Waiting for the Holy Grail of DVD-Audio? Even with players still distant on the horizon, one can now begin building a DVD-Audio music library with discs compatible with current DVD-Video players. At least that's the strategy offered at the recent High End 2000 show in Frankfurt, Germany this past week.
The <A HREF="http://www.napster.com/">Napster</A> saga continues: Last week the Silicon Valley–based firm, which has been very successful with its MP3 file-sharing software, reinstated approximately 30,000 music fans who had signed online affidavits attesting that they had been mistakenly accused of appropriating songs by rock group Metallica. Those reinstated were slightly less than 10% of the 317,000 Napster users who had been booted from the system on May 3 as a result of legal attacks by Metallica.
We all prefer the sounds of certain musical instruments over others. What's your favorite?
Last year, <I>Stereophile</I>'s Barry Willis took a trip to Ogden, Utah, to <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10416/">report</A> on what was then a secret speaker project being conducted by <A HREF="http://www.kimberkable.com/">Kimber Kable</A>'s Ray Kimber and designer Eric Alexander. After informal listening, Willis noted that, while not being able to completely nail down what the "under development" DiAural crossover circuitry was doing, something new was certainly in the air.
The <A HREF="http://www.sdmi.org/">Secure Digital Music Initiative</A>'s move to establish a copy-prevention technology for commercial recordings has rankled audio engineers, who claim that the audible watermarking technique chosen by the organization could mar high-resolution recordings. Of particular concern are SDMI's testing methods and its rush to get a standard in place without commentary from engineers or the music-buying public.
Music sales over the past two years have increased almost everywhere except near college campuses, according to a recent study undertaken by <A HREF="http://www.reciprocal.com/">Reciprocal, Inc.</A>, a digital-rights management company. The first quarter of 2000 showed a 12% rise in overall music sales compared to the same period in 1998—except at stores located within five miles of a college campus. Reciprocal reached its conclusions based on figures supplied by sales-tracking organization <A HREF="http://wallofsound.go.com/charts/index.html/">Soundscan, Inc.</A>
Will the European Union extend copyright protection to new digital media? That question was still unresolved Friday, May 26, after extended talks between ministers of the EU's 15 member nations failed to produce a coherent result. Meeting in Brussels, the ministers have been discussing how best to protect the interests of copyright holders while allowing consumers adequate leeway to use and reproduce legally purchased music, movies, video, and computer software.
When we received notice several days ago from <A HREF="http://www.panasonic.com">Panasonic</A> that the company was finally releasing its DVD-Audio players next month, we filed the press release for a couple of days to see if it would last the week (see <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10620/">previous story</A>). Apparently, the products are still a go. Panasonic says it will offer a full line of DVD-Audio/Video models under both the Panasonic and Technics brand names, with the first units arriving in stores in July. As <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10509/">previously announced</A> back in August 1999, the Panasonic DVD-A7 will have a suggested retail price of $999.95, and the Technics DVD-A10 will have an SRP of $1199.95.
Build the audiophile kingdom and they will come . . . or do we need to get out there and proselytize? In <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//finetunes/233/">"Fine Tunes" #22</A>, Jonathan Scull looks at the debate both ways and comes to a conclusion.
<B>DR. JOHN: Duke Elegant</B><BR> Blue Note 5 23220 2 (CD). 2000. Mac Rebennack, prod.; Suz Dyer, eng.; Steve Revitte, Tovi Rodriguez, asst. engs. AAD? TT: 66:40<BR> Performance <B>****?</B><BR> Sonics <B>****?</B>