9 / 02 / 99
In an all new venture, BootlegTV.com
is being launched by Discipline Global, Inc (DGI). DGI is home to such
great bands as King Crimson, California Guitar trio, and Bill Bruford's
Earthworks. To help launch this new venture you can hear King Crimson's
concert as it was recorded during live concerts held in Mexico City from August
2nd through the 4th in 1996. This includes the band
members Robert Fripp, Bill Bruford, Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, Trey Gunn and Pat Mastelotto.
As an Enjoy the Music.com added feature, we have preview
audio clips and even the entire concert for you! BootlegTV.com will have many
concerts from bands such as King Crimson available for streaming within 24
hours of the actual live event! The concerts will be available for a fee.
Various fees will be available for a viewing the music for a specific time
period of viewing or unlimited viewing. And now Enjoy the Music.com
proudly give you a free song from King Crimson's 1996 tour.
8 / 27 / 99
Klipsch has developed their new Klipsch Reference Series which uses even more advanced driver and materials technology
than their highly acclaimed Synergy line! This new series offers consumers very
high quality speakers, yet at very affordable prices. Mark Kauffman, senior product manager, says "We have stayed true to the Klipsch design philosophy and achieved a more complete design by utilizing sophisticated materials and incorporating advanced electronics... We’ve always had a performance edge, but now with the Reference Series we’ve moved further ahead in offering incredible performance and value. We have maintained our traditional ‘up-front, close to the soundstage’ musical intimacy, expanded the soundstage, and added a holographic 3D image. Audiophiles need to pay attention to Reference because their old ideas of Klipsch are going to be shaken."
According to their press release "Advanced Reference Series driver and materials technologies include:- 90° x 60° Tractrix Horns- titanium tweeter diaphragms- copper-colored anodized aluminum cones- glass-filled, vented, cast-polymer woofer frames- large magnets and high-precision solid pole pieces- air core inductors and film-type capacitors, bi-wire crossover networks- MDF enclosures with computer-optimized bracing and low restriction ports- tapered-array center channel. Similar to the approach of the Klipsch Synergy Series, Reference systems utilize advanced technologies in every speaker for a smoother response and more consistent coverage pattern. For example, each speaker is equipped with a Tractrix® Horn, contributing to the system’s excellent imaging. Reference systems, however, take the approach considerably further by delivering the advanced technologies through new higher-grade materials and electronics. The resulting family of products reproduces extended, tight, bass, and extremely clear mid-range and high frequencies that go well beyond the limit of human hearing."
The Reference Series consists of the RP-3 and RP-5 which are claimed to "deliver more content and better performance at price points that are as low as half the cost of competitive models". The new Klipsch RP-5 and RP-3 are
floor standing units with front firing mids and highs, yet with side firing self-powered subwoofers. The RP-3 uses a 1" horn tweeter and 6.5" midbass and a side-firing self-powered 10" woofer. The RP-5 uses the same tweeter, yet with an 8" midbass and a single 12" side-firing self-powered subwoofer. The 1999 Klipsch Reference Series products retail at:- RP-5, $2,000/pr. MSRP- RP-3, $1,500/pr.
Looking much like a home CD player, Onkyo
has joined the fray in offering a home CD/CD-R/CD-RW Compact disc
player/recorder. Their model DX-RD511 ($699.95) offers all the normal
capabilities of a CD player with wireless remote control, plus it has CD-TEXT
readout. Recording S/N ration is claimed as 98 db with distortion of less that
.006% over the normal audio bandwidth. The unit will make audio CDs that can
be played on virtually any CD player (car, home, portable). The re-recordable
CD format, CD-RW, can be played only on CD players with the Multi-Read system.
8 / 25 / 99
President of Hachette Filipacchi
Magazine's new media division, Jim Doucherty, has quit his position with the
company over disagreement on strategy with Hachette's new CEO, Jack Kliger. Doucherty
has been at Hachette for almost eleven years. Doucherty said "He's got perhaps a different vision for new media than what we've been running under for the last three years. I don't know that he values new media as a stand-alone
property. Instead of a stand-alone profit center, Jack is going to want to use it to leverage the
magazines... Jack has a very powerful initiative now for Hachette that has to do with circulation. I think that some of what happens with those sites now will also be to use this division as support for the magazines."
