This week we ask whether you really need a Bluetooth enabled turntable and are products like the Anker X600 Boombox going to turn off people to “Spatial” audio. Finally, we look into FAST TV services. We also read your emails and the week’s news! News:   Amazon expands Matter smart home support to older Echo speakers  Hulu Plus Live TV Will Soon Offer Local PBS and Magnolia Network  A free, ad-supported TV? Don’t laugh, someone’s working on it  Dish Loses 552K Pay TV Subscribers in First Quarter  Almost half of YouTube viewership happens on TV screens  First NextGen TV-Certified Receivers to Hit the Market by This Summer  Other:  Monoprice SS-Pro 8 High Power Dual Source 300 Watt 8 Pair Impedance Matching Speaker Selector $120 Monoprice Dual-Source 2-Channel A/B Speaker Selector with Volume Control and Impedance Matching $42  History of Rock Music in 500 Songs  Bluetooth Turntable - Yes or No? The Audio Technica AT-LPW50PB (MSRP $449) is a fully manual, belt-drive turntable designed to give you optimal high-fidelity audio reproduction from vinyl. It features an anti-resonance 30 mm thick MDF (medium density fiberboard) plinth, with a high-gloss, piano-black finish, to dampen low-frequency acoustical feedback, and a sensor-monitored motor to ensure accurate platter rotation speeds of 33-1/3 and 45 RPM. Listener Question about the Anker x600 “Boom Box We received the following email from an anonymous listener and felt it warranted further discussion Anker  Motion X600 Pluto TV  For a while now we have been asking who would watch FAST TV. FAST stands for Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television. And there are a lot of ways to get it. This week Ara decided to download Pluto.TV and check it out for himself. The first thing you notice is that the interface is similar to any of the other IPTV services. Pluto’s channels are grouped by category. Food, Sports, Music, Entertainment, and the list goes on. They even have an on demand section that is a mixture of classics like In Harm’s Way with John Wayne to more modern fare like 13 hours. They have game shows, home improvement, cooking, sports and the list goes on. There is no shortage of content. There are plenty of news channels but not all localities are covered. For instance, Los Angeles has one local news station. And there are no live sports that we could find. Regardless, you can’t beat the price of free! Just today the NHL announced that it is creating a FAST channel to be distributed first to Roku and then other providers. It will contain content from the NHL’s past games, playoffs, and all star games. Pluto, like other FAST services, are supported on just about every platform from phones to tablets and set top boxes and many TVs.  We can’t see any downside because the price is perfect! Free. Download all the services and you will always find something to watch.   

Podcast #1099: Bluetooth Turntables and FAST TV

The HT Guys, Ara Derderian and Braden Russell, are Engineers who formerly worked for the Advanced Digital Systems Group (ADSG) of Sony Pictures Entertainment. ADSG was the R&D unit of the sound department producing products for movie theaters and movie studios. Two of the products they worked on include the DCP-1000 and DADR-5000. The DCP is a digital cinema processor used in movie theaters around the world. The DADR-5000 is a disk-based audio dubber used on Hollywood sound stages. ADSG was awarded a Technical Academy Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2000 for the development of the DADR-5000. Ara holds three patents for his development work in Digital Cinema and Digital Audio Recording. Every week they put together a podcast about High Definition TV and Home Theater. Each episode brings news from the A/V world, helpful product reviews and insights and help in demystifying and simplifying HDTV and home theater. Our email address is hdtvpodcast@mac.com

