheapest option. How to Stand Out in a Sea of Podcasts There are thousands of other podcasts vying for your listener's attention. To stand out, you have to provide great content, but you also need to have good sound. Great sound quality makes your show easier and more enjoyable to listen to. Attention to sound quality shows your listeners that you take podcasting seriously, which means they will take you seriously and be more likely to invest time listening to you. You only get one chance to make a first impression. Make it a good one. A Great Microphone Needs Less Post-Production Good mics require less post-production. Most recordings can be improved with post-production (noise removal, EQ, Compression, etc), but a great mic will require less post-production. If you're going to be podcasting, you can either hire someone to edit, mix, and master your show, or spend a little time to learn how to do it yourself. Cheaper mics just don't sound as good. They often have harsher high end, they sound brittle and don't have a good low-end (bass frequencies). A lot of people ask me, “What's the minimum I can spend to get started?” I don't want you to just meet the minimum. If you're going to do it, do it right. Get a great microphone as soon as possible. If you can't afford a decent mic, practice with what you have, but save money to get the mic you want. If You Have a Small Budget, Consider Buying Used Gear I understand that not everyone can spend $800 on a podcasting setup. When I started podcasting, I was using a Shure PG42 USB mic, but I wish I had invested in a better mic right away. If you have a small budget, I recommend checking out Guitar Center's used gear online, or checking your local music store for used gear. Make sure to save the receipts in case anything doesn't work, and make sure you buy from reputable sellers who offer returns if you're shopping on Ebay. If you have a tight budget, consider buying used gear online. Should I Buy a USB Mic, or a XLR Mic? One of the questions I often get asked about microphones is, “Should I get a USB mic, or an XLR mic?” If you're just starting out, and you want to spend the bare minimum, you can get a USB like the Audio Technica ATR-2100 ($60), or the Samson Q2U (also about $60). However, keep in mind that these are budget microphones, and will not give you great sound. Additionally, it's a pain in the butt to record multiple USB mics at the same, so if you plan on recording anyone else in the same place as you, go with XLR mics and an audio interface instead. If you want a good USB mic and are willing to spend a little more, check out the Rode NT USB mic. It's $170 but sounds noticably better than the cheaper USB mics. You'll also need to get a mic stand and a pop filter for each mic too: More on that a bit later. What about Dynamic vs Condenser? A dynamic mic will give you more mid-range warmth and has better off-mic noise rejection, so it won't pick up as much of the room sound or background noise. A condenser mic will give you more detailed recordings, but are often more sensitive than dynamic mics, so they may pick up more room echo and background noise. Dynamic microphones are usually a better choice for podcasting (there are a few exceptions, such as the Shure Beta 87A which is a condenser mic). If you're interested in learning more about dynamic vs condenser mics, check out 10 Statements on Condenser Microphones vs. Dynamic Microphones. The pickup pattern of the mic also affects how much background noise it'll record. Click here to learn more about microphone pickup patterns. XLR Microphones I love and recommend XLR microphones for podcasting. The microphone I use is the Shure Beta 87A. It's $250 new but you can find them used for less, and they sound great and pick up much less background noise then the other mics I've tested in that price range. If you're looking for an affordable XLR mic, you can't go wrong with a Shure SM57 or SM58. They sell new for $100, but you can find them used online for half that price. Pair a SM57 or SM58 with a simple USB interface (like the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2), and you've got a great sounding, affordable recording setup. Recording On the Go If you need to record with multiple microphones on the go, the Zoom H4N ($199) is a great option. This is a small, handheld device that has 2 microphone inputs plus a built-in condenser mic on top. If you need more than two mic inputs, get the Zoom H6 ($399) instead. The H6 has 4 mic inputs in addition to a built-in condenser mic on top. Lavaliere Mics I don't have much experience with using lav mics, but they're commonly used on stages, and they can work pretty well if you're out and about recording interviews. If you're looking for a lav mic you can use with your smartphone, check out the Rode Smartlav ($80), which is an affordable option for recording to an phone. I took a listen to the audio, and it wasn't