Brief 659 | Chrome Mac Beta, Project Natal, Yeti USB, Xbox 802.11n Adapter, Rovi Automotive Solution, New York Meetup
Posted on: November 11, 2009
Posted in: Video
Posted by: Cali Lewis
Shownotes:
Looks like we’ll get the beta for Chrome on the Mac by December. If you’re using Chrome on a PC, 4.0 was released today.
Project Natal from Microsoft looks to be launching late 2010 with a sale price of between $50 and $84, with 14 Natal-ready games.
Blue Microphones announced a USB mic that’s also the world’s first THX Certified Mic called the Yeti USB Microphone.
Microsoft has an 802.11n adapter for the Xbox 360.
Parking your car in your garage may turn out to be much like docking your iPod one day if car and consumer electronics makers use a new technology called the Rovi Automotive Solution.
Details on the New York Meetup is on my blog at www.calilewis.me. It’ll be on November 20th. Hope to see you there!
You can save 25% on an Angie’s List membership by using promo code GEEK at www.angieslist.com/geek.
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November 11th, 2009 at 11:44 pm
I know the HR recruiter for Natal, I had no idea it was going to take that long to be released.
November 12th, 2009 at 2:33 am
For your show “seven from now” – just refer to it as “Brief 667, minus 1″
November 12th, 2009 at 8:29 am
Yeah, it’s cool to sync the car just like an iPod.
It is not quite easy if, like for me, the garage is 300 meters away from home.
Or if you don’t have a garage at all.
November 12th, 2009 at 9:32 am
hey, so… its not answer to the THX question, but its follow up information. the college i attended for audio engineering was going to have one of their studios THX certified… but decided against it, once the guy showed up to inspect it was clear that if you grease enough palms, you can get certified.
from what i understand, its all snake oil. so use whatever mic you want and use whatever speakers sound best to you. follow your ears!
November 12th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Don’t fear your future show. Despite the movies, 666 is a historical reference to a person, and has nothing to do with the devil.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_of_the_Beast
November 12th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Hi Cali! Big fan…nice work as usual.
The THX mic is THX certified, just as is your TiVo Series3. As you mentioned it’s a quality assurance standard; nothing to do with how recordings made with it will sound on any CE device. As their web site mentions: “After rigorous lab testing, THX certification affirms the ultimate in recording and playback fidelity thanks to superior design and quality”
More about THX certification can be found at http://www.thx.com/certification/index.html.
BTW, I record GeekBrief on my TiVo to for viewing when I get bored at work…you’re always a nice break! Working from home has its advantages.
November 12th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Maybe for brief 666 you could do all things BSD :)
Whats the fourth ethernet device in your home theater, AppleTV, TiVo, Xbox, ?
November 13th, 2009 at 1:50 am
Have fun in NY Cali! :)
November 13th, 2009 at 7:54 am
Hi Cali,
I just had to voice my opinion about THX. I’m an audio engineer (and not just because that’s what I do, but because I have proper formal training). As Bruce and Rich mention THX is just a (sound) quality assurance. That said, in case of the Blue mic, it’s just a marketing plot. It’s just so that the sales person at … (enter your favorite amateur music store name, ie: guitar center) can say: “it’s a THX mic and it’s going to sound awesome”.
I’m not sure how much the Yeti mic costs, but it’s probably going to be around $150. There is some pretty good technology nowadays that sounds good at low prices, but not quite that low. Generally a movie soundtrack (which THX most applies to) that is made to sound great is made with Mics and Pre-Amps (processing, recording equipment, etc.) that will run at least $2000/channel, which by the way is not THX certified.
As far as I’m concerned THX is to make sure that your viewing experience in the movie theater is as close to that of what the sound engineer mixed in the studio. The studio equipment and room acoustics are probably in the range of $15+Mil and since no movie theater would ever be able to afford that (and it would be pearls to the pigs anyways), they created the THX “standard” so that the sound quality can be guaranteed with as little money as possible.
As to your THX home equipment (ie: TiVo) they try to create the electronics that will “colour” the sound as little as possible to recreate the sound at which it was mixed. What most people fail to pay attention to is that the room in which the system is set up is an intricate part of the whole sound system and since they have no influence on that, THX means nothing. Furthermore ask any high end stereo guy (not hifi, but the kind of guys that hang out on http://www.audiogon.com/) and he will not care in the least about THX certification.
I think THX is really just watering down their status by allowing companies like blue to use the certification and thus lowering the “threshold” of sound quality. As equipment is getting better, THX should also up their standards.
And last. In the recording process, three fairly equal parts affect the sound quality: room, equipment and engineer! I’ve talked about the room and the equipment. If the person that is using the equipment is not “able” ( let’s leave it at that :-) ) your sounds will never be great. I recently bought a cheapo $22 lav mic and I can probably make that sound better than what most people can do with this Blue mic.
I hope I was not to confusing with some of my lingo.
Cheers, Hans
PS: You are using a wired lav, aren’t you? Which one is it and what do you use as a pre-amp when you are on the road? (do your “in camera” mic XLR inputs provide phantom power?)
November 13th, 2009 at 10:31 am
The only speakers you will really notice a difference on is on Bose products.
And THX doesn’t mean anything. It’s a spinoff of Dolby. It’s just a hype. I used to work at Dolby Labs and Lucasfilm. THX is just a consumer name for “good audio” but…the best audio equipment, as everyone knows is Bose.
November 13th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
Cally, Cheers from PA. THX recorded audio is like recording in HD video. When you record THX or HD you are recording in the highest standard you can achieve and it all depends on what you play back on as to what you get. Since most people are watching one TV at a time or one pair of speakers we have nothing to compare it against so we will be happy. Our audio engineers have two sets of speakers they use. The first set are the ones they like to use when editing and then they play back to match the pair they use in the conference rooms for client playback so it matches. Recording to the highest standard is always wise and then compress and crush to what the client requires.
November 14th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
Hi Cali,
I’ve voiced my opinion before in criticizing the brief, so I think it is only fair to comment if I find something positive.
I think The brief lately has been excellent. The stories are quick and plentiful and they involve real world tech and no concepts. I still dislike interview episodes (Like the ones in bed with XXX), but they don’t come along very often.
The big plus is that I hear news that I do not hear elsewhere. It gets boring to hear for the 20th time that Apple released new iMacs!!
Keep up the good work :)
Sam
December 22nd, 2009 at 3:06 am
Alright then!
December 24th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
I guess I’m gonna have to do some more research but this was a pretty good place to start.