Can Video Save the Audio Star?
Both the SACD and DVD-Audio disc formats are striking out, with a shaky DualDisc next up to bat. But the video twins HD-DVD and Blu-ray are warming up in the bullpen—and they just might save the day for high-resolution audio.
Can We All Get Along?
Last week, Cirrus">http://www.cirrus.com">Cirrus Logic unveiled what it is calling the world's highest-performance six- and eight-channel D/A converters, which the company says will give consumers the ability to decode high-resolution multichannel surround content at home or in the car. The converters are the latest addition to Cirrus Logic's Total-E platform group of products.
Can't Name That Tune?
For the millions of fans who search the Internet for their favorite music, one thing always required is the name of the artist or song sought. But what if you don't know exactly what you want to hear, and would rather search for the kind of music that suits your mood?
Canada Decides to Tax Blank Media
In a move that is sure to enrage users of blank digital media, Canada's Copyright">http://www.cb-cda.gc.ca/">Copyright Board has finalized plans to add a levy of 5.2 Canadian cents on CD-Rs and CD-RWs, 23.3 cents on audio cassettes over 40 minutes in length, and 60.8 cents on MiniDiscs and recordable audio CDs. In a market in which blank CD-Rs used for computer backup typically cost less than C$1 each, this represents an increase of at least 5% per disc. Interestingly, DAT tapes are excluded from the tax, as they are not seen as a threat to the music business.
Canada's TAVES Starts Friday
Canada's biggest three-day consumer audio and lots more show, TAVES, is poised to break its former attendance record when it opens in Toronto, Ontario on October 30. Newly reframed as "Canada's Ultimate Consumer Electronics Show," it opens less than a month after Denver's Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, and a mere week before the start of the Westchester County version of the New York Audio Show.
Canadian Audio Report
Is it the low exhibitor rates? The excuse to visit Montreal, perhaps North America's most cosmopolitan city? The efficiency and charm of organizer Marie-Christine Prin and her assistants? Whatever the reason(s), Montreal's Festival Son & Image has become a real success story, attracting an ever-increasing array of exhibitors and audiophiles from far and wide. Last year, the Festival spilled over from the downtown Delta Hotel to the Four Points Sheraton across the street; this year, there were exhibits in the Holiday Inn next door as well.
Canadian CD Compiler Busted by CRIA
In June, while the Recording">http://www.riaa.com/">Recording Industry Association of America was collecting fat settlementshttp://www.stereophile.com/news/10208/">settlements; from unauthorized CD compilers, its Canadian counterpart was busy shutting down Purple">http://www.purpledot.zener.com/">Purple Dot, a custom-disc operation in Calgary, Alberta. The Canadian Recording Industry Association e-mailed a cease-and-desist order to 18-year-old Robert Clark, owner and operator of Purple Dot, which had been advertising on the Internet in the Yahoo!http://www.yahoo.com/">Yahoo!; directory.
Canadian Dealer Events, Thursday–Saturday
ThursdayFriday, November 1920, 48pm; Saturday, November 21, 10am3pm: Signature Audio Video (126 Iber Road, Stittsville, ON) will hold their 2015 Technology Expo.
Canadian Debut of Wilson’s Sabrina Speaker
A few days ago I received an email from Adrian Low, owner of Audio Excellence, a Toronto-area Wilson dealer, inviting me to a demo of the Sabrina by Wilson Audio Specialties' Peter McGrath (above)
Canadian Judge: Downloads OK
Canadian music fans are breathing a collective sigh of relief in the wake of a ruling by a federal justice that sharing music over the Internet doesn't violate the nation's copyright laws.