Nikon D5600 Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
Nikon
Nikon sprinkles a tiny pinch of update dust on the D5600, a minor improvement to its D5500, a small but excellent, inexpensive dSLR that’s about a year and a half old. It’s a global debut — with the exception of the US.
The camera has three basic changes from its predecessor:
- support for in-camera time-lapse movies
- the ability to scrub through images in playback mode using the touchscreen
- the addition of NFC and Bluetooth, the latter for a persistent connection to your phone via Nikon’s meh SnapBridge app
That’s all folks. We don’t have any pricing or availability at the moment, though it’s probably soon. And as for the US, we’ll see it when we see it. (“The US availability for the camera will be announced at a later date,” a Nikon spokesperson told me.)
Nikon nirvana: Which Nikon dSLR?
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Google Home first impressions: It’ll get better
Google has been on a mission to make its way into the living room for years. The Nexus Q, Google’s futuristic digital media player from 2012, was perhaps the company’s first big push into the connected home space, though the device never actually made it to market before getting discontinued. Then in 2013, Google debuted the Chromecast – a small, affordable media streamer that’s become one of the most popular Google-branded products to date. But with the debut of the Google Home connected speaker, the search giant is trying something a bit different.
Google Home is meant to be a jack-of-all-trades device. You can speak to it, ask it questions, tell it to add things to your grocery list, play music through it, and even tell it to turn off the lights. It can even talk to your Chromecast, Nest Thermostat and a few other IoT devices to make your life a bit easier.
But is this a device you actually need? We’ve been using Google Home for a few days now, and there are some things you should know before running out and buying one right away. Here are our first impressions on the new Google Home.
Related:
How to set up and use Google Home
2 days ago
Build quality is great, for what it’s worth
You probably won’t be carrying around your Google Home too often, but it’s worth noting Google’s new smart speaker is very well built. Yes, it’s made mostly of plastic, and it may look a little like an air freshener, but it blends in quite well no matter which room of the house it’s in. It doesn’t really look like a speaker, either, especially compared to its biggest competitor, the Amazon Echo.
If you’re not a fan of the default White Slate model (the one we’re reviewing), Google has a variety of base color options to choose from at the Google Store.
See also:
More Google Home base colors now available starting at $20
2 days ago
Sound quality is actually pretty good
Google Home is a connected speaker, after all, so sound quality better be good. And from what we’ve experienced thus far, it’s very good.
Google Home has a total of four speakers, which can be found under the detachable speaker grill. Overall, when it comes to playing music or listening to podcasts, sound quality is actually really good. The speakers provide low bass and clear highs, and we haven’t really experienced any major downfalls in the overall quality of sound.
Perhaps the only thing you should watch out for is turning the volume up too high. The sound starts to crackle quite a bit when the volume is turned up to max, but thankfully it has to get pretty high before this becomes a noticeable problem.
App support is limited, but Google Assistant helps make up for it
As of right now, Google Home only supports a handful of apps, and only about half of them are from third parties. Google Play Music, YouTube Music, Keep, Calendar and YouTube are all supported, and so are a handful of other third-party services like Spotify, Pandora and TuneIn. But just because an app is compatible with Google Assistant, that doesn’t mean you get all the functionality out of that app that you’d expect.
Just because an app is compatible with Google Assistant, that doesn’t mean you get all the functionality you’d expect.
Take Google Calendar, for instance. You can ask Google Assistant to give you a daily briefing based on the events in your calendar, but you can’t actually add calendar events to your schedule using your voice, nor can you set reminders. If you think about it, this makes sense; you don’t want everyone in your house adding random things to your calendar whenever they feel like it. We understand why this functionality isn’t put in place yet, but it’s still unfortunate that Google couldn’t get this figured out before launch.
We would have really liked to see Google’s own services be integrated a little better. Google Assistant is only able to add items to your shopping list in Google Keep, and asking what podcasts are available in Play Music is like pulling teeth, for instance.
If you have a favorite app that’s not supported yet, though, you may be in luck – Google Assistant is also compatible with IFTTT, which means even though third-party app support is pretty scarce at the moment, IFTTT might be able to help bridge that gap. For instance, Twitter doesn’t have Google Assistant support yet. However, you can still ask Google Assistant to post something to Twitter, as long as you have IFTTT set up. The same thing goes for other apps – want to add a task to Todoist? Just set it up in IFTTT, and Google Assistant will be able to add tasks whenever you ask it to.
For a full list of IFTTT channels compatible with Google Assistant, head here.
Related:
Which apps have Google Home support?
October 8, 2016
What really makes Google Home interesting is the handful of smart home apps and services that work with it
What really makes Google Home interesting is the handful of smart home apps and services that work with it. You can control your Nest Thermostat, Chromecast, Philips Hue lights or Samsung SmartThings devices all from your Google Home. Out of this list, most people are probably going to be using Google Home in conjunction with a Chromecast device, since smart thermostats and lightbulbs are still sort of niche products. Telling your Google Home to play a YouTube video on your living room Chromecast sounds really cool in theory, but it’s sort of weird in practice at the moment. You basically need to know the name of the YouTube video you’d like to watch before you ask your Google Home to cast it, which isn’t really the way people watch videos on the internet. We suppose it could be useful to ask Google Home “Play the latest video from Android Authority on my Chromecast”, but for basically anything else, you’ll want to just pull out your phone and cast it that way.
