Mac Edition Radio

Mac Edition Radio produces reviews and news stories about the latest technologies, digital imaging, music, & photography.

Review – AeroGarden Ultra and Ultra LED Hydroponic Gardens – Part One of Two

Last December at the Pepcom Digital Experience show held in New York, one vendor’s table stood out. Instead of the usual plethora of black boxes, cables, headphones, computers, memory chips, or software, this table had glowing gardens of vegetables, flowers, and herbs - a beautiful refuge from the chill of winter. The source of all that greenery was a selection of small tabletop hydroponic gardens from AeroGrow, a Boulder, Colorado based company that has a strategic partnership with Scotts Miracle-Gro. Is an AeroGarden destined for your home or office? Read our full review to find out!

Nancy Burlan and Harris Fogel, Posted 9/14/2014

Review – Korg DS-DAC-100M Mobile 1Bit USB DAC & AudioGate 3 Software

Lately, it has become quite easy to improve upon your computer's Digital Audio Converter (DAC) with a slew of units from incredibly affordable to stratospherically priced. Now that high-resolution downloads becoming more common, inexpensive USB DACs promise audiophile sound on a budget, especially when combined with some good player software and headphones. Of the two formats for digital audio recordings, the most popular is Pulse Code Modulation (PCM), followed by Direct Stream Digital (DSD) pioneered by Sony. Most of the time when you play a DSD file through a DAC, it is actually converted to PCM. Enter the Korg DS-DAC-100M 1Bit USB Mobile DAC, offering native DSD support, as well as PCM, and a promise to make MP3 files sound better as well. Coupled with a new version of Korg's AudioGate 3 software, Korg is making DSD available for everyone. Read more to learn our experiences!

Harris Fogel, Posted 8/31/2014

Review – A Busy Fall 2014 For Apple

This will be a very busy fall for Apple. Starting on September 9th, they will be introducing the iPhone 6, with releases of iOS 8 and OS X version 10.10 Yosemite coming later. Mac Edition Radio would also not be at all surprised to see new iPads (perhaps in new configurations) and the fabled iWatch. John Mulhern III discusses everything that we expect to see from Apple this fall.

John Mulhern III, Posted 8/27/14

Review – 4TB Seagate Backup Plus Fast Portable Drive

It’s an undeniable fact that our data storage needs are in a constant growth pattern. Apple introduced the 512K Macintosh to great fanfare, yet we now speak of terabytes as an everyday reality and petabytes are on the horizon for some users! We have spent a considerable amount of time working with Seagate’s storage products, from a very fast, portable, and enormous USB 3 drive to a pair of their new Enterprise Level drives driven as a mirror by the venerable SoftRaid 4 software. In the first of this multi-part article on Seagate’s approach to storage, we discuss the 4TB Seagate Backup Plus Fast Portable Drive.

Harris Fogel, with additional research by Frank Schramm, Ken Kramar, and John Mulhern III posted 8/5/2014

Review – KICKER Amphitheater BT2 Speaker System with Bluetooth & KICKER Vapor Headphones

KICKER began as a two-person operation back in 1973, producing hand-built audio systems for cars and trucks. Luckily for the automotively challenged, the company has expanded to include home and personal audio products built with the same dedication to technology and performance. Looking for a Bluetooth speaker system with kick? How about a cool set of really comfortable headphones? We revved our engines at the chance to examine the KICKER Amphitheater BT2 Speaker System with Bluetooth and KICKER Vapor Headphones, which bring their audio expertise into your home and on the road. Read on to find out the results of our off-road test.

Harris Fogel, with additional editorial input by Nancy Burlan, and Jonathan Fogel, posted 8/3/2014

Review – RCA RCS13101E Internet Music System - A Compact, Connected, Competent System

Tablets and the Internet seem to dominate the future of music and media sharing. But is it all really worth it if we don’t have a competent system to play it on? The RCA RCS13101E Internet Music System seeks to answer that question, and keep things as user-friendly as possible. Read our review to find out more!

Thomas Fogel, posted 6/29/2014

Review – BlackBerry Z10 with BlackBerry 10 OS - The Remarkable Resurgence of Research in Motion

BlackBerry has debuted a new OS and ecosystem, and a new phone design altogether, designed to save the company. But will it be enough to propel Research in Motion back to prominence? Is this berry safe to eat? Read our review to find out!

Thomas Fogel, posted 6/29/2014

Review – Actiontec PWR51W Wireless Network Extender

As nice as wireless connectivity is, we all know that a wall, door, brick, or metal construction components all lead to areas that have a lower signal then others. And, some homes and offices are built in such a way that to have a high speed wired network is difficult. The Actiontec PWR51W Wireless Network Extender promises to turn your house wiring into both an extension of your Ethernet router, as well as provide a stronger Wi-Fi signal where you need it. Does it work? Read our review to find out!

Harris Fogel, with additional reporting by Thomas Fogel, posted 6/22/2014

Review – Logitech's Ultimate Ears Boom Speakers Rock My World

Logitech promotes its Ultimate Ears Boom Bluetooth speaker primarily for outdoor/travel use; it has garnered high praise in those roles. Here A. D. Coleman experiments with using two Booms attached to his Mac Mini in his home office. Can a portable Bluetooth speaker rock your world? Read our full review to find out!

A.D. Coleman, posted 6/18/2014

Review – The Ricoh GR

The Ricoh GR – A large sensor in a small camera. Remember those old ads for diamonds that promised that good things come in small packages? The Ricoh GR packs a large APS-C sensor, with a fixed focal length lens that is both small and sharp, built into what might just seem like an ordinary point-and-shoot pocket camera, but instead can often outperform its full-sized DSLR larger cousins. The Ricoh GR is the fourth iteration of this line, and boasts one of the most complete set of menu options a photographer would want, coupled with a fast, F2.8 fixed (28mm equivalent) wide-angle lens and the ability to save RAW files in the Open-source DNG format. Read on to find out our results!

Harris Fogel, with additional reporting by Frank Schramm, posted 6/15/2014

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