Music in Their Minds
Can you hear long passages of music in your mind? If so, your brain may be wired for sound like those of professional musicians.
Barry Willis
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The Search for Musical Ecstasy
Every once in a while, some mainstream journalist discovers the audiophile underground.
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The Hard-Disk Shuffle
When it comes to digital music players and the future of computer-based entertainment, the computer industry appears to be going in two directions at once. Apple Computer has recently made a strong move into the portable music arena with its $399 iPod, a player that can store as many as 1000 songs. The company is also rumored to be developing software and computer-based editing equipment for the pro-audio industry.
Klipsch Breaks New Ground
The economic outlook may be gloomy, but there are bright spots here and there. One is Indianapolis-based <A HREF="http://www.klipsch.com">Klipsch Audio Technologies</A>, which, on November 5, announced a bold expansion program that will add more than 200 people to its workforce.
Auditory Perception Improves with Practice
Audiophiles almost universally agree that hearing—or "auditory perception" to neuroscientists—improves with practice. That phenomenon would explain why many of us are able to hear differences between audio components that untrained listeners can't hear.
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.
Financial Picture Gloomy for CE Industry
A heavy second-quarter loss for Sony Corporation is only part of the gloomy financial picture for the consumer electronics industry. The numbers are down worldwide for manufacturers and retailers alike, and aren't expected to rebound until spring 2002 at the earliest.
Internet: Only Hope for Classical Music?
Record stores are devoting a diminishing amount of space to classical music, to the dismay of music lovers. Online distribution may offer hope for the genre, according to an <A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/21/arts/music/21TOMM.html">in-depth report</A> by Anthony Tommasini in the October 21 edition of the <I>New York Times</I>.
Justice Department vs. Big Music
As reported <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/11171/">last week</A>, the US Justice Department has launched an anti-trust investigation of the music industry's strategy for online distribution. The probe intensified during the fourth week of October, with investigators presenting at least 10 "civil investigation demands" (CIDs) to participants in the music industry's nascent Internet ventures, <A HREF="http://www.musicnet.com">MusicNet</A> and <A HREF="http://www.pressplay.com">pressplay</A>.
Music Industry in Antitrust Probe
For the entertainment industry, every perceived threat produces an overblown reaction. After a protracted and very public struggle, file-sharing upstart Napster was cowed into submission; MP3.com's "personal music library" was rendered ineffective through a combination of legal pressure and co-option; other Internet music experiments are threatened with lawsuits too costly to contest.