Author Archives: Stephen Dawson

Harry Harrison dead

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Stephen Dawson

Yesterday, apparently. A fine science fiction writer whose works were, according to IMDB, barely represented in the movie stakes. His only novel to make it to the big screen was Make Room! Make Room!, which became Soylent Green with Charlton … Continue reading →

Posted in Misc | Leave a comment

The Loudness War

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Stephen Dawson

Here’s a brief video on how processing of sound in order to make it louder also makes it worse: (The clip isn’t appearing in Preview, so here’s the direct link.) The example is somewhat overdone koupit-pilulky.com , but there’s nothing … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Compression | Leave a comment

Are songs getting ‘louder’?

Posted on August 2, 2012 by Stephen Dawson

Statistician William M Briggs features on his excellent blog an occasional series of posts dedicated to proving that modern music is crap 2pharmaceuticals.com , at least in comparison to older music. Although there are hints that The Beatles represent the … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, CD, Compression, Music | Leave a comment

Canberra Digital Radio lives for another year

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Stephen Dawson

And so does Darwin’s. Yesterday Commercial Radio Australia announced that the Australian Communications and Media Authority have extended the trial that permits digital radio to operate, at low power, in Canberra for another year. Likewise for Darwin. These are scientific … Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Radio | 2 Comments

Do you have a recent full HD Samsung TV?

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Stephen Dawson

If so, can you do me a favour? A number of Samsung TVs I’ve reviewed lately are unable to apply the ‘Screen Fit’ aspect ratio to HDTV. But that might be due to all the 1080i stations in Canberra broadcasting … Continue reading →

Posted in Equipment, Testing | Leave a comment

Beware the expert

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Stephen Dawson

There are advantages to old-fashioned analog music, according to some audiophiles. “There is a fuller sound to it, and more depth to the sound,” said Ryan Holiday, the New Orleans-based marketing director for American Apparel. He’s a new devotee of … Continue reading →

Posted in Analogue, Testing, Vinyl | 1 Comment

50th Anniversay

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Stephen Dawson

Today, according to the radio this morning, of The Rolling Stones’ first gig. Koupit Levitru v Praze

Posted in Music | Leave a comment

Monsters!

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Stephen Dawson

This seems to be a stellar year for Universal and its back catalogue. A few days ago it announced the release of fourteen Hitchcock movies on Blu-ray, and now it has announced for around the same time an eight movie … Continue reading →

Posted in 3D, Blu-ray, Cinema | Leave a comment

OLED

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Stephen Dawson

I am very keen to see one of these: a 55 inch OLED TV. I wonder how much they will be. Some of my new TV reviews are up on cnet now as well. For example 2pharmaceuticals.com , the LG … Continue reading →

Posted in Equipment | 1 Comment

Dial M for Murder in 3D, resurrected

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Stephen Dawson

A couple of years ago I called for the release of some of the 3D movies released during the format’s brief spurt of popularity in the early 1950s. One of the last movies made in 3D at the time was … Continue reading →

Posted in 3D, Blu-ray, Cinema | 1 Comment