codecs

MP3 Insider 102: A very special episode

Donald and Jasmine discuss an ultraportable DJ machine, MP3 players as necklaces, audio codec sound differences, a secret prize giveaway, and...naughty phone calls? Listen now: Download today's podcast

EPISODE 102 Tonium Pacemaker Samsung S2 Pebble Jasmine's favorite music gear JVC NX-PN7 dual iPod speaker On codecs and MP3 players ---Voicemail--- ---Zune giveaway---

FIRST PRIZE: One (1) Zune 80 + a Zune Marketplace gift card

RUNNER UP: One (1) pair Zune Premium Headphones + a Zune Marketplace gift card

RULES: 1) You must not be an employee of CNET. 2) You must live in the United States. 3) Entries must … Read more

Do codecs work differently on different MP3 players?

CNET's MP3 Insider blog posted a fascinating entry the other day on how CNET Labs tests the audio response of different MP3 players. They load several files of the type that are used to test traditional stereo equipment, such as white noise and pure sine waves, then plays them back into an audio analyzer, which reports numbers for qualities such as signal-to-noise ratio and total harmonic distortion. Two Creative players come out on top, the iPod Classic in the middle, and Microsoft's Zune in seventh place due to fairly mediocre harmonic distortion scores.

As Donald Bell correctly points … Read more

First Look video: The KMPlayer

It lacks a Help file, but The KMPlayer is one of the most powerful freeware video players I've seen. It includes a vast array of video- and audio-capturing options, as well as skins, a plethora of playback controls and tweaks, and broad DVD support. Check out what makes this an excellent competitor to the popular VLC Player.

Featured Freeware: Miro

The age of video distribution over the Internet has just begun, and open-source and DRM-free Miro for both Mac and Windows is perfectly poised to take advantage of the still-growing, still-unsettled paradigm.

Along with standard multicodec video playback, Miro supports torrents and completed torrent playback, watches to manage both old and new content in user-defined folders, resumable playback, video sharing and hosting, and assistance in creating videos. One of Miro's most compelling features are the channels that organize video feeds by topic--integration with Google, Yahoo, YouTube, and other search engines and video Web sites makes discovering favorites and new … Read more

A logo program I can get behind

Neuros is a device manufacturer with a simple focus: it creates devices that let you record video from almost any source into a digital format (MPEG-4) that can then be played on almost any device. The trick: its devices connect to your video output sources (VCR, DVD player, etc.) using standard analog RCA cables, avoiding digital copy-protection technologies like HDCP or CSS. I'm not a lawyer, but it seems like this method skirts the DMCA's anti-circumvention provisions: the devices don't bypass these digital copy protection schemes, they simply take the signal after the device has decoded it, … Read more

The audiophile debate

There's a war going on among music critics of a certain age. A few months ago, San Francisco Chronicle critic Joel Selvin mourned the loss of concern for sound quality in the MP3 era. Since then, writers for the Wall Street Journal and New York Times have thrown down the gauntlet for the other side, arguing not only that MP3s and other forms of compressed digital music are sufficient, but that audiophiles are delusional--especially older audiophiles, whose hearing has probably decayed to the point where they couldn't even hear all the things that MP3s take out. Slate columnist … Read more

Latest Nikon, Canon cameras get Vista support

Software updates from Nikon and Canon this month bring Windows Vista support for "raw" images taken with the companies' newest SLRs--and in Canon's case, a number of older cameras as well.

Raw images contain more data than JPEG and give photographers more control over processing, but different cameras and manufacturers use different proprietary formats, making support a challenge. Microsoft relies on camera makers to supply customers with "codec" software that lets Windows Vista--and any programs that use its image-handling abilities--read the proprietary raw image formats. In contrast, Apple writes its own codecs, and Windows XP … Read more

Open Interface raises bar on Bluetooth audio

Bluetooth developer Open Interface announced today that it has a new lossless audio codec that leaves the existing A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) standard in the dust. The codec is called SoundAbout Lossless and promises low-latency, low-complexity, multichannel Bluetooth audio, without compromising audio fidelity. Open Interface's Chief Operating Officer Rick Romatowski ran a demo of the new Bluetooth codec at our CNET offices last week, and we were definitely impressed. Jasmine France and I viewed a few scenes from House of Flying Daggers and were blown away by both the sound quality and the undetectable latency introduced by the … Read more

What's on my Zune?

Just to let you know a little bit more about me, here's the obligatory "hit random shuffle and tell me the first ten songs that come up" post. Only instead of using an iPod like most bloggers, I'm using my Zune.

(Full disclosure: this Zune is a review unit I received from Microsoft. I use it as my main music player for two reasons. First, my iPod's hard drive died out of warranty, and my wife is devoted to hers and won't let me steal it. Second, I convert a lot of vinyl using … Read more