Sennheiser HD 650 headphones are a modern classic; they’ve never gone out of favor with the cognoscenti. Wear a pair for 10 minutes and you’ll know why: They just sound right. Part of the appeal is they sound more open, less stuck inside your skull than everyday headphones. The “tone” is just right too. Bass, midrange and treble are well sorted out. They’re not cheap, though. The HD 650 lists for $499 ($319 on Amazon). But the Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 6XX version we’re looking at today runs $220. If you’re just now getting serious about headphones, there’s no better place to start than the HD 6XX.
The HD 650 looks nearly the same. The main difference is the HD 6XX headband is deep blue and the HD 650’s is dark gray. The sound producing parts are the same. They’re virtual twins.
The HD 6XX is an open-back, over-the-ear design, and it’s very comfortable to wear for hours at a time. It comes with a six foot long, very flexible, user-replaceable cable terminated with a 3.5mm plug, and there’s a 6.5mm adapter plug. Head clamping pressure against my ears was moderate, and the velour covered ear pads are just the right softness.
Sarah Tew/CNET
The HD 6XX’s impedance is rated at a very high 300 ohms, but that didn’t pose any problem in my listening tests. It weighs 9.2 ounces, pretty light for full-size headphones. Drop (formerly Massdrop) sells the HD 6XX with a two-year warranty, double the length of coverage of most headphones.
I used a $100 AudioQuest DragonFly Black digital converter/headphone amp running off my Mac Mini computer for all my listening tests. One thing is obvious from the get-go, the HD 6XX sound isn’t hyped or pandering to mass market tastes. Nothing jumps out or feels amiss. The bass-midrange-treble balance is so smooth it might seem a little boring at first. But settle in with the HD 6XX and you’ll find yourself hearing more and more subtle detail in your music, but without the fatigue of, say, a pair of Beats headphones.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Bass was plentiful on Massive Attack’s Five Man Army all right, but not overdone. The HD 6XX’s deft control over the low notes was refreshing. Vocals were likewise present and articulate. The treble was blissfully free of harshness, and the HD 6XX sounds right with the volume turned way down low or way up.
The HD 6XX is an open-back headphone, but it sounds more open and less inside my head than most open headphones, and you can easily hear sound from all around you. The downside to all open headphones is they don’t isolate the wearer from external noise, and people nearby can hear sound “leaking” from the HD 6XX. So it’s mostly a listen by yourself at home headphone.
I loved the sound, but it’s not the sort of headphone that’ll satisfy buyers craving maximum detail and clarity. If that’s more to your taste, consider a Hifiman HE400S headphone (currently $229 on Amazon). It’s more transparent and dynamically alive than the HD 6XX. The Hifiman is a terrific headphone, but it’s not as comfortable or open sounding as the HD 6XX. The HE400S might not be a wise choice for buyers who listen to a lot of highly compressed or bright recordings. The HD 6XX would tame the harshness to some degree.
If you find most headphones too bright, the Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 6XX might be just what you’re looking for. It’s such an easy headphone to love because it’s so darn comfortable and brings out the best in most recordings.
Google’s device line could end up having a particularly important moment in 2023. The company usually announces new Pixel products throughout the year. Google is expected to release its first foldable phone this year, however, which would directly compete with Samsung’s proven line of Galaxy Z Fold devices. Google also introduced its own ChatGPT rival, …
Woo Audio has been making exceptional tube electronics in New York CIty since 2004. So it came as a big surprise when I received the company’s first solid-state WA11 Topaz headphone amplifier. Better yet, it’s small enough to be truly portable — Woo’s taking high-end sound to the streets!
Even without the aid of tubes the WA11 ($1,400) sounds velvety-rich, powerful and refined. Instruments and vocals surely have a lot more body and substance than what I hear from my iPhone 6S‘ headphone jack.
The WA11’s black anodized-aluminum chassis feels solid, and measuring just 6.1 by 3.3 by 1 inches, it’s small enough to fit into a jacket pocket. The included Alcantara travel pouch protects the WA11 from scratches.
Upfront there’s a machined metal volume control and two headphone jacks, a standard 6.3mm jack and a 4.4mm Pentaconn jack (for headphones fitted with balanced cables with Pentaconn connectors; only one headphone can be plugged in at a time). The amplifier circuitry is fully balanced from input to output.
Too bad Woo didn’t also squeeze in a 3.5mm headphone jack, but space is limited. The amp’s side panel has a high/low gain switch for compatibility with easy- and hard-to-drive headphones.
The rear-end hosts two USB Type-C ports, one for data, and one for charging (it’s only USB 2.0 compliant) so you can listen to the WA11 and charge its lithium-ion battery simultaneously, or listen for up to six continuous hours of battery-only playtime. The WA11’s built-in ESS Sabre Reference digital audio converter offers high resolution playback up to 24-bit/384kHz PCM files and up to DSD128 for DSD files.
The Woo Audio WA11 Topaz amp with Sony MDR Z1R headphones
Steve Guttenberg/CNET
At home, the WA11 can serve as a dandy desktop USB digital audio converter/headphone amp. It’s compatible with PC, Mac, Android and iOS devices. I had good results on my desktop with my Mac Mini and also with my iPhone 6S.
There’s one other bit of connectivity, a 4.4mm Pentaconn stereo analog balanced audio input, but no analog outputs so the WA11 cannot be used as a preamp. Maximum power output is specified at 1.2 watts per channel for 30-ohm headphones.
Wowed by the Woo’s sound
I paired the amp with a wide range of headphones, starting with something truly special, the Audeze LCDi4 in-ear headphones. Wow! The sound was lush, clear, and very low in distortion. I’ve always loved these ‘phones, but they never sounded this organically rich before.
The Sennheiser IE800 in-ears, one of my long-term references, were also very appreciative of the WA11’s talents. I play the IE800 with my iPhone 6S all the time, but here with the WA11, the sound filled out with no loss of clarity.
I was eager to try the WA11 with the extraordinary Abyss Diana Phi on-ear headphones (review to come). The purity of the sound took my breath away, but this wasn’t the sort of uber-transparency that highlights the faults of everyday recordings. The sound was sweet as can be, and stereo imaging was expansive.
