Apple’s iOS 4.1 finally ready to download
Apple has finally made the iOS 4.1 update available to (select) iPhone owners, bringing a couple of enhance features.
Game Center is the most exciting new addition, bringing the chance to compete against others across the world - or 'experience social gaming' as Apple puts it.
iTunes Ping - another social feature from the Apple-ites - is available too, allowing you to share the things you love with unsuspecting buddies who may or may not care.
On the hardware side, the camera's getting some more love already, with HD photography being added with the iOS 4.1 update.
Enhance!
This means the phone takes multiple shots at once, helping you get the right 'light intensity' in photos.
The video zone has also been tinkered with, insofar as you can now upload HD video to MobileMe and YouTube directly from your iPhone 4.
Click and plug and accept and wait over on iTunes with your iPhone, and you'll be the proud owner of a +0.1 newer iPhone. Unless you downloaded iOS 4.02, in which case it will only be 0.08 better. Sorry.
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Review: Triangle Lyrr
Founded some thirty years ago in North East France and one of three major French speaker brands to make a serious impression on the international stage, Triangle's success is primarily due to its very distinctive drive unit technology.
The £3,300 per pair Lyrr is the largest of three stereo pairs in the Genese range, which itself occupies the middle ground between the inexpensive Esprit EX series and the seriously upmarket Magellan range.
Both the smaller Genese models, the Quartet floorstander and the Trio standmount, have been reviewed previously in Hi-Fi Choice, with, it must be said, somewhat mixed results. While both had distinctive and attractive characteristics, both also had their fair share of weaknesses, too.
Drumskin behaviour
The common ground between the three Genese models is unmistakable. All share the half external horn-loaded tweeter on the top and the curved veneered enclosure sides.
In truth and since both are floorstanding three-ways, the Lyrr is much closer to the Quartet, with similar pleated surround midrange drive units and steel plinth arrangements.
The Lyrr's three-way driver line-up has three 160mm bass units with 120mm fibreglass/carbon fibre cones and high-excursion rubber roll surrounds. This impressive-looking collection is mounted with one above and two below a twin 'Siamesed' port arrangement and takes up much of the front panel.
The large moulded twin port, divided by a central horizontal divide, is presumably arranged to load the driver above and the two below separately, reflecting an internal divide that creates two distinct sub-enclosures.
Above the multi-driver bass section and positioned unusually high off the ground, is one of Triangle's unconventional midrange drivers. This also has a 160mm-diameter cast alloy frame, but in this case it is fitted with a plain 133mm-diameter paper cone and a short-travel pleated surround.
The point is that a driver that only covers midrange frequencies doesn't require cone excursion – the cone actually behaves a little like a drumskin and the surround's job is merely to absorb the vibrations that get to the edge of the cone and avoid re-radiating them. (There are obvious parallels with the FST driver Bowers and Wilkins uses in most of its three-way models.)
Above that midrange driver and actually well above seated ear height, the Lyrr's tweeter is a horn-loaded 25mm titanium dome, mounted in a pod that's half in and half out of the enclosure proper.
Although the mounting arrangements would seem to promote wide dispersion, in fact this is likely to be cancelled out by the relatively narrow distribution created by the horn.
Massive spikes
The whole thing sits on a proper steel plinth, which comes fitted with rubber feet and a front-centre 'grounding' pointed cone with captive disc, all of which ensures polished floors won't suffer damage.
A set of four massive spikes for carpet penetration is also supplied, though these lack lock-nuts and the disc on the front cone cannot be removed. Stability is good – the plinth essentially supporting the speaker as a tripod with two extra stabilisers.
The tall floorstanding enclosure is elegantly finished in mahogany stained real wood veneer, with a piano gloss black front. (All over piano black is also available at an extra £350). Curved sides give extra strength and superior internal standing wave and reflection control, while internal partitions and braces further stiffen the structure. Neat magnetic grilles attach to screw heads holding the drive units and two pairs of high-quality socket/binders act as input terminals.
The previously mentioned price tag is quite hefty and, perhaps, sits a little uncomfortably between the mainstream and the high end, but you do get a whole lot of speaker for your money here, with a considerable selection of high class ingredients.
Unusual height
The Lyrrs were fed primarily from a system comprising a Naim NAC552 preamp and NAP500 power amplifier (driven from Naim CDS3/555PS and Rega Valve Isis CD players) and a Magnum Dynalab MD106T FM tuner. Vinyl record players included a Linn/Rega hybrid and a Funk modified Linn with FXR II, both using a Soundsmith Strain Gauge cartridge.
Positioned well clear of walls, as common sense indicated and subsequent measurements confirmed, first impressions are very positive, thanks to the loudspeaker's fine overall neutrality across a wide bandwidth.
The bass goes satisfyingly deep, while staying free from unwanted mid-bass emphasis and thickening; the midband is well projected and dynamically involving, if not entirely free from some 'paper cone' colorations, while the treble is well integrated and free from fierceness or edginess.
