Here are some audio and video trends for 2019:
The global Hi-Fi Systems market was valued at million US$ in 2018 and is expected to grow. EISA Awards has selected Hi-Fi product category winners, but I did not see anything really fancy new innovations that would excite me there. The Hi-Fi speaker market has seen considerable consolidation over the years but is expected to grow. The global Hi-Fi speaker system market is highly competitive. Various established international brands, domestic brands and as well as new entrants form a competitive landscape. The market is expected to have higher growth rate as compared to the previous years due to the booming electronic industry globally. It is due to the rising income of individuals globally and increasing affordability of technology products globally. Due to technological adoption and smart gadgets, North America region is showing steady growth in the Hi-Fi speaker system market. On technology standpoint the Hi-Fi market is mainly based on pretty much stabilized technology as class D amplifiers have been on mainstream for many years.
Smart TVs are everywhere. The vast majority of televisions available today are “smart” TVs, with internet connections, ad placement, and streaming services built in. Despite the added functionality, TV prices are lower than ever. Your new smart TV was so affordable because it is collecting and selling your data. It is clear that TV companies are in a cutthroat business, and that companies like Vizio would have to charge higher prices for hardware if they didn’t run content, advertising, and data businesses. Google wants sensors and cameras in every room of your home to watch, analyze, you, patents show.
Streaming services competition stays high. Apple’s embracing the TV industry for the first time: Vizio and LG TVs will support AirPlay 2 and HomeKit, while Samsung TVs will get an iTunes Movies & TV app, as well as AirPlay 2 support. Google and Amazon are playing are important players on smart speaker markets.
4K video resolution is still as hot as in 2019 – it us becoming mainstream and getting cheaper. Peraso showcases 4K wireless video at CES 2019. LG has produced a market-ready rollable OLED TV. The new 75-inch 4K Micro LED TV announced at CES 2019 proves Samsung is serious about scaling the technology to do battle with OLED. But it seems that even in 1029 “4K” trend remains woefully deficient from a compelling-content-availability standpoint. CES 2019 is already full of weird and wonderful monitors.
But new higher 8K resolution is being pushed to market. The “8K” (resolution) tagline was apparently everywhere at CES this year. Samsung announced a 98-inch 8K TV because why not. LG has come strong to CES 2019 with an 88-inch 8K OLED TV, a 75-inch 8K LED/LCD TV, HDMI 2.1, new auto calibration features, Alexa built in, and many more features. It seems that this ongoing evolution is occurring out of necessity: as a given-size (and -pixel-dense) display becomes a low profit margin commodity, manufacturers need to continually “up-rev” one or both key consumer-attention-grabbing parameters (along with less quantifiable attributes like image quality) in order to remain profitable … assuming they can continue to stimulate sufficient-sized consumer demand in the process. I am not sure if they can stimulate 8K to mass market in next few years.
Wall size TVs are coming. Samsung announced a modular TV at CES. Samsung first showcased this MicroLED TV technology at CES 2018, showcasing how the screens were composed of millions of individual LEDs. Individuals screens could be combined to create massive displays, which the company calls The Wall TV. The wall-sized displays shown in recent years at CES are, in my opinion, quite ridiculous, at least for the masses.
HDMI updates are coming. At present, the HDMI equipment uses the 2.0 standard (adopted in 2013) tht provides support for example for 4K video. HDMI Forum announced a new 2.1 standard already in November 2017, but it just starter showing in CES in January 2019. 8K fiber-optic HDMI cables seen at CES 2019. The 2.1 standard is a big change in technology at the bus bandwidth increases from 18 gigabit to 48 gigabits per second. This enables up to 10K video transmission and up to 120 frames per second.
Bendable displays are really coming to PCs and smart phones. LG’s “rollable” display shown this year neatly showcased the technology’s inherent flexibility while also addressing the question of how to hide a gargantuan display when it’s not in use. Several foldable smart phones have been shown. Chinese company Royole was showing off the FlexPai at CES in Las Vegas.
Micro displays for VR and AR glasses have developed. MicroLED is better looking, more efficient and more versatile than any previous display tech. Now all Samsung, Sony, LG and others have to do is figure out how to manufacture it affordably.Nanoco Technologies and Plessey Semiconductors have partnered to shrink the pixel size of monolithic microLED displays using Nanoco’s cadmium-free quantum-dot (CFQD quantum dots) semiconductor nanoparticle technology. Microchips and organic LEDs that deliver 4K-like high resolution displays a quarter of the size and half the weight of existing virtual reality (VR) headsets have been developed under a European Union project. Marc Andreessen says VR will be “1,000” times bigger than AR even though VR seems to be the popular whipping boy amongst the tech community.
There seems to be no shortage of angst with the current (and unfortunately burgeoning) popularity of usage of the term artificial intelligence (AI). Intelligence has been defined in many ways which makes it hard to get good picture on what is going on. I am still waiting for sensible intelligent AI to do something useful. But the ability for a sufficiently trained deep learning system to pattern-match images, sound samples, computer viruses, network hacking attempts, and the like is both impressive and effective.
Potential problems related to the coming of self-driving car technologies and cameras are expected. A man at CES in Las Vegas says that a car-mounted lidar permanently damaged the sensor in his new $1,998 Sony a7R II mirrorless camera. Man says CES lidar’s laser was so powerful it wrecked his $1,998 camera because the LIDAR laser power rules ensure lasers are safe for human eyes—but not necessarily for cameras. Is this something that camera and car manufacturers need to figure out together?
2019 Will Be the Year of Open Source from software and even hardware. Open source video player app VLC has now reached 3 billions downloads.
When almost all AV products are pushing more and more features, it seems that almost Everything is too complicated for an average Joe.
1,491 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Opinion
They Really Don’t Make Music Like They Used To
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/07/opinion/what-these-grammy-songs-tell-us-about-the-loudness-wars.html
If the Eagles or Marvin Gaye fan in your life is complaining about this year’s Grammy songs, this might be why.
