Claude

The new design is now online. I'm completely lost ...

Shocking! A bare nipple on stage!

20 Bit: 24 Bit :

The iRiver players work with USB 1 and USB 2, not Firewire. USB 2 is actually very fast, there is no noticable performance difference to Firewire. I have never felt a speed problem when loading files onto the player. It takes about 10 seconds to copy an entire album. The PC must have a USB 2 connection to be able to work at this speed. Transfer also works with USB 1, although *much* slower. The advantage of USB is that every PC has such a connection (at least USB 1), whereas Firewire comes only standard with Apple computers. Firewire or USB 2.0 PCI cards can added to a PC for $30-40. New PCs all come with USB 2.0 connections.

Thanks for the link, Hans. When Steve Hoffman writes about Van Gelder recordings, he usually refers to Prestige sessions which he remastered for the DCC label (Miles, Trane). However RVG created a slightly different sound for Blue Note.

John Litweiler has posted a few messages in the Yahoo "Chicago Improvised Music List" during the past 2 years: http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/chi-improv/message/3809 http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/chi-improv/message/4478 http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/chi-improv/message/4985 Part of his email address can be seen on Yahoo, if the same address was used here we can assume it's him.

I played the same track from the Joe Henderson "Blue Note Years" 4CD box (from 1993). The drop out is there too, but it is less audible because the cymbals are not as trebly as on the RVG and the drop out is mainly noticable on high frequencies.

I hear it too on my US RVG. It's a very brief drop out. I didn't notice it before reading this post. BTW, the US RVG is not copyprotected. It only has the new FBI warning thast some labels have adopted. I tried it my PC's DVD drive which usually doesn't allow copying protected CDs and it worked without a problem.

George Michael in negative chat room scandal!! By Ashlee Vance in Chicago (ashlee.vance at theregister.co.uk) Published Friday 9th July 2004 19:09 GMT Blaming the media and the end of all that is good, George Michael decided this week to shut down the chat section of his web site. Nasty comments about Michael looking tubby, old and tired also played a role in the decision, but Michael stressed that it was the media and the end of all that is good that were mostly to blame for the decision. "I'm afraid that, having visited the forums on a regular basis over the past few months, simply to see how you guys thought the album/ interviews/promotion were going, I have decided to close them down," Michael or a bot purporting to be he of Wham! fame writes. (http://forums.aegean.net/announcement.php?forumid=2) "As many of you will know, much of my reasoning for the future is to stay away from the negativity of the media." That's a good idea, George. "I think that it is bad for me and for music in general, so I find it really sad to see the forums so packed full of negative comment, and that so many genuinely positive fans find themselves defending me(or themselves) constantly against attack." Yep, absolutely shocking chat room behavior. "How pointless." Indeed. "There are plenty of places to read people slagging each other off (Here's one - Ed), but I wasn't trying to create one in opening the Forum. Those of you that want to carry on the media's work will have to do it somewhere else I suppose...." But what are we going to do without your web site? Where else can we share in our love of banal but poppy tunes that never really lived up to similar banal but poppy Wham! tunes? "Things will stay the same for the next two weeks, so that those of you who have made friendships can decide which other sites to meet at, and then the rooms will close. I feel bad for those of you who have always been supportive, but I'm afraid I want nothing to do with the bitching that has evolved between some members, (many members), and perhaps unofficial sites will be a calmer affair." Is it really that bad, George? "Sorry guys, but that's the way it goes... Peace and Love...or nothing at all." How did Michael's immense fan base react to the news? High Times writes, "i dont know what exactly bitching there was but we have moderators to watch the situation! REALIZE THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF US QUITE NORMAL FANS AND SOME 5 OR 6 OR HOW MUCH OF THEM IDIOTS MAKE GEORGE BELIEVE WE ALL ARE SO NEGATIVE!!!!!!!!!!!WE ARE THE SAME FANS THAT WE WERE BEFORE !!!!!" Yeah, cull the negative idiots. But, that must be better than previous put-downs like this from Braiz_DPR. "Message for George Michael Hey man, how are you? I'm a 21 years old, simple, miserable, unknown gay guy that lives down way here in Brazil (South America) and only now I'm getting to know your music... It started when I borrowed a DVD from a friend (Ladies and Gentlemen - The best of) and saw the videos and the interview. I found it amazing... and it's just the begining for sure. You have the sexiest man voice in the world... I just love to hear you singing... I wish you could sing to me right into my ears. I would shiver!!! And above all, you are soooo sexy!!! I would do anything to make love to you!!! You're soooo HOT! I'm sorry for beeing so horny here..." Easy, George. So while Michael is called "fat, tired and old" in some places, there is not a lot of negativity. Sadly, we checked. There really isn't much negativity at all. The chat forums are mostly loaded with poems and sex proposals for Michael. But, as Michael says, it's peace and love or nothing at all. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/09/gm_chat_bm/

