Home Theater View

Odds and Ends

Logitech sent over Z-5 Omnidirectional notebook speakers. They're not going to put my Klipsch THX speakers of business (not by a long shot), but you need to remember that they're powered entirely via USB and don't take up too much desk space. Simplicity is clearly the goal here; the last USB-powered speakers I looked at, Altec Lansing's XT1's were designed with portability in mind. Compared to the XT1's, Logitech's Z-5's play extremely loud and sound extraordinary. They should make a great holiday gift for the notebook user who listens to music through fuzzy notebook speakers.

Logitech also sent over triple.fi 10 pro's from their recent Ultimate Ears acquisition, and I had them on hand at the recent Apple "Let's Rock" event, where I pitted them up against Apple's upcoming $79 in-ear headphones.

You get what you pay for - on both ends of the price spectrum. For $79, the Apple headphones sounded great - easily competitive with the low end of Shure and etymotic's range, and they blow away Bose's in-ear efforts (I can't comment on UE's entry level headphones, as I haven't listened to them). But they couldn't hold a candle - on bass or midrange - with the $399 UE's triple.fi 10 pro's. I was also annoyed that the Apple headphones are not fully compatible with the iPhone, just the iPod touch and new nano. (That new nano needs to be felt to be believed - it is vanishingly thin and the colors are gorgeous. Apple did a really nice job with this one.)

I'm really enjoying the triple.fi headphones, and finally had a chance to do some quick listening tests vs. one of their main competitors: Shure's $499 SE530. For natural, neutral sound quality, the SE530's are incredible, as well they should be at that price. The UE triple.fi 10 pro is a bit less neutral and seems to amp up the body of bass and warmth of the lower midrange - which is often lacking on headphones. Both are equally revealing, but I would describe the sound of the UE's as more "fun. Which is better? It's a matter of taste. While I suspect the Shure's are more accurate, listening to rock and pop with the UE's is more involving.

But my favorite headphones for the iPhone (and any phone with a 3.5mm jack, which includes most new RIM BlackBerries, Nokia's XpressMusic line, and select LG and Samsung phones) are still Shure's SE530's with the Shure iPhone microphone adapter, pictured below. They sound great with the compressed music you have on an iPhone, have the most comfortable shaped foam earplugs in the industry, and the modular design allows you to swap out various cord lengths or accessories.

 

Blogging for Dollars

Blogging is strange. I can't tell you how many times I get asked to provide links or link exchanges or even the occasional "please review our stuff and we'll pay you for placement."  Now, if this were about my day job (Research Director for Mobile Devices), it would be somewhat understandable - I am quoted by the press, and it's my job to influence industry decision makers. But Home Theater View? Who reads this? Coverage here basically just influences my brother - my mother doesn't even read this! Perhaps all they're trying to do is up their Google rankings.

So, here is a link to an article I was asked to highlight on home theater seating. I didn't write it, I don't know the people who did, and I couldn't even tell you if they've sat in all the chairs they write about. But the pictures are definitely fun to look at. No money changed hands for my inclusion of this link in this post. Enjoy your link, boys.

Next up, an electronics review site, TestFreaks. They offered to pay me for reviewing the site. I never agreed to anything, but since it makes for an interesting post about home theater blogging, here goes. I don't like the site at all. It aggregates reviews from all over the Internet - sort of a Rotten Tomatoes for A/V gear and gadgets. That part might be useful if you couldn't just Google the product name and get the same information. Where it could still be interesting is if there was some editorial judgement applied to the rankings so you'd see a decent list of speakers or receivers to start a comparison shopping exercise. Nope, it's all automated, and the results appear to be completely random.

Logitech Buying Ultimate Ears

Logitech announced today that it is buying high end earbud vendor Ultimate Ears. UE is best known for $1000+ custom headphones for professional musicians, but it also has a line of consumer headphones in the $40 - $400 range. Its business model is incredibly similar to Shure - both come from professional audio (initially microphones in Shure's case) and branched out into the consumer space. In contrast, etymotic's background was in hearing aids, and V-MODA seems to have come from the fashion world.

Without the custom business, Ultimate Ears is just another headset vendor, and its brand differentiation will be difficult for Logitech to maintain. But if Logitech leaves the core custom business alone, it can definitely build up the consumer side -  Ultimate Ears could definitely use better distribution and broader consumer awareness; Logitech excels in these areas - just look at what they did with Harmony (speaking of which, I just got in a Harmony One remote control; a review will follow shortly).

