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Spotify is close to offering lossless-quality music
Tidal's lossless-quality music streaming was its original selling point over big name rivals, but it might not have that advantage for much longer. Both The Verge sources and Reddit members have discovered that Spotify is prepping its own lossless offering, Spotify Hi-Fi. Much like with Tidal, paying $20 per month would give you audio befitting your premium headphones. There's no word as to when Hi-Fi would arrive -- Spotify isn't commenting beyond acknowledging that it's "always testing new products." However, it certainly appears to be getting close.
Denon outfits Heos speakers with Bluetooth and high-res audio
Denon debuted its Heos line of speakers nearly two years ago, a set of audio gear that looked to rival multi-room setups like Sonos and others. Now Denon is giving the speakers a bit of a boost by adding some new features. The new Heos lineup sports the same model names and exterior design as Series 1 that arrived back in 2014. However, what has changed is the addition of high-res audio and Bluetooth connectivity.
I tried to identify high-quality audio samples and failed miserably
High-resolution audio is getting a lot buzz as of late thanks to the efforts of Tidal, Neil Young and others. While Tidal had a test of its own, NPR set up another quiz to see if you can tell the difference between MP3s and uncompressed WAVs. I couldn't, and I listened to the samples through a pair of B&O H6s routed through an Apogee Groove DAC/headphone amp. In fact, the only track out of the six in which I was able to accurately identify the uncompressed audio was Katy Perry's "Dark Horse" (oddly enough, I'm a big KP fan). For reference, 320kbps MP3s, which are the mid-grade option here, are what streaming services like Spotify, Rdio and others use for their catalogs.
Tidal brings pristine streaming music to nearly every device you own
You can already check out Deezer Elite if you want high-quality streaming music, but it's only available on Sonos devices. That's not very useful when you're away from home, is it? Thankfully, Aspiro has stepped in to fill that void with a far more accessible service, Tidal. The offering brings lossless internet tunes to Android, iOS, the web and seemingly every networked media player on the planet; the company has deals to support gear from 34 home audio companies, including Sonos and Denon. Tidal also has a few incentives to come back besides new albums, including articles, music videos and a Shazam-style song recognition feature. You can give Tidal a spin today, but be prepared to cough up some cash for that no-compromise sound. It costs $20 per month in the US (£20 in the UK), or about twice as much as many run-of-the-mill services.
Samsung ATIV Book 9 2014 Edition review: big screen, even bigger price
So many Ultrabooks in our laptop buyer's guide: Not one with a 15-inch screen. Which is strange, because it seemed for a while that bigger-screen ultraportables were going to become a thing; HP, Sony and ASUS all tried their hand at super-light 15-inch machines. Two years later, though, Samsung is one of the only companies that's still at it. The company recently came out with the ATIV Book 9 2014 Edition, an update to the 15-inch Series 9 laptop from 2012. Like the original, it's insanely thin and light for a machine with this screen size, except now, it graduates to a full HD touchscreen, longer battery life and updated processors. Most notable of all, it features an improved audio setup with a built-in digital-to-analog converter allowing you to play back lossless, or "studio-quality" audio formats. The thing is, even for a flagship it's pretty expensive: At $1,500, it has one of the highest starting prices we've seen, and there are plenty of similarly specced machines that cost less. That raises an interesting question, then: Who should buy this?
Raspberry Pi gets audiophile credentials thanks to RaspyFi Linux distro
Raspberry Pi and the Raspbmc OS already make a solid combo as a media center, but if you encounter music-related limitations then it may be worth giving the RaspyFi distro (v1.0) a shot instead. In addition to supporting Apple AirPlay and a range of lossless file types, this audio-centric form of Linux also works with a long list of external USB DACs, including asynchronous playback, so you can avoid relying your Pi's tiny stock DAC and amplifier. RaspyFi's other big feature is that it comes with its own web-based UI (shown in the video after the break), which ought to make it easy to control playback of both local and streamed content (such as web radio or Spotify) from virtually any browser-equipped device on your network. A quick health warning, though: audiophilia is a slippery slope that may subsequently cause you to develop an unhealthy suspicion towards your Pi's standard power supply.
Sony Walkman F886 offers hi-res audio, 32GB storage, full Android 4.1 for £250
Gone are the days when you needed a niche media player just to handle hi-res music. Phones and tablets are already starting to support higher bit-rate standards and Sony has just announced that its latest Walkman does too. The Walkman F886 handles WAV, AIFF, FLAC and ALAC playback up to 192KHz/24-bit and sports an "S-Master" digital amplifier that Sony claims has been customized for precisely these sorts of files. The F886 also houses a 4-inch Triluminos (854 x 480) display, which should do slightly more justice to Android 4.1 (with full Google Play access) than last year's smaller F800. Sony conveniently glosses over the impact that playing 192KHz tracks will have on battery life, and how few of those files will actually fit on the 32GB of onboard storage (with no microSD expansion), but the company does promise 26 hours of playback of more reasonable 96KHz files on a single charge. Just bear in mind that, at around 1GB per hour of 96KHz/24-bitcontent, your playlist may well expire before your battery does. Expect the F886 to arrive in Europe in October for 319 euros or £249.
