AV Rant #220: Gadgets for Girls
Because of a website snafu, the podcast is late posting. But most of you already know that and downloaded it when I posted the link on twitter? Right? This week, a late discussion of gadgets for girls and Liz provides some relationship advice. This week’s Twoll (twitter poll) was on demo material. Listeners give some great suggestions (see after the break for specifics). Tom talks about Onkyo’s new networked receivers, the demise of guitar hero, and the small room syndrome. How much will you save if you cut the cord? Well, not Tom since he’d have to pirate everything but you guys over in the US. Thanks for listening and don’t forget to vote for us at Podcast Alley! To see our (mostly) complete collection of show videos, click here. To get our iPhone app, visit the iTunes store. Download Tom’s ebook Bob Moore: No Hero which is pretty much available everywhere.
Listener Demo Suggestions
- Phillip – Toy Story for Picture Quality, Call of Duty: Black Ops for Sound
- Victor – BBC’s Planet Earth “Shark Attack Scene” Episode 1 “From Pole to Pole” Blu-ray Disc1 at 27:57-31:00
- Walter – Sound Quality – Jeff Buckley’s album ‘Grace’ Specifically “Hallelujah,” “Lilac Wine,” “So Real” and “Grace” – For subwoofers The Notwist’s “This Room” from their album ‘Neon Golden’
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Unfortunately it is Rufus Wainwrights version of Hallelujah that appears on Shrek (2?). The tune is a classic from Leonard Cohen circa 1984 …he is “The most erudite singer-songwriter after Bob Dylan” albeit one with a similar gravelly voice. Jeff Buckley’s version of that tune is exceptional.
Alright, Will here. Time to fill in the blanks for Liz ;-). When she was talking about playing Quantomm of Solace we play that via our media server on a MacBook. The file is a 1080p bluRay rip so the macbook used to struggle a LOT w/ the opening scene. We ended up installing the Broadcom gpu accelerator to make it all work much nicer.
@lesser evil. Yes, I did mean to mention that it wasn’t Jeff Buckley’s version on Shrek, but that the song became famous there. And you are doubly right that it was Leonard Cohen’s song — I actually have his version too. I think Jeff Buckley’s version may be my favorite.
For demos, I often use War of the Worlds, 2005 for sound, especially for its dynamic range and emotional impact. For picture, Baraka Blu-ray is a breath taker.