“They don’t make music the way they used to,” the boomers and Gen Xers will mutter. And they’ll be right. Music today, at least most of it, is fundamentally different from what it was in the days of yore — the 1970s and 80s.
A radio station playing classical music may be broadcasting a signal with the same maximum strength as one playing hip-hop, but the classical station broadcast will hit that peak perhaps once every few minutes, while the hip-hop station’s signal may peak several times per second.
Historically, compression was usually applied during the mastering stage, the final steps through which a finished recording becomes a commercial release.
With digital audio, a few mouse clicks can compress the dynamic range with brute force. The result is music that sounds more aurally aggressive — like the television commercial.
recording industry “loudness war” was driven by linked aesthetic and economic imperatives. A louder record grabs your attention — and will often be perceived, at least at first, to have better sound quality than a less compressed album
they also made the loudest parts exceed the maximum possible peak. At these moments, the sound wave “clips,” becoming dense and distorted. As with compression, clipping can be done artistically
There was a potential downside to all this loudness. Many audio pros maintain that excessive loudness creates aural fatigue.
When compact discs were introduced in the 1980s, one selling point was that they were capable of a greater dynamic range than vinyl records — yet the average pop recording today has a smaller dynamic range than records made during the analog era.
His findings revealed they had a common trait: these albums, even across genres, had extraordinary dynamic range. The most commercially important albums, he wrote, featured lots of “high contrast” moments, when “the transient attacks of instruments” — very brief outbursts of high energy — were allowed to stand out against “the background space where the instruments are placed.” This was especially true for vocals and percussion
Streaming services like Spotify now “normalize” the music’s output, so that we aren’t always adjusting our volume settings. This should lessen the incentive for mastering engineers to abuse compression.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Better AUDIO on YOUTUBE! ☺️ (finally)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaApkZLGtz4
Tomi Engdahl says:
Highlights of NAMM 2019: Trends, releases and more
https://www.musictech.net/features/trends/highlights-trends-releases-namm-2019/
We reveal the tech you must audition – and the new developments that will shape your studio in 2019.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jos HDMI-kaapelisi on uudehko, se toimii vielä pitkään
http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/9070-jos-hdmi-kaapelisi-on-uudehko-se-toimii-viela-pitkaan
Niissä on 3 datajohdinta – jokaisessa fyysisesti kolme linjaa, kaksi datalle ja yksi eristykselle – jotka siirtävät 6 gigabittiä sekunnissa. Tämä tarkoittaa yhteensä 18 gigabitin kapasiteettia.
Uudessa 2.1-standardissa jokaisen johtimen läpi viedään dataa kaksinkertainen määrä eli 12 gigabittiä. Lisäksi kellosignaaleille varattu neljäs johdin otetaan datan käyttöön. Tällä päästään standardin määrittelemään 48 gigabittiin sekunnissa.
Millaisen kaapelin sitten pitää olla, jotta se toimisi myös tulevien 8K-televisioiden ja 8K-videotoistimien kanssa? Hyvä nyrkkisääntö on, että vastikään ostettu HDMI Forumin sertifioima 2.0-kaapeli toimii aivan hyvin. 1.4-kaapelit yltävät 10,2 gigabittiin sekunnissa, joten ne eivät riitä.
Toinen nyrkkisääntö on, etteivät halvat kaapelit taivu 8K-videon siirtoon.
eARC-tekniikka eli paranneltu audiopaluukanava (enhanced Audio Return Channel) mahdollistaa jokaisen audiolähteen kuvaamisen objektina
Tomi Engdahl says:
6 Best Free Video Editing Software Programs for 2019
Edit video on your PC or Mac with one of these free video editors
https://www.lifewire.com/best-free-video-editing-software-programs-4128924
Tomi Engdahl says:
The best video editing software 2019
Video editors to get your clips ready to share with the world
https://www.techradar.com/best/best-video-editing-software-premium-free
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2019/02/14/tuntoaistit-tarjoava-aanentoisto-elokuvateattereihin/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Talking CMOS Image Sensors with SmartSens’ Leo Bai
https://www.electronicdesign.com/iot/talking-cmos-image-sensors-smartsens-leo-bai?NL=ED-003&Issue=ED-003_20190213_ED-003_707&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_2_b&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=23331&utm_medium=email&elq2=5572b434f7cd40dea591b26cdc84f484
CMOS image sensor usage is ramping up across multiple application areas. Technology Editor Bill Wong chatted with Leo Bai, SmartSens’ AI BU General Manager, about the latest in the technology.
What are some examples of current mainstream technologies in CMOS image sensors?
Currently, there are two mainstream technologies in CMOS image sensors: FSI (front-side illuminated) and BSI (back-side illuminated).
FSI complies with the traditional semiconductor manufacturing process, so the FSI process is more mature and typically has lower production costs and higher yield. With pixels, light enters between the front metal wiring and then focuses on the photosensitive area.
The main advantage of BSI is that it separates electrical components from light, which allows the optical path to be independently optimized, avoiding absorption, reflection, and flare of the FSI metal wiring layer. The optical stack in the BSI pixel is also greatly reduced. Compared with FSI, BSI has a large fill factor of almost 100%, so BSI can achieve higher QE (quantum efficiency). However, the BSI manufacturing process is more complex and difficult than FSI.
In the early development of BSI, yield was a big challenge. With the advanced development of semiconductor technology, though, the BSI technique is becoming more and more mature, with a much higher yield.
The CMOS image sensor with BSI technology is suitable for applications that need high resolution with limited optical size, as well as small pixel size, high sensitivity, and low-light performance. For example, these applications include high-end security and surveillance, ITS (Intelligent Transportation System), FA (factory automation), and cell phones.