The WA11 did stumble with the Diana Phi when I played the Isle of Dogs soundtrack album really loud. These are power-hungry ‘phones after all, and battery-powered amps struggle to keep up with the score’s big bass drums. With less challenging music, the WA11 sounded great via the Phi, while the Hifiman HE1000v2 headphones excelled with the WA11 on the Isle of Dogs massive drum thwacks.
I also tried my AKG K812 over-the-ears, which are among the most open sounding headphones I own. The K812 can sound a bit lean, but the WA11 brought more warmth to their sound, a welcome change.
To finish, I hooked up my Schiit Yggdrasil digital converter to the WA11’s Pentaconn analog input. But as good as the Schiit converter is, I preferred listening with the WA11’s built-in converter! Which is how I suspect most WA11 buyers will use the amp.
The Woo Audio WA11 Topaz demonstrates extreme high-end sound in a portable size is possible. At least for audiophiles who’ve already invested in top-quality headphones they would like to enjoy on-the-go, at home or office. Wherever you go, the WA11 will bring out the best in your headphones.
Instagram, the 700 million-user-strong photo sharing service owned by Facebook, informed some users Wednesday that hackers gained access to phone numbers and emails of high-profile accounts. The attack came through Instagram’s API, or its software that allows other sites and apps to connect with it.
The company said the bug was fixed within a few hours of being identified.
“At this point we believe this effort was targeted at high-profile users,” Instagram wrote in the email. “We encourage you to be extra vigilant about the security of your account and exercise caution if you encounter any suspicious activity such as unrecognized incoming calls, texts and emails.”
Read the full story on our sister site ZDNet for more information:
Detroit-based Shinola has made a splash with its stylish watches, bicycles and bags, but I wasn’t expecting them to produce a high-end turntable, and certainly not one as beautiful as the Runwell. I listened and played it at Shinola’s NYC store and trust me on this, the Runwell looks even better in real life. It’s a stunning piece of industrial design.
The turntable project was spearheaded by Shinola’s Head of Audio Alex Rosson, who was formerly with Audeze, the headphone company. For the Runwell, Rosson enlisted noted turntable maker VPI Industries to design some parts, but it looks and feels better built than VPI’s turntables around the Runwell’s price, which is $2,500.
Most of the Runwell’s parts are sourced from US companies, and the turntable is assembled and tested in full view of the public at the Shinola flagship store in Detroit. The Runwell weighs 40 pounds — like I said, build quality is superb.
The Runwell is 19 inches wide and 14 inches deep, and it’s currently available in two finishes, standard and black, future limited-edition models with different color schemes are in the works.
The turntable is just the first product in Shinola’s audio line. A Shinola moving-coil phono cartridge and headphones will arrive next year. Right now, the Runwell comes prefitted with an Ortofon moving magnet cartridge. Shinola’s powered bookshelf speaker is just starting to ship, and wireless speakers are also being planned.
I’m not sure the Runwell turntable will appeal to traditional audiophiles looking at Pioneer, Technics or VPI turntables — the Runwell is aimed at a younger, more affluent style- or fashion-oriented clientele. That’s not to imply the Runwell’s beauty is skin deep, it’s anything but.
I’m just saying the Runwell was conceived for a wider crowd than just us audiophiles. For one thing, the Runwell has a built-in phono preamplifier so you can hook the turntable up directly to pretty much anything that accepts analog audio signals, like a set of powered speakers or any stereo amplifier. The phono pre was designed in-house by Shinola, and it’s a modular design for easy upgradeability. It works with moving-coil and moving-magnet phono cartridges.
Shinola set out to sell high-end audio in its 20 US stores, which up til now have just sold watches, bikes and bags. I’m intrigued by the idea of selling high-end audio in stores that aren’t audio stores. The Shinola New York store feels radically different than any audio shop I’ve seen, and the salespeople barely know anything beyond the basics about turntables or speakers, or anything in-depth about audio. Maybe Shinola’s strategy is to have customers and salespeople on a level playing field, so the customers won’t feel intimidated.
Devialet is another high-end audio company trying to reach a wider than just audiophile market. I noted the same vibe at its flagship store in New York. Its salespeople were friendly, but pretty clueless about the details of Devialet’s Phantom ($1,990 each), Silver Phantom ($2,390 each) and Gold Phantom ($2,990 each) wireless speakers. The salespeople’s primary skill set was being able to play tunes over their phones, so I suppose they were less intimidating than the average high-end sales guy who lives and breathes audio. I was one of those guys — I sold high-end audio for 16 years, and I was certainly trying to be a helpful guide for my customers. But that, as they say, was a different time.
As for the Devialet Phantom speakers, they could play loud and made lots of bass, but sound quality was only so-so. You can get vastly better sounding wired speakers for a lot less money. Apparently style sells.
At Shinola, its salespeople are currently being trained on the finer points of audiophile tech, but it’s a steep learning curve. I’m looking forward to see what Shinola cooks up next.
Beauty and tech are both wildly popular things we spend our money on, so it was only a matter of time before the two worlds collided. In fact, this year’s CES threw its first ever Beauty Summit to show off the new ways technology is creeping into makeup bags and medicine cabinets.
This isn’t about better makeup brushes, new skin creams or a lipstick robot. We’re seeing practical, bizarre and downright cool products that will keep you looking beautiful and healthy, with or without makeup.
Smarter sun care
After a few nasty sunburns from overcast days, sun care became a huge deal to me. Truth be told,I don’t always use enough protection when I head outside and I’m willing to bet you don’t either.
L’Oréal’s My UV patch measures sun exposure, but looks like a temporary tattoo.
L’Oréal
At CES 2016, makeup company L’Oréal debuted something to fix that. It’s called the My UV Patch and it’s a stretchable skin sensor that measures UV exposure. The best part? It looks like a cool temporary tattoo and you can stick it anywhere on your body. Even better, the patch will be free — yes, free — and available later this year through L’Oréal’s La Roche-Posay skin care line.
The photosensitive dyes in the patch change colors when you’re out in the sun and after a few hours soaking up rays, you can take a photo with your phone’s camera using the forthcoming My UV Patch mobile app which will tell you if it’s time to reapply sunscreen or head inside. And, the Android version of the app will use NFC to analyze the patch’s UV exposure.
