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News
Vivendi Universal Will Buy MP3.com
Barry Willis  |  May 27, 2001  |  0 comments
It's sometimes amazing how courtroom adversaries can become bosom buddies. This week's example: on May 21, Vivendi Universal SA agreed to acquire Internet music portal MP3.com Inc. for $372 million (423 million euros) in cash and stock—or $5.00/share for MP3.com stockholders. The announcement followed Vivendi's April 5 acquisition of Emusic.com for $24 million. The targeted companies' boards of directors unanimously approved both deals. MP3.com will continue to offer music from non-Universal labels, according to a company press release.
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News
Verance Reconfirmed as SDMI Standard
Barry Willis  |  May 26, 2001  |  0 comments
The Secure Digital Music Initiative has decided to reconfirm San Diego–based Verance Corporation's watermarking technology as its choice for inhibiting piracy in digitally recorded music. The May 21 announcement was made by the SDMI Plenary after a year-long campaign to evaluate the effectiveness and audibility of watermarks from 14 different vendors. The group has also apparently decided to halt further research and development efforts, which have been widely blamed for hobbling the rollout of DVD-Audio.
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Tube Preamp Reviews
Lamm Industries L2 Reference preamplifier
Jonathan Scull  |  May 26, 2001  |  0 comments
The L2 Reference sits at the top of Lamm Industries' preamplifier line. According to the manual, its "unique" circuitry uses specially selected, superlinear, high-voltage MOSFET transistors that ensure class-A operation from input to output, with no overall negative feedback at any stage. All stages, including the high-current output buffers, are single-ended.
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The Fifth Element
The Fifth Element #2
John Marks  |  May 26, 2001  |  0 comments
Henry David Thoreau once wrote that "The eye is the first circle; the horizon it forms is the second." A profound observation, indeed: The horizon exists only in being perceived. Kind of like music, in fact.
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As We See It
Trumpets to the Back of Me?
John Atkinson  |  May 26, 2001  |  0 comments
As part of this issue's coverage of the recent Consumer Electronics Show (see Sidebar), I report on my dissatisfaction with almost all the surround-sound demonstrations I experienced in Las Vegas. As a music-lover, the last thing I want is to have trumpets and drums attacking me from behind, yet almost without exception, that is what record producers seem to feel is an essential part of the DVD-Audio and SACD experiences.
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Fine Tunes
Fine Tunes #35
Jonathan Scull  |  May 26, 2001  |  0 comments
"J-10, tweakoman," began the e-mail from one of Stereophile's Web mavens and a contributor to "Industry Update," the estimable Barry Willis, "hockey pucks are the cure for what ails you."
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Vote
Have you purchased any SACD, DVD-Audio, or DAD (24/96 DVD-V) discs yet?
Stereophile Staff  |  May 20, 2001  |  0 comments

DAD has only been with us a short while, and the dawn is still breaking for new audio formats such as DVD-Audio and SACD, but we're wondering how many of you are early adopters.

Have you purchased any SACD, DVD-Audio, or DAD (24/96 DVD-V) discs yet?
Yes, SACD
23% (122 votes)
Yes, DVD-Audio
8% (42 votes)
Yes, DAD
5% (27 votes)
Yes, SACD and DVD-Adio
1% (5 votes)
Yes, SACD and DAD
3% (14 votes)
Yes, DVD-Audio and DAD
3% (14 votes)
Yes, all three
1% (5 votes)
Nothing yet
57% (302 votes)
Total votes: 531
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News
Adding Wireless into the Audio BREW
Jon Iverson  |  May 20, 2001  |  0 comments
Please bear with us a moment here—we know most audiophiles react to MP3-related news with a serious case of ringing ears, but tracing where the lo-fi market is currently headed can be instructive for understanding the distant hi-fi future. And if the new technology previewed last week at Qualcomm's BREW conference in San Diego is any indication, some parts of your audio future may, in fact, be wireless.
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News
News from Cirrus Logic
Stereophile Staff  |  May 20, 2001  |  0 comments
Cirrus Logic has initiated cutbacks in its workforce and other cost-reduction moves that are expected to save as much as $12 million annually. The Austin, TX–based semiconductor company stated May 15 that the measures are part of a general restructuring of its business model, in which its magnetic storage chip business will be de-emphasized in favor of its semiconductor business. Cirrus is the parent company of Crystal Semiconductor, maker of many high-performance digital audio chips.
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News
Added to the Archives This Week
Stereophile Staff  |  May 20, 2001  |  0 comments
Mark Levinson has traveled from Woodstock to the Whitney, and Michael Fremer lends an ear to his Red Rose Music R3 loudspeaker to determine if the journey was a fruitful one. As Fremer characterizes it, "If Levinson's Cello foray was haute monde, Red Rose is Dockers: loose-fitting and relaxed."
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