Perhaps the Lyrr's most distinctive characteristic is its unusual height, which somehow aids the precision of the stereo image. Exactly why this should be the case we cannot say for sure.
Perhaps it's due to a combination of the midrange driver delivering the sound from a little above the listeners and slightly reducing the impact of floor reflections. Or, perhaps, it's due to the relatively directional nature of the horn tweeter and the consequent reduction in room-reflected top end. But, there is no disputing the evidence of the ears, or the general superiority of the Lyrr's imaging.
While the bass is certainly well balanced and extended, it could have rather more authority and grip. It fills in the bottom end very effectively, but doesn't exactly impose itself on the music.
First and foremost one notices the midrange and while the bottom end doesn't in any way lag behind in timing terms, it doesn't seem to drive the music along with any particular purpose or intent.
The midband is a trifle exposed and not exactly free from colorations, but it is wonderfully communicative through the voice band, delivering fine expression and the full intentionality of singers and speech. Furthermore, this is achieved without sounding either 'shut in' or unpleasantly aggressive – in other words, the presence band and the mid-to-treble transition is very well judged indeed.
And while there is some slight 'quack' and occasional edginess, one quickly adjusts to this little bit of 'character' and the presentation always retains its fine timing and dynamic expression.
First class
The Lyrr is far from inexpensive, yet it ticks an awful lot of boxes. Though physically far from discreet, it's good looking in a 'tall dark and handsome' way and fashionably slim to boot.
It's a sonically very attractive prospect, too. The Lyrr supplies a fine neutral balance with deep and even bass, a dynamic and well-projected midband and a well-integrated top end.
It's not the last word in bass authority perhaps, but its stereo imaging is first class.
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Updated: LCD vs Plasma: which is best for 3D TV?
Building the perfect TV has always been an impossible task for the bigshots of the electronics world.
While the current batch of flatscreen efforts are brighter, thinner and better than ever, the problem is that there's always room for improvement.
The contrast ratio can always be improved on as well as aspects like colour reproduction, pixel density, resolution, brightness, thickness and bezel size, to name but a few.
And that's not even mentioning the new challenges that inevitably get thrown up as new technologies are invented.
The current headache facing Sony, Panasonic and the like comes in the form of a new phenomenon found in 3D TVs called 'crosstalk'.
How it works
To create the illusion of 3D on a two-dimensional screen, a 3D TV needs to show two separated images, one for each eye.
Current 3D TVs show the two separate images sequentially - so very quickly one after the other. Active shutter 3D glasses are then synchronised by the TV's infrared emitters, and close and open the shutters many times per second, in time with the images.
When the left eye image is shown, the right eye shutter closes and so forth.
But if the two images are not separated perfectly, part of the right eye image will be seen by the left eye and vice versa. And this causes crosstalk - a sort of blurry ghosting effect around some edges in the picture.
Crosstalk can occur if the liquid crystals in an LCD panel do not switch fast enough from bright to dark or vice versa, or if the phosphor cells in plasma panels have an afterglow that lasts too long.
3D glasses can also cause some crosstalk if they're not precisely synchronised with the TV or if they are sensitive to an inclination angle.
At best, crosstalk can be an unwanted distraction, while at its worst it can completely ruin the 3D effect and make a 3D picture unwatchable. And it's the battle to eliminate crosstalk from 3D TV pictures which is currently occupying the minds at the big telly manufacturers.
So if you're thinking of buying a new 3D TV, how do you ensure that you buy the TV with the least amount of this disturbing crosstalk?
Many people believe it comes down to that age-old choice between LCD and plasma. So which telly tech is best for 3D?
LCD vs Plasma in 3D: the case for plasma
Panasonic is famous for making some of the world's best plasma screens, while also dishing out a fair helping of top-end LCD TVs too.
However, the Japanese giant says it believes plasma to be by far the best tech to use with 3D, and that's why it has limited its 3D output to its VT20 and GT20 plasma TV ranges thus far.
"Obviously we think that plasma is better for 2D so this already implicates that it would be better for 3D as well because for a TV, 3D is much more difficult to handle," Markus Wagenseil, technical marketing manager for Panasonic, tells TechRadar.
"On the TV, [crosstalk] depends on how fast the TV can swap from the left eye image to the right eye image and then back to the left eye image again. It has always been the case that the response time of a plasma is much, much quicker than of an LCD.
"So we're saying that we have a response time of around 0.001 milliseconds, so basically there is no response time, you put a charge on a cell and it will light up.
"We don't say that plasma is completely crosstalk free because if you light up the plasma it needs some time to afterglow. To reduce that we developed a short stroke phosphor for our 3D TVs which has a decay time of only one third of that in a conventional plasma. So with that we reduce the crosstalk from white into black.
"But there is a second type of crosstalk - from black into white - because an LCD always has to twist the crystals whether it needs to switch from black to white or white to black. And from black to white is a much more crucial crosstalk because LCD produces up to 35 per cent crosstalk when the pixels are changing from black to white, while plasma has zero crosstalk in this area."
