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Atlantic Records Celebrates 50th with Special 2-Disc Release

Barry Willis Mar 01, 1998 First Published: Mar 01, 1998

On February 23, Pacific Microsonics announced that Atlantic">http://www.atlantic-records.com/">Atlantic Records' forthcoming golden-anniversary release will feature classic popular recordings remastered using Pacific's high-resolution HDCDhttp://www.hdcd.com">HDCD; technology. The patented High Definition Compatible Disc process enhances the detail, richness, and dynamics of compact disc performance.

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FCC Auctions More Bandwidth. Likely Use? LMDS

Barry Willis Mar 01, 1998 First Published: Mar 01, 1998

So far, 139 qualified bidders have signed on for the FCC's new auction. Almost all are hoping to jump into the Local Multipoint Distribution Service business.

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Crystal Semiconductor Introduces 96kHz Digital Audio Transmitters and Receivers

Stereophile Staff Mar 01, 1998 First Published: Mar 01, 1998

The Crystal Semiconductor Products Division of Cirrus Logic Inc. announced last week the availability of the industry's first digital audio transmitters and receivers designed to support the emerging 96kHz digital audio sampling rate. The new mixed-signal receivers and transmitters are targeted at both the professional audio and consumer DVD audio markets.

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Sony & Philips push two-layer Super Audio CD

Peter van Willenswaard Feb 24, 1998 First Published: Feb 24, 1998

While the DVD Consortium's Working Group 4 (WG-4) is still working on the 0.9 specification for DVD-Audio, Sony and Philips have been silently carrying on work on their Super Audio CD, the consumer implementation of Sony's DSD. The Sony/Philips disc will have two layers, one carrying normal 44.1kHz, 16-bit CD information (and thus guaranteeing backwards compatibility with existing CD players), the other carrying eight channels in DSD format (two for high-quality stereo, six for surround), plus text and/or graphics.

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Will High-End Audio Be Only Mouseclicks Away?

Stereophile Staff Feb 23, 1998 First Published: Feb 23, 1998

Last week, Intel">http://www.intel.com">Intel Corporation announced its membership in the DVD WG-4 Audio Working Group, and its support for the proposed DVD audio specification, as the next steps in bringing next-generation consumer-quality audio to the PC platform.

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RIAA Releases 1997 Year-End Music Sales Statistics

Stereophile Staff Feb 23, 1998 First Published: Feb 23, 1998

The market for recorded music, measured by what manufacturers ship to retail and non-retail channels, experienced a decline in unit shipments and dollar value according to a Recording">http://www.riaa.com">Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) report released February 19. Concurrently, accounts from US record retailers and mass merchandisers indicated a banner 1997.

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Harman Signs License Agreements with New Transducers Limited

Stereophile Staff Feb 22, 1998 First Published: Feb 22, 1998

On February 18, Harman">http://www.harman.com">Harman International Industries Inc. announced that it had signed two licensing agreements with New">http://www.nxt.co.uk">New Transducers Limited (NXT) relating to NXT's flat-panel loudspeaker technology.

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Software Pirates No Longer Safe in Brazil, say Lawmakers

Barry Willis Feb 20, 1998 First Published: Feb 20, 1998

February 20---Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Brazil's president, has signed into law two bills intended to rein in that nation's widespread abuse of intellectual properties and bring Brazil into compliance with worldwide copyright law. One covers software piracy; the other, authorship rights.

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Burr-Brown Introduces Low-Cost 96kHz Audio DAC

Stereophile Staff Feb 19, 1998 First Published: Feb 19, 1998

This week, Burr-Brownhttp://www.burr-brown.com">Burr-Brown; Corporation announced the PCM1733, a low-cost, CD-quality audio digital-to-analog converter (DAC) designed for high-volume, mass-market consumer audio applications.

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Nagra Digital Tape Recorder Helps Earn Oscar Nomination

Jon Iverson Feb 17, 1998 First Published: Feb 17, 1998

For the second consecutive year, a film using the Nagra Digital Recorder (Nagra-D) as the location sound device has been nominated for an Oscar Award for Best Sound. The film this year is L.A. Confidential, which has received a total of 9 Oscar nominations. The winners will be named at the 70th Annual Academy Awards on March 23, 1998. Last year, The English Patient, which also used the Nagra-D, won the award for Best Sound