The manufacturing process of FSI is mature and low cost. The CMOS image sensor with FSI technology is more sensitive to system cost, rather than high performance. For example, these applications include smart-home and low-end video-monitoring products.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Huipputarkat Ultra HD -lähetykset alkavat – Näin saat uudet UHD-kanavat käyttöösi
https://yhteiso.telia.fi/t5/Blogi/Huipputarkat-Ultra-HD-lahetykset-alkavat-Nain-saat-uudet-UHD/ba-p/182306?utm_source=some&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=aspa&utm_content=someid_AS10110&utm_term=100
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Norse Awakens: Inside Finland’s Booming Locations Sector
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/norse-awakens-inside-finlands-booming-locations-sector-1183396?fbclid=IwAR1wn5s6jowHsN3ZL5D2hE5PYIrfN-oWumQpbKmVxeXA3Gt8m41bWoo5t9w
State-of-the-art facilities, experienced (and inexpensive) crews, and a new tax incentive aimed at high-end television and film productions have transformed the region into one of the most attractive shooting destinations in the world.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung Quits 4K Blu-ray Player Market
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnarcher/2019/02/15/samsung-quits-4k-blu-ray-player-market/#2b14b8911577
Samsung has confirmed to me today that it is no longer going to be making any new models of 4K Blu-ray player.
a series of high profile films are apparently not going to be getting a 4K Blu-ray release
4K Blu-rays accounting for just 5.3% of sales, while DVD – yes, DVD – still claims 57.9%.
the arrival of HDR10+ also means we now have films appearing on 4K Blu-ray in two separate formats while only a handful of 4K Blu-ray players and TVs are capable of supporting both.
Tomi Engdahl says:
This custom ‘hyperfisheye’ lens can see behind itself
https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/20/this-custom-hyperfisheye-lens-can-see-behind-itself/
This absurd custom fisheye lens has a 270-degree field of view, meaning it can see behind the camera it’s mounted on — or rather the camera mounted on it.
It’s certainly a bit of fun from Lens Rentals, the outfit that put it together, but it’s definitely real and might even be useful. Their detailed documentation of how they put it together piece by piece is fascinating
The C-4 Optics 4.9mm f/3.5 Hyperfisheye Prototype
Sure, why not? Because it’s ridiculous, that’s why not!
https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2019/02/assembling-the-c-4-optics-hyperfisheye-prototype/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Inside a Chinese social media influencer factory
https://www.goldthread2.com/culture/inside-chinese-social-media-influencer-factory/article/3000868?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=GME-I-alwayson-us-gt-fb-uv-culture_interest
Tucked away in the basement of an unremarkable commercial center in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou is a factory that churns out online celebrities.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dave Zohrob / Chartable:
Survey finds that about 24% of US adults listen to podcasts daily or a few times a week and about 50% listen at least once a month
Here’s why we’re entering the Golden Age of Podcasts, in 10 graphs
https://chartable.com/blog/golden-age-of-podcasts
Tomi Engdahl says:
Compression for 8k displays
https://semiengineering.com/blog-review-feb-20/
Synopsys’ Chirag Tyagi examines how Display Stream Compression 1.2 allows the commonly used MIPI DSI display interface to support 8k UHD displays in applications like infotainment and AR/VR even with the limited bandwidth of PHY layers.
How 8k UHD Displays for Emerging Technologies are Enabled in MIPI DSI
https://blogs.synopsys.com/vip-central/2019/02/12/how-8k-uhd-displays-for-emerging-technologies-are-enabled-in-mipi-dsi/
High resolution 8k UHD displays for emerging technologies like connected cars, IoT, and AR/VR (Augmented/Virtual Reality) require high bandwidth to support the high-resolution transmission. MIPI DSI is the widely used display interface, but the bandwidth provided by PHY layers isn’t sufficient enough to support the high-resolution displays; therefore, a compression technique like DSC (Display Stream Compression) is required. One of our recent blog discussed about DSC 1.2 in HDMI 2.1 – High Resolution Displays for Mobile, TV, PC and Automotive Enabled by DSC 1.2 in HDMI 2.1. In this blog, we will see how DSC 1.2 enables MIPI DSI to support the high-resolution displays for emerging applications.
The DSC v1.2, developed by Video Electronics Standard Association (VESA), provides a wide variety of features to scale down the required bandwidth by 2 to 3 times.
Wide Range of Applications:
DSC is also enabling following emerging applications:
USB Type-C Dual Extended Monitors
AR and VR video capture
10k resolutions mobile and TV displays
Automotive video cameras and serial interfaces
Some of the high resolutions are impossible to be implemented without 2x to 3x compression capabilities of DSC v1.2. DSC also considerably reduces the cost, area, and power simultaneously, and has become a mandatory industry norm nowadays.
Synopsys VIP for MIPI DSI supports the latest VESA DSC v1.2 compression scheme.
Tomi Engdahl says:
This Preamp Reveals the Dark Side of the HiFi Industry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7Fkm6QK2dI
The Music Hall Mini seems like a nice phono preamp for a decent price. But there is more to this story than meets the eye. Sometimes with hifi audio equipment, you don’t always get what you pay for.
Comments:
Uh this happens in literally every industry, no surprise here.
Trust me this is nothing new, I’m a repair technician and you would be surprise to know how many reputable brand does this.
Nothing evil is happening here. With distribution and other associated costs, it is about right. Sucks sure, but hey that is how it works folks.
Audio is without question the market with the most vile purveyors of snake oil. I know it because I’ve been an EE for almost four decades, and a musician for even longer, and have seen the utterly absurd audio marketing garbage foisted at so-called “audiophiles,” (more aptly called “audiofools”) over this time. This propaganda promotes products that are mediocre at best as “highest audiophile quality” while simultaneously denigrating products that are excellent, though low-price. When was the last time you saw an honest double-blind study related to audio products? Ever see a bunch of “art aficionados” staring awestruck at a canvas uniformly covered with brown paint gushing all kinds of absurd adjectives about the awesomeness of the art? Unfortunately, as the saying goes, “you can’t fix stupid.”
