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Tuesday 30 July 2013

AudioQuest DragonFly


Product Description 

      AudioQuest DragonFly: Brilliant Sound from Your Computer, Simply and Affordably Run a Mini-to-RCA Cable from the DragonFly to Your Stereo System to Stream Incredible Sound Connect DragonFly Directly to a Pair of Headphones or Powered Speakers for Stunning Digital Audio "I can think of no more recommendable product in digital audio." - Art Dudley, Stereophile The audiophile community is buzzing about the new AudioQuest DragonFly. This tiny USB Digital-to-Analog Converter connects to the USB jack on any Mac- or Windows-based computer and delivers vastly superior sound quality. Stuffed with state-of-the-art features, DragonFly provides unbeatable sound quality. It's also extremely affordable and incredibly portable. The DragonFly practically installs itself. It's so easy to use, you will be listening to music in seconds. "AudioQuest's DragonFly USB DAC is brilliant in every respect: form factor, cool factor, versatility, value, and sound quality. I can't think of a product that makes high-end sound more accessible to more people. Want better sound? Here, plug this into your computer. Done." - Robert Harley, The Absolute Sound DragonFly features a 3.5mm (1/8") mini-jack for its analog output. It's user-selectable for either a Variable or a Fixed output. Variable Output Mode takes advantage of DragonFly's 64-position analog volume control, allowing it to be used with headphones, ear buds, powered speakers, or directly into an amplifier. The Fixed Output Mode allows DragonFly to be connected to any audio system. All that's required is a readily available mini-to-RCA analog cable and you will be listening to reference-level audio for a song! "Holy smokes! What a giant step forward in sound quality with this setup! The smooth, clean, refined sound I'd heard before remained, but now with a level of transparency, detail, and immediacy that running the signal through the preamp hadn't provided. The result was a noticeable incre


 

Tuesday 22 July 2008

How to Choose a MP3 Player

Purchasing anything for entertainment purposes is going to be expensive, especially when talking about mp3 players. With more brands and companies getting into the music business and producing mp3 players, there are naturally more choices for consumers to compare. If you're looking into buying an mp3 player then you probably shouldn't simply choose one that's sitting on a shelf in the store.

For starters, there are plenty of these music players that may have way more capabilities and uses then what you could ever need it for. In addition, another issue to consider is whether or not you'd like to view photos, movies, and games as well. Here are some mp3 player issues to think about if you're going to break down and buy one of those sleek little music toys in the store.

Amount of Space: First and foremost, one should most likely consider how much music they have on their computers or compact discs to be transferred to their mp3 player that they want to buy. There are all sorts of mp3 players with varied amounts of space that one can have. For example, the Apple iPod Classic can hold 160 Gigabytes of music space, which should be more than enough for any average music lover.

It can hold about 40,000 songs and over 150 hours of video files. Of course, there are plenty of smaller options to choose from as well in the mp3 player arena. For example, mp3 players can be purchased all the way down to a small 512 megabyte player, which can hold about 150 or so song files.

Use of the Player: The second issue that one should consider about an mp3 player is what they'll be using it for. Since the amount of music space that can be purchased ranges from very small to very large, there are plenty of mp3 player brands available for all sorts of uses.

For example, a person who is a jogging enthusiast may only require a small player than can easily fit inside a pocket or clip onto a shirt. On the other hand, a disc jockey may want to invest in a very large mp3 player that can hold thousands of songs in order to make it easier to access and hook up to a sound system for a party or dance.

Movies, Pictures, and other Uses: As mentioned, there are some mp3 players like some of the Apple iPod versions that can easily store movie and picture files. This can be a great purchase if you plan to watch movies quite frequently or if you'd like to store your favorite pictures to show off to everyone. On the other hand, students can benefit from having an mp3 player since they're able to store documents, school papers, and various other files as well.

In addition, business professionals can easily store computer files and presentations for their work on their mp3 player if they so choose. Computer files are so easy to access from any location from an mp3 player since virtually all computers have at least one or two USB ports to use.

Consumers definitely have a lot of choices when it comes to the mp3 player industry. Both small and large mp3 players are available, but you need to take into account the amount of songs you'll want to store, what use the player will have, as well as whether or not any other files will need to be stored on the device.

