On this day in 1980, Pink Floyd’s eleventh studio album “The Wall,” began it’s 15-week residence atop the Billboard charts. The rock opera, which explores abandonment and isolation, was released on November 30, 1979 and sold over 19 million copies worldwide between its release and 1990. Following the release of the album, Pink Floyd kicked off The Wall Tour, where, during each performance, a 40-ft high wall was constructed between the band and the audience, and torn down during the show’s finale. “The Wall” remains one of the most profitable albums in the U.S., but is Pink Floyd’s second best-selling album, behind “Dark Side of the Moon” (1973). In 2003, Rolling Stone awarded “The Wall” the #87 spot on its “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” list.
Blackfire Research kicked off 2017 in Viva Las Vegas to participate in the world’s largest, annual consumer electronics trade show, CES. At the start of each year, CES (and roughly 4,000 exhibiting companies) takes over the Las Vegas Strip, showcasing the latest in hi-tech innovations and prototypes for technology of the future. The exhibition floors were abuzz with the soon-to-be year’s hottest trends: unbelievably thin TVs,autonomous vehicles, multi-screen gaming laptops, Virtual Reality headsets, and – in what tech bloggers are dubbing “The Amazon Home Takeover,” – a wide range of smart home appliances, such as toasters, washer & dryer units, refrigerators, security systems, fans, and more, all aided by Amazon’s voice-activated speaker – Alexa.
As exciting and eye-catching as the exhibition floors were, we at Blackfire couldn’t get too distracted, for we were on a mission to present the industry’s best wireless audio solutions for a wide variety of home entertainment systems and applications.
Over the course of four days, Blackfire held meetings at a suite in the luxurious Venetian, with global industry leaders, partners, investors, and old friends, to demonstrate why we are setting the standard for wireless home entertainment. Among those who visited our suite was Arabian Prince, founding member of the rap group NWA, and driving force behind INNOV8 NEXT. As you may recall, this past November, Arabian and Blackfire’s founder and CEO, Ravi Rajapakse, sat together on a panel to discuss innovation in the music industry at the annual Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal.
This year at CES, Blackfire had plenty to boast, unveiling not one, but three wireless solutions ready for product integration: Blackfire MA – a cost-effective wireless audio solution for smartphones and multiroom music systems; Blackfire MXD – delivering high-resolution multiroom music with native GoogleCast Audio and Spotify Connect support; and Blackfire IXD – the industry’s first low-latency Wi-Fi surround sound solution enabling smart TVs and set top boxes to deliver the ultimate home theater experience. Blackfire IXD also supports multiroom media streaming, transforming the smart TV or set top box into a whole home media center.
In addition to presenting our audio solutions upstairs at the Venetian, we had the opportunity to visit products with Blackfire’s patented streaming technology on display downstairs at the Onkyo/Pioneer booth. The Onkyo SBT-A500 Network Surround Sound Bar System, The Pioneer SC-LX701 Network A/V Receiver, and the Pioneer MRX-3 Wireless Speaker all proudly displayed the Blackfire Logo. CES also revealed a new, Blackfire enabled 6.1-Channel A/V Receiver and Object-Based Surround Sound Bar from luxury consumer audio company, Integra.
At the Harman/Kardon floor in the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, we caught a glimpse of the wireless HD Audio line, The Omni+ Series, featuring Blackfire’s patented streaming technology. Recently, the Omni 10+ and the Omni 20+ were joined by the Omni Soundbar System, a 2.1 channel soundbar with a wireless subwoofer, powered by Blackfire wireless streaming technology. So, at the end of a long, but successful conference, the Blackfire Team had plenty to celebrate (over margaritas) before packing up “The Beast” and heading back to San Francisco. Here’s to a great start to 2017!
Canadian R&B singer/songwriter, The Weeknd, is back with his third studio album, Starboy. Hot off the heels of his mega-successful sophomore album, Beauty Behind the Madness(2015), which made the once homeless musician a household name and earned him numerous awards, Starboy is The Weeknd coming to terms with his celebrity status. For Starboy, fame is loneliness and paranoia, filled with failed relationships and designer drugs, all wrapped into the luxe setting of an exclusive nightclub or a dark, elegant penthouse.
48 years ago, Led Zeppelin’s debut album, Led Zeppelin, was released in the United States by Atlantic Records. The album, which brought us “Good Times Bad Times,” peaked at No. 10 on Billboard. Critical reception to the album was lukewarm, but was a commercial success due to the band’s hard-rock sound which was gradually being adopted by the American and British counterculture. In 2004, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and is currently ranked at #29 on Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.”
This past November, Japanese electronics manufacturer, Onkyo, unveiled the LS7200 3D Soundbar System featuring FireConnectby Blackfire Research, as part of their growing Envision Cinema product family. The LS7200 is a three-piece, 5.1.2 surround sound system, made up of a slim, 53mm wall-mountable soundbar, a wireless subwoofer, and an AV center control unit, which includes four HDMI inputs to connect all your media devices, such as Blu-Ray players, streaming boxes, and video game consoles.
The three-piece LS7200 offers key advantages over other soundbar systems: not only does it use FireConnect to perfect multiroom distribution of wireless audio to FireConnect-compatible wireless speakers, the LS7200 will support Spotify, Connect, TuneIn, and Tidal, so you’ll have all your favorite music right at your fingertips. Onkyo’s “AccuEQ Room Acoustic Calibration tailors sound to individual spaces, adjusting essential speaker conditions such as output level, distance, and crossover” (eu.onkyo.com), so you’ll always experience incredible sound in any room or configuration.
Inside the 53mm soundbar, “you’ll find two speakers drivers for each left, right and centre channel as well single height speakers to create 3D sound effects via Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. The LS7200 also boasts a Surround Enhancer mode that creates ‘virtual rear speakers’ to help give the illusion sound is coming from behind you” (pocket-lint.com). Additionally, the LS7200 offers object-based sound for movies, as well as a deeply satisfying stereo performance with a choice of network audio options.
Whether streaming music throughout your home or watching your favorite movie in surround sound, Onkyo LS7200 3D Soundbar System is the perfect addition to your wireless home entertainment system. The LS7200 will be available starting in January 2017.
For more information, check out this Onkyo Press Release, and news from Techradar and Pocket-Lint:
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