While app support isn’t quite there yet, Google Assistant helps make up for it. We’ve particularly taken a liking to the My Day feature, which will walk you through the current weather conditions, work commute, your next meeting, your reminders and daily news.
Google Assistant in action
Pixel XL Review: A Pixel’s Perspective
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Google Home hands on – the future…
Google Pixel and Pixel XL Hands…
But the fact that you have Google’s powerful Assistant on board is one of the best parts about this device. It’s conversational, meaning you can talk to it, and it feels like there’s actually someone on the other end talking back to you. It can do cutesy things like tell jokes and read you poems, but it can also perform Google searches, give you sports scores, and a lot more. Plus, it can also understand the context of multiple questions. So when you ask “How tall is the Empire State Building?”, you can follow that up with “Where is it located?”, and Google Assistant will know you’re still talking about the Empire State Building.
Multiple account support isn’t here yet
Me: “Hey Google, do you support multiple accounts?”
Google Assistant: “Sorry, I can’t help with that yet… but I’m always learning.”
If you’re planning on buying one Google Home unit for the whole family to use, there are a few things you should know. Google Home only supports one Google account at a time, which is extremely limiting in practice. This means that if you set up your Google Home with your personal Google account, everything you do with Google Home will be associated with that account. So, if your significant other asks “Hey Google, what’s on my agenda?”, Google Home will only respond with a daily briefing based on your Google account. The same goes for traffic updates, too. If someone else asks Google Home about current traffic conditions, it will respond with traffic updates based on your driving routes.
When multiple accounts are supported, Google Home will be much more useful for families
Taking things one step further, any YouTube video played through your Chromecast (via Google Home voice command) will affect your future recommendations on YouTube. Any Google searches performed through Google Home will affect future article recommendations in your Google app feed, what advertisements are shown to you on certain websites, and even how Google Assistant interacts with you on your new Pixel or Pixel XL.
Don’t miss:
Google Pixel XL review: a Pixel’s perspective
2 weeks ago
There is one exception – Google Home does support multiple accounts with music services, but everything else will still be tied to your personal Google account. Sure, you can blacklist certain apps and services like Google Calendar or Gmail from being accessed by Google Home, but that means you need to switch it off completely, meaning nobody can access those services.
Note: There’s a handy Google Home FAQ page here if you need more details on accounts and services.
Google Home is a pretty amazing product, but there’s certainly room for improvement. What if, one day, Home would be able to tell the difference between each user, and associate different accounts and services based on who’s talking? That’s actually touched on in Google’s FAQ page:
Currently, we don’t have an ability to differentiate users by different voice patterns. Here’s more about data security and privacy on Google Home.
While it isn’t possible with this first iteration of Google Home hardware, it’s probably going to happen sometime in the future. And when it does, Google Home will be much more useful for families.
Google Home will be a great product, but right now it’s just a good product. And as the list of third-party applications and services grow, so will the value Google Home brings to consumers. It might not change any lives just yet, but Google Home is a necessary step in creating a more connected home.
We’ll have more nitty-gritty details for you in our full review, which will be here in a few days. But for now, tell us – have you used Google Home yet? If not, are you planning on buying one for yourself in the future? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.
2015 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution review – Roadshow
The Good Mitsubishi gives a proper sendoff to the Lancer Evolution by making the Final Edition the most powerful and track-worthy production model ever.
The Bad Away from the circuit, the Evolution remains difficult to live with on a daily basis, terrible on-road comfort and a dated cabin devoid of modern infotainment and safety tech.
The Bottom Line Mitsubishi’s Lancer Evolution is a throwback performance sedan best appreciated by hardcore enthusiasts.
Mitsubishi saves the best Lancer Evolution for last
The Final Edition sends the Evo out on a high note with more power and exclusive styling touches.
by Jon Wong
Close
Drag
I knew this day was coming. My last hurrah in a new Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution before it disappears from showrooms. The Japanese carmaker said this generation of the Evolution, its tenth, would be the last. For sport-compact car enthusiasts who thought that the announcement may have just been a cruel joke, the release of this special Final Edition model is proof positive that the end of Mitsubishi’s rally-bred high-performance sedan has become reality.
Losing the Evo bums me out even though I’ve never been a huge fan of the current model. I love the Evolution IX for its emotion-rich drive character, gonzo performance and fitting boy-racer looks, yet in all my experiences with the Evo X — mostly in MR trims with a not-so-great dual-clutch transmission — it never quite spoke to me like its predecessor.
