LATEST ADDITIONS

If all goes according to publicists' wishes, Web surfers will be able to access music previews beginning November 15 without the necessity of using a third-party software player, such as RealNetworks G2, to play downloaded audio files. Streaming-audio provider <A HREF="http://www.audiobase.com/">AudioBase.com</A&gt; has signed deals with several heavyweight corporate sponsors for the launch of its music previews. Participants include Sony Music, K-Tel, and Levi-Strauss. The deals are being announced in conjunction with Internet audio conference <A HREF="http://www.webnoize.com/">Webnoize</A&gt;.

Feeling the need to hook your audio system directly into a website for music files? Last week, <A HREF="http://www.sony.co.jp">Sony Corporation</A> and <A HREF="http://www.sun.com">Sun Microsystems</A> announced plans to further collaborate to provide digital consumer-electronics appliances with direct access to Internet-based content and services. The companies say that the first phase of this cooperation will involve the development of home gateway software, running on appliances such as set-top boxes (connected to a home entertainment system), that will support a combination of home networking and network server technologies.

Need proof that baby boomers and their attendant interests are having an effect on the frontiers of computer research? Look no further than Triumph PC Online's announcement that it has introduced <A HREF="http://www.triumphpc.com/john-lennon">The John Lennon Artificial Intelligence Project</A> (JLAIP), the first AI-based clone of the late Beatle.&#160; The project, initially titled The Plastic Digital Karma Project, has been under development for two years.

Rarely have I anticipated the arrival of a review component as I did the Sony SCD-1 Super Audio CD player. I'd first heard the machine itself with the enthusiastic audiophile hordes at Chicago's HI-FI '99. I'd also been lucky enough to enjoy a few of the Direct Stream Digital-encoded recordings Tom Jung had made for DMP right off the hard drives of a prototype DSD processor via Ed Meitner electronics. (See my interview with Jung elsewhere in this issue.)

Reader Samo Jecnik, from Ljubljana, Slovenia, has a simple question for audiophiles: "I'd like to know how much time per week <I>Stereophile</I> readers <I>listen</I> to the music on their <I>main</I> systems. I mean the time they're sitting in the sweet spot."

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.burr-brown.com">Burr-Brown Corporation</A> announced the PCM1737, a 24-bit, 192kHz-sampling delta-sigma digital-to-analog converter (DAC) that the company says is designed for consumer audio applications. According to a press release, Burr-Brown states that "the PCM1737's excellent price and performance is specifically targeted toward consumer audio applications such as DVD/CD players, A/V receivers, HDTV systems, and car audio applications."

In a move that it says is designed to position it for "continued growth and leadership in the consumer electronics field," the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association (CEMA) unveiled last week its new incarnation: the <A HREF="http://www.cemacity.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A> (CEA). The announcement comes on the heels of a decision, made earlier this week by the Board of Governors of the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA), to allow separate incorporation for its sector associations.