April/May 2021

Sound & Vision

Authoritative information on entertainment technologies and products.

Sound & Vision2 min readTechnology & Engineering
Future Vision
On The Web Log on to soundandvision.com and sign up for our free monthly enewsletter. You’ll get exclusive tips, news, trends, and reviews from your favorite S&V writers. [email protected] Call (800) 666-3746 (international call
Sound & Vision1 min read
That’s Entertainment
Along with music editor Mike Mettler’s excellent interview with surround sound music guru Steven Wilson (see page 32), a few highlights in this issue’s Entertainment section merit a shout-out. First, movies editor Chris Chiarella weighs in on Tenet,
Sound & Vision1 min read
Sound & Vision
EDITOR: Al Griffin SENIOR EDITOR, TECHNICAL EDITOR: Tom Norton EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Bob Ankosko CONTRIBUTING TECHNICAL EDITORS: Kris Deering, Barb Gonzalez, Michael P. Hamilton, Howard Kneller, Daniel Kumin, Rob Sabin, John Sciacca, Michael Trei, David V
Sound & Vision7 min readTechnology & Engineering
Letters
I’m writing to comment on Ken C. Pohlmann’s column “Fractured Fairy Tales” in the February/March 2021 issue. Another reason that conventional movie theaters will likely continue to struggle is that their “big screens” are often outmatched in picture
Sound & Vision4 min readComputers
Bluesound Pulse Sub+ Subwoofer
What’s the one thing lacking in even the best soundbar? If you said “deep, realistic, room-filling, floor-pounding bass,” then you are absolutely correct. Bluesound is known for its wireless multiroom audio components and speakers, a family that incl
Sound & Vision4 min readTechnology & Engineering
Monolith by Monoprice M-TWE True Wireless Earbuds
Monoprice is an affordable direct-to-consumer brand, and its Monolith product line features sophisticated A/V gear including speakers, amps, surround sound processors, and now the new Monolith M-TWE earbuds. The M-TWE touts aptX Bluetooth audio, acti
Sound & Vision3 min readTechnology & Engineering
How Napoleon Bonaparte Invented the Compact Disc
You can admit it. You are intrigued. Of course, it can’t be true. But is it purely nonsensical? Is it a “pigs can fly” kind of declaration? Or is there someway, somehow, a grain of truth in it? And if that’s the case, how on earth could you conceivab
Sound & Vision3 min read
Got Livestream If You Want It
By the time you read this, it will be more than a year since most of us have been to a live concert in a packed venue. The last live show I personally attended took place on March 10, 2020, when I saw Dave Mason (“Feelin’ Alright,” “Only You Know and
Sound & Vision4 min readComputers
Evolution Of The App
The introduction of the iPhone in 2007—or, more specifically, Apple opening its App Store to third-party developers in 2008—turned out to be one of the most consequential developments ever to hit the home automation market. I remember seeing an iPhon
Sound & Vision3 min readTechnology & Engineering
The End of Analog
Q Over the years, I’ve discovered that sound and vision are multichannel analog input. two distinct camps in the home theater realm, and it’s best to keep them separated due to constantly changing video formats. That’s why I’ve held off from upgradin
Sound & Vision5 min readTechnology & Engineering
Headphones At Ces 2021
Once upon a time, CES was a huge show for audio but those days are long gone and showed no signs of returning in the virtual world that was CES 2021, with one possible exception: wireless headphones, a category that has made incredible strides in jus
Sound & Vision9 min readPerforming Arts
Mini-LED Made Affordable
PERFORMANCE FEATURES ERGONOMICS VALUE IN LATE 2019, TCL flew me to the company’s U.S. offices in California to spend an afternoon with its new flagship, the 75Q825 8-Series Roku LCD Ultra HDTV, a 75-inch 4K model. Not all of that particular set’s fir
Sound & Vision10 min read
Steven Wilson Is A Hi-res Man Of The People
“I LIKE TO UPSET PEOPLE, because it means I’m doing the right thing.” And that, my friends, is Steven Wilson for you in a nutshell. The once and future king of surround sound has taken yet another giant creative leap forward with his new solo album,
Sound & Vision9 min readComputers
Control Central
PERFORMANCE FEATURES ERGONOMICS VALUE ANY NEW surround sound processor circa-2021 is bound to have a heap of demands placed upon it. Along with support for the latest immersive audio formats—Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, etc.—there’s music streaming, Auto EQ/r
Sound & Vision3 min readScience & Mathematics
Test Bench
