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Pirates Awash In Swag

Jon Iverson Jul 07, 2002 First Published: Jul 07, 2002

As almost any Stereophile reader could tell">http://www.stereophile.com/showvote.cgi?105">tell you, if the record labels want to stem the rushing tide of big-time music piracy, they should consider starting with lower CD prices at retail. In other words, lessen the incentives that drive the illicit music market, and eliminate a sizable percentage of the problem overnight.

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Added to the Archives This Week

Stereophile Staff Jul 07, 2002 First Published: Jul 07, 2002

Jonathan Scull gets intimate with the HeadRoom">http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/614/">HeadRoom BlockHead headphone amplifier stating, "I listen to headphones for hours at a stretch while writing my reviews. The equipment I listen to spoils me to death, and I need a headphone rig to match." Has J-10 found the ultimate headphone amp? We'll see.

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Digital Tattoo

Jon Iverson Jun 30, 2002 First Published: Jun 30, 2002

We've learned to pretty much ignore consumer electronics company announcements for their latest CD and DVD players/burners. The usual "breakthrough" turns out to be yet another faster record/playback speed bump, or a longer list of compatible formats (Panasonic's latest recorder, announced last week, can handle—take a deep breath—DVD-R, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, and CD-ROM discs).

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Coming Soon Down Under: Copy Kiosks

Barry Willis Jun 30, 2002 First Published: Jun 30, 2002

The copy cat will soon be out of the bag down under. Australia's musical copyright society has reluctantly agreed to the deployment of CD-copying kiosks throughout the nation in exchange for what an Australian news site calls "a modest royalty payment" of about 6% of the $5AUS copying fee—or 30¢ per disc.

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Timothy White, 1952–2002

Barry Willis Jun 30, 2002 First Published: Jun 30, 2002

Stereophile writers and editors were saddened to learn of the June 27 death of colleague Timothy White, editor-in-chief of Billboardhttp://www.billboard.com">Billboard; magazine. White collapsed of an apparent heart attack in an elevator at Billboard's New York offices and died shortly thereafter at St. Vincent's Hospital. He was 50.

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Lars Fredell, "the world's greatest audiophile," dead at 58

Sam Tellig Jun 30, 2002 First Published: Jun 30, 2002

Lars is dead.

News

CD Lockdown

Jon Iverson Jun 30, 2002 First Published: Jun 30, 2002

They have become the companies music fans around the world love to hate. But to their stockholders, the businesses developing CD-restriction technologies are a promising new technology niche for investing. SunnCommhttp://www.sunncomm.com">SunnComm; is one of these new companies dedicated to finding means to restrict the ways consumers can use compact discs, and last week they used their annual stockholder meeting as an opportunity to announce their latest copy-protection product.

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Added to the Archives This Week

Stereophile Staff Jun 30, 2002 First Published: Jun 30, 2002

Earlier this year, Kalman Rubinson spent some time with the Rotel">http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/608/">Rotel RB 1080 power amplifier. "What could be easier to review than a power amplifier? No features or functions aside from inputs, outputs, and a power switch," remarks KR. But as Rubinson finds, it's the details that count.

News

Warner Drops DVD-A Prices

Stereophile Staff Jun 23, 2002 First Published: Jun 23, 2002

Things are looking up for high-resolution audio, with price drops for DVD-Audio discs announced by one major record label in a move to attract a larger audience.

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Added to the Archives This Week

Stereophile Staff Jun 23, 2002 First Published: Jun 23, 2002

Michael Fremer heard that the Alesis">http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/605/">Alesis MasterLink ML-9600 Hard Disk/CD-R Recorder "can sound better than all but the absolute top-drawer analog," and, of course, had to investigate. Mikey 'splains why audiophiles should take note of a machine generally used as a mastering tool by the recording industry.