News

CES '98 wrap-up

Jon Iverson Jan 18, 1998 First Published: Jan 18, 1998

It gets tougher every year to cover a show like the CES. Dropping in on most of the high-end audio rooms at the Alexis Park isn't so bad---the hard part is getting to all the various splinter exhibits scattered around Las Vegas within the allotted four days.

News

Meridian Commits to FireWire and Digital Harmony

Jon Iverson Jan 09, 1998 First Published: Jan 09, 1998

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 10---Meridian has announced its intention to license Digital Harmony's IEEE 1394 (FireWire) technology. "Digital Harmony embodies the technology we can implement to produce the next generation of digital systems for home entertainment." So said Meridian's Bob Stuart, in an announcement sure to be a turning point for the high-end audio industry.

News

Classic Records issues DADs---high-quality music DVDs

Wes Phillips Jan 08, 1998 First Published: Jan 08, 1998

In a press conference held January 9 at the 1998 Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Classic Records announced the debut of the Classic 24/96 digital audio disc "DAD" series of audio-only DVD-Videos. (Video information is included on the disc but represents only a tiny fraction of the data space.)

News

DVD-Audio draft specs announced at CES; HDCD ported to Motorola DSP chip

John Atkinson Jan 08, 1998 First Published: Jan 08, 1998

As expected, the DVD WG-4 Audio Working Group announced at CES that it has released a draft of its DVD-Audio specification to the 10 original DVD consortium companies, and to music-industry associations RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), RIAJ (Recording Industry Association of Japan), and IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry).

News

First All-Digital Amplifier?

Jon Iverson Jan 08, 1998 First Published: Jan 08, 1998

NAD has announced what they claim is the world's first true digital audio power amplifier directly linking a CD player to a loudspeaker. As explained by Peter Lyngdorf, chairman of NAD Electronics and TACT Audio, the Millennium "is not a conventional combination of D/A converter and analog amplification.

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CES '98 Opens: DVD-Audio gauntlet is thrown

Jon Iverson Jan 07, 1998 First Published: Jan 07, 1998

The Academy Advancing High Performance Audio & Video (formerly the Academy for the Advancement of High End Audio) kicked off CES '98 with a pre-Show meeting. Meridian's Bob Stuart addressed the thorny issue of competing and (as yet) not fully defined standards for DVD-Audio.

News

Consumer Electronics Show: January 8, 1998

Jon Iverson Jan 07, 1998 First Published: Jan 07, 1998

A continuing proliferation of formats is as likely in the audio realm as it is in video. The analog cassette was one of the most successful formats in history, and the industry has yet to find a replacement for it. MiniDisc, a Sony-originated format, required several attempts to introduce it to the American market.

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California Audio Labs acquired by Go-Video

Stereophile Staff Jan 04, 1998 First Published: Jan 04, 1998

On Monday, January 5th, Go-Video">http://www.govideo.com">Go-Video, Inc. announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire California">http://www.calaudio.com">California Audio Labs LLC. Under the California Audio Labs and Cinevision brand names, Cal Audio designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes digital audio and video products marketed to the high-end home entertainment systems market.

News

Jitter in, jitter out...

Jon Iverson Jan 04, 1998 First Published: Jan 04, 1998

For years, there has been concern in the high-end audio press about the effects of jitter on digital audio. Manufacturers spend countless design hours measuring jitter and trying to minimize its influence on the sound of their products.

News

Binaural audio available on the internet

Jon Iverson Jan 02, 1998 First Published: Jan 02, 1998

Operating at the fringes of the audio world, binaural recordings have continued to maintain a hardcore group of advocates. Creating a convincing three-dimensional surround effect using only a two-channel source, binaural technology is especially impressive with headphones.