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On this week’s show you get what you pay for! Ara’s experience buying cheap automated wall plugs. Plus we wrap up the 2024 TV season and read your emails and take a look at the week’s news.  News:   Roku Said to Be in the Running to Take Over the MLB 'Sunday Leadoff' Game Package From Peacock | Next TV YouTube TV starting to roll out Multiview on Android phones, tablets  Peacock Hikes Price $2 Ahead of Paris Summer Olympics  Fubo's Warner Bros. Beef Worsens -- TLC, HGTV and Other Discovery Networks Blacked Out on vMVPD | Next TV  Other:   'Life of Pi' director abandons 3D and HFR: "Whole ecosystem is bad" - FlatpanelsHD How Las Vegas' Sphere Actually Works  You get what you pay for! Recently I purchased some thread based wall plugs to turn a night light on at sunset and off at sunrise. It was an extremely inexpensive Wemo plug that ran on thread. I was excited because thread based products are extremely fast and reliable. Well that’s what I thought. Wemo Smart Plug with Thread - I bought them for $80 for a four pack. You can get them for $30 individually.  I deployed four, Two lose connection with the thread router every few days. Unplug and plug back in and repeat.  Two are rock solid Belkin Customer Service won’t refund my money because its well past the 30 days.  No info on a firmware update Useless product!   GE CYNC Indoor Smart Plug, Matter Compatible $30 for three pack  This product has no support for Homekit so this was a good test to see if a Matter plug would work in an Homekit environment. Connecting to my home is just as easy as a Homekit device.  Worked for three days and then disconnected. Unplug and plug back in did nothing. Did full reset and the device can not be added to homekit or GE Cync app. DOA Added a second plug to my home. Just as easy as the first. Three days later, we are still in business. I have not contacted customer support. Other than the device failing, connecting a matter plug to Homekit was trivial.   Eve Energy - (Matter Compatible) $40  I currently have four plugs deployed for six months They are connected using thread and bluetooth Super fast and super reliable You get what you pay for  2024 TV Season Wrap Up Although this year's TV Season got a late start, we did have one however short it was. It seems like we just got new episodes and now we are looking at season finales. But even with shortened TV seasons, executives have to make tough decisions on what shows get another season and which ones say good-bye. The following is what TV Line is reporting for the end of the  2024 Television Season:  ABC  9-1-1: Officially renewed for Season 8 Abbott Elementary: Officially renewed for Season 4.  The Conners: A safe bet. The Good Doctor: Officially canceled; series finale airs this Spring. Grey’s Anatomy: Officially renewed for Season 21. Not Dead Yet: Could go either way.  The Rookie: Officially renewed for Season 7 Station 19: Officially canceled; series finale airs this Spring. Will Trent: Officially renewed for Season 3  CBS  Blue Bloods: Officially canceled; series finale airs in Fall 2024. Bob Hearts Abishola: Officially canceled; series finale airs May 6. CSI: Vegas: Officially canceled. The Equalizer: Officially renewed for Season 5 Elsbeth: Officially renewed for Season 2 FBI: Officially renewed (through Season 9) FBI: International: Officially renewed for Season 4 FBI: Most Wanted: Officially renewed for Season 6 Fire Country: Officially renewed for Season 3 Ghosts: Officially renewed for Season 4 NCIS: Officially renewed for Season 22 NCIS: Hawai’i: Officially canceled. The Neighborhood: Officially renewed for Season 7 So Help Me Todd: Officially canceled.  S.W.A.T.: Officially uncancelled, renewed for Season 8 Tracker: Officially renewed for Season 2 Young Sheldon: Officially canceled; series finale airs May 16; spinoff ordered  FOX  9-1-1: Lone Star: Season 5 delayed until Fall 2024. Accused: Too early to tell. Alert: Missing Persons Unit: Too early to tell.  Animal Control: Officially renewed for Season 3. Bob’s Burgers: Officially renewed for Season 15. The Cleaning Lady: Could go either way. Family Guy: Officially renewed for Season 23. The Great North: Could go either way. Grimsburg: Officially renewed for Season 2. HouseBroken: In perpetual limbo. Krapopolis: Officially renewed for Seasons 2 and 3. The Simpsons: Officially renewed for Season 36.  NBC  Chicago Fire: Officially renewed. Chicago Med: Officially renewed. Chicago P.D.: Officially renewed. Extended Family: Could go either way. Found: Officially renewed for Season 2. The Irrational: Officially renewed for Season 2. Law & Order: Officially renewed. Law & Order: Organized Crime: A safe bet. Law & Order: SVU: Officially renewed. Lopez vs. Lopez: Could go either way. Night Court: A safe bet. Quantum Leap: Officially canceled.  The CW  All American: Too early to tell. All American: Homecoming: Too early to tell Sight Unseen: Too early to tell Sullivan’s Crossing: Officially renewed for Season 2. Superman & Lois: Officially canceled; final season premiere date TBD. Walker: Too early to tell. Wild Cards: Could go either way. 