Mirrors that transform your looks
Today’s mirrors can give you a makeover without lifting a finger. At CES 2016, we checked out Modiface, a mirror for trying on new makeup looks that will eventually end up in beauty stores. You’ll be able to try on makeup styles, like a smoky eye, check out specific shades of eyeshadow or lipstick, and even adjust your eyebrow shape all by looking at the mirror.
Now playing: Watch this:
Get a makeover! This virtual makeup mirror changes up…
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It uses an HD camera and projector to record your face and show it in real time. The tech is still early, but it’s a glimpse at the future where you’ll no longer need to use germy makeup samples to try out a product before you buy. If you can’t wait for this arrive in stores, Modiface has a free app for iOS that shows you live makeup looks, just like the mirror.
The MODA machine applies an entire face of makeup in seconds.
FOREO
Also seen at CES this year was the SimpleHuman sensor mirror, which turns the lights on when you approach it and uses the SimpleHuman app to record different lighting environments so your makeup looks perfect in every situation. For instance, the app can determine the lighting in your office and then set the mirror to mimic those conditions while you’re applying makeup at home. The mirror is available now for $400.
Machines that do your makeup
Applying makeup is a real art, requiring brushes, sponges and tools to master a look. But this new machine wants you to go completely hands-free. The MODA “digital makeup artist” is a machine that applies an entire look, from face to eyes to lips, in just 30 seconds — that’s at least four and a half minutes faster than it takes me to just put on foundation.
You merely pick a look, then align your face with the chin cradle and forehead rest. The MODA claims to use 3D modeling and 3D printing to detect your facial features and apply a flawless face of foundation, blush, eyeshadow and lip color. It’s not available yet, but it could dramatically cut down on the time you spend with your makeup if it comes to fruition.
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Inail printer brings the nail salon to you
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Now that your face looks flawless, what about your nails? At CES this year, we saw Inail, a machine that prints literally any design you can imagine directly on your fingernails. It’s not cheap to buy for your home though — it’s around $2,899 — but it may spring up at a nail salon near you one day.
Smartphone shoppers will soon have a new pair of LG models to consider as the LG V10 and LG G Vista 2 are set to touch down. The Android-powered duo are slated to arrive at AT&T and T-Mobile starting November 6.
LG has seen more success in high-end phones than in selling midrange models. A new handset in each category will help cement its position in two tiers going into the highly competitive holiday season.
Announced in early October, the LG V10 ushers in a new line of smartphones and boasts a secondary shortcuts screen above the main display. The handset also includes two front-facing cameras, one of which has a wider-angle meant to capture shots of a group or landscape.
On the hardware front, the V10 goes beyond gimmicks to include a 64-bit hexa-core processor, 4GB RAM, a 16-megapixel rear camera and an impressive 64GB of internal storage with memory expandable by up to 2TB with its microSD card slot. These specs should put it near the top of the Android heap.
T-Mobile will sell the LG V10 starting October 28 with a full retail price of $600. Qualified customers can spread the phone’s cost over 24 monthly payments of $25 each.
AT&T begins selling its version of the V10 on November 6 with an all-in cost of $700. Alternatively, subscribers who commit to a two-year service plan can procure the phone for $250. AT&T Next plans shake out to $23.34 (30 months), $29.17 (24 months) or $35 (20 months).
The LG G Vista 2, as we learned last week, features incremental improvements over its year-old predecessor . Running Android 5.1 Lollipop, the phone’s 5.7-inch display comes with an embedded stylus that can be used for handwriting and markups.
Drawing strength from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 octa-core processor with 2GB RAM, the G Vista 2 provides users with 16GB of on-board storage. The microSD card slot allows for up to 32GB of added space for pictures, movies and other files.
The back of the phone is outfitted with a 13-megapixel rear camera with laser auto-focus. Around front, the 5-megapixel shooter is enhanced with tools for better selfies.
The LG G Vista 2 comes exclusively to AT&T and will also launch on November 6 for $50 on a two-year contract, or $450 when you buy it outright. AT&T’s Next plans break down to $14.97 (30 months), $18.71 (24 months) or $22.45 (20 months).
There have been plenty of developments this year that have been making our homes smarter, but now an innovative Australian company is bringing new tech to the snowfield. On Wednesday, Forcite Helmet Systems launched a Kickstarter, which it hopes will raise $200,000 to help develop and manufacturer a line of “smart helmets” for snow sports.
The Forcite Alpine helmet is designed for extreme sports, but tailored specifically for action on the snowfield. The slick headpiece houses some serious tech, including an ultra-HD 4K camera capable of shooting 120fps slow-motion video, a GPS, and a noise-cancelling microphone that allows you to communicate with up to four other helmet wearers, permitting they’re within a 200-metre radius.
It’s powered by a 2.4GHz processor and has Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi capabilities, which it uses to send information on top speeds, air time and sharp turns to your smartphone. Additionally, the helmet is built to be modular, meaning it’ll be a cheaper repair if a wearer takes a tumble and smashes it, as the expensive parts within won’t be damaged.
At just over a day in, the Kickstarter for the Alpine has already reached $50,000 — a quarter of the money Forcite Helmet Systems hopes to raise by October’s end. The smart helmet will ship to buyers in January of next year, retailing for $799 (AU$1130 or £530). Particularly keen skiers and snowboarders can snag one at the cheaper early bird rate by pledging $649 ($920 or £430) to the Kickstarter, though only 250 of these discounted helmets will be sold.
“Forcite Alpine will change the way we share and communicate in action sports forever,” company co-founder Alfred Boyadgis said. “Our team have made the lightest, most powerful smart helmet in sports today. One that lets people enjoy the snow, whilst all your high intensity moments are captured and shared in a simple automated way.”
Forcite Helmet Systems was founded in 2013 by industrial design postgraduates at Sydney’s University of New South Wales, who initially worked together to improve communications systems currently used by Motorcycle Emergency Services.
Awesome movies are hitting HBO Now and iTunes in August
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With Apple’s exclusivity deal running out with HBO Now, more and more people can watch HBO without a cable subscription. The $15 price seems steep compared to Netflix, but August sees some amazing movies being added to HBO’s catalog.