The role of heat
Wagenseil also highlighted another factor which affects crosstalk in LCD panels, which is heat.
As an LCD TV heats up, the liquid crystals in the panel become less viscous and are thus more agile.
This means a cold panel cannot perform as well as a hot panel, because the liquid crystals cannot twist as quickly, which causes crosstalk issues.
"Another thing you don't have with plasma is that you have no run-in time in terms of heat," says Wagenseil.
"3D LCDs need a run-in time of between 60 and 90 minutes in order to achieve a reasonable quality, but with plasma you can just switch it on and it's maximum quality straight away."
And Panasonic doesn't believe the advantages of plasma over LCD stops there either. Wagenseil says that the glasses used with 3D LCD TVs are also responsible for creating more crosstalk than those compatible with plasma displays.
"The final major implication is with the glasses," says Wagenseil. "LCD is outputting polarised light while plasma outputs unpolarised light. So what do you think happens when someone wearing 3D specs moves their head?
"With unpolarised light nothing happens. Basically you can turn the glasses all you want and they will work in any direction. With an LCD, the glasses will shut down if you angle them to 90 degrees because the polarisation angle of the glasses is then not aligned any more with the polarisation angle that's outputted by the TV.
"Another competitor found that it's a very good idea to put a circular polariser on the glasses and just leave the front polariser on the glasses away. So with that, their one advantage is that they don't lose so much brightness. But there's a serious issue coming with that because only inclining your head by 10 to 15 degrees you already end up with 20 per cent crosstalk by default.
"And if you incline the glasses 90 per cent the closed lens actually lets in double the amount of light than the open eye. So there are lots of implications for LCD which makes it really hard to fight for."
Eliminating crosstalk
All TVs these days come packing mighty image processors, and so 3D TVs use those processors along with some complex algorithms to identify where crosstalk is likely to occur, and to adjust the picture accordingly.
The main picture adjustment that a TV can make to manage the crosstalk issue is to reduce brightness in the parts of the screen where crosstalk is going to occur. By temporarily reducing brightness in these areas, you reduce crosstalk and make what remains as well hidden as possible.
But Wagenseil says that even with powerful processors, LCD TVs are still riddled with crosstalk problems.
"If you think, with an LCD now you have a warm up time of between 60 and 90 minutes plus the panel has different temperatures wherever you look at them because in front of the power driver it's very hot and on the outside areas of an LCD there's not as much temperature. So looking at that, as an LCD manufacturer, how do you adjust your crosstalk compensation to so many variables. It's not going to happen perfectly."
LCD vs Plasma in 3D: the case for LCD
There are certainly many good reasons for Panasonic to say that PDP is a fundamentally better technology for 3D than LCD.
However, plasma is not without its flaws.
Brightness has always been a problem for plasma TVs - the panels struggle to produce sufficient amounts of light while also keeping power consumption down and maintaining a thin chassis.
This is an area where LCD TVs have always excelled. And with recent advances and the introduction of Direct LED LCDs - where an array of LEDs behind the LCD panel illuminate the screen instead of an always-on CCFL lamp - the sheer amount of light produced is a factor which gives LCD something of an advantage when it comes to reducing crosstalk.
Danny Tack, director for technical marketing at Philips, and named the 56th most influential person in Tech in T3's Tech100, believes that it's LCD's ability to produce more light that makes it a better technology for 3D.
The Philips approach
"Crosstalk is the new thing which you need to keep under control. The way you can keep it under control is by playing with light and some clever processing," says Tack.
"My opinion is that you can have good quality with plasma, but you get better 3D quality from LCD because there is much more light. There are two key facts which we think makes plasma weaker for 3D than LCD.
"For starters, the light that comes out of a plasma is not polarised. It comes out in all directions. In LCD, it's polarised already coming out of the screen. So in LCD you get 500nit polarised light out, and in plasma you get less than 500nit and it's circular light, it has to go through the glasses which are polarised which means with LCD you don't lose light and with plasma you do.
With plasma's glasses you only get half the light through because you only get light from one direction, you lose 50 per cent brightness. That's a fact."
Contouring
Tack also believes that contouring is also a big problem for plasma 3D TVs. Contouring - more commonly referred to as posterisation or solarisation - is a phenomenon seen in older plasma screens where a gradient of colour is not produced accurately enough, resulting in the appearance of ugly colour bands with edges that aren't supposed to be there.
"Yes, plasma has done a great job, year-by-year increasing their sub-fields, went up to 10 and got no contouring. They solved the contouring problem almost completely," Tack says, "but going now to 3D, you have two pictures at once. They claim full resolution per eye, but now actually with the sub-fields you need to divide them over two pictures so you get per picture now only five sub-fields. That is going back in time, we know that when you have less sub-fields, you have contouring. So that is a problem that comes back in plasma."
A sub-field is something a plasma panel uses to pulse illuminated cells repeatedly while each frame is being displayed. A 600Hz sub-field drive is able to pulse each cell/pixel ten times per frame, creating smooth motion.
