This past November, Blackfire Research founder and CEO, Ravi Rajapakse, was asked to speak about innovation in the music industry at Europe’s largest tech conference, Web Summit, in Lisbon Portugal. Joining him on stage was NWA member and founder of INOV8 NEXT, Arabian Prince. Watch them discuss their visions for the future of the music industry and what’s next for audio technology in their panel, “Innovate or Die” below.
Performing under the name Vagabon, Cameroon-born recording artist and New York City transplant, Laetitia Tamko, has given us a preview of her debut album,“Infinite Worlds,” (out February 24th on Father/Daughter Records) with the release of “Fear and Force.” The song is a reworked version of “Vermont II” off her 2004 “Persian Garden EP.” Vagabon softens her voice and instrumentals in this updated version, relying on haunting simplicity to extract more weight from her lyrics of lost love.
58 years ago today, The Chipmunks skyrocketed to #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 with their Christmas-comedy classic, “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late).” The song was written and performed by Ross Bagdasarian (aka David Seville) using a tape recorder that would allow him to vary the speed of his audio, creating the high-pitched vocals we now know as “Alvin,” “Simon,” and “Theodore.” The single won Bagdasarian 2 Grammys…no word whether or not Alvin ever received his beloved hula hoop.
Blackfire Research is proud to partner with Harman/Kardon – a leading global manufacturer of audio systems – to make the best wireless speakers on the market. Blackfire’s technology can be found in any of Harman’s wireless Omni speakers. Previously, we discussed the Harman/Kardon Omni 10 Wireless HD Loudspeaker. Today, we’ll take another look inside a Harman/Kardon speaker, powered by Blackfire’s patented technology. This time: the Omni 20, a wireless HD stereo loudspeaker.
With a weight of 2125 grams, the Omni 20 is much larger than its predecessor, the Omni 10, and is a more powerful speaker for larger rooms, with a rated power of 4 x 15W. Compared to the smaller, circular shape of the Omni 10, the Omni 20 is an oval, with a width of 260mm.
Like the Omni 10, the Omni 20 allows for multi-room and multi-channel wireless surround sound with a multi-speaker setup. Harman/Kardon’s user-friendly design allows you to enjoy your music from anywhere in your home, all with the touch of a button: enjoy the same song throughout the entire home through “Party Mode,” or Press “Link” on the speaker to continue playing your music on another device. Multi-room and multi-channel wireless audio also lets you play different songs in different rooms.
You can stream music from your smartphone or tablet through the Harman/Kardon controller app, or, take advantage of the Omni 10’s Bluetooth capability by streaming music from your tablet or phone. While using Bluetooth, “the speaker will automatically translate the signal to Wi-Fi…all over your house for a truly flexible whole home audio experience”so you never have to worry about range limitations, dropouts, or low quality audio.
The Omni 20 supports superior, lossless HD audio without synchronization issues, playback lag or dropouts between multiple speakers, and streams up to 24bit/96kHz studio quality sound, all through Wi-Fi.
Harman/Kardon’s Omni 20 wireless HD Stereo Loudspeaker powered by Blackfire comes in either black or white and can be purchased for $299.95 each.
A newly reissued, deluxe edition of Fleetwood Mac’s 13th studio album, Mirage (1982), features a remastered version of the original, plus 13 live tracks, outtakes, and songs picked up from the cutting room floor. Stevie Nicks has never sounded better, her lyrics of loss and joy, never more poignant, than on this remastered version of “Gypsy.” The band’s high profile, personal turmoil (and subsequent struggle to come together to create this album – an attempt to break the chain of hostility that plagued them) although less apparent in Mirage, still pulses through the album’s veins, almost 35 years later.
