Breitling Basel 2015 Preview

Chronoliner with a ceramic bezel:  http://www.breitling.com/en/news/details/chronoliner-3334 

More updates to come.

Rumored Canadian Price Increase for Rolex

Right now it is much cheaper for an American to buy a Rolex from an Authorized Dealer in Canada versus the USA.  This is in-part due to lower pricing and a stronger dollar.  Even the taxes and duties do not erase the significant price gap. 

Forums report Canadian AD pricing is close to USA grey market prices and suggest that Rolex will correct the price discrepancy to protect USA ADs by increasing the Price of Rolex in Canada to bring them in line with USA pricing. 

It seems for the moment Rolex is cutting margins in places with strong currency and raising prices for other areas to have a more level field.  Japan and Eurozone had cheaper Rolex prices than USA and still do to some extent but the prices in those areas have been raised and take a good amount of the potential savings from buying a Rolex in those areas. 

It is also interesting to note Patek is doing the opposite.  They are keeping the prices firm in the areas with weak currency and adjusting the prices lower for stronger currency areas such as the USA.  In essence Patek just cut the prices of their watches for the USA, something I've never witnessed Rolex do. 

DTS:X Will Likely Incorprate & Expand NEO:X instruction set

DTS:X will likely expand upon the instruction sets and "base 11.1 channels" location of DTS NEO:X with open source object location data.  Even when DTS NEO:X was released DTS claimed that the matrix channels could be discretely recorded using meta-information.


DTS:X sources will likely have the option of discrete 11.1 channels with other sound sources being placed anywhere using object location data located within the 11.1 base with other channels completely sourced from open source object location data.  It is likely DTS NEO:X will be able to decode DTS:X sources up to 11.1 channels but without any object location data.

Eurozone Rolex Price Increase: ~7%

ROLEX PRICES ARE UP ~7% across EUROZONE, EUROPE as of 1/30/15.

Prototype Rolex Movement of OysterQuartz.net

Rolex Price Increase

Some say Rolex had already begun planning for price increases before the de-coupling of the Franc to the Euro.  Now a price increase is a certainty, the question is "how much?"

DTS NEO:X Review

UPDATE: DTS:X will likely use DTS NEO:X instructions as a basis for 11 discrete channels.

Then use extra location data for object located sounds in the extra speakers. 

DTS NEO:X 11.1 Heights Review

Upmixing solutions in the past left a lot to be desired, leaving many purists to stick with discrete channels versus extrapolated or matrixed channels.    Can DTS NEO:X satisfy the purists?   I wanted to review NEO:X because there isn't much out there about it.  Let us find out.

NEO:X I believe has a max input of 7.1 @ 32-bit @ 48khz designed to run on SHARC.  The performance of the setup is based on horse-power in processing intermixed signals.  A good 11.1 system can output 32 different modes taking in up to 7.1 and putting out between 2.1 and 11.1. NEO:X is primarily an upmixer but it is more than that with the ability to matrix 11 channels from 7.1.  The matrix ability is excellent in terms of sending directional sound, but I have not heard it be discrete despite DTS claims.

DTS NEO:X puts out excellent upmixing ability is in addition to the its 11.1 directional matrix ability.

Rolex President Quickset vs Double Quickset 180 vs 182 and 1182

The Rolex president

from it's inception has always been very expensive.  A halo flagship designed to appeal to the "men who change the world."

For whatever reasons Steel Sport Rolex' just took off in terms of used value vs the Gold Rolex models (aside from rare ones).  The low residuals mean buying a modern solid Gold Rolex is not terribly expensive.  Someone once calculated the melt weight of a Rolex President is approximately 1/3 to 2/3rds the total cost depending on the market which means there is a lot of value in the President line.  Let's look at two that posses great value:

180*** Single Quick-set Rolex President vs 182 Double Quickset Rolex President

The Single Quickset Rolex President ran until the late 80s.  The difference between the single and double quickset don't seem to be great, since the day and date are both instant changers (e.g. they don't do the slow "9pm -3am date change" the date and day flip instantly simultaneously.  The advantage of the double quickset seems to be in setting vs a completely different movement but I will check into this. 

Both Rolex President models feature Sapphire Crystal and similar case dimensions.  1182 has solid presidential bracelet which should be reliable and less prone to stretching vs early Rolex Presidents.