Tag Archives: Apple
Personalized Spatial Audio
I developed an appreciation for good audio headphones during my time at KBOA back in the ’70s. Not so much for the music as much as wanting/needing to hear my voice as the listener was hearing it. Too close to the microphone? Too far away? Popping my “P’s?” I’ve purchased a lot of headphones over the years, always searching for the perfect set.
I used Apple’s wired earbuds during the iPod days and thought the music sounded fine. I never purchased another set of “cans.” I purchased my first set of Apple AirPods in 2016 and have been using them ever since. They fit my ears perfectly. So well, in fact, that I forget I have them in. Unfortunately, that means I don’t notice if one falls out which happened last week. The Find My app on my phone told me where I last had the AirPod but I never found it.
When I got my new AirPods my buddy George asked if i had configured them to take advantage of Personalized Spatial Audio. I vaguely recalled reading about this feature but don’t think I ever used it. As good as I thought the AirPods were before, this bit of tech magic was impressive.
(Perplexity) It uses the TrueDepth camera on newer iPhones to scan your face and ears. This captures data about the geometry and contours of your head and ear position. This personalized profile is then used to optimize how spatial audio is rendered through your AirPods or Beats headphones. It adjusts the sound to account for your ear shape and head size, providing a more immersive 3D audio experience tailored specifically to your anatomy.
Songs I’ve listened to a thousand times sound fresh and new. So, yeah, I’ve become one of those people walking around with tiny white things in my ears. More and more I’m using Siri to schedule reminders, send messages, check the weather, jot down a note… you get the idea. My phone stays in my bag more these days and when at home, I leave it on the table and interact via AirPods (as long as phone and pods are on same wifi network.
This will get even more interesting this fall when I take the Apple Watch (with cellular) plunge.
iPhone 15 camera
I sprung for a new iPhone 15. The camera sold me and it’s all that I hoped for and more.
iPhone 13 mini
I’ve never been a fan of the ever-larger phones so I almost pulled the trigger on one of the new iPhone SE’s Apple announced last week, until my buddy suggested I take a look at the iPhone 13 mini. Didn’t know there was such a thing but it was just what I was after. Smaller phone with lots of features. Arrives tomorrow. (The photo compares the 11 and the 13 mini)
I was at the Apple event in 2007 when Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone. I resisted getting an iPhone when they came out. I’d had a Tracfone since 2005. $19.95 at Wal-Mart and it lived in the glovebox of my car. In 2008 I broke down and bought an iPhone and bought the new model ever couple of years. iPhone 3GS (2009); iPhone 4 (2010); the first iPhone SE (2016); iPhone XS (2018); iPhone 11 (2020).
AirPods 3
I don’t remember when I got my first set of headphones. According to Wikipedia, until the mid-1960s, record companies mixed and released most popular music in mono. From mid-1960s until the early 1970s, major recordings were commonly released in both mono and stereo. In the ’60s The Beach Boys, Frank Zappa and The Beatles were among the first big artists to play around with multitrack recording.
Dolby started showing up in recording studios in 1966 and quadraphonic sound was introduced in the early ’70s but always seemed kind of gimmicky to me.
I know I started buying headphones in the early 70s when I went to work at KBOA. Sennheiser, Bose, you name it… I tried them all. And the good ones were expensive (and fragile). I was never an audiophile. WLS on an AM car radio sounded damned good to 17-year-old me. I never had a Sony Walkman but did get an iPod when they showed up. And the tiny earbuds sounded pretty good to me. Hard to believe it was as recent as 2016 when Apple introduced AirPods. I thought their wired earbuds were fine… until I tried the Bluetooth AirPods. And I’ve had a set ever since.
I hadn’t paid much attention to all the hype about the third generation AirPods but when I saw the launch event a couple of weeks ago, I decided to try a pair. Just to see (or hear, in this case).
