Audio

Question of the Day: Replace Car Stereo or Add Satellite?

Today’s question, via IM, wonders how to handle the death of a car stereo. Though, it’s not quite so simple — Both the CD player and line-in jack still work, so they’ve been considering a satellite radio add-on. They don’t have a problem with the monthly fee but, upon quizzing, it seems clear they’re not … Read more

CTIA Goodies

In my old age, I’ve become much more selective in the conference schwag I choose to fly home with… At the Sprint press event featuring Samsung, I performed a Rock Band guitar duet with NPD analyst Ross Rubin and all attendees left with a stereo Bluetooth headset (MSRP $80). I’m not sure how MagicJack makes … Read more

Digital Media Bytes

A periodic roundup of relevant news… from our other blogs: iTunes Now #1 Music Retailer: Brent Evans Geek Tonic Generation Millennium, It’s the Network: Media Experiences 2 Go Cleaning Up After Vista Service Pack 1: The Daleisphere Motorola CDMA Femtocell: Media Experiences 2 Go One Click DVD Rip to HTPC: Brent Evans Geek Tonic IP … Read more

Airplane Audio

As the regulars probably recall, I’m pretty lazy when it comes to audio. I love all sorts of music, but I’d rather let someone else acquire and assemble the playlists. Sure, I’ve ripped hundreds of CDs (not to mention those DRM-encumbered purchases), but there’s artists I may not yet know of or haven’t remembered to … Read more

Hands On with RAPHA’s SurroundXi Speakers

This little beauty – the SurroundXi – looks best with an iPod Nano, but plays well with other music toys. I’ve been tinkering with these speakers for a couple of weeks now, and they’re fun, highly portable and easy to use. The sound isn’t Bose quality, but with my iPod Shuffle and my iPod Mini, it’s not bad at all. Here are the pros and cons.

Pros:

  • Plug and play
  • Very portable (runs on wire and on batteries)
  • Works with multiple audio players and flash drives
  • Auto-play from flash drive is seamless
  • Comes in many colors
  • Cheap! $40 at Target, but word on the Web says you can get the speakers for much less

Cons:

  • Music played from a flash drive worked very well the first time around, but now is accompanied by a very loud windy sound out of one speaker. Faulty unit? iPod Shuffle still plays well.
  • I plugged the SurroundXi into my Squeezebox a while back, and initially it worked reasonably well, but now the speakers make an annoying buzzing sound.

Bottom Line: The SurroundXi speakers are fun and cheap, but probably won’t hold up to years (months?) of use. Buy’em with that in mind, and you’ll be happy.

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Music Tax Hysteria!

Warner’s new music service proposal has the blogosphere all abuzz this AM. It’s mostly been a narrow-minded, short-sighted reception, which emphasizes challenges the music industry faces in winning back paying customers. (Threatening college students with lawsuits hasn’t been a good marketing strategy.) The recording industry’s album sales revenue model doesn’t work within the current digital … Read more

Breaking: DOJ Permits XM & Sirius To Merge

After a long 13 months, the DOJ has finally approved the proposed XM and Sirius merger. Keep an eye on Orbitcast in the coming hours and days for continuing coverage. (Concessions…? FCC?) After a careful and thorough review of the proposed transaction, the Division concluded that the evidence does not demonstrate that the proposed merger … Read more