On February 10, the BBC reported that British consumers bought more than 150,000 singles online in January, making the virtual format the "second most-popular format for singles," exceeding 7" and 12" vinyl releases and DVD singles. Only CD singles outsold downloads, according to the British Official Charts Company (OCC), which began tracking online music sales in October 2003. The development marks the…
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Contrary to popular assumption, music downloads and CD sales may reinforce each other. That's one reasonable interpretation of mid-February music industry statistics from the United Kingdom.
In a recent bake-off, online retailer CDnow was named top music banana by the New York consulting firm eMarketer. Although placing further down the list based on price alone, CDnow gained the highest overall score in an averaging of the rankings of six criteria. Rated on a scale of 1 to 5, these were: Selection, Price, Service, Usability, Presentation, and Features.
Online music sales have certainly been a resounding success, even by frothy web standards, with about $90 million sales estimated for this year and $1.4 billion predicted for the year 2002. (See previous report.) For their…
One of the classic problems with digital technology is what is known as the "cliff effect": when digital signals reach their limits, they don't fail gracefully like analog ones do---they go off a cliff and crash hard. Not only has the tendency for digital signals to exhibit their limitations noisily in the audio recording and playback environment been a problem for engineers and listeners, the effect on the digital broadcast industry has been tough to circumvent as well---until now.
Last week, Lucent Digital Radio, a wholly owned venture of Lucent Technologies, announced a technical…
As reported last March, loudspeaker manufacturer Von Schweikert Research closed its doors after a disastrous flood hit the factory (see previous report). Many thought this was the end of the story, but last week, Dr. Edward Gonzaga, of the Gonzaga Investment Group, announced the formation of a new version of the company, to be named Von Schweikert Audio.
The new company will reportedly again be headed by speaker designer Albert Von Schweikert, who has revealed plans for the release of two all-new speaker systems, the VR-5 and VR-7, to be shipped to consumers beginning January 15. In…
It's no wonder the public is confused about audio formats and sound quality, Consider claims such as the recent "major breakthrough" announcement concerning two audio technologies from Creative Technology, a company best known for making PC peripherals (most notably the Sound Blaster audio cards).
First, Creative has coined the term "Xtreme Fidelity," which it describes as "the new standard in audio," and coupled that with the release of the Creative X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity audio processor. "The combination of Xtreme Fidelity and the Creative X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity audio processor provides…
"At a mere $65,000," Martin Colloms states, the Wilson Audio Specialties X-1/Grand SLAMM loudspeaker system "could be regarded as something of a bargain." MC then goes on to explain himself in great detail. The "longest, most thorough speaker review we have ever published!" notes John Atkinson, wiping the sweat from his brow.
Next, JA invents the explicative audio term "sniffy" as he reviews the Monitor Audio Studio 6 loudspeaker. The Studio 6 may have a bit of a cold, but JA finds that there are still plenty of endearing qualities in this two-way miniature design.
"Each new…
Jonathan Scull writes that "with its latest series of FPB (Full Power Balanced) amplifiers, Krell is taking careful aim at the seam between classic high-power two-channel systems and quality multichannel installations where sound is yet paramount. Nevertheless, Krell founder Dan D'Agostino was adamant: Krell's Class A components were designed for music playback. 'I'm a purist, like you, Jonathan!' he told me." In his review of the Krell Full Power Balanced 350mc monoblock amplifier, Scull determines whether or not Krell has struck its musical target.
Next, the prolific J-10 gets slap-…
The NHT Xd DSP powered speaker demo was held at the Plaza Hotel in New York City last week and representatives from NHT and its supporting cast, DEQX and PowerPhysics, opened by explaining the philosophy behind the new product and the essential components they each contributed (also see previous).
First up was NHT's managing director, Chris Byrne, who said that the Xd represents the company's approach to providing a small, domestically acceptable (read: high WAF (wife acceptance factor)) system which would not sound like a small system and which would satisfy critical and serious listeners…
Our first of three loudspeaker reviews from the April 2004 issue finds Michael Fremer listening to the Aerial Model 20T loudspeaker. MF explains, "Loudspeaker design is an art and a science. Anyone who tells you it's only one or the other is probably building or listening to some awful-sounding speakers." Fremer ponders whether Aerial has managed to achieve that perfect balance.
Next, Larry Greenhill spends some time with the Isophon Europa II loudspeaker, which he first noticed at Stereophile's Home Entertainment 2003 show in San Francisco. LG notes, "The Isophon Europa II is a tall, slim…
Last week, satellite-to-car radio broadcaster CD Radio announced an agreement with mobile electronics manufacturer Alpine Electronics for the design and development of satellite radio receivers. Under the terms of the agreement, Alpine says it will design and develop three-band (AM/FM/CD Radio) audio receivers for installation by car manufacturers. The company also plans to design and develop satellite radio receivers for sale directly to consumers in the electronics aftermarket.
According to CD Radio, the company is building a digital satellite radio system that will broadcast up to 100…