“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” arrives on August 8. The visually amazing “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Innocence)” will stream on August 1. For fans of cancelled TV shows that got cancelled, both “Veronica Mars” (the movie) and “Serenity” will make their way to HBO Now in August as well.
Over at iTunes, Apple’s got some free TV episodes for you to add to your library including the season premier of “The Killing,” season four. On August 14, Apple turns your place into a home box office with a bunch of movies arriving to iTunes on the same day as they do in theaters.
Arriving to HBO in August 2015
August 1
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Innocence) (2014)
Charlie’s Angels (2000)
Dances with Wolves (1990)
A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
John Tucker Must Die (2006)
Meet the Parents (2000)
An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
Serenity (2005)
Veronica Mars (2014)
August 4
Back on Board: Greg Louganis (2014)
Ramona (2015)
August 7
Manos Sucias (2014)
August 8
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
August 9
True Detective: Season 2 season finale (2014 series)
August 12
Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Houston Texans (2015 series)
August 14
Bomba
August 15
The Theory of Everything (2014)
August 16
Show Me a Hero: Part 1 & 2 (2015 miniseries)
August 22
Dumb and Dumber To (2014)
Tig Notaro: Boyish Girl Interrupted (2015)
August 23
Ballers: Season 1 season finale (2015 series)
Show Me a Hero: Part 3 & 4 (2015 miniseries)
August 29
Kill the Messenger (2014)
August 30
Show Me a Hero: Part 5 & 6 (2015 miniseries)
Leaving HBO on August 31, 2015
Broken Arrow (1996)
Ender’s Game (2013)
Enemy of the State (1998)
Enough Said (2013)
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013)
The Wolverine (2013)
Available on iTunes in August 2015
August 3
The Killing: Season 4 premiere (free)
August 6
The Carmichael Show: Season 1 premiere (free)
Mr. Robinson: Season 1 premiere (free)
August 10
Kingdom: Season 1 premiere (free)
August 14
10,000 Saints (same day as theaters)
Cop Car (same day as theaters)
People Places Things (same day as theaters)
She’s Funny That Way (same day as theaters)
Return to Sender (same day as theaters)
August 21
Being Evel (same day as theaters)
Queen of Earth (same day as theaters)
August 28
7 Chinese Brothers (same day as theaters)
Turbo Kid (same day as theaters)
When Animals Dream (same day as theaters)
Z for Zachariah (same day as theaters)
If these online services aren’t for you, check out CNET.com/Netpicks for information on Amazon, Netflix, Hulu and others.
Some say the first true consumer high-res digital audio format was the Super Audio CD (SACD) that was introduced by Sony/Philips in 1999. The DVD-Audio (aka DVD-A) disc arrived soon after, and their prolonged format war produced no decisive winner.
Both formats sounded better than CD, there’s no doubt about that, but not better enough to woo huge numbers of music lovers (or mainstream record companies) to commit long term. The SACD is still around, serving the niche classical music market; music-only Blu-ray discs are rarer still.
The vinyl LP debuted back in 1948 with better sound quality than the previous popular disc format, the 78 rpm record — and here’s the best part: well recorded LPs still sound great today, even when compared with SACD, DVD-A, Blu-ray, or for that matter, with high-res FLAC files.
I was thinking about all of that just the other night as I listened to Brian Eno’s “Music for Films” LP that I bought in 1978. Mind you, I was listening over extremely revealing speakers — Magnepan .7s — and the recording’s deep textures and massive soundstage floated free of the locations of the speakers in my room. The synths, guitars, horns and percussion created a room-filling atmosphere, chock full of detail, and yet there was a real sense of physical body to the sound of the instruments. This 37-year-old recording was more engaging and fun to listen to than most 2015 high-res digital recordings.
So if the definition of high-resolution audio is that it sounds clearer and more like real music, I think well-recorded LPs, played on a decent turntable qualify as high-res audio.
Bob Marley and the Wailers’ “Live” album from 1975 captured the band at its peak, and it’s the best-sounding live recording Marley ever made. The Wailers’ rhythm section’s power is intense; the interplay of rhythm guitar, bass and drums is extraordinary. In the end, it’s not about resolution per se, it’s mostly how the listener engages with the music, it’s how the music makes you feel.
Some LPs hold up in direct comparisons with the best high-res digital offerings, even when I play SACDs, DVD-As or high-res files over an extremely high-end digital system with a dCS Puccini SACD player, easily the best player I’ve owned. I’m not anti-digital, and own around 4,000 CDs, plus 500 SACDs and DVD-As, along with another few hundred high-res files.
LPs, especially older ones that were recorded and pressed before 1982, are much less likely to suffer from mixes that are loud most of the time. Music’s naturally occurring soft-to-loud dynamics are better preserved on LP than most standard or high-res digital formats. There are exceptions of course — listen to a recently recorded Steven Wilson, MA or Reference Recording album, and you’ll hear how good digital audio can be. But those are rare; most contemporary recordings are loud and compressed most of the time.
LPs are far from perfect — they’re fragile and susceptible to clicks, pops, warps and speed irregularities like wow and flutter, but played on a good turntable like a VPI, Rega or ProJect, vinyl’s imperfections recede into the background. In my experience, speakers that resolve the tiniest details of music highlight vinyl’s advantages over the best digital recordings.
Oh, and one other great thing about old LPs: they’re easier to find for next to nothing in thrift stores and yard sales; SACDs, DVD-As, and high-res files can be pretty expensive. So vinyl is usually the cheapest way to buy high-res music!
The Aurender Flow digital converter/headphone amplifier
Aurender
High-end products are, by definition, expensive. There’s a premium for luxury products that can’t always be directly tied to the cost of producing, marketing, and selling them, but bleeding edge performance and excellence in design are requirements to achieve full-fledged high-end status. Even so few buyers push the limits of the designs, but the potential is there.
An €15,000 (about $17,050 or £11,060) Leica M Edition 60 camera will surely take sharper pictures than your smart phone, so for the wealthiest buyers who crave the ultimate performance edge the M Edition 60’s hefty price is worth it. The value of things is tied to prestige, build quality, functionality, customer support, etc. Ultimately, it’s up to the person signing the check to make the final call about a product’s worth, that’s all that matters.
