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HDD Gear Deal Spotlight: Up to 50% off LG OLED HD & Ultra HD TVs![teaser]For a limited time, Amazon is offering big discounts on select OLED displays! [/teaser] As part of the online retailer's ongoing electronics sales and promotions, Amazon is running limited time deals on OLED TVs from LG. With their OLED panels, these models offer superior black levels, contrast, and viewing angles over traditional LCD displays. LG 55EC9300 55-Inch 1080p 3D Curved OLED TV - Currently $1,998 (50% off). LG 55EG9600 55-inch 4K Ultra HD 3D Curved OLED TV - Currently $3,998 (27% off). LG 65EG9600 65-inch 4K Ultra HD 3D Curved OLED TV - Currently $5,998 (33% off). LG 65EC9700 65-inch 4K Ultra HD 3D Curved OLED TV (2014 Model) - Currently $5,998 (50% off). As always, these deals will only be active for a limited time while supplies last. Make sure to stay tuned to High-Def Digest for more sales and special promotions!Posted Wed Aug 26, 2015 at 04:00 PM PDT by: -
LG Bolsters OLED 4K Ultra HD TV Lineup with Flat-Screen HDR Models, Prices Start at $5,499[teaser]The world's first flat-screen OLED Ultra HD TVs have been detailed. [/teaser] LG has announced several new additions to its growing OLED lineup. The upcoming EF9500 series will feature flat-screen designs and high dynamic range support. "OLED TV is not just a new TV – it’s an entirely new category of television that delivers what experts and consumers alike are hailing as the best picture ever," said William Cho, President and CEO, LG Electronics USA. "The introduction of LG's new flat OLED 4K TVs offers consumers more choices of OLED TVs at more competitive pricing and makes the definitive statement that OLED is here to stay." The EF9500 series will be available in 55-inch and 65-inch screen sizes. The TVs feature a resolution of 3840x2160 and use OLED panels to produce superior contrast, black levels, and viewing angles over traditional LCD displays. In addition, the televisions will also incorporate support for high dynamic range content from streaming services and external sources. Likewise, the sets include LG's webOS 2.0 smart TV platform. The 65-inch 65EF9500 ($6,999) and 55-inch 55EF9500 ($5,499) will be available in September. Meanwhile, LG has also announced plans to show off two more OLED Ultra HD TV series at IFA 2015: the flat-screen 55EG9200 and curved-screen 55EG9100 with ultra slim 4.8mm designs. Pricing for those models has not been announced. Sources: LG 1, LG 2Posted Wed Aug 26, 2015 at 02:00 PM PDT by: -
Samsung Details New Wireless Audio 360 Speakers, Prices Start at $199[teaser]The company will demo three new speakers at IFA 2015. [/teaser] Samsung has revealed the latest additions to its home audio lineup. The R5, R3 and R1 are all part of the manufacturer's Wireless Audio 360 Speaker collection. "With these additional models we are bringing a new kind of high quality sound to the market, with design that is simple, yet premium, and offers a more intuitive user interface," said Jurack Chae, Senior Vice President of the Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. "The R5, R3 and R1 will help cement Samsung’s position as a world leader in home audio." All three models are omni-directional speakers with ring-radiator technology. In addition, the speakers include a new tap-and-swipe user interface that allows customers to adjust volume, playback, and music sources with a simple touch, tap or swipe on top of the device. Likewise, support for Samsung's updated Multiroom App for Android and iOS mobile products is integrated as well, letting users share music across Wi-Fi connected devices throughout the home. Finally, high-res music streaming through the Qobuz online music platform is available too. The Samsung R5, R3 and R1 will be available in the last quarter of 2015 with prices ranging from $199 to $399. Source: SamsungPosted Wed Aug 26, 2015 at 01:00 PM PDT by: -
