Tech Review: Bowers & Wilkins T7 Portable Bluetooth Speaker

Bowers & Wilkins, generally known as purveyors of hi-fi (seriously hi-fi) products with equally high aesthetics to match, entered the portable Bluetooth speaker foray last November, with the introduction of the T7 Bluetooth speaker. Featuring and proudly displaying the company's first commercial application of its honeycomb-structured Micro Matrix technology for greater cabinet support, the aptX-capable speaker uses two 50mm drivers with patent-pending force-cancelling high-output bass radiators (all them hyphened phrases... someone hold me please), supported by DSP and DAC modules, and high quality Class D amplifiers (you know... whatever they mean).

Designed with B&W's signature minimalism, the slim yet solid rectangular block features no more than a power button and battery level indicator on the right, volume, play/pause and Bluetooth connection buttons on top, and discreet charging, auxiliary input and Micro USB ports, along with a reboot button.

Battery life is impressive. I only charged it once, mistakenly as it turns out, since the battery was already almost full. And being the cluttered anti-minimalist that I am I fiddled about for a good 5 minutes before discovering the power button, along with the battery level indicator. Since then, I have used the speaker in approximately 5 half hour sessions at rather high volume, and have not had to charge the speaker. Its specifications boast up to 18 hours of battery life "at normal listening levels".

So let's get down to what this review really is about - does the T7 live up to the grand legacy of its older siblings? Yes, but not without its caveats.

The bottom line - sound is great. Said audio drivers were not developed and chosen lightly, and they throw sound far and forward quite commendably. Sound is clean and crisp, great across the board, but especially fantastic for jazz, be it quartet, big band or electric-style. Stereo separation is almost non-existent, but I've come to not expect that in a portable speaker anymore, except perhaps the X-mini Max (feel free to surprise me though).

My biggest problem with it? The lack of bass. The sleek and compact design ultimately took its toll on low-frequency resonance, and as far as I'm concerned anyway, the otherwise fantastic sound quality just makes the absence of bass even more apparent.

Fortunately, I stumbled upon a solution before completely writing the device off. While there is insufficient bass resonance, the speaker does still have good acoustic throw, and that applies to bass too. By setting it on my window ledge, I inadvertently turned the recessed space framing the ledge into a massive bass cabinet. If you have purchased the speaker and are fretting about this, find yourself a window ledge, cubby hole, or shelf measuring ideally 1 meter across diagonally - the squarer the space the better. Place your T7 approximately 40cm away from the wall of the space, step 2-3 meters back, and hear the difference for yourself. And if you are considering the T7, keep this in mind before cashing in. Alternatively if you aren't fussy about bass, and who am I to judge, even though I already am, then why not. Go right ahead.

The T7 is available now for S$590 at authorised dealers.

Tech Review: Lomography Petzval Art Lens

When asked to review the Lomography Petzval Art Lens, I quite quickly said yes, without too much thought about what would be in store for me. I've toyed (hurhur geddit) around with Lomo products before, and as a digital photographer accustomed to minimal chromatic abberations, tack-sharp images, clearly-distinguishable bokeh and other clinical perfections achievable with the single click of a button in Lightroom, even my most twisted frame of mind had trouble making me let go of the fact that I have all but lost precious control of my aperture, shutter speed, focus and ISO.

For the record I still feel comfortable with a manual SLR. But Lomography's artistic concept is quite a different ball game, oftentimes leaning heavily on the highly forgiving nature of photographic film to capture otherwise ruined shots (and celebrating said near-destruction as art).

 

In the past year, Lomography has turned its focus towards engaging the digital photography market, with the Micro Four-Thirds Experimental Lens Kit for mirrorless systems, the upcoming New Russar+ for L39 and M mounts, and the Petzval lens for Canon and Nikon DSLR systems. This represents a slight change, or at least deviation, in direction for them, aiming to make unique, optically idiosyncratic lenses available to digital shooters instead of drawing them back to good ol' analogue photography..

 At a focal length of 85mm (often considered the most flattering focal length for portraiture) and a maximum aperture value of f/2.2, let's be clear about one thing - the Petzval lens isn't your typical plaything from Lomography. Without the luxuries of electronic apertures, auto-focus or even focus confirmation, users in my opinion will require adequate experience in aperture management and a keen eye to lock focus optically while capturing moments. If you don't already have a full frame DSLR body, I would recommend thinking about that first before spending on this lens. APS-C cameras will result in focal lengths of 127.5mm or 136mm (Nikon/Canon respectively) and unless you somehow feel comfortable working within that range, I imagine it will be quite the nightmare to operate snappily. I also believe full-frame cameras will more effectively bring out the unique optical features of this lens. While it isn't impossible to use this lens for street photography (by which I mean un-posed pictures), it will definitely be a heck of a greater challenge to use day-to-day than the more conventional 35mm or 50mm lengths.
 