Podcast #1148: 2024 TV Season Wrap Up

On this week’s show we look at the Nielsen “The Gauge™” report for March 2024 and the new Sony Bravia Line of TVs. We also ask if QDEL is the future of TV Technology. We round out the show with your emails and a look at the week’s news. News:   Plex Flex: FAST Boasts That It Has Exceeded 1100 Channels Netflix Makes Major Changes to Its Plans - RetailWire Source: 4K Chromecast with Google TV sequel is coming with new remote  Other:  Cambridge Audio USA | eBay Stores  Cambridge Audio Minx X201 (Black) Ultra-compact powered subwoofer at Crutchfield  S6 Powered Subwoofer for $300  Sony might have perfected Mini LED TVs with its new 2024 lineup - The Verge  Neilsen’s Total TV and Streaming Snapshot Nielsen today released The Gauge™ report for March 2024, which revealed that TV usage changes from February to March were very similar to those exhibited in the same interval last year, as seasonality—of both content and viewing behavior—has started to take effect. As such, the 3% drop in overall TV usage in March does not come as a surprise, but a closer look at shifts in viewing behavior over a longer period of time highlights greater changes across the broader media landscape.  Full Press Release here… Sony Bows New Premium Bravia Mini-LED TVs Sony unveiled four new Bravia TV models, “flagship” and “premium” mini-LED editions, the Bravia 9 and Bravia 8, respectively, a “core” full-array LED Bravia 7, and a “standard” direct LED Bravia 6.  Full Article Here… Is QDEL The Future of Display Technology In the realm of premium display technologies, Quantum Dot Electroluminescent (QDEL) is emerging as a promising innovation that could potentially replace OLED in high-end TVs and monitors. Unlike traditional LEDS, QDEL displays do not require a traditional backlight; instead, they utilize quantum dots as the light source, offering various advantages in terms of image quality, affordability, and longevity. So what makes QDEL so enticing to TV manufacturers? Evolution from OLED  With OLED technology becoming more common and affordable, the focus has shifted toward identifying the next breakthrough in consumer display technology. While concepts like Micro LED, transparent screens, and foldable displays are under development, quantum dots have surfaced as a leading contender to address key user concerns effectively. Quantum Dot Technology  Quantum dots are semiconductor nanocrystals that emit light when subjected to an electric current, offering superior color accuracy and brightness compared to traditional displays. QDEL leverages quantum dots to produce vibrant colors, high brightness, and enhanced energy efficiency without relying on a separate backlight system. Advantages of QDEL  Wider Color Gamut: QDEL displays are expected to surpass QD-OLEDs in terms of color accuracy and vibrancy, enhancing the viewing experience for consumers. Improved Brightness: By using quantum dots as the light source, QDEL screens can achieve higher brightness levels, making them suitable for various environments, including well-lit rooms. Cost Efficiency: The elimination of backlight components in QDEL technology may lead to more affordable displays for consumers in the future. Burn-In Resistance: QDEL displays are designed to be resistant to issues like burn-in, which have been a concern with certain display technologies.  Nanotechnology Development  Nanosys, a leading quantum dot supplier, is actively involved in developing QDEL technology under the name NanoLED. This innovative approach aims to enhance display performance while offering a competitive edge in the premium display market. QDEL represents a promising advancement in display technology, offering a backlight-less solution with improved color reproduction, brightness, affordability, and durability. As the industry continues to evolve, QDEL stands out as a technology to watch for enthusiasts and consumers looking for the next generation of premium displays.