Yamaha Reveals AVENTAGE CX-A5100 Preamp with Dolby Atmos & DTS:X for $2,999[teaser]The company's latest preamp includes immersive audio tech. [/teaser] Yamaha has detailed the newest addition to its AVENTAGE product lineup. The CX-A5100 Preamp offers support for DTS:X and Dolby Atmos. "The CX-A5100 is a special piece for serious home theater fans, offering Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, as well as the bulletproof performance that our customers expect from Yamaha — especially from our flagship sound and build quality solutions," said Bob Goedken, general manager, AV Division, Yamaha Corporation of America. "In addition, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and MusicCast provide great accessibility and freedom, so music from mobile devices and networked sources can be enjoyed in multiple rooms in the house." The preamp features 11.2-channel support for up to 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos and DTS:X audio configurations. In addition, the device uses SABRE32 Ultra DACs with 192 kHz / 32-bit processing. Likewise, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, high-res audio playback, and 4K support with HDCP 2.2 compliancy are also included. Finally, MusicCast wireless multiroom audio compatibility is integrated as well. Yamaha's CX-A5100 is expected to start shipping in late August for a suggested retail price of $2,999. Source: YamahaPosted Tue Aug 25, 2015 at 02:00 PM PDT by: -
Cablevision Optimum Online Adds Showtime & CBS All Access Streaming Options[teaser]The cable provider will now offer standalone streaming services for its internet only customers. [/teaser] Cablevision and CBS have announced a new deal that will allow Cablevision to distribute CBS All Access and Showtime streaming platforms to its Optimum internet customers without a cable subscription. Previously, Showtime streaming was only available through Apple devices and Roku products, or as an add-on to Hulu Plus and PlayStation Vue. "This comprehensive new agreement builds on our strong relationship with CBS and ensures that every Optimum customer gets the highly popular CBS content they want across multiple platforms and screens," said Tom Montemagno, executive vice president, programming, Cablevision. "As the first distributor to agree to provide CBS' new Internet services, Cablevision continues to expand its portfolio of next-generation offerings, connecting customers to the programming they value when and where they want it." The Showtime standalone OTT platform allows users to subscribe to Showtime streaming without the need for a traditional cable or satellite contract, giving cord-cutting customers access to live feeds, on-demand content, and all of the network's popular movies and shows, including 'Homeland,' 'Shameless,' and 'Penny Dreadful.' Meanwhile, CBS All Access offers next-day streaming for new episodes of 16 popular shows and a library of 6,500 on-demand episodes, including content from current programs like 'The Good Wife' and 'NCIS,' and classic series like 'The Andy Griffith Show' and 'I Love Lucy.' Likewise, customers will be able to watch live local CBS broadcasts through the service in 14 select markets. Live content and contemporary shows will include commercials, but the classic programming will be presented without ads. Unfortunately, some sporting events, including NFL games, will not be part of the service. Exact pricing and availability for Showtime and CBS All Access through Optimum Online have not been announced, but current subscriptions cost $11 and $6 per month respectively. Source: CBS via EngadgetPosted Tue Aug 25, 2015 at 01:00 PM PDT by: -
HDD Gear Deal Spotlight: Up to 70% off Audio Products, Including a Dolby Atmos Receiver![teaser]For a limited time, Amazon is offering big discounts on select home audio products! [/teaser] As part of the online retailer's ongoing electronics sales and promotions, Amazon is running limited time deals on audio gear from Denon, Sony, Sennheiser, Creative, JBL, and Pyle. Denon AVR-X4100W 7.2 Network A/V Receiver with Dolby Atmos - Currently $799 (47% off). Creative ZiiSound D5x Wireless Speaker System and Creative ZiiSound DSx Wireless Subwoofer Bundle - Currently $136 (70% off). Pyle PSBV200BT 300 Watt Bluetooth Soundbar - Currently $110 (66% off). Sony MDR-ZX330BT/B Bluetooth Wireless Headphones (Certified Refurbished) - Currently $50 (50% off). JBL Cinema Base 2.2 Channel Soundbase - Currently $200 (48% off.) Sennheiser HD 558 Headphones - Currently $109 (39% off). As always, these deals will only be active for a limited time while supplies last. Make sure to stay tuned to High-Def Digest for more sales and special promotions!Posted Mon Aug 24, 2015 at 06:00 PM PDT by: -
