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Wisdom Hires Herron

Wes Phillips Feb 25, 2007 First Published: Feb 25, 2007

Carson City, NV loudspeaker company Wisdom Audio has been aggressively reorganizing itself lately. The first part of the program was re-uniting founder Tom Bohlender with erstwhile partner David Graebner to refine and perfect the magnetic planar speaker technology used by Wisdom's hybrid planar/dynamic loudspeakers. Then, in October 2006, the company appointed industry veteran Mark Glazier presidenthttp://stereophile.com/news/100906glazier/">president;. On February 8, Glazier announced that Jon Herron would join the company as vice president of sales.

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The DRM Beat Goes On

Wes Phillips Feb 18, 2007 First Published: Feb 18, 2007

We wrote last week about the increasingly">http://www.stereophile.com/news/021207drm/">increasingly heated debate over DRM copy protection, with everybody from Steve Jobs to the RIAA weighing in on the subject. This week was just as wild and whacky on that front.

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Soundkeeper Recordings Debuts

Wes Phillips Feb 18, 2007 First Published: Feb 18, 2007

Like most Stereophile readers, we have grown accustomed to seeing Barry Diament's name on superb-sounding recordings, since he has mastered albums by artists from AC/DC to Warren Zevon—and every letter in between. When the magazine still had its editorial offices in Santa Fe, Diament dropped by one afternoon to say hi, so now we feel like we can brag, "Hey, we know that guy!"

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Grammy Rewards Audiophile Efforts

Jason Victor Serinus Feb 18, 2007 First Published: Feb 18, 2007

Recordings that deliver the benefits of the high-resolution SACD format scored big at the 49^th Grammy Awards Ceremony, held February 11, 2007 in Los Angeles. Telarc, which issues virtually all its classical titles and some jazz/blues releases in both DSD-native CD and hybrid SACD surround formats, won two Grammys in classical categories and three in jazz. SFS Media, the in-house label of the San Francisco Symphony conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas, received two Grammys for the seventh release in its ongoing Mahler series of live, DSD-native hybrid surround SACDs. Last but not least, Harmonia Mundi, some of whose titles are available in DSD-native hybrid surround SACD, scored big with the gorgeous choral music of Arvo Pärt.

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Was Joyce Hatto the Greatest Pianist Almost Nobody Ever Heard Of?

Wes Phillips Feb 17, 2007 First Published: Feb 17, 2007

Many people remember the 1990 Milli Vanilli scandal, in which Rob Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan were stripped of their Best New Artist Grammy award when it was revealed they hadn't actually performed on the disc. Of course, "borrowing" has long been a part of the pop music world, as George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord," Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love," and almost any sampled recording can attest; however, most listeners have probably assumed things are a lot more straightforward in the world of classical performance and recording.

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Miracle At Merkin

Wes Phillips Feb 11, 2007 First Published: Feb 11, 2007

On Saturday, February 10, collaborative improvisation band Attention Screen gave its debut at Manhattan's Merkin Hall at Kaufmann Center to a packed house. The event was recorded by John Atkinson for release in May as a Stereophile CD, possibly followed by a limited-edition DVD-A.

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Is This the End of Copy Protection?

Wes Phillips Feb 11, 2007 First Published: Feb 11, 2007

An essay with the unassuming title of "Thoughts">http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic/">"Thoughts on Music" has certainly caused a furor over the last week. Of course, it didn't hurt that it was written by Apple's Steve Jobs or that he stated absolutely that digital rights management copy restriction systems "haven't worked, and may never work, to halt music piracy."

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White Plains Teen Sues Record Companies for Collusion

Wes Phillips Feb 04, 2007 First Published: Feb 04, 2007

We reported in 2005 on the Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) lawsuit">http://www.stereophile.com/news/082205riaa/">lawsuit against Patricia Santangelo and her suit in response to the trade group's allegations that she had participated in peer-to-peer file sharing. The record companies dropped their legal actions against Ms. Santangelo in December 2006, instead deciding to charge two of her children, Robert (16) and Michelle (20), with downloading songs from Kazaa.

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CEA: "Supporting Fair Use Means Better Business"

Wes Phillips Feb 04, 2007 First Published: Feb 04, 2007

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has issued a position">http://www.ce.org/shared_files/edm/2007/PolicyPapers/HomeRecording.pdf"… paper on consumer recording rights, which it expects to be a "key issue in 2007." The CEA's position, in brief: "We urge Congress to refrain from limiting fair use and encourage market-based solutions to home recording and digital rights management issues."

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Attend a Stereophile Recording Session in Manhattan

Stereophile Staff Jan 28, 2007 First Published: Jan 28, 2007

Back in 1992, Stereophile got into the business of concert promotion when it booked Canadian pianist Robert Silverman for two evenings of recitals in order to record his performances for a live double CD, Concerthttp://www.stereophile.com/musicrecordings/315">Concert; (STPH005-2). We don't believe in rushing to repeat a success, so 15 years later, on February 10, we're promoting another concert, this time featuring Attention">http://www.myspace.com/attentionscreen">Attention Screen, the quartet led by Stereophile reviewer and jazz pianist Bob Reina.