For the control settings used in the viewing, go to soundandvision.com. The measurements here were made using CalMAN software from Portrait Displays (portrait.com), together with Photo Research PR-650 and Klein K-10A color meter, and a Fresco Six-G t
Sound & Vision6 min readPerforming Arts
TV Trends Of Ces 2021
THE ANNUAL CES trade show put on by the Consumer Technology Association was an “all-digital” event for 2021. On the plus side, that allowed us to report on the show from the comfort of our homes dressed in hoodies and sweatpants instead of suits. On
Sound & Vision9 min readComputers
Believe in Majik
PERFORMANCE FEATURES ERGONOMICS VALUE ACCORDING TO the corporate lore of Scottish audio manufacturer Linn, in 1973 a newly married engineer named Ivor Tiefenbrun went shopping at his wife’s direction to buy home furnishings. To his wife’s chagrin, th
Sound & Vision8 min readTechnology & Engineering
It Might Get Loud
PERFORMANCE BUILD QUALITY ERGONOMICS VALUE WITH FEW of us straying far from home these days, or from our computer with its constant stream of information, entertainment, hope, and fear, desktop audio is having a moment. For this reason, many are disc
Sound & Vision7 min readTechnology & Engineering
Wall of Sound
A COMMON notion among audiophiles who dismiss on-wall speakers is that speakers need to be positioned well out into a room in order to get big, spacious sound. But that kind of thinking misses the point. For many, on-wall speakers can be an excellent
Sound & Vision6 min readComputers
Solo Surround
PERFORMANCE FEATURES ERGONOMICS VALUE TRUE SURROUND SOUND from headphones has been an audio holy grail for decades, but with the ever-increasing power and value of digital signal processing, we’re now getting closer to drinking from that particular c
Sound & Vision5 min read
Bass Is The Place
PERFORMANCE FEATURES BUILD QUALITY VALUE AS SOMEONE who appreciates the benefit deep bass brings to music and movie soundtracks, I’ve come to accept that having a box the size of a small refrigerator in my living room is a reality of life I need to c
Sound & Vision7 min readTechnology & Engineering
A Mighty Mini
PERFORMANCE FEATURES BUILD QUALITY VALUE MANKIND HAS steadily sought to produce more and deeper bass from smaller and smaller enclosures ever since the first Neolithic audiophile blew through a conch shell and thought, “Damn, I wish this thing went l
Sound & Vision3 min read
Tenet
This is how director Christopher Nolan does time travel. Actually, to hear him tell it, this is how he does a spy thriller, inspired by the Bonds of his youth and enhanced with all of the mind-bending trappings we’ve come to expect from one of filmdo
Sound & Vision2 min read
Love And Monsters
(CUE DEEP, SONOROUS NARRATION.) In a world infested with giant, hungry bugs, what’s left of mankind has hunkered down in underground colonies where they’re safe (mostly) from being eaten alive. How this post-apocalyptic nightmare began is explained i
Sound & Vision2 min read
They Live
THEY ARE LIVING amongst us, manipulating the entire human race, dominating us using hidden messages of obedience and rampant commercialism. Who they are and why they’re doing it are less important than how we will expose them—and who will be brave en
Sound & Vision3 min read
Three Films By Luis Buñuel
CLOSING AN ALMOST 50-year career that began with Un Chien Andalou, writer-director Luis Buñuel—aided by screenwriting partner Jean-Claude Carrière—created a trio of subversive amusements that savagely poke fun at pillars of French society, including
Sound & Vision2 min read
Lupin III: The Castle Of Cagliostro
EVER HEARD OF Lupin III? The unofficial descendant of novelist Maurice Leblanc’s gentleman thief Arsene Lupin, hatched by rogue manga writer Kazuhiko Kat? (better known as Monkey Punch) in the 1960s, he’s since gone on to be the center of a vast mult
Sound & Vision2 min read
The Go-go’s
THE GO-GO’S have always deserved more credit for pioneering the new wave of all-female musicianship and creative empowerment that emerged in the day-glo 1980s. Thankfully, this spot-on self-titled documentary, directed by Alison Ellwood and initially
Sound & Vision4 min read
Archives Vol. II: 1972-1976 (deluxe Edition)
NEIL YOUNG is an international treasure. Perhaps he should adopt Frank Sinatra’s signature mantra “I did it my way” as his own, because his artistic vision is, frankly, unparalleled in the history of popular music. Neil always does what he wants, rel
Sound & Vision3 min read
Reign O’er The Real Me
THE WHO HAD PIONEERED—and seemingly perfected—the art of the rock opera with May 1969’s all-seeing Tommy, but the ever-provocative British quartet’s chief visionary Pete Townshend wasn’t done with his honing of the overarching story-arc concept just

Sound & Vision

More Issues From Sound & Vision