Am I missing something about the Evo X? I’m using this last go with a five-speed-manual-equipped Final Edition to find out by taking it on a short road trip and to the race track. Maybe I’ll finally come to terms with this last Evo? Or maybe I’ll still be disappointed and continue my casual search for good-condition Evo IX for my own garage.
One last go with the Lancer Evolution.
Nick Miotke/Roadshow
On-road brutality
The drone from the drivetrain churning at 3,500 rpm in fifth gear on the expressway is headache inducing, explaining my florescent orange ear plugs as I head west across Michigan. Things like sound insulation and acoustic glass aren’t always high on the requirements list for a no-nonsense performance car. Road, wind and drivetrain racket whirls constantly in the cabin making the 180-mile run to South Haven, Michigan, far from delightful.
Turning up tunes on the six-speaker audio system to mask the unpleasant noises is one option. The 6.1-inch center infotainment touchscreen gives access to satellite radio and Bluetooth audio and phone streaming, but not much else. There’s no navigation, Apple CarPlay or Android Auto in the Final Edition, meaning techies will likely continue to be disappointed with this Evolution in that respect.
How about safety tech such as automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assistant systems? Sorry, you won’t find anything like that in the Evo, either. It’s too old — in fact, you’ll note that this car wears a 2015 model year — that’s not a misprint, Mitsubishi held over a particularly long model year to see this one through.
Red accent stitching highlights the Lancer Evolution Final Edition’s cabin.
Nick Miotke/Roadshow
Those looking for ride comfort and interior quality also need not apply. The noisy 18-inch Yokohama Advan A13 tires have cement-like sidewalls that yield a rough-and-tumble ride quality. If you’re expecting the suspension with Bilstein shock absorbers and Eibach springs to provide some damping relief, think again. There’s little give, meaning impacts from even small ruts transmit into the cabin and up your spinal cord.
Since its 2008 launch, the Evo’s interior has undergone a string of minor improvements. The center multi-information display is now color instead of all red, chrome accents dress the environment up some, and soft-touch upper door trims help break-up the acres of hard plastic up front. It’s a cabin that doesn’t look too out of place in an $18,000 compact economy sedan, but likely will disappoint many in a $39,000 machine.
Got wing?
Even without a show-stopping interior, there’s no denying that the Evolution Final Edition looks the part on the outside. An aggressive front end, vented hood, wider front fenders and trademark shopping-cart rear wing are direct links to the car’s World Rally Championship roots when driver Tommi Mäkinen notched four consecutive titles piloting Evolutions in the late 1990s.
2015 Lancer Evolution Final Edition…
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Some small styling alterations do set the Final Edition apart from regular Evos, with the most notable alteration being the black roof panel that contrasts nicely with this car’s Diamond White paint. A black center bumper, hood vents, dark chrome grille trim and Enkei wheels complete the Final Edition touches outside.
Even the spartan interior gets some Final Edition love, with red accent stitching, black headliner, sun visors, pillar trim and a numbered center console plaque denoting each car’s place within the 1,600-unit limited-edition series.
Disappointingly, the Recaro sport seats offered on some Evo models aren’t part of this Final Edition package. While the basic chairs are comfortable and have respectable side bolstering, they don’t look like they belong in a model that is serving as the swan song to a noteworthy performance model.
Polar M450 review – CNET
The Good The Polar M450 has GPS and can accurately measure speed, distance, route and altitude of your rides. It’s water-resistant, has long battery life and supports Bluetooth accessories. It also includes a built-in LED safety light.
The Bad Can’t display smartphone notifications. No automatic syncing. Won’t work with ANT+ accessories. Doesn’t include GLONASS tracking.
The Bottom Line For anyone new to cycling and looking for a GPS device, the Polar M450 is hard to beat.
One of the first purchases a new fitness cyclist will want to make is a GPS bike computer (I would also recommend a pair of padded shorts). This lets you easily track your route, and see metrics like distance, speed and altitude in real-time.
Garmin is usually the go-to option for tracking bike rides, but I actually found the Polar M450 to be the more compelling choice. Priced at $170 (£120, AU$319), the bike computer has many features found in devices double the price.
For anyone new to cycling and looking for a GPS device, the Polar M450 is hard to beat.
It can do the basics
If you’ve never used one before, think of a GPS bike computer as a compact and easy-to-read fitness tracker for your bike. GPS tracks outdoor workouts, and it’s specifically tuned to your rides.
The M450 is primarily aimed at newcomers who are interested in a GPS device for measuring basic metrics, such as elapsed time, route, distance and speed. The computer can also be paired with external sensors to measure even more. This includes Bluetooth heart-rate straps, power meters and speed/cadence sensors.
View full gallery Sarah Tew/CNET
The 128×128-pixel-resolution display is easy to see and has a strong backlight. There are five data screens that can be customized to show up to four metrics per screen. The M450 also includes a built-in LED safety light that will turn on automatically when it gets dark. The light can be programmed to blink at varying speeds or remain static. It isn’t bright enough to be used as a flashlight, but it will alert cars and others on the road of your presence.