REF:http://www.articlesbase.com/technology-articles/how-to-choose-a-mp3-player-485738.html

Apple iPod Shuffle 2GB : Review & Features

The latest from the Apple iPod family is the 2GB iPod shuffle which lets you wear up to 500 songs on your sleeve as a badge of musical devotion. iPod shuffle comes in four vibrant colors and the original silver to suit your music and your mood and it is the only iPod that is wearable right out of the box.

The iPod Shuffle Weighs 15.6 grams with a height of 1.07 inches and width of 1.62 inches. It holds up to 500 songs in 128-Kbps AAC format and Stores data via USB flash drive. With skip-free playback it supports audio formats: AAC (8 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), WAV, and AIFF.

iTunes offers some new features for iPod shuffle. One is the ability to reduce the bit rate of songs to 128 kbit/s AAC. The conversion is done automatically, with the original file left untouched on the computer and the smaller (lower bit rate) file sent to the iPod shuffle. iTunes also allows an iPod shuffle playlist to be viewed and changed while the unit is not connected; the next time the unit is connected, it can then be updated with the changed playlist.

The simple features of an iPod shuffle includes : Controls which is a circular control pad that puts the go in ergonomic. Click the center button to play and pause. Click the outer buttons to move back, skip forward, and adjust volume. A built-in clip, iPod shuffle goes with anything. Clip the iPod to your sleeve, lapel or coin pocket. No matter where you wear it, iPod shuffle speaks about your style. The iPod has a Shuffle switch. Flip the shuffle switch to mix up iPod shuffle's contents. Flip it again to play your handpicked playlists and albums in the order you synced them from iTunes. The headphone jack does double-duty as a dock connector. Flip iPod shuffle upside-down and drop it into the included dock. Connect the dock to your Mac or PC for a quick sync and charge. Away from your computer? Charge on the go with the optional Apple USB power adapter.

With up to 12 hours of battery life, iPod shuffle may keep rocking even longer than you do. Green means go, amber means you are low, and red means you've almost hit zero. The battery life is very good, considering the small profile and the versatility of the gadget.

As such lot has been said about this iPod, but does it really serve the basic purpose, as being the cheapest, simplest and smallest iPod to date.

REF:http://www.articlesbase.com/technology-articles/apple-ipod-shuffle-2gb-review-features-485447.html

Sunday 13 July 2008

The Wonders Of Patch Leads

What makes a good connection for networking PCs and allowing computers to communicate with each other, whilst you play a LAN game? The RJ45 patch leads of course. Ok, maybe this is something you have never heard of before, but it is still vital piece of equipment when it comes to all things technological. For those who do know what the RJ45 patch lead is, will know that it is useful piece of device that helps to send across data information.

Originally patch leads were used in telecommunication, way back when film was grainy and lacked Technicolor. They were so named as early uses of telephones were proceeded through an operator, who would connect or patch the call through by plugging in a lead into another socket. This took a few minutes but this was what they would call patching a call through. The term stuck to identifying the cable, because it quite literally was the way a patch lead worked.

The RJ45 connector is so named for its use in telecommunication. This is best described as the cable, which has a flat connecting end and plugs into the phone socket. There are many different types of connectors including RJ11, RJ 14 and RJ25. RJ45 patch leads are possibly the most favoured piece of equipment in the UK, with these being the main source for data transference and networking. The RJ in RJ 45 stands for registered jack and refers to the wired jack.

These RJ45 patch leads may not be the most beautiful things you have ever seen, unless of course as stated before you are passionate about computers and networking! However, without these we would not be able to make good uses of our music industry, send data across from one computer to another in a blink of an eye, play our favourite games against each and hold LAN parties, make telephone calls, gain faster internet connection and the list goes on. In short these are possibly one of the most important things in our modern world.

Older cables were much more bulkier and high maintenance, they were inefficient in transferring data across from one computer to another and would generally lose information during the transfer process. Modern cables tend to be smaller, thinner, less maintenance and rarely lose data information when transferring. These have become useful for most major businesses and organisations, sending out vital information at quick time making things easier to run.

Reference: