Primephonic.com has positioned itself to compete with the independent HDTracks.com, which offers Red-Book and hi-rez downloads, as well as physical…
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Primephonic, a Netherlands-based site that prides itself on its superior classical music metadata, has launched in the United States. Currently devoted to hi-rez classical downloads in WAV (stereo), FLAC (stereo/surround), and DSD (stereo/surround), Primephonic (which attempts to stand out from the crowd by not capitalizing the "p" in "primephonic") also intends to launch the beta version of its high-quality streaming service later this year.
Apple is reportedly in exploratory talks to acquire Tidal. Though it's possible that nothing could come of this, and much of the online chatter surrounding this news is processed, regurgitated press release—I'd like to contribute to the speculation by sharing my thoughts.
I think it's exactly what the world needs. It would be an intelligent move on Apple's part that would simultaneously benefit listeners, musicians—and of course, boost the high-end audio industry.
Here's how it happens: Apple acquires Tidal. As in, either 1) Apple Music swallows Tidal, adds a high-resolution, top…
The three-day Capital Audiofest runs July 8–10 at the Hilton Hotel at Twinbrook Metro in Rockville, MD. With new, noon–8 pm opening-day hours designed to accommodate 9-5ers eager to top off their Friday with great sound, and completely renovated rooms that should offer even better acoustics than before, the at-capacity show promises 38 exhibit rooms (including 14 large rooms and one two-room suite), and a combined Marketplace/CanMania with 20 exhibitors total. Put that all together, and you end up with 103 exhibitors and brands combined.
Capital Audiofest has certainly evolved with the…
There's a race on between Sony and Matsushita, to determine who can build the smallest battery-operated CD player with the most features. Sony currently holds the lead with its second-generation D-7 ($300), about 30% smaller than the first "pocket" CD, the D-5. Most of the reduction is in height; both players have a horizontal cross-section only slightly larger than the CD itself. The illusion of smallness is further enhanced by an angled front panel with beveled edges.
Several features have been added, most notably the ability to program up to 16 tracks, in any sequence. Despite AHC's…
Sam Tellig wrote about the Sony D-7S in 1986 (Vol.9 No.7):
It was Euphonic Technology's Michael Goldfield who put me on to the Sony D-7S Discman. "The sound isn't state-of- the-art," he said, "and it's not a candidate for mods. But you'll love it." He was right.
This is the nicest toy I have had since I got my first English bicycle. One of the greatest pleasures is showing it off in front of teenagers, who turn green with envy. Adults, too. Everyone who sees it, and listens, says they want to go out and buy one. And so far, a dozen of my friends and acquaintances have.
…
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Portable "Discman" player (CD equivalent of Walkman tape player). Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz +1/–3dB. THD: 0.008%. Dynamic range: 90dB at 1kHz. Outputs: line 1.6V RMS into 10k ohms; headphone 30mW/ch into 32 ohms. Power source: 9V adaptor (supplied), 6V lead-acid battery pack (supplied), 8 AA cells in battery case (optional), or car battery cord (optional). Supplied accessories: carrying case, shoulder strap, signal cable (stereo mini to two RCA phono); headphones not supplied.
Dimensions: 1.25" (31.5mm) by 5" (127mm) by 5.25" (132.5mm) (…
Editor's Note: In the 21st Century, lossy audio data compression, in the form of MP3 and AAC files, Dolby Digital and DTS-encoded soundtracks, and YouTube and Spotify streaming, is ubiquitous. But audiophiles were first exposed to the subject a quarter-century ago, when Philips launched its ill-fated DCC cassette format. What follows is Stereophile's complete coverage on both DCC and its PASC lossy-compression encoding from our April 1991 issue.—John Atkinson
Peter W. Mitchell: The public debut of Philips's digital compact cassette (DCC) was the biggest event at the 1991 CES in Las Vegas…
Barry Fox interviews the principals at Philips on DCC
Since taking over reins and reign at Philips, Jan Timmer (previously head of PolyGram, then head of Philips's Consumer Electronics Division) has given no personal interviews. The only exception was for the official magazine of the MIDEM music industry conference held in January at Cannes, in the South of France.
It would have been hard for Timmer to refuse the MIDEM organizers' request. This year was the 25th anniversary of the event, where record companies, music publishers, distributors, and music-industry trade bodies meet…
Peter van Willenswaard on PASC
How can two channels of 16-bit audio be recorded on something similar to an analog cassette? The maximum bit rate in a linear track of a tape running at 4.76cm/s (standard compact cassette speed) is somewhere near 100kbit/s which, as DCC offers eight parallel tracks, results in a total "space" of 768kb/s. Half of that space is consumed by Reed/Solomon interleaving, synchronization bits, and a 10:8 modulation scheme, so only 384kb/s are available for pure audio information. Now there is no way around Shannon/Nyquist, so in order to maintain 20kHz of audio…
More on PASC from Peter W. Mitchell
The digital input filter in the DCC's PASC encoder divides the audio spectrum into 32 sub-bands of equal width; but the initial announcement did not specify whether they are equal on a linear or logarithmic scale. I naturally assumed a logarithmic scale, which would make each sub-band about a third of an octave wide, as in an audio spectrum analyzer. But my Boston colleague E. Brad Meyer learned that they are equal on a linear scale.
To clarify the point I called Gerry Wirz, project manager for DCC, at his office in Holland. He confirmed Brad'…