The scanning backlight
Tack also says that while edge-lit LCD TVs have a comparable amount of crosstalk to plasmas, Direct LED TVs can have much less crosstalk as a result of a scanning backlight. A scanning backlight is able to reduce and increase brightness in parts of the screen to manage the crosstalk problem in realtime.
"I would do the same if I was the Panasonic guys, I'd bring up response time. Indeed we all know that certain colours in PDP have a very fast response, but others have a lot longer so a slower response time.
"For me, the key things when it comes to good 3D is you can reduce it to two elements. It's getting the crosstalk under control, and getting sufficient light. On those two elements, with light, LCD is definitely in the advantage because we can produce much more - we can create a huge amount of light and we can use that advantage over plasma by trading it off. How do you trade it off? By scanning, you lose light by that but scanning definitely will improve your crosstalk because you will not put light where the overlap of right and left pictures are and by doing that you can reduce crosstalk."
Tack admits that Philips' new range of 3D TVs do still have a crosstalk problem, but he says he firmly believes it will be eliminated within a few years.
"Yes, that is true, in the first generation of 3D I agree with you there is in every product a bit of crosstalk. But we can go very fast to no crosstalk. I have seen solutions like the goggles, if you can get the goggles' shutter time higher or you can have better technologies in the goggles, you can use that to eliminate crosstalk. Next year we will make a big step forward. Whether it's going to be zero I don't know but we will do our best."
LCD vs Plasma in 3D: the verdict
With so many factors affecting crosstalk on 3D TVs, it's impossible to find a definitive winner between LCD and plasma.
However, that doesn't mean both are as good as each other. Indeed, editor of AV trade title Home Cinema Digest and regular TechRadar contributor, Jamie Carter, thinks that plasma has the edge over LCD at the moment:
"3D is a very new technology – when did the first generation of any new tech look immaculate right from the off? It's true that the specification for 3D Blu-ray adopted throughout the industry came from Panasonic, so it has had more time to work on reducing crosstalk, but it's still first-gen technology.
"Crosstalk is basically when the two 3D images don't swap quick enough – your right eye is seeing what was only meant for the left eye, and vice versa. Surely this is mainly down to the speed of the panel - and in that regard, plasma is going to have the advantage for now. From what I've seen, I think plasma has the edge over LCD for now in terms of crosstalk – it's barely noticeable on plasma."
Brightness
Carter agrees with Tack that LCD TV's superior brightness can be an advantage, but when it comes to crosstalk he's not so sure it's a good thing.
"Plasmas are traditionally dimmer than LCD panels," he says, "but on either technology the 3D glasses cuts out a lot of the light. The lack of brightness is arguably safer since crosstalk is most obvious in 3D images that feature a lot of contrast between light and dark colours.
"It's fair to say that only 400Hz LCD TVs can expect to really challenge plasma in terms of reducing crosstalk, especially if 3D gaming becomes mainstream. Panasonic can't afford to sit on its laurels, though – there may be little crosstalk on a 3D plasma, but I've noticed flicker around the edges of moving objects; 3D is still some way from looking 'real'."
Meanwhile, although Panasonic has so far been the only company to release 3D plasma TVs, Carter thinks it could be telling that Samsung and LG have both recently launched 3D plasmas.
"Manufacturers are still testing the water. Until now Samsung and LG have been concentrating on LCD for their 3D sets, but both announced 3D plasmas at IFA – LG's PX990 and Samsung's C680 and C490 plasmas. Is that revealing, and a sign that LCD is being sidelined for 3D? It's more likely a case of sitting on the fence – Samsung, LG and Panasonic are the last three remaining manufacturers with huge plasma TV production plants."
It's not just Carter who believes plasma has the advantage, either. The consensus across the TechRadar team is that LCD has some catching up to do, and in fact we couldn't find any TV journalists at all who would endorse LCD as the superior technology.
So what does this mean if you're looking to buy a new 3D TV? The key thing to remember is that most of the content you're going to be watching will still be 2D. So basing your choice solely on 3D performance would be a mistake.
It's about finding that all-round performance sweet spot, which ultimately comes down to personal preference.
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Opera Mini gets upgraded for Windows Mobile
Opera has announced a new version of its Opera Mini browser for Windows Mobile handsets, offering a greater range of features.
Opera Mini 5.1 has already been downloaded countless times on Android, BlackBerry and Java-based feature phones, but now comes to Microsoft's platform.
If you're the proud/angry and frustrated owner of a phone running Windows Mobile 6 series, 5 series or even 2003 SE, then you can now download the new browser.
Of course Opera Mobile is also available, but this version installs less software onto your handset.
Enhance!
You can now set Opera Mini as the default browser on your WM handset, as well as use the accelerometer in your phone to automatically switch orientation when you tilt the phone.
Phones with higher resolution displays are now also supported as well as improved page layout and rendering, so things will look that little bit clearer.
