LATEST ADDITIONS

Could this be a record executive's dream come true and the end of the need for watermarking as we know it? <A HREF="http://www.CantaMetrix.com/">CantaMetrix</A&gt; has announced the further development of a new technology, MusicDNA, that the company claims is capable of identifying and tracking the billions of existing as well as new MP3 files on the Internet and providing an exact accounting for the copyright, "thus enabling legal file sharing and linking value-added data to songs."

Sidney Smith, revered audio engineer and a founding father of the modern audio industry, passed away on October 25, 2000 after a battle with cancer. He was 77. Sid, a family man, left a loving wife, Marilyn, three caring daughters, Jennie, Pattie, and Laura, and two grandchildren.

Is community radio at death's door? More than 1000 churches, schools and community organizations nationwide have applied for licenses to operate 10W-100W FM stations. Despite a strong grass-roots movement, and the support of <A HREF="http://www.fcc.gov/">Federal Communications Commission</A> chairman William Kennard, the low-power radio (LPFM) movement is about to be buried by the combined weight of the <A HREF="http://www.nab.org/">National Association of Broadcasters</A>, <A HREF="http://www.npr.org/">National Public Radio</A>, and their many friends in the US Congress.

<B>ROBERT WALTER'S 20TH CONGRESS: <I>Money Shot</I></B><BR> Fog City FCCD 004 (CD). 2000. Dan Prothero, prod., eng.; Kevin Ink, asst. eng. AAD? TT: 59:24<BR> Performance <B>****?</B><BR> Sonics <B>****?</B>

Back in 1992, Robert Harley's <I>Stereophile</I> review of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/520/">McCormack DNA-1</A> and Parasound HCA-2200 amplifiers (April 1992, Vol.15 No.4) and the accompanying technical measurements piqued my interest. So, with great curiosity, I arranged to borrow a DNA-1 to audition, along with competitive amps from Aragon, Bryston, and PS Audio. They were all a leap ahead of my Adcom GFA-555, but it took an act of great courage to accept that, despite its less-than-stellar measured performance, the DNA-1 was my favorite. The bottom line was that the DNA-1 excelled at driving my Apogee Duettas to make lively and harmonically pure sounds. I bought my McCormack DNA-1 amplifier before I began reviewing equipment for <I>Stereophile</I>, and it still occupies an honored place in my system.

According to the latest figures from the <A HREF="http://www.ce.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A> (CEA), the month of August showed positive gains in the overall factory sales of audio products to dealers. The CEA reports that sales for the month rose six percent compared to the same period last year, resulting in year-to-date sales of $5.3 billion, an 11.2% rise over last year.

It's a brave new audio world: Coinciding with last week's release of Medeski, Martin & Wood's latest work, <I>The Dropper</I>, to retailers' shelves as a polycarbonate-and-aluminum CD, <A HREF="http://www.liquidaudio.com">Liquid Audio</A> announced that the title was simultaneously being made available as a full-album digital download. Liquid reports that this is the first time a <A HREF="http://www.bluenote.com">Blue Note</A> title has been released in a digital format at the same time as its physical release.