To my pedestrian ears, stereo music meant base in one ear, treble in the other, and the vocal track somewhere in the middle. The new AirPods are — for me — living up to the hype. Not sure I can describe what I’m hearing. It really does sound like I’m in a big room (recording studio?) with instruments and singers all around me. It’s a strange feeling. Music is such a perceptual thing it’s difficult to describe. Songs I’ve listened to hundreds (thousands?) of times, sound new and fresh.
Apple will give you chapter and verse on how the new AirPods work but the music I’m now hearing (feeling?) seems impossible. Someone described it as witchcraft.
Time Capsule
In early 2008 Apple introduced the Time Capsule, a wireless router that automatically backs up data for any computer connected to your wifi network. In approximately 2016, Apple disbanded the wireless router team that developed the AirPort Time Capsule and AirPort Extreme router. In 2018, Apple formally discontinued both products, exiting the router market.
Don’t recall when I got mine but it was a long time ago. Since Apple no longer supports the device, I retired mine and replaced it with an external hard drive, using Time Machine to back up my MacBook.
Was planning to take the old Time Capsule to the recycle place but remembered it still has my data on it. A lot of data. I could plug it back in and erase but I’m told it would take a long time so I decided to destroy the thing. But it’s impenetrable! No way (that I can see) to get it open and get to the hard drive. I could probably beat it with an axe or a sledgehammer but that sounds like a lot of work. So I’ve decided to take it down into the woods (we live on six acres) and bury it. I know, probably not good for ground water but I’ll do my best to seal it up.
I kind of like the idea some alien archeologist discovering the thing and being frustrated she can’t find a power cord or cable for it.
“AirPods!”
During the early days of the pandemic, as more and more people began showing up on TV via Zoom et al, I would shout out to Barb, “AIRPODS!” That quickly became annoying so I would whisper, “AirPods.” Now I just mouth the words.
I have mine in so frequently I’ve stopped noticing them (they fit my ears perfectly). Arguments about audio quality aside, they have changed my perception of music. It seems to be coming from inside my head, rather than through my ears.
Apple Music playlists (piano solos and cello solos) have become the the background for my awareness, making me noticeably more relaxed and peaceful.
New filters for iMovie
I’ve played with filters over the years but gather they’ve become far more popular in a social media world.
AirPods vs. “cans”
Seems like only yesterday wearing a Blue Tooth earbud/mic made you the subject of derision. A techno-hipster intent on impressing everyone with his hands-free phone calls.
Fast-forward to the Apple AirPods, which also got you some snickers. A lot for snickers. But it turns out AirPods work pretty well and I started seeing them everywhere. The FedEx guy. The crew chief that oversaw our new roof. The guy that mows our yard (yeah, yeah).
The plague hits and Zoom becomes a generic term (“I was zooming all day”). And those TV “at home” interviews? Lots of AirPods. So many that when I see someone wear a big old set of cans I think, poor dweeb.
Like these two guys being interviewed by Bill Maher. I know, I know… superior audio quality!
iPhone 11
The battery on my iPhone XS wasn’t holding a charge (I’ve had it a couple of years) so I popped for an iPhone 11 and it arrived yesterday. It feels strange to all them phones given all the other things we do with them. Mine is a camera first and somewhere near the bottom of the list is PHONE.
Barb has had one for a while and the photos she has taken are beautiful so I was eager to play with this feature. My friend George spoke glowingly of the photos he had gotten with the latest iPhone’s Night Mode. If I understand correctly, the phone takes three photos and magically combines them to come up with the best image. The photos below were just “point and shoot” on my part. I’ll probably never get around to researching and fulling understanding (or using) the many features of my new camera/phone.
First photo above using this new feature, the second photo not.
I was in San Francisco attending MacWorld (first and last time) when Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone. I didn’t understand or appreciate what a big deal it would be. I didn’t get one that first year but broke down a year later. And have had one ever since.
Here are a couple of more photos from yesterday.
I keep telling myself the iPhone I have is good enough. More than good enough, and I don’t need the latest and greatest. But look at those photos!