In terms of how Ultimate Ears actually sound, I have no idea. I have tested most of the competition - Shure, etymotic, Sennheiser, Sony, v-moda, and Bose, to name a few. I should be getting in some Ultimate Ears product soon for comparison.

Monoprice's HDMI Switcher - and its Customer Service - Work

A while back I tested ACCELL's 4x2 HDMI switcher. In closing, I noted that budget cable site monoprice sells a similar unit for just $89, and "For $89, if it just turns on I’ll be impressed."

Well, the first unit turned on, but didn't do much more than that. The box was attractive and well packed - from a packaging perspective it inspired confidence. But it didn't work. I could force it to manually switch between displays by turning one display off, the other on, and then unplugging/replugging the switch - not exactly what it is supposed to do.

I called monoprice's customer service line and got a live human being within three rings who apologized and sent out a new unit right away. At no point did I reveal any industry/blogging credentials, and this is a company that is selling a product roughly 1/4 the price of the competition, so top notch service is really extraordinary.

The replacement unit worked the first time out of the box. The remote control is ugly and does not have a powerful IR emitter, but it has eight discrete buttons for every switching contingency (Input 1 to Output A, Input 2 to Output A, Input 3 to Output A, Input 4 to Output A, Input 1 to Output B, Input 2 to Output B, Input 3 to Output B, Input 4 to Output B). This makes programming a universal remote child's play, or at least it would have if the Logitech Harmony 880 worked properly with the monoprice codes. After downloading and redownloading and creating my own codes from scratch, I still couldn't get the Harmony to finish the update/synchronization process. Eventually, I gave up and emailed Logitech. Here, too, customer service saved the day: within two days of my email to Logitech's Harmony folks, they figured out and resolved whatever was the problem was and sent me a note to "try it again now." Problem solved.

In three months of use, I have had no significant issues with the second monoprice unit. I have noticed, however, that on its own site, monoprice does seem to have generated a lot of complaints about dead or incompatible HDMI switching units, and this particular swtich has been refreshed several times; it is now up to version "2.5." Some of this is undoubtedly due to the inherent iffyness (a technical term) of HDMI implementations across a wide range of products. Still, custom installers can be forgiven if they choose to steer clear of the monoprice unit and stick with a proven brand like Gefen as their default. For DIY'ers, though, the monoprice unit is an easy recommendation: its price is insanely low, and monoprice is providing quick service should you have any problems. Even if there is an unusually high failure rate for these units out of the box, it is a gamble worth taking.

Product Review: Accell 4x2 HDMI Switcher

HDMI was supposed to bring the home theater world from the confusing age of multiple cables for audio and video (and sometimes multiple audio cables and multiple video cables) down to just a single cable from each component to your display. If your display doesn’t have enough HDMI inputs for all your sources, you need an HDMI switcher or a receiver which has an HDMI switcher built in. Then you need an HDMI cable from the each source to the switcher or receiver, but just one from there to the display. Fortunately, even some budget receivers now have HDMI switching built in (starting around $400), and there are good inexpensive HDMI switchers on the market like the XTremeMac HD Switcher I reviewed last year.

But what if you have two displays?

At least in terms of receivers, you’re in a completely different price category – no $400 receivers for you. The least expensive receivers I could find with dual HDMI outputs are from Onkyo and Denon. Onkyo’s TX-NR905 has extremely high end video processing, advanced room correction that smooths the sound at multiple seats, a ridiculous amount of amplifier power with THX Ultra2 certification, the dual HDMI outputs we’re looking for, and a price tag that ranges from $1500 - $2000 (assuming that you can find one in stock. It seems that they’ve been selling quite well). Unfortunately, only one HDMI output works at a time, and to change between the two HDMI outputs, you either must physically press a button on the front panel to cycle through the settings, or adjust a setting in the menu. Neither option is conducive to automation by a universal remote control which is a fairly common way to use a product in this price category. Denon sells the AVR-4308CI, which is also chock full of features, as you might expect for a product that sells in the $1800 - $2400 range. On the Denon, the dual HDMI outputs are driven in parallel; there is no way to select them individually. This is fine for some situations, but it means that whatever the source device is outputting had better be perfect for both displays if they’re both turned on at the same time (only one display gets to handshake with the source device through the receiver and tell the device what display resolution, frame rate, etc. it wants).

