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Bowers & Wilkins and Peter Gabriel push audiophile B&W Music Club
Tired of buying those overly compressed MP3 files online are ya? If so, have a look at the new music service from Bowers & Wilkins. Said outfit, along with Peter Gabriel, is pushing the B&W Music Club, which is hailed as the subscription service for audiophiles. Essentially, those with incredibly discerning ears can pay an annual / monthly fee to have access to "one specially commissioned album each month, recorded in dedicated live sessions at Real World Studios near Bath in the UK." The albums are available in Apple Lossless or FLAC formats and provided without any DRM baked in. In an interesting twist, B&W is providing free studio time and mixing sessions for artists who'd like to have their tunes offered up, which could open up opportunities for little known musical geniuses to get exposure. Check the read link for all the fine print, but here's the tidbit you're really after: $39.95 for six months, or $59.95 for a year.
CyberLink's PowerDVD wins certification for DTS-HD Master Audio
Just weeks after Corel held a trophy high proclaiming that its WinDVD 8 had landed DTS-HD Master Audio certification, CyberLink is finally able to do the same. Except with its own breed of playback software, PowerDVD. For audiophiles the world over, you can now stop pacing in wonder of when said application will finally have this honor bestowed upon it, as that 7.1-channel goodness you've come to expect from DTS-HD MA can now be fully enjoyed on PowerDVD. Break out the Champagne? No? Okay.
Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater 7.1 HDMI sound card does bitstream output from your HTPC
Earlier this month, ASUS introduced the "world's first HDMI 1.3a compliant audio / video enhancement combo card." Who knew numero dos was so close behind? Auzentech has just announced its very own HDMI 1.3-native PCIe audio combo card, which is built around Creative's X-Fi processor and enables PC users to easily output 7.1-channel audio with no downsampling. Essentially, the Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater 7.1 "accepts video from either an internal or external connection, mixes it with digital audio, and outputs the combined video and lossless multichannel audio via a single HDMI 1.3 port." Yep, that means Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio codecs are fully supported. The only digs? For one, pricing remains a mystery, but the real kicker is the September release -- talk about a long wait.
Universal's Blu-ray audio plans revealed, DTS-HD Master Audio included
Listen up, audiophiles -- we know you've already pored over Universal's Blu-ray plans, but for those thirsting for more details in the world of audio, you've found your oasis. Sitting down with The Man Room, Universal made clear that its first wave of BD releases on July 22nd (all films from The Mummy franchise) would actually include Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio tracks. Yep, that means you'll be getting more than just a lackadaisical port should you snap these up on Blu-ray. The studio also mentioned that it was looking forward to DTS-HD MA becoming "the Blu-ray standard" at its headquarters, so we're hoping to see (er, hear) a lot more lossless from these guys in the near future.
Brennan intros JB7 Micro Jukebox with lossless CD ripping
There's already a good number of options out there for those wanting to rip CDs without the hassle of a computer, but the number of those that give you lossless CD ripping is quite a bit more limited. Those not willing to accept any compromises now have one more lossless-happy system to consider, however, with Brennan recently introducing its new JB7 Micro Jukebox. Available in 20GB, 40GB, or 80GB versions (and with or without added bookshelf speakers), the system boasts 60W of RMS power and packs a USB port that'll accommodate an iPod or a USB hard drive. Unfortunately, there's no Internet connectivity (wireless or otherwise), but the system does at least come pre-loaded with a database 2.2 million track names, which can be updated quarterly via a CD that Brennan distributes. Look for it to set you back £259 (or roughly $500) for the standalone 20GB unit, with prices running up to £388 (or $760) for the 80GB unit complete with speakers.[Via Randomly Accessed]
iTrax.com delivers DRM-free HD Audio downloads
Just in case you don't have enough digital download choices, here comes iTrax to give you another. This site, however, deviates from the beaten path by offering up DRM-free HD Audio tracks for those with more discerning ears. Granted, the music selection is quite limited, but for the albums that are available, users can download individual songs or entire records in a variety of encoding formats / mixes. Among the options are MP3, Dolby Digital, DTS, WMA Pro, WMA Lossless and even uncompressed PCM 96/24, and most songs can be downloaded in 2.0 stereo, 5.1 "stage" and 5.1 "audience" perspectives. Currently, the available music all stems from AIX Records, but more options are purportedly on the way, and if you're curious about pricing, most albums look to run you anywhere from $9.99 to $24.99, depending on quality / mix.
