Today, Yamaha announced that two limited-edition models of the ZG01 gaming mixer, developed in collaboration with "NieR:Automata Ver 1.1a," will soon be available in the US market. The ZG01 042 and ZG01 153 draw inspiration from the "Pods" that accompany the main characters, 2B and 9S, in the universally acclaimed anime series.

In addition to featuring all of the capabilities of the original ZG01 model that was released in 2022—including intuitive controls and immersive 3D surround sound—the limited-edition ZG01 models will feature "NieR:Automata Ver 1.1a"-inspired designs across the mixer, packaging box, start guide, and ZG Controller application (Windows/Mac compatible). The ZG01 042 will include a white-based color scheme that accompanies 2B, while ZG01 153 features a black-based color scheme that accompanies 9S.

One of the big downsides of the now commonplace TWS Bluetooth earbuds in the market is battery life and Yamaha's latest addition, the TW-E5B are set to improve things. The new earbuds claim to offer up to 8.5 hours of listening time, with a further 2.5 charges, or 21.5 hours of battery life provided by the charging case. However, unlike many competing products, Yamaha doesn't support ANC, so if you're looking for a noise cancelling pair of earbuds, these aren't for you.

On the other hand, Yamaha has developed some features of its own, such as Yamaha True Sound that's said to deliver more realism, detail and clarity to the audio played. There's also a feature that Yamaha calls Listening Care that claims to reduce the risk of hearing loss by lowering the volume of certain frequencies that can cause hearing damage. Other features include support for Qualcomm's cVc (Clear Voice Capture) technology, as well as aptX Adaptive. There's also a specific gaming mode and support for Siri or Google Assistant. The speakers are a fairly typical set of 7 mm dynamic drivers that are housed in an IPX5 certified water and sweat resistant housing. Rather unusually, Yamaha has gone for tactile push buttons for controls, one on the left earbud for playback control and answering calls and two on the right earbud for volume control and track skipping. Yamaha provides four sets of ear pieces and a USB-C charging cable with the TW-E5B, as well as a dedicated app. So far only UK pricing appears to have been revealed, which is £129.99 or roughly US$170 when they arrive in retail at some point in April.

A German website, Heise.de, has discovered a bug in HDMI 2.1 chipset that causes black screen issues on specific hardware. On AV chipsets sourced by Panasonic, and used by Denon, Marantz, and Yamaha HDMI 2.1 AV receivers, the chipset experiences a specific issue of a black screen. More specifically, the bug happens once you connect Microsoft's newest console, Xbox Series X, or NVIDIA's Ampere graphics cards. When connecting these sources at resolutions like 4K/120 Hz HDR and 8K/60 Hz HDR to Panasonic HDMI 2.1 chipsets, the black screen happens. This represents a major problem for every manufacturer planning to use the Panasonic HDMI 2.1 chipset in its AV receivers, meaning that the issue has to be addressed. The Audioholics website has reached out to Sound United and Yamaha to see what their responses were, and you can check them out below.

USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), the support organization for the advancement and adoption of USB technology, today announced an updated USB Device Class Definition for MIDI Devices, Version 2.0 in support of MIDI 2.0 devices. The standard represents an industry-wide effort by the USB-IF, MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA), and Association of Musical Electronics Industry (AMEI) to provide MIDI users with an expanded MIDI environment connected by USB.

"USB-IF is proud to support the MMA and AMEI by publishing an updated USB Device Class Specification for next-generation MIDI devices," said Jeff Ravencraft, USB-IF President and COO. "USB has been an integral part of the MIDI environment over the past 20 years, and we look forward to seeing innovative new devices that are enabled by this updated specification."

MSI unveiled an arsenal of new GAMING products, including new USB 3.1 equipped motherboards, 3K & 4K Gaming All-in-One PCs, GT80 Titan & GS30 notebooks, and new Gaming VGA SLI bridge. Delivering blazing fast USB performance, up to 2 times faster than USB 3.0, MSI launches new Z97 and X99 GAMING models featuring USB 3.1. The additionexs to the GAMING family are the Z97A GAMING 9 ACK, Z97A GAMING 7, X99A GAMING 9 ACK and the X99A GAMING 7 motherboards, all featuring Type-A USB 3.1. All of these new motherboards offer two USB 3.1 ports, fully backwards compatible with USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 devices. Besides USB 3.1, all Z97A motherboards also support the upcoming Intel 5th Generation Processors.

