For the millions of fans who search the Internet for their favorite music, one thing always required is the name of the artist or song sought. But what if you don't know exactly what you want to hear, and would rather search for the <I>kind</I> of music that suits your mood?
It is <I>so</I> tempting.
The makers of new audio formats like SACD and DVD-Audio are betting that consumers are looking for something more than they already have. Reader Norm Strong wonders what it is <I>Stereophile</I>'s readers are looking for, and why.
Several <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10750/">class-action lawsuits</A> have been thrown against the music industry in the wake of its admission that it engaged in a price-fixing scheme known as Minimum Advertised Pricing, or MAP. The policy arose as a response to widespread CD price wars in the early 1990s that drove prices of some CDs below $10 each, and was intended to prevent mass-market merchandisers from offering CDs below cost as lures to pull customers into stores. The MAP policy was officially discontinued after the Federal Trade Commission <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10744/">reached a settlement</A> with the industry in May of this year.
It's bad enough for stores competing with each other for consumer loyalty—imagine how retailers must feel when the largest consumer-electronics company in the world decides to compete with you as well. This grim reality came true for dealers around the world last week, when Sony Electronics outlined its plans for <A HREF="http://www.sonystyle.com">SonyStyle.com</A>, which the company describes as "an information-rich e-commerce website." The site is scheduled to be launched this fall.
Sometimes a product can take a while to reach its potential. As Jonathan Scull writes, "First, the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/249/">Accuphase DP-75V CD player</A> took a full two weeks to warm up and pull its act together. If anything, it was <I>too</I> polite, warm, and over-the-top bloomy when I first lit it up. The '75 requires a <I>long</I> warm-up period. But wait . . . just wait for it." When the wait was over, J-10 filed his observations in detail.
According to a new report, the number of adults going online to access music-related content has exploded in the few months, increasing 48% between December 1999 and March 2000. These numbers are based on recent findings released by market analysts <A HREF="http://www.cyberdialogue.com">Cyber Dialogue</A>, who say that "The dramatic growth in online music users can be attributed to the media's newfound obsession with Napster, Gnutella, and MP3. When combined with a marked increase in online music offerings and the proliferation of file-sharing software, the increase in demand for online music makes perfect sense."
The <A HREF="http://www.riaa.com/">Recording Industry Association of America</A>'s lawsuit against <A HREF="http://www.napster.com/">Napster</A> may be an attack on one of its best friends, if results of a recent study by research organization <A HREF="http://www.jupiter.com/">Jupiter Communications</A> can be believed.
Although the Accuphase DP-75V looks like a conventional single-box CD player, it's actually a separate transport section and digital processor, each of which can be used independently. The transport is a 16-bit/44.1kHz mechanism, the datastream appearing on RCA coax and TosLink optical output connectors on the rear panel.
Sturgeon's Law asserts that 95% of everything is crap