A source undisclosed told even more details and said "It's the inevitable result of having two power centers at these
companies. The publishers have a lot of jealousy and resentment. They look at the online group and say, 'These guys are taking my brand and making money off of it.' Even though they don't know anything about new media, they think it's something that's part of their brand."
So it seems that online magazines are again becoming a very hot topic as print
media looks for their place on the web. Hachette Filipacchi
magazines include Audio, Cars and Driver, Car Stereo Review, Road and Track,
Stereo Review's Sound & Vision and Woman's Day to name a few.
8 / 23 / 99
With all the newfound competition between vacuum tube
manufacturers, AVVT is
now offering a "5 Year unlimited Warranty on filament breakage, and a 5
Year limited Warrantee on the electrical function of the tube" according
to their website. This guarantee also covers their already sold and used Hard-Metal tubes
as well.
EMusic.com Inc. just announced their
partnering with the very popular internet search engine Yahoo! Inc.
to offer downloadable music. EMusic.com and Yahoo! Digital offer music fans the
opportunity to purchase over 22,000 MP3 tracks from leading artists for 99 cents a song or $8.99 for an entire album. Yahoo! Digital will also
feature special free MP3s from select EMusic.com artists. "Yahoo! Digital is a premier interactive environment for artists and
their fans to share their love of music," said Gene Hoffman, EMusic.com president and CEO.
"We’re thrilled to be working with Yahoo! to make downloading music easy, inexpensive and enjoyable -- ultimately
improving users’ online entertainment experience."
"At Yahoo!, we are continuously listening to what our users tell us they are looking
for," said Tim Brady, vice president for production and executive producer, Yahoo! Inc.
"That list includes access to digital music, and EMusic.com helps us do that. Through our relationship with
EMusic.com, the Yahoo! Digital directory will allow users to locate and purchase an extensive range of music from thousands of signed
artists."
In addition to this agreement, Internet Underground Music Archive (IUMA), EMusic.com’s Web site and
subsidiary for unsigned artists, will also be represented on Yahoo! Digital. Select music from IUMA artists will be available for download
through Yahoo! Digital’s directory. Beginning August 30th, Yahoo! Digital users will also be able to create their own Web sites using
IUMA’s Artist Uplink application, and offer their own music for download.
8 / 19 / 99
Coming just one day
after Microsoft released their new
Windows Media Audio 4 technology, Microsoft confirmed that programs exist that strip
away their security. In other words, it took pirates only one to make their
new protected media files unprotected via a program now available on the
internet! Can SDMI be far behind? The executable files like unfuck.exe and
Audiojacker remove the protection. "This one just has a glitzier name," said a Microsoft spokesman, adding that the company is working on a fix. Microsoft's
Windows Media Audio 4 compressed audio technology is their answer to the very
popular MP3 files available on the internet.
In other news Atlantic, CDNow and Microsoft have joined
together to offer secure promotional downloads. The downloaded tracks can
"time-out" (become unplayable) after a chosen number of days.
Rhino Entertainment
is now releasing very limited edition music CDs dubbed Rhino Handmade. These
will be runs of very small (1,000 or so) custom CDs which are usually rare or
out of print music from
Rhinos vaults. They are for sale on a first come, first serve basis and are
sure to be collectors items due to their very limited production runs.
8 / 16 / 99
From the company that makes the highly respected Mark Levinson products,
Madrigal, also offer great value for the dollar products under the Proceed name. Using design technology learned from
their many years of experience comes the new Proceed BPA2 two-channel and BPA3 three-channel amplifiers. BPA stands for Proceed's Basic Power Amplifiers which are claimed by Madrigal to offer "high performance amplification in less costly two- and three-channel packages." Each channel is said to produce 125wpc.