Plus you've still got the benefits of Opera Mini present on all devices - namely the compression technology that it claims speeds up web browsing and data compression, meaning more MB for your money.
It's available to download today - just navigate to m.opera.com in your phone's browser to get the optimised version for your phone.
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Review: Roksan Caspian M2
Roksan organises its electronics into several ranges of which the Caspian M2 range is half way, senior to the Kandy K2 and one step short of the Platinum series (which includes component pre and power amplifiers).
The Kandy and the M2 series are quite different internally, though surprisingly it is the Kandy amplifier which, on paper, is the more powerful of the two.
The M2 replaces the original Caspian range (which was launched the best part of 12 years ago) and the Caspian M1 series electronics, which underwent significant improvements internally.
The M2 is, in essence, a complete new model range and the CD player and amplifier are intended to leverage the performance of the company's mainstream electronics products upwards, while retaining a mainstream price.
Stylish pairing
Both the M2 components are unusual in the way they're presented. Although the fascia is an aluminium die-casting, the top panel is made from stainless steel, a harder material than aluminium and not easy to work with. But it has an excellent appearance and can be formed much thinner than aluminium.
It's structural properties mean it can be used to make a slimmer, smoother exterior, especially where it wraps around the base. It also gives the units a very distinctive and, we think, unusually attractive appearance.
Above all, the M2 is a well-turned out and arguably stylish pairing, though they are essentially classic stereo components with a bare minimum of flim-flam. They are presented well, with a contrasting black slab fascia and display windows, which are curved in characteristic Caspian style.
The rest of the structure is also well finished and typical of Roksan's great build. The M2 components are each supplied with an identical remote control, the design of which we haven't encountered elsewhere, though presumably it comes from a standard OEM supplier.
It is a full system remote, pre-programmed for both components in the Caspian and the Kandy ranges, but with enough buttons to control the amplifier and CD player, without needing to select the specific component. The unit also includes an impressively large, clear backlit LCD display.
The same handset will also control the matching tuner from each range.
Short-circuit protection
The updated M2 Caspians are simple looking, but internally sophisticated mid-market products, senior to (and more expensive than) the base level Kandy range.
Power output of this bipolar design is 85 watts per channel, which surprisingly is quite a bit less than the cheaper Kandy, which has a MOSFET output stage and is rated at 125 watts But the differences in output stage architecture make direct comparisons of this kind problematical. So what do you get for your money?
The amplifier has six inputs, including one for tape, plus a tape out and two pairs of preamplifier outputs, which allows the Roksan to drive one or two external power amplifiers – if more power is needed (one example would be a bi-amplified system).
One of the inputs is also available in an alternative balanced XLR connection, matching a similar output provision on the CD player.
There is also a power amplifier input too, though this needs to be activated internally. The internal design includes two mains transformers, a 350VA torroid for the high-power stages and a smaller 60VA torroid for the preamplifier. Both are described as ultra-low-noise, low-leakage designs.
A mains input filter is also included and output protection is provided by a thermostatically controlled cooling fan, short circuit protection and power supply failure detection. This cuts the output until the cause of the problem has been resolved (relays protect the output stage).
The various fan and protection circuits are more comprehensive than with the Kandy which, according to Roksan, is due to the fact that the amplifier has a very wide, open bandwidth and a correspondingly rapid rise time – which can trigger momentary high current flow. The Kandy appears to be a much slower circuit. And, in any case, MOSFETs are inherently self-limiting, at least to some extent.
Only the key features – source selection and volume, plus a mode switch and tape select are available on the front panel of the two M2 units. Other features can be accessed from the remote control.
The partnering CD player feature set corresponds almost exactly to what you would expect of a standard CD player. The display is of good quality and informative, though it is mounted below the disc loading tray, which means it is not necessarily readable if the player is positioned below the eye line and the drawer is open.
The front panel controls take care of the basics: track access, play, pause and stop and the quick-acting loading drawer. Around the rear are the usual single-edged outputs and the XLR balanced connectors to match the amplifier provision.
There are also no less than three digital outputs – a TOSLINK optical, S/PDIF electrical out and an AES/EBU balanced output via an XLR connector. A surfeit of riches!
A clear edge
The two M2 components don't appear to need extensive running in and in day to day use are fully on song within less than half an hour. Most of the listening was done using balanced interconnects. Latterly Roksan's own Pulse cables, which worked particularly well, easily outperforming a relatively low-end Nordost cable.
The CD player has particularly good timing and a more crisply defined and propulsive quality than some of the better known players in the same price territory. The same applies to the amplifier, which is sharp and on the button, almost as though it is balancing on the balls of of its feet, making some of the more prominent pretenders to the title of best disc player in its price class, however smooth and polished they may sound, seem a little slack.
In fact, there are no complaints about the M2 CD player. Yes, we missed the fact that it lacks SACD compatibility, but based purely on sound quality there is not usually a lot to choose between the two formats, except that the best hybrid SACDs sound just a little sweeter, more organic and less processed. But there are plenty of individual titles which contradict this, or that don't show a specific advantage in either direction.
