News

Stereofool Editor Involved with 21-year-old Tube Amp?

Noj Nosrevi Jan 25, 1998 First Published: Jan 25, 1998

In a covert sting operation launched by Stereofool's competitor, Big iF magazine, 24-bit/96kHz tapes have just surfaced revealing a conversation Stereofool editor Acker Johnson (AJ) had with a local dealer in used audio equipment.

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Liquid Audio and Billboard Online Announce Web Audio Deal

Stereophile Staff Jan 25, 1998 First Published: Jan 25, 1998

Billboard Magazine announced an agreement this week with Liquid Audio, a developer of secure music-delivery systems on the Internet, to make Billboard's extensive database of album reviews and audio previews available through Billboard">http://www.billboard.com/">Billboard Online. The audio portion will be provided in Liquid">http://www.liquidaudio.com/">Liquid Audio format by the Music Previews Network, the company that provides Music Previews for Billboard Online.

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CD Recorder's Dirty Little Secret

Jon Iverson Jan 22, 1998 First Published: Jan 22, 1998

The dirty little secret about consumer CD recorders has recently been getting out: In order to record on one of the new "inexpensive" consumer CD machines from such manufacturers as Pioneer or Philips, you have to purchase special "consumer audio" CD-Rs that can cost three to four times as much as the same CD-R formatted for use with a professional or computer-based CD recorder.

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PBS, Warner Bros. Records launch new record label

Stereophile Staff Jan 18, 1998 First Published: Jan 18, 1998

The Public">http://www.pbs.org">Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and Warner">http://www.warnerbros.com/">Warner Bros. Records announced January 8 that they have entered into a five-year record and television program funding partnership. The arrangement launches the PBS Records label, a new venture that will fuel the production of PBS performance programs and companion recordings. In addition, PBS Records will present music soundtracks from major PBS nonfiction series.

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CES '98 wrap-up

Jon Iverson Jan 18, 1998 First Published: Jan 18, 1998

It gets tougher every year to cover a show like the CES. Dropping in on most of the high-end audio rooms at the Alexis Park isn't so bad---the hard part is getting to all the various splinter exhibits scattered around Las Vegas within the allotted four days.

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Meridian Commits to FireWire and Digital Harmony

Jon Iverson Jan 09, 1998 First Published: Jan 09, 1998

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 10---Meridian has announced its intention to license Digital Harmony's IEEE 1394 (FireWire) technology. "Digital Harmony embodies the technology we can implement to produce the next generation of digital systems for home entertainment." So said Meridian's Bob Stuart, in an announcement sure to be a turning point for the high-end audio industry.

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Classic Records issues DADs---high-quality music DVDs

Wes Phillips Jan 08, 1998 First Published: Jan 08, 1998

In a press conference held January 9 at the 1998 Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Classic Records announced the debut of the Classic 24/96 digital audio disc "DAD" series of audio-only DVD-Videos. (Video information is included on the disc but represents only a tiny fraction of the data space.)

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DVD-Audio draft specs announced at CES; HDCD ported to Motorola DSP chip

John Atkinson Jan 08, 1998 First Published: Jan 08, 1998

As expected, the DVD WG-4 Audio Working Group announced at CES that it has released a draft of its DVD-Audio specification to the 10 original DVD consortium companies, and to music-industry associations RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), RIAJ (Recording Industry Association of Japan), and IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry).

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First All-Digital Amplifier?

Jon Iverson Jan 08, 1998 First Published: Jan 08, 1998

NAD has announced what they claim is the world's first true digital audio power amplifier directly linking a CD player to a loudspeaker. As explained by Peter Lyngdorf, chairman of NAD Electronics and TACT Audio, the Millennium "is not a conventional combination of D/A converter and analog amplification.

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CES '98 Opens: DVD-Audio gauntlet is thrown

Jon Iverson Jan 07, 1998 First Published: Jan 07, 1998

The Academy Advancing High Performance Audio & Video (formerly the Academy for the Advancement of High End Audio) kicked off CES '98 with a pre-Show meeting. Meridian's Bob Stuart addressed the thorny issue of competing and (as yet) not fully defined standards for DVD-Audio.