July 2006

Celebrating Our 11^th Year!
Article By Steven R. Rochlin
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  The past decade-plus has been a blessing in many ways. Over the years we have adhered by some Golden Rules, including To Thy Own Self Be True and to leave one's ego at the door. Each member of our writing staff is highly valued for their longstanding knowledge and ability to covey their findings to audiophiles worldwide. Our writers refuse to 'churn and burn' through equipment and produce a staggering amount of reviews every year. It is through careful listening and taking the time to understand a product's capabilities that matters most, with the ability to convey it in writing. Sure our readers want to enjoy as many equipment reviews as possible, though the seasoned and educated audiophile realizes that if a reviewer changes their entire system too often it spells tragedy, as there is no 'control.'

The opportunity to review equipment, attend various shows, etc. is not something we take for granted. The outpouring of e-mail we receive from you has greatly allowed us to continually sculpt our efforts to ensure we stay on track, in focus, and cover the trends in high-end audio. Publishing writings by many truly talented individuals within our industry is merely a part of our overall efforts. Enjoy the Music.com has a long list of qualified reviewers who have been with us for many years. Bill Gaw and Dick Olsher, for example, have been with our Review Magazine since July 1999.

As the editor, it is my job to gather various data, check facts, edit photos, and keep communications open on all levels. Being accountable, responsible, and conveying our findings in a concise and entertaining manner  are some of the key issues. We would never allow, as an example, outdated parts that have no bearing on a product to skew our findings. While this may seem strange to judge a product on outdated parts, it has happened elsewhere. Another job as editor is to hire only the most professional writers who are not swooned by equipment loans. Of the fifty writing inquiries, with some from quite well known personalities within the high-end audio industry, perhaps only one is asked to join our staff.

Cables, Cables, Cables
Love 'em or hate 'em, virtually all audiophiles agree that cables do indeed play their role within our music reproduction system. This month in the Review Magazine we are taking the rare stance of focusing on cables. As always, our best suggestion would be to enjoy an in-home audition of various cables and decide for yourself.

Audio Excellence Award
Many of you have noted how rarely we here at Enjoy the Music.com bestow an award to products. My feelings have always been that awards are great marketing for both the magazine and manufacturers, it does the reader a disservice if virtually every product a magazine reviews receives an award. How is one to truly know if a product has earned the award, or it is another way to simply pigeonhole the product into some category? And with that said, for the very first time in over a decade of publishing we are introducing an award to products as the review appears. Our Audio Excellence Award will be appearing within the review of a component our writer feels deserves extra special attention above the norm. The very first product to earn this prestigious award is the Aural Acoustics Model B Loudspeaker that appear within our July 2006 edition of Superior Audio.

Thank You For 11 Music Loving Years!
Now entering our 11^th year being of service to audiophiles worldwide, it is time to look back at where we have been, while also taking this perspective to better steer our future. The audiophile landscape has evolved as Internet and computer devices have grown at a tremendous rate. Downloadable music, homewide wireless networks, computer integration and other devices have forever changed the way some audiophiles enjoy music. While recently attending Germany's High End Society show, what i have nicknamed as the European CES, it is very clear that vinyl is a live and well... as is wireless music delivery as we now also welcome HD-DVD.

Speaking of HD-DVD, an early report from one of our writers says that this new format sounds truly outstanding! We can only hope that new releases on the lossy CD format, i say lossy because digital master tapes have for decades been better resolution than CD, will die a quick death. The great news for audiophiles is that early HD-DVD players touting 24-bit/192-kHz decoders, plus using four 32-bit floating-point DSPs, we can expect higher quality as hardware evolves. Frankly, my hopes are for higher than CD resolution downloadable music with the use of external DACs. At the recent audiophile show in Germany there were many USB DACs to be found!

My deepest gratitude goes out to all our readers. Our recent $80,000 contest is only one of the many ways we have been able to express our thanks to you, our loyal enthusiasts. We are truly thankful to everyone who has shown his or her appreciation by sending a contribution to Enjoy the Music.com. Together we are all able to show the world how much joy music can bring into one's life. Thank you for allowing us into your life. As we always say, in the end what really matters to me is that we all....

Enjoy the Music (Triumph "Magic Power" right now),

Steven R. Rochlin

"Somethin's at the edge of your mind, you don't know what it is 
Somethin' you were hopin' to find but you're not sure what it is 
Then you hear the music and it all comes crystal clear 
The music does the talkin' says the things you want to hear

I'm young, I'm wild and I'm free 
I got the magic power of the music in me

She climbs into bed, pulls the covers overhead and 
Turns her little radio on 
She's had a rotten day so she hopes the dj's gonna play her 
Favourite song 
It makes her feel much better, brings her closer to her dreams 
A little magic power makes it better than it seems

She's young now, she's wild now, she wants to be free 
She gets the magic power of the music from me

If you're thinkin' it over but you just can't sort it out 
Do you want someone to tell you what they think it's all about 
Are you the one and only who's sad and lonely, 
Reaching for the top 
Well the music keeps you goin' and it's never gonna stop

The world is full of compromise, the infinite red tape 
But the music's got the magic it's your one chance for escape 
So turn me on-turn me up-it's your turn to dream 
A little magic power makes it better than it seems"