As We See It

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As We See It

Trumpets to the Back of Me?

John Atkinson May 26, 2001 First Published: May 26, 2001 0 comments

As part of this issue's coverage of the recent Consumer Electronics Show (see Sidebar), I report on my dissatisfaction with almost all the surround-sound demonstrations I experienced in Las Vegas. As a music-lover, the last thing I want is to have trumpets and drums attacking me from behind, yet almost without exception, that is what record producers seem to feel is an essential part of the DVD-Audio and SACD experiences.

As We See It

Music Before Numbers?

John Atkinson Apr 12, 2001 First Published: Apr 12, 2001 0 comments

This letter from Mike Pageau appeared in the April 2001 issue, and triggered the following "As We See It" essay:

As We See It

"Where's the Real Magazine?"

John Atkinson Feb 12, 2001 First Published: Feb 12, 2001 0 comments

The affair started quietly enough, with the following exchange that appeared in Stereophile's January 2001 "Letters" section, following my decision to put the Digital">http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/280/">Digital Audio Labs CardDeluxe high-end PC soundcard on the cover of our September 2000 issue:

As We See It

"Where's the Real Magazine?" Part 2

John Atkinson Jul 05, 2007 First Published: Feb 12, 2001 0 comments

"Jonathan Scull told me there'd be trouble when I decided to put the Denon">http://www.stereophile.com/integratedamps/1200denon/">Denon AVR-4800 surround receiver on our December cover."

As We See It

Watermarking & the SDMI

Barry Willis Dec 05, 2004 First Published: Jan 05, 2001 0 comments

Mastering engineer Denny Purcell let out a long sigh. "Does anyone in this room believe that any of this is going to do any good?" he asked. Of the eight or nine people—each with decades of experience in the music and/or audio industries—hanging out at Georgetown Masters Studios for SDMI's Phase II listening tests this past October, not one said "Yes." The consensus: the watermarking">http://www.stereophile.com/asweseeit/2002awsi">watermarking issue will probably be dead and forgotten within a year.

Reference As We See It

Upsampling or Oversampling?

John Atkinson Dec 06, 2000 First Published: Dec 06, 2000 0 comments

Charles Hansen said it best, in a recent e-mail: "People have been holding back from criticizing this technology because they weren't certain that some new discovery hadn't been made." Ayre Acoustics' main man was talking about "upsampling," whereby conventional "Red Book" CD data, sampled at 44.1kHz, are converted to a datastream with a higher sample rate. (Because of its association with DVD-Audio, 96kHz is often chosen as the new rate.)

As We See It

Convergence...not just for breakfast!

Jonathan Scull Nov 19, 2000 First Published: Nov 19, 2000 0 comments

Not too long ago, the word "convergence" had everyone in the High End ready to duck'n'cover. Asia was on the ropes, and a shakeout was thinning the ranks of high-end audio manufacturers. Some US companies were marketing and selling most of their output to the Pacific Rim. The writing was on the wall: High-end was dead, and we'd all just better get used to listening to music on our computers.

As We See It

Marking Their Territory?

Jon Iverson Oct 22, 2000 First Published: Oct 22, 2000 0 comments

It's easy for us audiophiles to feel neglected. Consider that this year witnesses the debuts of not one, but two new audio formats that should answer the prayers of just about every frustrated audiophile out there: SACD and DVD-Audio. Both approaches represent the state of the art of recording and reproducing music, and finally fulfill for serious listeners the promise that CD teased us with more than 15 years ago.

As We See It

Watermarking: the Devil's Work!

John Atkinson Sep 20, 2000 First Published: Sep 20, 2000 0 comments

I left you last month 104 miles from Santa Fe, New Mexico, heading east on I-40 accompanied by a dog and two cats, with 1946 miles to go to reach Stereophile's new editorial home, New York City. To cut a long story short, I did arrive in New York (covered in dog and cat hair). After a nerve-wracking delay, so did our furniture. We will be living out of boxes for a while chez Atkinson, but that's a mere inconvenience compared with the Great Adventure of setting up a new listening room.

As We See It

From Santa Fe to New York

John Atkinson Aug 12, 2000 First Published: Aug 12, 2000 0 comments

The August issue of Stereophile, number 247, is the very last to be produced out of the "City Different" in the "Land of Enchantment" (Santa Fe, New Mexico). Known for its energetic mix of Native American and Latino cultures, its geographic mix of high desert and mountains, its 300 days of clear blue, cerulean skies, its opera and chamber music seasons, and not forgetting that most important culinary question—"red or green"—the oldest established city in the US is not the first place that comes to mind in the magazine business. But, after publishing 39 issues of Stereophile out of rainy Pennsylvania founded the magazine in 1962, J. Gordon Holt fell in love with the Southwest and moved out here in 1978.