The new MSI Z97A GAMING 6 motherboard is world's first motherboard featuring onboard USB 3.1 and Type-C connectivity. Get all the performance benefits from USB 3.1 combined with the convenience of the USB Type-C connector. This reversible connector allows for effortless connecting of USB devices, which eliminates the struggle of making sure the USB connector is facing the right way.

MSI, world-renowned manufacturer in gaming hardware today introduces two 27-inch All-in-One Gaming PCs: AG270 2QE and AG270 2QC, the first in the world featuring the all-new NVIDIA GeForce GTX980M and GTX970M discrete graphics cards. Both PCs are equipped with a 4th gen Intel Core i7 quad-core processor and up to 16GB DDR3 memory to get the maximum out of PC games. The 27-inch display is also one of its kind, including Anti-Flicker and Less Blue Light technology applied to its anti-glare implementation, so gamer's eyes are protected better from eyestrain during long gaming sessions.

MSI is the first manufacturer in the world to develop All-in-One PCs designed for e-Sports, packing a high-performance graphics card into the limited space of a highly-integrated All-in-One PC. The AG270 is the first AIO to introduce the latest NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M/970M discrete graphics card with up to 8GB of GDDR5 RAM. The next-generation NVIDIA Maxwell architecture delivers advanced performance, unmatched power efficiency, and cutting edge features for truly unique ways to game. Gamers will be able to enjoy perfect visuals without lag in both singleplayer or online MP modes in the latest or upcoming PC game titles such as Far Cry 4, Assassins Creed: Unity, and EVOLVE.

Following the success of the MSI AG2712 Gaming All-in-One PC, world-renowned vendor of gaming products, MSI is introducing a new 27-inch, All-in-One Gaming PC; the MSI AG270 2PE / AG270 2PC. The MSI AG270 features the 4th Intel Core i7 quad-core processor, NVIDIA top-of-the-line GeForce GTX 870/880M discrete graphics card, and up to 8GB GDDR5 of graphics memory for the best gaming experience. Besides that, MSI includes an anti-flicker, non-glare display to the AG270, topping it off with an all new audio speaker solution empowered by Yamaha.

Three Layers of Innovative Screen Protection for Gamer's Eyes
To provide gamers with an even better gaming environment, MSI introduces an anti-glare matte display on its All-in-One PC. No matter at LAN event venues or brightly-lit Internet cafes, the anti-glare protection guards the user's eyes against glare from the computer screen.

MSI, prominent developer in gaming technology, is once again leading the way by releasing the new AG220 and AG240 as the successors to its AG2712A that won the CES Innovation Award this year. The AG220 and AG240 are 21.5" and 23.6" Full HD All-in-One PCs that support MSI's industry-leading Anti-Flicker and Less Blue Light technologies. Both AG220 and AG240 come with touch and non-touch displays and are based on Intel's latest Haswell platform with support for quad-core processors. The PCs also feature NVIDIA's latest GeForce GTX 860M gamer-grade discrete graphics card and Killer game networking accelerator favored by professional gamers. Additionally, they come with speakers by Yamaha and the all new Headset Master technology to easily switch between headset and speaker audio output.

At its press meet called to unveil its next-generation graphics lineup, which lasted for about 3 hours and 45 minutes, a full one hour was spent detailing TrueAudio, an audio DSP that AMD co-developed with GenAudio, makers of AstoundSound technology; both of which are brand names we'd heard for the first time, and that's coming from someone who's been an audiophile and follower of PC audio technology for 15 years now. Here are a few reasons why the concept of TrueAudio, or at least the way AMD and its newfound GenAudio pals explained it, is unconvincing to the extant of flagging "snake oil." While we did not attend GPU'14, experiencing TrueAudio is irrelevant to our analysis. It focuses on what "yet another" positional audio DSP has to do with GPU, and how AMD is getting ahead of itself with non-graphics features in exactly the same way it criticized NVIDIA of doing, not too long ago.

Yamaha introduced two new high-performance headphones models in the HPH-PRO series, including the PRO500 and PRO300. The headphones include dedicated iPhone/iPod remote, mic, and is available in a variety of racy color options. The PRO500 packs 50 mm drivers, with 22Ω impedance, 105 dB sensitivity, and 22-22,000 Hz frequency response; while the PRO300 packs 40 mm drivers, 53Ω impedance, 107 dB sensitivity, and 20-20,000 Hz frequency response. Both headphones ship with fixed cords. Slated for December, the Yamaha HPH-PRO500 will be priced at 50,000¥ ($620), while the HPH-PRO300 could go for 30,000¥ ($375).