Other features include a barometric altimeter for measuring altitude, auto-pause for when you stop, and an IPX7 water-resistant rating for riding in the rain. The 385mAh battery will last up to 16 hours with an active GPS signal, which is very good. You can also record up to 35 hours worth of data before having to sync with your phone.
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That’s not a headphone jack. It’s the M450’s built-in LED safety light.
Sarah Tew/CNET
The Polar Flow app (Android, iOS) provides an easy way to view all of your workout information, but it doesn’t include automatic syncing. You are required to open the app on your phone and then press and hold the back button on the bike computer. It’s a little sloppy.
There’s also the option to sync data from Flow to Strava, a popular training log and social network used by runners and bikers.
2016 Subaru WRX STI review – Roadshow
The Good With an all-wheel drive system and 305 horsepower, you can have fun almost anywhere in the Subaru WRX STI. The old-school hydraulic power steering system offers plenty of road feel and feedback, making for an engaging drive.
The Bad No Apple CarPlay or Android Auto and the ride can only be described as harsh and uncomfortable. The six-speed manual transmission takes a bit of muscle to manipulate.
The Bottom Line If you like your cars like you like your coffee, namely hot, you’ll enjoy the Subaru WRX STI.
When I first glanced at the rearview mirror of the 2016 Subaru WRX STI, I wondered what the hell was following me so closely. It takes a while to get used to the massive wing fixed to the rear of this little speed demon.
In fact, there is a lot to get used to in the STI, but when it all comes together, the aggressive Subie, with its serious rally racing technology, is a kick and a half.
Emme Hall/Roadshow
In Subaru-land this model starts off as the sedate Impreza. Add 120 horsepower and it’s a WRX. Add nearly 40 more ponies, a giant wing and Brembo brakes and you’re looking at the Subaru WRX STI.
Driving the STI is a bit like riding the Oregon Trail in a covered wagon. It’s a stiff and harsh ride; great for the track, not so great for daily driving. The comfortable seats help, but you’ll have to get used to feeling every bump and divot in the road. Other track-ready street cars have multiple driving modes that soften up the suspension. While the STI has SI-Drive, which adjusts the throttle and transmission mapping, it does not cushion up the ride. Deal with it.
The STI really comes into its own on the track. I wasn’t able to find a proper dirt rally course, but I spent the day on the pavement at Thunderhill Raceway, a short drive from Roadshow HQ in San Francisco. The 2.5-liter turbocharged engine, four horizontally opposed cylinders, pumps out 305 horsepower and 290 pound-feet of torque, plenty for the twisties at Thunderhill. Power gets to the pavement through a six speed manual gearbox. Subaru doesn’t offer an automatic, as God intended.
Subaru
The all-wheel drive system inspires much confidence when the road goes bendy, enough that I found myself carrying a near ludicrous amount of speed through the turns. The suspension, perfect for the track, keeps the STI flat and neutral through twisties. Sport and Sport Sharp tighten up the throttle mapping, and there is an adjustable center differential. Keep it in Auto for daily driving, or switch to Auto Plus to tighten up the limited slip differential, improving traction on slippery surfaces like snow or gravel. Auto Minus shifts the torque bias to the rear and opens the center differential, optimizing the STI for track driving.
And if that’s not enough, you can manually adjust the center differential six different ways, varying the torque distribution from front to rear for a personalized track experience. Having said all that, I kept the car in Sport Sharp with the diff control at Auto Minus while on the track. The throttle response was nearly instantaneous and I could downshift and power out of the turns with little turbo lag and a whole lot of thrills.
The STI has one of the best steering systems I’ve experienced in a car at this price point. While many cars now sport electric power steering, including the venerable Mazda Miata and even the Porsche 911, the STI still gets the job done with a hydraulic set up. It’s very quick and offers an incredible amount of feedback. I felt every pebble on the track, every stripe of paint on the road. It lets you place your tires exactly where you want them, resulting in precise turn-in and an engaging drive.
2017 Nissan 370Z Nismo review – Roadshow
The Good The 2017 Nissan 370Z Nismo’s performance upgrades transform the sports coupe into a street-legal race car. The firm suspension offers great track feel and the wide, sticky tires give plenty of grip when cornering. SynchroRev Match makes every shift a perfectly timed one.
The Bad The $3,500 Tech package adds outdated navigation and an eight-speaker audio system. You could do better with a smartphone. The firm ride and narrow seats are punishing over rough roads and for longer trips and the shallow trunk makes the Z impractical as a daily driver.
The Bottom Line After experiencing it at the track, I’m seeing the 2017 Nissan 370Z Nismo in a totally new light. However, as the competition continues to refine, the Z is a tough sell for all but the most hard-core.
I can admit it: I was wrong…sort of. The last time I saw the Nissan 370Z Nismo, I didn’t love it. The ride was harsh on the street, the boy-racer aerodynamics were just obnoxious, the tech felt a decade old and the performance bump didn’t feel like it was worth the significant price bump over the standard Z.
