Hi-Res Audio and More at the 2014 CE Week
New York's CE Week occurs every June and is a miniature version of the January CES held in Las Vegas. The proportional representation of serious audio gear is similar but, given the small number of total exhibits, audio pickings are usually very thin. This year, however, there was more audio buzz than ever before.
Hi-Res Listening Stations Expand. . .
The news is not simply that Best Buy/Magnolia stores' 82 Hi-Resolution Listening Stations which they developed in the US in conjunction with Sony, have proven so successful, and generated so much interest in hi-res, that the company has added 250 more listening locations around the country. It's also that we now have data that shows a major reason for the expansion: Far more people care about sound quality than many would have you believe.
Hi-Rez and Lossless Classical Streaming from Naxos
On Monday January 5, Naxos rings in the New Year with the worldwide launch of their ClassicsOnline HDLLclassical music streaming and download site. ClassicsOnline HDLL streams music in both "high-definition"Naxos' term for high-resolution audio up to 24-bit/192kHz sampling rateand full CD quality (lossless, or, in Naxos' lingo, LL). The site also sells high-def, lossless, and MP3 downloads in FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF, and 320kbps MP3 formats.
Hi-Rez Audio Distinguished in Blind Testing
Spectral analysis of a live blues band recording made by John Atkinson, showing content up to 40kHz, from "What's Going On Up There?"
At the October 2019 Audio Engineering Society convention in New York, Yuki Fukuda and Shunsuke Ishimitsu, both of Hiroshima City University, presented results that show quite clearly that listeners can distinguish sounds encoded and reproduced at different sampling frequencies. Their trials differed from the previous ones in one important way: Instead of exposing test subjects to music at different resolutions, they used test tones.Hi-Rez Blaster
Following Apple">http://www.stereophile.com/news/11396/">Apple Computer's lead in bringing high-resolution audio to the computing environment, Creative">http://www.soundblaster.com">Creative Technology announced last week several audio products intended to facilitate DVD-Audio playback via personal computer. The company is also offering suggestions for making a PC quiet enough for use in a dedictated listening system.
Hi-Rez Downloads Ring In the New Year
The Deutsche Grammophon webshophttp://www2.deutschegrammophon.com/">webshop; and http://www.hdtracks.com ">HDtracks have special New Year's gifts for audiophiles: more CD-quality and high-resolution downloads.
Hi-Rez DTS Added to Blu-ray & HD DVD
Last week we reported Dolby's announcementhttp://www.stereophile.com/news/092704mlp/">announcement; that varying versions of their audio technologies have been selected as "mandatory formats" for HD">http://www.dvdforum.org">HD DVD and Blu-rayhttp://www.blu-raydisc.com">Blu-ray;. Significant for audiophiles is that MLP and high-resolution PCM audio will be available both as two-channel and surround formats on HD DVD.
Hi-Rez Goes Mobile
As some readers may suspect, more music is heard in the automobile than in the home. Taking a clue from this trend, many high-end audio companies are finding their way into your car, and factory installed systems are getting better and better. Examples include the Mark Levinson audio system found in cars from Lexus, the debut of Lexicon's L7 surround system in a BMW at the 2002 CES, Linn's partnership">http://www.stereophile.com/news/11285/">partnership with Aston Martin, Harman's partnership with Mercedes Benz, and the Dynaudio/Dolby Surround systems found in several of Volvo's cars.
Hi-Rez PC Audio Announcements
Audiophiles interested in experimenting with upconverting the digital data on their CDs to higher resolutions will find a recent announcement from the Netherlands of interest. Dutch company Eximiushttp://www.eximius.nl">Eximius; revealed last week a new product tagged "DVD+Audio Creator" for converting CDs to either upsampled PCM or compressed MP2 files.
Hi-Rez Recording Dems at RMAF
That, somehow, the "absolute sound" of live music is locked up within the grooves or pits of the discs we play and can be retrieved in its entirety if only we had a a good enough playback system is one of the enduring myths in high-end audio. Yet the art of recording is just that, an art, and it is entirely possible that a better playback system will sound worse with some recordings. And with the mainstream press telling would-be audiophiles that low–bit-rate MP3s are of "CD quality" and that even CD is overkill for audiophile sound quality, why would anyone need high-resolution recordings?