Audiophiles are easily scammed.
You just figured this out?? LOL I have many rebranded Realistic phono preamps sold in the 70s, that were made by a high end manufacturer..sold at 1/10th the price to Radio Shack. They been doin this fo’ years son.
The receivers were obviously not built in house either. I don’t know who built them, but I remember some of them were pretty good.
Yep, and did you know that Circuit board with all the part is a is about $3.50 now if that doesn’t make you feel raped and walking bowlegged.
Audiophile Lesson Number One: Never buy anything without listening unless it comes with a no-questions-asked return guarantee.
Audiophile Lesson Number Two: Never forget Lesson Number One.
Many companies use OEM products. Music Hall is hardly the first in the audio component industry.
Wow, no kidding. Glad you posted that.
About ypur research though… I just love it when people who dont understand manufacturing make silly claims about how more expensive (but identical) products are made with “better components” that’s always a sure sign that person’s knowledge is based on internet BS and not experience or even common sense.
well this is a pile of crap on the part of Music Hall. It is almost certainly the exact same thing for more money, though its possible Music Hall is getting selected units.
after a long and painfully dull career in manufacturing, including nearly a decacde in process engineering, i can tell you that the idea of weeding out superior parts that occur by happenstance is a myth. If parts are made to a tighter tolerance, then they will carry a diffetent part number and designation than other parts (e.g. silver v gold bands on a resistor) from the get-go.
In the case of most comodity electronic components, the cost of testing for random better parys would cost more than the parts themselves.
It’s also an unpredictable way to manufacture parts. Imagine being a capacitor maker and you’responsible for three million regular 22uF caps a month… PLUS half a million identical caps that are randomly superior to the rest, but are not designated differently and dont start with any different constituent components.
Its a totally inefficient, and more importantly, unpredictable manufacturing model. What if you dont find half a million better parts this month? You’ve still paid to test ALL your production. Now you’re on the hook for 500,000 otherwise identical parts with identical ingredients, but are magically ‘better’ than the 3,000,000 you just made!
No, the “better parts” thing is a myth. It just doesn’t happen. If better parts are used, then they will start life designed to be better parts and will be clearly marked as such.
it’s not that they don’t understand manufacturing (they couldn’t care less), it’s simply a defense mechanism against buyer’s remorse.
Yes, this is just the tip of the iceberg; there are so many products from different manufactures with the same problem, take the Rega carbon cartridge which sells for $60, it is exactly the same cartridge as the audio-Technica At-3600, which you can get for $12 including shipping from e-bay, it is made by audio-Technica for Rega!!
Actually there were some production flaws in the channel balancing the $12 cart did even outperform the overpriced Rega.
This is nothing new. Mark Levinson back in the early 2000’s, took a $1200 solid state amp from China, rebadged it with his own brand Red Rose, and sold it for $7000. He claimed he put “better parts” in it to justify the cost. Same chassis, same internal design. Just a different silk screened name on front plate.
I didn’t know that. Shameful.
Mike K Rebranding is fine… I guess. But the outright blatant lies? There are some companies I respect even though they sell expensive gear like Genelec. But I think there are more companies that are of the former category.
although I can see an argument for quality control, or better customer service; for example, readily providing replacements for faulty product. For more DIY electronic parts, I often see cheaper products that I can get shipped from China. But they can’t be returned (or they take weeks to ship, and often at a prohibitive price) and/or there will not be customer service in English. But there’s an electronic parts company near me called Sparkfun, where not only can I get great customer service, but easily get refunds or make returns. I’ll pay more to get that from them.
Looking the board there is one dual opamp with probably RIAA EQ on the feedback network. The simplest and not the best sounding design.
But, but…it costs more, it MUST be better…right?
Wallet placebo effect
All “audiophile” products are stupid expensive and in no way could the price be justified.
Neither of these products would qualify as “audiophile”. They’re just simple phono preamps necessary because most modern amps and receivers no longer have phono inputs. An audiophile phono preamp can cost thousands of dollars.
Agreed, audiophile equipment is expensive. However, as with all things, prices will reflect what the market will bear. Everything is relative, if nobody is willing to pay $65 – $85 per hour for an electrician, you can bet electricians wouldn’t be making that kind of cash. A few pieces of wood, some canvas and paint shouldn’t be worth over $100 million, unless it happens to be the Mona Lisa. As long as there is a buyer that sees value in the purchase there will be a market. As with most things esoterica, they generally hold or increase in value with age. The same cannot be said for the mundane.
Define “Audiophile”. Also, this video has zero to do with ANY “audiophile” product. The products discussed here are inexpensive Phono preamps that retail for $50
Not crazy at all. You are the passenger of the ODM and OEM product train. They are not doing anything nafarious or dishonest. This how allot of companies do things. Now the deal is just know what you are getting before you buy. I have been doing audio for 50 plus years and what you see has been going on forever. From phono preamplifiers to receivers to all things audio. Nakamichi was a big OEM house too Sansui, Kyocera, Harman Kardon. Radio Shack and Lafayette radio got their stuff from well known companies too!
OEM happens even with clothes. I bought some Soccer shorts for $10.00, and this company sells the same shorts with someone elses logo on it for $30.00!
Nakamichi was a small company, and never was an OEM AFAIK. Kyocera is a huge conglomerate like Yamaha. Their audio gear is a small fraction of their main business. Harman – Kardon pre Harman Intl. actually had OEMs like Hitachi make boards and other parts for them.
House brands are made by OEMs that most people have never heard of. Nevertheless the Lafayette house brand stuff had a great reputation, while RS did not.
“Rebranding” is more common than some people might realize.
Raising the price is shameful though.
You paid brand.
