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AV Rant #806: Our First Time Recommending MultEQ-X

May 6th, 2022 Comments off

Sony’s got three new 4K Laser projectors. Yamaha finally updates their firmware, but still disappoints. Samsung is straight up trying to trick reviewers who measure their QD-OLEDs. And we make a suggestion no one expected.

Check out Tom’s novel, “Touch of Pain”:
https://amzn.to/3JRVzSu

Pictures shown in this episode:
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzNbXv

00:00:00 – Intro
Rob watched Death on the Nile. Tom watched Hunt for the Wilderpeople, and Freaks.

00:14:23 – Listeners of the Week
Our Listeners of the Week are Raf for his PayPal donation, plus our 142 Patreon Patrons, including Dale, as well as Brandon for trying to help Tom’s parents with their Harmony remote, and Greg for sending a movie code.
We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Mike, Jason, Dale, and Dan. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:20:14 – News: Sony XW 4K Laser Projectors
An interesting back and forth in prices and features compared to JVC’s lineup.
– XW5000: https://bit.ly/3weoLxM
– XW6000: https://bit.ly/39HftTe
– XW7000: https://bit.ly/3OW1ZmR

00:31:00 – News: Yamaha Aventage 4K/120 Firmware
It took a very long time, and still isn’t complete: https://bit.ly/3MT1lV9

00:34:04 – News: Samsung QD-OLED Trickery
They’re goosing EOTF and colors, but faking accuracy strictly at the most common test pattern sizes: https://youtu.be/rhto9MmiExE

Comments:

00:38:54 – Comment: Jason Ehrlich – Kinetics VersaTune LF
The head of Sales Development for Kinetics reached out to clarify details about their HardSide, TAD, and VersaTune acoustic panels, and introduce us to their VTLF 80Hz 2 1/8″ thick bass trap: https://bit.ly/3LJ6nDz

00:47:42 – Comment: Greg – Balanced vs Unbalanced
Greg shares a write up from Sanders Sound: https://bit.ly/3MT1OGT
– https://avgadgets.com/xlr-vs-rca-which-cable-is-better/

QUESTIONS:

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AV Rant #805: The Trouble with Dirac

April 29th, 2022 Comments off

Lee steps in for Rob this week so Tom is doing the show notes! Be prepared to be underwhelmed! Or just whelmed. Whatever. We talk about some AV stuff, some other AV stuff, and a save a couple of listeners a ton of money.

Check out Tom’s newest novel, “Touch of Pain”: https://amzn.to/3JRVzSu

Our Listeners of the Week are our 145 Patreon Patrons, as well as Chris for finding what the hackers left and Ara for talking us up to Gary Yacoubian.

And we appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Dan. Eric, Matt, Augie, Gurinder, Patrick, and Aras.

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AV Rant #804: Don’t Buy Gurinder’s Niece’s Book

April 22nd, 2022 Comments off

RSL has a new SpeedWoofer subwoofer. Insteon has vanished without warning. And IMDb TV gets a new name: Freevee.

Gurinder is a long-time listener, and his 12-year-old niece published a novel on Amazon! It’s titled, “The Orb Oracle”. But we would never promote that. No, sir. What sort of precedent would that set? We’d certainly never mention how she also made her own cover art. And we’d never link to where you can buy it, like this: https://amzn.to/3vwYs5y . Not gonna happen. Sorry.

Check out Tom’s newest novel, “Touch of Pain”:
https://amzn.to/3JRVzSu

Pictures shown in this episode:
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzLfhj

00:00:00 – Intro
Tom watched Spider-Man: No Way Home and Metal Lords. Rob watched West Side Story and The Batman.

00:15:13 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are our 146 Patreon Patrons, including Bertrand, as well as Peter for sending a Movies Anywhere code.
Thanks to Keshaun and Dane for giving Tom permission to use their photos on https://avgadgets.com/
And we appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Peter, Nathan, Jorge, and Gurinder.

