LATEST ADDITIONS

The December 2010 issue of Stereophile is now on newsstands. On the cover you’ll see the Ayre DX-5 “Universal A/V Engine.” This thing slices, it dices, it juliennes, and even Mikey likes it. Really: The DX-5 plays Blu-ray, DVD-V, DVD-A, SACD, CD, CD-R, and every other combination of “C,” “D,” and “V” you can think of, and, with its front-panel USB input, it becomes a music sever, too.

As we wrap up another year in music, the record industry is still in turmoil. Yet artists still find ways to put out new albums. But how would you rate 2010 to previous years? How has new music been shaping up for 2010?

Vote to see the results and then set up an account to leave a comment about your choice.

In sixth grade, I was given a Victorinox Swiss Army knife. I loved it. An avid camper and erstwhile Boy Scout, I was amazed at how many things I could do with this well-made, pocket-size wonder. I used its tweezers to remove splinters and ticks, its scissors to cut thread, its can opener to prize open tins of baked beans, and its knife blade to whittle, occasionally cut myself, and generally wreak teenage mayhem.

As I grew older, I discovered that using specialized tools for a given job was generally easier, faster, and more pleasurable than using my Swiss Army knife's utilities. Though I could cut a tent's ground cloth with my knife's scissors, a plain-Jane pair of Fiskars worked much better, an OXO can opener got me into those baked beans much faster than my Victorinox could, and even my Swiss Army knife blade didn't stay as sharp or fit in my hand as well as a simple Buck knife. Still, there was no doubt that my Swiss Army knife was a great tool and a good value, even if it was never the best tool for a specific task. To put it another way: The value of my Swiss Army knife was broad but shallow, while the value of something like my OXO can opener was narrow but deep.

At a time when the heads of most record labels barely know how to play a record, let alone make one, Manfred Eicher—owner, founder, and inspiration of ECM Records, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2010—has been intimately involved in the making of nearly 1200 of them. How many, though, can he actually remember working on?

"When I listen back to them, I know the story of every record," he says without a smile or a moment's hesitation. "There is never an easy record. Every record needs a lot of input and concentration and dedication and passion to be made, that's clear. Create an atmosphere that is a productive search for music, and when this is the case, you have very memorable records."

Stereophile.com was feeling a little bit old.

We'd have to go back to September 2005 to recall the last major changes made to our website. It was then that we began adding our forums and blogs, which moved slowly at first, went through some growing pains, and finally became some of our most popular online destinations. About a year later, we made other minor revisions, altering the look and feel of our site to make it friendlier, more attractive, and easier to use.

These were all great moves, but the nature of the Web demands near-constant renewal. The time had come for some tube-rolling. Or, if you prefer, we needed to augment our physical media with a high-res, lightning-fast, computer-based system. Look at it however you like. The situation was clear: We were overdue for a facelift.

Those who follow this space know of my enthusiasm for the music of trumpeter Dave Douglas: his plangent tone, his spine-tingling way with minor-chord intervals, his knack for evoking joy, melancholy, romance, and a host of other emotions—sometimes all at once—without dipping so much as a toe into sentimentalism.

With the news that Rega had replaced their esteemed P1 record player with the $445 RP-1, many wondered what would come of the company’s P2 player. Wedged between the new RP-1 and the P3-24, the $545 P2 seemed like an unnecessary step in an otherwise logical product line.