On the right side of all modern MacBook Pro models is an HDMI port used for digital video and sound. It's a great way to take in all of your favorite movies on the big screen.
On the other hand, if you wanted to use external speakers or headphones, it can cause issues if your sound settings aren't configured just right because HDMI itself is also an audio out port in addition to video out.
In this piece, we'll walk you through how to make sure your audio out is going to the right place.
If you're rocking a jailbroken iPhone and you like Mario, then a newly released jailbreak tweak is sure to be right up your alley. 1UP is a brand new tweak that alters the sound of Message notifications to that of the classic Mario coin sound found in Nintendo's storied gaming franchise.
The real treat of the tweak, and the inspiration behind the name, comes from when you reach a preset threshold of notifications. By default, once you receive 10 notifications for the Messages app, you'll hear the special "1UP" sound instead of the typical coin notification.
1UP is a great tweak to have if your heart strings are easily pulled by video game nostalgia. Best of all, it's available free of charge on Cydia' ModMyi repo.
The Blue Spark Digital ($127.74 on Amazon) is a handy little condenser microphone that's much smaller than its better-known big brother, the Blue Yeti. While the Blue Yeti excels at a lot of things, and can handle a wider variety of applications than the Spark Digital, the latter has one big advantage—the ability to directly connect to an iOS device via the included Lightning cable.
Just try to connect your Blue Yeti to your iPad, and you'll be quickly met with the dreaded "this device uses too much power" message. You'll see no such ominous messages when using the Blue Spark Digital, because it was made with iOS, specifically the iPad, in mind.
Although this microphone lacks the versatility of the Blue Yeti, most users will be more than satisfied with the sound quality for things like podcasting and voice-overs. The Spark lacks the varied polar patterns of Yeti, and thus can't be used as an all-in-one microphone, but for a one-man gig, it's almost perfect.
iOS isn't known for its ability to be customized, so it's no surprise that you can't change the sound for third-party notifications without a jailbreak tweak. CustomNotificationSound by snakeninny, the developer who brought us LowPowerBanner, does exactly that.
Learn how to mute sounds and silence notifications on your Apple Watch for some peace and quiet during meetings, school, the library, or other such situations.
Learn how to use this simple Terminal command to make your MacBook play a confirmation sound when you plug it into charging.
There is an assortment of Bluetooth speakers on the market and almost any accessory maker thinks they should enter the flooded marketplace. With that attitude, your product should bring something a little different to the crowd. Truffol's DuraSound exists somewhere between business professional and outdoor appropriate.
DuraSound has a very conservative, simple, rectangular design, with a flat matte finished front and back grill. This simple design with clean edges and finishes makes it suitable for the office. In contrast, the color-matched silicon bumper allows the device to be toted around for after hour drinks.
I'm partial to having a speaker in almost every room of the house. There is no particular reason why and, after thinking about it, I am not really that into music. However it is nice to always have some jams going in the background. Thanks to Outdoor Tech, I can have music going in one room, but still hear it in the next. Or, if I am rocking out in the neighborhood pool, I am loud enough to get in trouble.
After meeting with Outdoor Tech at CES, I was really excited about both the Big Turtle Shell and the Turtle Shell 2.0. If you can recall, I reviewed the Turtle Shell gen. 1, and was pretty impressed. In fact, the Turtle Shell has not left my kitchen, except for a couple of roadie tours, for a complete year. I have access to a lot of gear, so it is definitely a credit to the product for any one to make it a full year.
I must admit, the Turtle Shell has been de-throned, in favor of the 2.0 version and the big brother, Big Turtle Shell.
iOS 7 ushered in a whole new look and feel to the iOS we all knew. Its been a polarizing release to say the least, but I think that many of the naysayers are finally beginning to get used to the way things are.
But some things that Apple changed in iOS 7 never made sense to me. I can see getting rid of skeuomorphism, but I never quite understood why they ditched the unlock sound in iOS 7. It's especially odd when you consider that the lock sound is still there.
UnlockSound7 is a new jailbreak tweak that allows users to regain the iPhone's iconic unlock sound that occurs when unlocking the device. Take a look at our video walkthrough to see how it works.
You know those cool new alert sounds in iOS 7? Well as it turns out, a number of them were likely created by Owl City founder Adam Young. Owl City, as you may know, is an American electronica project responsible for several hit records.
Young confirmed last night that he was behind at least some of the new sounds in this year's iOS update, adding 'Sounds for iOS 7' to his discography on his website. He's since removed the entry, but we've posted a snapshot of it after the fold...
The iPhone is such an iconic handset that a number of its features are instantly recognizable. The app-laden Home screen, the single Home button below the touch screen. Heck, even the sounds—how many of you check your phone when you hear the Tri-tone alert?
Well as it turns out, there's actually an interesting story behind that chime, which dates all the way back to 1998. It actually started as the sound to alert a user when a CD burning session was complete in an app called SoundJam, which was later acquired by Apple...
Apple yesterday alongside the iPhone 5, new iPods and several other announcements also took the wraps off the EarPods, a new headset. Cupertino has finally refreshed its crappy in-ear headset with higher sound quality. Hopefully, the headphone is now shaped to prevent it from falling out of your ear.
The company spent three years designing the new headset and tested a total of 124 different prototypes of the EarPods on over six hundred people. You may have noticed three little holes poked in the EarPods, here's what these do to improve sound quality...