This time, after spending a week with the 2017 Nissan 370Z Nismo, I caught myself considering buying one of my own. This car’s not so different from the one I drove before, so what gives?
Handling upgrades
The laundry list of Nismo upgrades is of the old-fashioned sort: big wheels, meaty tires, stiff suspension and naturally aspirated power. It’s not the first car that I’ve described as Japanese muscle, but it’s probably the one that fits the description best.
Working from the ground up, the Z Nismo’s upgrades start with a set of sticky Bridgestone Potenza S001 high-performance tires. The rubber is wrapped around 19-inch forged alloy wheels built for Nismo by Rays, a manufacturer of high-end racing and tuner wheels. The wheels feature a staggered fit with 9.5-inch wide rollers up front and even wider 10.5-inch wheels out back.
The Z Nismo has more contact patch on its rear axle than many cars have at all four corners.
Antuan Goodwin/Roadshow
On display behind the wheels’ spokes are bright red sports brakes. The Nismo uses four-piston aluminum calipers on 14.0-inch discs and two-piston calipers on 13.8-inch discs for the front and rear axles, respectively. But Nissan’s tuning division didn’t stop there; it also upgraded the brake lines with rigidity hoses and filled the system with R35 Special II brake fluid to reduce fade at high temperatures such as those you’d experience at the track.
Still working up, the chassis is suspended over the rolling stock with a Nismo-tuned suspension with stiffer springs, dampers and stabilizer bars. In the engine bay, the strut towers are tied together and to the body with a reinforced 3-point brace. After all of that stiffening, Nismo has also installed front and rear chassis dampers to help cut down some of the vibration and harshness over rough surfaces. Even with the chassis dampers the Nismo is a pretty loud and rough ride over uneven pavement and city streets.
One of my biggest nitpicks with the previous iteration of the Z Nismo was that the aerodynamics package was just a bit too boy-racerish, too attention grabbing and just plain goofy looking. The 2017 370Z Nismo has a smaller rear spoiler that no longer blocks what little rear visibility the Z has to offer. The GT-R-inspired body kit is plainly more attractive than the old catfish fascia.
Trackside with the 2017 Nissan 370Z…
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Inside the cabin, the driver and one passenger wedge into a set of Nismo/Recaro racing seats with Alcantara inserts. The racing buckets are gorgeous but too tight and uncomfortable on the street. On the track, however, the tall bolstering did an exceptional job of keeping my butt in place during cornering. I’d go as far as to say that they actually get more comfortable the harder the Z is pushed at the track; because I didn’t have to brace myself with my knees I was freer to see to the business of actually driving closer to the limits…either that or I was too amped up on adrenaline to notice that my bottom was aching.
Meanwhile, the steering wheel and shift lever also both get the Nismo treatment and are wrapped in Alcantara and leather, respectively.
If it ain’t broke: Powertrain upgrades
Not much has changed in the engine bay, which is just a teensy bit of a disappointment. I can continue to wish for a factory-installed and warrantied twin-turbo system, but I don’t realistically expect any drastic powertrain changes this late in the 370Z’s life cycle.
The heart of the Z Nismo is essentially the same naturally aspirated, 3.7-liter VQ-series engine (VQ37VHR) V6 engine that powers the standard 370Z. It’s basically a tweaked and higher displacement version of the VQ35DE that’s powered the Z since the 2003 launch of the 350Z. Nissan puts some variant of the VQ into everything from the Frontier pickup to the Maxima sedan; it’s a proven and reliable powerplant if nothing else and Nissan seems to be taking an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach to this element of the Z Nismo’s performance.
The VQ-Series V6 engine can be found under the hood of many Nissan cars and trucks. Here, it makes a respectable 350 horsepower.
Nissan
In the Z Nismo, output has been massaged to 350 horsepower and 276 pound-feet of torque (up from the standard 370Z’s 332 horsepower and 270 pound-feet of torque) thanks to more aggressive tuning. Fuel economy is stated at 26 highway mpg and 18 city mpg.
The 370Z Nismo comes standard with a six-speed manual transmission with a feature called SynchroRev Matching. When shifting up or down range, the Z’s computer can hold or automatically blip the throttle, matching the engine speed with your new transmission speed for smooth shifting. It’s sort of like an electronic heel-and-toe. If you don’t like the computer intervention, the SynchroRev Matching system can be defeated with a single button press, but I actually found that I liked it. The Rev Matching made me feel like a racing god without getting in my way.
There’s also a seven-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters available, but people will laugh at you when they peek into your Z and only see two pedals.
Rounding out the Nismo upgrades is a viscous limited-slip differential on the rear axle that makes sure that both of the Z’s meaty rear tires share the load under stress and effectively do their job when accelerating out of a corner.
Roland’s System-8 keyboard is all the synths you want in one case
There’s a reason professional keyboards and synths are filled with dials, buttons and levers. When a musician is getting ready for the next song, it’s quicker to turn a knob then sift through multiple sub-menus via the onboard computer. Roland’s System-8 synth has such a display, but nearly everything you need is at your fingertips, and that’s great.
