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Is there a future for high-resolution audio? Will the music industry survive as a packaged-goods business? The answer to both of these questions is "Yes, probably . . ." if the DualDisc follows test market indications and become next year's must-have entertainment format.

From 2000, Brian Damkroger checks out the seductive Oracle">http://www.stereophile.com/digitalsourcereviews/1000oracle">Oracle CD player, commenting, "I couldn't help but wonder if the Oracle's sonic performance would be as unique and spectacular as its looks."

Once again, audiophiles can help themselves and others at the same time by participating in The Cable Company's ninth annual "Summer Against Hunger" campaign. The">http://Usedcable.com/">The Cable Company and a wide cross-section of its vendors (listed below) have set up a program by which up to 10% of The Cable Company's August sales are donated to CAREhttp://www.careusa.org/">CARE; and the International">http://www.theirc.org/">International Rescue Committee, with contributions to be used to assist the worldwide disaster relief efforts of those humanitarian organizations.

A move by RealNetworks to cut the umbilical cord between Apple's iPod and the company's iTunes Music Store has raised the ire of some execs in Cupertino. The computer pioneer is threatening legal and technical retaliation against its Seattle rival in the wake of a late July launch of a digital music technology called Harmony that enables the iPod to work with downloads from RealNetworks' music store.

From its origins as an obscure off-Broadway novelty act, Blue">http://www.blueman.com">Blue Man Group has grown to monster proportions, with authorized spinoffs performing in major cities throughout the world. The group is a permanent attraction in Las Vegas.

Audiophile's">http://www.stereophile.com/news/072604journey/">Audiophile's Journey continues.

Back in June of 1992, Lewis Lipnick auditioned one of the era's benchmark products, the Cello">http://www.stereophile.com/amplificationreviews/692cello">Cello Palette Preamplifier. LL comments, "The Palette Preamplifier gives the listener a glimpse of what performers experience every day on stage: total immersion in the music."