Powerful, fast audio editor Fission updated to version 2, available on Mac App Store
Rogue Amoeba does magical things with audio on the Mac. I've long been a fan of their software, and one of their best applications just got a big update with Fission 2. If you've ever wanted to split, edit, join or otherwise mangle audio clips regardless of format, Fission is a great tool. Not only that, the magic sauce in Fission keeps quality of the audio high even when dealing with formats like MP3. A couple of new features of note include support for making Enhanced Podcasts using AAC and SoundCloud support built right in. Full press release below, but if you go to Rogue Amoeba's website you can download a generous demo version. If you're already familiar with Fission 2, buy it in the Mac App Store. Previous owners of Fission have an upgrade path, and if you bought a copy after April 1 of 2012, your upgrade should be free. Show full PR text September 17th, 2012 Fission 2 - Fast Audio Editing on the Mac Is Better Than Ever Fission IconBoston, MA - Rogue Amoeba is proud to announce the availability of the next major version of this fabulous software: Fission 2. Rogue Amoeba's snappy audio editor Fission has long been the tool of choice for editing audio files quickly and easily, with none of the quality loss caused by typical audio editors. Now, it's better than ever. The most noticeable change in Fission 2 is the complete overhaul of its user interface. Every aspect of Fission has been examined and considered, with enhancements made across the board. The editing workflow is now a snap to learn for new users. Existing users of Fission will be instantly familiar with version 2, but will also enjoy a gorgeous new interface that's as fast to use as ever. As well, Fission is no longer limited to saving to a file's original format; thanks to a new exporting engine, Fission can now export audio to a multitude of file formats. After editing a file, users can save it to MP3, AAC, Apple Lossless, FLAC, AIFF, or WAV, getting the exact audio file and format desired. The new Batch Converter tool uses that same engine to make it possible to transcode dozens of files in seconds. Drop an album's worth of FLAC files on the Batch Converter, and you can have a folder full of MP3s with just 2 clicks. Converting from one format to another format couldn't be simpler. Speaking of FLAC, Fission now has full support for the popular lossless audio format. FLAC files can be opened, edited, and saved, making it possible to change them as needed, or just export them to a smaller format for portability. Fission 2 now also supports WAV audio files, in addition to its "original four" formats of MP3, AAC, Apple Lossless, and AIFF. Improvements to saving aren't limited to just file formats either, as Fission now has support for sharing directly to SoundCloud. SoundCloud is the world's leading social sound platform, allowing anyone to create sounds and share them everywhere. With SoundCloud support in Fission, it's now easier than ever to get audio onto the web and shared with others. Put it all together and Fission 2 adds up to one of the fastest and easiest-to-use audio editors in the world! All this and more is now available in Fission's free trial, right from our site. Key Features In Fission 2 Brand New Interface: This update features a gorgeous new interface, streamlined for fast and easy use, and offering both dark and a light themes. Multiple Windows: You can now open multiple audio files simultaneously in Fission, for easy copying and pasting back and forth, or simply to multitask. Cross-Format Conversions: Export from AIFF to AAC, from Apple Lossless to MP3, or any other combination you desire. Batch Conversions Too: With the new Batch Converter, it's a snap to convert dozens of files with just a few clicks. Chapterized AAC Files: Podcasters rejoice! Fission lets you make Enhanced Podcasts with AAC in just seconds. SoundCloud Support: Upload audio directly to your SoundCloud account. New Formats: Fission now offers full support for opening, editing, and saving the FLAC and WAV audio formats, in addition to MP3, AAC, Apple Lossless, and AIFF. Plenty of other stuff too! Links & Information Fission can be purchased through the Mac App Store or directly from Rogue Amoeba's online store for just $32. A fully-functional free trial is available on the Rogue Amoeba site. While in its trial state, the quality of audio saved through Fission will be degraded through a series of audio fades. Owners of older versions of Fission can upgrade for just $15. For users who purchased Fission after April 1st, 2012, a complimentary upgrade is being provided, with upgrade information being sent directly via email. Fission information link: http://rogueamoeba.com/fission Direct download link: http://rogueamoeba.com/fission/download.php
Aperion Audio Intimus 4T Summit touts uncompressed surround sound without the cords
See that little box next to those huge speakers? That's Aperion Audio's ticket to what's reportedly a no-compromise approach to wireless home theater. The Intimus 4T Summit Wireless is billed as the only system of its kind to transmit uncompressed 24-bit, 96KHz audio to its 5.1- or 7.1-channel speaker array without having to string wires across the living room. There's no interference and no more than 5ms of lag, even when that wunderkind box is processing Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio. Aperion is still touting an easy setup that can create a sweet spot in awkward spaces. If you like the idea, the only real catches are the $2,999 and $3,499 prices for the respective 5.1- and 7.1-channel systems -- although the outlay may be worthwhile to cut the clutter without sacrificing the finer details of Blu-ray movie soundtracks.
