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Consumer Reports joined Into Tomorrow this week with advice about sound systems:
It takes more than a good set of ears to identify great sound, especially when it comes to evaluating sound systems. According to the experts at Consumer Reports, you also need a great playlist. Their electronics spokesman James McQueen is here to explain.
To evaluate a sound system, believe it or not the use of musical tracks can spot the qualities found in a top-notch system. Before you snatch up your wallet and rush off to the store, track down some audio files to help. Here are five songs that can assist in your search for your next sound system.
First song to add to your playlist is Led Zeppelin: “ Whole Lotta Love”, by positioning yourself midway between the speakers, the song’s soundboard effect will begin to circle your head, demonstrating proper channel separation. Ingrid Michaelson’s: “The Way I Am”, you can hear both fingers moving along strings and Michaelson’s breath between the lines.
Within Diane Schuur’s song “Travelin’ Light”, carefully listen to catch the vocals and horns resound off the walls of the performance. Fabio Biondi, Europa Galant: “RV315 L’Estate: III. Tempo Impetuoso d’Estate (Summer in G)”, the strings are being played at breakneck speed, but on a quality sound system, each note will be distinct. Lastly, “Sin Wagon” by the Dixie Chicks on better equipment, the instruments will be easy to hear and have definition.
For more info on this story, visit ConsumerReports.org.
Steen in Laurel, Mississippi listens on SuperTalk 99.3 FM recommended the NASA app:
Not only lets you see the current sighting of the space station as it comes over, there’s over 4,000 of the neatest, coolest pictures I’ve ever seen – from space and our own planet.
Dave and Mark also recommended apps they’ve been playing with:
If you’re into all things Olympic ….the (mostly Russian-free) Olympics start this weekend and provided that everything goes according to plans, it should be an interesting show. NBC has created an Olympics app for you to follow along. You get all the video highlights, TV schedules, athlete profiles and any info you could possibly want. Actual video streaming is still on the NBC Sports app, but the Olympics app should give you direct links to view events live. It’s available for iOS and Android.
Microsoft Pix is a camera app that is not about fancy filters. Instead, it uses your phone’s processor power to figure out the best picture that it can take, and it adjusts the settings to get just that picture. It works well for low light photography.