The chassis design shows that individual power supplies are used with plenty of room allowed for proper heat
dissipation for the heat sinks. To quote Madrigal "The heatsink profile, first developed for the HPA design, offers the most efficient cooling in a chassis where multiple channels may be delivering high power simultaneously. The result is a very powerful small package that remains well within normal operating temperatures even under the most demanding conditions." The faceplates add high
rigidly to the design and are a full one-inch thick aluminum while the base, cover and rear panel are made of steel.
Inputs for both balanced (XLR) and single-ended (RCA) connections are provided for each channel. The output devices in the BPAs are the same as those used in the respected AMP 5 and HPA designs by Proceed which are also used in many Mark Levinson amplifiers as well! Each device is gain matched to insure high performance and channel to channel matching.
Alas, no pricing given. Feel free to visit the Madrigal website by clicking
here.
7 / 20 / 99
With more and more companies joining forces within the
internet media industries, none other than MTV Networks
Online has officially taken a "significant" stake in Diamond Multimedia's
subsidiary RioPort. The hopes are in offering
secure music downloads over the internet. While the President of MTV Networks Online
declined commenting on the specifics of the deal, he did say that his company now has a
"significant" stake in the popular MP3 download website RioPort. While MTV
is providing the content, RioPort will be using the industry agreed upon Secure Digital
Music Initiative (SDMI) to sell secured music online. Both companies will benefit
financially accordingly.
7 / 16 / 99
Longstanding editor,
magazine owner, and all around great guy Gene Pitts has assumed the subscriptions that
were left behind in the Fi aftermath. A letter included within the first issue for
those receiving their assumed subscription says:
Dear Fi Magazine Subscriber:
We are pleased to announce the assumption of Fi Magazine subscription
responsibilities by The Audiophile Voice magazine. You are probably aware that FI
ceased publication with their March 1999 issue, but not to worry. Because you are a
subscriber in good standing, you will receive as many issues as you were owed.
You may be aware that FI was published more frequently than The Audiophile
Voice; thus, your subscription will cover a longer period. We intend to fulfill your
subscription to Fi Magazine with The Audiophile Voice on an
issue-for-issue basis. If you are already a subscriber to The Audiophile Voice,
your period will be extended.
We are pleased with the new arrangement, and we hope that you are too. If you have
questions or suggestions, please write to Gene Pitts at the address shown.
Most Cordially,
Gene Pitts
Editor & Publisher
The Audiophile Voice
epitts@ix.Netcom.com
7 / 14 / 99
In a huge news event, CDNOW is going to merge with Sony's and
Time
Warner's Columbia House to create the
largest audio/video e-commerce company. This merger will result in achieving a mass
information mining of the over sixteen million current Columbia House members. Sony and
Time Warner will each have 37 percent of the company while CDNOW’s existing
stockholders will own the remaining 26 percent. As posted on the CDNOW website: Jonathan Diamond, chairman of the board of CDNOW, and
Jason Olim, president and CEO of CDNOW, said: "Today CDNOW takes its place among the
world’s great music brands. With the combined resources of Time Warner, Sony,
Columbia House and CDNOW, our new company will be a leader in music, commerce, content and
community. This merger will dramatically accelerate our growth and fulfill our vision of
leading the digital revolution in the music industry. We are excited to tap the 16 million
music- and video-buying customers of Columbia House, to expand our brand development
through advertising and integration on Sony and Time Warner’s entertainment, media
and communications properties, and to develop a close, mutually supportive relationship
with Sony and Time Warner’s music divisions. CDNOW began the digital music revolution
in 1994 and will continue as its leader in the new millennium."
Gerald M. Levin, chairman and CEO of Time Warner, said: "Through this alliance, we
are creating an exciting new enterprise that will be the centerpiece of our strong and
growing presence in music and video e-commerce. With the commercial arrival of the digital
downloading of music, it also gives us an important platform for offering consumers the
opportunity to order or download music instantly."
