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AV Rant #796: Stop Chasing Specs!

February 25th, 2022 Comments off

Sound United bought by a medical company. Samsung’s first QD-Display model. And lots of suggestions to save money and not buy things this week. Just raining on so many parades.

Pictures shown in this episode:
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzDm5L

00:00:00 – Intro

Having fun with our quick movie reviews. This week, Rob watched Dune…part 1 of it, anyway. And Tom caught up on Don’t Look Up.

00:08:49 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are our 140 Patreon Patrons, including Will and Daniel, as well as Will for alerting us about the “Podcast Archives” strangeness on iTunes, and Brandon for sending Tom some Movies Anywhere codes.
We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Dan, Gurinder, Michael, Rohan, Brandon, J. Karl, Jeremy, and Martin. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

00:14:37 – Giveaway
James “House of Cards” is providing an open box UMIK-1 and SPL Meter for us to give away. We’ve decided we’ll randomly select the recipient from our list of Patreon Patrons. So if you’d like the chance, sign up for as little as $1: https://www.patreon.com/avrantpodcast

In the news:

00:15:38 – News: Masimo buys Sound United
Via Infinite Gary – Masimo, a medical company, has agreed to buy all of Sound United: https://is.gd/LFGyCF

00:19:07 – News: Go Ahead and Update your NVidia Shield
Experience Upgrade 9.0.1 fixes the bugs: https://is.gd/Gg1wEQ

00:20:42 – News: 1st Samsung QD-Display
34-inch Samsung G8QNB ultrawide QD-OLED monitor: https://is.gd/eKRt1R

Comments:

00:22:24 – Comment: Brian – We Nailed It!
Set your Apple TV 4K to output 4K SDR by default.

00:23:24 – Comment: Dazz – Cheap Decoupling
Kids’ playroom floor mats do the trick beneath a subwoofer.

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AV Rant #795: James’ Parting Gift

February 18th, 2022 Comments off

It’s a bittersweet farewell from a long-time listener. But he didn’t want to leave without giving something back. So send us your suggestions for how we should give away an open box UMIK-1 and an SPL meter.
Then we dig into QD-OLED prices, Epson’s 4K Laser projector, and MoviePass 2.0 tracking your face to make sure you’re watching their ads. Plus a whole bunch of questions answered!

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

00:00:00 – Intro & Listeners of the Week

No movie review this week, but some quick takes on recent streaming TV shows.

Our Listeners of the Week are Joseph, Aras, and John for they PayPal donations, plus our 136 Patreon Patrons, including Martin and J. Karl.
Thanks also to Nelson and Joseph for sending photos with permission to use them on https://avgadgets.com/
And we appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Billy, Luke, Gurinder, Julian, Martin, Joseph, J. Karl, and Aras. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

00:12:43 – Giveaway & Goodbye

James “House of Cards” is making some big life changes. He’s bidding us adieu, but donating his open box UMIK-1 and an SPL meter for us to giveaway.

In the news:

00:20:05 – News: QD-OLED Prices
Alienwear’s 34″ monitor is official: https://is.gd/mYLEGE
Sony’s A95K took some sleuthing: https://is.gd/trJT1K

00:21:32 – News: Epson Pro Cinema LS12000
4K/120 & Laser projector for $5,000: https://is.gd/ItnFIT

00:28:11 – News: MoviePass 2.0
Coming this summer. No more all-you-can-eat. Earn credits by watching ads with your face being tracked: https://is.gd/p9LWft

Comments:

00:30:31 – Comment: Nelson – APC Pure Sine Wave
An oscilloscope shows the output of an APC “Gaming Performance” UPS.

00:31:14 – Comment: Nathan: HD Fury Conversion
A reminder that only the Diva does HDR to SDR conversion.

00:34:00 – Comment: Paul – Salamander Designs
They’re expensive, but worth it.

QUESTIONS:

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AV Rant #794: Return of Rohan

February 11th, 2022 Comments off

We go in-depth on playing 4K Atmos streams on a 1080p TV, what your printed panels will actually look like, and why we’d happily add a projector to an OLED, but not swap one for the other. Plus unusual cylinder sub ideas, a great Listener take on which acoustically transparent fabric to get, and much more!