Some of the best high-end brands like Audio Research, Burmester, Dynaudio, Mark Levinson, MBL, McIntosh, Rogue Audio, Vandersteen, Wilson, and Zu Audio have been in business for two or more decades. These companies are mostly small outfits serving niche markets, so production methods are inefficient and slow, but high-end brands are much more likely to have top-notch customer service. High-end audio gear is built to last, and the best companies stand behind their products, even when they’re decades out of warranty.
For example, if your 1974 McIntosh C28 stereo preamplifier quits, there’s a good chance McIntosh can bring it back to life for a reasonable fee. Few consumer electronics products retain value and can continue to be used everyday as long as the best high-end audio gear.
Pick up and feel the Aurender Flow portable digital converter/headphone amplifier in your hands, and even before you play it you know it’s something special. I’m currently writing a review of this exquisitely finished design, it sounds wonderful, but the tactile feel of the controls is so far beyond what you get from mainstream products.
Compared with high-end cars, watches, boats, and clothes high-end audio is relatively attainable, the world’s most expensive headphones top out at $5,500 (about £3,600), and superb ‘phones run $1,000 (just under £660). A complete high-end home system can be purchased for well under $10,000 (£6,560) that’s still expensive, but far more within reach of an average person than a $280,225 (£183,862) McLaren 650S sports car or a $14,900 (£9,776) Hermes Birkin Sellier 40 handbag.
Apple’s high-end luxury smartwatch could cost at least $5,000
CNET
Would you pay five grand for the high-end luxury edition of the Apple Watch? That’s the starting price that Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster sees in his crystal ball.
On March 9, Apple is expected to finally unveil the finer details of its Apple Watch , including the price tags and launch date. The company’s first smartwatch will be available in three versions: Apple Watch Sport, Apple Watch and Apple Watch Edition. Apple has already revealed that the entry-level Sport model will start at $349 in the US. But the company has been mum about the prices of the other two models.
In an investors note released late Monday, Munster said he expects that the price for the Sport model could reach as high as $450 depending on different case and storage options. The mid-tier Apple Watch could start at anywhere from $499 to $549 and likely will come closer to an average selling price of $650, according to Munster. But the top-of-the-line Apple Watch Edition could break the bank, starting at $4,999 and potentially reaching closer to $7,500 by factoring in high-end, expensive bands.
Apple is a latecomer to a smartwatch market already crowded with entries from Samsung, LG, Motorola, Microsoft, Sony, Pebble and other players. Apple’s product will be part smartwatch and part fitness and activity tracker, a combination the company is counting on to bring in buyers. But by offering the watch in a luxury edition, Apple is also presenting it as a piece of fine jewelry to further distinguish it from rival products.
Munster remains bearish on Apple Watch sales, estimating 8 million in unit sales this year, compared with Wall Street forecasts of 14 million. But the analyst believes next Monday’s event “will finally highlight the special features of the watch and start to excite the public.”
Apple will offer interchangeable bands for each of its watches, a factor that will determine the ultimate price. Munster said he believes the elastomer bands for the Apple Watch Sport will range in price from $29 to $39. Leather bands could be priced from $49 to $59. Steel bands could run around $99. And the gold bands for the higher-end edition may run into the thousands of dollars.
How might the three different versions of the watch play out in terms of sales? Munster said he expects the entry-level Sport edition to account for around 55 percent of all units sold this year, while the Apple Watch will contribute around 45 percent. That leaves the luxury Apple Watch Edition contributing pretty much nothing, at least in terms of percentage.
“The Apple Watch Edition is the more difficult to predict, but we believe that with the watch likely starting at $4,999, Apple might sell around 10,000 units in CY15 [calendar year 2015] of our total 8 million estimate, Munster said. “To put the 10k units in perspective, Piper analyst Erinn Murphy, in conjunction with industry estimates, believes that Rolex sells 600-750K watches per year, thus Apple at 10K in the first year would be about 2 percent the size of Rolex. We believe this is a reasonable potential first year size as high-end consumers weigh the power of the Apple brand vs. other luxury watches and the trade-off of quickly depreciating technology in an Apple Watch vs. other more traditional luxury watches that may hold value better.”
A spokeswoman for Apple said the company had no comment at this time.
The Golden State Warriors have been outfitting their basketball arena in Oakland, Calif., with Apple’s iBeacons and other technology.
Shara Tibken/CNET
OAKLAND, Calif. — Floor tiles that generate electricity when people walk on them. Streetlamps that transmit data to people passing beneath them. Virtual reality videos that make fans feel like they’re at the game when they’re really just sitting on their own couches.
No, this isn’t “Star Trek.” It’s some of the technology the Golden State Warriors basketball team is testing for its new stadium, set to open in San Francisco in 2018. The 12-acre sports and entertainment complex will contain space for retail, restaurants and parks and will play host to not only Warriors games but also concerts and other events.
The Warriors, currently the winningest team in the NBA, have been using their nearly 50-year-old venue in Oakland as a sort of Petri dish to try out new technology. Some, like the use of Apple’s iBeacon technology have stuck. Others will only be tested in parts of the stadium before being rolled out in the new venue, while some tech may be scrapped after the trials.
“Our goal is that the experience [at the new San Francisco complex], regardless of whether it’s a Warriors game or a conference or an artist or any sort of entertainment, that the experience there is second to none,” said Kenny Lauer, vice president of digital and marketing for the Warriors. “We can’t light this [new arena] up already being out of date.”
Enlarge ImageThe Golden State Warriors’ new arena, shown in an artist rendering, will seat 18,000 fans when it opens in San Francisco in 2018.
Golden State Warriors
The move by the Warriors to build the most high-tech stadium possible follows similar steps by other sports franchises. As more and more fans opt to watch the game from home, sports teams are looking for ways to entice them into arenas and keep them engaged. High-tech features, such as paying for seat upgrades from a smartphone, gives the franchises a new revenue stream while keeping their fans happy.
With most of the technology the Warriors are exploring, there are still questions about how to best implement the features and how they actually work. And the rapid pace of change in the technology industry makes it tough for companies and organizations to plan several months out, let alone several years.
