European Custom Installer

Savant releases the 8.8 software update-- a release offering an enhanced UI making access to music easier and personalisation capabilities allowing installers to fine-tune the user experience for clients.

Version 8.8 includes Savant Music 2.0, a music server experience the company says has been designed from the ground up. It promises improved reliability, speed, easier navigation, preset recall and song queues, all with a redesigned control system. An equaliser screen makes fine-tuning sound on supported devices easier, and it is compatible with the Spotify, Pandora, TuneIn and Tidal streaming services, as well as Airplay and PLEX for locally stored music.

Are customers still buying CD players? NAD insists that is exactly the case with the C 538, a high-performance CD player the company claims can extract "the very best sound" from the humble compact disc.

The C 538 lies somewhere between the C 568 and C546BEE in the NAD CD player hierarchy. It offers both analogue and digital output, with a Wolfson 24-bit/192kHz DAC feeding coax and optical outputs for connection with a stereo amplifier digital input or external DAC. As well as CDs it handles CD-R/CD-RW discs, allowing users to burn MP3 or WMA files on disc for longer playlists.

KanexPro announces a line of AV-over-IP encoders and decoders at InfoComm 2018-- the Network AV over IP Decoder and Receiver (EXT-NETAVKIT), a configurable low-bandwidt H.264 matrix with lossless resolutions up to 1920x1080 @60fps.

The EXT-NETAVKIT is a set with x1 HDMI input, x1 local HDMI output with multiple phoenix connectors for audio output, and a LAN port with RS-232 control port for by passing 3rd party devices. Customers can decode IP audio and video up to 100m, with low latency of 1.5 frames per millisecond, with the EXT-NETAVTRX decoder. It is HDCP-compliant, and can be paired with one to one, one to many, or many to many EXT-NETAVTX encoders to create a traditional AV routing matrix scheme.

The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) has one announcement relating what was the company's hobby, the Apple TV-- tvOS 12, the latest version of the software powering the STB, features Dolby Atmos support.

The announcement makes the most recent Apple TV 4K the first (and so far only) streaming device with support for both Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision. Once the update rolls out Apple will add Dolby Atmos audio to movies in customers' iTunes libraries for free, just like when Apple added 4K media support to the STB.

Other updates make the STB easier to use-- one can AutoFill passwords from iPhone or iPad to Apple TV to sign into Apple TV apps, and the Apple TV remote will be automatically added to the iOS 12 Control Center app. In addition, Control4, Crestron and Savant home control systems get Apple TV voice control via Siri compatibility.

Extron introduces the TLP Pro 525M 5-inch wall mount TouchLink Pro touchpanel.

Re-designed inside and out, this latest TouchLink Pro touchpanel features a new, high-performance quad-core processor, 8X more memory, and an 800x480 capacitive touchscreen built with scratch and smudge-resistant edge-to-edge Corning Gorilla Glass.

The TLP Pro 525M also features the convenience of Power over Ethernet (PoE), allowing it to receive power and communication over a single Ethernet cable. It is suitable in any environment requiring a stylish, wall-mountable touchpanel with a fully-customizable control interface.