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

00: – Intro & Listeners of the Week

We chat a bit about the tech involved in the Olympics Opening Ceremonies: https://is.gd/pyly3i

Our Listeners of the Week are Sean for his PayPal donation, plus our 136 Patreon Patrons, including Bertrand, as well as Karl for suggesting https://avgadgets.com/ start a weekly email newsletter.
We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Rohan, Jay, Mike S, Gurinder, Mike T, and Bertrand. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:10:24 – News: Amazon Prime Price Increase
So far, it’s only for the USA: https://is.gd/S8VtNH

Comments:

00:11:08 – Comment: Karl – JVC Color Filter
A reminder that the DCI-P3 color filter in the NX7 and higher projector models is optional.

00:12:10 – Comment: Nathan – Acoustically Transparent Fabric Options
He tried a bunch and thinks Acoustimac’s options come out on top. Also, a great point made that speaker grill cloth is not fire rated.

00:13:56 – Comment: Joe – A Tale of Two Hard Drive Replacements
Tivo’s was easy, but data was lost. Kaleidescape’s was more complicated, but nothing was lost.

00:16:05 – Comment: Nelson – Battery Backup Waveform
An oscilloscope shows what a “stepped approximation” of a sine wave really looks like.

QUESTIONS:

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AV Rant #793: The Sean Show

February 4th, 2022 Comments off

An unusual week behind the scenes means a shorter episode, and there’s one listener who asks a whole alphabet’s worth of questions!

Pictures shown in this episode:
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzB2Ff

00:00:00 – Intro an Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Gregory & Jonathan for their PayPal donations, plus our 135 Patreon Patrons, as well as Curt & Alex for helping out https://avgadgets.com/ with a correction, and permission to use photos, respectively.
We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Daryl, Sean, Gurinder, John, Mike, Jason, Allen, Jay, Greg & Aras. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!
– IKEA PEPPRIG duster: https://is.gd/Q25fDD

In the news:

00:11:41 – News: Sony bought Bungie
The game studio behind Destiny sold for $3.6 billion: https://is.gd/nZtf6Z

00:13:28 – News: Sony A75K OLED
Less expensive OLEDs from Sony, but only in 55″ & 65″ sizes: https://is.gd/aK7MEI

00:15:31 – News: Samsung Micro-LED prices
89″ to 114″ sizes range from $80K to $100K: https://is.gd/Ry9VR1

QUESTIONS:

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AV Rant #792: Townhouse Woes

January 28th, 2022 Comments off

Our movie review disagreements were short-lived. Some SVS in-wall sub details. Wishing we had better news for attached dwellings. And bagging on Activision and REL.

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

00:00:00 – Intro & Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Gav for his PayPal donation, plus our 136 Patreon Patrons, including Bertrand & Todd. We also want to thank JT for sending a Movies Anywhere code.
And we greatly appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Brandon, Tue, J.R., Aras, Gurinder, Bertrand, Grad, Gav & Justin. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:14:34 – News: SVS 3000 In-wall Subwoofer
AV Nirvana scored details on the dual 9-inch drivers, price, and release date: https://is.gd/OVKqhf

00:18:47 – News: Microsoft buys Activision
The largest game studio acquisition ever leaves us feeling icky: https://is.gd/9qgGz1

Comments:

00:24:26 – Comment: Andrew – Cross-Spectrum Labs
Herb from Cross-Spectrum gets a shout out for their individually calibrated UMIK-1 mics.
– https://cross-spectrum.com/

00:25:15 – Comment: Nathan – Acoustimac Panels
The 2″ panels come with a solid back by default, but the DIY kits and bass traps can have open backs.
– DIY kits: https://is.gd/ykyfli
– Bass traps: https://is.gd/zGmxcv

00:26:52 – Comment: Tue – Strøm open source WiFi speaker
Tue started a project to escape closed ecosystems.
– Strøm website: https://is.gd/4yINjI
– Wiki: https://is.gd/9v45Lg
– GitHub: https://is.gd/gBfbNn

QUESTIONS:

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