There are several HDMI switchers on the market with dual HDMI outputs, and they’re a lot less expensive than buying a new $2000 receiver. Accell has sent cables here in the past, and when I saw them at CES this year they were showing off an entire line of reasonably priced HDMI switchers, topping out at a 4x8 switcher – four sources hooked up to eight displays for those times when you want your rec room to look like a NASA shuttle launch. The Accell UltraAV HDMI 4-2 Audio/Video Switch is far more reasonable (4 sources to 2 displays), and lists for a very reasonable $299 when most similar switches start at $500; I asked them to send one over for review.

It wasn't perfect, but overall I liked it: it does one thing (switches HDMI signals) for a reasonable cost, and it does it pretty well, though with some caveats. It’s quite small and I had no trouble installing it. I didn’t have a high definition test pattern disc to use, but video quality on real-world material appeared unchanged by the switcher – Ratatouille on Blu-ray from a PS3 looked just as ridiculously good direct from the PS3 or routed through the Accell. The PS3 and my Panasonic projector often have minor handshaking dropouts when loading a disc and making its way to the menus; the instance of dropouts did seem to increase after adding the switch in the chain, but if so, the difference was minor and – honest – I may have imagined the increase. The switch automatically changes the input to whichever source device is on. Since my TiVo HD is always on, I couldn’t test that fully, but it did default to that input. Accell claims that the switch mirrors the source on both outputs (like Denon’s scheme above), but I didn’t find that always worked in the real world – I could usually only lock onto the source on one display at a time. It’s possible that there was a problem in the switch, but I’m willing to bet that it’s a glitch in the way my TV and projector handle HDMI signals or the difference in resolution between the displays (a Panasonic 720p plasma and a Panasonic 1080p LCD projector). For my intended purpose – watching either the TV or the projector, but not both at the same time – the Accell switch worked perfectly.

A small infrared remote control is included that has discrete buttons – and discrete IR codes for those who want to copy them into a universal remote control – for each individual input, power on, power off, and a toggle switch for selecting between outputs A and B. In a really nice touch, an infrared receiver cable is also included so that the switcher can be secluded behind a cabinet. The switch contains a signal booster for longer HDMI cable runs up to 82ft; I was not able to test this, as my longest run is 25ft. The switch is designed for HDMI version 1.2. HDMI version 1.3 is the latest and greatest iteration of the standard, and adds things like Deep Color which have not been implemented yet in any source material. For most people, there is little practical difference between HDMI 1.3 and 1.2, but if complete futureproofing is an absolute requirement, this iteration of the 4x2 Switch isn’t for you.

Accell isn’t the only 4x2 HDMI switcher on the market; Gefen makes one for $549 that has some additional functionality, such as splitting out the audio signal to a coax output, that could be extremely useful in certain setups. And budget cable outfit monoprice.com has a budget model with HDMI 1.3a compatibility for just $89 – I’ll be testing that one next. For $89, if it just turns on I’ll be impressed.

-avi

Product Review: XTremeMac HD Switcher

Sometimes all you need is a simple product that does one thing, and does it well - at an affordable price. If you have an HDTV with only a single HDMI input and multiple HDMI sources, you need an HDMI switcher. New displays may have multiple inputs, and A/V receivers are beginning to provide HDMI switching as a matter of course, so if you're building a system from scratch, you may be able to consolidate your video switching in your reciever or display rather than buy a separate component. Finally, if you have just a single HDMI component, you won't need this either.

However, if you bought an HDTV in the past few years (or are buying a budget model today) and you don't have enough HDMI inputs, you need one of these. I pointed out Gefen's entry in this space last year; that was an HDMI-to-DVI model that retailed for $300. More recently, XTremeMac sent over their XTremeHD 4 Port HDMI Switcher and it does exactly what it's supposed to do all in HDMI with minimal hassle and at much lower cost ($99). With similar styling to Apple's Mac mini, the Switcher is small and looks nice on the equipment rack. Sources can be switched manually or using the included remote control. You'll want to add its codes to a macro on your universal remote control (Logitech's Harmony system makes this very, very easy) or you'll quickly tire of remembering which input covers what. But this is no fault of the product, which worked without a hitch switching between a TiVo HD and an LG HDTV tuner/DVD player outputting to a JVC LCoS rear projection HDTV.

