LATEST ADDITIONS

Recording engineers are responsible for getting the sound onto tape or disc, and some develop an audiophile following. Do you have a favorite?

It has been an interesting week on the download battlefront. On Friday, online file-sharing service BearShare announced that it was shutting down its business. The P2P company, along with its operators Free Peers, Inc., agreed to the terms of a $30 million settlement with the recording industry. As part of the settlement, Free Peers agreed not to start any other unlicensed music services, and the company has agreed to sell BearShare's technology, rights, domain name, and user data to iMesh, Inc.

What makes a phono cartridge worth $3500 or $4000? Pride of ownership? Snob appeal? Sound? Tracking ability? Exotic materials? Styling? Labor cost for skilled artisans? Special ether? Cool wooden box? All of the above?

As audio enters its second digital decade, it gives me great pleasure to proclaim a great audio truth: to groove is divine, to error-correct ain't so benign.

On May 4, <A HREF="http://www.fortunaclassical.com">Fortuna Classical Music</A> announced release of their Maestro music server, "the first and only music player for the classical music enthusiast." Maestro's launch coincides with a major two-page centerfold spread in the June issue of <I>Gramophone</I> magazine's North American edition, followed by a single-page <I>Gramophone</I> advertisement in July that will include a promo CD.

I've heard some of the guys &#151; John Atkinson, Wes Phillips, Art Dudley &#151; talk about a certain feeling. It's a strange kind of, mildly irrational, but altogether real, bit of sadness topped off with a touch of guilt and/or regret that sneaks up on the audio reviewer when the time comes to return a piece of gear to its manufacturer.

Walking along the spring streets of this crowded city, a place where you’re literally always in everyone else's business whether you like it or not, I'm often struck by the amount of serious, pounding through the songlists iPod listening that’s going on. People are eyeballing their little screens as much as they're listening.