The CS5361 and CS5351A/D converters are based on a proprietary multi-bit delta sigma architecture with advanced dynamic element matching, according to the announcement. The CS5361 offers the best analog performance (114dB dynamic range and -105dB THD…
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Cirrus Logic Inc. has introduced two new high-performance analog-to-digital converters. The CS5361 and CS5351 are said to deliver professional sound quality for audio/video receivers (AVRs) and DVD recorders (DVD-Rs) at mainstream consumer prices. The new chips are OEM-priced at $4.95 and $3.95 respectively, in quantities of 10,000 or more.
If the rumors are true, Amazon, the giant Internet retailer of books, recordings, videos, and just about everything else, is about to embark upon a music subscription service—complete with Amazon-branded music players at a deep discount, or perhaps even for free.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon is in discussions with the major record labels, but that no deals have been negotiated yet. Amazon has not confirmed the details, but reports indicate that the program would resemble "post pay" cellular phone plans, where customers receive phones at deep discount in exchange for a…
The Music Online Competition Act (MOCA) has won the imprimatur of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), according to an announcement made August 8. The recently-introduced bipartisan bill crafted by Congressmen Chris Cannon (R-Utah) and Rick Boucher (D-Virginia) intends to insure competition in the delivery of online music—and to preserve music lovers' rights to copy their own recordings for private use.
The Cannon-Boucher bill would allow consumers to make their own backup copies of recordings they have legally purchased, as well as allow webcasters to make "ephemeral" copies of…
It has been another tough week for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) as it continues to grapple with a waning CD market, and attempts to further rein in the forces of a brave new digital audio world. It didn't help that its website was heckled until it went offline, either.
In a repeat of last year's tumble, the RIAA started off the week announcing that music sales were down again in the first half of this year. The organization says that US CD sales decreased 7% during the first six months of 2002, representing a decline of $284 million in sales. The RIAA reported a…
Old-school two-channel hi-fi may be in the doldrums—a phenomenon of concern only to those manufacturers still solely mining that niche. Those who have caught the home-theater wave are working overtime developing and producing great-sounding new equipment for use with surround-sound systems, flat-panel televisions, and custom installation, according to reports from the CEDIA Expo held earlier this month in Indianapolis.
Among the companies demonstrating speakers intended to mate with flat-panel displays were Advent, Artison, Atlantic Technology, Boston Acoustics, Canton, Infinity, Klipsch,…
To date, record label attempts at adding copy-control systems to CDs to restrict their use have been less than totally succesful. We've had Sony discs that get stuck in computers, discs that don't reliably play in all CD players, trademark violations, and CDs that generate lawsuits and consumer frustration from not being able to create a "fair-use" personal copy of a disc to throw in the car.
But this dismal track record hasn't stopped the labels from looking for new ways to restrict the use of their products. SunnComm, which bears the dubious distinction of developing one of the first…
At the end of July, UK-based TAG McLaren Audio, which had been experiencing difficult trading conditions and was reducing its workforce, issued a rather pessimistic announcement. The core of the announcement concerned the firm's commencement of "a full strategic review of its participation in the audio market."
That strategic review has now been completed, and the results are mostly positive. The company will remain in its purpose-built facility in Huntingdon, England. It will continue to manufacture its product range and maintain ongoing research and development, and will also continue…
High-end audio legend Mark Levinson has departed Cello Film and Music Systems, the company he founded 15 years ago, and has formed a new business, Red Rose Music. The new company will break all performance barriers with both affordable and cost-no-object audio equipment, Levinson stated last week, and is already registered as a new business with the state of New York.
The Red Rose sales staff is concentrating on completing a backlog of home-theater and high-resolution music-system installations, and a new line of products is in development, Levinson said. He is particularly proud of the…
Responding to continued softness in the audio market, the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association (CEMA) has finalized plans to hold its first annual Audio Industry Summit at the Westin Hotel O'Hare in Chicago, Illinois, May 29-31. CEMA audio company members will congregate in an effort to formulate strategies they believe will lead the category back to long-term prosperity and growth.
"For a long time we've been hoping that home audio products would break out of the slump they've been in. Now it's time to move beyond hope to action," stated Joe Richter, president of Kenwood USA…
The digital music market balances on at least five legs: software producers, technology developers, electronics manufacturers, consumers, and regulating bodies. So, can a two-legged agreement stand? That's the question industry watchers are asking as representatives of two groups, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the technology sector, announced that they have reached agreement on a "core set of principles" to guide their public policy activities regarding the distribution of digital content.
The agreement, embodied in a document issued by the Business Software…