The System-8 continues the company’s reputation for aggressively priced drum machines and keyboards modeled after vintage instruments. It even has the same design aesthetic as the Aira family of products that kicked off this nostalgia trend. But don’t let those cartoonish glowing green lights distract you from the fact that this is a synth with a ton of features at a great value.
The main draw of the $1,500 System-8 is Roland’s “Plug-Out” feature. With it, musicians can add the patches and sounds of old-school synths to the keyboard on the fly. And not just one instrument either — three additional Plug-Out synths can be added at a time for quick access via onboard buttons. The sequencer, which on other instruments is difficult to use, can be ready to record with just a tap. Sequencing a keyboard run is simple. Even when you have to use the onboard display to adjust features like the length of a sequence, it doesn’t require a 45-minute dive into the owner’s manual.
The synthesizer’s push-button “Performance” mode (aka keyboard split where the high and low-end of the keyboard are split between two different patches) is also just a button press away. Plus, it can have sounds from two separate Plug-Out synths on it. As a bonus, you can create a sequence for each of those patches. You can even throw in an arpeggiator for good measure, all with a few taps.
In fact, that’s the wonderful thing about the eight-voice polyphonic System-8: All the major features are just a tap, twist or slide away. No need to delve into menus and submenus. Touchscreens transformed computing. Without them we’d still be carrying music players with scroll wheels. But, in many instances, they’re not a good substitute for physical buttons. (I’m looking at you, automakers.)
Of course having all those features placed on the top of an instrument could be confusing mess. Yet Roland has been able to tame the forest of inputs with labeling and placement that make it a snap to change the wave of oscillator one while reducing the volume of oscillator two.
The layout is straightforward, with the arpeggiator on the far left; the oscillators, LFO and associated controls in the middle; and the sequencer and filters on the right. After about five minutes of playing I knew exactly where to place my hands to adjust the sounds. And if you’re worried about those noises, don’t be. While analog purists might be turned off by the digital System-8, they’ll be hard-pressed to detect the difference between the plug-out Jupiter 8 and the real thing without them playing side by side.
So with a clean, knob-and-button-friendly layout and audio that’ll impress even hard-core analog purists, the System-8 is a winner. But, it won’t be ideal for everyone. First off, the green-glowing lights are likely to be a turnoff for some. I own the Roland Aira TR8 so I’ve gotten used to it. Fortunately, during my tests I found that those jade-colored illuminations won’t blind you when the lights are down. The last thing you want on stage is something so bright, you can’t even see it. That is, if you feel comfortable dragging the System-8 to gigs.
Some might be wary of playing live with the System-8 because of its plastic case. If you plan on using this in your home or practice space it shouldn’t be an issue. But if you want to use it on stage and you play a lot of shows, it could be a problem. You can get a hard case for transportation, but Roland could have gone the extra mile to make the keyboard more robust if it was going to pack it full of features. I would gladly throw the company an extra $150 for a metal or wood case and I’m sure others would as well.
That’s not to say that a plastic case is a recipe for disaster, though. My band has been using a synth onstage with a plastic case for nearly six years without issue. Then again, when it was new it cost about a third of the price of the System-8.
Still, the System-8 is an incredible value at $1,500 — and it should remind other keyboard makers that it’s not just professional-grade products that could use some good old-fashioned knobs to make their instruments easier to use. If you’re looking to step up your at-home productions or you’re willing to be extra careful while gigging, it’ll be a great addition to your synth arsenal.
Source: Roland
Do you really need a pair of smart headphones?
Muzik CEO Jason Hardi started his headphone company back in 2013 to, as he puts it, “connect the world.” But even though he’s been showing off versions of the hardware throughout the years — and even received a small investment from Twitter earlier this year — it’s never actually made it to market. Until a couple of months ago. That’s when Hardi and co. finally unveiled the Muzik One, which launched alongside a partnership with Spotify. What’s the big deal? Well, the One is a pair of “connected” headphones that lets you share whatever you’re listening to on the social media platform of your choice with just a tap of a button. Sharing music has never been so easy. Whether or not that’s worth $300, however, is less clear.
Regardless of its song-sharing features, these headphones look and feel like a really nice set of cans. It’s constructed out of aircraft aluminum and a soft supple leather covers both the handle as well as the ear cup cushions. Plus, the headphones fold inward for better portability. I’ve carried them around in my backpack and even my smaller shoulder bag without any problems.
What’s more, those ear cushions are interchangeable; they attach and detach magnetically, so you can swap the default over-ear options with smaller on-ear versions. Both feel comfortable when nestled next to my ears though I tend to prefer the over-ear cushions as they result in less outside noise. Speaking of that, the Muzik One headphones boasts “passive noise-isolation,” which really just means there’s enough padding to block out environmental sound. It doesn’t have the active noise cancelation like a Bose would have, for example. That said, I still thought it did a great job muffling the din of the outside world.