Aperture size is controlled by a series of old-school-looking brass plates that frame the aperture hole nicely in the center of the lens. The plates start from the lens' maximum aperture of f/2.2, then move up to the conventional value of f/2.8, through to f/16 in 1-stop increments. After you get used to operating the lens, there's something quite therapeutic about palming an aperture plate (or two, if you're awesome like that), to have options on hand without having to fish out and sort through the whole carabiner of plates everytime you wish to switch. In my sessions with the lens I've alternated between f/2.8 and f/4, and f/4 and f/5.6. As far as my limited time with the lens could show, these were ideal aperture values that brought out the best of the lens. I also had the chance to mess around with the Petzval Special Aperture Plates, which feature unusual shapes that will show up in your background's bokeh. Great for concept stuff, but perhaps not for everyday use, in my opinion.

If an image shot with the Petzval were to be immediately recognized, it would perhaps be because of its swirling, arcing bokeh patterns and soft, misty feel, which I expect would usually prove a source of anguish and despair to aforementioned digital photographers, but otherwise has a rather dreamy and artistic effect to it. This is where aperture comes into play - too wide and the bokeh smudges into a huge singular blur; too small and the bokeh closes down, minimizing the swirly effect. On sunny days, on-focus images shot at f/5.6 onwards are guaranteed to produce painfully sharp shots. Indoors where more light input is required and larger apertures are in place, the focal sweet spot becomes paper-thin and misty images are not uncommon (or it could be my unsteady hands. YMMV~).

 

As far as the lens itself fares, it lives up to its inclusion under the Lomography brand: a slightly unpredictable, not-always-easy-to-use lens that you'd do well to just go on a journey with, and discover a new dimension of photography with. But perhaps the golden question boils down to this: is your photographic journey worth S$998 for a large, heavy, manual lens?

Wait, how much?!

 Yep. S$2 short of a whole grand. That's the price you will pay for a Petzval. As a photographer not naturally inclined towards portraiture, this frankly isn't a lens that I would consider purchasing. I always recommend my readers to try the product in question for themselves - I am after all just a single point of view. Failing that opportunity to do so, the most telling question I would say you should ask yourself is be your natural affinity towards portraiture. As with all things analogue, the lens will make you slow down and consider the value of your shot before taking it. After all, you will be quite obviously crouching or bending, trying to get the focus right. This exercise will very likely bring about a more thought-out shooting process, slowly improving the effectiveness of your photos.

So how much is your photography worth?
 
View the rest of my published shots at my Facebook album.

Adobe Creative Cloud 2014: Keeping up to date without breaking your bank

This is part of my on-going review series for Adobe Creative Cloud 2014, of which I was given a complimentary one-year subscription.

When Adobe CC was first announced last year, many weren't sure where to place their opinions. A good many (such as I, initially) made calculations to see the difference between Creative Suite and Creative Cloud, and quite quickly realised that you the S$792 you will fork out over a year for a complete Adobe CC subscription will never compare to the thousands of dollars you would have to spend on any previous CS Master Collection. And perhaps why that wasn't so immediately apparent was because, and I'm sure many of my readers would already know this in... more than one way, Adobe products are amongst the most pirated software in the world. Adobe hopes to mitigate that with the availability of Creative Cloud.

I won't claim that Creative Cloud can or will shut piracy down. Neither does Adobe, and quite prudently so. That would have been disappointingly naive. Instead, much like music and Spotify, or videos and YouTube, it feels like Adobe is looking to make their very desirable offerings more affordable through technologies that weren't available before, with value adds to the greater ecosystem that will complete the user experience. In doing so, they hope, as do I, that more users will appreciate the benefits of paying a reasonable monthly price to have access to the latest updates and features. There will I'm sure be those who have built enough of a personal ecosystem around their Creative Suite apps that they will feel no impetus at all to move to the Creative Cloud, just because they've been doing fine the last 5 years. Obvious legalities aside, it's hard to blame them, given Adobe's pre-CC pricing model.

I should qualify at this point, to conclude the pre-amble, that I don't think Adobe's previous prices were unreasonable. Premium, perhaps, but given the almost unfathomable amount of features and possiblities built in to Photoshop, to name just their most popular product, they are qualified to ask that sort of money for it. What it was though, was simply unreachable, and adding to that the fact that most users probably use no more than the most common 5-10% of its capabilities - advanced users perhaps stretching that figure to 50% - it is near impossible to justify paying in excess of a thousand dollars for the program.