Excellent job, and it gets worse the more money you spend, sometimes. I remember some company was charging an INSANE amount of money for a universal disc player, like $10k. It was literally an Oppo with a box AROUND the Oppo (you took the outer box out and found a completely intact Oppo inside). Some audiophiles still claimed it sounded better.
Red Rose music audio gear was really chinese made audio gear rebranded. The same hapened with goldmund dvd that was a pioneer dvd player . The goldmund 10 times the price of the pioneer. This is an old story.
We see this sort of thing all the time. A lot of companies don’t manufacturer their own stuff. They hire pre-made products from some cheap chinese factory and stick their own company print on the casing.
It’s in a nice black box as a better name and cost more…for most twats ( hifi snobs) who buy hifi on spec it’s pure gold. Especially when someone else tells them it’s upgraded and sounds better!
It could also be a Chinese clone ripoff. Amazon and Ebay are FULL of those.
This has become all too common now that many things are all made in the same few cities in China. A dozen different brands share the exact supply chains, parts and in many cases the exact same assembly lines. in the west, badge-engineered brands that never existed as real, independent companies have popped up in the last 20 years, and people who don’t know better just assume that they’re classic old brands because the names have been carefully been chosen to make it seem that way. But it’s all China, baby, and you can pay big bucks to be made a sucker by marketing. The exact same device, minus the American brand can be found on Alibaba for pennies on the dollar
That brand is dead to me. Thanks.
Are you really that surprised given the overall low quality of Music Hall turntables?
Wow. Not a surprise as this stuff happens. But that is a crazy price difference.
Just get one of the Pyle phono preamps they even make one that uses batteries, Behringer and gogroove sell the same units but they cost more. But people won’t ge the pyle because of the name
I have witnessed the same milk from a large distribution facility pump into gallon and 1/2 gallon containers with different product names on their packaging and sell for different prices. Same milk and expiration date.
What really upsets me, is that it says Made in USA on it. As someone who manufactures consumer audio products, that burns. These folks should be ignored, or better yet, exposed! Thanks for the video.
This reminds me of a video VWestlife did awhile back demonstrating a few expensive phono cartridges with fancy packaging were actually rebranded Audio Technica models.
It’s called re-branding. Very common in products across the board. Never the less, thanks for pointing this out.
Tomi Engdahl says:
$65 Rega Carbon vs. $11 AT3600L phono cartridge – The same thing?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2s69fpphVU
The $65 Rega Carbon phono cartridge is highly regarded by audiophiles… but is it identical to the Audio-Technica AT3600L which you can get for around $11? Let’s take a close look and try to find out!
Comments:
Thank you my friend!!! I had previously mistaken the carbon as a modified AT cart which did not have the Carbon cantilever. Thanks for pointing my mistake ou
Great test! The music samples sounded good to me but the sibilance test showed clearly audible distortion by level 3 and (even a bit at level 2). Sibilance distortion is one of my biggest issues with vinyl as I have a few records where it is quite noticeable.
Iron triangle is the direct translation of audio technica ‘s Chinese name
I used to be an audiofool….er, uh….I mean audiophile. I now have a much fatter wallet and much more satisfying hobbies.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The world’s cheapest phono cartridge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nsPGILzrRs
Examining the world’s cheapest phono cartridge, which sells for less than $2 on eBay (including free shipping from China), and demonstrating the audio quality it can deliver when attached to properly matched equipment.
Comments:
thanks for the great work! actually not only did you mount it on a $300 turntable, you also modified it, and then found a pre-amp to match it. Crazy work, I love it!
The quality is pretty astonishing for the price. That’s not saying much, though.
I found the same cartridge and stylus for 1 dollar + shipping on the app wish. The bad thing is that it took almost 4 months to get here
honestly first time I heard bass from this cartridge, sounds decent but it’s noticeable the absence of higher frequencies, like 12 khz or abovw
Well it may shock you to know that I have used those cartridges in many old consoles with amazing results and full sound quality, but only with the aluminum shaft diamond tip stylus. Work well on old console stereo. Cheers my friend ! Electronics Engineer over 50 years.
It really IS amazing what these cheapo things can do. Put into a properly designed system, they sound surprisingly or very good, those ceramic cartridges. After all, they were the mainstay of music centres and consoles, etc, for many years. The pity is, that the Crosleys, etc, don’t make the full use of it and continue to sound like the junk they are.
This video may have inadvertently (or perhaps intentional) shown that turntable design matters with regard to sound quality and not just the cartridge/stylus.
The Disco Industry Used ceramic cartridges for years. Until 12″ singles like Blondie’s Heart of Glass was released. They could not handle the low Frequency and jumped all over the place. This made them change to the Magnetic Cartridges never really looked back.
They used Shure m35s, Stanton 500als and Stanton 680els. That’s wrong lol
I’ve named this cartridge “The Red Flag”, when you see this attached to something avoid it like the plague. The only exception being portablist gear where the sound/record wear are secondary concerns.
My childhood records were plowed to death, especially as this cheapo stylus was never changed.
That pink crystal is a form of synthetic sapphire called Nd-YAG, it is also used in 1064nm near infrared lasers
I use one of those ceramics through my hi fi system, and – like you – I was flat out amazed at the quality that lies untapped. Midrange attack and subtleties can go head to head with some of the better MM cartridges… potentially even getting close to MC. I don’t think bass and high treble are remarkable in any way; but, oh, that midrange definition and immediacy is bloody incredible. The psychological hurdle most people (and initially myself as well) have to get over is to bother to take these cartridges seriously as hi fi quality, and to trust their precious vinyl to go under it. Once you take the leap, you may well become a ceramic convert like me:-) As this video implies, though, you will need to experiment with equalization. Great video. Ceramic cartridges serving up killer vocal performances – who could have guessed? Just another note: the sapphire (“ruby”) styli are pink under magnification.