The Warriors aren’t alone in hopping on the tech bandwagon. Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers football team in Santa Clara, Calif., was dubbed by some when it opened in 2014, partly because of its location in the heart of the tech world, as well as its high-tech features. Many Major League Baseball stadiums — including AT&T Park, the home of the 2014 World Series Champion San Francisco Giants, and Citi Field, home to the New York Mets — are outfitted with iBeacons to ping visitors with exclusive offers and trivia. AT&T outfitted its namesake stadium in Dallas, the home of the Cowboys football team, with large, interactive LED displays to keep fans involved in the game.
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At the same time, other teams have taken a different slant. Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, last year criticized the use of mobile devices during games, telling Businessweek that people “use them when they are bored. They don’t want more reasons to use them. They want fewer.”
But for a tech-savvy region like the Bay Area, expecting fans to put away their phones isn’t realistic, said Lauer and Kevin Cote, senior director of digital for the Golden State Warriors.
“We have a unique fan base because we are in the Bay Area, so we have executives from Apple, Google, Facebook and Twitter at every game,” Cote said. “Even when a game is close, with five seconds left, everyone has their phone out because they want to record that game-winning shot.”
Ping me
The Warriors, while not as early with some technological advancements as other sports franchises, last March became the first NBA team to install beacons in its arena. Apple’s iBeacon technology, first released with the iOS 7 mobile software in 2013, uses low-energy Bluetooth to send notifications to smartphone users located near the beacon. It has popped up at retailers and other sports arenas, giving organizations a fast way to interact with customers and fans.
And iBeacon could become even more widespread when Apple rolls out its first wearable, the Apple Watch, in the coming months. It gets Apple device owners to use more apps, while letting the app makers learn more about using and make money from offers in the app, said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst with Kantar Worldpanel.
“Of course, through the usage it helps increase stickiness to the ecosystem and increase the engagement, which brings higher brand loyalty,” she said.
The Warriors send four types of notifications — a welcome message, often mentioning promotions such as free socks; offers to upgrade to better seats; special concession deals; and promotions for the team store.
“We don’t want to hit fans over the head with messaging to the point where they’d be annoyed with it, but we want to utilize it,” Cote said. Before activating a beacon’s feature, the function “has to have immediate benefit to the fans, and it has to some way drive the business.”
About 10 percent of the 19,000 people at each game receive the beacon pings, Cote said. The franchise needs about 20 to 25 beacons around the stadium to send all the notices it wants.
The Warriors have placed about two dozen beacons around their arena. One, at the team store, sends special offers to visitors.
Shara Tibken/CNET
Less than a year after rolling out beacons, the technology is showing results for the Warriors. The team uses them to ping fans heading to the nosebleed section, giving them the option for seat upgrades. About 15 percent of all seat upgrades are directly tied to beacon notifications, Cote said.
An even more successful area has been the beacon for the stadiums’ team store, which delivers deals through a notification. Typically, it’s for a free item after spending a certain amount. Fans with the beacon promotion spend 93 percent more than those without the offer, Cote said.
Still, not all of the beacon offers have been successful. The Warriors haven’t yet figured out how to get fans to take advantage of concession stand notifications despite offers such as free popcorn with the purchase of a slice of pizza.
Stealth signal
Along with the Bluetooth ping, the beacons also have the ability to send inaudible tones as a trigger for the phone. That lets the franchise push out a notification through the sound system to everyone sitting and watching the game in the arena or even to people watching at home.
“We’re looking at the concept of second screen, sending inaudible tones to those watching on broadcast and then activating the app there,” Lauer said.
Another use for the beacons is providing better indoor mapping and navigation, though the Warriors don’t yet use their beacons for wayfinding.
High-tech Warriors: Building tomorrow’s basketball arena (pictures)
“There’s so much you can do with contextual awareness that we’re striving to do in the future, but we know we’re not a be-all, end-all of this stuff,” Cote said.
Virtually there
Warriors and other NBA teams are also keen on augmented reality. The technology can work by overlaying a digital image on top of a view of the real world. For instance, shooting percentages may pop up on Google Glass or a smartphone when you point the device at a player on the court.
And then there’s virtual reality. The team’s technologists work closely with the Stanford Virtual Human Interaction Lab to find out about things such as cinematic VR, which can put someone in the game by shooting video with specialized cameras and then streaming the footage to VR headsets. The NBA commissioner and representatives from more than a dozen teams will soon visit Stanford to see how virtual reality would work for basketball, Lauer said, as the groups figure out how to make fans at home feel more involved with the games.
Samsung Gear VR turns a smartphone into virtual reality (hands-on pictures)
“We’ve talked to a group that can recreate, from blueprints, our entire arena so someone with an Oculus [VR headset] can physically walk through it and then turn to the left and see a game,” Lauer said.
Making fans actually in the arena feel closer to the action is another priority for the Warriors. One feature they will roll out in part of its arena this coming week is called “sound amplification. It involves putting microphones on the court and then broadcasting the sounds that normally only people sitting courtside could hear, such as bouncing balls, squeaking shoes and banter between the players. The Warriors did a test run involving one section of its arena for three games last year. Its new trial will broadcast the sound through the arena’s speakers to the entire east side of the venue for five games.
Light years ahead
One of the more futuristic technologies being explored by the Warriors is known as LiFi. The technology uses light to transmit data, letting users do things like stream Internet video to a TV from a light in the ceiling.
LiFi works by attaching an Ethernet-wired ceiling-based device to a standard LED light. The data about to be beamed through the air are sent to that bulb, which is instructed to flicker millions of times per second to communicate a signal — kind of like an extremely speedy morse code. The light signal — which looks identical to a normal light — is picked up by a receiver.
In the case of the new Warriors complex, LiFi could be implemented in lampposts outside the arena, passing information to people as they walk nearby. The beams could act like the beacons inside the arena, distributing content to passersby.
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The Warrior technologists recently had a demo, and they plan to conduct a test in the arena’s media room. “Thinking about the challenges we have with Wi-Fi and the available frequency space in the visual light spectrum, the opportunities are unreal,” Lauer said. “These are the kinds of things that are fascinating.”
Another potential technology that could hit the new stadium is tiles that generate electricity when people step on them. “You could actually have people, fans, walking around, powering lights or harnessing that energy into batteries and using them somewhere else,” Lauer said.