as high quality as more expensive lav mics, but it's more affordable and convenient for mobile recordings. USB Audio Interfaces If you decide to get a XLR microphone, you will need an interface to convert the analog signal from the mic into a digital signal that your computer can record. Most interfaces connect to your computer via USB, and the smaller ones use USB for power as well. When deciding which interface to buy, consider how many mic inputs you'll need. Things to consider: How many mics will you be using at the same time? If you're just going to be recording yourself, an interface with one or two mic inputs will work fine. If you're going to be recording multiple people in the same room, you'll need an interface with four or maybe eight mic inputs. How many headphone monitoring channels will you need? Most interfaces offer one or two headphone monitoring ports (so you can listen to yourself while recording, or run your computers audio out through your interface). If you need more than one or two headphone jacks, you may want to invest in a headphone amp that you can plug additional headphone lines into. The audio interface that I'm using to record this episode is the Scarlett 2i2 ($149). It's USB powered, has two microphone inputs, and a single headphone jack. Quick note: most interfaces will give you phantom power (or 48v), which is used to power XLR condenser microphones. If you're using a dynamic microphone, you won't need to use phantom power (in fact, make sure it's turned off before you record). If you need more mic inputs (or headphone jacks), you'll want to go with the Scarlett 18i8 ($299). This has 4 mic inputs and 2 headphone jacks. If you need an interface with 8 mic inputs, get the Scarlett 18i20 ($350). Even though this interface has a higher price than the others I've listed so far, I wanted to mention the Apollo Twin Solo ($599). It's not cheap, and this model only has two mic inputs, but if you want to invest a little more money and get a fantastic interface, check it out. Cables, Stands, Pop Filters, and Other Accessories If you go with an XLR microphone, you'll need an XLR cable to connect your microphone to your interface. I use the Monoprice 15ft XLR Cable ($10). It's affordable and works great. You'll also need a mic stand. I use a normal microphone boom stand like the Samson Mic Stand ($20), which works fine for most mics. I would recommend the standard boom stand for most people, but if you want to invest a little more money and get something nice, you could go with the Heil Sound PL-2T Overhead Broadcast Boom ($120. This is a swiveling boom arm that attaches to your desk, and is very convenient for moving the mic around to any position you want. I recommend avoiding any stand that sits directly on your desk. They may cause your mic to pick up any vibrations (caused by typing or bumping the desk), which will cause thumps in your recordings. A shock mount for your mic might alleviate that, but I recommend using a standard boom stand or a boom arm instead. Always use a pop filter. A pop filter diffuses and prevents plosives and sibilants, and lets you get closer to the mic which will make your voice sound more rich and warm and gives a sense of intimacy to your recordings. The Nady Pop Filter is $10 on Amazon and is a no-brainer (pretty much any pop filter will get the job done). Power Conditioner A power conditioner cleans and filters noise and hums that might come through your computer or interface's power supply. You might not need one of these, but if you hear a hum or buzz in your recording that you can't eliminate, try a power conditioner to see if it helps. I plug my computer and pre-processor into a Furman Power Conditioner ($55). Audio Pre-Processors You may have heard about the DBX 286 ($200) before. The DBX 286 is pre-amp, compressor, de-esser, and noise gate. It's a pre-processor used by many professional podcasters to improve the sound quality of raw recordings. If you are brand new to audio, you'll need to invest some time in learning how to use the various controls of this unit, but if you want to get even better sound out of your XLR microphone, it's a solid investment. If you decide to buy a DBX 286 or any other pre-processor or pre-amp, you'll need to buy an additional XLR cable to connect it to your interface. Headphones Headphones are essential for both recording and editing. If you are talking to someone over Skype and you aren't wearing headphones, the sound will come out of your speakers and get recorded in your track which will cause a really annoying echo (and ruin your recording). Wear headphones to avoid getting echo from computer speakers in your recording. The headphones I use and love are the Sony MDR-7506 ($85). If you want to spend a little less, there are a lot of other options, including the Sennheiser HD-280 ($69) and the Panasonic RPHJE120K Earbuds ($12) (fine for listening and even