Archives for September 2003

DTS (Digital Theater Systems, Inc.) has reached a rather impressive milestone. More than 200 million consumer electronics products have been shipped worldwide containing DTS-licensed technology or intellectual property.

The count of DTS-licensed products includes DVD players, receivers, amplifiers, pre-amps, video game consoles, car audio processors and head units, PC-based software decoders and 5.1-channel speaker systems for the PC.

Unit sales of consumer electronics products with DTS technology reached just 3,000 units in 1994, its first year of availability. The number soared to 100 million units annually, as of August 2002. More than 200 consumer electronics manufacturers worldwide license DTS technology today.

“The number of DTS-licensed products now exceeds 200 million, which attests to the appeal of DTS technology and brand amongst consumers and consumer electronics manufacturers alike,” comments Jon Kirchner, president and CEO of DTS.

“The fact that we have reached this milestone at the same time we’re celebrating DTS’ ten-year anniversary also underscores our increasing establishment in the industry.”

In addition to consumer electronics products, DTS licenses its technology to the pro audio industry, and distributes its own encoder/decoder units via a global dealer network. DTS-encoded audio is available on thousands of DVD-Video and DVD-Audio titles, on the company’s own DTS Entertainment-branded 5.1 Music and DVD-Audio discs, as well as on video games for Sony’s PlayStation(R)2 gaming console.

DTS is an innovator in the development of multi-channel digital sound technology for the consumer electronics and professional audio markets, including home A/V, video games and consoles, broadcast, personal computers and mobile and portable audio systems. Today, every major consumer electronics manufacturer supports DTS technology. DTS also offers hardware and software encoders to the professional audio communities, allowing them to produce DTS audio content directly.

DTS decoders are in virtually every major brand of 5.1-channel surround processors, and DTS sound is featured on more than 20,000 motion picture screens worldwide.

DTS Web Site

Swiss maker Barix is adding “pro” quality interfaces to its line of home audio networking devices that use Ethernet to move streaming audio (MP3, Internet radio, and now uncompressed, full-resolution audio as well) between home audio systems and computers or Internet connections.

At CEDIA 2003 in Indianapolis (Sept. 3-7, 2003), Barix and North American distributor Grid Connect will be announcing and demonstrating the new Exstreamer Digital Professional ($425 US) and Instreamer Digital Input Professional ($425 US) interfaces.

The new models add high-quality audio capabilities to the compelling features already provided by the basic Exstreamer ($179 US) and Exstreamer Wireless ($299 US) network players.

The general idea with all of the Barix players is that they use standard computer networking technology – Ethernet at 10/100 Mbps for wired devices, and 802.11b protocol for wireless – to distribute audio from computer file and Internet streaming sources, via standard stereo audio connections to consumer electronics equipment.

You connect the Exstreamer to an Ethernet network, access it via a Web browser anywhere on the network (or even a remote location on the Internet), then control digital audio files or Internet audio streams from anywhere on the connected network.

You can use multiple Exstreamer devices to inject audio into home entertainment systems throughout your home or office location, in any room with a network connection.

While the original Exstreamer model provides RCA jack and headphone outputs, the new Exstreamer Digital Professional MP3 and Streaming Music player adds stereo digital S/PDIF outs via both TOSlink optical connector and RCA jack.

The new model also provides IR remote control features, even functioning as a bidirectional transparent infrared gateway with an optional stick-on transmitter.

The advanced, high-end features make the Exstreamer Digital ideal for use by professional home installers, who can now handle just about any customer requirement when setting up a distributed audio system. It can be controlled by Web-connected pads and PDAs, in addition to computers, or simply by an IR remote control. With serial and Ethernet control API’s, the device can be managed from typical home automation systems. Software developers can even develop custom audio applications using one of the well-documented Ethernet, serial or Web-based interfaces.

A typical application will be in multi-room distributed audio systems. Thanks to its audio synchronisation capability, digital audio distribution to large halls or rooms with interconnecting, open doors or gates is now possible and easy to implement.

Average home users will also find Exstreamer devices are easy to install, thanks to their unique SonicIP and IPzator features: after power-up, the device will speak it’s own IP address to the audio port!

The new Instreamer Digital Input Professional shares similar technology and control features, but moves audio in the opposite direction – from the home audio system, into the computer streaming out to the Internet. Audio from stereo systems, tape players, tuners, microphones, or other sources can stream audio onto the network.

The Instreamer’s audio connections include Line In (RCA, 2Vpp max level) and S/PDIF In (TOSlink optical and RCA), instead of outputs. It converts analog and digital audio into MP3 streams, and serves it to the connected network just like an ordinary Internet radio station.

Barix Web Site

Exstreamer Web Site

Yamaha‘s Yamaha’s RX-V440 A/V receiver has won the Home Theatre Receiver category of the European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA)’s European Home Theatre Awards 2003-2004.

The European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA)’s membership of 50 leading magazines specialize in audio-visual and related products and are based in 20 European countries. Each June, EISA panels examine all audio-visual-related products introduced during the preceding twelve months and choose the best equipment in each category. The EISA Awards are considered to be among the most prestigious consumer electronics accolades, not only in Europe but the whole world.

The RX-V440 AV receiver is a high-performance, high-sound-quality receiver that is completely compatible with the latest 6.1 channel surround features. The EISA European Home Theatre 2003-2004 award was given based on a comprehensive evaluation of the RX-V440’s all-around functionality, easy set-up process, high-quality sound, and high ratio of performance to cost.

Yamaha also took the award in the High-end AV Product category, for its DPX-1000 projector. The DPX-1000 employs the most up-to-date generation of full-digital DLP projector technology, featuring a newly-developed, high-performance optics engine. The EISA award was in recognition of the DPX-1000’s high-precision color fidelity as well as its incorporation of advanced technology that enables an “amazingly” high contrast ratio and film-like picture quality.

The RX-V440 ($299 US) is designed to provide excellent performance and an easy operation design at an affordable price. It features Yamaha’s Digital ToP-ART design concept, high current amplification, a 32-bit Cinema DSP LSI, full surround format compatibility, 24 surround programs with Yamaha’s exclusive Quad-field Cinema DSP, Silent Cinema, On Screen display, and 96kHz/24-bit DACs for all channels.

Key Features of the RX-V440

• High power 6-channel discrete amplifier configuration (75W x 6) [20-20,000 Hz, FTC]
• Digital ToP-ART (Total Purity Audio Reproduction Technology)
• High Current Amplification for high sound quality
• Compatibility with the latest movie sound formats including Dolby Digital EX, Dolby Pro Logic II, DTS-ES Discrete 6.1 and DTS Neo:6
• Powerful 32-Bit Yamaha LSI (YSS-938) for Cinema DSP processing
• 24 surround programs (44 variations) with Silent Cinema and Night Listening modes
• Front panel Video Aux input terminals
• Speaker A, B, or A+B selection
• 2 component video input terminals

Yamaha USA Web Site