The Warriors plan to conduct a small test with fans using the tiles at its current stadium to better understand how much electricity they generate and whether they’d be practical at a sports and entertainment complex.
To take advantage of these capabilities, the Warriors are working on building an internal group, called the “innovation project” or “innovation engine,” to focus on futuristic technology, while another group, the “production engine,” will look at implementing things immediately to improve the fan experience.
“Failure is good. Learning is good,” Lauer said. “It’s a really big question and a really big challenge but we believe with this structure, we will continue to be able to deliver today while innovating for tomorrow.”
The Rocky Mountain Audio Fest is held every October in Denver, and every year it’s packed with the latest and greatest high-end audio goodies. High-end doesn’t necessarily mean outrageously expensive, though; Schiit Audio was previewing its upcoming $119 Vali tube headphone amplifier, and I quickly auditioned Audioengine’s soon-to-be-released $249/pair A2+ desktop speakers. I hope to get one of the first pairs in for review. Hifiman was showing prototypes of a sleek portable music player that comes with a set of the company’s excellent in-ear headphones; the complete system price was $249.
Oppo, best known for its stellar Blu-ray players, is readying a new planar magnetic headphone, the PM-1. I missed it, but Head-Fi’s Jude Mansilla shared the news with me. Oppo promised to send a production PM-1 in the coming months.
Devore Fidelity Orangutan speakers
Steve Guttenberg/CNET
Mr. Speakers is a headphone manufacturer, and it was showing off its new Alpha Dog 3D-printed headphones that sounded spectacular; I’ll review them soon. I’m starting to see the 3D-printing trend really catching on in the high-end audio scene. Audeze had two new headphones on display, the closed-back LCD-XC and the open-back Reference LCD-X. I just received the LCD-X, and the review will come soon.
The Wavelength desktop USB digital converter
Steve Guttenberg/CNET
Brooklyn’s Devore Fidelity was making great sounds in Denver. I love the look of its Orangutan speakers. It’s old school and contemporary, but the sound is strictly high-resolution modern.
Jerry Harvey Audio was showing its latest advances in custom headphones that are molded to your ears, the Roxanne. The carbon-fiber ear pieces feel more substantial than the acrylic “shells” seen on every other custom headphone I’ve tested to date. The Roxannes sounded different than Harvey’s previous designs, warmer and more fleshed out. It also featured highly adjustable bass controls. I’ll review these soon, as well.
And finally, Wavelength Audio makes some of the best-sounding digital converters. I hope to get my hands on one of its awesome desktop USB converters soon, and share my findings with you.
Booq Cobra Courier XS: Solid iPad protection
Sarah Tew/CNET
Carrying an iPad a year ago involved searching for the perfect bag, and the problem back in 2012 was that many bag makers hadn’t figured out the iPad yet. Flash forward to mid-2011, and the iPad 2 and original iPad feel nearly ubiquitous–so, too, do iPad bags. Finding one that matches the iPad’s sleek styling is a harder challenge, and one the Booq Cobra Courier XS meets while still offering ample storage in a small package. $145 is a lot to pay for a small bag, but it’s hard to do better if you’re looking for a sturdy, stylish, practical triple threat. In fact, over the course of our time using this model, we haven’t found much better.
The Booq Cobra Courier XS feels in some ways like a microminiaturized version of the Booq Boa Squeeze, a backpack we loved back in 2009. The Squeeze managed to be thin and small and yet pack lots of pockets with plenty of padding. Similarly, the over-the-shoulder Courier XS is a tightly built little black bag made out of ballistic nylon and topped with Nappa leather, with a thick rubber bottom underneath.
The leather, nylon, chrome slots where the seatbelt-strap nylon wraps around and underneath the bag, and rugged gridded rubber bottom combine to make a bag with lots of shades and patterns of black. It’s the perfect quasi-executive bag to take out to an interview or business dinner or meet up at a bar with, but it’s also functional enough to be a good commuting bag. It’s smaller than a standard messenger bag, but it doesn’t cross over into any absurd territory. It’s a few inches longer and wider than the iPad itself.
Read the rest of our review of the Booq Cobra Courier XS.
A new survey has found that two-thirds of high-definition-capable TV owners lack an HDTV set-top box and half of consumers mistakenly believe that DVDs already offer HD video. Vendors, David Braue explains, have their work cut out for them in educating the public about the new technology.
Consumers may be spending big on large new flat-screen TVs, but ignorance of new high-definition (HD) TV-related technologies means most aren’t actually seeing its benefits, a Samsung-backed Newspoll survey of 1200 Australian adults has revealed.
The Samsung HD Survey revealed that misunderstandings about HD technology, its penetration and usefulness were rife amongst consumers. Fully 51 percent of respondents, for example, believed their existing DVDs were already providing HD video, while 54 percent believed Foxtel Digital’s standard-definition (SD) service was running in HD, 46 percent believe all free-to-air digital TV programming was HD, and 43 percent believe all plasmas and LCD TVs offer HD viewing.
In reality, full 1080-line HD signals are only broadcast on some free-to-air channels at certain times; at other times, even HD channels often broadcast expanded versions of 576-line SD programming rather than native HD versions.
More startling was the revelation that fully 63 percent of those who owned an HD-ready TV had not purchased an HD-capable set top box — and are therefore thinking they’re viewing HD programming when they are not. This is ironic, considering the finding that 60 percent of consumers named better picture quality as the main reason to upgrade to HD-ready equipment.
Samsung’s HyperVision upscaling technology — which improves DVD image quality by smoothing textures and curves, increasing contrast and outputting a full 1080i signal — is the first in a series of steps designed to help consumers appreciate the full value of HD and get the image quality they paid for.
In the longer term, however, consumer ignorance about Blu-ray and the other elements of the emerging ecosystem poses a very real challenge for vendors trying to promote the technologies — and to pay extra for HD videos priced at least 20 percent higher than conventional DVDs.
“We’re working on the education approach,” conceded John Fragiadakis, technical marketing manager with Samsung Electronics Australia, who demonstrated the company’s first Blu-ray video disc player and a host of new home-theatre technologies to retail partners at a Melbourne roadshow this week.