Podcast #1147: Is QDEL The Future of Display Technology

On this week’s show we compare Mini-LED vs OLED and we put a high end listening room based on products that were exhibited at this year’s AXPONA show. We also read your email and look at the week’s news. News:   DirecTV and Dish Back Fubo in Its Spulu Antitrust Suit | Next TV  Roku Upgrades Viewing Experience with New Features | TV Tech  Hub: Smart TVs Now in Nearly 8 of 10 Homes | TV Tech  Disney Plus Looking To Integrate Always-On Linear Channels  Other:   Credit cards abused again in second Roku hack affecting 576,000 - FlatpanelsHD  NBCUniversal Launches Personalized, Hyperlocal Services via ATSC 3.0 | TV Tech  Mini-LED vs OLED We are asked from time to time to recommend a particular TV or in some cases a technology. Right now, in our opinion, the best TV technology is OLED. But is it really the best overall? Let’s take a look at OLED vs mini-LED in six important criteria.  Sharpness and Resolution: Both OLED and Mini-LED TVs typically offer 4K resolution, with some models supporting higher resolutions. Therefore, in terms of sharpness and resolution, it's a tie between OLED and Mini-LED. Black Levels: OLED TVs excel in producing true blacks by individually turning off pixels. Mini-LED displays have not completely achieved this level of per-pixel control. In this aspect, OLED emerges as the winner for its superior black levels. Brightness and Contrast: OLED TVs offer deep blacks for infinite contrast ratio, while Mini-LED TVs can achieve higher brightness levels. Mini-LED takes the lead in brightness, while OLED wins in terms of contrast ratio. Color Quality: OLED TVs typically exhibit excellent color quality, often surpassing 100% of the sRGB color gamut. Although Mini-LED TVs may not reach these levels, this is more due to other factors like color filters rather than the Mini-LED technology itself. The winner in color quality is OLED. Viewing Angles: OLED TVs generally have wider viewing angles compared to LCD TVs, including those using Mini-LED technology. While Mini-LED TVs can vary based on the type of display used, OLED usually outperforms them in terms of viewing angles. Size and Price: In terms of size, both OLED and Mini-LED TVs are available in various sizes to suit different preferences. However, traditionally, OLED TVs have been more expensive compared to Mini-LED TVs, which could be a consideration for some buyers. Price and size considerations may vary based on individual preferences and budgets.  So which one wins? It's our opinion that OLED has the absolute best picture but mini-LED is very close and unless you are looking at them side by side you won’t notice. It really comes down to cost and since you can buy some really big mini-LED TVs for a quarter of the price, we give the nod to mini-LED. AXPONA 2024 AXPONA 2024 wrapped up last week. What is AXPONA you might ask? From their website:  AXPONA is a three-day experience featuring multiple hotel floors packed with over 200 listening rooms. The Expo Hall featuring The Record Fair, The Ear Gear Experience, and seminars. Whether you’re a serious audiophile, a newcomer to high-end audio or simply a music lover, you’ll find everything you need to immerse yourself in your favorite sounds.  It's very similar to “The Show” that we have out here in CA every year. This year it will be June 7-9 in Costa Mesa so come out and let’s all go! While AXPONA exhibited products that most of us can buy, there are some that, quite frankly, are priced for people fly on their own jets. They probably don’t even listen to podcasts, so let’s make fun of them!! Kidding of course. Today, our very rich uncle who has $150,000 laying around has asked us to put a system together so he can listen to his extensive vinyl collection! Transrotor Tourbillon FMD The Tourbillon FMD is a premium turntable model with high-end features designed to deliver exceptional performance in the audio playback experience.  The Transrotor Tourbillon FMD stands out as a top-of-the-line turntable with innovative features and premium construction materials aimed at audiophiles seeking unparalleled sound quality and precision in vinyl playback. With its advanced FMD bearing technology, dual tone arm support, and included accessories, it offers a premium and comprehensive audio experience for discerning enthusiasts in the high-end turntable market. $60K with Cartridge Fern and Roby Amp No. 2 Amp No. 2 is our second collaboration with Michael Bettinger who has been designing and building amplifiers for nearly 40 years. Integrated amps make building a great high fidelity audio system easy. Our goal in this project was to produce something that will turn your living room into the best listening room possible. Fewer components, cables, and cost, but delivering world class audio into your home. $8500 (Add $350 if you want Isolation Feet)  Acora SRB Reference Loudspeaker Acora Acoustics loudspeakers are constructed using hand crafted, specially treated granite enclosures. The rigidity of granite far exceeds that of traditional particle board or wood enclosures. One of the benefits of this is as the SRB’s drivers move to push air / create sound, the enclosure isn’t absorbing this energy and dulling or smearing the sound. Another benefit of the Acora enclosure is it does not need internal bracing to “stiffen” the enclosure. This means no additional reflections inside the enclosure that will vibrate the low frequency driver and smear the sound. The SRB also utilizes world class drivers and a hand built crossover network, however the real secret to the Acora Sound is that you only hear these, not the enclosure. Sensitivity 86.5 db  Frequency Response 43Hz - 35KHz  58 lbs each $37,000 pair  

