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The DAC performance envelope has been pushed further by Burr-Brown">http://www.burr-brown.com/">Burr-Brown Corporation. 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.

Are order and justice coming to the lawless frontier of the Internet? The American">http://www.ascap.com/">American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers has a new tool for cracking down on unauthorized use of copyrighted material on the Internet. Developed by Online">http://www.omservices.com/">Online Monitoring Services, EZ-Seeker is "web crawler" software that tracks down music and then issues license forms to the users of that music. The announcement followed by less than a week the news (see previous">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10208/">previous report) of the Recording">http://www.riaa.com/">Recording Industry Association of America's $750,000 settlement from makers of unauthorized "DJ compilations" of hit songs.

The High End has reached a new low, one characterized by "existential angst." That's how Lawrence M. Fisher of the New">http://www.nytimes.com/">New York Times describes the industry's ongoing malaise. In a well-researched and well-written piece that appeared last Thursday, July 9, Fisher cites "demographic and economic issues beyond its control and technological trends that threaten its very relevance." He mentions the economic crisis in Asia---destination for a large proportion of American high-end audio products---as a major contributing factor to the stagnation in which much of the industry is mired.