After buying that brand new HDTV you just want to get home and enjoy your new gear. But don’t forget the sound system. Hopefully I’ve convinced you not to buy a home theater in a box system, but if not, read my last post.   Let’s take a quick look at the centerpiece to any home theater audio system, the receiver.   Home Theater ...

Universal really wants to slap Apple across the face and stick it to iTunes in a big way. After recently declaring it wanted to punish iTunes for its success, Universal is ready to go to war.   So, how does an old-school music industry dinosaur like Universal deal the too-cool-for-school, #1 US online music retailer a black eye? By ...

Nothing makes a music lover worth his salt wince like a “Micro Component System”. But does size matter? Well, quite honestly yes. However, when it comes to speakers there are two sizes to consider, room and speaker size.   Back in the old days people used to (and many fans of classic rock still do) equate larger speakers with bigger, ...

Apple has played back-up to another player in its market for decades. But in the online music industry, Apple is the undisputed king. Now Apple is feeling some of the pressures of success and from an unexpected source - there has long been a bit of tension between the recording industry and Apple over the sheer dominance of iTunes music ...

It was musical while it lasted, but it’s done - AllofMP3.com is finally sunk by the likes of the RIAA. AllofMP3.com was an inexpensive way to get your music legally online. But its status as a legal source of online music has long been a grey area. AllofMP3.com was technically never breaking Russian laws. But the Kremlin has been ...

Affordable wireless music streamers are here! If you have a computer and a wireless router, what are you waiting for? It’s time you switched to a digital wi-fi music source. You don’t need to buy one of those mega-priced hi-fi units either - the smart money is on a Roku SoundBridge or Slim Devices SqueezeBox. Either unit will only set you back ...

Yesterday US based Internet Radio stations staged a day of silence in protest of a new royalty rate hike. But the rate increase really exists for the sole purpose of killing Internet radio and has been approved by the US Copyright Royalty Board. The scheme was masterminded by Sound Exchange a group that works in conjunction with the RIAA to ...

Apple launched iTunes Plus yesterday, the new version of iTunes (for which an upgrade to iTunes 7.2 is required) that sells DRM free music at higher bit rates. It all came out of recording label EMI’s decision to allow its wares to be sold without copy protection at a slightly higher price. The DRM-free music will sell on iTunes for $1.29 ...

There has been some confusion over Windows Vista and how it relates to various audio formats. Vista does indeed have a reworked audio stack with a lot of cool new features like Room Correction, Bass Management and Loudness Equalization.   One of the negatives however is how Vista handles copy protected audio. It really shouldn’t ...

For those cubicle creatures stuck in front of a computer all day – a la Office Space – online radio has become a buffer between the worker and monotony, even insanity.    One of the most popular streaming music sites is the bandwidth baron Pandora.com, which allows users to build custom playlists by first entering an artist or ...