LG Unveils G Pad II 10.1-Inch Tablet with WUXGA Display[teaser]The latest G Pad model will balance performance and price. [/teaser] LG has detailed the newest addition to its tablet lineup. The upcoming G Pad II will debut at IFA 2015 in Berlin. "The LG G Pad II 10.1 was developed in response to consumers' feedback and optimized for multimedia consumption." said Chris Yie, vice president and head of marketing communications for LG Mobile Communications Company. "Customers asked for a large display, bigger battery and faster performance all without raising the price. The G Pad II delivers on all counts." The tablet features a 10.1-inch WUXGA display with a resolution of 1920x1200 and 224ppi. Under the hood, the device is powered by a 2.26GHz Quad-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 Processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 7,400mAh battery running Android 5.1.1 Lollipop. A 5MP rear camera and a 2MP front camera are integrated as well. In addition, LG has also included a Reader Mode for reducing eye-strain, a Dual Window mode for multitasking, QuickMemo+ for easy memo creation, and Microsoft Office. Exact pricing and availability have not been revealed yet, but the tablet will be demoed at IFA 2015 in Berlin on September 4-9. Source: LGPosted Mon Aug 24, 2015 at 09:45 AM PDT by: -
HDD's Gear Buying Guide for College DormsAugust is winding down and as the month goes, so too, does the lazy, sunny haze of summer vacation. And as the break from classes comes to an end, most new and returning college students are preparing to head back to their "cozy" little dorm rooms. For many HD gear loving undergrads, this probably means saying goodbye to your parents' swanky home theater rooms, and hello to a 20-inch tube TV that you found outside a haunted Circuit City. Somewhere stuck halfway between a claustrophobic apartment and a broom closet, most dorms aren't exactly known for their luxurious size… or privacy… or appealing odors. But fret not, just because you're heading back to a cupboard with a bed, doesn't mean that you can't enjoy some high quality video and audio entertainment! With that in mind, we've put together a buying guide filled with space and budget conscious gear items that are a perfect fit for the university lifestyle. [teaser]From compact smart TVs and sound stands to streaming sticks and wireless speakers, these are the ideal home theater products for any college dorm. [/teaser] Note: All prices below reflect current Amazon discounts. Displays While most home theater enthusiasts will likely agree that when it comes to TV screen sizes, bigger is most definitely better, a 65-inch Ultra HD display or 100-inch projector screen just aren't realistic for most (or any) dorm rooms. After all, if your television takes up the whole wall, where are you going to put that Starry Night poster that lets everyone know that you're totally into art? Thankfully, smaller sized TVs don't necessarily mean poor quality, and there are some very solid options out there for 40-inch, 32-inch and smaller screens with great cord-cutting friendly smart TV platforms. And if you ever feel like your TV still isn't big enough, you can always just sit really close. Hell, considering the size of most dorms that will probably be mandatory anyway. VIZIO E-Series Smart HDTVs Though once thought of purely as a budget brand, VIZIO is quickly becoming one of the best bang-for-your-buck TV manufacturers on the market, and their E-Series is home to some very nice picture quality and streaming features. The sets offer full-array LED backlighting (edge-lit on the 24-inch model) with up to 16 active zones to produce deep black levels and superior uniformity. Likewise, all of the models include the company's VIZIO Internet Apps Plus smart TV platform that offers built-in Wi-Fi and popular services like Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, iHeartRadio, Hulu Plus, Spotify, YouTube and more. E-Series 24-Inch Razor 1080p Smart TV - $168 E-Series 28-Inch Full-Array 720p Smart TV - $198 E-Series 32-Inch Full-Array 1080p Smart TV - $248 E-Series 40-Inch Full-Array 1080p Smart TV - $358 TCL Roku Smart HDTVs With their popular media players and HDMI sticks, Roku has made quite a name for itself in the streaming world, so it should come as no surprise that the company has now integrated its platform into several HDTV models. With a Roku smart HDTV, users get access to the company's intuitive interface and growing channel store with an extensive lineup of apps, including support for the Sling TV platform. Likewise, each TCL Roku model has also been awarded the new Netflix Recommended TV designation, ensuring an optimized Netflix experience, making them the perfect fit for cord-cutting college students on a budget. The