mixing). Recording Software After you buy your recording gear, you'll need to use some kind of software to record audio. If you have a Mac, Quicktime is an easy way to record an audio track. It should already be installed, so you can open it up, select your mic or interface and be good to go. You might also have Garageband included in your Mac, and that works fine for recording audio as well. Audacity is a free program that works on both Mac and Windows. Here's a short tutorial on how to record an audio track in Quicktime or Audacity. If you'd like to spend a little bit of money on a real DAW (digital audio workstation), Reaper is a good affordable option (both Mac and Windows, $60). I use and love Logic Pro X, and there's also Pro Tools or Adobe Audition These programs are more for the audio professional, someone who is going to be doing a lot of editing, mixing and mastering. If you plan on learning and doing the post production yourself, you should invest in one of these programs. Recording Skype Conversations If you're going to be interviewing someone or talking to a co-host over Skype, there are a few options for recording Skype calls including Ecamm Call Recorder (for Mac), and MP3 Skype Recorder (for Windows). I recommend that each person on the call record a track on their computer and then send those to the person responsible for editing (this is called a "double-ender"). You should also record the audio from the Skype conversation to have as a backup. You might also check out Squadcast.fm, it's a web app that makes it easy to record multiple people at the same time. It costs $20/month but does come with a free 14 day trial. My Recommended Setups If you're looking for the most affordable option, I recommend the Samson Q2U with a pop filter and mic stand. This will cost about $100. The setup that I'm currently using is the Shure Beta 87a and an Scarlett 18i8 interface, with a few Shure SM58 mics to have as backups. I invested around $500 for this setup (buying everything used), but it sounds great and I can record up to 4 people at the same time if I need to. If you're serious about making a great podcast and growing your audience, don't settle for the cheapest option. Consider waiting to start recording your podcast until you've saved up enough money to be able to buy the gear you want, so you can make a show that sounds good from the start. You'll thank yourself later, and your listeners will too. Cool Stuff to Check Out: Recommended Gear: https://kit.com/thepodcastdude Podcast: https://thepodcastdude.simplecast.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/thepodcastdude Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/thepodcastdude Successful Podcasting: http://successfulpodcasting.com Simplecast Blog: http://blog.simplecast.com/
Recorded Wednesday, December 18, 2013 Hosts: John Sextro, Amos King, and Craig Buchek Pair Switching Pairing, in general How to pair switch Using a “Pair-a-mid” to track pairings How to rotate pairs Length of pair sessions 1 week, 2 day, 1 day, half-day, 2 hours, 1 hour, 15 mins Benefits of short pairing sessions Pitfalls of long pairing sessions When to switch What should trigger a pair switch Time, using a timer Story completion Concerns about context switches Insights on the C2Wiki Picks of the Show Craig (@CraigBuchek) WireWorld Monoprice.com Amos (@adkron) Arduino projects Geek Desk, Amos is anticipating the arrival of his new desk John (@jcsextro) Bitcoin 7 Habits of Highly Effective Pair Programmers, published article, by Me The Hour of Code 2013
Lindsay joins Tinder, Dustin loves Monoprice, and Nicole goes to the movies! Featured music by The Great American Canyon Band
This week on the podcast we're talking about AT&T's crappy new smartphone upgrade plans, the awesome secret stuff you can get on Monoprice, and how to survive an Airbnb disaster. We're also answering your questions about Mac Wi-Fi issues, MP3 tagging, and transforming go bags. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Host: Tim Albright AVNation Founder Guests: George Tucker from World Stage and Harry Meade, CTS-D. Record Date: 3/01/2013 Are projectors ready to come out of the closets, and soffits, in residential? How do you pick an AV receiver? We talk about Monoprice’s IR over HDMI and the fact that Nielsen is tracking your Internet TV watching habits. [...]
Host: Tim Albright AVNation Founder Guests: George Tucker from World Stage and Harry Meade, CTS-D. Record Date: 3/01/2013 Are projectors ready to come out of the closets, and soffits, in residential? How do you pick an AV receiver? We talk about Monoprice’s IR over HDMI and the fact that Nielsen is tracking your Internet TV watching habits. [...]
Antonine Dodson's New House, MonoPrice, UN aims to take over the world, Corn Sugar, Steven Colbert, Christine O'Donnell, HDR Video, Stewart on the O'Reilly Factor, and Halo Reach.
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