I could not do a double blind test with/without the Switcher in the signal chain, but I have noticed no degredation of the signal from either source. I do seem to be getting more instances of HDMI handshake failure when I switch back and forth than when I would connect just a single source and leave it connected. (The TV's copy protection circuit gets temporarily confused and puts up a notice saying that the source is not supported; this usually goes away with the next command to the source, but sometimes requires switching the source back and forth again). It seems to be an issue with the TV, not the switch itself. I had a nice chat with an HDMI spokesperson at the CES Preview event in New York last night, and while he admitted it was a common issue, he assures me that newer gear has worked out all the compatibility issues. Of course, newer gear tends to have more HDMI inputs and outputs as well, so anyone who needs a switcher should be aware that their source and display may not like each other as much as they ought to.

The XTremeHD 4 Port Switcher is simply named, performs a complicated task simply, and doesn't cost too much. If you need a basic HDMI switcher, I can easily recommend this one.

Logitech MX Air Blends HT and PC

Logitech introduced a new "mouse" yesterday, and I put "mouse" in quotation marks because it's an interesting product that blends a PC mouse with a gyroscopic sensor (think Nintendo Wii's controller and you have the right idea) and software that can be used as a remote control for watching media content on a computer.

There have been products like this in the past, notably from Gyration (a company that got bought by Thomson in 2004). A bunch of years back when I was heading home theater research at JupiterResearch I wrote a report where I recommended their Media Center accessory line for inclusion with HTPC's which were just starting to ship. I'm still a big fan of Gyration's Gyrotransport, an ingenious product for the presentation market which combines a gyroscopic mouse, USB transmitter, and Flash storage (for your PPT deck) all in one compact package. However, the market for dedicated HTPCs has proven to be relatively small even as an overwhelming majority of consumers use their PCs for all sorts of media consumption. Logitech addresses the reality that computers are rarely used from 10 feet away on a couch, but that users do often switch between direct manipulation (the 2' experience) and a "lean-back" experience where they may not be right at the PC. Maybe they are on a couch, or just pushed back their chair a bit. The MX Air functions as a normal laser mouse when placed on a flat surface, and switches to air mouse mode when you pick it up.

Like Gyration's Media Center remote, Logitech's MX Air has all sorts of neat air gestures you can make to control volume, skip music tracks or jump to the next movie scene. This is cool and demos well, though hard buttons are at least as efficient. I got a chance to use the MX Air last month, and what I found most impressive is how easy and smooth in-air control is; Gyration uses a different technology, and Logitech's cursor control is easier to use. It also feels nice in the hand and is easy to control as a regular mouse on a desk; lefties may actually prefer it to most ergonomic mice which are clearly designed for right handed users.

What's not so impressive is the price: $149 for what is unquestionably a cool gadget, but one that is not exactly necessary. (Personally, if I was shopping for a premium mouse, I'd spend the money on Logitech's amazing $99 MX Revolution. That has no real added attraction for media viewing, but the scroll wheel shifts from free spin to ratched spin depending on which application you have open, which greatly improves productivity.)

-avi

LIVEDigitally Posts Avi's Holiday Gift Guide

Yes, it's been a long time since the last post here at Home Theater View, but that's not because I haven't been writing. My Last Minute Non-Obvious Holiday Gift Guide has just been posted over at LIVEDigitally.

As I write this, there is only one day left to Chanukah and a couple of shopping days before Christmas. I figure there’s no need for a last minute gift list with obvious entries. Let’s face it, if you didn’t already get an HDTV or MP3 player for your home theater and gadget-loving giftees, you don’t need me to tell you that you could get them a plasma or an iPod. So here is the:

Non-Obvious Last Minute 2006 Holiday Gadget Gift Guide

Happy Holidays,

-avi

Flexity PowerSquid Swims Its Way Into Apple Stores

OK, the press release [warning: PDF] is somewhat gratuitous, as the product itself was announced what seems like ages ago. But Flexity's PowerSquid line is such an elegant solution to such an annoying problem that it's worth plugging them again (sorry about the pun). Sure, some home theater components include standard narrow plugs, which fit nicely onto a surge protector, but as the digital/gadget quotient rises in home entertainment, so do the wall warts (those big brick things that you can't fit onto a standard surge protector).

