posted by david on Wed 29 Jan 2003 @ 09:57 PM

The always interesting written ramblings of music nut Glenn McDonald usually focus on reviews of albums he's purchased but he's recently had a think about what music formats we might be using in the future (his conversion to Apple computer hardware was interesting reading the previous week). I'd be curious to hear his thoughts on DVD-Audio, a format which I suspect may yet have a revolutionary effect on how we listen to music. More on that some other time though...

posted by david on Tue 6 Aug 2002 @ 06:39 PM

I like a good action film but my favourite films tend to have a little more brain than brawn. Why is it then that my DVD collection consists of so many big, dumb action films? The answer is simple: because on a surround sound system, they sound really cool. Sitting in the middle of a room bustling with interesting sounds is entertaining so why is it that I can't do that with music? Why are we still limited to just two speakers? Why can't I listen to Paul Simon's "Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes" with the african vocalists surrounding me? Why can't I listen to a Garbage album (pick one, any one) and hear all of the cool bleeps coming from every angle? Whatever the music purists might say, hearing your favourite music mixed in surround sound would be entertaining as hell so why aren't DVD-audio discs all the rage? The problem is partly technical (my player can do Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS but not DVD-Audio) and partly a matter of supply (how many DVD-audio discs have you seen?). One of the mad music nuts who reviews stuff for Michael D's DVD site has done an interesting rant about the format and whether it will ever take off. You can find an earlier assessment of the format by him here.

posted by david on Wed 17 Jul 2002 @ 10:05 AM

A few months ago I picked up a cheap, decent vinyl turntable on ebay and then proceeded to re-discover the charm of vinyl releases as I played various items I'd collected over the past few years, some of which I'd never had the opportunity to listen to before. Sure, it's an inconvenient format (the discs are large and you've get to get up and turn over the disc after a few songs) but there's just something about lowering a needle onto a piece of plastic and having your stereo burst into life. The Age has an article which discusses the current state of vinyl in Australia. It seems that it's healthier than you might expect.

posted by david on Thu 4 Jul 2002 @ 01:04 PM

One of the more interesting handheld mp3 players was one that looked like a standard audiocassette so that it could be inserted into a standard cassette deck for playback. The latest variation on this idea has the same concept extended so that it can also record directly from the tape deck, in addition to having mp3 files fed down a cable from a computer. The folks over at the Minidisc Community Portal pointed out a review of the product.

posted by david on Wed 19 Jun 2002 @ 10:21 AM

The folks over at Slashdot have pointed out a review thingy of a bunch of computer soundcards, talking about their features and problems. I've heard some interesting things about the Creative Audigy - I think there's an external version that plugs into the USB port so that you can use some of it's features independently of the computer. There was some speculation about whether it could strip the SSCM signal that's embedded in digital outputs of gadgets like Minidisc recorders so that you could make your own MD recording and then transfer it to CD without any dramas. It seems that computer soundcard technology is starting to get interesting.

posted by david on Sun 9 Jun 2002 @ 06:15 PM

There's been a lot of hoo-ha about mp3 technology affecting the music industry and a little has discussed the popularity of CDRs but I haven't read a lot of discussion about how CDRs are changing the way bootlegs propagate. In this article at The Age, Jon Casimir takes a look at the topic but disappointingly, doesn't seem to address whether home bootlegging is affecting the "professional" bootleg operations. Most CD trading trees I've seen baulk at trading copies of officially released albums but they've no problem with trading copies of bootlegs produced by professional bootleggers.

posted by david on Tue 15 Jan 2002 @ 04:18 PM

A couple of months ago, one Australian record company found itself on the back foot, assuring consumers that the Australian release of Natalie Imbruglia's new album did not include the controversial copy protection that was seeing a number of European consumers complaining about defective discs. From what I've read, it seems that Universal is intending to make no such apologies and plans to "protect" everything they release. Ross has pointed out a Fairfax article which discusses the wider copyright implications of such a move. It's a pity it doesn't seriously discuss the techniques and effects that will be used in this protection but at least it's bothering to raise the question of consumer rights. Another piece over at newscientist.com looks at this copy protection from a new perspective, that of Philips, the co-creator of the CD format itself. They seem none too pleased about companies releasing products which don't conform to the strict CD definition and are considering barring "protected" CDs from bearing the CD logo. They are also considering producing a CD burner which is smart enough to work around the copy protection added to a disc. I guess it would be a pretty bizarre situation if the record companies then sued Philips for circumventing the copy "protection" that they had added to the format Philips created. My guess is that the public will get smart and continue doing as they wish, just as they have done in buying DVD players free of region encoding.

