Sometimes Shorter is Better
In a move that it says is designed to position it for "continued growth and leadership in the consumer electronics field," the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association (CEMA) unveiled last week its new incarnation: the Consumer">http://www.cemacity.org">Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). The announcement comes on the heels of a decision, made earlier this week by the Board of Governors of the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA), to allow separate incorporation for its sector associations.
Songwriters Win Royalty Suit
When do fractions of pennies add up to millions of dollars? Answer: When they are accumulated unpaid royalties for one of the most popular albums of all time.
Sonic Boom
When it comes to dynamic range, it's the little things that count. As Texas">http://www.ti.com">Texas Instruments explains, "Dynamic range is a parameter that expresses numerically how accurately sounds of small amplitude can be reproduced without distortion." In other words, the higher the dynamic range, the higher the quality of the sound, especially at low levels.
Sonic Breakthrough Claimed by North American Products
The object of the audio game, as Stereophile founder J. Gordon Holt put it, is "to re-create original acoustic events as accurately as possible." That goal has driven engineers to extraordinary lengths, improving every link in the recording and playback chain. Most such improvements are incremental, but their cumulative effect is the sometimes astounding level of sonic realism available today from even moderately priced equipment.
Sonic Solutions and Sony Partner to Deliver Internet Audio
In a statement that may have far-reaching ramifications for the online digital music-distribution business, last week Sonic">http://www.sonic.com">Sonic Solutions and Sonyhttp://www.sony.co.jp">Sony; announced at the Audio Engineering Society Convention (AES) in Paris that they would collaborate to integrate Sony's ATRAC3 (Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding 3) into iMaster, Sonic's suite of tools for the preparation of compressed audio for Internet distribution.
Sonic Solutions Ships DVD-Authoring System
DVD-Audio may have gotten a boost on the production end with the impending release of DVD-Audio Creator LE, an authoring system developed and marketed by Sonic">http://www.sonic.com">Sonic Solutions. Available October 15, the authoring system will sell for $5999, a price that could enable many small recording studios and mastering houses to begin working with the format. "DVD-Audio Creator LE puts powerful tools in the hands of professional mastering studios at a very low cost," said Dietrick Hardwick, DVD-Audio product manager at Sonic Solutions. "This enables facilities to significantly expand their service offerings by providing their clients DVD-Audio title creation at an affordable price."
Sonic Solutions, Wolfson Microelectronics Push High-Rez Audio Development
Little noted by the mainstream media, technology companies are pushing ahead with research and development programs for high-resolution audio. Two announcements in late April indicate that neither DVD-Audio nor the Super Audio CD is a passing fancy.
Sonos 2.0 Dispenses with the PC
On September 14, Sonos, Inc., the company whose well-designed">http://www.stereophile.com/mediaservers/1006sonos">well-designed wireless Controller adorns the cover of our October issue, announced the release of its Sonos System Software 2.0. John Atkinson and I rode to the 11th floor of Manhattan's glitzy Trump International Hotel and Tower, overlooking Central Park's brilliant canopy of green trees, to meet with Sonos co-founder Thomas Cullen and CEO John MacFarlane for a brief demonstration.
Sonos and Pandora Announce "Musical Love Child"
On May 23, Sonoshttp://www.sonos.com/">Sonos; announced the release of Sonos Software v 2.2, which adds Pandora's">http://www.pandora.com/">Pandora's personalized Internet radio service to Sonos' wireless multi-room music systems.
Sonos Offers Sirius
On August 15, Sonos announced the release of Sonos System Software v2.3, which adds Sirius Internet Radio connectivity to the company's line of digital music systems. Sirius subscribers who own Sonos systems can add that system to their coverage for an additional $2.99/month. Sonos system owners who do not already subscribe to Sirius can purchase Sirius Internet Radio subscriptions for $12.95/month.