Nobuyuki Idei, president and CEO of Sony Corporation, said: "This innovative,
multi-partied transaction is an important corporate initiative for Sony that advances our
strategy to create new business platforms, and reflects our determination to become a
leader in entertainment-based new media. By joining the powerful and complementary
capabilities of Columbia House and CDNOW, we are creating a strong foundation to
capitalize on future e-commerce growth opportunities."
The pre-existing Columbia House will continue it's club membership just as CDNOW will also
continue it's efforts as well. Of course the new partnershipped company will 'data
mine" to help bring more services to a wider audience in the hopes of enhancing
overall revenue.
7 / 8 / 99
Click here to see the inside of the units.
As first seen worldwide on
the Enjoy the Music.com Hi-Fi '99 Show Report, Enjoy the
Music.com is also the first to give you the full details and inside look into Madrigal's new Mark Levinson No 32
Reference Preamplifier! Priced at $17,500 including the optional phono stage, this
is the very first Levinson preamplifier to receive the "Reference" label.
"Mark Levin Reference products are essential to Madrigal's engineering
strategy. They help us deliver greater performance at a variety of price points...
the technology has a profound impact on all other products we design" says Madrigal's
CEO Phil Muzio. The entire communication and power supplies reside in the
"Reference Controller" chassis while the entire audio circuitry is in what
Madrigal calls the "clean box". It has long been know that by keeping the
fragile analog stage in a separate chassis as the power supply gives better results in
high-quality audio products. To quote their website "The No32
Reference Controller houses five important blocks which support the preamplifier system:
AC power supply, AC power supply regeneration, DC power regulation, control circuitry (for
input select, volume and other microprocessor controlled functions) and communications
(for interfacing with other components). This separation of tasks is logical in a modern,
reference-level preamplifier." Click here to download the owners manual
(Adobe Acrobat required).
7 / 05 / 99
For those who love their RioPort, their parent company Diamond Multimedia and Microsoft announced have agreed to include support for
the Microsoft® Windows® Media Audio on the next and future
generation of Rio! David Watkins, president of RioPort said "We are
tremendously excited about working with Microsoft to support Windows Media Audio on future
Rio-brand digital audio player designs. The small size of Windows Media Audio files
means consumers can fit more high-fidelity digital audio content on their Rio players, and
the Windows Media digital rights management system will encourage content providers to
continually make more of their audio catalogs available in the WMA format."
Microsoft claims their Windows Media Audio format are half the size of MP3 files
while offering superior sound quality. Anthony Bay who is the general manager of the
Streaming Media Division in Microsoft said "We're thrilled that RioPort has
chosen to integrate Windows Media Audio technology into its next-generation Rio-brand
players. Working together, RioPort and Microsoft will deliver to our mutual
customers the best digital audio experience on the PC and on portable digital audio
devices." Just as current Rio players ship with software to make MP3 files, the
new unit will also include software to make the Microsoft Windows Media Player files as
well.
7 / 2 / 99
Record your own HDCD
compliant CDs? You bet! Philips
just announced their plans in offering an all new CD-R lineup for the Christmas season.
Starting in September their plans are to offer lower priced yet fully featured units
which will include not only the ability to record with the HDCD coding, they will also
include CD Text, sampling rate conversion, automatic recording level control, their upper
line model slated as the CDR950 will be the company’s first CD-R with programmable
auto fade-in/out feature. Pricing should be around $499 to $599 depending on model
and features.
7 / 01 / 99
It
took about two years to get it right, yet the folks at Headroom have finally released
their tiny tot cigarette pack sized AirHead headphone amplifier. In fact the folks
at Headroom feel their little $179 AirHead gives about 80% of the performance of their
$449 Supreme! The AirHead can operate for approximately 15 hours on a set of two
"AA" batteries. A high quality 1/8" to 1/8" stereo cord is
supplied for hooking it up to your portable CD/DAT/MP3/etc player. In fact Headroom
is right now offering a free $50 AirBag or Brick with direct purchase of their AirHead
unit. Click here to see Headroom's website.
June 1999 News
April/May 1999 News
High-Performance Audio Reviews
