Apple Reportedly Hires Audio Pioneer Tomlinson Holman

Oh boy I hope this is true... Macs speakers are rubbish.

10.2 surround sound must be spectacular. 5.1 in my car sounds amazing as it is.

So will Apple be leading the way towards such systems for the home? Or merely the software for making such music? New audio devices and downloads through iTunes?

So many questions..

Wow. I wonder what he's going to work on, because most audio professionals already use Apple computers.

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quite the payroll our beloved company has, investments which pay off handsomely-10.2 built into an iMac sounds silly but delicious...

I had the opportunity to audition a true 10.2 system at the Bjorn's in San Antonio. Needless to say it was quite amazing.

I wonder what type of things he would lead for Apple's audio department. Perhaps better quality dacs and amps for their iPod lineup? It'd be nice to give their macbook/pros and iMacs higher quality speakers. As of current they have exactly no sub-bass reproduction-- basically making any pair of external speakers or headphones mandatory for music listening.

This is great news!

This would be beneath his talents, but I'm just hoping for better support for surround sound in apple hardware. "It just works" does not currently apply to surround sound.

This is really great news!

Interesting, I assume he would work on speakers and related stuff as opposed to software (itunes, GB, Logic etc)?

Audio Engineer Needed

Good! Maybe they'll finally update the annoying startup noise that the Macs make when they power on. Especially with my 27" iMac my poor cats are freaked out every time I start my computer!

Most people are not audiophiles. Yes, they listen to things, but they are not finely attuned to the quality of sound. Many audiophiles don't even realize they aren't really. However, being so progressive and perfectionist with sound shows how brilliant Apple is as a company. Does Dell, MS, or other computer companies give a ****? No. They crank out rubbish more often than not.

shiseiryu1 said:

Good! Maybe they'll finally update the annoying startup noise that the Macs make when they power on. Especially with my 27" iMac my poor cats are freaked out every time I start my computer!

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There's an app for that.

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/16425/startupsound.prefpane

shiseiryu1 said:

Good! Maybe they'll finally update the annoying startup noise that the Macs make when they power on. Especially with my 27" iMac my poor cats are freaked out every time I start my computer!

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If you have external speakers plugged into it then unplug them, turn the volume down to one bar, then plug them back in and set the volume to normal

Well this must have something to do with Thunderbolt.

7.1 is sweet with blu-ray. Or maybe this is all more on the line of patents.

Let him figure out and invent new things and Apple gets to patent it all up just in case. Not like they money would be wasted.

I can't see this been about speaker because who cares there are so many good speakers for computers and home use already.

TMRaven said:

I had the opportunity to audition a true 10.2 system at the Bjorn's in San Antonio. Needless to say it was quite amazing.

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Used to live in SA and visit Bjorn regularly- Introduced to Meridian there- love it; say Hello from ken if he's still around. Was the 10.2 sourced that way or processed into those channels?

love this news from Apple

ken

Spacial sound. He was a professor of mine at USC in the 1990's and he had developed the most amazing audio technology. By just using a pair of audio speakers (stereo) he was able to reproduce sound spatially. That is, in my mind I could swear I could locate where the drums were placed, locate where the guitars were placed, locate where the vocals were placed. It was like I was in the room with the musicians. He had applied this to some movies at the time was well and it was simply astounding. The sounds did not come out from the speakers but was in the room with you. You needed headphones or needed to sit one place to get this effect, so this technology appeared to me to most useful for military applications and gaming platforms. It would also be amazing for someone sitting at computer as well.

This is all conjecture. But it was a piece of technology that was... magic... as I never experienced anything like it before. The effect on the mind was so much more powerful than the 3D visuals we have today, which are nice, but not to be repetitive, this audio technology was was jaw dropping.

shiseiryu1 said:

Good! Maybe they'll finally update the annoying startup noise that the Macs make when they power on. Especially with my 27" iMac my poor cats are freaked out every time I start my computer!

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Just mute your computer b4 you shut it down. Problem solved.

drewyboy said:

Just mute your computer b4 you shut it down. Problem solved.

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I'm surprised how few 'lifelong' Apple people know that.

Maybe they'll get him working on iPod headphones! Though that might be overkill.

Perhaps the rumours of an Apple branded TV set are true and they want someone to build an excellent sound system to go with it.

Though he is probably just working on the pro audio software or something similar.

Could be for the "real" Apple TV

Sounds like the work Mr. Holman was doing was yet another gimmick (like 3D) designed to pry people away from their home entertainment systems and back into movie theaters. Good move to get away from all that, if he is in fact an Apple employee now.

But adding surround sound to Macs would be drastic overkill in 99% of the user base. (Yes, I know that audio is one of the Mac's weak points.) And I doubt he'd come to Apple just to work on improving iPod / iPhone / iPad audio. My wild guess is that he could instead be working on the audio system for an actual Apple HDTV set and/or a surround sound accessory for it.

The preamp / amp / receiver / speaker mix & match game has been played thousand of times by dozens if not hundreds of home electronics makers over many decades. And if there is any home electronics system screaming out for a wireless solution, it's surround sound speakers. The problem, of course, is maintaining audio quality without wires.

Oh well, if the rumors are true, it'll be great to see what Mr. Holman can do for Apple.

Interesting.. can't imagine what he'd be working on. I wouldn't have thought his skills would be suited to Logic Studio... so what hardware/solutions could he be involved in?

I'm voting for an Apple TV with unparalleled sound support as standard*. (*More what I want, than what I expect)

iTV with the best sound quality of any TV on the market, come on doooown.

What else could he be working on, Mac speakers?!!

Macs arent thirsting for that.

Audio speaker accessories?!!

Cant see Apple in that market.

Speakers for a TV that would allow u to get away with buying a home theater system?!!!

Thats what Im talking about!!

iOS is nothing more than a way to sell entertainment content. Just like Apple does with its software, they create their own devices to ensure an enhanced experience compared to its competition. With Amazon, Google/android, Dish network/Blockbuster, Red Box, netflix, Hulu, Sony/Crackle, Comcast, etc all selling content, Apple will do their best to make sure they provide THE BEST experience.

OS X-Creation
iOS-Consumption

please bring lossless audio support to Mac OS. I hate booting into windows to watch blu-ray rips with DTS-HD MA or TrueHD

-Ken- said:

10.2 surround sound must be spectacular. 5.1 in my car sounds amazing as it is.

So many questions..

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10.2 must be double the sound quality!