In spite of the gathering storm, Universal Music Group has announced its intention to add restricted-use technology to all of its releases by mid-2002, while other labels have been testing…
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Recent moves by record labels to add restricted-use technology to their compact disc releases has raised the ire of many a consumer, leading some to call for boycotts or worse (see this week's Soapbox). Late last year the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM) issued a statement saying that the major labels have gone too far in restricting consumers' "fair use" of copyrighted material.
Extra-terrestrial radio is poised to celebrate Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 250th birthday. From Wednesday January 25 through Friday, January 27, XM Satellite Radio will broadcast live performances by many of the most celebrated Mozartians of our time direct from the Carolino Augusteum, a 17th-century castle and former home of the Archbishops of Salzburg that overlooks the Salzburg Cathedral and the Mozart Platz. Artist interviews and sound portraits of the Salzburg milieu will spice up the proceedings.
Culminating with a live broadcast of Salzburg's "official" Mozart Commemoration Concert, XM…
Is bigger better? Michael Fremer sets out to determine just that as he reviews the Pass Labs XA160 monoblock power amplifier. As Fremer explains, "While the industry-feminizing tiny triode set has made a great deal of noise in the past few years (I can hear them hissing now), soft-walking, big-stick-carrying, mega-power amplifiers still circle the globe."
Next, Michael Fremer decides to take on the legendary Linn Products LP Playing System. "A legend can be intimidating, especially when it's also a classic, a revolutionary, an iconoclast, a survivor," remarks MF as he gets to work.
As…
On May 1, Niles Audio Corporation, Inc., manufacturer of audio/video custom installation components, announced that it had "successfully defended its indoor/outdoor speaker line against would-be imitators."
According to Niles, CSI/Speco (Component Specialties, Inc.) of Amityville, New York engaged in selling loudspeakers that were virtually identical to Niles' OS1 and OS5 models. In response, Niles filed a trade-dress infringement lawsuit.
In January, Niles succeeded in obtaining a temporary restraining order prohibiting CSI/Speco from exhibiting the OS lookalikes at the Consumer…
Citing increasing competition from stronger companies and online music ventures about to debut from major record labels, an investment group has taken the drastic step of calling for the sale of Liquid Audio.
The Redwood City, CA–based online music service has seen its market valuation slide steadily from a peak of about $1 billion in November of 1999, which was also the peak of the dot-com hysteria. In early September of this year, the company was valued at about $53 million. Its revenue has dropped quarter by quarter with no indication that anything would change the trend. Revenue has…
The last few weeks have been a roller-coaster ride for CD copy-restriction developer SunnComm. The company was riding high in early September when it was announced that BMG and Arista had chosen its MediaMax CD-3 Technology to restrict how discs are used.
Then came the revelation last week that a simple trick could bypass the SunnComm process, and the company's stock, which trades on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board, quickly tanked, losing more than $10 million of its market value in days. What caused all the trouble was a Princeton University grad student's report issued last Monday…
"We are now well past the era in which every review of digital playback equipment had to begin with an apology for the medium," writes Thomas J. Norton. As a case in point, TJN takes the Mark Levinson No.37 CD transport & No.36S D/A converter out for a couple of spins.
John Atkinson and various other Stereophile scribes weigh in on the Spica Angelus loudspeaker. "Why do I seem to prefer the bass featured by sealed-box loudspeakers?" asks JA as he gets to the (you should pardon the expression) bottom of the Angelus' sound.
JA goes on to interview the Angelus' talented designer…
Although it sounds like a disease resulting from poor dental hygiene, Bluetooth is a recently established wireless standard aimed at small-form–factor, low-cost, short-range radio links between mobile PCs, mobile phones, and other electronic devices such as speaker systems. Although there were a few bumps in the road as the standard became established, Cahners In-Stat Group predicts that 1.4 billion Bluetooth-based devices will be shipping annually by 2005.
Last week, Philips Components and Bang & Olufsen announced that B&O will utilize some Philips' wireless technology in the…
When it comes to dynamic range, it's the little things that count. As Texas Instruments explains, "Dynamic range is a parameter that expresses numerically how accurately sounds of small amplitude can be reproduced without distortion." In other words, the higher the dynamic range, the higher the quality of the sound, especially at low levels.
With this in mind, TI announced last week a new Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) which, it claims, offers the industry's highest dynamic range and which is intended for use in high-end audio equipment. TI says the new PCM1792 utilizes the company's…
If you find yourself spending more time in a car seat than in your audio system's sweet spot each day, the trend pairing high-end audio companies with car manufacturers may offer a little relief. Lexus made a big splash last year by incorporating Mark Levinson technology into its latest cars, joining collaborations between Dynaudio and Volvo among others.
Latest to tie the auto/audio knot are Aston Martin and Linn Products, who announced last week that they will work together in a partnership that will result in a "unique audio system" to be offered on the AM V12 Vanquish, and Harman…