Pressed as to the mass-market viability of Blu-ray and HD in general, Fragiadakis admitted the market is not there “at the moment. There is an education process that needs to happen.”
After the launch of its $US1,000 Blu-ray player in the US next month, Samsung expects to lead Blu-ray into the Australian market in the fourth quarter of this year. Yet despite long-running buzz about next-generation video discs in industry circles, vendors will be starting from scratch with less-savvy customers, who will be encountering the technology for the first time: the Samsung HD Survey found that 87 percent of respondents were not familiar at all with next-generation HD-DVD and Blu-ray video technologies, which will be the first viable vehicles for full HD-resolution video.
Movie enthusiasts aren’t the only target in Samsung’s efforts to increase awareness of HD: a partnership with Microsoft has seen the $US20 billion electronics giant, which saw sales rise 18 percent last year in Australia alone, heavily promoting the Xbox 360 as the HD gaming platform of choice.
Also on display at the road show were a slew of new flat panels led by the R7 series LCD TVs, which offer features ranging from hidden bar type speakers and built-in HDTV tuners, to an optional white-gloss finish and a gaming mode designed to optimise video settings for Xbox 360 games.
Samsung’s new M Series LCD TV, also demonstrated at the road show, offers a 5000:1 contrast ratio, 8ms refresh rate to minimise streaking, and a 92 percent colour gamut with which, Fragiadakis says with straight face, “reality and TV are closely matched.” Products such as the HT-XQ100 home theatre system include the ability to play video, photo and music files straight off of USB disks, digital cameras and music players.
Survey results
The Samsung HD Survey, which questioned 1200 Australian adults in April 2006, revealed some interesting trends about respondents’ TV habits. Here are a few of the findings:
Australians may be snapping up high definition (HD) capable equipment, but movie studios and technology vendors face a potential public relations disaster if they can’t help consumers avoid compatibility problems that could potentially force consumers to repurchase equipment down the road.
The risk comes from HDCP (High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection), a technology that encrypts the data of an HD signal from the moment it’s read from the disc until the moment it’s decoded for display on a HD-capable television or monitor. HDCP was implemented to allow studios to protect the near pristine-quality versions of movies they are releasing, preventing would-be pirates from siphoning off the video bitstream to produce their own illegal copies.
Designed by Intel and licensed for a cost to electronics manufacturers, HDCP works seamlessly — as long as consumers’ Blu-ray or HD-DVD player, television, and home theatre all support the technology. The market already features a large number of HD-capable components — which a recent GfK Marketing Services/Sony report found comprise 42 percent of mass-market AV sales — yet many mid-range or entry-level components aren’t necessarily HDCP ready.
For those wanting to watch high-definition discs on their computers — including the Microsoft Windows Media Center Edition (MCE) systems that IDC believes will account for 25 percent of all home PCs bought by 2010 — the burden is even higher: to play HD video, computers require HDCP-compatible drives, video cards, software and monitors.
The catch: plasma and LCD TVs without an HDMI port don’t support the standard, nor do many of the monitors currently being sold as part of MCE-capable computers. Dell, for example, only offers HDCP capabilities on monitors that are 20 inches diagonal or larger, while TV and monitor giant Samsung only supports HDCP on 11 of its nearly 30 current models.
This means many consumers shelling out more than AU$2000 for today’s MCE PCs will have to purchase expensive additional video cards or monitors once they decide to upgrade to Blu-ray or HD-DVD. This potential roadblock, which was lost in the enthusiasm during last week’s Australian Blu-ray launch, could become a major issue for consumers who fail to appreciate HDCP’s importance now.
“There’s a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding in the market [about HDCP],” admits Simon King, IT display solutions product manager with Samsung, which has used HD as a core part of its recent corporate turnaround.
“There’s the potential for a huge issue, particularly when PC-based Blu-ray players [become more affordable],” says King, who believes vendors could do more to educate consumers about HDCP and its implications.
Samsung’s consumer education campaign will include the offering of 19-, 20- and 26-inch ‘Windows Vista Certified’ monitors co-developed with Microsoft, as well as information on its Web site listing HDCP-compatible video cards. Yet because Samsung only makes displays, it cannot guarantee — as builders of entire MCE and other systems can — that HDCP is supported end to end.
Paul Colley, technology communications manager with Sony Australia, acknowledges that a lack of end-to-end HDCP could present problems, especially for early adopters of HD gear and those using computers.
However, Colley says, many people wanting to play HD content on their computers will do so because they’re authoring the content — and will face no limitations — but will then watch it on suitably large home-theatre systems. “For rich content such as Hollywood titles, you’re really not going to get the benefit of 1080p on a 19-inch computer screen,” he says.
For now, customers are enjoying a reprieve of sorts: desperate to help Blu-ray and HD-DVD find their feet, the big movie studios are reportedly holding off on enabling HDCP until 2010. This is a major concession to market reality given their determination to plug any possible hole that could be exploited by pirates.
Once HDCP is enabled in new HD movies, however, it will become a permanent fixture of mainstream releases — and anybody without the right gear will find themselves in the dark. Those buying the wrong products now, during the transition to HDCP ubiquity, face the prospect of another big A/V purchase in the near future.
Over time, the HDCP gap is likely to disappear altogether as licensing fees come down, buying patterns continue to shift towards higher-value equipment, and Blu-ray and HD-DVD players become more common. Microsoft’s recently released Windows Vista supports HDCP and includes MCE capabilities, but computers running the operating system won’t play HDCP-protected content unless the standard is supported throughout every part of the systems running them. Sony’s upcoming PlayStation 3 will include HDCP support, but will still require a suitable display to view HD movies.
For now, the lack of ubiquitous HDCP will force hobbyists to choose their components carefully, and buyers of prebuilt systems to make sure they’ve read the fine print before buying. Yet despite the industry’s efforts, King concedes there are still likely to be more than a few disillusioned purchasers who find out the hard way — via a black screen, or a scaled-down version of the movie for discs designed that way — that they simply cannot enjoy the HD they paid for.
“We’ll be incorporating HDCP anywhere we think there will be an intention to play video,” he says, “but many people will be in for a rude shock when they try to watch full HD.”