top of the line 3850 series also features "a premium design with a metallic finish offered in gunmetal and an all-aluminum quad pedestal stand." TCL 32S3800 32-Inch 720p Roku Smart TV - $228 TCL 40FS3800 40-Inch 1080p Roku Smart TV - $340 TCL 32S3850 32-Inch 720p Roku Smart TV - $250 TCL 40FS3850 40-Inch 1080p Roku Smart TV - $352 Soundbars Yes, we all want true surround sound with the latest Dolby Atmos and DTS:X audio technologies... but a dorm room and college budget don't really lend themselves to such high-end, space-eating setups. Sure, truly dedicated users could find some way to mount speakers and hide subwoofers in every crevice and corner, but when your terrified RA calls the cops during the shootouts in 'John Wick,' you might wish you had something a little more manageable... and less likely to bring a swat team to your door. With that in mind, a soundbar system is a great alternative for students who want to upgrade their wimpy integrated TV speakers without breaking the bank or losing too much space. Some models even feature simulated surround sound modes, wireless subwoofers, Bluetooth support, and special compact designs. Here's a rundown of some solid soundbar models that should fit nicely in any dorm setting... VIZIO SB2920-C6 29-Inch 2.0 Soundbar - $78 VIZIO SB3820-C6 38-Inch 2.0 Channel Soundbar - $98 VIZIO SB3821-C6 38-Inch 2.1 Soundbar with Wireless Subwoofer - $150 Samsung HW-J250 2.2 Channel Soundbar - $128 Samsung HW-J355 2.1 Channel Soundbar with Wireless Subwoofer - $148 Yamaha YAS-105 35-Inch Soundbar with Dual Built-in Subwoofers - $250 Sound Stands As space-saving as soundbars are, some models can still be a bit big for a dorm room setting. Thankfully, an even more compact audio solution is now available from several manufacturers. Sound Stands are designed to fit directly under a customer's TV, adding room-filling audio without taking up any additional real estate. Likewise, many models offer built-in subwoofers, Bluetooth connectivity for streaming music, and support for various audio codecs. VIZIO S2120w-E0 2.0 Sound Stand - $111 VIZIO S2121w-D0 2.1 Sound Stand with Integrated Subwoofer - $168 LG LAP240 4.1 Sound Plate with Built-In Sub Woofer - $239 Pioneer SP-SB03 Andrew Jones Speaker Base TV System - $250 TV2 - TV Speaker Base - $299 Yamaha SRT-700 TV Speaker Base with Dual Built-In Subwoofers - $350 Bluetooth Wireless Speakers Sound Stands and soundbars are pretty great dorm room home theater substitutes, but what if you aren't actually planning to pair a speaker with a TV? After all, many college students do most of their media watching on laptops and tablets now, so a simple wireless speaker for music streaming really might be all you need or want. There's lots of solid Bluetooth models on the market that offer decent audio quality and features in very compact designs, letting students play all their music from mobile devices during impromptu dance parties -- you know, between all that studying. Sony SRSX33 Powerful Portable Bluetooth Speaker - $108 UE BOOM Wireless Bluetooth Speaker - $199 Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker II - $199 LG Music Flow H4 Portable Wireless Speaker - $199 Yamaha WX-030WH MusicCast Wireless Speaker - $250, Read more about MusicCast here! Riva Audio Turbo X Bluetooth Speaker - $350, Full review coming soon! Headphones Living in a dorm also probably means living with a roommate. And living with a roommate means you probably won't always be able to blast your movies at reference levels. Likewise, living with a roommate means that you will probably also want the option to block out certain noises with some quality music in your ears. Thankfully, headphones should do the trick quite nicely. Whether you want to enjoy a Netflix title late at night or listen to the latest Taylor Swift album shame-free without anybody else knowing, a good pair of headphones are a dorm room must! And as an added bonus, companies like DTS are now offering rather impressive surround sound technologies compatible with any headphones, letting users experience immersive audio without any speakers at all through DTS Headphone:X content. Beats by Dr. Dre Studio Wireless 09077 Headphones - $349 Bose QuietComfort 25 Noise Cancelling Headphones - $299 Audio-Technica ATH-M30 Closed-Back Headphones - $60 Creative Sound Blaster Jam Ultra-Light Headphones - $48 JVC HAS400B Carbon Nanotube On-Ear Headband Headphones - $24 Streaming Devices Though most TVs on the market now feature