Author Archives: Stephen Dawson

Speed, speed, speed

The other day I was playing a podcast on an iPod and had to stop listening for a while. When I resumed play some time later, the damned thing started again from the beginning. I had to search through to … Continue reading

Posted in Computer, Portable | 1 Comment

Free speech

The Australian government seems somewhat inclined to adopt a course of evil, in the form of media regulation. It is not for no reason that the first amendment to the US Constitution is phrased as ‘Congress shall make no law … Continue reading

Posted in Misc, Rant | 2 Comments

A 3D puzzle

I installed a shiny new 3D projector — DLP, which so far are the best kind for 3D performance. I popped into the player a demo Blu-ray 3D disc I always start with, and it only displays in 2D. So … Continue reading

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

More reviews

I’ve been adding a few of my Blu-ray reviews to the site, here. These include a Blu-ray vs DVD comparison for The Crow. Had fun, of course, due to the different framing of the formats. The DVD is 4:3, but … Continue reading

Posted in Blu-ray, DVD | 2 Comments

The things you can do with Lego

Via the Skeptics Guide to the Universe, here’s a harpsichord built entirely out of Lego. It looks beautiful, and it works. The MP3 on the linked page is the opening to Bach’s ‘Goldberg Variations’.

Posted in Misc, Music | 1 Comment

Money for Air

What do you reckon, good value for money?

Posted in Audio, Equipment | 1 Comment

Dirty glass, dull bulb

Well, that was disappointing. This evening I went to see Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows at the local cinema. The movie was okay, but I fear that I failed to enjoy it because I was totally distracted by the … Continue reading

Posted in Cinema | 1 Comment

Summer Wars

Do you like Japanese Anime? I have one copy of the Blu-ray for Summer Wars. No box. Ask for it in comments. Australian postal addresses only.

Posted in Blu-ray, Giveaway | 3 Comments

Can you even hear SACD/DVD Audio improvements?

Incidentally, while researching my piece on SACD, I came across a recent study in which double blind tests were conducted to determine whether people could pick between SACDs and DVD Audio discs on the one hand, and the same discs … Continue reading

Posted in Audio, Codecs, Music, Mysticism | 2 Comments

I Hate Direct Stream Digital

Direct Stream Digital (DSD) is the digital format used by Sony in the Super Audio CD (SACD). But SACD is only one form in which it is used. I seem to remember that back in the day, Sony was promoting … Continue reading

Posted in Audio, Codecs, Music | 8 Comments