posted by david on Thu 14 Jun 2001 @ 08:42 PM

The folks over at Slashdot have pointed out an article in the Washington Post about those who think they can hear the difference between a $10,000 hifi amplifier and a $50,000 amplifier and spend (mis-spend?) their money accordingly. I remember when I agonised over my choice of hifi system the salesman flicked between different CD players so I could hear the difference but while I admitted I could hear some sort of difference, I was clueless about which sounded better. There's a huge difference between a $500 department store system and a $5000 system but beyond that? That's where the law of diminishing returns kicks in.

posted by david on Tue 13 Feb 2001 @ 10:18 PM

Here's a neat combination of stories for you. On one hand it looks like the big bad record companies may be finally winning the long battle against the evil Napster. On the other hand, ARIA have released the final sales figures for 2000 that indicate total sales were up 2% (apparently even vinyl sales were up). One day we'll look back on this and it will all seem funny.
update: it's probably safe to say Napster is now dead. The court case is finally bringing them to their knees and they've started banning long lists of songs. Of course, this means that Napster users are now mobilising to either circumvent the restrictions or they're turning to any of a number of alternative file-sharing technologies. Victories don't come much more hollow than that.

posted by david on Wed 6 Dec 2000 @ 09:06 PM

The folks at Slashdot have pointed out an article which explains what form the re-instated my.mp3.com service will take. It seems that the service with a simple idea (upload songs from your own CDs so that you - and you only - can access them from anywhere) is now burdened with some downright stupid changes. First, the service is no longer free. Second, the service will occasionally require you to re-insert your CD to re-confirm that you do really own that CD. So, you have to pay to listen to CDs that you've already bought plus you've got to carry them with you. And the point of this service is? They may have reached a settlement with the RIAA but it's pretty clear they didn't win.

posted by david on Thu 19 Oct 2000 @ 07:53 PM

First there was the challenge to crack SDMI, the proposed secure digital music formats. Then salon.com reported claims from some SDMI insiders that it had been thoroughly cracked (but the official SDMI line would deny that). The head honcho from the SDMI then denied it. And now those insiders have responded in greater detail and the head honcho has denied it again. If you find all this politicking interesting, then read on. If not, don't. Blahdy blahdy blah blah blah...
update: Some of the "crackers" have stepped forward - no less than a team of academics from Princeton University who undertook the challenge as a research project and aren't interested in the $10000 prize.

posted by david on Tue 17 Oct 2000 @ 07:55 PM

Over at Slashdot they recently discussed a piece that appeared on the ABCNEWS.com website about the new Sony Super CD format. It's basically a format that contains more detail than the standard CD. A Super CD disc has two sets of data (normal CD and "Super CD") so it can be played on a normal CD player so there's no reason why they can't start manufacturing all of their CDs in the new format. Whether people want to fork out the money for a new player is another matter. Most people listen to music in less-than-perfect environments (eg. in the car) or on less-than-perfect systems (eg. micro hi fi units) so I'd question whether the general public are going to hear the difference between normal CDs and Super CDs.

posted by david on Fri 13 Oct 2000 @ 07:58 PM

The folks at SDMI put their heads together and came up with a technique for "watermarking" music to prevent digital piracy. They then challenged the hacker community to try and break their fancy schmancy copy protection. Guess what happened next? Someone broke it. Or at least that's the rumour emanating from within the SDMI organisation. The Slashdot crew pointed out this Salon.com story which comes complete with an amusing quote from a SDMI goon: "That's false, [but] I don't know the specifics because I'm not on the testing committee." Now that's what I call a convincing denial. :-) update: The RIAA have announced they will introduce a standard way of tagging digital music files. No doubt this will make things easier for them when managing their own digital music catalogues but they're putting an almost comical "this will help us stop piracy" spin on the story. If the best efforts of a high-powered consortium like SDMI can't come up with something to do it it's pretty obvious that the RIAA doesn't stand a chance.