integrated streaming apps, it's possible that many college students might still be rocking "dumb" TVs or displays that don't offer particularly robust streaming libraries. If that's the case, then the best solution for any cord-cutting undergrad is a dedicated streaming device. Media players and media sticks are fantastic, compact solutions that allow customers to access services like Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, Hulu, HBO Go, and many more. While some apps are only available on certain devices (for now, Roku is still missing HBO Now support), they all provide fairly similar features. With that said, the Google Chromecast works a little differently than the other products. Instead of having apps directly on the stick, it allows users to "cast" content and services from their mobile gear, laptops, and PCs. Chromecast - $32 Fire TV Stick - $39 Roku Streaming Stick - $47 Apple TV - $68. Roku 3 - $98 Fire TV - $99, Check out our full review! Conclusion So, there you have it. Those are a few gear suggestions for new and returning college students living the dorm lifestyle. You may not have the space or cash for an Ultra HD OLED TV or a full Dolby Atmos system just yet, but with these products you should still be able to enjoy some quality HD entertainment. For now, what do you think about our suggestions? Will you be picking up any of these gear items for your college dorm? Do you have any college gear suggestions of your own? Let us know in the forums!Posted Fri Aug 21, 2015 at 03:30 PM PDT by: -
HDD First Look: Yamaha Launches MusicCast Wireless Multi-Room AudioYou're as likely to see the word Yamaha on a dirt bike** as you are on Elton John's piano as you are on one of their 12 million AV Receivers running right now in the United States. The world's largest instrument manufacturer and number one AV receiver maker also builds professional speakers for stadium concerts, has a special division manufacturing wood trim for luxury automobiles and, should you ever visit Japan, even makes routers and designs IT systems for airports. It's a little mind boggling, to be honest. So here they are in 2015, the masters of many domains, pushing to innovate new product lines. Sure, international corporations want to build newer-better-bigger things to sell as many newer-better-bigger things as possible. Yet, spend more than twenty seconds with any Yamaha engineer, tech specialist, or marketing executive, and there's a connection. A spark of mutual geekary. These Yamaha guys and gals love what they design and sell. They're excited to talk to you about it. And it's not spin. Meet MusicCast Wireless Multi-Room Audio (WMRA) has been a fairly niche market, with high-end installers turning to products from companies like Sonos. But, with the near-ubiquitous adoption of smartphones and Wi-Fi, Yamaha hopes to grow the market by creating their own WMRA system... MusicCast. The idea is simple: wireless freedom. Access to all of your audio content -- from digital files to physical media to streaming services -- anywhere in your home, controlling one room at a time, multiple rooms together, or the whole house from one smartphone app so elegantly designed even the biggest technophobes can approach with confidence. To create a MusicCast wireless audio network, you need four things: Audio Sources (digital, analog, physical, streaming, whatever) A Wi-Fi (or ethernet) network The MusicCast app for iOS or Android devices (the remote controller) MusicCast-enabled speakers, sound bars, stereo receivers, monitors, and/or AV receivers (the devices). MusicCast operates on 802.11n Wi-Fi (2.8Ghz) and can connect up to 10 products simultaneously. It supports every audio file format under the sun, including high resolution codecs like Apple Lossless (ALAC) up to 96 kHz / 24-bit, as well as FLAC, AIFF and WAV files up to 192 kHz / 24-bit. For those interested in DSD, Yamaha says, "most MusicCast models also support single-device playback of DSD streams up to 5.6 MHz." MusicCast products are also Bluetooth enabled. A pretty standard feature on the surface, yes. But in addition to the ability to receive Bluetooth signals, MusicCast devices can also transmit Bluetooth to any Bluetooth speaker or wireless headset. That means you can connect non-MusicCast products as well as use MusicCast to privately listen to any audio source in any room in your house. The one Bluetoothian caveat? Individual MusicCast products don't simultaneously transmit AND receive