00:21:08 – The Orb Oracle
A novel by Gurinder’s niece, who also did her own cover art. It’s too bad we refuse to mention it or link to it, like this: https://amzn.to/3vwYs5y

In the news:

00:23:09 – News: RSL SpeedWoofer 10S MK II
An updated version costs $50 more, but digs down to 22 Hz: https://is.gd/Qnw0hm

00:26:35 – News: Insteon Shuts Down Servers
Without warning, Insteon home automation seems to have closed up shop and vanished: https://is.gd/fhSPrV
– Options for Insteon users: https://is.gd/93Xdvg

00:31:08 – News: IMDb TV is now Freevee
The Amazon-owned streaming service gets a new name, Apr 27: https://is.gd/mPFFKe

Comments:

00:33:08 – Comment: James – RTI Remotes
A dealer-only, universal remote option: https://is.gd/efBv5a

00:36:00 – Comment: Nathan – JustWatch
Another good universal search and watchlist option: https://www.justwatch.com/

00:37:56 – Comment: Dazz – Vacation TV Horrors
SoundBars, Bose Cubes, and smoothing, oh my!

QUESTIONS:

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AV Rant #803: Plex Search FTW

April 15th, 2022 Comments off

Plex’ new universal search, watchlist, and discovery features are surprisingly good right out of the gate. Klipsch’s new entry-level looks promising. And YouTube joins us in the 1990’s with 5.1 audio.

Check out Tom’s newest novel, Touch of Pain, on Amazon.

Pictures shown in this episode:
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzKnWD

00:00:00 – Intro
Rob’s getting ready for the 6th and final season of Better Call Saul. And Tom’s been watching Cracow Monsters, The Bubble, and stand-up comedy…but only if it’s recent!

00:06:41 – Listeners of the Week
Our Listeners of the Week are Patrick for his PayPal donation, plus our 146 Patreon Patrons, including Dale and Bertrand, as well as Kris for sending us a code for Spider-Man: No Way Home.
We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Keshaun, Dale, Bertrand, Jack, Joe, and Gurninder. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:10:10 – News: Just Plex It
Plex Universal Search, Universal Watch List, and Discovery manage to actually function across every streaming service out there. And you don’t even need a Plex account to use Search.
– https://www.plex.tv/
– Just Plex It: https://is.gd/OR24Kp
– Netflix 2 Thumbs Up: https://is.gd/SnyiTN

00:18:10 – News: YouTube & YouTube TV 5.1 Audio
Still a lot of limitations, but 5.1 audio is slowly rolling out.
– YouTube: https://is.gd/g4YxZ3
– YouTube TV: https://is.gd/frqWuV
– More coming: https://is.gd/AwJC4m

00:20:06 – FlatPanels HD Ultra HD Blu-ray Database
Quickly search by HDR, audio format, and 4K vs 2K DI: https://is.gd/0IFv1G
– https://www.nextgenhometheater.com/

00:21:30 – News: 2022 Klipsch Reference Series
Klipsch’s 7th generation borrows from the Klipsch Reference Premiere Series: https://is.gd/zjjgAn

QUESTIONS:

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AV Rant #802: Sofabaton X1 First Impressions

April 8th, 2022 Comments off

Rob’s early take on setting up and using the Sofabaton X1 Universal Remote. Is it the Harmony replacement we’ve been hoping for?

Check out Tom’s latest novel, Touch of Pain, on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3JRVzSu

Pictures shown in this episode:
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzJuvA

00:00:00 – Intro
Rob’s been catching up on Supergirl, and Tom has started Moon Knight and saw Turning Red, as well.

00:09:05 – Listeners of the Week
Our Listeners of the Week are Raf for his PayPal donation, plus our 144 Patreon Patrons, including Dale and Chris, as well as Jack for pointing out a glitch over at https://avgadgets.com/ , and Karl for picking up Touch of Pain: https://amzn.to/3JRVzSu

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Miguel, Mark, Tim, Dale, Chris, and Allen. Thank you to everybody for continuing to listen!

00:13:33 – Sofabaton X1 Impressions
David wrote in last week with his take, and Rob compares his initial experience setting up and using the new universal remote: https://is.gd/Yq8xPu

Comments:

00:39:57 – Comment: Gurinder – Wii 2 HDMI Adapter
Only $8: https://is.gd/mLl4ts

00:41:20 – Comment: Mark – Zap-Pop-Pop caused by Wireless?
Trying to help out John with his NVidia Shield audio problems.

QUESTIONS:

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