AV Rant #293: Bits, Depth, and Gear
July 4th, 2012
What’s the deal with bitrates? Is lossless really important? Tom says both yes and no. The Loudness War coming to an end? Is this possible? Liz and Tom evaluate a couple of headphone cable management systems: the Flux Headphones and Cord Cruncher. Flash is dead…and no one cared. Liz takes on the Google Nexus 7 tablet while Tom handles the Google Nexus Q media streaming sphere. A bit about some Triad speakers you can actually afford, a 2D-3D converter from IOGEAR that Tom is actually excited about, and the VISIO Co-Star – what the Logitech Revue should have been. Thanks for listening. Now, don't forget to:
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Enjoyed the podcast, especially the section on bit rates, which I am in complete agreement with. There is a use case where you may need a higher than 160kbs bit rate which is when you’re streaming mp3s to your 5.1 (or greater) receiver. If you’re extracting the ambiance signal through Pro Logic, left – right, or any type of matrix extraction, you’ll find lots of distortion in the rear channels unless a higher bit rate is used. 320kbs works for me.