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Philips' Audio Fingerprinting

The received wisdom has it that among the billions of humans on earth, no two have identical fingerprints, no matter how closely related they are.

Neither do audio recordings. Despite stylistic similarities, all musical recordings have differences in pitch, tempo, timing, and melody. Researchers at Royal Philips Electronics, NV have exploited this phenomenon in the development of what they are calling an "audio fingerprinting" system that may enable anyone to quickly identify the name of the song they are listening to, its performer, and other important data.

A three-second snippet…

EgglestonWorks Back in Action

The Andra, Stereophile's 1997 Product of the Year, will soon be back. So will the Rosa, the Fontaine, the Isabel, and the Ivy Reference—in fact, the full line of EgglestonWorks loudspeakers will be shipping soon to dealers, now that the company has been rescued from extinction. EgglestonWorks had been in legal limbo for most of the year as creditors wrangled over its future.

The good news for EgglestonWorks fans came on November 1, when Memphis, Tennessee-based EgglestonAudio LLC announced the acquisition of the assets of EgglestonWorks Loudspeaker Company. EgglestonAudio will…

McCormack Back at McCormack Audio

Several weeks ago, we reported on the revival of McCormack Audio by Bill Conrad and Lew Johnson, who purchased the company's assets at an auction in Southern California. This past week, McCormack Audio has announced that one of the original co-founders, Steve McCormack, has rejoined the company as Director of Research and Development. McCormack had worked at the company from its inception in 1982 until 1996.

So how did the first few days back at the job go? "We just had a very intense week back at headquarters in Virginia," said McCormack from his office in Southern California. "We spent…

Hope for Wireless?

Anyone who has experimented with wireless local area networks for audio—feeding rear/side speakers in a multichannel system, for example—can attest that the technology is far from ready for prime time. Prone to noise, interference, and dropouts, wireless audio systems require a tremendous amount of refinement before they'll meet audiophile standards.

The domestic intrusion caused by the necessary cabling in hardwired systems prevents many potential converts from joining the multichannel camp. A reliable, good-sounding wireless surround system could be the audio industry's next great leap…

MusicGiants: "First Company to Offer High-Fidelity Downloads"

We Get Letters Department: Stereophile editor John Atkinson recently received the following email from Tony Fisch, the director of corporate development at MusicGiants: "MusicGiants (www.musicgiants.com) will be the first company to offer high-fidelity downloads from all record labels. MusicGiants uses Microsoft WMA 'lossless' codec (450kbps) to preserve 100% of the music. The result is music that sounds just like the artist intended. Finally, real music downloads up to 1100kbps. MusicGiants' downloads will be $1.29 per track, and $15.29 per album.

"I read a quote by Wes Phillips in Randy…

Added to the Archives This Week:

Strange but true: Stereophile editor John Atkinson once sold a tweak amplifier after being startled by not being able to identify it in a blind listening test. "Convinced by these results of the validity of the Consumer Reports philosophy, I consequently sold my exotic and expensive Lecson power amplifier, with which I had been very happy, and bought a much cheaper Quad 405---the biggest mistake of my audiophile career!" says JA of the experience.

In an effort to get to the bottom of the problems with blind listening tests, JA started hypothesizing that blind tests themselves might skew…

UK's Mordaunt-Short Speaker Brand Acquired by Richer Sounds

The shock news on November 18, 1998---that the highly regarded British speaker brand Mordaunt-Short was to be closed down (see previous story)---seems to have achieved the desired result. On December 30, Audio Partnership plc announced it was acquiring the Mordaunt-Short brand from TGI plc (Tannoy Goodmans International).

Audio Partnership is the manufacturing/sourcing division of the Richer Sounds Group, the largest specialist hi-fi retailer in the UK, with around 30 stores nationwide. AP's Chief Executive, James Johnson-Flint, described Mordaunt-Short as "The perfect partner for our…

SunnComm Upgrades MediaMax

Efforts to restrict the ways consumers use music they have purchased continue unabated. SunnComm (along with its sales and marketing arm MediaMax) has announced that its "newest patent-pending passive technology makes it even more difficult to bypass or 'hack' the copy protection structure contained on the MediaMax CDs."

MediaMax says its new "passive protection solution" continues to be Red Book and Blue Book compliant, adding that this means that CDs containing the MediaMax restriction technology can also sport the Compact Disc Enhanced CD compatibility logo.

SunnComm's Eric…

Big Music <I>vs</I> Individual Music Lovers

The music industry is reportedly preparing to open a new front in its war on piracy.

This time, the enemy isn't commercial, for-profit websites offering free music downloads with a ton of paid advertising. It's individual music fans eager to share their stashes of tunes.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is preparing to file copyright-infringement lawsuits against those it determines are the most egregious file-sharers on the Internet, according to reports in early July. The purported move against individuals follows successful copyright litigation against several…

Vacuum Tube SOTA Conference Slated for August 21-24

The Silverdale by the Bay Resort Hotel in Silverdale, WA, will be the site of the second annual Vacuum State of the Art Conference, scheduled for August 21-24. The conference will feature new and vintage equipment, tube electronics seminars, a used-gear swap meet, and demonstrations of audio creations by both amateur and professional designers.

A three-day course in tube amplifier design will be given by Electronic Tonalities in the nearby town of Poulsbo following the conference.

A highlight of the event will be a performance by the Paul deLay Blues Band on Sunday evening in the…