Thus, we read with interest news coming out of MIT about their new approach to sound processing, called "Structured Audio," that is to be incorporated in the new MPEG-4 international…
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Everyone claims "CD-quality" sound over the Internet these days, but the reality always seems far short of that promise. As a result, work continues to develop an encoding scheme worthy of the CD-quality title. Recently we reported on developments at AT&T regarding the a2b format, and both Liquid Audio and RealNetworks compete on a weekly basis to grab headlines for their audio technology announcements.
No one knows what online music services may ultimately look like, but new models continue to pop up for consumers to test-drive.
One of the latest is MusicNow, a collaboration between Clear Channel Radio and FullAudio Corporation. Launched April 17 in conjunction with Clear Channel's five radio stations in Phoenix, Arizona, the service lets subscribers download 50 songs per month from a station's website for a fee of $7.99 (the "Gold Plan"), or 100 for $14.99 ("Platinum"). New subscribers must submit credit-card numbers to complete the sign-on procedure; a three-day "free trial" period…
Enhanced Compact Discs (ECDs) are one of a host of hybrids and mutations popping up in the garden of digital infotainment. Many ECDs have added biographical text, still pictures, short video clips, and garish graphics to bulk up the content of basic music CDs. Others provide links to fan clubs, to an artist's website, or to the record label's home page. Most such efforts could be categorized as "art for art's sake"---experimental projects undertaken without any clear idea as to how the finished product will be used. "Value added" is usually the justification, but rarely the result.
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More good news for budget-conscious audiophiles who are waiting for that all-in-one universal high-resolution audio player: Yet another chip manufacturer is announcing a decoder IC that will allow new DVD machines to untangle just about any audio file format. Last week, LuxSonor Semiconductors joined the growing list (see previous) of chip manufacturers that are including both DVD-Audio and SACD in one package.
LuxSonor says its new Intrada DVD chip (LS2010) combines standard DVD decoder technologies, new audio decode formats, new advanced video technologies, and back end analog components…
Not long after the single-disc CD player was introduced, the multidisc changer followed, with products from companies like Sony and Pioneer. Shortly after the changer was introduced, it became the most popular version of the new hardware format. In the past eight years, changers have consistently outsold single-disc machines. The high-end market was characteristically slow to embrace changers, but companies like California Audio Labs have been successful in this category with products like the CL-10, a five-disc carousel changer.
The DVD appears to be following the reverse path. The…
Historically, audio has not received a lot of attention from the computer industry. That long tradition may be ending, judging by a couple of new technologies that debuted at COMDEX in mid-November. COMDEX is the year's biggest computer-industry bash, held in Las Vegas two months prior to the Consumer Electronics Show.
Of particular interest to audiophiles is a new type of digital audio amplification debuted by Apogee Technology. The company has developed a method for applying digital signals directly to output switching devices that drive loudspeakers, thereby eliminating most of the…
In his review of the Soliloquy 5.3 loudspeaker, Kalman Rubinson says that when he heard a pair, his first thoughts were, "Gotta get my hands on these!" After careful listening, did the speaker live up to Rubinson's first impressions? KR tells the whole story.
AC overkill or not? That's the question Robert Deutsch finally answers after investigating the PS Audio Ultimate Outlet AC conditioner. Deutsch wonders, "Would plugging audio equipment into the UO . . . result in a significant improvement over the sound I got with the equipment plugged directly into the wall sockets?"
From…
Sharp Electronics has come a long way from the household appliances and modest home entertainment products it has long been famous for. (The company's name derives from its first product, a retracting pencil.) Sharp is making a serious, prolonged push into upscale audio and video, as evidenced by the array of new models on display at a dealer and media conference held in late August at the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines, a hotel/golf resort north of San Diego.
Approximately 25 journalists—Michael Fremer and I were the Stereophile contingent—were treated to an up-close-and-personal…
Audiophiles interested in experimenting with upconverting the digital data on their CDs to higher resolutions will find a recent announcement from the Netherlands of interest. Dutch company Eximius revealed last week a new product tagged "DVD+Audio Creator" for converting CDs to either upsampled PCM or compressed MP2 files.
The company notes that its DVD+Audio format should not be confused with the already launched (at least three times by my count) DVD-Audio format. Instead, DVD+Audio is said to be compliant with the DVD-Video specification and will play on all DVD players.
According…
"Don't be shy," Jon tells me.
Not knowing that he caught my bright green stare blazing trails around the world's largest television screens, through tangerine-colored plastic walls, and over hundreds of bobbing heads just to get at the long legs of the booth girls, I have no idea of what he's talking about. I give him a look that expresses my confusion; my face is an innocent, little question mark.
"I'm sure they're not doing anything tonight," he answers.
Funny guy, this Jon Iverson, is. And perceptive, too. While Jon certainly doesn't approve of the use of long legs…