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CEDIA 2016 Review, Overview, and Pictures!

amirm

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Just got back from CEDIA 2016 conference and exhibit. CEDIA is a "consumer electronics" show for the custom a/v or integration ("CI" channel). It is mostly focused on integrating different bits together from control systems to audio/video routing. But also has some broader set of technologies that I thought would be of interest to ASR Forum members.

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I was there teaching a class on video that I had written up here: http://www.audiosciencereview.com/f...ge-hdr-and-wide-gamut-video-technologies.669/. It was very well attended to my surprise. Last year I taught the same class and very few people showed up. Shows that there is a lot more interest now in 4K video, HDR, wide gamut, etc.

Since I don't do a lot of the nuts and bolts of system integration myself, I walk quickly through the show and look at a sampling of technologies. So please forgive the haphazard nature of this write-up :).
 
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amirm

amirm

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This write up starts at the Seattle Tacoma airport. As I was coming out of the restroom I hear this very unexpected thing: live music! I was in one of the cross ways between the two halls so could not see anything but hear that unmistakable sound that live music has. Turn the corner and indeed here was this musician playing his guitar:

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Despite being amplified music, and in this busy terminal, the reproduction of guitar was nothing like I hear on stereo systems. Anyone who says home stereo reproduces live music must be living in a different world than I do!
 
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A highlight of the show was our annual get together with Michael (dallas justice), scotty (his dealer) and Nyal. Michael outdid himself with a great dinner at Wolfgang Puck restaurant and a great concert by the group, "Squirrel Nut Zippers." Their music is a mix of swing and New Orleans Jazz. The highlight was not as much music as the superb showmanship and entertainment value.

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His main fiddle player was "Dr. Sig" and boy, was he an entertaining due, playing multiple instruments with great theatrics and period era clothing.

Hugely entertaining and my special thanks to Michael for taking us to this intimate theater to hear them.
 
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The first thing that got my attention was this:

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I have always wanted to add a shut-off value to my home for when we are not home. I keep having these nightmares of coming back and seeing the whole thing flooded and take three years to rebuild! Auto valves exist but require cutting into the main pipe which for me, requires calling a plumber. These guys have come up with a motorized unit that actually turns the handle on and off! Costs about $500 or so and if I can find the space for it around our valve, I will put one in!
 
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Next was the SurgeX booth. You all may know them for building surge protection devices that use transformers to limit spikes instead of MOVs. As usual they had a stance where they were blowing up MOVs left and right using a high-voltage source. The thing here that caught my eye was this monster UPS system:

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We have a lot of power failures in our area and the notion of a "whole house" UPS appeals to me. We have generators but the switchover time is 1 to 2 minutes until the unit gets warm enough. It would be nice to keep some major systems running while the switching happens.

This may also compete with Wilson's audio focused UPS. Hopefully it is a sign of more devices like this coming, mostly triggered by Tesla's wall battery bank.
 
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I will come back to JBL later but they had this neat exploded view of their compression drivers:

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No wonder these are pricey drivers.

Here is a shot of the JBL 4367 which Michael owns:

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It is larger and more assuming in person than it seems in pictures.
 
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I had great reception at Lyngdorf/Steinway's private suite. Had connected with their new CEO and received a warm welcome and detailed overview of their product line. Alas, I did not have time to take many pictures. Here are a few:

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The large theater above was pretty impressive. I think the retail was $130,000 for the audio system or so. All communications with the power amp is in digital and volume control/EQ exists in those.
 
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LG was next. They were smart and had a nearly pitch black booth enabling them to showcase the superlative performance of their OLED displays. They had one image of nearly dark crayons on black screen that were jumping out of the glass almost! It was that contrasty. Since I already have one of their units, I did not spend a lot of time there. Here are some pictures and model data:

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A surprise at the show was Meridian. Not because they were there but the fact that they were completely focused on generic needs of CI channel with audio distribution and such and with reasonable pricing! They were showing Sooloos products but they are also compatible endpoints with Roon.

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I see a lot of manly audio amplifiers at audio shows but this unit really struck me as being up there with Boulder and such in that category! :D

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I mean look at this fan. It is like a car fan cooling the radiator!

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Nippon Chemi-con caps. High-quality component to be sure.
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Nothing was playing but I really enjoyed looking at these SAE 8300 power amplifiers.
 
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Focal like Meridian understands the importance of the custom channel as normal retail channel dries up. They were here showing their bookshelf units with impressive bass for their size:

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The highs were too exaggerated for my tastes but that may have been the Deft Punk track they were playing.

As always, I steal playlists where I see them :)
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Next up was the NAD. The show person was giving a tour to reporters so I pretended I was one too with my large DSLR camera and such! :D He did a great job on what all they had.

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The master series had this nice touchscreen option for controlling it. Their 'standard' line is now based on Hypex modules which I found as a sad end to an era of in-house class AB designs.
 
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Digital Projection (DP) had their usual large and impressive show. I was not a fan of their theaters as they did not show off the technology like a full blown theater with sound can (they were half open rooms). Laser projection is everywhere and this is not an exception with DP:

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I just walked through Denon (D&M Holdings) booth:

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I am always impressed by how many connectors these companies manage to stuff in the back panel. I touched the speaker terminals at the bottom and they felt pretty cheap though for a flagship product.
 
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Samsung was next:

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They had the best demos of of HDR/what Quantum Dot technology does in bringing more brilliant colors to screen. Even through my pictures above, you can see the difference.
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No sir, the curve doesn't change everything for the better.
 
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This is a pretty techy thing but I have to run fiber optic in my yard to connect my greenhouse and workshop to the main house as the length far exceeds the limits for Ethernet. I love this new technology offered by Liberty Cable that makes it a breathe to terminate and has bend radius of zero. They actually show how putting a tight knot in there and pulling hard on it still does not impede the laser travelling through it! Love it. The kit is about $1,000 for the tools which is expensive but the fiber optic cable itself is not.

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Meyer Sound (pro guys who supply a lot of gear to Hollywood) had a private suite showing their entry into CI channel. They had Keith Yates on hand who as always is a pleasure to listen to per above (he is on the right in blue shirt):
 
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