LATEST ADDITIONS

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.usadr.com">USA Digital Radio</A>, a developer of In-Band On-Channel Digital Audio Broadcast (IBOC DAB) technology, announced an "aggressive" field-test campaign at 12 radio stations across the country. The company will be conducting the digital tests under experimental licenses issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). With most equipment already installed, according to USA Digital Radio, test efforts are currently underway at several stations.

L<I>ast week, Robert Rich began this two-part article (<A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10508/">click here for part one</A>) with an explanation of ambient music and pointers to some of his favorite artists' web pages. This week he wraps up with more web resources, including record labels, webzines, and online radio programs dedicated to the genre.</I>

Selling consumer-electronics gear over the Web has begun to glow white-hot in the last year, with dozens of companies turning up the competitive burners (see <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10514/">related story</A>). It will likely be a tough business, with the inevitable shake-outs and mergers taking place as retailers test their strategies and brands on the public's pocketbooks.

First, my thanks to HI-FI '99 attendee John Loveless (loveless@dmci.net), who thrust a handwritten letter into my hands just after a particularly enjoyable "Grill the Editors" session:

Both the DVD-Audio and SACD camps have now officially announced players for later this year, neither of which will play the other format (unlike the universal players promised, but not yet delivered, by Yamaha and Denon). What will you do?

Last year the music industry was jolted from its complacency by the rise of MP3, a scheme for the quick and easy transfer of digital audio files over the Internet. Legal attempts to block the format as a form of copyright violation failed, and the industry began scrambling to find a way to prevent the wholesale piracy of higher-resolution formats to come. The Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI), an alliance of more than 240 hardware, software, and music-publishing companies, has been working overtime trying to develop an unobtrusive technique for preventing unauthorized copying&mdash;something that digital technology is making easier than ever.

While recording the <I>Encore</I> CD for <I>Stereophile</I>, John Atkinson had to decide: "Should I add some artificial reverberation?" After much gnashing of teeth, he plowed ahead. Read about the process in "<A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//features/129/">Encore</A>,&quot; an in-depth look at the recording techniques, the artists, and the music.