Bonus DVDs Fight Piracy?
The music industry's reaction to a prolonged sales slump has been a desperate effort to create legislative and technological deterrents to force consumers to stop downloading MP3s and copying CDs.
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You want controversy? We got major controversy right here. In 1991, the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//accessoryreviews/784/">Tice R-4 TPT and Coherence ElectroTec EP-C "Clocks"</A> were released and then the fun started. Read everything <I>Stereophile</I> writers and readers had to say about these contentious products, as well as comments from the manufacturer.
What's the farthest you've travelled to audition a piece of audio gear and what was it?
Now that we've established that many of you will buy equipment without an audition, let's find out how far you have travelled to actually hear something you are interested in purchasing. Tell us about your most epic audition odyssey.
Copy Protection Based on Obsolete Model?
Copy protection efforts currently being initiated by national lawmakers at the behest of the entertainment industry are based on a model of Internet use that will soon become obsolete, according to Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig.
Digital Rights Summit
It's tough to know which CDs, SACDs, and DVD-Audio discs have been restricted through watermarks or other "copy protection" techniques. This has created a thriving underground community, with websites such as <A HREF="http://www.fatchucks.com">Fat Chuck's</A> devoted to sussing out the corrupted audio products and posting notification to consumers.
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Paul Bolin exclaims, "Looking at the current digital scene is enough to confuse and confound just about anyone this side of Stephen Hawking." Bolin's review of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/779/">Ayre Acoustics D-1x DVD-Video/CD player</A> is here to clear things up.
Orrin Hatch vs Big Radio
Only a month after being scrutinized by the Senate Commerce Committee, Clear Channel Communications may have to explain itself to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Music Publishers Sue Bertelsmann
In October 2000, during Napster's prolonged courtroom agony, <A HREF="http://www.bertelsmann.de">Bertelsmann AG</A> alienated fellow music industry plaintiffs by investing $50 million in a strategic partnership with the file-sharing upstart. At the time, Bertelsmann hoped to leverage Napster's technical expertise and fame to give Bertelsmann Music Group the inside track with Internet music distribution.
High-Rez PC On the Way?
HTPCs are hot among home theater cognoscenti. Using a personal computer to anchor an audio/video system has boomed in recent years due to the availability of high quality video processing software, Dolby Digital and DTS decoding support, and DVD transports. HTPCs (<A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/news/11166/">home theater personal computers</A>) also thrive in part because of the tinkering gene shared by many enthusiasts.
Ayre D-1x DVD-Video/CD player
Looking at the current digital scene is enough to confuse and confound just about anyone this side of Stephen Hawking. One can choose from standard "Red Book" CDs (16-bit/44.1kHz), DVD-As, DADs (24/96 DVD-Vs), SACDs, combination audio-video players and changers, upsamplers, oversamplers, and every possible agglomeration of the above. As the audiophile-grade universal player remains vaporware, if you want to keep moving forward you have to choose among the various format combinations. Ayre Acoustics' Charles Hansen made his decision back in 1998—DVD-Video—and has spent the last four years refining the end result, now known as the D-1x.