Audio News for March 24, 2015

by | Mar 24, 2015 | Audio News

Consumers Not Satisfied with Audio System Quality – A poll of 2000 consumers in the U.S., U.K., China, Japan and Germany revealed several interesting facts about why people listen to music and their expectations from the music listening experience. 82% of those surveyed rated excellent sound quality as one of the most important features in home audio systems. 78% said that sound quality is more improtant than the appearance of their audio components. CD quality is desired thruout the home, and consumers prefer easily-accessible streaming media. Consumer have less patience for poor sound quality, difficult setup procedures, multiple remotes and devices that aren’t interoperable with their already-owned gear. 2/3rds of those polled listened to music for entertainmemt. 70% said they they are willing to pay more money to get excellent sound quality from their audio equipment, particularly with their home audio systems. Music is still a high priority with many consumers. 65% said they could tell the difference between $471 and $47 headphones, and 76% said having the ability to control their audio devices from their smart devices would make their lives easier. 62% said that in five years everyone will be streaming music from the Internet and CDs, and vinyl and low-res audio will be obsolete.

Panasonic Comeback – Best Profit in Seven Years –  The Osaka-based manufacturer cited its competitive market position in the housing- and automotive-related businesses. It has pivoted away from consumer electronics to focus on business-to-business opportunities. It reported its first full-year profit since 2011 after it halted its money-losing plasma TVs and stopped developing smartphones for consumer use. It has set up a manufacturing unit at Tesla Motors’ battery “gigafactory” in Nevada. An investment specialist said that the company was effectively debt free.

Common Chemicals in Home Electronics and Furniture May Contribute to Obesity – A University of New Hampshire study shows that flame retardants in home electronics, furniture and carpet padding called PBDEs are everywhere and may diminish an enzyme’s activity in the liver by 50%; it is the backbone of a process that helps metabolize fat. It definitely showed a link of the PBDEs in making more Americans overweight. Many firms have stopped adding PBDEs in the past decade, but their actions was purely voluntary.

Stringquest” Takes Classical Music on a New Turn – Adam Crane teaches young and adult musicians and as launched the new project “Stringquest,” which connects music with science, math, history, logic and critical thinking skills. The thriving program is filled with exercises, original compositions, audio examples and mastery checkpoints. It’s accessible to everyone on the Internet. Crane refused to accept that classical music is a dying art and is being downgraded in the schools. His idea is to keep music alive in the schools and beyond.

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