Much the same can be said of the amplifier. Again, the M2 can sound a little rough around the edges, but its muscularity and drive gives it a clear edge over most competitors, most of the time.
It has solid stereo imagery and is even capable of the kind of subtlety that helps the ear interpret delicate, low-level ambient information as clues to depth imagery. Think of Mahler's off-stage band in several of his symphonies, or the kind of depth that helps create the sense that you are listening to a recording made in an identifiable acoustic of a particular size, which can often be sensed almost subliminally in live recordings.
The amp has the kind of punch and dynamics that you would expect of a grown-up model and even more than the CD player. Its excellent timing, for example, works really well with difficult and large scale material. It is also most effective at moderate or even fairly high volume levels, though it is not completely even in the way it treats music.
It is not the answer to all musical requirements and if it runs out of steam it can sound a little harsh and messy. But this is the exception. Selecting almost at random from discs that saw service during this test and which were not preselected for any compelling reason, the amplifier and CD combination worked really well with a recording of Britten's War Requiem (Rattle/CBSO), especially the male voices, Scott Walker's Tilt and some Alison Krauss and Union Station recordings.
All the above found the Roksan combination's sweet spot. Some recordings – an example being Jennifer Warnes The Well (SACD version) – seems to chime better with the (cheaper) Marantz KI Pearl Lite SACD player, as well as benefitting from the DSD recording.
Others, an example being Schoenberg's Gurrelieder (Esa-Pekka Salonen/Philharmonia) sounds slightly rougher around the edges through the Roksan as a DSD recording and as a Red Book CD, especially at the high volume levels that this music demands. But at reasonable levels within the compass of the amplifier, Roksan offers a bold, gripping and undeniably authoritative sound.
Persuasive and gripping
The M2s are very nearly the complete package, despite being a little uneven in their qualities and clearly not ideal for every disc it played. But this is a criticism that can be made of just about any comparable amplifier and disc player at this price level.
Other similar combinations (the Marantz Pearl Lites are obvious examples) are sometimes tidier, but often less successful at scaling the heights the Roksan was able to reach.
So, in conclusion, the M2s are often the more persuasive and gripping choice. The two components are also attractively designed and built, and their compact dimensions are a definite plus.
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Review: Audio-Technica AT2000T
Moving-coil cartridges are wonderful things, but they suffer from a disadvantage in their extremely low output, often less than 1mV peak, or one two-thousandth of what most CD players produce. Clearly, low-noise amplification is a must.
Because they have a low impedance, the self-noise of such cartridges is actually very low, but getting an amplifier to match or (ideally) better it is hard work.
It can be done with transistors or valves if you use enough of them, but it can often be more practical to use a transformer to provide some initial gain before active devices are called into play.
Challenging
A transformer, being passive, provides no power gain, but it can step up voltage (reducing current inversely) by enough to make low-noise active amplification much more efficient.
As a maker of cartridges, Audio Technica is well aware of the challenges and has designed the AT2000T transformer to step up the output of typical low-output moving coil designs.
Unlike some 'universal' transformers, it has no impedance selection, just a single input and output per channel, but it is claimed to match cartridges with impedance between two and 17 ohms, which in practice means the vast majority available on the market.
Its voltage gain of 24dB will boost the level sufficiently to feed a standard moving-magnet input.
Screwless
The transformers inside the case are small, under 40mm each way (actually by the standards of MC transformers that's quite big!) but the case is this size for a reason. Small-signal transformers are made of materials that are sensitive to mechanical shock and their electrical performance can be permanently affected by dropping them. They can also be mildly microphonic.
AT has taken the unusual step of fixing these transformers by surrounding them with soft plastic foam: no screws or other metal fasteners are used.
Around that is the case made of a high-permeability grade of magnetic material that provides effective magnetic screening – though you're still advised to keep the unit away from mains transformers and anything else that might generate hum fields.
Noise reduction
We happened to have an aged, but honest AT cartridge on hand, plus models from Denon, Goldring and Ortofon, plus various phono stages too, so we were able to try this transformer under a range of conditions.
It's impressively capable, and we mean it as a compliment that we were never really aware of its presence, except in one very valuable respect: it really does reduce the noise compared with even the best phono stages we could lay our hands on.
Transformers are not strictly noise-free because they have stray resistance and other factors which limit their performance, but this one approaches the ideal very closely.
As a result, it gets the most out of high-quality cartridges, making the replay system quieter than even the run-in groove on most LP pressings. The net difference while music plays may only be a couple of dB of signal-to-noise ratio gained, but subjectively that's well worthwhile in terms of extra resolution, veils lifted and so on.
Our Ortofon MC2000 (an oldie, but a goodie) sounds perhaps clearer than we've ever heard it, producing images of real solidity and stability, with a much better-defined acoustic around the performers than all-active amplification produced.