Bluetooth. Meaning, if Bluetooth is your "source," you can't then transmit that audio to a second Bluetooth device in the same room. There is, however, a workaround using multiple MusicCast products. But I'm getting ahead of myself... How Does MusicCast Work? [teaser] MusicCast has been designed to seamlessly integrate every single audio source in your home, and make it playable in any room with a MusicCast enabled device. [/teaser] You're watching the SuperBowl and want to hear the big game in the kitchen? Check. You subscribe to Spotify Premium or Pandora or Internet Radio and want to stream it the whole house? No problem. You have an extensive vinyl or SACD collection that's only ever played on your main system? Great. Your digital music library is on a DLNA-compatible computer hard drive? Done. Hell, you can even watch a Dolby Atmos Blu-ray and hear it in any other room (though, admittedly, not in Atmos and without the picture). Literally, anything with a wired or wireless audio output can become a MusicCast audio source. The MusicCast App (pictured above) is the heart of the system. It's visual and simple and so easy to navigate, you'd think it was a native iOS or Android app. Users begin by inputting their MusicCast devices as well as defining the listening environments, or "rooms". For our discussion here, let's say you have a 7-channel Yamaha AVENTAGE ("ah-vehn-taj") RX-A1050 AV Receiver in your living room (review forthcoming!), one MusicCast speaker in the kitchen, and a MusicCast Sound Bar in the master bedroom. That's three rooms and three devices, with each device input becoming a potential "source". The MusicCast app defaults to stock images of various devices and rooms, but this is all customizable. Choose between stock images, a simplistic color scheme, or use your own photos of your gear and/or rooms. You can also rename rooms and sources and inputs on those sources. After setup and app-customization, you're ready to go. MusicCast is as easy as one, two, three... Select a room Select a source Select a song. You can run each MusicCast room independently or link rooms together to create a multi or whole-home music experience. This too is three steps of easy: Tap "Link" Select the "master" room (the room with the source you want to distribute) Select additional rooms to link That's it, save for setting your volume, which you can do from the master volume, or by setting each room's volume independently. The great feature here is that "volume up" is a slow process to prevent accidental overload, while "volume down" is effectively instant. How Do I Get MusicCast? Yamaha is launching MusicCast with 20 new products, some of which are available now (and getting a firmware upgrade today), with the rest hitting the market by year's end. As mentioned above, the app is free, while MusicCast devices run the gamut from $249.99 wireless speakers to their flagship $2,999.95 flagship pre-amp/processor. Here's a rundown of the MusicCast-enabled devices for 2015 (with expected MSRPs): Available Now RX-V479AV Receiver ($449.95) RX-V579 AV Receiver ($549.95)RX-V679 AV Receiver ($649.95)RX-V779 AV Receiver ($849.95)AVENTAGE RX-550 AV Receiver ($549.95)AVENTAGE RX-A750 AV Receiver ($699.95)AVENTAGE RX-A850 AV Receiver ($999.95)AVENTAGE RX-A1050 AV Receiver ($1,299.95)AVENTAGE RX-A2050 AV Receiver ($1,699.95)AVENTAGE RX-A3050 AV Receiver ($2,199.95)YHT-5920 Home Theater in a Box ($699.95) September 2015YSP-1600 MusicCast Sound Bar ($499.95)SRT-1500 MusicCast TV Speaker Base ($599.95)RX-S601 AV Receiver ($649.95)AVENTAGE CX-A5100 Pre-amp / Processor ($2,999.95) October 2015MusicCast Speaker (Black or White/Silver -- $249.95)R-N602 Network Hi-Fi Receiver ($649.99) December 2015YSP-500 MusicCast Sound Bar with Dolby Atmos & DTS:X ($1,699.95)NX-N500 Powered Monitor Speakers ($799.95/pair) MusicCast Demo Yamaha was gracious enough to invite a few home theatre journalists (and me?) to their Buena Park, California offices for a quick tour and a product demo. This "home" combined four "rooms" -- one AVENTAGE RX-A2050 AVR, one SRT-1500 MusicCast TV Speaker Base, two MusicCast Speakers, and one YSP-1600 MusicCast Soundbar. The app was simple to use, offered instant gratification for those who just want things to work, along with access to menus and settings for tinkerers and tweakers. Each speaker system played individual or in groups or as part of the whole. In short, MusicCast works as promised. Next, Yamaha demonstrated high resolution audio