To be completely truthful, I haven't even used the PowerSquid sample Flexity sent over in my home theater at all. At first it was upstairs in my home office, and then migrated from the floor to the desk itself, where it serves as a gadget recharging station. As I write this, its tentacles are connected to a set of Bluetooth headphones, a digital picture frame, an Internet tablet, a WiFi MP3 player, a musicphone, and a subnotebook. The subnotebook is literally the only one of the six devices with a "normal" plug; the MP3 player's brick is a monsterously large rectangle, the digital picture frame's plug looks like an oversized peanut, and the smartphone's cord originates in a giant oval thing. Standard surge protectors - even the ones with extra spacing - can't connect half of those things.

If Flexity is serious about the home theater market, they'll move upscale with versions branded for "home theater," perhaps with power line conditioning. But, as it is, these are product samples the vendor is not getting back.

-avi

Update: Flexity responds:

Our product is actually conditioned for high end Home Theater systems, with the Calamari running our PureStream EMI/RFI filters that protect up to 58dB. While we certainly are not the fanciest home theater option, the PowerSquid is a solid choice that will cost a great deal less than many models from the competition.

That's not quite the same thing as what Richard Gray's Power Company, Monster, or even Belkin is promising, but I'll grant Flexity that the Calamari should be sufficient in many home theaters assuming line conditioning is even needed in the first place. More importantly, a picture of the Calamari [just added, see above right] demonstrates why it should sell well in the Apple stores - it's white!

Product Review: Football Universal Remote Control

With the Super Bowl just a couple days away, sales of big screen TVs are probably up a bit - after all, in consumer electronics as well as computing, software (must-see content) drives sales of hardware (televisions, in this case). That's never more true than with sports content, whether football, the Olympics, or the big one, the World Cup (for my U.S. readers, that last one is a big soccer game. Billions watch it. Manufacturers alter their return policies on projectors and TVs so that "football" fans don't buy just to watch and then immediately return the sets).

Other content drives large audiences, but not necessarily pull-through on hardware. Advertisers call the Oscars the "Super Bowl for Women," you don't find Best Buy running specials on plasma TVs ahead of the big awards night. Perhaps they should - women are buying a much higher percentage of consumer electronics gear than in the past.

In the spirit of the big game, Excaliber Electronics sent over the Monday Night Football talking remote control (click on the image to enlarge). This is a remote control embedded in a padded football about the size of a Nerf, not a Wilson. ABC lost Monday Night Football to ESPN, so there may be a new version of this out next season. Still, this would be the perfect gift for the football obsessed couch potato if it wasn't for several flaws.

• The padding makes the MNF Remote appear to be tossable: throw it to your friends or slam it on the floor in disgust after a bad call or a missed field goal. But a prominent warning in the user manual strongly discourages this, though probably just for liability reasons - in my testing the remote continued to function after a few rough tosses across the room.
• Despite its name, the remote is hardly a universal model. It supports three devices: a TV (though it lacks aspect ratio controls found on all of today's 16x9 sets), cable box (though it lacks any kind of TiVo/PVR control buttons for today's modern set top boxes), and a VCR. Yes, a VCR, not a DVD player.
• This is a bit nitpicky, but the membrane-type buttons are flush with the remote's surface, which means they can't be selected by touch without looking.
• Finally, and this may sound nitpicky, but it's actually critical to the appeal of the product: it's not much of a talking remote control. It says exactly one phrase, "are you ready for some football?" Now, the problem isn't what it says, but how it says it. Despite this being branded with ABC's Monday Night Football logo, when you press the button, Hank Williams Jr. does not growl out, "Areyoureadyforsome FOOTBAAAAAALL?!!!" as heard at the beginning of every Monday Night Football game. The Monday Night Football theme does not play, either. Rather, a rather wimpy, almost nerdishly earnest voice voice asks, "are you ready for some football?" Any serious football fan will be severely disappointed; it would have been better to leave out the voice capability entirely.

The Monday Night Football Talking Remote Control should still make a good gag gift (it's available online for just $17.99 at Smarthome), and it's certainly harder to lose among the couch cushions than most universal remote controls. But don't expect it to actually be used much.

Enjoy the game.

-avi