Satellite-to-Car Radio Deals Announced
Earlier this month, DirecTVhttp://www.directv.com">DirecTV; announced that it is investing $50 million in XM">http://www.xmradio.com">XM Satellite Radio in an effort to capitalize on direct satellite-to-receiver broadcasting technology, which is intended to provide listeners in the car and at home with up to 100 channels of music, news, and entertainment available in North America. Additional XM investors include General Motors, Clear Channel Communications, and a private investment group.
Scandinavian Audio Research Debuts
There's a new drive-unit manufacturing company on the block, but it's really just the same old guys who brought you VIFA, ScanSpeak, and DST—the original pros from Dover, in other words.
Schott/DG's CD-pluscore Raises Bar for Interactive Music
Enhanced Compact Discs (ECDs) are one of a host of hybrids and mutations popping up in the garden of digital infotainment. Many ECDs have added biographical text, still pictures, short video clips, and garish graphics to bulk up the content of basic music CDs. Others provide links to fan clubs, to an artist's website, or to the record label's home page. Most such efforts could be categorized as "art for art's sake"---experimental projects undertaken without any clear idea as to how the finished product will be used. "Value added" is usually the justification, but rarely the result.
Science Yields Magic?
Audiophiles know that cleaning up their AC supplies can yield a cornucopia of sonic benefits, including a quieter background, better retrieval of detail, and a subjectively wider dynamic range. The phenomenon is so well-recognized that it has spawned an entire industry devoted to making electrical conditioners, line filters, noise suppressors, and specialty power cords.
Scientists: CD Rot For Real
The compact disc has given rise to all sorts of questionable accessories: magic pens with green ink, reflective stickers, rim dampers, absorbent mats, spindle weights, cleaners, buffers, polishers, and demagnetizers. It's amazing how many products are needed to make perfect sound perfect.
Scott McGowan launches Sprout HiFi after 17 years at PS Audio
Scott McGowan has left PS Audio to form Sprout HiFi, a new company built around a next-generation Sprout amplifier. The first Sprout HiFi product, a revamped version of the Sprout100, is projected for 2026, with email sign-ups open now.
Scratching That Vinyl Itch
Music lover Dennis Cassidy had an itch years ago to start an audiophile label dedicated to releasing the particular kinds of music he liked with the best vinyl and packaging available. Cassidy was involved with music distributor Sound Advice at the time, which sold the standard audiophile favorites from Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs, and others.
SDMI Applies Legal Pressure to Suppress Hacks
Back in September, the Secure">http://www.sdmi.org">Secure Digital Music Initiative issued a public challenge that offered cash rewards for successfully uncovering and removing watermarks from recorded music. The challenge">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10878/">challenge was met by a number of hackers, most notable among them Professor Edward Felten of Princeton University's Computer Science Department.
SDMI Chooses Aris Technologies' MusiCode
After months of wrangling, the Secure">http://www.sdmi.org/">Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) has selected Aris">http://www.musicode.com/">Aris Technologies' MusiCode as its recommended form of digital audio copy protection, according to an inside source at SDMI. The decision came at the end of weeks of testinghttp://www.stereophile.com/news/10511/">testing; various watermarking techniques on the music industry's "golden ears"—recording and mastering engineers, music producers, and professional audiophiles. The official announcement is expected later this week.
SDMI Compromises with MP3, Will Release Spec Soon
Folk wisdom has it that it's wiser not to lock the gate after the horses have escaped. The Secure">http://www.sdmi.org/">Secure Digital Music Initiative, a consortium of 140 music, software, and hardware companies, has taken that adage to heart. In a significant departure from its original intent to block the distribution of free music on the Internet, the Secure Digital Music Initiative announced in the last week of June that its forthcoming specification for music software and hardware will accommodate the "legacy content" already in existence. There are reportedly as many as 500,000 songs available in the MP3 format, and they will continue to be available even as new, robustly encrypted music comes onto the market.