http://www.ecoustics.com/latest/articles Latest articles, updated every five minutes http://www.ecoustics.com/hemag/articles/21397 Best Media Room Installation Robert's Home Audio & Video of Los Angeles, Calif. Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:20:01 -0500 http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/599672.html Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:59:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/guide/298 Taking your music with you used to be as easy as popping the cassette out of your home tape player and into your car, boombox, or Walkman. Not so any more. Though the rise of the MP3 has made it possible to download albums in seconds, share them with your friends, and fit millions of songs in a single box, the actual process of getting it from off a desktop hard drive and playing it somewhere else has taken a step backward in simplicity. But that's quickly changing, as a plethora of services and gadgets have sprung up to fill the void. Leave Bon Jovi at home no more. Let's take a look at some of the ways you can get your music off your desktop.Living RoomUnless you home computer happens t...Read | Permalink | Linking Blogs Thu, 03 Sep 2009 03:00:00 -0400 http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/583530.html Sat, 01 Aug 2009 19:25:00 -0400 http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/583423.html Sat, 01 Aug 2009 17:31:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/hemag/articles/21005 When this Florida homeowner was looking to convert his TV room into a full-on home cinema, he turned to Advanced Audio Design in Sarasota. Fri, 22 May 2009 03:35:46 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/guide/233 When you have your first child, people seem to come out of the woodwork with all kinds of advice. There are endless unsolicited tips on diapering, feeding and sleep schedules. Well, to many, a home theater is like a baby, and with its birth comes a lot of opinion. Everyone and their installer has ideas, tweaks, products and plenty of other info. After all, there are endless audio and video products, as well as spaces, setups and resources. We asked 10 do-it-yourselfers to throw out the best advice for your growing baby. Here’s what they had to share.1) Search OnlineI shopped on eBay and Craigslist...Read | Permalink | Linking Blogs Tue, 24 Mar 2009 03:00:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/guide/229 Gone are the days when the living room was meant for enjoying tea and crumpets, and entertaining guests. Even if you still do those things in yours, no doubt you’ve got an entertainment system somewhere in the room –whether it’s a simple audio system or a full-on home entertainment setup. Either way, when you’re not using the room for watching or listening, it’s nice to reclaim the look of a serene living space without techno-clutter encroaching on your piece of mind. Here are some of our favorite tech products that have aesthetics, not just performance, in mind.Incognito AudioAudio is perhaps the biggest offender when it comes to infringing upon the sanctity...Read | Permalink | Linking Blogs Mon, 16 Mar 2009 03:00:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/guide/225 It’s a digital world, but most of us are still holding on to a lot of analog media. There are the vinyl records we couldn’t bear to part with; the home movies shot with an analog camcorder; the lovingly-created mixtapes on cassette; and, of course, the photographic prints and 35mm slides from holidays, vacations and family gatherings of yesteryear. Service bureaus are getting rich charging exorbitant fees to bring these analog memories into the digital realm, but there are plenty of good tools available for anyone who’s interested in taking the do-it-yourself approach. Here are some the best.Audio-Technica AT-LP2D-USB...Read | Permalink | Linking Blogs Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:00:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/guide/224 It used to be that the only way to get music to more than one room of your home was to hire a custom installer, punch holes in your drywall to run CAT5 cable from room to room, install in-wall or in-ceiling speakers, and purchase a complicated multi-zone receiver and a high-end remote control. While this is still a good way to go, however, and often offers the best quality possible for a whole-home solution, it can be costly and is unrealistic and intimidating for many a homeowner. If you fall into that group, take heart: There are many manufacturers that are...Read | Permalink | Linking Blogs Fri, 06 Mar 2009 03:00:00 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/hemag/articles/20853 Large Home Theater: Level V Silver Technical Design & Best Overall Winner Electronic Systems Consultant: Pacific Audio & Communications--Kihei, Hawaii The inherent risk in designing a home theater--a beautiful-looking space that produces the requisite oooohs and aaaahs--is ending up with a poorly performing room. Thu, 05 Mar 2009 01:04:17 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/guide/215 The