I was saddened to learn that Jack Renner, renowned recording engineer and cofounder with producer Robert Woods of Telarc Records, died on June 19, 2019, age 84, at his home in Rhode Island. Mr. Renner is survived by his wife, Barbara, three children, and six grandchildren.
Telarc's stunning hybrid multichannel SACD of Jennifer Higdon's City Scape and Concerto for Orchestra has received the 2005 OutMusic Award for Outstanding New Instrumental Recording. The disc has also received the 2005 Grammy for Best Engineered Classical Recording (well-deserved by Jack Renner) and 2005 Grammy nomination for Best Orchestral Performance (equally well-deserved by Higdon champion Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra).
It wasn't easy building the perfect audio system---endless hours spent choosing synergistic components, and working that impossible room to its greatest advantage. Why not share the struggle, the rewards, and the knowledge gained by sending information about your audio environment to us here at Stereophile?
One of the world's largest semiconductor manufacturers is making a move into digital audio. Texas Instruments announced March 16 that it has acquired Toccata Technology ApS, a small, privately held company based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Toccata is "one of the leading developers of digital audio amplifier technology and board solutions," according to a TI press release, and will become part of TI's Digital Speakers Business Unit, continuing to operate from Denmark.
Making good its intention to move heavily into the ever-expanding consumer-electronics market, Texas Instruments has announced that it will acquire chipmaker Burr-Brown Corporation for $7.6 billion in stock. Burr-Brown makes some of the most highly regarded A/D and D/A converter chips on the market, many of them used in high-end audio and home-theater products.
You can't stop progress—especially at Texas Instruments. The Dallas, TX–based technology giant has introduced a new two-channel digital audio amplifier chip with the world's best specifications.
Sony may be pretending that DVD-Audio doesn't exist, and Panasonic may be in denial about SACD, but a new chip from Texas Instruments just might help bring the rival formats a little closer together in consumer living rooms and professional recording studios alike.
Doug Sahm, of the Grammy-winning Tex-Mex group the Texas Tornados, was found dead in a motel in Taos, New Mexico on Thursday, November 18. He appeared to have died of natural causes, possibly a heart attack, Taos police said. Sahm was 58.
Some days the music business reminds us of that old Tom Lehrer quote: "Political satire became obsolete the day they awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Henry Kissinger." It also seems that you can't out-stupid the record industry.
For lifelike audio presentation in your living room, what could be better than the real thing? When it comes to putting the sound of a piano in your home, nothing comes close to, well, a real piano. For more than a century, several companies have marketed player pianos, first using rolls of punched paper, and most recently sophisticated MIDI programs. But if a real piano represents the ultimate audio performance in your living room, who has the ultimate real piano?
Everyone's favorite audio show is about to get underway. The Rocky Mountain Audio Fest returns to the Denver Marriott Tech Center on October 1113.
RMAF may not be the biggest consumer audio show in North Americathat honor recently passed to T.H.E. Show Newport Beachbut even without a cigar show, car show, wine show, and airport right across the street, RMAF's 440 brands spread over 138 hotel rooms, 25 big rooms (and three more at the Hyatt across the street), a CANJAM headphone ballroom hosting a record 37 exhibitors, 14 software vendors (CDs, LPs, etc.), and 26 lobby exhibits is definitely something to get excited about.
The sixth annual Rocky Mountain Audio Fest is about to get underway at the end of this week. Scheduled to take place October 24, at the Denver Marriott Tech Center, the largest high-end audio show in the US that's open to the public will offer 150 exhibit rooms packed with products from 479 companies. Despite the economic slowdown, at least 3500 audiophiles, the same number as last year, are expected to attend.