Podcast #1146: Mini-LED vs OLEd and AXPONA 2024

On this week’s show we preview the upcoming WiFi 7 specification and we review the Technics SU-GX70 Network Audio Amplifier Review. We also read your emails and take a look at the week’s news. News:   Roku just announced a free NBA channel  ESPN’s Stand-Alone Streaming Service Will Be Available Through Disney+  Apple TV+ share grows in the US, but still lags behind its competitors  LG TV owners should update their firmware, webOS vulnerability found in a few models  Other:  Ridiculous 150" AWOL Vision Theater Setup  Roku patent invents a way to show ads over anything you plug into your TV | Ars Technica  A Giga-Sunset For Gigaset IoT Devices | Hackaday  WiFi 7 May be What We Have All Been Waiting For  Why WiFi 7 is the future of wireless technology As of now, the finalized specifications for WiFi 7 (also known as 802.11be) have not been officially released, as the standard is still in development. However, based on industry discussions and proposals, some expected features of the proposed WiFi 7 specification include:  Increased Speeds: WiFi 7 is anticipated to offer even higher data rates than its predecessors, potentially reaching multi-gigabit speeds  Enhanced Efficiency: Improved spectrum efficiency will allowi for better performance in crowded environments and increased capacity for simultaneous connections. Low Latency: WiFi 7 is likely to target reduced latency to support real-time applications such as online gaming, video streaming, and video conferencing with minimal delay. Advanced Security:  Multi-User MIMO: More advanced Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO) technology  Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA): The use of OFDMA will enhance spectral efficiency and enable better resource allocation for various types of traffic. Improved Beamforming: Enhanced beamforming techniques will optimize signal transmission and reception, improving network coverage and reliability. Wider Spectrum Utilization: WiFi 7 may explore the use of new frequency bands or spectrum sharing techniques to accommodate more devices and applications and deliver better performance. IoT Optimization: Features tailored for Internet of Things (IoT) devices to support the increasing number of connected devices and diverse IoT applications. Power Efficiency Enhancements: Efforts to improve power efficiency to extend battery life in wireless devices and reduce energy consumption overall.  It's important to note that these features are based on expectations and early proposals for WiFi 7. The final specifications may vary as the standard progresses through the development and approval process. Technics SU-GX70  Network Audio Amplifier Review Listening to music takes three elements, the music itself, the speakers, and the amplification. If one of these elements is not up to the task, your entire experience will be less than desired. Great speakers take high quality audio to even higher levels. The converse is also true, poor quality audio files will sound even worse.  There is a middle layer that we don’t talk about as much, and that’s the amplification. Back in the 70’s all we cared about were watts! The more, the better! As a teenager I did not appreciate that not all power is created equal. Smart amplifier design can make your music sound even better and that’s what the engineers at Technics have done with the  SU-GX70 Network Audio Amplifier (MSRP $1999.95). The GX70 is a box that has something for everyone. First and foremost it's a digital amplifier that outputs a total of 80 Watts into 8 ohms and supports a ton of physical connections including: Line level x2, phono, HDMI ARC, optical x2, coaxial, USB Type A, USB Type B. Supporting HDMI ARC allows you to connect your own speakers as a soundbar alternative.   As far as wireless connection goes, you have Wi-fi, ethernet, Bluetooth, Google Chromecast and Apple AirPlay 2. DAB (Digital Audio Broadcast) and  FM. You can also get access to Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz through the app.  