Deck the Halls, the TV Falls

 

It is the season for buying, giving and getting gifts. And if you’re like many people, there could be big fancy new electronic toys sitting under the tree come Christmas morning – maybe even a new flat screen!

Solution Based Technology

 

There is a nifty little device called a DAC that has been around for a while but managed to remain under the radar to most people. DAC stands for Digital to Analog Converter and is for doing just that, converting digital audio signals into an analog format. There are many different DACs available and in years past most of these devices were geared towards and marketed to the guy with a very high end system or the audio enthusiast with a large collection of digital music.

As you can probably see, the reason why DACs have been relatively unnoticed is that most people aren’t prepared to buy the really high end system, and true audio enthusiasts are not going to have a large collection of music on their computers. So this eccentric little device sat there on the shelf for years with electronics nerds like me looking at it and saying, “Oh, I want one of those, but I what would I do with it?”

Well, I’m proud to say that I have recently purchased my very first DAC for personal use. I have an older Denon stereo receiver driving some speakers in my garage, kitchen and (recently added) back patio. It has a number of analog audio inputs as well as a radio tuner, but no digital inputs. I use it to play music through the house but I could only get audio from my Blu ray player, the radio or my iPhone if I wanted to leave it plugged in. All the other electronics I have in my media arsenal were confined to the living room because they only support digital audio out with no RCA jacks to be found. Surprisingly this is becoming the norm for new gadgets rather than the exception.

What was the solution to my problem? A DAC. The little digital to analog converter I purchased was not boasting of “High Fidelity”, it didn’t have tube circuitry, it wasn’t as large as a house and, in fact, it didn’t even do anything else. It was simply a DAC. It was a solution for exactly what I needed. DACs are making a transition from the another-device-to-have-in-your-rack category to a nice little niche that provides a solution to some of our connectivity woes.

If you are going to make good use of new technology with High Def sound and streaming boxes you are faced with a problem.  You can upgrade your whole system (it might be a good excuse to do it) or you could invest in a little solution called a DAC and listen to it all come together seamlessly.

Turning HDMI into Lemonade

 

There are few things in this world that have created more headaches for electronics installers since the introduction of the television in 1925 than the HDMI cable.  This nifty little invention came boasting as the fix all to all of our Audio and Video problems. By sending all of the signals we would need (Video, Audio, Control even Internet signals) digitally over this single HDMI cable we would be able to conquer the world! But in reality it only served to increase the number of visits to our therapist’s office.

Getting Back to Nature

 

With the ushering in of the digital age came the cold hard feel of business as usual. And now with cloud storage and streaming content our music has found its niche in this sharp edged world of ones and zeroes.

Making Cents of Remote Services

Recently I was talking with a friend of mine about the new services that the security company he works for is offering. This company is following the big market players like ADT and Comcast in offering automation services with remote connection to their home alarm.  For a reasonable installation charge and an additional monthly fee their customers will have the ability to turn on and off lights set thermostat controls unlock doors set the alarm etc. all from a smart phone or computer.

A Note to Consumers

Just because two electronic devices can be combined into one doesn’t always make it a good idea. And if those electronic devices are dependent on an alliance between two different companies it makes it all the more complicated. I recently ran across a surround receiver that belonged to a SSAV client of mine. It was a Marantz SR5001 installed about 6 years ago. Not a bad receiver at all and it is works very well, all except the integrated XM radio.

Netflix

Netflix is awesome.  My whole family enjoys it. It's easy to use and it works almost all the time. The other day when updating my account I noticed that there was something new. It was an option to set up profiles –an option to create a separate DVD queue for each member of your family.  This is an awesome idea, but kind of irrelevant. It is suppose to make it easy for my wife to order the movies she wants without interrupting the deliveries of the movies in my queue all under one account.

Great thought –Right? The only problem is that at my house my wife and I almost always watch movies together. Imagine that, a husband and wife that spend time together enjoying the same thing (every once and a while I have to send her to her sisters… there are just some things I will not tolerate in myhome.)

The thing that could be very useful for my family is a profile option for streaming video.  You see, my wife enjoys her TV shows and I enjoy my own, and the kids have, well, kid shows. But I don't want Netflix telling me I would love to watch another episode of Dora the Explorer or recommending I watch Barney and Friends based on my recent enjoyment of Elmo's World. And vice versa I don't want my kids to stumble on a recently watched episode of The Walking Dead when I am too busy, doing… all of the important things I do, to go and turn the TV on for them.

With multiple profiles I could set the TV in the play room to the "kids" profile and would know that the only thing available for them to watch were age appropriate and parent approved material, and in the family room we could have the family profile which would allow access to everything else we would want to see. I know they have parental controls, but having to turn them on and off will kind of defeat the purpose of simplicity of use. Won't it?

So, Netflix, you're doing a great job.  My family loves your services and we think you are on the right track. Keep up the good work. And maybe if you find the time, can you create profiles for online streaming… And while you're at it, make a kick butt iOS app to manage my DVD queue.  These third party ones really suck.

Check out PicasSound

Found this fun little app today. It recommends soundtracks from your music library to go with pics you have on you phone. Just a fun little toy I've been having fun with it as of late. 

Check out this application on the App Store:

PicasSound Saarland University Category: Photo & Video Updated: Dec 09, 2011

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Bringing Sexy... Somewhere...

If you haven't heard the news yet, CES one of the worlds largest consumer electronics shows officially opened the doors of their 2012 expo today in LasVegas. It's always a thrill to see the new technology that will be released during the up and coming months, and yesterday was the day for all the big announcements... and some not so big ones.