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Gateway Music Vault

Gateway Computer appears intent on expanding into the home entertainment arena.

Just a month after launching a 42" plasma television at a $3000 breakthrough price, Gateway announced a partnership with music subscription service pressplay that will enable legal downloads to consumers' computers.

Purchasers of new Gateway computers can also receive a pre-loaded 8.5-gigabyte music library—the so-called Gateway Music Vault by pressplay—and pre-installed pressplay software. The 8.5GB Music Vault includes approximately 2000 popular songs, according to a December 5 announcement. Older…

Up, Down, Up, Down

It's been a roller coaster ride for satellite radio upstarts Sirius Radio and XM Radio this past week as both companies fortunes shifted yet again. In a classic billion-dollar consumer electronics gamble, Sirius and XM are betting that they can reach critical mass by selling enough specially equiped digital radio receivers through car manufacturers while simultaneously signing up enough subscribers to reach profitability.

As reported previously, XM Radio finally launched the first of its satellites, "Rock," in mid-March after frustrating delays, putting it behind rival Sirius in the…

Record 116dB Dynamic Range Claimed by Monolithic Audio A/D

March 9, AKM Semiconductor, Inc. introduced the AK5392, a 24-bit stereo analog-to-digital (A/D) converter based on its proprietary dual-bit delta-sigma technology. The AK5392 reportedly achieves a dynamic range of 116dB, said to be a 15dB improvement over other single-chip alternatives.

This level of performance previously required at least a two-chip solution (sometimes with both pieces of silicon in a single package), and consumed almost twice as much power. Thus, the chip is seen as a boon to high-quality audio recording, while the cost advantages of single-chip implementation allow…

Klipsch Breaks New Ground

The economic outlook may be gloomy, but there are bright spots here and there. One is Indianapolis-based Klipsch Audio Technologies, which, on November 5, announced a bold expansion program that will add more than 200 people to its workforce.

The new hires will fill jobs in a new 46,000 square foot warehouse and distribution center in Hope, Arkansas, Klipsch's original home, as well as in a new 27,000 square foot engineering and technology center in Indianapolis. Klipsch has already hired 45 new employees in Indianapolis, according to the announcement. Engineering staff in Arkansas are…

Prodigal Son Returning to Carver Corp.?

Distressed Carver Corporation announced August 31 that founder Bob Carver has signed a letter of intent to return as chairman and CEO of the company he founded 20 years ago. The letter also spells out conditions for a possible merger of Carver and Sunfire Corporation as early as 18 months from now. Sunfire, manufacturer of the highly regarded Sunfire power amplifiers, is Bob Carver's privately held company.

Carver Corp. has been ailing for a long time. On January 8 of this year, three of its directors resigned after the company received notice that it would be delisted effective March…

Watermarking in the Studio

As digitally recorded music moves through the recording and production chain, it can be handed off to a variety of studios, musicians, producers, record label executives, and mastering engineers. Sometimes this is done with a recordable CD or DVD, sometimes with a portable hard disk, and sometimes via a high-bandwidth Internet connection. Somewhere along the way, a good percentage of those files (some estimate up to 80%) get copied in an unauthorized manner and quickly end up on the Internet or on the street as pirated CDs before any official discs are released.

This problem has become an…

New CE Product Labeling Requirements Particularly Arduous for High-End Audio Companies

Don Bouchard of Cello forwarded this e-mail to us, which outlines the new CE labeling requirements. These are so draconian that we felt the high-end audio community needs to be made aware of them!

"A Call for More Scientific Truth in Product Warning Labels.

"As scientists, engineers, purveyors of expensive high-tech electrically powered devices, and concerned citizens, we applaud the recent trend toward legislation that requires the prominent placing of warnings on products that present hazards to the general public. Yet we must also offer the cautionary thought that such warnings,…

Consumer Electronics Show, January 7, 1999

Friday, we'll venture into the Alexis Park complex and the adjoining exhibits from T.H.E. Show, where most of the specialty audio manufacturers have set up shop. But so far, at the Las Vegas Convention Center and adjoining Hilton (which we are currently touring), live 24/96 digital audio is conspicuous by its absence.

This pattern was repeated this morning at the Meridian booth in the Hilton. A very impressive video was followed by a less-than-stellar audio demonstration---partly flawed by the high ambient noise of the convention floor. We were told about high-resolution wonders to come…

New Beatles Autobiography will Tell All

Thirty-five years after their heyday, the Beatles remain one of the preeminent phenomena of the modern age. More than 400 books have been written about them, both as a group and as individuals.

Those books are about to be superseded by the definitive Beatles tale: a forthcoming 360-page autobiography by Ringo Starr, George Harrison, and Paul McCartney. The book will include 1200 photographs—many previously unpublished—and will divulge "new information about the group's drug-taking and the arguments and eventual breakup," according to an April 2 report in the London Daily Telegraph. The…

HE2003 Winners

For the third year in a row, Quebec Audio-Video Magazine has offered its readers a chance to win an all-expense-paid trip for two to the Home Entertainment Show—or a trip to the beautiful Charlevoix region of the province of Quebec, Canada, for a musical experience at Le Domaine Forget concert hall.

In conjunction with Home Entertainment 2003 sponsors Stereophile, Home Theater, Audio Video Interiors, and Stereophile Guide to Home Theater magazines, Quebec Audio-Video proudly announces the first prize winner: Mrs. Louise Belleau, of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, and a friend will fly to…