Speaking of which, I thought the audio quality was really quite good. Muzik boasts custom-tuned 40mm drivers and an enhanced digital sound processing that results in rich and smooth sound. Drums punched through convincingly and bass had a nice strong presence without being too aggressive. Middle and high notes sounded crisp and sharp, and both really show off the vocal range of the artist. In general, the Muzik One sounds just as good as most other premium headphones I’ve tried.
All of the One’s controls are housed in the right ear cup, along with a micro-USB charging port and a 3.5mm headset jack if you want to use it with a wired connection. The power button is on the side, but the entire surface acts as a large touch sensor. You can turn on swipe gestures, which let you swipe up and down to adjust volume, or left and right to change tracks. Tapping the overall surface of the cup will either play and pause a song or answer a phone call.
There are also four touch-sensitive buttons on the surface. Each of these buttons can be mapped via a companion app to a variety of different functions. They include the usual music controls, but you can also set it so that it’ll tell you the weather forecast, battery levels, what time it is or what song is currently playing. There are even Spotify-specific actions like the ability to follow the artist that’s currently playing, play a specific playlist, save the song to “Your Music” library or to add a song to a playlist. You can also enable voice commands, have it tell you a five-minute NPR hourly news summary and connect to an IFTTT recipe or, say, turn on your Nest thermostat.
A particularly noteworthy feature — and one that makes the Muzik One unique — is that you can also map those buttons to share what you’re listening to on either Facebook or Twitter. Sharing it on Facebook will result in a post that attaches a short 30-second preview of the song, a link to add it to your Spotify list, along with the hashtags #NowPlaying and #ConnectSmarter and the song’s name. There will also be a link to Muzik’s Facebook page. If you don’t want those extra hashtags and links, you can edit the post and remove them, but there’s no way to prevent them from posting.
Similarly, sending it out over Twitter will append a Spotify link to the song plus the song’s name and album cover, along with the #NowPlaying and #ConnectSmarter hashtags and a mention of @MuzikConnect. If you want to remove those hashtags, you can’t; there’s no template for tweets in the Muzik app. And since you can’t edit tweets, the only way to remove them is to delete the entire post.
Another way to share what you’re listening to on Twitter is via a “Moment,” which essentially attaches a Google Maps StreetView shot of your location along with the current weather and date / time. Muzik says this is a good way to remember where you were when you were listening to that special song, but I found it a touch creepy to be sharing that with the world.
#NowPlaying A/B Machines by Sleigh Bells https://t.co/uN5fQfugpZ @MuzikConnect #ConnectSmarter pic.twitter.com/kzC7Wil8CS
— Nicole Lee (@nicole) November 4, 2016
And that’s really my only issue with the Muzik One. I just had no real desire to share what I was listening to, and even when I did, I couldn’t control the format enough for my liking (I wouldn’t have included all those hashtags, for example and would have prefered to add in my own commentary). I do enjoy the other features, like voice commands and the weather forecast, and those Spotify-specific functions are great, especially because I’m a big Spotify fan. But I could do without the sharing.
Another aspect that I like about the One is that it has a relatively long rated battery life of around 30 hours. I’ve managed to use it for hours on end without it dying, so that rings true to me. I should note here that you can still use the headphones as an ordinary pair of cans with a wired 3.5mm connection — the only features you miss out on are the touch-sensitive controls. And since it’s connected to your phone anyway, I didn’t miss them much.
On the whole, I found the Muzik One to be a very good pair of headphones. It’s comfortable and well-constructed, and I love the audio quality. It works well in both wireless and wired modes, and the fact that you can map those touch-sensitive buttons to extra functions like the weather forecast and Spotify playlists are great.
I wasn’t too enthused by its song-sharing features, however, which are what set the One apart from the rest of the $300 headphone pack in the first place. And because of that, I can’t say that I recommend the Muzik One. Similarly priced headphones like the Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 and the B&O Play H8 have characteristics like active noise-canceling and luxe finishes, both of which I would prefer over social media sharing. What’s more, there are also more affordable Bluetooth headphones like the Jabra Move or the JBL E40BT that might not be so premium, but are still highly rated for audio quality. They won’t have the same social and Spotify-friendly features, but at those prices, I can live without them.
Yuneec Breeze 4K review – CNET
The Good The Yuneec Breeze 4K has a compact, lightweight design that easily fits in a backpack. Its mobile app — available for iOS and Android — is easy to navigate and use. Automated flight modes have in-app, step-by-step directions. Replacement parts are available for repairs should you crash it.
The Bad You’ll need the digital image stabilization only available at 1080p and 720p resolutions. Image quality is OK, best suited for online sharing or viewing on a phone. Battery life is relatively short at 12 minutes.
The Bottom Line The little Yuneec Breeze 4K makes shooting and sharing aerial selfies a snap. But those looking to really pilot a drone should keep looking.
The Yuneec Breeze perfect for people who want a camera drone for aerial photos and video, but have almost no interest in actually piloting a drone.