Latest Yamaha receivers boast HDMI 1.3a / Ethernet / 1080p upscaling
Shortly after Sony unveiled its newly revamped ES lineup of AV receivers, along comes Yamaha with a powerful new duo of its own. The RX-V3800 (140-watt x 7) and RX-V1800 (130-watt x 7) each support lossless Dolby Digital TrueHD / DTS-HD and feature Yamaha's Cinema DSP processing engine, video upscaling to 1080p, HDMI 1.3a, and an Ethernet connection that enables consumers to "access internet radio stations, music files stored on a PC, and the company's MusicCAST audio system server." Furthermore, the units are also compatible with your iPod and XM radio via optional adapters, include Burr-Brown 192kHz/24bit DACs, and will be on display at next month's CEDIA expo. As expected, neither of these devices can be classified as cheap, as the less powerful RX-V1800 will demand $1,299.95, while the higher-end RX-V3800 rings up at $1,699.95.
Pioneer's BDP-LX80 Blu-ray player supports HD audio bitstream output
Pioneer just announced that Blu-ray Disc player with "HD audio bitstream output" they alluded to with the launch of their BDP-LX70. In what appears to be an industry first for BD players, the new BDP-LX80 supports bitstream output of both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD high resolution audio output over HDMI 1.3. Sorry, no DTS-HD Master Audio this time. Still, a worthy update from the LX70 assuming your home theater gear is properly matched to decode that signal. Something you'll want to check, and double-check, before dropping the tax inclusive roll of ¥210,000 or about $1,768. We could be wrong, but the move from the LX70 to LX80 appears to be a firmware change only so why all the fuss with a new model Pioneer? If true, then don't be surprised to find a hacked version of the firmware for the LX70 on the Internets soon enough. No word on a global launch -- Japan-only for now with a local release scheduled for October.[Via Impress]
OINA bringing lossless audio to Bluetooth devices
Audiophiles hoping to get a bit more clarity out of those Bluetooth cans can officially get excited, as Open Interface North America (OINA) has just announced plans to introduce a new lossless codec for stereo audio known as SOUNDabout Lossless. Unsurprisingly, the firm is keeping its secrets on the DL for now, but recent demonstrations showed that it will have a latency as low as two-milliseconds and never exceed ten-milliseconds. Additionally, power consumption was intentionally kept low in order to preserve that precious battery life, and just in case you couldn't guess, it'll only stream properly with Bluetooth 2.0 gizmos. Sadly, there's no firm dates to mark on your calendar just yet, but the company is currently estimating that the codec will be ready to rock in detail never before heard over BT "as early as 2008."
White Stripes album sold on limited edition USB drives
For fans of Jack and Meg, it's probably a long-standing dream of yours to purchase the Icky Thump album on limited edition thumb drives complete with cartoon renditions of the rockers, but even if it that understandably bizarre scenario never actually crossed your mind, you can still make it a reality. Apparently, the White Stripes are offering up their latest album on two fairly rare USB drives, each sporting 512MB of internal space, an artistic rendition of one of the band mates, and thirteen rockin' tracks in Apple Lossless format. Only 3,333 of each will be created, and while just one will run you a whopping $57.50, you may as well grab the duo for a discounted $99. Of course, we're still not entirely certain if these things are actually licensed by the band, but it's safe to assume that a seven nation army of fans will have these bought up before the legal teams can even get their case together.[Via BoingBoing]
XLD: lossless audio decoder
One big complaint of audiophiles on the Mac platform is the limited support for FLAC, the very high quality, open source lossless audio codec. Apple, of course, prefers its own (proprietary) Apple Lossless format. The X Lossless Decoder offers some help for Mac users, however. Unlike many FLAC tools on the Mac it is a Universal Binary and offers conversion from FLAC/Ogg, Apple Lossless, Monkey's Audio, Wavpack, and TTA to WAV, AIFF, PCM, Ogg, AAC, MP3 and FLAC. If you just want to play FLAC/Ogg files in iTunes, the Xiph component will allow this, but it doesn't work perfectly.XLD is open source and a free download.[Via The Lossless Audio Blog]
X-Men: The Last Stand due on Blu-ray November 14th
There has been considerable speculation over when Twentieth Century Fox would put out one of its biggest recent titles on the Blu-ray format and it has finally answered that question. X-Men: The Last Stand is set for release November 14th, specifically timed to be on store shelves for the release of the PlayStation 3 November 17th. Carrying an MSRP of $39.98, the film is authored in standard HDMV using MPEG-4 AVC compression and includes such extras as a 6.1 DTS ES HD Lossless Master Audio soundtrack, two commentary tracks, twelve deleted scenes and a Marvel Trivia Track enabling pop=up bits of information and comic panels referencing different information about the characters during the movie. Did we mention that all of the extras are high definition? With X-Men debuting at the same time as Fox's previously announced first round of Blu-ray releases Fox has been very clear that its Blu-ray strategy is centered entirely around Sony's console, with or without $100 HDMI cables gamers can look forward to some excellent releases that week.