posted by david on Thu 12 Oct 2000 @ 08:01 PM

It seems that the single format has just been re-invented - record label Arista have announced their first set of DVD singles. I guess it was only a matter of time before they started selling us the videos as well as the songs themselves. I suspect releases like this won't happen too often, it takes time to assemble a DVD with extras like interview footage. I wouldn't be surprised if they just start packaging their DVD singles in a generic form, with the video clip for the song and a generic Arista menu system for accessing stuff. The price here seems a bit rich, almost equivalent to a full-price album for a glorified single. I suspect they won't sell in amazing quantities like that but I can't see any reason why they can't become the standard single format in the future.

posted by david on Wed 27 Sep 2000 @ 08:14 PM

mp3 might be hot technology but it's always been something you have to opt into. If you think using Napster is unethical then don't use it. But what if they began modifying the CDs that you buy to prevent piracy? Hey, no problem you say, you're not involved in piracy. But what if the security modifications were woven into the music itself? Will you be able to hear the difference? And will you be given the choice? As a music lover who has carefully invested in quality hifi equipment, this article about CD "watermarking" is really scary. If I can tape my CDs to take with me in the car, why can't I rip them for use in my portable mp3 player? Try what you like with online technology but don't go tinkering with the CDs I buy, I haven't done anything wrong.

posted by david on Tue 26 Sep 2000 @ 08:18 PM

The Offspring have bowed to a polite request from their record company (ie. they threatened legal action) and decided that maybe they won't offer their new album free of charge after all. One memorable quote comes from their manager in this article: "The only people unable to post music on the Internet appear to be those who actually create it". If you find the whole mp3 thingy fascinating, you might like to read this impressively thorough analysis of how the Internet and copyright laws are meeting head on and the results thus far ain't pretty.

posted by david on Tue 19 Sep 2000 @ 08:25 PM

The folks at the excellent Minidisc Community Page have noted a review of the new MD-Port DG1 component from Xitel. This allows a PC to be digitally connected to a Minidisc recorder via the USB port, which is brilliant for dumping mp3 collections to Minidisc. I have a feeling I saw a similar unit from another company the other day but now I haven't the foggiest idea where that was.

posted by david on Mon 18 Sep 2000 @ 08:29 PM

The mp3 hooha continues in the US. The Universal Music Group won their legal battle with mp3.com some time ago but now they have to contend with Courtney Love, who has stated she'll sue them if she doesn't get her share. She certainly has a point but this feels more like a publicity stunt than anything else as Courtney recently signed a deal to write a book about her experiences in dealing with the suits of the music industry. In other news, the Offspring have announced that their next album will be available on the internet, despite the fact that their record company isn't too keen on the idea.

posted by david on Thu 7 Sep 2000 @ 08:34 PM

mp3.com has been instructed to pay Seagram's Universal Music Group approx $US118 million due to copyright violations. From what I can tell, this is a rough figure based on a penalty of $25,000 per disc with the exact number of discs yet to be decided. Whereas Napster allows trading of mp3 files between users, the mp3.com service in question allowed users to upload mp3 files sourced from their own CD collections. From everything I saw the mp3.com people did their best to assuage record company demands (they came to agreements with the other 4 major labels) but the Universal guys didn't want to play ball. I'll be interested to see what happens in the appeal.

posted by david on Thu 10 Aug 2000 @ 03:34 AM

Those who have embraced the Minidisc format can now embrace the mp3 format as well, thanks to the arrival of the Xitel MD-Port DG1 component. MD users can now connect the USB port of their computer to the optical-in jack of their MD recorder, allowing them to easily transfer their mp3 collection to their preferred format. Minidisco have got it for $99.95US. I wonder if it works with Linux?