LATEST ADDITIONS

By their very nature, most audiophiles seem perpetually restless, never content with that last tweak. Following in that hallowed tradition, <A HREF="http://www.psaudio.com">PS Audio</A> has been trying to reinvent the technologies traditionally used in power-line conditioners to optimize those pulses of alternating current that juice our audio systems. The company made waves with the introduction of their Power Plant line of products last year (see <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10317/">previous report</A>); their P300 garnered a very positive <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//accessoryreviews/181/">review</A&gt; from <I>Stereophile</I>'s Robert Deutsch.

Audiophiles have complained since the earliest days of the compact disc that music reissued in the digital format often doesn't sound as good as it does on the original LPs. For nearly 20 years, such complaints have been dismissed by ordinary music lovers and by music-industry executives as the rantings of purists, but at least one major label is now admitting that many early CDs were not very good.

With <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10793/">Napster</A&gt; as the little red devil with a pitchfork prodding them on, the third-largest record company in the world, <A HREF="http://www.emigroup.com">EMI</A&gt;, making good on its <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10745/">earlier announcement</A>, last week became the first major label to begin releasing music online. In a move the company hopes will silence the critics who say that Napster has become successful because the big labels have provided no Web-based alternatives, EMI put over 100 albums and 40 singles online "through all the normal retail websites."

As often as not, it ain't the heat—it's the stupidity. When confronted by the smattering of self-referential dilettantes, acrimonious Internut wannabes, and obsessive-compulsive types who suck the air out of our aural fun-house, I find myself overcome with the desire to program my phaser for CLIP.

I heard the other day from Steve Creamer of Nirvana Audio Cable. Steve had just finished reading May's "Fine Tunes," in which I'd mused further about grounding your audio system.

Federal courts long ago established that music fans have certain "fair use" rights when it comes to making copies of recordings they own. They can transfer recordings from one format to another&mdash;such as from LP to cassette tape or from CD to MiniDisc&mdash;and they can share those recordings with others, provided that the results are only for private, noncommercial use.

For technophiles, DVD is the current hot ticket. The compact disc is far from dead, however. The 20-year-old format has been given a new lease on life by <A HREF="http://www.sony.com/">Sony Corporation</A>, which in early July announced the development of a new technique that will double the data-storage capacity of recordable CDs.