One year and lots of aggressive marketing later, the Creative Cloud apps have undergone major refreshes, both inwardly and outwardly, as they move into their second year of service with Creative Cloud 2014. One of the greatest advantages of CC is its update cycle. I've had my subscription for no more than 3 months, and in this time I have already been bugged 3-4 times by the CC manager app to download and install updates. Along with that there is also the rather obvious matter of choice. Anytime you decide you don't require a service anymore, you'll be able to drop it within 30 days of your decision, depending on the plan you selected, keeping sunk costs to a minimum. What's not to like?

As a photographer who also dabbles in abit of video and audio production from time to time, I primarily use Lightroom and Photoshop, along with Premiere Pro and Audition once in awhile. As my main tool, Lightroom can today still be purchased and function on its own as a One-Time License, for which I'm grateful. Subscribing to Lightroom through CC, however, unlocks Lightroom Mobile on the iPad, allowing you to sort your photos and do rudimentary edits (exposure, contrast, color/B&W, etc) on the go. This is great for the mid level professionals who have back to back schedules but don't necessarily have a team yet to hand the processing and editing to, post-shoot. CC subscriptions also allows users to use companion mobile apps like Photoshop Mix and Adobe Sketch with Photoshop CC, or Adobe Premiere Clip with Premiere Pro CC, powerful and accurate tools to help you capture those creative brain farts wherever you are.

At this point I need to shout about Adobe's incredible subscription plan for photographers. Keeping in mind that a single app subscription, ie. an ala carte selection, is S$26/month, the Photographers plan gives you the latest versions of Lightroom, Lightroom Mobile, Photoshop CC and Photoshop Mix - basically the complete set of desktop and mobile tools available from Adobe that a photographer will need to function - for S$13/month. If you haven't already done the math, that is half the price of 1 app for 2 apps and their mobile companions. Even if you find zero use and interest for Lightroom, you would have to be frighteningly stupid not to take up this deal.

CC apps, I have noticed, also boot up faster than its predecessors, probably due to tightened code. This is surely a welcome change for efficiency maniacs (come on, say it loud and proud) or those like me who want to execute an idea snappily, before the inspired processes or creativity slips our minds. Yes, it's a thing. It happens. No, you don't have to be old and forgetful to experience this.

Because Photoshop is to me a secondary tool that I only use for more complicated operations like image stitching, image stacking or HDR blending, I haven't had much opportunity to explore the great new features of Photoshop CC 2014, like automatic searches and downloads of missing fonts from the Typekit library, new blur motion effects and focus masking.

There will be more in-depth articles on that and the other apps I use, so stay tuned to this space!

Let your ears be loved with Sennheiser Urbanite

Following a successful run (I think, certainly looks so at the surface but I haven't been following that closely) with their Momentum series of stylish headphones, Sennheiser looks to capture the increasingly discerning youth market (read: #richkidsofsingapore) by following up with the Urbanite range of street-friendly headphones.

As with the Momentum series, the series consists of two main models - an on-ear version and an over-ear version. Each model then has removable remote control cables (1.2m) suited to either Apple or Android devices. These cables will also be available separately, shortly after the range's availability date of 28 October 2014, along with a universal version with slider-controlled volume (ie. analog, not electronic).

Unlike the Momentum series, which is predominantly dressed in leather, the Urbanite range sports denim and canvas fabrics, complemented with highly flexible and durable stainless steel and aluminum parts to travel with you all day. And what's a fashion-oriented line of products without a range of colors? The Urbanite XL (top) and Urbanite (below) don't exactly come in bright, eye-shredding shades, but its options will quite easily coordinate with your wardrobe (this coming from a self-professed fashion dunce, so if you can't even manage to complement light and dark against each other properly then just get yourself the black model and be done with it). It must be mentioned that the earpads are made of velvety material, which makes for a very comfortable rest, but absorbs sweat like a sponge. I foresee this may will cause some awkward moments in the longer run.

