Audio Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Origin Stories: Naturespace

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (May 3rd, 2013)

I've always been a sucker for soundscapes -- those looping sound effect CD's that whisk you away to the beach, or a rainforest or whatever. As I have a hard time "shutting down" my brain, these sounds give me something to get lost in and focus on, helping relax me. I think it's the same way for a ...

AppleScripting Microsoft Outlook > Announce New Emails By Voice

by Ben Waldie (Apr 1st, 2013)

In my last post, I demonstrated how to write an AppleScript that verbally announces when new emails arrive in Mail. Some readers asked whether the same thing could be accomplished with Microsoft Outlook. It certainly can. Here's how... Creating and Installing the Script 1. Launch AppleScript ...

Belkin's Thunderstorm case cranks your iPad to 11

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (Mar 19th, 2013)

In my office I tend to rock out to a 300-watt stereo system. When I go to wash dishes and have to use my iPad's native speaker, well, there's no comparison. Belkin's Thunderstorm case won't crank up to the level of a really large stereo, but it is loud enough to punch through very noisy ...

THX sues Apple for speaker designs found in iDevices and iMacs

by Michael Grothaus (Mar 18th, 2013)

THX has filed a lawsuit against Apple alleging the computer maker has infringed on its speaker designs. As Bloomberg reports, THX holds a patent that was granted in 2008 that covers narrow-profile speaker designs in consumer electronics and their ability to boost sound output. The technology is ...

Review: RHA MA150 low cost, high quality earphones

by Matt Tinsley (Feb 15th, 2013)

I use my iPhone a lot to listen to music when I'm out and about. And I have a really great pair of earphones to use for this purpose. However, they are high-end in-ear monitors. And while they sound amazing, they are not always practical for day to day tasks like going for a run or shoving them ...

Sonos introduces Playbar, an iOS-controlled, nine-speaker TV sound solution

by Mel Martin (Feb 12th, 2013)

Sonos, the popular wireless whole-house music system, is moving into video in a big way, with a new product called the Playbar. The Playbar is designed for all those TVs that are using the low-fi built-in internal speakers. Sonos' solution, which integrates with the Sonos music systems, provides ...

Elsewhere for Mac OS X takes you elsewhere

by Mel Martin (Feb 5th, 2013)

Elsewhere: Ambient Nature Sounds is a nice little free app that lives on your menu bar and plays ambient sounds in the background while you work or relax. There are three environments; City, Forest and Beach. Each soundscape has a switch for nighttime or daytime ambience, or the app can change ...

THX tune-up is a free iOS app for home theater fans

by Mel Martin (Jan 30th, 2013)

Here's something nice from those folks at THX. It's a free app (through February 4, then it's US$1.99) that allows you to assess the state of your home theater and make adjustments to improve audio and visual performance. THX tune-up connects to your TV with the Apple Digital AV Adapter and an ...

WaveJamr promises Bluetooth audio freedom, but delivers frustration

by Michael Rose (Jan 21st, 2013)

Update: The RadTech team has responded to this post (see comments below) and asked me to evaluate a more recent revision of the WaveJamr that resolves many compatibility issues. As soon as it arrives, I'll give it a try. No doubt, the idea of the US$39.95 WaveJamr audio adapter is a fine one. ...

Ion Audio shows off its latest offerings, including the AirCopy and the iDJ2Go, at CES 2013

by Mike Schramm (Jan 8th, 2013)

Ion Audio has a booth set up as usual on the floor of this year's International CES, where it is showing off a number of new and fairly new products for anyone coming to see them. This company is one of our favorites -- they make some really excellent iOS accessories and fun devices (including ...

Audiobus claims to mix audio sources on your iOS device

by Mike Schramm (Dec 10th, 2012)

We've seen before that iOS can be very powerful in terms of producing audio, but there's one big drawback, and it's that iPhones and iPads are still only designed to be used for one task at a time. If you want to do more than one task at a time (like combining beats with a synth, or processing ...

Apple still working on 'next version of Logic Pro'

by Mike Schramm (Dec 3rd, 2012)

There have been rumors bouncing around recently that Apple's digital audio division has been losing employees over the past few years, to the point where it's just a couple of guys still around to maintain the audio apps that are still out there (mostly just Logic Pro, which last saw a new full ...

Plex releases Media Server v0.9.7.3 with new Plex/Web client

by Megan Lavey-Heaton (Nov 20th, 2012)

The latest update to Plex Media Server allows access to the new Web client, which is pretty sweet. It lets you access your content from anywhere in the world using a fairly recent browser and it works great on Chrome and Safari. Navigation is smooth and quick, and the in-browser media player ...

If you're a home theater fan, you will want this iPad app

by Mel Martin (Nov 18th, 2012)

Home Theater Magazine has released Home Theater Top Picks for iPad, which has capsule coverage and pricing of audio and video equipment that's been reviewed favorably in the magazine. The app is divided into categories such as flat-panel displays, processors & amps, furniture and more. If ...

RHA MA450i noise isolating earphones a great alternative to new EarPods

by Michael Grothaus (Oct 8th, 2012)

To be sure, I'm not an audiophile, but I am discerning enough to know what headphones sound better than the ones I'm used to. I'm not a big fan of the new EarPods Apple released last month. While they are an improvement over the old earbuds, I've recently found a pair of earphones I like a lot ...