Latest Audio Opinion

  • Opinion: 3DGo streams 3D movies you might actually want to watch

    I admit it--I own a 3DTV. Well, to be more accurate, I bought a Samsung HDTV with the right blend of features and price that just happened to also have 3D support. But like many people who've made such a purchase, I haven't even taken the glasses out of the box.

  • Opinion: Sort artists by last name and find missing digital booklets

    This week's column is a grab bag, where I look at a number of interesting questions about Genius, sorting albums by an artist's last name, finding digital booklets in your iTunes library, and more.

  • Opinion: Better 3D TV and best premium headphones

    The future is bright for our eyes and ears, as the BBC improves the quality of its 3D broadcasts and premium headphones are tuned for sound.

  • Opinion: Of cross-fades and combined tracks

    In this week's column, I look at a few very different topics. One common question I get is about the iTunes Store and sending gifts to other countries; another concerns joining two music files to make one; and I also explain how you can cross-fade songs on an iOS device.

  • Opinion: Make Windows Media Player the default audio player in Windows 8

    Like many Windows 8 users, I spend most of my time using Desktop mode, which affords me a more Windows 7-like experience.

  • Opinion: Remains of the Day: Gently down the stream

    Apple's radio scheme is good money, iOS 7's colors have historical precedent, and Cupertino's latest ad campaign gets a knock from some expected corners. The remainders for Thursday, June 27, 2013 are but a dream.

  • Opinion: Add an external drive to your WMP or iTunes music collection

    Kat Korsmo asked how to play music off an external hard in Windows Media Player library. (My answer covers iTunes, as well.)

  • Opinion: Dealing with iTunes font sizes, file types, and missing files

    It's time for another grab bag, selected from the many questions I get from readers. In this week's column, I look at some questions about font size in iTunes (spoiler: your options are limited), identifying music file types in iTunes, finding which tracks iTunes has lost track of (spoiler: there's an easy way), and moving podcasts to another Mac.

  • Opinion: Dell AX510 Soundbar

    The AX510 Soundbar aims to beef up the audio quality giving you better sound from your monitor.

  • Opinion: Remains of the Day: Charge!

    Your iPhone may be getting more than just power from that charger. Elsewhere, the patent lawsuit is coming from inside the law firm and the iHernia of Mac portable concepts. The remainders for Monday, June 3, 2013 are large and in charge.

  • Opinion: Meet Stanley, the player piano that will play just about any song you tweet to him

    For too long, player piano-human interactions have been a one-way conversation. But thanks to a little techno-tinkering, this no longer need be the case. Sing for Hope Pianos, an annual art project that places 88 piano-based installations throughout New York City, has teamed up with digital boutique agency Digital Kitchen to reinvent the old timey player piano for the social media age. The result: Stanley, the player piano that can read your tweets and play (just about) any song you send his way.

  • Opinion: Answers to your questions about iTunes and videos

    Many of the iTunes Guy columns focus on music, since the majority of the questions I receive are about that kind of media. But I get a fair number of questions about videos, and in this week's column, I cover four questions dealing with videos: their formats and tags, and how to make smart playlists to group movies by title.

  • Opinion: Find missing podcast playlists, replace converted songs in playlists, and more

    Sometimes the iTunes Guy gets questions where the only answer is, "sorry, you can't". This week's column covers a couple of questions with no solutions, along with some that do have answers. Learn about finding missing podcast playlists, replacing converted songs in their playlists, and more.

  • Opinion: Remains of the Day: Fool on the hill

    Yes, yes, it's April Fool's Day. But here at the Remains of the Day, it's business as usual. So you can read about non-resellable MP3s, rumors about the next two iPhones, and Tim Cook's handsome, handsome yearbook photos without any fear that we're out to fool you. That's because the remainders for Monday, April 1, 2013, respect everything about you.

  • Opinion: How we produce our podcasts

    Shortly after the first 50 episodes of the Macworld Podcast, I was tasked with producing (though hosting just every other week) these weekly spoken-audio efforts. While I have made adjustments to some of the tools I use, my workflow has changed very little.

  • Opinion: Zombieland pilot, 12 others due to shamble onto Amazon

    The pay video content space is going increasingly crazypants as platforms become content creators and creators become platforms. And in that vein, onetime online bookstore Amazon has announced that it will be bringing a TV series based on the cult horror-comedy-angsty flick Zombieland to its Amazon Prime Instant Video service.

  • Opinion: Key sounds: Get better sound for your home entertainment

    Whereas most consumer technology becomes impossibly slimmer and smaller with each new generation, the rules of physics demand decent-size speaker cones should you want to achieve the best sound. But rules were meant to be broken, and you can get 'good enough' sound from a smaller, more stylish solution.

  • Opinion: New TV seasons and surprising continuations

    This week, I look at some shows that mostly got unexpected second lives, whether from rebooting, lasting longer than expected, or coming back in a different form.

  • Opinion: Remains of the Day: The letter two

    Apple and Sony are going head-to-head--or ear-to-ear?--over music licensing, Phil Schiller posts a tweet and the Internet goes wild, and a former Apple rival joins Cupertino in taking on a new threat. The remainders for Thursday, March 7, 2013 can't read or write.

  • Opinion: Remains of the Day: Pulp fiction

    Is a subscription service music to Tim Cook's ears? Will Apple set back the clock on Swatch? Will a judge tell a case not to pass go and not to collect $200? All those questions and more on the remainders for Wednesday, March 6, 2013.

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