Sweet extension
Transformers are sometimes accused of compromising the frequency extremes, but even with slightly mismatched cartridges (impedance over 20 ohms) we couldn't hear any such effect.
Indeed, the unusually low noise makes the bass even clearer than ever, with a shade more weight to it but immaculate control and precision (the treble is very sweetly extended and open). There's no hint of coloration in the midrange: as with bass, the AT2000 makes things even purer here, simply because one's ear isn't trying to filter out quite so much noise and hash.
In the lab, we found bandwidth is superb and dead flat across the audio band plus, at least, an octave each end, while distortion is low at both high-and low-signal levels.
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Review: Roksan Radius 5.2
The Radius design has undergone so many changes over the years that practically no single part is left of the original, yet it is instantly recognisable as the same model.
In current guise, the Radius 5.2, it is an all-acrylic, semi-suspended turntable, with the familar Roksan 'egg' shape for the subchassis. Three compliant rubber mounts support the subchassis, while the motor is mounted compliantly in a housing which in turn is supported on the plinth.
The arm, included as standard, is the Nima unipivot. The subchassis shape is certainly visually attractive, but its original justification was to do with control of resonance.
Regular shapes tend to be more resonant than irregular and this one is sufficiently irregular to improve matters considerably compared to, say, a circle or rectangle.
The platter, of course, is unavoidably regular, but its acrylic material is in itself fairly 'dead', one of the reasons it has become so popular. It's supported on a new, close-tolerance main bearing and driven around its periphery by a silicone belt.
Compliant motor mounting is another Roksan speciality – that is, highly compliant, to the extent the motor very visibly wobbles as it starts up. It's not immediately obvious what the pros and cons of this are, though clearly it's likely to limit the amount of motor vibrations getting into the structure.
Similarly debatable, are the benefits of unipivot arms (of which the Nima is an example). It has a metal tube with a slightly decoupled counterweight mounted at the rear and an acrylic headshell at the front, all supported on a single needle bearing.
The slight downside of this is a very high pivot point, though low friction is an advantage. The arm lead is captive and is securely fastened to the plinth.
Sound quality
Roksan has always set great store by rhythm and pace and our listeners seemed to agree that these are particularly well handled by the Radius.
There was considerable praise for these, but if anything there was even more praise for bass definition, control, and detail. Possibly not what the Roksan stereotype would suggest – which is exactly why we're so fond of blind listening!
That said, it seems the tonal balance isn't entirely neutral across the board and one listener did point to a degree of coloration, most obvious with the piano recording, which interfered with his enjoyment. However, the others seemed much less bothered by that and were able to appreciate the fine information retrieval this deck is able to achieve.
Along with that it manages very good imaging, and was among the best at portraying both width and depth of an image.
In terms of timing, one of the listeners pointed out that the percussion in The Wall not only started, but also stopped, with notable precision when played on this deck. That makes for very persuasive rhythm all round, and the sound is indeed highly convincing in just about every genre.
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Review: Logitech Squeezebox Touch
The Squeezebox Touch is nothing less than an absolute bargain. There is truly little else to say about this incredibly easy to set-up and enjoy network player.
It crams a shed-load of technology into a 150mm by 110mm enclosure, which is just 10mm deep – albeit increasing to 40mm at its base to accommodate its connection sockets.
The player delivers internet radio along with music streamed from any computer(s) on your local network. It is wireless-capable, but we used it predominantly with a CAT5E Ethernet connection to enable it to access music reliably on a computer and NAS, running the free Squeexebox Server software, which runs on Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems.
We supplied it with rips from a £370 VortexBox Appliance 1TB NAS, which conveniently comes with Squeezebox Server already installed and configured – although putting it on a Windows PC is only a five-minute job.
Fully featured
You can connect the Touch to a regular hi-fi system through a pair of RCA analogue sockets, or through a DAC using the coaxial or optical output. Equally, you can connect it straight to a set of active loudspeakers in an appropriately compact office or study system.
While inspecting the back panel you will also notice a USB port, into which you can plug a memory stick or drive containing music you would like to play. There is also an SD-slot on the side of the player, in case you wish to play music stored on an SD card.
To use either of the sources one simply selects them in the on-screen (touch-screen) display. There is also a 3.5mm headphone jack outlet for late-night listening.
We prefer using the display to control the player rather than the remote handset, but this is mainly down to personal preference and familiarity. Either way, the interface is logical and responsive.
Touching the remote control increases the size of the display font, a feature our eyes particularly appreciated on the recently reviewed and considerably more expensive Arcam Solo Neo. There is no doubt that the Touch delivers a rewarding 'user experience', one that certainly belies the budget price of the unit.
Connecting to network audio is perhaps the feature that will be most attractive to the majority of buyers, but internet radio might prove more so to those of a not especially energetic disposition. We certainly enjoyed having Radio Paradise select music for us while we sat and relaxed.