Fox confirms more 50GB, BD-J and MPEG-4 movie releases for December
Fox already announced it is kicking off its support of the Blu-ray format with several enhanced titles timed to hit at the time of the PlayStation 3 launch, now it's announced more extras for several titles scheduled for the following weeks. From Hell will be a dual-layer BD-50 50GB release, authored in Blu-ray Java and using MPEG-4 (AVC) compression. It also features several commentaries, a lossless soundtrack, a trivia pop up feature and 21 deleted scenes. Flight of the Phoenix, as well as the rest of the releases, is authored using standard HDMV, includes a DTS HD Master Audio lossless soundtrack as well as commentaries and HD trailers. Rising Sun comes to Blu-ray using MPEG-4 compression, the only extras mentioned are lossless soundtrack and HD trailers.The Devil Wears Prada and Transporter 2 both use MPEG-2 compression and will include DTS HD Master Audio lossless soundtracks as well as HD trailers. The Devil Wears Prada is still set for a day-and-date release with the DVD December 12th, behind From Hell, Flight of the Phoenix and Rising Sun December 5th. Transporter 2 brings up the rear with a Boxing Day release of December 26th. All of the announced movies share a $39.98 MSRP. We've been complaining about the lack of extras on many HD releases, while Fox may be a little late to the party, it appears the company is ready to give customers the advanced features -- not to mention (hopefully) enhanced PQ with better compression/bigger discs -- once titles do hit the streets.
Ainol rolls out NES-playing V1000 portable media player
Emulation-packed PMPs are becoming a dime a dozen these days, but Ainol's V1000 manages to add a few impressive touches to the media-playing side of this two-faced device. The landscape oriented unit sports a sleek, silver enclosure with a simple five button control layout, and boasts a 2.5-inch QVGA display, 400MHz ADI Blackfin processor, and the ability to give every retro gamer his / her fill of NES emulation. Aside from the obvious Mario love, it supports AVI / MP4 video playback at 30 frames per second, and plays nice with MP3, WMA, and FLAC audio formats on the musical side. Handling all those audiophile-approved lossless files is the 512MB / 1GB of internal storage, while the addition of an SD slot ensures room for that bulging ROM collection. Although details concerning battery life, availability, connectivity, and price aren't yet available, we're sure these handy all-in-ones will be popping up in China's gadget shops real soon.[Via The MP3 Players]
Legends of Jazz brings Dolby TrueHD to Blu-ray
One of the ways Blu-ray has trailed HD DVD so far is inclusion of advanced audio codecs, but that will start to turn around later this month when Legends of Jazz "Showcase" is released. As we noted when the series first aired on PBS, it was produced in HD and 5.1 surround sound to enable viewers to fully experience the musicians featured. This disc will be the first Blu-ray release to include a 24-bit Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack (along with Dolby Digital 5.1and PCM Stereo options) that Dolby Labs exec Craig Eggers says captures "every nuance" of the performance. In Europe a copy will be included with each Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray player, somewhat bittersweet because it doesn't support Dolby TrueHD. The Playstation 3 will, but what other upcoming players can decode the audio format is unclear. Still, especially if you've got a PS3 preordered and an HDMI 1.3-capable receiver at the ready -- who doesn't? -- a better way to experience the 13 performances will be hard to find after its release October 24th, with an MSRP of $34.98.[Via The Man Room]
Sooloos to store your lossless tunes
If you've got $12,000 burning a hole in your pocket and really need a new audio "system," then you may want to consider the new Sooloos music server. This 1TB ultra-quiet RAID (optionally up to 3TB) server apparently comes with all of your music pre-ripped in lossless format, although short of you sending a truckload of CDs to the company's headquarters in New York, we're not sure how the initial transfer from your CD library to your Sooloos server will work. Sooloos comes with a 17-inch centralized touchscreen display (there are 7-inch auxiliary displays) that shows all of your album art and liner notes, and will let you order tracks off of the Sooloos Music Shop, which purports to be coming soon. Of course, if you want to go for a less expensive media server alternative, you might consider a $5,000 competitor, or perhaps the $400 80GB rival, hrm?[Via Slashgear]
HD DVD reviews updated with Dolby TrueHD, firmware update warning
So far only only a few HD DVDs have rolled out with a Dolby TrueHD lossless audio soundtrack, and with good reason, the only players on the market didn't support it. But now, thanks to the just-released 2.0 firmware, Toshiba HD-A1 owners everywhere can enjoy advanced audio. According to High-Def Digest, as long as you have a receiver that accepts audio via HDMI or analog 5.1 inputs (but not S/PDIF, sorry) you should be ready to go. Of course this is only worthwhile if there is a noticeable difference and by their report, there is with improved quality and surround sound effects. We look forward to more TrueHD enhanced releases, although you have to wonder what this will do to potential HD DVD/DVD combo releases that don't have the space for the movie and uncompressed audio. Given the benefit, the possiblity of bricking your HD DVD player during the update is but a miniscule risk (take any discs out before updating via the Ethernet port or it's to Toshiba customer support you must go.)
