Hasta La Gadget!

If you wished that more Bang & Olufsen products offered AirPlay or DLNA support, you might be in luck as the company has recently taken the wraps off the Playmaker (pictured above in the center). With the receiver hooked up, your AirPlay and DLNA devices will be able to stream audio to pretty much any of the company’s speaker offerings. Now we’re sure that some of you guys, particularly audiophiles, who might be concerned about the drop in quality due to wireless streaming. Well while we haven’t actually got a chance to try the Playmaker out ourselves, Bang & Olufsen is promising that the device will still help to provide clean and powerful sound thanks to a built-in DAC.

The Playmaker is expected to arrive in stores by the end of the month and will retail for $425, pretty expensive for a receiver alone but then again with Bang & Olufsen, it is almost to be expected. However if you’ve got the cash to spare, Bang & Olufsen is offering the Playmaker that comes packaged with BeoLab 3 speakers which will set you back a whopping $4,310 for the whole setup. So, any takers?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay A8 audio system gets an update, Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay V1 arrives in the US,

Bang & Olufsen has been slowly but surely adapting to a wireless world. Its new Playmaker (shown at center) brings that evolution to audio: with the receiver linked up, any AirPlay- or DLNA-friendly audio device can beam its sound to a set of the Danish firm’s designer speakers. Wireless audio bridging isn’t anything new by itself — we know at least one rival that might say it’s old hat — but the company is promising clean and powerful sound through a built-in DAC that can drive even the beefiest of BeoLabs, like the 2,500-watt BeoLab 5. We can look forward to the Playmaker reaching stores before the end of the month, but we’ll pay a premium for all that theoretical power. The bridge by itself costs $425, while a special bundle with BeoLab 3 speakers will set listeners back an eyewatering (if ear-melting) $4,310.

Continue reading Bang & Olufsen unveils Playmaker wireless audio bridge, makes sure AirPlay and DLNA speak Danish

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Bang & Olufsen unveils Playmaker wireless audio bridge, makes sure AirPlay and DLNA speak Danish originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What’s round and sits in the corner of your room spoon-feeding you Kanye West? If Sony has any say in the matter, it’ll be the latest members of the SA-NSx family of wireless speakers. The three new models — the 310, 410 and 510 — come on the coattails of the firm’s latest media players, and all come with built-in WiFi, AirPlay and that 360 degree design. As well as the wireless options above, there are apps for Android and PC, so non iOS users can keep the jams coming too. If you really want your music on the go, the 510 model also has a built-in battery for the extra portability. How much does all this fun and style cost? That’d be £150 (about $230) for the 310, £200 ($310) for the 410, rising to £300 ($470) for the 510. All of them available now.

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Sony’s new wireless speakers let you enjoy music ‘SA-NS’ cables originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 14:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Primed goes in-depth on the technobabble you hear on Engadget every day — we dig deep into each topic’s history and how it benefits our lives. You can follow the series here. Looking to suggest a piece of technology for us to break down? Drop us a line at primed *at* engadget *dawt* com.

Digital audio. There’s a very good chance that you’ve enjoyed some today. It’s one of the more universal aspects of technology. In fact, perhaps the more relevant question would be, when was the last time you listened to an analog format? The truth, for many, will be quite some time ago — vinyl purists and the odd cassette fanatic aside. Yet, despite its ubiquity, there’s a lot of misunderstanding and confusion about digital audio. Some believe it’ll never match analog for true fidelity, some assert quite the opposite. Many lament the lack of a tactile format, while others love the portability that comes with zeros and ones.

In this installment of Primed, we take a look at the history of digital sound, as well as provide an introduction to some of its key components, with the view to helping us understand it better. Wondering what bitrate to encode your MP3s at? Or whether you should choose a 96 or 44.1KHz sample rate? We thought as much. By the time we’re through, these questions should no longer lay heavy on your mind, and you can enjoy that latest Knife Party, or Britney track as much as its bit depth allows. What’s bit depth you say? Well, read on to find out…

Continue reading Engadget Primed: digital audio basics

Filed under: Software

Engadget Primed: digital audio basics originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The iPad’s touchscreen display is primarily designed for use with your fingers, but people have created other unique ways to interact with it— styluses, board game playing pieces, and now these adorable hand-cranked interactive music boxes created by design student Joelle Aeschlimann. More »