A slick package
The question of build quality does not really arise with the Touch: it is little more than a circuit board and a touch-screen, with a handful of connections pinned to the rear of the plastic case. There are no mechanical components to fail or slip out of adjustment. Everything works as it should and the whole shebang looks sleek and shiny.
Its packaging is exemplary and Logitech even thoughtfully supplies a cloth for cleaning the screen. The favourable impression created by the slick packaging is reinforced when you flick through the user manual and discover just how easy it is to get the unit connected to your network and playing.
No elevator music
It truly seems churlish to criticise the Touch overall, when one looks at what one is getting for the price: streamed audio, internet radio, alarm clock functions and all for £260 or less.
The sound is not a million miles away from that of the Slim Devices Transporter I and that was comfortably over £1,000. It will now set you back around £1,799.
Sound quality obviously varies with the source material. High-resolution FLAC files naturally sound the best. They are understandably not as detailed as they are with the high-end Linn Klimax DS or the Naim HDX, but they sound vital and alive and do not sink to background or elevator music quality as one might expect.
At the other end of the performance spectrum, decent bit-rate internet radio still sounds plausible and entertaining, even if it is not a completely audiophile experience.
The sound offers an appreciable degree of subtlety: for example, it clearly reveals deft brush work on a hi-hat by a drummer behind a female vocal. This really is not the sort of polished performance one expects from a £250 streamer. It is extraordinarily assured, enjoyable, and highly authentic in musical terms.
Dynamically, the presentation seems slightly muted, but not to the degree that any listener is moved to complain. The unit has an embedded version of the server software, so that it can replay music from a USB hard disk with no external assistance.
The software enumerates a 160GB disk very quickly and replays tracks with the same ease that it reveals when playing from the Vortexbox appliance.
A stellar performer
The Squeezebox Touch thoroughly deserves to be a phenomenal success. It is a stellar performer and can hold its own against far more expensive competition. It strikes us as being the ideal office system: it sounds good; it looks good, it is a breeze to operate and it takes up negligible desk space.
Store your music on a convenient hard disk, install Squeezebox Server, add a pair of active loudspeakers and that is it: your music is totally sorted.
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T-Mobile G2: HTC Android 2.2 handset unveiled
T-Mobile has announced the arrival of the G2, its latest 'with Google' handset, which has been made by HTC.
Currently only available in the US, the T-Mobile G2 is the first smartphone specifically designed for T-Mobile's new HSPA+ network2, which means super speedy downloads using the US' 4G network.
This is the direct successor of the T-Mobile G1, which was the first Android phone on the market way back in October 2008.
The T-Mobile G2 has been given a large 3.7-inch screen which has a hinge design that opens to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard.
Android 2.2
It has been built on Android 2.2 and offers the usual seven customisable home screen panels, including a dedicated panel with one-click access to Google apps such as Android Market.
As it is 2.2, Flash player is enabled and the phone packs 4GB internal memory with pre-installed 8GB micro SD card, with support for up to 32GB of external memory.
There's also a 3.5mm jack and Swype pre-installed, which is a bit of a bonus.
Chip-wise, the T-Mobile G2 is powered by a Snapdragon MSM7230 which offers an 800 MHz CPU.
There's is also HD video shooting on board, with the G2 having a 720p HD video capabilities and a 5MP camera, complete with LED flash and autofocus.
The T-Mobile G2 has also been optimised with Google Voice, so you can shout orders at your phone and it should obey.
Current T-Mobile customers in the US will get exclusive access to preorder the G2 starting later this month.
There is no UK release date for the T-Mobile G2 just yet, but we will keep you posted as soon as we get further details.
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Video: Google Instant launches, pushes dynamic results
Google has unveiled its brand-new search engine this week, Google Instant.
Instead of waiting for you to press the search button, Google Instant brings you results in real-time, which change with each and every key stroke.
The result is the speediest search engine we have seen, which predicts what you are about to type.
"You don't really want search-as-you-type (no one wants search results for [bike h] in the process of searching for [bike helmets])," explained Marissa Mayer, VP Search Products & User Experience , in a blog post.
"You really want search-before-you-type – that is, you want results for the most likely search given what you have already typed."
Cache rules everything around me
In the blog post, Mayer explains the technology behind Instant Search, noting: "To bring Google Instant to life, we needed a host of new technologies including new caching systems, the ability to adaptively control the rate at which we show results pages and an optimisation of page-rendering JavaScript to help web browsers keep up with the rest of the system.
"In the end, we needed to produce a system that was able to scale while searching as fast as people can type and think – all while maintaining the relevance and simplicity people expect from Google."
On Twitter, Google CEO Eric Schmidt was so excited about the launch he hinted before the release: "We are already fast... fast is about to get faster."
Not everyone will see Google Instant straight away as this is a rolling launch. However, if you are in the France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain and the UK and sign into Google you should have it.
Google does not say whether it will become the core search engine experience for Chrome, Firefox, Safari and IE 8.
If you can't wait to see Google Instant, then point your browser to www.google.com/webhp?sclient=psy to try it out.
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