Engadget Giveaway: win one of two pairs of Sync by 50 wireless over-ear headphones!
This week we're once again bringing the audio goods to you, and today's giveaway should be incredibly tempting. 50 Cent's brand, SMS Audio, wants to hook you up with a pair of its premium wireless over-ear headphones, Sync by 50. Priced at $400, these cans are spendier than a fair number of smartphones, but it offers Kleer technology with CD-quality lossless audio and will work up to 50 feet away from your device. And just for kicks and giggles, SMS Audio is also throwing in a snapback hat, shirt and a backpack to go along with your prize, so it's definitely worth heading below the rules and leaving a comment to enter. Good luck!
Plex shows you how to make your TV shows look great with its new Local Media Agent
Out friends at Plex have shuttled out a new Local Media Agent that'll enable you to make your TV shows look great. The updated software lets you add show and season posters, banners, background art, theme music and individual episode thumbnails to your recorded shows to make each one really, really good-looking. It'll happily handle PNG and FLAC files for those lossless enthusiasts and it'll even overlook a messy file structure to get everything looking great. Now, if you'll excuse us, we're going to catalog our Community episodes with thumbnails of Dean Pelton's outfits.
Dolby ups TrueHD lossless audio on Blu-ray to 96k, says every upsampled bit is amazing (video)
Just because your home theater can handle lossless audio doesn't mean the sound is as good as it could be. Dolby is now giving Blu-ray producers using Dolby Media Producer Encoder v2 the choice of premastering TrueHD surround sound at an upsampled 96k. Along with just squeezing the most possible clarity and depth out of 48kHz audio, the encoding purportedly eliminates some of the harshness of digital sound through an apodizing (signal altering) filter. At least three projects have already been given the 96k treatment, and authoring firms like Technicolor have upgrades in place to give that noticeable boost to your next Blu-ray movie.
Apple's lossless ALAC goes open source, it's like FLAC for iPods
Well, it's not nearly as exciting as a new iPhone, but Apple recently announced a bit of news that will set people in certain circles abuzz. The company's lossless audio codec, ALAC, is going open source. Similar to FLAC, the Apple Lossless Audio Codec offers some file compression while still delivering a bit-for-bit recreation of the original source material. The primary difference being that Apple devices and software do not support FLAC (at least without some tinkering) but can handle the Cupertino developed ALAC. The decision to release the code under the Apache license won't have much of an immediate impact on your digital audio routine, but expect support for ALAC to start popping up in more media players (both hardware and software) soon.
Apple's ALAC codec is now open source
Apple Lossless, also known as ALAC, is a lossless audio codec Apple developed some time ago for digital music. The codec compresses music files anywhere from 40-60 percent of their original size with no discernible loss in audio quality or fidelity. "A decoded ALAC stream is bit-for-bit identical to the original uncompressed audio file," according to its description. iTunes on the Mac and virtually all of Apple's portable devices support the codec, and it's been my personal format of choice when ripping songs from a CD source. The big news today is that ALAC is now open source. "Apple Lossless Audio Codec sources are available under the Apache license," according to Mac OS Forge, and the project "contains the sources for the ALAC encoder and decoder." The project also includes alacconvert, a command line utility that can read and write audio data to and from Core Audio Format (CAF) and WAVE files. "A description of a 'magic cookie' for use with files based on the ISO base media file format (e.g. MP4 and M4A) is included as well," Mac OS forge says. Open sourcing ALAC may or may not lead to more widespread adoption of the codec, but for purely selfish reasons I hope it does. While FLAC fulfills many of the same functions as Apple's in-house lossless codec, it has no support on iOS devices, and re-encoding FLAC files into something that iTunes won't choke on has always been a pet peeve of mine. If more people begin adopting ALAC instead of FLAC, it'll make life a lot easier for audiophiles. [via Vincent Gable/twitter]
Olive's 2TB O6HD music server makes audiophiles (and designers) swoon
How exactly does a boutique outfit like Olive match its lowest-end offering yet? Why, by announcing it's highest-end offering yet merely two months later, of course! Sure enough, Olive has just issued its newest music server (the O6HD) with an eye on affluent audiophiles -- ones willing to pay a meager $4,999 for a 2TB unit. Aside from buying what's likely the most guapo piece of AV equipment we've ever seen, that tally also nets you a pair of TI 192khz / 24-bit Burr-Brown PCM1792 modules, "flawless" encoding and decoding of lossless audio, simultaneous stream support, an ultra-quiet 2T AV hard drive, eight layers of noise canceling padding, a TEAC CD-RW drive, gobs of analog and digital outputs, a gigabit Ethernet jack, inbuilt 802.11n WiFi, HDMI out, a USB 2.0 port and a 10.1-inch 800 x 480 color touchpanel. It's all encased in a fine-grade aluminum shell (passively cooled), leaving you with only one simple decision: silver or black, Sir Godfrey? %Gallery-107496%
Ask Engadget HD: How do I get the best audio from my PS3, without HDMI?
