LATEST ADDITIONS

Here's one you don't see every day: competing press releases over a store dropping a product line—or vice versa.

Remember that whole "broadcast flag" kerfluffle? Well, it ain't over yet&mdash;not if the Home Recording Rights Coalition (HRRC) and the Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF) have anything to say about it. If you <I>don't</I> remember the broadcast flag imbroglio, or if you thought it had been vanquished by the DC Circuit Court in May 2005, here's an update.

Yes,<br>
it is<br>
true:<br>

In a press conference held September 28 at Sony Music Studios on West 54th Street, MusicGiants &mdash;see <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/051605musicgiants">Wes Phillips' earlier story</A> on this company&mdash;announced the launch of a new music download service that offers CD-resolution digital recordings from the major artists on the major music labels, EMI, Sony/BMG, Universal, and Warner.

While <A HREF="http:/www.stereophile.com/news/100305musicgiants">some</A&gt; are trying to push the quality of paid music downloads up, others are pushing in the other direction. <A HREF="http://www.sandisk.com">SanDisk</A&gt;, primarily known for flash memory cards used in portable devices like digital cameras, is launching "gruvi," described as "the first removable flash memory card of its type to be sold with premium music content."

It's not just Katrina and Rita that have devastated the lives of musicians in the Gulf Coast area. The state of the economy, a decrease in services for the poor and marginally employed, the shorter attention span of those weaned on TV and computers, and an ever-increasing emphasis on image and effect over substance have all taken a huge toll on Gulf Coast musicians.

For years, I thought of Simaudio gear as good-sounding, attractive, and modestly priced, often describing it to friends as "really good for the money." The $5500 <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/cdplayers/343">Moon Eclipse</A> CD player, which I reviewed in our April 2001 and April 2003 issues, stretched the "modestly priced" descriptor a bit, but its sound was still, I thought, really good for what it cost, and I adopted it as a reference. Simaudio expanded the Moon series and eventually discontinued its older, less expensive Celeste brand, but, I thought, its products could still be described as "really good for the money."