This link has been going around lately so I decided to chime in with it because it’s very good guide. It also verbalizes the state of TV/IP as we stand today. It’s Jeff’s Quick Guide to TV on the Net (TV/IP) found on Jeff Pulver’s Blog.   Among the commentary it contains one of the most comprehensive lists of ...

In our last look at digital media we covered some of the oldest formats including the ever present MP3 and Apple's AAC. The AAC file is Apple's codec based on the audio/video compression used by MPEG or the Moving Picture Experts Group - version 4. Another style of codec that emerged to compete with Apples AAC was from - you guessed it Microsoft ...

Have you ever tried to make sense of all the different types of digital audio and video? Ever thought of creating a digital media library of your own but feel a little overwhelmed by all the formats? Welcome to the first installment of a series that looks at digital audio and what it all means to you. Who can deny the convenience of storing your ...

It's a cliché that's worth repeating.   The Center speaker is the most important speaker in your system for Home Theater.   Look around the local retailers and web dealers for speaker systems. You'll find most 5.1 speaker systems build a center speaker that matches the other speakers in the system, about the same size ...

Today Home Theater in a box solutions are being snatched up like sticky rice banana leaf rolls at a Dim Sum buffet. These are specialized systems specifically for Home Theater application. You'd think we'd have better acoustic answers for such a specialized market space. But it seems the crucial center channel is no better off than it was in ...

The Xbox 360 is fully iPod compatible with correct download from Xbox Live. Unless you’ve been downloading your MP3s from iTunes without stripping them of Apple’s DRM, FairPlay. A FairPlay MP3 won't play through Xbox 360. Apple and Microsoft are incompatible, go figure.   Here is exactly how to go from ...

From a viewers perspective there is little difference between the two display types.  I won’t get into the exact technical differences between the two devices.  But there are many who find themselves at the local TV shop wondering which one they should buy, both have had significant drops in price lately and rumor has it that ...

Here's what I've had to say about power conditioners/expensive surge suppressors in the past, it’s still generally good advice.  These days at every electronics superstore in North America you can find Monster Cable peddling surge suppressors that may make other bold performance claims like line filtering.  Peripherals like surge ...

Bass management problems include trying to get your CD player to use your sub, or having way too much bass coming out of your dainty rear speakers when you use DVD-Audio or SACD driving them to Hades. If your main media player is a DVD player, be sure it’s set to bitstream and not PCM if you want the use of the rear speakers and sub.  ...

I get asked some good questions in the forums and this one deserves some elaboration.  To paraphrase: Is there a proper stacking order for hi-fi components you have lay on top of each other? Someone that has never owned a component hi-fi system before, might have difficulty deciding which components to lay overtop of which.  Stacking ...