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iTunes Won't Reach Forecast

Launched with a bang last April, Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store has steadily gained popularity with music fans, but it won't reach its projected goal of selling 100 million songs online within its first year.

iTunes has sold 50 million songs over the Internet since its inception, the Cupertino, CA–based computer pioneer announced March 15. At the current rate of 2.5 million songs a week, Apple should have sold "70 million to 75 million songs" by the end of April 2004, according to CEO Steve Jobs.

iTunes were selling briskly back in September, at the rate of 500,000 a week, rising…

Scientists: CD Rot For Real

The compact disc has given rise to all sorts of questionable accessories: magic pens with green ink, reflective stickers, rim dampers, absorbent mats, spindle weights, cleaners, buffers, polishers, and demagnetizers. It's amazing how many products are needed to make perfect sound perfect.

To that ever-growing list of panaceas, you may wish to add a fungal inhibitor—especially if you live in a tropical region. After receiving several reports of CDs rotting in the hot, humid countries of Central America, Spanish scientists have isolated a fungus belonging to the Geotrichum family that…

DVD-Audio 411

One of the great things about the DVD-Audio format is the sheer flexibility built into the standard: two-channel or multichannel (mixed for four, five, or six speakers), multiple resolutions, multiple encode/decode choices (MLP, Dolby Digital, DTS, PCM), and an assortment of special features, including video.

But that very panoply of playback options can easily confuse customers about what any specific disc might offer. Home-theater fans know all too well that there is no labeling consistency concerning widescreen formatting or even the type of surround-encoding on a disc.

If DTS…

Added to the Archives This Week

Jonathan Scull writes: "Cable dressing is actually a rather delicate issue that requires a certain leap of faith. The concept is so simple that even I can explain the science to you." And explain he does. Read "Fine Tunes #7" to learn the whole story.

Next we offer John Atkinson's review of the Wadia 27ix and Wadia 270 transport. JA writes: "History teaches us that the full flowering of any social phenomenon takes place after the seeds of its destruction have been sown. . . . Similarly, it is only now, when DVD-Video has been with us for a couple of years and is being used as a…

Added to the Archives This Week

Pay $350,000 for an amplifier?!?!! Michael Fremer takes a deep breath and plugs in the Wavac SH-833 monoblock power amplifier in order to hear for himself what he might get if he traded in his house. "When tmh's Jim Ricketts asked me if I wanted to review this eight-box assemblage," says MF, "the first thing I did was laugh at the ludicrousness of the situation. Then I said, 'Why the hell not?'"

Next, we have John Atkinson's "As We See It" from the July 2004 issue, Absolute Values. JA struggles with the decision to run the $350k Wavac review: "What possibly needs to be said about an…

Guitarist John Fahey Dies Following Heart Surgery

Guitarist John Fahey died February 22 at Salem Hospital in Salem, OR, two days after undergoing multiple coronary bypass surgery. The enigmatic musician had been suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome and diabetes for years. Fahey was 61.

Born February 28, 1939 in Takoma Park, MD, Fahey was the son of musician parents. His earliest exposure was to the country music of performers like bluegrass legend Bill Monroe and the Stanley Brothers. Fahey's lifelong affair with the guitar began in earnest at the age of 13, when he met singer and guitarist Frank Hovington during a fishing trip.…

Warner Music Group Releases First DVD-A Discs

After a difficult gestation, DVD-Audio may finally be moving toward becoming a market reality now that a major record label has stepped forward to support it. Warner Music Group (WMG) has issued several recordings in the new format, covering a range of genres. DVD-A is "the most significant industry format launch since the introduction of the CD nearly 20 years ago," according to an October 2 WMG press release.

Warner's first DVD-A releases are:
Beethoven: Symphonies 4 & 5, Daniel Barenboim/Staatskapelle Berlin
Core, Stone Temple Pilots
Tigerlily, Natalie Merchant
Johann…

DataPlay's Tiny Discs: The Next Big Thing?

Is the world ready for another portable music format? DataPlay Incorporated thinks so. On March 12, the Boulder, CO–based company announced an agreement with Bertelsmann Music Group to release new titles later this year on miniature pre-recorded discs, which are about the size of a quarter.

DataPlay has also signed content deals with EMI and Universal Music. Record labels are said to be eager to test the waters with DataPlay because the format does not allow for easy copying. The arrangements with the labels will let consumers buy music ready to go, as well as let them download songs…

Hi-Rez DTS Added to Blu-ray & HD DVD

Last week we reported Dolby's announcement that varying versions of their audio technologies have been selected as "mandatory formats" for HD DVD and Blu-ray. Significant for audiophiles is that MLP and high-resolution PCM audio will be available both as two-channel and surround formats on HD DVD.

Not to be outdone by its rival, DTS has now announced that its DTS Coherent Acoustics coding system has been selected as "mandatory audio technology" for both the Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD.

DTS notes that in addition to the company's core technology, DTS's "extension technologies" have also…

Audiophile's Journey

Like most Americans, US audiophiles have little idea how difficult life can be for people in other countries. Imagine facing official censure for possessing some innocuous pop music, or taking 12 years to accumulate the complete works of one of your favorite rock groups. That was life in the old Soviet Union for Stereophile colleague Leonid Korostyshevski, who flew to Istanbul from Moscow on short notice, so we could spend a few days together prior to my embarking on a sailing trip in the eastern Mediterranean. The visit cemented a long-distance friendship established through numberless…