television set has to be the most loved device in the house. After all, how many hours do you spend in front of the toaster each day? Despite all of that adoration, though, the boob tube no longer corners the market when it comes to audiovisual excitement. Thanks to advancements in online multimedia delivery, services such as YouTube, Picasa and iTunes also offer a lot of Web-based entertainment to get you through the wee hours of the morning. Still, no matter how much you can contort your body, sitting in an office chair is definitely not a “sweet spot” when it comes to enjoying your favorite film or soap opera. Mercifully, these days, there a...Read | Permalink | Linking Blogs Wed, 18 Feb 2009 03:00:00 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/talk/285 I've been spending the last week playing World of Warcraft on my new Mitsubishi 60-inch TV, and moving music around the home. We'll talk about the TV experience in a future post, but I've been covering products that pretend to move media around the home for some time, and most turn out to be really disappointing. The biggest problem, for some reason, is the concept of a “party mode.” This is when you have multiple speaker systems playing the same song. Your parents and grandparents likely could do this in audio systems they had in their homes, why is it s...Read | Permalink | Linking Blogs Wed, 18 Feb 2009 03:00:00 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/feature/107 Some home theater enthusiasts dream of kitting out their pad with 50-inch plasma HDTVs and surround sound audio in every room. Others refuse to settle, instead shooting for the moon with the type of custom cinemas guaranteed to shame the local Cineplex and make the neighbors’ jaws drop. From over-the-top entertainment centers to house-sized residential theaters, here’s a look at five incredible home cinemas that’ll give any audio- or videophile something to dream about:The Ultimate Entertainment Com...Read | Permalink | Linking Blogs Tue, 10 Feb 2009 03:00:00 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/guide/209 There is nothing quite like popping a Blu-ray disc or DVD into your new system, hearing that first explosion or the swelling score, and witnessing the opening scenes of a truly great film. No doubt you’ve read many articles about the best discs to show off your system with. Unfortunately, you’d be hard-pressed to actually sit through some of these recommended movies, because despite how great the audio and video may sound and look, the film may suck. So toss your Fifth Element and Speedracer discs aside and enjoy one of these 10 films that feature excellent audio and video, not to mention incredible stories....Read | Permalink | Linking Blogs Thu, 05 Feb 2009 03:00:00 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/guide/200 Although today’s high-definition televisions (HDTVs) are more technically advanced than ever, the good news for everyday users is that connecting home theater components keeps getting simpler. Thank the advent of HDMI, an all-in-one digital cable that carries both audio and video signals between individual pieces of equipment. With just one cable connecting each device to your AV receiver or your TV, it’s easy to mix and match parts in minutes. Here’s a step-by-step guide to connecting standard home theater components using the format, including a Bl...Read | Permalink | Linking Blogs Thu, 29 Jan 2009 03:00:00 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/guide/191 The question is as old as the audio-video industry itself: Do high-quality cables really matter? In fact, it may not surprise you to note that it’s even one of the most common questions that custom installers are asked by clients building high-performance systems. But finally, we here at DT can provide an answer: Predictably, it’s an emphatic “yes!”While high-end A/V cables can be more expensive, if you consider that all of the sound and video you hear and see passes through these wires, it seems silly not to invest a few extra dollars to make sure your wires are passing the best possible signal. Or, to make an analogy, skimping here is like gassing up a Ferrari with low-grade diesel instead of pre...Read | Permalink | Linking Blogs Wed, 14 Jan 2009 03:00:00 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/guide/185 You’ve purchased a beautiful big-screen HDTV, and now you want a tuneful home theater audio system to go with it. Shopping for a surround-sound system, however, can be mind-boggling. Not only is the difference in quality across the spectrum of available speakers vast, there are several different types of systems that you can purchase – from floor-standing models, to bookshelf speakers, to all-in-one designs. Adding to shopper confusion, speakers are notoriously hard to buy because their sound depends, in large part, on the nature of your room. Finally, there are really inexpensive choices that sound terrible, but there are also some bargain systems from respected manufacturers that sound incredible (the same is true for more...Read | Permalink | Linking Blogs Tue, 30 Dec 2008 