Ross brilliant reply, the piezo ceramic generator material itself limited performance. Modern ‘non velocity’ cartridges can be made from strain gauge, electret and modern piezo material. Which if chosen carefully should give full range and linearity like any mm or mc except with big voltages and no filtering with benefits that bring less phase error, less noise, less gain stages to add distortion etc.
PS diamond is tougher than you suggest, Shure estimated 1000 hours. Twenty times a sapphire (well 17x). I remember a sapphire being rated at 300 plays which is about 60 hours if per side. This would give close to 5000 plays for a diamond. I’ve had a stylus last at least that. I figured mine were just ‘polished’ at 6 months.
The majority of those beautiful sounding consoles of the 50′s, 60′s and 70′s used ceramic cartridges in mainly spring balanced tonearms on low end idler driven record changers.
Vinyl is pretty much the most expensive audio medium you can go with these days. Spending a lot of money on the records and then ruining them with cheap gear? Who does that?
Vinyl is only expensive if you’re buying new crappy remasters. There are tons and tons of Records out there for $3 or less that are in excellent condition. I even let my 19 year old listen to some vinyl versus digital, and even he noticed the great sounding vinyl records. He’s not an audiophile, and it was a blind test
I think those cheap record player of today are overpriced in relation to their manufacturing costs because they used a cheapest cartridge as possible for less than $2.00 plus the turntable’s mechanism are also cheaply made that almost everything are plastic including the platter and the electronics inside are crap.
Unless diamonds went super cheap, the stylus is sapphire. Trust me on this. These cheapy boogers ruined so many my 45′s when I was a kid. Why? Because back in the 60′s to 70′s record companies a cheap alternative to vinyl; Polystyrene. If you have any of these records consider them gone if you use this “cartridge”.
There is a reason of why phono cartridges can be so incredibly expensive?
Very, very high quality. Many are made by hand and calibrated on a 1 by 1 basis.
Plus audiophools who are willing to pay that much.
Just get the CD or WAV files and you’re done. It is pointless to buy Vinyl, except if it is HIFI gear with the original Vinyl’s mastered from reel to reel tapes back in the day. Putting a CD onto a Vinyl is pointless, as today’s vinyls are all digital to begin with. What a waste.
The styus has a real soft tip this means they will only play for a 80 – 100 hours before you have to replace them. But even before that since it has a enormous tracking force it will wear you records down really fast. I mean you save like 30 dollar for a good stylus (like a AT95e) but it will cost you much more after a few days since your records will be destroyed. Look at the prices of new vinyl …. you do NOT want to put that cartridge in your recordplayer. But i did like the video :)
Tracking force only makes a 10% difference in record wear, according to cartridge manufacturer Shure. There is a video containing a test of a cheap record player using one of these ceramic cartridges playing a record 100 times, and there was only minor audible wear.
Well that depends. Most arms do not have compensation for that kind of tracking force.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The world’s cheapest phono cartridge – VWestlife
https://www.reddit.com/r/vinyl/comments/56t03c/the_worlds_cheapest_phono_cartridge_vwestlife/
The purpose of this video was not to say to throw your Grado cartridges and shure cartridges into the trash, it was to point out how with a decent system (not a crosley or other cheap turntable) the cartridge can sound decent. Stop hating on VWestlife so much, just because he isn’t willing to spend hundreds of dollars on audiophile setups. He isn’t doing anything bad, and he is an advocate against cheap suitcase turntables.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Does an expensive turntable actually sound better?
https://www.vinylengine.com/turntable_forum/viewtopic.php?t=91153
Tomi Engdahl says:
Destructive Teardown of a Failed Phono Cartridge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTppgysdROs
The Audio Technica AT92E. The left coil went open, so I ripped it apart.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Netflix may be losing $192M per month from piracy, cord cutting study claims
https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/27/netflix-may-be-losing-192m-per-month-from-piracy-cord-cutting-study-claims/
As many as 1 in 5 people today are mooching off of someone else’s account when streaming video from Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Video, according to a new study
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jem Aswad / Variety:
RIAA: US revenue for recorded music grew 12% in 2018 to $9.8B largely due to a 30% surge in streaming revenue; subscriptions to services like Spotify topped 50M — The U.S. music industry posted its third consecutive year of double-digit growth, according to the RIAA’s year-end revenue report issued today.
U.S. Music Industry Posts Third Straight Year of Double-Digit Growth as Streaming Soars 30%
https://variety.com/2019/biz/news/u-s-music-industry-posts-third-straight-year-of-double-digit-growth-as-streaming-soars-30-1203152036/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bloomberg:
Netflix is testing higher prices in Italy, setting the cost of a premium plan at about €18 or $20.50 a month; current EU prices range from €8 to €14 per month
Netflix’s Experiment Spurs Speculation About Price Hikes in Italy
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-28/netflix-s-italian-experiment-spurs-speculation-about-price-hikes
Netflix Inc. is experimenting with higher prices in Italy, a sign it could soon raise rates for all its customers in one of Europe’s largest markets.
The company has been testing a new pricing scheme for some users that makes its premium plan about 18 euros ($20.50) a month
Netflix has been raising prices in markets all over the world during the past few years, boosting its sales so it can spend ever more money on new shows and movies. The company has already bumped up prices in the U.S., its largest market, a couple of times.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Mozilla releases Common Voice, an open source collection of transcribed voice data comprising 1,400+ hours of samples from 42K contributors in 18 languages
Mozilla updates Common Voice dataset with 1,400 hours of speech across 18 languages
https://venturebeat.com/2019/02/28/mozilla-updates-common-voice-dataset-with-1400-hours-of-speech-across-19-languages/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jem Aswad / Variety:
RIAA: US revenue for recorded music grew 12% in 2018 to $9.8B largely due to a 30% surge in streaming revenue; subscriptions to services like Spotify topped 50M
U.S. Music Industry Posts Third Straight Year of Double-Digit Growth as Streaming Soars 30%
https://variety.com/2019/biz/news/u-s-music-industry-posts-third-straight-year-of-double-digit-growth-as-streaming-soars-30-1203152036/
The U.S. music industry posted its third consecutive year of double-digit growth, according to the RIAA’s year-end revenue report issued today.
