Stereophile Article suggestion - MP3, FLAC, SOTA Online Music

Hi,

I would like to see an article, series of articles, or perhaps a column that deeply explores the subject of MP3s, FLAC, and digital delivery of music.

As a 6 year user of products such as the Logitech Squeezebox range of products, I have not spun (except for ripping to my server) a silver disc in over 5 years.

I would like to see articles explore topics like these:

Me and Elements Down By the Schoolyard

Me and Elements Down By the Schoolyard

Today, “Elements of Our Enthusiasm” turns five years old, which, in blog years, is older than the universe. I thank you, dear readers, for sticking around and making this blog one of the most visited pages on our entire website. “Elements” is more popular than Justin Bieber.

For the 4th month, Zinio version unptintable

I am sorry for my monthly whining.

Despite Stephen's repeated heroic effort to convince Zinio, Stereophile is still unprintable.

I am befuddled by the difficulty of getting Zinio support. Surely Stereophile is one of their largest customer/merchant?

I complained to HiFi News when they first came out and they managed to fix it within the next issue. They also sent me physical issues to compensate for the inconvenience.

Are you talking to the right people?

Pastoral Prine

Pastoral Prine

Seeing John Prine the other night on Governor’s Island with <I>Stereophile</I>'s Stephen Mejias was a fairly profound experience, owing to Prine’s strange, elegiac tone. It may be that he wasn’t down with the venue (a windy island at night) or that he was simply tired (he looked it), but almost everything he sung, even the fun ones like, “Please Don’t Bury Me,” had an odd sadness clinging to it. I tried not to think about how Prine beat cancer back in 1998. The first time I saw him backstage after the cancer had been cut and radiated out of his throat, he cracked a smile and chirped, “Well Robert, this is what happens when you start smoking when you’re 14. What did I expect?” Thankfully his voice and his irascible disposition returned undiminished by the illness. He’s lost some tissue in his neck and his voice did indeed get a little growlier, but overall he was extremely lucky. I prefer to ascribe his lonely tone last Friday to the fact that he’s been singing some of those songs for 40 years and just decided to give them a different emotional bent in New York. Truly though I have never seen a Prine show that wasn’t laced with jokes, spot on wisecracks and sly references to the current world history. And never have I heard one of his signature songs “Donald and Lydia,” done so beautifully, its chorus lines turned into a near prayer:
“But dreaming just comes natural
Like the first breath from a baby,
Like sunshine feeding daisies,
Like the love hidden deep in your heart.”

Ariel Bitran joins us as admin

Forums

We're extremely happy to have Ariel Bitran working with us as our new, full-time editorial assistant. In that role, he will join me as a Forum Administrator.

In the past, Ariel has also worked with us as a summer intern, working to create our annual Buyer's Guide. He distinguished himself as a hardworking, caring, and thoughtful member of our team, forming a strong bond with the magazine in a relatively short amount of time. He is also an outstanding guitarist for a local rock band, Heroes of the Open End, and a very active member of the NYC music scene.

Now On Newsstands: Stereophile, Vol.33 No.10

Now On Newsstands: Stereophile, Vol.33 No.10

The October 2010 issue of <i>Stereophile</i> is now on newsstands. On the cover, you’ll see a pretty much life-sized image of Logitech’s Squeezebox Touch, a real dandy of a hi-fi product that costs just $300 and seems to captivate everyone who comes into contact with it. The normally unflappable Kal Rubinson ends his review (page 118) by advising, “Get a Squeezebox Touch right now. You’ll never look back.” Even our cover photographer, Eric Swanson, fell in love with the little thing. He bought his sample. We chose the Mobile Fidelity version of Beck’s <i>Sea Change</i> for the cover art because it connects with Robert Baird’s feature piece on outstanding reissues (page 111), and because the colors are pretty. The colors featured on the Squeezebox Touch’s display dictated those used by our graphic designer, Natalie Baca, in her cover treatment.

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