Gemei X-21 offers APE support
While seeing a flashy looking new DAP roll out of China happens more times than we care to count, every so often a player hits the market with a feature that's actually quite remarkable. While the overall specs aren't revolutionary, the Gemei X-21 offers support for an audio format that few other players do, and is sure to catch the discerning ears of audiophiles everywhere. The focal point on this otherwise average unit is its ability to play back APE audio files, more appropriately known as Monkey's Audio, which is a lossless format (similar to FLAC) that supposedly suffers no loss in quality from the original regardless of how many times it's uncompressed and re-encoded. Unfortunately, you won't stuff too many of those hefty APE jams onto the 512 MB of internal storage, since APE encoding reportedly only decreases file size by about 55 percent. Nevertheless, the "aluminum cased" DAP sports a fairly nice looking design, and the bold 2.0-inch screen apparently uses all 208 x 176 pixels to display photos, but gives no love to video clips. Aside from your basic track / volume controls, USB 2.0 connectivity, and obligatory white headphones, the unit supports the aforementioned APE, MP3, Ogg Vorbis, and WMA (no word on WMA-DRM). While it does toss in an FM tuner, the real downer here isn't the lack of pricing or availability, but rather the apparent omission of an expansion slot to load up tunes via memory card -- and honestly, you can't exactly go ape wild with just 512MB.[Via DAPreview]
Lossless downloads coming to iTunes?
A recent upgrade to the iTunes Producer software used by studios to encode tracks for iTMS distribution may be a good sign for the discriminating audiophile community, as Apple has included the necessary tools to create lossless AAC content that could presumably be uploaded to the online store. While the simple availability of this option certainly doesn't mean that higher-quality downloads are on the way -- for one thing, the so-called Apple Lossless Encoder still lacks the required FairPlay support -- Ars Technica points out that Cupertino and Hollywood could both potentially benefit from a less lossy option. Since tracks encoded in this format can be almost ten times as big as equivalent MP3s, widespread availability of lossless music may convince consumers to step up to higher capacity iPods, which would seem to be in Apple's best interest. As for the music studios, these high-fidelity tracks could presumably fetch more than the 99 cents that 128Kbps files go for, opening a door for the tiered pricing structures that content providers so desire. For now, though, these crystal-clear downloads are still merely speculation, so hardcore audio snobs enthusiasts will have to continue buying and ripping their own CDs for the foreseeable future.[Via Ars Technica]
AircordAV promises wireless, lossless HD streaming
Certainly not the the first solution for streaming HD programming around your house, a new product called the AircordAV promises to dumb down the whole process into what would appear to be a 5-minute-install, and supports that sweet 1,080p resolution to boot. Instead of asking your existing router to do all the hard work, AircordAV comes with a base unit that hooks up to any of your home theater gear using HDMI, DVI, component, S-video, composite, or SCART connections, and creates its own 802.11g network with up to eight clients feeding any or all of your video displays. Aircord claims the product is capable of lossless streaming, and uses a proprietary technology to encode and decode your video signals, although the company's lack of a website or actual product shots makes us a bit wary of the whole thing. We'll find out in December if this clever idea can be turned into a working device -- that's when the AircordAV will supposedly be released -- and if it can, expect to cough up at least $500 to start cutting those cords.