The report notes that in 2018 U.S. recorded-music revenues rose 12% to their highest level in 10 years — $9.8 billion, up from $8.8 billion the previous year but still below 2007’s $10.7 billion. This was largely due to the boost in paid music subscriptions, which rose 42% to 50.2 million from 35.3 million the previous year (and 10.8 million in 2015), while streaming revenues soared 30% to $7.4 billion from $5.7 billion in 2017 (and $2.3 billion in 2015).
Total subscription revenues increased 32% to $5.4 billion, the report says.
Streaming revenues accounted for 75% of the total U.S. industry revenue, with physical accounting for 12%, digital downloads for 11% and synch for 3%.
“Fifty million subscriptions illustrate fans’ unrivaled love for music and the way it shapes our identities and culture — and showcases an industry that has embraced the future and found a healthy path forward in the digital economy,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
YouTube Creator Blog:
YouTube says it will disable comments on almost all videos featuring minors, improve classification of comments, and continue to ban harmful accounts
More updates on our actions related to the safety of minors on YouTube
https://youtube-creators.googleblog.com/2019/02/more-updates-on-our-actions-related-to.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: Hulu’s live online TV service has about 2M subscribers while YouTube TV has crossed 1M
Hulu, YouTube Snare 3 Million Customers for Live TV
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-01/hulu-youtube-are-said-to-snare-3-million-customers-for-live-tv
TV networks have looked to the slimmed-down, online services to ease their pain as growing legions of consumers drop conventional pay-TV packages for streaming options like Netflix. The first of these services, Sling TV, offered a few dozen live channels at a fraction of the price of a typical cable package.
But the initial burst of signups at Sling, DirecTV Now and Sony Corp.’s PlayStation Vue has slowed.
Hulu and YouTube represent a rare bit of good news for TV. They may be benefiting from a superior user experience compared with Sling or DirecTV Now
“They’ve done a better job of branding,” Wolk said. “The interfaces are slick and modern looking, Hulu in particular.’’ It also helps that neither YouTube nor Hulu is a cable or satellite company, which routinely rank among the least admired by U.S. consumers.
Generally, TV networks make money from selling advertisements and charging pay-TV providers like Comcast Corp. to carry their channels. Advertising has flatlined as more consumers watch shows on-demand, often using ad-free services like Netflix.
Tomi Engdahl says:
5 Predictions For The Future Of Audio Marketing
https://www.cmo.com/opinion/articles/2019/2/7/5-predictions-for-the-future-of-audio-in-2019.html#gs.mGAzPDX4
In 2018, many companies started to explore the business potential of sound through audio branding. An increasing number of brands ventured into new territories, including podcasting, playlist curation, artist collaborations, and even hosting their own music festivals.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Secret Behind Bose Sound Revealed!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR10zEqVRvI
Dr. Amar Bose was a professor at MIT. From what I’ve seen from some of his lectures and interviews with him, he seemed like an amazing human being. When he died, he donated the majority of Bose’s shares to MIT!
One of Bose’s “secrets” was its frequency response specifications. This is an issue for most audiophiles and audio enthusiasts, because stating a speakers, impedance, sensitivity and frequency response are things that nearly every company does. This is just one of the reasons ” Why Audiophiles Hate Bose”
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/9175-samsung-poistaa-virtajohdot-televisioista
https://nl.letsgodigital.org/uploads/2019/03/samsung-tv.pdf
Tomi Engdahl says:
How One Movie Trilogy Ruined Action Films Forever
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evQZLw33htE
Modern action movies are all about shaky cameras and quick cuts. A lot of filmmakers draw their inspiration from the Bourne Trilogy—a film series that changed the way action movies are made through their unique editing style. But some of those changes have been for the worse. Has the Bourne trilogy sparked an era of poor film editing and deceptive action movies?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Breakthrough could enable cheaper infrared cameras
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190307131422.htm?fbclid=IwAR2cCzdOQkD8k95accudSkYS0cM0iQbG7-XZ91uF4Gfgnlo90-Wb_UDpHqM
Quantum dots could make technology available for self-driving cars, consumer electronics
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why DAB sounds so BAD – the UK’s digital radio shambles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27w3quNTP84
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tarkalla ja nopealla CMOS-anturilla yksinkertaisempia kameroita
http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/9192-tarkalla-ja-nopealla-cmos-anturilla-yksinkertaisempia-kameroita
Tomi Engdahl says:
Shelby Brown / CNET:
YouTube Stories and ARCore now offer an Augmented Faces API which lets users add Snapchat-like AR effects to short video clips
YouTube Stories adds Snapchat-like AR effects
https://www.cnet.com/news/google-adds-snapchat-style-ar-effects-to-youtube-stories/
YouTube Stories has fun, realistic filters ready for download for short video clips.
From dog ears to fairy crowns to monstrous fangs, filters and AR effects are old hat for social-media selfies. Now, YouTube is jumping on the bandwagon.
In this video, the glasses are virtual.
YouTube
In its latest release, YouTube Stories and ARCore now offer the Augmented Faces API so you can add glasses, masks, hats and other items to short video clips. Google, which owns YouTube, said in a blog post Friday that its use of 3D mesh has resulted in more realistic filters.
Real-Time AR Self-Expression with Machine Learning
https://ai.googleblog.com/2019/03/real-time-ar-self-expression-with.html
One of the key challenges in making these AR features possible is proper anchoring of the virtual content to the real world; a process that requires a unique set of perceptive technologies able to track the highly dynamic surface geometry across every smile, frown or smirk.
