![Netgear Nighthawk X10 Wireless AD7200 Router Review [Updated]](/Image/CropThumbnail/?width=58&height=58&imageFile=/ContentImages/Article/2568/thumbnail/default/thumbnail.jpg)
Items tagged with Audio
Logitech, one of the biggest brands in the PC gaming peripheral market, has acquired Astro Gaming, a popular player in the audio headset sector for both PC and console gamers. The $85 million all-cash acquisition brings together two major brands, both with solid reputations among gamers in their own right. By joining forces, Logitech and Astro Gaming become the top seller of headsets, mice, keyboards, and streaming webcams for PCs and consoles. Astro Gaming can be considered a pioneer in the gaming audio headset space. The company is best known for its A40 and A50 headsets aimed at professional...
Read more...
If you're an audiophile or someone who would simply prefer listening to the highest-quality version of a song or album possible, then Spotify's plans to offer a lossless subscription option should get you excited. That is, as long as you're willing to pay a bit more for the luxury. Starting this week, some of Spotify's customers have been receiving a prompt offering them a service upgrade, with premiums over the current subscription being $5 to $10. In some cases, people are offered nothing more than an upgrade to lossless audio (in addition to their preexisting premium subscription), while others...
Read more...
Apple's AirPods launched to some seriously mixed reaction when they were unveiled a couple of months ago, but it's seemed that since then, some have warmed up to the idea of having a cordless experience when listening to music. Many who've adopted AirPods early generally have good things to say about them - at least those who've managed to not lose half of the pair yet (yes, it's happened)! When AirPods launched, their niche-ness led some to wonder if we'd ever see a second iteration. Well, based on a newly-granted patent, there's almost no doubt that we will in fact see a follow-up. An obvious...
Read more...
You may have noticed that the audio in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition sounds a little off compared to the original title released five years ago. You may even have wondered if it was all in your head, that perhaps you were over analyzing the remastered version. That isn't the case. Other gamers have noticed it too, and Bethesda says it is working on a fix. The issue apparently has to do with Bethesda using an over aggressive compression scheme on the game's sound assets. That was the conclusion reached by Reddit forum member LasurArkinshade, who brought the issue to widespread attention...
Read more...
Razer Enhances Its Aural Pleasure With THX Acquisition, Eyes Push Into Virtual And Augmented Reality
It seems like only yesterday that Disney snatched up Lucasfilm for just over $4 billion, and now, we have yet another George Lucas-created enterprise finding a place under a different wing: THX. THX was founded 33 years ago in an attempt to deliver the best possible sound quality for the upcoming George Lucas film, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. It remained under Lucasfilm's umbrella until 2002, at which point it was picked up by another legendary audio company: Creative. Fast-forward to today, and the brand has changed hands again, to peripheral giant Razer. One of Razer's latest audio products,...
Read more...
Are you miffed that the latest iPhone doesn't have a dedicated 1/8" audio jack? Well, Apple likely won't be alone, as other smartphone OEMs may be looking to ditch the venerable headphone jack in order to take advantage of audio over USB-C. This week, the USB-IF (Implementers Forum) announced "USB Audio over USB Type-C", and it's touting it for much the same reasons that Apple does with its latest iPhone. USB-IF expects this standard to be used for headsets, mobile devices, docking stations, gaming setups, VR solutions, and more. Notebooks are not mentioned, but it seems certain they'll...
Read more...
There are plenty of rumors floating around claiming Apple is ditching the 3.5mm port on its next flagship handset, presumably called iPhone 7, in favor of using its Lightning cable port for connecting headphones and earphones, but the Cupertino outfit isn't alone in wanting to banish the traditional audio jack. Intel would like to see the 3.5mm port go the way of the dodo bird, though it wants USB Type-C to replace it.The Santa Clara chipmaker touched on the subject at its Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco this week, a subject it's talked about before. Company architects Brad Saunders...
Read more...
Intel is joining the fight to replace the widely used 3.5mm headphone jack with USB Type-C connectors. The Santa Clara chip maker isn't the first to suggest such a move, though the challenge in toppling the 3.5mm port is that it's everywhere. Nevertheless, Intel presented an extensive proposal at IDF Shenzhen to make the swap.Replacing the 3.5mm jack with USB Type-C connectors is a short term goal of Intel's, one that would pave the way towards its long term goal of transitioning from analog to digital audio. The movement is already underway on mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones, and...
Read more...
EVGA set up shop in a swank suite at the Bellagio Hotel a short distance away from the craziness of the Las Vegas Convention Center, to display its latest products to CES attendees. As you’d expect, EVGA had a wide array of motherboards and NVIDIA GPU-based graphics cards on hand, including a custom GeForce GTX 980 Ti geared for the upcoming wave of VR gear, but the company also revealed some upcoming products that have nothing to do with graphics. Some of EVGA’s high-end, custom GeForce GTX cards were displayed in a glass case, with a trio of EVGA’s custom SLI bridges...
Read more...
The audio industry is filled to the brim with magical devices that are capable of reshaping the reality of those that dare tread within its realm. There is often utter bewilderment at the expressions some people use to converse with each other on the subject. What is the color of sound, 'clarity', 'warmth', 'coarseness'? These are also the same people that will take out a mortgage to buy a sound system, and even spend $10,000 on a single cable - yes, we're back to this chestnut again. (Update, 3/30/15: Pricing has been falling dramatically for these cables since the time the original article was...
Read more...
It looks like we could be seeing an audio-related Nest product in the not-so-distant future. This news stems from the fact that Nest posted a job ad that seeks a "highly technical Head of Audio to lead the development of Nest Audio across hardware and software, present and future." That speaks volumes (no pun). Whoever gets hired will get to lead a team that oversees the development of 'Nest Audio', which will involve both hardware and software. Whatever comes from this will be an end-user product, but that's probably not too much of a surprise. It's an interesting move for Nest, although not really...
Read more...
There are few markets that are quite as loaded-up with snake oil products as audio / video. I am sure that by me simply saying that, you immediately thought of "Monster", one of the most infamous offenders. But believe it or not, there are some vendors that push the envelope so far that Monster's $100 HDMI cables look like a bargain by comparison. Take AudioQuest's high-end Ethernet cable, for example. Called "Diamond", AudioQuest is promising the world with this $10,500 USD cable, and if you for some reason believe that an Ethernet cable is completely irrelevant for audio, you might want to listen...
Read more...
With smartphones and tablets being so commonplace these days, we're all classified as mobile warriors. However, most of the devices lack mojo in one critical area -- speakers. At best, we hope for serviceable sound from speakers integrated into tablet and smartphone devices, which is why we're starting to see more portable speaker options. Towards that end, Logitech's Ultimate Ears division today announced its UE MEGABOOM, a next-generation portable wireless speaker that's supposed to deliver more power, sound, and bass than previous efforts.Don't fret too much over placement -- the UE MEGABOOM...
Read more...
Make no mistake, Samsung fully intends to ride the whole "curved" craze as far as it will go, which so far has been applied to smartphones, televisions, and soundbars; the latter of which will see an expanded lineup at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. That's not all -- Samsung also intends to roll out a couple of concept speakers, one of which looks like the lovechild of Eve from Wall-E and those guns in Portal. That's the stand-type model (WAM7500); there's also a movable model (WAM6500) that will have you wanting to sing, "I'm a little teapot, short and stout"...
Read more...
