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Added to the Archives This Week:

Stereophile Staff Apr 25, 1999 First Published: Apr 25, 1999

We posted an updatehttp://www.stereophile.com/news/10415/">update; on Peter Belt and his activities earlier in the month, but the saga began many moons ago. If you're curious about where it all began, or just need to know more, then J. Gordon Holt's "L'Affaire">http://www.stereophile.com//asweseeit/110/">L'Affaire Belt" is for you. Stranger than fiction? Guaranteed.

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Grateful Dead Productions to MP3: Drop Dead

Barry Willis Apr 25, 1999 First Published: Apr 25, 1999

The Grateful Dead were the most enduring and most worshipped of all the rock groups who originated in the San Francisco scene of the 1960s. The Dead spawned Deadheads, a global family of loyal followers, who lived for the communal high of Dead concerts, where recording by fans was encouraged by the band and its management. Deadheads continue to share recordings of those concerts through a vast network, including several websites. Until recently, at least two of the sites had been providing MP3 transmissions at no charge.

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Harvey Electronics and eBay

Stereophile Staff Apr 18, 1999 First Published: Apr 18, 1999

In an aggressive move into the used audio equipment market, New York retailer Harvey">http://www.harveyonline.com">Harvey Electronics announced last week that the company will begin to sell used audio products and special purchases of new merchandise on eBayhttp://www.ebay.com">eBay;, an online auction site, beginning June 1, 1999. The company also recently announced that it will sell merchandise through other website partnerships.

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Sony, IBM in Online Music Partnership

Barry Willis Apr 18, 1999 First Published: Apr 18, 1999

There's gold in them digital music hills. This obvious reality---supported by the music industry's near-panic in the face of the phenomenal growth of MP3 in the past year---was reinforced last week, when Sony">http://www.sony.com/">Sony Corporation and International">http://www.ibm.com/">International Business Machines announced a digital music mutual-aid pact at a press conference in Los Angeles.

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Added to the Archives This Week:

Stereophile Staff Apr 18, 1999 First Published: Apr 18, 1999

Step all the way back to issue number one of Stereophile, in which Lucius Wordburger proffers some sage advice on How">http://www.stereophile.com//historical/108/">How to Write an Ad. Learn about The Endorsement (hint: don't use Fidel Castro), The Calculated Omission, and The Junk Product.

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RealNetworks Acquires Xing, Joins IBM

Jon Iverson Apr 18, 1999 First Published: Apr 18, 1999

Last week, RealNetworkshttp://www.real.com">RealNetworks; announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire privately held Xing">http://www.xing-tech.com">Xing Technology, a developer and provider of MP3 software. Xing has been developing standards-based digital audio and video encoding and decoding technology since 1990, but eventually ran into trouble competing with other Internet-audio startups such as RealNetworks and Liquid Audio.

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Meridian's 96/24 Digital Loudspeakers First on Market

Barry Willis Apr 18, 1999 First Published: Apr 18, 1999

Cambridge, England's Meridian">http://www.meridian.co.uk/">Meridian Ltd. has been making digital active (or self-powered) loudspeakers since 1990. Regarded as the best among the very few companies to offer such a product, Meridian has taken the concept to a new level by introducing three DSP-series loudspeakers with 24-bit/96kHz capability: the DSP6000, DSP5500, and DSP5000---all bearing the 96/24 suffix to distinguish them from their lower-resolution predecessors. Meridian introduced two 96kHz-capable subwoofers, the DSW1500 and DSW2500, at the 1999 Consumer Electronics Show.

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FCC Goes Slower on Radio Mergers

Barry Willis Apr 11, 1999 First Published: Apr 11, 1999

Prior to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, federal law limited broadcasters to ownership of only four radio stations in any one market, and a maximum of 40 nationwide. The act loosened regulations to allow ownership of as many as eight stations in a single market, and hundreds nationally.

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Music Industry Giants Team Up Online

Barry Willis Apr 11, 1999 First Published: Apr 11, 1999

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Two music-industry giants---Bertelsmann">http://www.bmg.com/">Bertelsmann Music Group and Seagram Ltd.'s Universal">http://www.unistudios.com/">Universal Music---have agreed to pool their resources in a joint Internet venture. GetMusichttp://www.getmusic.com/">GetMusic;, as the website will be known, will sell compact discs in direct competition against traditional retailers, other Internet music services, and mail-order music clubs.

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A Chink in the Armor or a Glimmer of False Hope?

Jon Iverson Apr 11, 1999 First Published: Apr 11, 1999

As first reported April 8 in EETimeshttp://www.eetimes.com">EETimes;, Sonyhttp://www.sony.com">Sony; has made known its plans for the first generation of Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD) players, to be released in Japan this May. For the last several months, Sony has been suggesting that the SACD format would be going head to head with the competing DVD-Audio format, despite overtures from the DVD-Audio Working Group to join in a single all-encompassing specification.