top10

The Audiophiliac picks the best speakers under $650

I've said it many times: the very best audio is frighteningly expensive, and so are the world's best cars, cameras, clothing, boats, and so forth. The good news is there are really pretty spectacular finds at the other end of the audio rainbow. I love it when I come across an over-performing budget-priced speaker, and lately, I've found quite a few. Here's a newly revised list of standout designs.

Since this list covers a broad range of speaker types, there's no ranking order; each one is exceptional in its own right. I have spent time … Read more

Top 10 Windows apps of 2012

In 2010, we began a year-end program to recognize the most popular software on Download.com. In 2011, we got a little crazy, recognizing the top 11 programs in Windows and Mac, as well as the top 11 programs in the top 11 software categories.

In 2012, we return to Earth with a more classic list of the top 10 most downloaded software programs in our 10 most popular categories for Windows and Mac. The total download count for this distinction is based on the period from January 1, 2012 to December 14, 2012. Congratulations to all of this year'… Read more

Top 10 Mac apps of 2012

Although the Download.com Mac catalog is still dwarfed by the Windows software directory, OS X (and its younger sibling iOS) has certainly been ascendant over the past decade or more, and the software titles in this year's collection for Top 10 downloads of 2012 for Mac OS X attest to that global appeal. (In fact, you're likely to see more Mac laptops than Windows machines in the CBSi offices these days.)

As our online and "IRL" activities begin to merge, it's clear so far that we software downloaders want freedom of format and device, … Read more

The Audiophiliac's Top 13 music Blu-ray discs

I wrote a Top 10 music Blu-ray list late last year, so it's time for an update.

Patricia Barber, "Modern Cool"

Sultry jazz singer Patricia Barber's "Modern Cool" album was a hit with the audiophile crowd soon after its release in 1998, so I was surprised to see it come out on Blu-ray with a new 5.1-channel DTS Master Audio mix. Even more surprised that the surround mix totally works. You're in the middle of the band, which I usually don't care for, but it clicks here. Barber wrote a lot … Read more

The Audiophiliac picks 11 of the world's best headphones

The great thing about headphones is that you can, with a bit of effort, find great-sounding models in every price range. True, the best expensive models definitely sound better, but my picks for the cheapest ones are still pretty awesome. In fact, the $89 Velodyne vPulse headphones are the ones I regularly used long after I wrote the review! There was something about the sound of the vPulse that had me coming back for more. I cover audiophile, in-ear, full-size, wireless, and noise-canceling headphones, and prices run from dirt-cheap to insanely expensive.

The top 10 reasons why music is compressed

First things first, I'm referring to soft-to-loud dynamic range compression, not MP3 or other types of lossy data compression. Dynamic range compression has been around for almost as long as recorded music has existed, but over the last decade or so the public has demanded ever higher levels of dynamic range compression. The so-called lowest common denominator approach to mixing and mastering music boosts all of the softer/quieter passages to be loud all the time. That process obliterates all of the original details, subtleties, and nuances of the instruments and vocalists. Once the mix has been compressed, it … Read more

Top 10 audio bargains

I've always loved "cost is no object" high-end audio gear, but I'm equally passionate about awesome sounding bargains. I try to review as many as I can, and my readers and friends are always on the lookout for outstanding gear. Here's a Top 10 list of great sounding audio bargains, and most are priced under $100!

Top 10 pirated movies in the world (infographic)

The top 10 most pirated movies in the world are either fantastical, involve superheroes, or have some serious fight scenes ("The Hangover" might have all three).

According to data collected by TorrentFreak, tens of thousands of movies are pirated every day using either BitTorrents or some other type of file sharing.

Say what you will about people downloading pirated movies, but according to TorrentFreak's list of the top 10 pirated movies these downloaders seem to have strikingly similar taste to those who go to the box office. (See IMDb's list of top 10 box office grosses … Read more

Top 10 fuel sippers of 2011: SUV edition

Last week, we took a look at the 10 most fuel-efficient cars for the 2011 model year so far. This week, we're thinking bigger--literally--and tackling the 10 most fuel-efficient SUVs on the road today.

The same rules apply as did last week. We're ranking by EPA-estimated combined fuel economy for the most recent model year and splitting hybrids and nonhybrids into separate groups (five in each category) to keep this from being an electrified blowout. As there aren't any full electric or fuel cell driven SUVs available for mass adoption yet, we were able to relax our &… Read more

Facebook dominates Hitwise list of top searches

Just in case you haven't had your fill yet of top-10 lists and countdowns for 2010, today, courtesy of traffic company Experian Hitwise, we give you two more lists related to the Web: most-searched terms and top-visited sites in the U.S. for 2010.

For the second year in a row, Facebook was the Internet's most-searched term in the U.S. between January and November, followed by a range of mostly navigational search terms: facebook login, youtube, craigslist, myspace, facebook.com, ebay, yahoo, www.facebook.com, and mapquest. In other words, iterations of Facebook grabbed four of the … Read more