03:00:00 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/guide/163 Who could’ve guessed even a few years ago that our beloved PCs – machines once reserved strictly for productivity, web surfing and email – would one day be a hub for all things entertainment-related, including music, TV shows, feature films, home movies, video games, radio, audiobooks, digital photos and more?Then again, perhaps it shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise, considering that a hard drive can store large amounts of media, and broadband Internet connectivity serves as a fast and convenient distribution method for beaming content from cyberspace to your space.But while more and more PC users are turning to their computer to collect and store all of this digital conten...Read | Permalink | Linking Blogs Tue, 25 Nov 2008 03:00:00 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/guide/149 So you’ve already got the perfect design in mind and picked out one or two essential pieces of audiovisual hardware? Congratulations: The goal of enjoying a great home theater is almost in sight. Following are just a few crucial tips that can help you make the most of your new system, cut down on clutter, effectively complement central components and minimize the hassle of any upgrades going forward.Calibrate Your DisplayWe can’t stress it enough, setting up your home theater and not tweaking your video display is l...Read | Permalink | Linking Blogs Thu, 06 Nov 2008 03:00:00 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/guide/148 The lights go down, the curtains part, the Blu-ray player starts to spin, and the speakers fire. Thus begins the total suspension of disbelief that results from a great home theater. To really pull it off, however, you must consider the entire experience rather than simply sticking a system in a room and hitting the play button. Taking into account the nature of your room, aesthetic details and performance tweaks will make your home theater more cohesive and enjoyable. Here are five vital tips that, though simple enough, will dramatically improve your home audio and video experience.Be Conscious of Room AcousticsHave you ever noticed that when you move into a new house or apartme...Read | Permalink | Linking Blogs Mon, 03 Nov 2008 03:00:00 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/guide/147 Serious home audio enthusiasts are in luck this year: There are plenty of great new home theater-ready models just itching to tickle your eardrums for the holidays. Want to see what you’ll be rocking out with well into 2009? Check out the following product gallery, and don’t say we didn’t warn you – these recommendations are sure to keep the good times rolling for months to come. Yamaha YAS-71, $600 Yamaha was the first company to create an all-in-one speaker that provides simulated...Read | Permalink | Linking Blogs Thu, 30 Oct 2008 03:00:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/guide/141 Somewhere up in the sky, beyond the birds, the planes and even Superman, there are satellites whose sole purpose is to make sure you can rock out to Blue Oyster Cult, Bette Midler and Baha Men all in the same hour, all commercial-free, and across state lines.Typical radio signals come from local radio towers. They are free for all, but once you move away from the tower (as little as 20 miles away) the signal can become fuzzy or even get lost. Conversely, satellite signals are beamed down from the heavens, giving them a wider broadcasting range. That’s why satellite users can drive from one end of the U.S. to the other and enjoy near-CD-quality sound without losing reception. ...Read | Permalink | Linking Blogs Tue, 21 Oct 2008 03:00:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/pcw/howto/145154 Wireless, multiroom home audio is here, sort of. But wireless HD video is still mostly a pipe dream. Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:20:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/tl/21472/ Everyone with a digital music collection of any size has this problem: their music tags are far from perfect. Maybe it's because you ripped the songs from a CD before it was in cddb or one of the other directories, maybe there was no cddb back when you took your first steps into digital audio, maybe your ripper didn't do a good tagging job - remember MusicMatch Jukebox? Whatever the reason, however bad the tags, there is a pretty straightforward way to sort them out, and that's to let your computer fix them for you. I've tried a number of tools to do this, but the best I've found so far is BeaTunes . BeaTunes works on both Mac and Windows machines, all you need is a copy of iTunes with a library containing the (non-DRM'd) tracks you want to clean up. The way BeaTunes works is that it analyzes the audio of selected tracks and creates a fingerprint which it then compares to a database run by MusicIP.com. If it finds a matching fingerprint, BeaTunes can use the associated track data to update your track's tags. Yes, it's just that simple, and pretty fast too. Even if your current... Tue, 25 Mar 2008 12:00:05 -0400