Audiophiles cringe at the idea of downloading blurry, compressed representations of once-detailed recordings (even CD seems high-rez these days). But that hasn't stopped average music fans from trying online music services.New findings from Ipsos-Insight's quarterly Tempo study of digital music behaviors reveal that in July of 2004, more than one-third (35%) of American downloaders aged 12 and older had paid a fee to download music or MP3 files off the Internet, a roughly 50% increase over levels witnessed in late 2003 (the figure was 22% in December 2003).
The researchers point out…
Those unhappy with today's over-the-air broadcasting choices will be glad to know that this is shaping up as a busy year for new radio formats. The commercialization of the IBOC AM and FM digital broadcasting system is about to be revealed at the same time that Sirius satellite radio announces that it will be accelerating its rollout schedule in an effort to compete with rival XM satellite radio.Executives from the broadcasting, retail, and consumer electronics industries, along with iBiquity Digital representatives, are planning a press conference next Monday, April 8 at the National…
Any FM-radio DJ who was on the air in the US through the late '70s and early '80s will tell you that the song most often requested was easily Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven." Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" popped up regularly, but it was never a contest. So it comes as no surprise that Zep's epic hit would make the list of the 10 songs included in the "Millennium Mix" being presented this month by Dick Clark. (Never mind that the millennium actually ends December 31, 2000.)The tally is the result of a national Millennium Mix contest that Philips Consumer Electronics North America…
"No doubt about it—Linn's top-of-the-line Komri loudspeaker is a queer-lookin' duck," says Jonathan Scull as he set up a pair in his listening lair. The claimed frequency response for the Komri extends out to 40kHz. "Why even bother going out that high, where even the most beautiful of women cannot hear?" J-10 explains why.Larry Greenhill listens to the seventh iteration of Peter Snell's Type A flagship loudspeaker, the Snell Acoustics XA Reference Tower loudspeaker. "I first heard the original Snell Type A 22 years ago, at the Listening Room in Scarsdale, NY, when I was introduced to…
Never content to rest on its laurels, Texas Instruments continues to push the boundaries of chip performance, not only in the digital and video realms, but in the analog audio domain as well.On June 10, the technology giant announced a new high-performance headphone driver with specifications that make it ideal for use with high-resolution sources such as DVD-Audio or SACD. The TPA6120A2 has astounding specifications, with dynamic range and signal-to-noise ratio that exceed 120dB. Equally astounding is the chip's slew rate (ability to respond to signal changes) of 1300V/µs. Combined with…
On April 15, ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers), the music performing-rights organization, and Liquid Audio, a developer of secure online music delivery systems, announced a strategic alliance to protect ownership of music on the Internet. According to a Liquid Audio press release, the initiative encourages, streamlines, and simplifies music-rights licensing and reporting, and will benefit website creators as well as music writers, publishers, and composers.Liquid Audio plans on working with ASCAP to encourage websites that use Liquid Audio's music-distribution…
Imitation, as the old saw would have it, is the sincerest form of flattery. It might also offer a way for DVD-Audio to establish credibility and build a customer base.The DVD Forum may consider the development of a dual-layer, stereo CD/multichannel DVD-A hybrid disc to compete with the Super Audio CD format backed by Sony and Philips, according to reports appearing the second week of November. An emerging CD/DVD-A hybrid could be compatible with the world's millions of CD and DVD players, eliminating the necessity for consumers to buy new machines.
Backward-compatibility with the…
As a result of the terrorist attacks last week, the Audio Engineering Society (AES) has decided to postpone its AES 111th Convention until November 30. The annual audio event, which was to have been held this week in Manhattan at the Jacob Javits Convention Center, will now be held Friday, November 30–Monday, December 3, 2001. The AES says that the convention will use the same exhibit, demo, and conference space as would have been used next week.The AES' Roger Furness said the change of dates had gone over well. "The support of the industry has been unquestionable. As you can imagine,…
Hot on the heels of a favorable RIAA/Rio decision (see related story), five of the pioneers in the rapidly expanding market for downloadable music---GoodNoise Corp., MP3.com, MusicMatch, Xing Technology Corp., and Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc.---announced the formation of the MP3 Association, an industry trade group focused on the "continued evolution and adoption of the MP3 (MPEG 1 or 2, Layer 3) standard." The Association will focus on three primary goals: promoting MP3 technology as the next-generation digital music format, educating consumers about MP3 and its legal use, and opening…
Audio companies create products that are based on a variety of technologies, provoking lawsuits every once in a while when patents are involved. One such lawsuit erupted earlier this year as Robert W. Carver, designer for and founder of Sunfire Corporation, filed a US patent lawsuit against Audio Products International (API).API has officially confirmed that a favorable verdict for the company rendered in April of this year in the lawsuit is now final. "On April 3, 2003, a jury of the Federal Court in Seattle invalidated all patent claims asserted against Audio Products by Mr. Carver…