files via the R-N601 Hi-Fi Receiver as well as the NX-N500 powered monitor speakers. I'm personally much more of a surround sound guy and wouldn't classify my two-channel tastes as audiophile, but Yamaha's monitors are incredibly dynamic and nuanced in how they approach music with a wide range of frequencies. I don't know exactly what types of files played, nor did we compare them to lesser grade file formats of the same music, but I can say high res audio too works well. Overall, it was a pretty quick demo, but a promising one. If Yamaha finds success with this product line and it grows, it's very easy to imagine current and future Yamaha fans building wireless multi-room audio networks in their homes at all different price points. From the audiophile with terabytes of music to the casual listener who wants a convenient way to supply tunes for the backyard barbecue, there's a MusicCast product for you. Wait... Did You Say Dolby Atmos Sound Bar? Hell YES yes we did. Careful readers may have noticed an interesting product listed above. Sometime in December, Yamaha is releasing the $1,699.95 YSP-5600 MusicCast Sound Bar with support for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X object-based surround sound. It was also on hand for the demo, but purposely left disconnected so as not to distract from MusicCast. In other words, I have no idea how it sounds. But here are a few fun facts: The YSP-5600 has 46 individual drivers, twelve of which are dedicated to reproducing front height right and front height left sound objects. In this sense, this sound bar recreates a 7.1.2 Atmos experience. It will also launch with DTS:X capabilities as well as support for Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD MA, and Dolby Surround (it up-mixes stereo, 5.1, and 7.1 content into Atmos). No subwoofer will be included at this price, a bit of a bummer if you ask me, but customers can opt to add a $149.99 wireless sub transmitter to pair any brand sub to the sound bar. It's not cheap, but this could be the ultimate wife-approved / apartment-friendly Atmos set up to date. Time will tell, but every single journalist in the room did a double take when Yamaha pointed it out. Smart move in keeping it disconnected; we could have spent another hour on this alone. Personally, I can't wait to test it out (cough, hint, hint, cough) later this year. Oh, and the YSP-5600 does MusicCast. Final Thoughts MusicCast is available today on Yamaha's latest AV Receivers and one HTiB system. You can purchase them online (via the links above), at your favorite AV gear store, or through Yamaha's network of licensed dealers and installers. If you already own any of the above-listed products, you should have gotten a new firmware update this morning. Once you do this firmware upgrade, download the free app from your iOS or Android app store, and you're ready to control up to 10 MusicCast-enabled devices. With 20 or so minutes of hands-on with MusicCast, it's a very impressive system that's stupid-easy to use, but customizable to the point where enthusiast geeks can tweak as much as they want. If you're in the market for Wireless Multi-Room Audio, MusicCast is a must-demo. **Editor's Note: Yamaha Motorsports is now completely separate from Yamaha's musical instrument and audio companies.Posted Thu Aug 20, 2015 at 02:00 PM PDT by: -
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Amazon Adds HBO Now to Fire TV & Fire TV Stick[teaser]HBO's standalone streaming service is now available on Amazon's media players. [/teaser] HBO and Amazon have announced the arrival of HBO Now on the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick. The premium streaming service initially launched exclusively on Apple devices. HBO NOW allows users to watch every episode of every season of HBO’s original programming, hit movies, documentaries, sports and exclusive comedy specials separate from a traditional cable or satellite subscription. The service offers more than 2,000 popular series and movies, including 'Game of Thrones,' 'True Detective,' 'Silicon Valley,' 'Girls,' 'Veep,' 'The Wire,' 'Divergent,' 'X-MEN: Days of Future Past,' 'Neighbors,' and 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.' In addition to Fire TV and Fire TV Stick support, HBO Now is also be available on Fire tablets, Google Chromecast, Apple TV, and Android devices. An HBO Now subscription currently costs $15 per month. Source: EngadgetPosted Thu Aug 20, 2015 at 12:00 PM PDT by:
