It is often claimed that high-end audio is a rich person's pursuit, while others feel that prices are secondary to careful selection and the right attitude.
The process becomes the product: in an announcement tinged with shades of <A HREF="http://www.spinaltap.com/"><I>This Is Spinal Tap</I></A>, the band LIVE says it will be recording its next album under the scrutiny of a live internet camera. The webcast, which began July 17, is available on LIVE's <A HREF="http://www.friendsoflive.com">website</A> 24 hours a day, offering fans and the simply curious an "unblinking" glimpse of the creation of their new album, from "start to finish."
As digital distribution grows, the protection of copyrighted material---music, film, video, photographic images, paintings, drawings, and text---becomes ever more important. Tied to this are widespread concerns about maintaining security during online transactions---keeping credit-card numbers and customers' identities hidden from would-be thieves.
He's got his own bonds on Wall Street, houses all over the world, a fashion-model wife, and more wealth than any other rock star to date. But what he really wanted was his own Internet Service Provider. As a result, David Bowie goes online September 1 with the first rock-star-based ISP: <A HREF="http://www.davidbowie.com">BowieNet</A>.
The DAC performance envelope has been pushed further by <A HREF="http://www.burr-brown.com/">Burr-Brown Corporation</A>. The Tucson semiconductor company has just announced the commercial release of its new PCM-1704, an ultra-high-quality digital/analog converter chip boasting a 120dB signal/noise ratio. The new chip supersedes the company's PCM-1702, a DAC found in many high-end products and widely considered the state of the art.
The rule of thumb has historically been to spend more on your speakers than on the rest of your equipment. But audiophiles have found that every part of a system requires attention. Where have you ended up?
A recent report from <A HREF="http://www.jup.com">Jupiter Communications</A> claims that by the year 2002, fully 55% of the US population and 32% of European households will be browsing the Internet. Not only will this change the way poeple gather information for everything from fish food to concert schedules, it will also profoundly affect the way they shop.
The internet has been a boon to music lovers, who now can research almost any piece of music or artist, or shop for obscure discs and memorabilia from a plethora of sources. In an interesting twist on the additional material idea, <A HREF="http://www.sonymusic.com">Sony Music</A> has been making supplemental content for selected CD releases available on a special website.
<B>TOM WAITS: <I>Beautiful Maladies</I></B><BR> Island 314-524 519-2 (CD). 1998. Various prods., engs. AAD? TT: 74:00<BR> Performance <B>*****</B><BR> Sonics <B>****?</B>