Once you've actually decided what hardware to purchase, avoided the perilous purchasing decisions involved in finding cables, but actually setting it up can trip up the newbies among us. Suck is our friend David's problem, trying to figure out if lossless audio is a possibility for his HDMI-less receiver: "I read your article and I would like further advice. I have the brand new PS3, which I'm going to use with a 1080p Sony Bravia - the video is fine..HDMI to the tv. The problem is that I have an ONKYO THX 7.1 system (really 5.1), and there is no HDMI, so I plan on using an optical audio cable from the PS3 into the receiver. How do i get the best sound? Will the PS3 decode the trueHD (or whatever it is) and send the full spectrum of sound across the optical to the receiver? Will NOT having the HDMI to the receiver affect my sound, or will the PS3 internal decoding send a perfect lossless sound to my non-HDMI receiver?" Just in case our HD 101 explanation wasn't enough (First off, S/PDIF transmission -- over either optical TOSLINK or coax -- does not have the bandwidth to carry Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD MA signals. If you connect your Blu-ray player to your receiver with optical or coax, the audio will "fall back" to Dolby Digital, DTS or two-channel PCM -- lossless, but only two channels,) any tips on how David can get the highest audio quality possible out of the equipment he has? Of course, if you think replacing one of the components is a better choice, that's always an option as well. Got a burning question that you'd love to toss out for Engadget HD (or its readers) to take a look at? Tired of Google's blank stares when you ask for real-world experiences? Hit us up at ask at engadgethd dawt com and keep an eye on this space -- your inquiry could be next.
iriver E30 shows love for the lossless, long-winded
It ain't too much different than the E50 and E150, but considering that iriver felt it necessary to label it a score less than the former, it's new to us. Introduced today over in the Far East, this pocket-friendly PMP touts a 1.8-inch color display (220 x 176), a user-customizable equalizer and support for MP3, WMA, WAV, APE, FLAC and MJPEG files. Oh, and it can purportedly keep the tunes flowing for 52 frickin' hours without needing a recharge, so those with trouble locating AC outlets should certainly take notice. There's no mention of a price or release date, but both of those tidbits should become crystal clear soon. Very soon.[Via The MP3 Players]
Atlona AT-HD570 breaks lossless audio out of its HDMI shell
In its apparent quest to build up a product cutsheet on par with Gefen's, Atlona has added the audio-splitting AT-HD570 to its lineup. This gadget should be music (ahem) to those who want to hold on to their older receivers/processors, but are itching to get the new lossless audio codecs on Blu-ray discs. Send in a HDMI signal with audio in either LPCM or bitstream format (up to Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD MA), and this little box will break out the audio on SPDIF optical and 7.1-channel analog; those interested in the lossless codecs will want to grab those analog outputs. Meanwhile, the video signal stays on that HDMI cable, ready to go along its merry way to your video gear. The $219 price point might get you to consider picking up a Blu-ray deck with analog outputs instead, but definitely useful for cases where you're forced to deal with HDMI-less components.
HD 101: How to use Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD with your PS3
If you read Engadget HD, it's safe to say that you're ahead of the curve when it comes to home audio/video. You do your homework before picking out gear, and you know that the PS3 can deliver Blu-ray audio bliss courtesy lossless Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA tracks. One look at all the configuration options in the PS3's XMB (Xross Media Bar) interface, however, and you might find yourself wondering how to unlock the those audio codecs. In this installment of HD 101, we'll briefly cover the reason for the confusion and then go through setting up your PS3 for lossless audio step-by-step.
Tensilica proves Blu-ray audio decoding can be done on a single core
Traditionally, Blu-ray decks have relied on multi-core chips to process and decode that succulent audio that tickles your eardrums, but Tensilica has a better idea. In an effort to shrink the amount of components within a BD deck and to offer up "significant cost savings and a simplified programming model," it has recently demonstrated DTS-HD Master Audio Lossless decoding on a single-core SoC. The outfit's HiFi 2 Audio DSP can handle codecs from both DTS and Dolby, and apparently it's already filtering into select players. Too bad you'll probably never know if your deck has one without rolling up your sleeves and breaking out the screwdriver.
