What's the farthest you've travelled to listen to live music and who was it?
Reader G. Smith says, "Who cares about equipment
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Tax Cut = More CD Sales?
Respondents to our weekly <I>Stereophile</I> polls often tell us they would buy more CDs if the prices weren't so high. So would their European counterparts, according to a survey released February 18 by the <A HREF="http://www.ifpi.org">International Federation of Phonograph Industries</A> (IFPI). Prices for recorded music are even higher in Europe than they are in the US.
Audio Networking Advances
One of the most significant trends in audio, witnessed at the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, is the emergence of the music server market. Pioneer, Panasonic, Marantz, Meridian, Onkyo, Rotel, Philips, Linn, and others have emphasized audio products that can be networked with each other and the Internet, and are able to share content throughout a home. Pioneer even suggests that networks will not necessarily involve a PC, but instead consist of dedicated music-server-like components.
Cutting Off the Studio Pirates
It has become commonplace these days for a hot album to hit the streets days—if not weeks or even months—before its official release, inspiring all manner of stupid promo tricks on the part of record labels. Pearl Jam's recent <I>Riot Act</I> was distributed to the press in portable CD players with the lids glued shut and last week saw the White Stripes record label create 500 promo vinyl LPs of the group's impending <I>Elephant</I> release in place of the traditional advance CDs in an effort to stymie the digital pirate's plans.
Bonus DVDs Fight Piracy?
The music industry's reaction to a prolonged sales slump has been a desperate effort to create legislative and technological deterrents to force consumers to stop downloading MP3s and copying CDs.
Added to the Archives This Week
You want controversy? We got major controversy right here. In 1991, the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//accessoryreviews/784/">Tice R-4 TPT and Coherence ElectroTec EP-C "Clocks"</A> were released and then the fun started. Read everything <I>Stereophile</I> writers and readers had to say about these contentious products, as well as comments from the manufacturer.
What's the farthest you've travelled to audition a piece of audio gear and what was it?
Now that we've established that many of you will buy equipment without an audition, let's find out how far you have travelled to actually hear something you are interested in purchasing. Tell us about your most epic audition odyssey.
Copy Protection Based on Obsolete Model?
Copy protection efforts currently being initiated by national lawmakers at the behest of the entertainment industry are based on a model of Internet use that will soon become obsolete, according to Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig.
Digital Rights Summit
It's tough to know which CDs, SACDs, and DVD-Audio discs have been restricted through watermarks or other "copy protection" techniques. This has created a thriving underground community, with websites such as <A HREF="http://www.fatchucks.com">Fat Chuck's</A> devoted to sussing out the corrupted audio products and posting notification to consumers.
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Paul Bolin exclaims, "Looking at the current digital scene is enough to confuse and confound just about anyone this side of Stephen Hawking." Bolin's review of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/779/">Ayre Acoustics D-1x DVD-Video/CD player</A> is here to clear things up.