Hi Res is supported via the USB port with a DAC that can decode 32-bit/384kHz PCM and DSD512 files and it can handle MQA streams from Tidal. This is one versatile integrated amp!! Setup To connect the GX70 to the network you use the Apple Home (or Google Home) app. Which seemed odd to us since there is a remote control and display screen. But once you are connected to your network you can use the Technics Audio Center App to control the system. Actually, the only reason you would need the app is if you want to send MQA streams to the amp. All the radio stations that are available through the app are available on your phone or tablet via apps source apps like iHeart Radio. You can tweak the amp to dial it in for your speakers through a calibration on the amp. But it sounded really good right out of the box.  We’ll give it an 8 out of 10 for setup, knocking off two points because you have to use Apple/Google Home to get it connected to your network. The aforementioned remote is a better way to use and interact with the amp. You pretty much just need to connect your speakers and you are good to go. Sound To test the audio we turned to the HT Guys Listener Playlist (Playlist available on  iTunes,  Amazon, and Spotify)  and listened via Airplay2, Bluetooth, and USB. All the music was played in the highest fidelity available on the platform. Both Airplay and Bluetooth lowered quality to fit within the limits of the protocol. It should be noted that the GX70 does not support AptX.  We’ll discuss Airplay and Bluetooth together and sum it up by saying the quality was good. The only thing we’ll say is that these formats work well for convenience without sacrificing too much quality. When listening to music while doing something else, this is a nice feature. But for really listening to music we used the USB connection. Once connected to Listened to Steely Dan, Deacon Blues (24 bit 192kHz) across three different speakers and found that the GX70 helped capture nuances in the music that we had never heard before. The sound was clean and precise. In Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Tin Pan Alley his voice was so smooth and raspy but in a good way! It's like the amp gave it more power and weight! But can it make your walls rattle? You would think at 80W total that this was not a possibility and depending on your speakers it's not. If you have power hungry speakers they will push the amp to its limits. However, if you have efficient  speakers, it will fill the room with sound. More than we were expecting. For that we turned to UFO Strangers in the Night Live, which is an excellent album from the 1970’s, but the recording wasn’t the best. We’ll say this, the GX70 attached to Ascend Acoustics Sierra-1s, which are not extremely efficient speakers, got loud enough to where family members asked to turn down the music! Conclusion What we liked  A plethora of input sources (both wired and wireless)  Build Quality is first rate LCD and Remote make it easy to use and setup Outstanding detailed sound quality  Needs Improvement  Two app setup Would like to see Aptx for high quality audio from mobile devices. Needs a tad more power  The GX70 offers an elevated listening experience that brings music to life with clarity, depth, and immersive soundstaging making it a top choice for those who are serious about their music.

Podcast #1145: Technics SU-GX70  Network Audio Amplifier Review

On this week’s show the HT Guys are on spring break but no worries we still have a brief show for you. Are Sports Fans willing to pay $50 a month to stream their favorite teams? We have a couple of emails and news stories.  News:   YouTube TV estimated to have more subscribers than Comcast and Spectrum by 2026  Kaleidescape Introduces 96TB Terra Prime Movie Server  Other:  Smart devices are turning out to be a poor investment  57% of Sports Fans Willing to Pay $50 Monthly For Live Streaming App More than 57% of TV sports fans said they would pay $50 monthly for a sports-only streaming app service in a February online survey of 2,000 respondents conducted by CasinoReviews.net, an advocate for online wagering.  Full article here…

Podcast #1099: Bluetooth Turntables and FAST TV

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