DeVore Launches Gibbon X Speaker at In Living Stereo
On Thursday December 3, In Living Stereo, the high-end audio store in Manhattan's East Village, hosted a party to celebrate the arrival of the Gibbon X, a new floorstanding, three-way loudspeaker from Brooklyn-based DeVore Fidelity.
Diamond Multimedia, RIAA, and AARC Settle Lawsuit
While all of the attention was on SDMI and watermarking earlier this month, Diamond">http://www.diamondmm.com">Diamond Multimedia, the http://www.riaa.com/"> Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and the Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies (AARC) quietly announced the settlement of all pending litigation related to Diamond's Rio portable Internet music player. (See previous">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10324/">previous story.) All three parties say they have dismissed their legal actions, and have announced the mutually satisfactory resolution of outstanding legal issues.
DiAural Demo Converts Skeptic
Advances in audio reproduction typically proceed with tiny steps that, in time, add up to major systemic improvements. In this industry, quantum leaps in basic technology rarely happen. DiAural Doppler decoding may be one of them.
DiAural Technology Now Online
Last year, Stereophile's Barry Willis took a trip to Ogden, Utah, to reporthttp://www.stereophile.com/news/10416/">report; on what was then a secret speaker project being conducted by Kimber">http://www.kimberkable.com/">Kimber Kable's Ray Kimber and designer Eric Alexander. After informal listening, Willis noted that, while not being able to completely nail down what the "under development" DiAural crossover circuitry was doing, something new was certainly in the air.
Did an iPod Scuttle the Flag?
As we reported last">http://www.stereophile.com/news/012306fairuse/">last week, the Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) held hearings on January 24 exploring regulations to insert "Broadcast Flags" and "Audio Flags" into broadcast signals and audio recordings—markers that would prevent electronic devices from recording the flagged material. What we did not anticipate last week was that the hearings would trigger an outpouring of common sense.
Dieter Burmester (1946–2015)
Photo: Paul Messenger
Dieter Burmester founded Burmester Audiosysteme GmbH in 1977 and ran it for 38 years. For me, he was the friendly face of an unusually friendly and outgoing German high-end hi-fi company. He died on August 15, and his company will badly miss him.Digital Airwaves Arrive
Those unhappy with today's over-the-air broadcasting choices will be glad to know that this is shaping up as a busy year for new radio formats. The commercialization of the IBOC AM and FM digital broadcasting system is about to be revealed at the same time that Sirius satellite radio announces that it will be accelerating its rollout schedule in an effort to compete with rival XM satellite radio.
Digital Audio Amplification Reaching Critical Mass?
Although it first appeared as an infant technology more than 20 years ago, digital audio amplification may finally be coming of age. Recent months have seen announcements from several companies, including news of Apogee's DDX technology (see previous">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10893/">previous report) and Cirrus Logic who recently purchased their Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) digital amplification technology from B&W Loudspeakers (see previous">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10866/">previous report).
Digital Audio Direct from Satellite is on the Horizon
Sony has recently revealed that they will be broadcasting digital audio via satellite as early as summer 1998. The planned service is the result of a deal made between Sony, Perfect TV, and Japan Sky Broadcasting Corporation (JSkyB) that is expected to close in April.
Digital Audio Forges Ahead
Analog audio electronics are approaching "maturity," a state eventually achieved by most technologies, in which almost all the great discoveries have been made and progress becomes a process of increasingly arcane refinements. Digital audio is in no such danger, as evidenced by three new product announcements made the first week of April.