With little more than some taps on your phone’s screen, you can put the Breeze in the air and have it perform a handful of automated camera moves to grab photos and video clips of you and your friends and family. Then you just download them to your phone, edit and share — all from within the drone’s app.
You can also fly it around manually with onscreen controls if you want to get specific aerial shots, but the range is limited to a maximum height of 80 meters (262.5 feet) and maximum distance of 100 meters (328.1 feet). Flight times tap out at 12 minutes, so you won’t want to fly it too far away from you anyway.
View full gallery Joshua Goldman/CNET
The Breeze is not a toy, though. Its price tag pretty much quells that notion: $500 in the US and AU$700 or £450 in Australia and the UK, respectively. It’s not for racing around, either, and it’s also not going to compete with something like the DJI Phantom 3 Standard, which is priced similarly, but has a better camera stabilized with a three-axis gimbal and far greater range and capabilities.
However, the DJI isn’t going to slip into a shoulder bag or backpack and is not nearly as discreet as the Breeze. It’s basically a point-and-shoot camera attached to a flying robot — a selfie drone.
The mobile app, available for iOS and Android, is split into two sections: Tasks and Gallery. Tap on Tasks and you’re given five options to choose from: Pilot, Selfie, Orbit, Journey and Follow Me. Pilot has the manual controls for flying around the way any other drone would with a regular controller. However, the Breeze is designed to have the camera pointed at you and not away from you like other camera drones, so the controls are reversed. (An onscreen toggle quickly switches this to what experienced pilots would consider normal.)
View full gallery Joshua Goldman/CNET
Selfie mode takes away the traditional stick controls and uses sliders instead to get the camera into just the right position for your photo or video. Orbit lets you set up the Breeze to automatically circle you or another subject, while Journey sets the copter to fly away from you and back again using the camera’s angle to calculate its trajectory.
Follow Me uses GPS and your phone to track you and follow you around. If you’re close to the drone, the movements can be jerky. In my experience, the best way to use this is to have it fly over top of you or from behind with it far away to take advantage of the camera’s wide-angle lens.
Zvox Accuvoice AV200 TV Speaker review – CNET
The Good The Zvox AccuVoice TV Speaker makes dialogue definitely louder and more intelligible than standard TV speakers. The metal cabinet feels sturdy, and the large display is easy to read.
The Bad It sounds like a small speaker, and it’s not recommended for music replay. There’s no Bluetooth capability.
The Bottom Line The Zvox AccuVoice is great for folks who have trouble hearing the TV, but doesn’t sound as good as the competition.
If regular soundbars aren’t discreet enough for you, maybe you want a “mini” soundbar. Zvox, JBL and Polk have all released feet long speakers this year, designed to improve your TV’s audio. Think of them as the missing link between Bluetooth speakers and full-strength sound bars.
The Accuvoice tries to separate itself by targeting people with hearing loss. The result is sound that’s less well-rounded than its competitors, especially for music listening. The Accuvoice focuses primarily on the human voice, and does it well.
If you’re frustrated by trying to hear the tinny voices coming out of your television, a speaker like this might be just what you’re looking for. If you crave excitement from your small sound bar, however, better choices are available.
Design
View full gallery Sarah Tew/CNET
To use a “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” analogy, if the Zvox SB500 is Mike Teevee at the start of the movie, then the Zvox Accuvoice is what he becomes at the end — the same cowboy, just shrunk to an almost impossibly small size (oops, spoiler).
The 17-inch-wide Accuvoice TV looks almost identical to its larger self, with an understated but attractive brushed aluminum chassis and a black steel grille. The large orange LED display is the same, and the right side still houses rubberized controls and a bass port. In a world of plastic competitors, the Zvox’s build quality is second to none.
The remote control is the same that ships with other Zvox speakers, a little credit card that isn’t especially ergonomic. Most people will just use it for setup however, then use the TV remote to control volume, so it doesn’t really matter.
Features
View full gallery Sarah Tew/CNET
The AccuVoice uses the same “hearing aid technology” found in larger Zvox speakers, which “mimics the function of a hearing aid by isolating voice frequencies and lifting them out of background sounds.”
The Accuvoice comes with a number of sound modes apart from the eponymous dialogue-boosting feature, including virtual surround. If you want more bass than the small unit can generate the speaker comes with a combined headphone/subwoofer output.
View full gallery Sarah Tew/CNET
Unlike competitors, the speaker lacks Bluetooth capability, but it does come with two other inputs, a 3.5mm analog minijack/optical combo and a full-sized optical port. The latter is the one most likely to be connected to your TV.
Hear, here!
Switching the AccuVoice processing on and off, we certainly heard a difference. Dialogue in the middle of the battle scenes on the “American Sniper” Blu-ray, for example, was easier to follow. Voices were louder and crisper, but on the other hand sounded distinctly less natural. So if you have a hard time following dialogue, turn AccuVoice on, otherwise leave it off.
AIVAnet 