Ok, first impressions of the audio quality. I used to shy away from products claiming "extra bass", because no matter how marketing spins it, the sound almost always ends up muddier than a Muk after it's had a dip in the Ganges. I was very pleased, therefore, to note that Sennheiser has not sacrificed its legacy of pristine audio in favor of style. While I unfortunately neglected to check if the drivers for both products were different, the XL/over-ear version definitely provided accurate, tight bass lines, whether you are listening to defined beats in techno or rock, or wider, further-reaching rumbles and pulses in musicals and classical music. Mids are richly defined, and highs rarely, if ever, turn exceedingly sharp. With a smaller circumference, the Urbanite/on-ear version pipied out a more concentrated projection of sound. For me, this seemed to bring about a more packed-in bass that didn't resonate as well as that of the XL. Similarly, while its high-fidelity was quite apparent, the mids and bass felt like commuters jostling onto an already crowded train platform during peak hour, unable to reach their full aural potential. Fellow bloggers who attended the event with me opined otherwise though, so as I always recommend to anyone who asks me about audio, that's my opinion, but try it out for yourself to be sure. I can give you my point of view but I can never hear on your behalf.

The Urbanite (on-ear) will retail for S$269, and the Urbanite XL (over-ear) will retail for S$339. They will be available from 28 October 2014 onwards at the Sennheiser Concept Store at Marina Square (try it out here!) and authorised retailers.

With the range's focus on street style, Sennheiser in Singapore has partnered with "a local independent, multi-label company", SUP Clothing at Haji Lane (I mean, where else right?), to launch the line, by identifying and engaging with fashion-forward people, who will receive the chance to win fully styled outfits along with Urbanite headphones.

Movie Review: Muppets Most Wanted

 

So earlier this week I was invited to the media preview screening of Muppets Most Wanted, the second Muppets movie following...... The Muppets.

Picking right where the previous movie left off, Kermit and gang have pulled off a successful comeback, and they want to keep that momentum going. Tour manager Dominic Badguy ("It's pronounced Badgie... it's French... meaning... good guy."), played by the ever-talented Ricky Gervais, enters the scene with perfect timing to offer to make that a reality, with... of course... a darker secret behind him.

What struck me about this film was its irreverence. But it's easy to be irreverent. Just systematically go against the grain, offend plenty of people along the way and not give a flying hockey puck about said people. Muppets Most Wanted, however, manages to display their nonchalance to Hollywood and their own tall legacy in a coy, teasing and completely clean way. In other words, good old humor that demands more effort in both writing and execution.

Ty Burrell, better known as the hapless father Phil Dunphy in arguably the best sitcom on American TV today, Modern Family, and Tina Fey, from SNL and sometimes known as Sarah Palin's comic double, both take on accented roles in this movie, Ty Burrell playing a French Interpol inspector and Tina Fey playing a Russian prison guard. I personally think this is a risky task to undertake. Maintaining a fake accent consistently for a full-length feature film isn't an easy task, and efforts can all too easily fall to derisive calls of "trying too hard". Ty and Tina manage to pull this off decently though, turning their respective imitation dials to 11.

If you're looking for plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, and enjoy being the only one in an entire theatre to go "HAHA" because that means only you were smart enough to catch a less obvious reference (no come on, don't giggle like you don't like it, you know you've just one-upped like 149 other people), Muppets Most Wanted is showing in cinemas islandwide. Go catch it this weekend!

Movie Review: Need for Speed (2014)

 I've always loved driving, and I always tell people that while I enjoy gaming, the only form of gaming I think I stand any chance in is the racing genre. And to most console racers, the Need for Speed series of games represent an important part of gaming history. Thanks to Walt Disney Studios and Bates&CHI I had the privilege of catching the media preview of the movie based on the game franchise. 

As Justin rightly pointed out, it mustn't be easy to create a story out of a game franchise that hardly ever has a proper story to any of its titles. Not that that's a problem for the games, since just about everyone who'd buy it just want to hit the gas pedal and preferably knock some cars off the road. But given the franchise's 20 year history, there has to still be quite alot to live up to.

Without spoiling the plot for you, what struck me about the movie was that it quite nicely embodied the theme that its games were centred around - the concept of a perhaps not-always-apparent, but nevertheless deep-seated rivalry, whether between cops or between racers. The cops in the movie did get in the way of the illegal races, but they are pretty normal cars that "top out at 130", as mentioned by one of the film's characters. That's pretty crap considering that they were up against 6 supercars, from Koenigsegg, Lamborghini, Spano, Saleen, Bugatti and McLaren. The chief rivalry that drove (hurhur) the plot was one between two racers, and if you watch the movie, you will see that there's a pretty solid reason for it.

The movie was great in building up the adrenalin of races, beginning with a race amongst muscle cars and ending with a flat-out supercar showdown. With quite a number of surprises thrown in, it was an enjoyable 2 hours relishing the sights and sounds of the best of automotive technology today, capturing with some exhilarating camera work.

Need for Speed opens March 13th in Singapore's theatres.