To make all this possible, we employ machine learning (ML) to infer approximate 3D surface geometry to enable visual effects, requiring only a single camera input without the need for a dedicated depth sensor. This approach provides the use of AR effects at realtime speeds, using TensorFlow Lite for mobile CPU inference or its new mobile GPU functionality where available.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Google is shutting down its Spotlight Stories VR film studio, part of Google’s ATAP group, according to an email from the studio’s executive producer
Google Shuts Down Its Spotlight Stories VR Film Studio
https://variety.com/2019/digital/news/google-spotlight-stories-shutting-down-1203163117/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sahil Patel / Digiday:
Email: Amazon to cut royalty rates in the US for Prime Video Direct creators from 6-15 cents/hour viewed to 4-10 cents/hour viewed, beginning April
Amazon is slashing royalties for video makers uploading to Prime Video
https://digiday.com/media/amazon-royalties-video-makers-uploading-prime-video/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Lucinda Southern / Digiday:
Hearst UK to double its video team in the coming months to create more original content for YouTube, says its on-site pre-roll revenue grew 1000% in 2018
Hearst UK doubles video team to focus on original series
https://digiday.com/media/hearst-uk-doubles-video-team-focus-original-series/
Hearst UK is investing more in its video team, nearly doubling the headcount from five to nine over the next few months after seeing viewer and revenue gains in 2018.
Hearst’s new hires will focus on creating more original video for luxury titles Elle and Harper’s Bazaar, as well as fitness titles Men’s Health and Women’s Health. While the focus is on growing on-site video views, Hearst wants to create more original video series for YouTube. Currently, three videographers are focused on creating news-style videos that can be shared across Hearst’s 22 titles, while two others support Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping, respectively.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Peter Rubin / Wired:
An early look at Facebook’s Codec Avatars, extremely life-like representations of individuals made by applying machine learning to data collected in a studio — “There’s this big, ugly sucker at the door,” the young woman says, her eyes twinkling, “and he said, ‘Who do you think you are, Lena Horne?’
https://www.wired.com/story/facebook-oculus-codec-avatars-vr/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2019/03/13/telia-tuo-liigakiekkoon-4k-tarkkuuden/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Best Video Editing Software for Windows: Late 2017 Review!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GV3HyoPyoI
Roundup of PC Video Editors in late 2017
9 Cuts Every Video Editor Should Know | Filmmaking Tips
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv3Hmf2Dxlo
Tomi Engdahl says:
BASICS OF GREEN SCREEN – Everything You Need To Know
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH8TWTt51W8
Tomi Engdahl says:
WHAT IT TAKES To Edit Big TV Shows
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ojMQlP1cR8
Josh cut on House of Cards, Bloodline and currently edits COUNTERPART (w/ Oscar Winner J.K. Simmons). Here’s his take on cutting it in Television.
Counterpart is a sci-fi thriller on STARZ. Editor Josh Beal is currently editing Season 2 and allows us an inside view of his timeline as he demonstrates scene work and speaks to:
- The editor’s role
- Storytelling techniques
- The workflow on a TV show
- The responsibility of the Assistant Editor
- How to become a TV Editor
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hollywood’s History of Faking It | The Evolution of Greenscreen Compositing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8aoUXjSfsI
Take the full Filmmaker IQ course on the History of Greenscreen with sauce and bonus material
Go inside the history of the travelling mattes (now called chromakey) and learn the history of visual trickery used by filmmakers from the earliest filmmakers through to the modern day.
https://filmmakeriq.com/courses/the-history-of-greenscreen/
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/9220-bluetooth-musiikki-parani-vihdoin-cd-tasoiseksi
Bluetooth on ilman muuta yleisin tapa siirtää musiikkia langattomasti, mutta koodekkien kirjava taso on pitänyt audiolaadun korkeintaan välttävänä. Nyt tilanne on korjautumassa Qualcommin uuden aptX HD -koodekin avulla, joka alkaa yleistyä esimerkiksi Android-puhelimissa.
AptX HD -koodekin Qualcomm julkisti vuonna 2016. Se tukee bittivirran lähettämistä 576 kilobitin sekuntinopeudella ja erittäin pienellä viiveellä (30-40 millisekuntia, noin kolmannes AAC-koodekin latenssista). Tämä mahdollistaa CD-tasoisen äänen tuottamisen Bluetooth-linkin yli.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Here’s why we’re entering the Golden Age of Podcasts, in 10 graphs
https://chartable.com/blog/golden-age-of-podcasts
Tomi Engdahl says:
Don’t buy expensive cables! #audiophiles #highendaudio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rUD1Kxoybw
The cable controversy is way out of control, and it doesn’t need to be. Use the cheapest cables and your music will sound totally fine.
BUT, it might sound better with better wires, so if you’re cable curious, try cables you can return if you don’t hear a difference. Either you will or you won’t. It’s not more complicated than that.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Paper Cup Mic Is Fun And Functional
https://hackaday.com/2019/03/02/paper-cup-mic-is-fun-and-functional/
SM57s to cover guitar cabs, fancy gilded ribbon mics for vocal takes, and a variety of condensers to round out the selection. That’s all well and good for high-fidelity recording, but what if you want to go the other way? [LeoMakes] has just the thing, with his sub-$10 paper cup mic.
Tomi Engdahl says:
An HDMI Input For A Laptop Screen, Minus Laptop
https://hackaday.com/2019/03/14/an-hdmi-input-for-laptop-screen-minus-laptop/
The lack of HDMI inputs on almost all laptops is a huge drawback for anyone who wants to easily play a video game on the road, for example. As to why no manufacturers offer this piece of convenience when we all have easy access to a working screen of this size, perhaps no one can say. On the other hand, if you want to ditch the rest of the computer, you can make use of the laptop screen for whatever you want.
Driving a Laptop LCD using an FPGA
https://www.element14.com/community/groups/fpga-group/blog/2019/03/04/driving-a-laptop-lcd-using-an-fpga