High-end audio has always been a tricky business, and in recent years it's become more so. Home theater is pulling in one direction, and MP3, iPods, and the Internet are pulling in another. And customer expectations—not just of sound quality, but also of usability and integration into their space and lives—are spiraling upward. The companies that are thriving amid these pressures seem to have adopted one of two strategies: either they focus more narrowly and try to convince the world to accept their vision, or they evolve their products in an attempt to anticipate the market.

High-end audio has always been a tricky business, and in recent years it's become more so. Home theater is pulling in one direction, and MP3, iPods, and the Internet are pulling in another. And customer expectations—not just of sound quality, but also of usability and integration into their space and lives—are spiraling upward. The companies that are thriving amid these pressures seem to have adopted one of two strategies: either they focus more narrowly and try to convince the world to accept their vision, or they evolve their products in an attempt to anticipate the market.

High-end audio has always been a tricky business, and in recent years it's become more so. Home theater is pulling in one direction, and MP3, iPods, and the Internet are pulling in another. And customer expectations—not just of sound quality, but also of usability and integration into their space and lives—are spiraling upward. The companies that are thriving amid these pressures seem to have adopted one of two strategies: either they focus more narrowly and try to convince the world to accept their vision, or they evolve their products in an attempt to anticipate the market.

High-end audio has always been a tricky business, and in recent years it's become more so. Home theater is pulling in one direction, and MP3, iPods, and the Internet are pulling in another. And customer expectations—not just of sound quality, but also of usability and integration into their space and lives—are spiraling upward. The companies that are thriving amid these pressures seem to have adopted one of two strategies: either they focus more narrowly and try to convince the world to accept their vision, or they evolve their products in an attempt to anticipate the market.

High-end audio has always been a tricky business, and in recent years it's become more so. Home theater is pulling in one direction, and MP3, iPods, and the Internet are pulling in another. And customer expectations—not just of sound quality, but also of usability and integration into their space and lives—are spiraling upward. The companies that are thriving amid these pressures seem to have adopted one of two strategies: either they focus more narrowly and try to convince the world to accept their vision, or they evolve their products in an attempt to anticipate the market.

Never content to rest on its laurels, <A HREF="http://www.ti.com/sc04141">Texas Instruments</A> continues to push the boundaries of chip performance, not only in the digital and video realms, but in the analog audio domain as well.

TrueSound Lounge: Headphone giant <A HREF="www.sennheiserusa.com">Sennheiser</A&gt; has opened an online music destination, the Sennheiser <A HREF="http://www.truesoundlounge.com">"TrueSound
Lounge</A>", providing web-surfers an entertaining selection of new music from
company-supported emerging artists like Sugarcult and Jody Whitesides. The site also provides "fun, quick-witted web-video shorts from top commercial filmmakers and producers, fruits of the Sennheiser Invitational Film Project," and "concise info on Sennheiser's unequalled selection of personal listening products," according to a recent announcement.

The <A HREF="http://www.riaa.org">RIAA</A&gt; foresees that digital audio broadcasting (DAB) will represent a fundamental change in the radio industry. "It is not just a means of offering higher quality broadcast sound. DAB could transform radio into a vehicle for the distribution of huge amounts of information in digital form, including recorded music," says the trade organization. As a result, the group is supporting regulatory restraints on digital audio broadcasting (DAB) in reaction to a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Notice of Inquiry (NOI) regarding DAB content control.

The proposed merger of the music divisions of Sony Corporation and Bertelsmann AG may win approval from European Union regulators, according to reports from Brussels on June 18.

On June 16, the US <A HREF="http://www.cpsc.gov">Consumer Product Safety Commission</A> (CPSC) announced a product recall in voluntary cooperation with equipment manufacturer and distributor <A HREF="http://www.linn.co.uk/">Linn</A&gt;. The notice asks that consumers stop using the recalled products immediately, unless otherwise instructed.