It's less than that in practice (10-12 hours), because 192kbs bitrate is preferable for MP3. The iRiver players work like an external USB drive, the files are simply copied with Windows Explorer to the drive letter that appears when the player is connected. If you have the cable with you, you can connect to player to any USB-capable PC running Windows 2000 or XP (Windows 98/Me needs a driver installation) and copy music onto the player or from the player. You can even use the player as a data transport for any type of files. With the iPod, a special software must be used to transfer music onto the player, and there are certain restrictions. Music cannot be copied from the player.

Can somebody explain how this "Artist track" system actually works? How can they track a normal CD? Or is it just a voluntary system where the CD buyer are supposed to indicate that they sold their CD?

What kind of exercising do you do? I have a iRiver H120 with a 20GB hard drive and it is completely insensible to shocks. Shaking it has no incidence on the functioning. Jogging would be no problem. I wouldn't use it for that, because I have a lighter and smaller flash memory player. But shock-resistance clearly is not an issue, except maybe when doing mountain-biking on a extremely bumpy path.

I received the US RVGs of "Inner urge" and "Breaking point" yesterday. The sound is fine, although Blue Note/RVG doesn't seem to produce the same magic on 40 year old tapes as other labels like Sony, Verve or Fantasy (K2, SACDs) are able to. The RVGs are much more dynamic (not just louder) than the previous late 80's McMaster remasters, the extreme channel panning has been reduced and the bass notes are much clearer, but the midrange sounds a bit flat and treble a bit too prominent (on the cymbals especially). "Breaking point" is not a great recording from a technical point of view, but the RVG is a vast improvement over the old release. On "Inner urge", the tape defects on the solo sax intro of "El Barrio" can also be heard on the RVG. It seems like RVG remasters have become very predictable now. No duds, but no sonic revelations either. I would not recommend to upgrade every Mosaic or Connoisseur CD to the new RVG reissue, but in case of these albums which were only available in late 80's CD versions the improvement is obvious.

I just received the Unicorn Video. It has 4 tracks: 1. Git Go 21:05 2. All Alone 17:35 3. Firewaltz 19:18 4. Left Alone 4:55 I´ve only watched the first couple of minutes. The picture quality is very good (as one might expect from a TV production from 1986). The stereo sound is ok, a bit muffled. Packaging is extremely simple, no indication of recording date or year. But well worth the $12.

According to jazzmatazz, the "Wes Montgomery Trio" album will be reissued twice by Fantasy this summer: Wes Montgomery - The Wes Montgomery Trio (Riverside) July 20 — Wes Montgomery (guitar); Melvin Rhyne (organ); Paul Parker (drums): from 1959; 20-bit K2 remastered Wes Montgomery Trio - Wes Montgomery Trio - SACD hybrid (Fantasy/Riverside) Aug 17

http://www.letour.fr/2004/presentationfr/parcours.html http://www.letour.fr/2004/us/index.html For detailed schedule of every stage, select the stage on the left pulldown box and then "Route" on the right side

I just found a german news article on a new pricing strategy for CDs by BMG Germany. Neues Preissystem für Audio-CDs: Musik wird billiger As from August this year, BMG Germany will be offering new CD releases in 3 versions: - "anti-piracy version": just a CD with information printed on the label and no cover, for 10 Euro - "normal version": like current CDs, but sold at 13 instead of 16 Euro - "deluxe version": with additional content or packaging (no detailed info available), for 18 Euro For the already available full price CDs, the price will be reduced to 13 Euro (17 Euro previously). This is an interesting move. At last somebody is being creative not just blaming the "consumer-pirate" for the currently low sales. In my view, the "anti-piracy version" is too expensive compared to the normal version (just 3 Euro more for a jewel case and booklet). Those wanting a copy for the car would still prefer to burn it themselves (which is not an act of piracy BTW).

I've heard "In This house ..." recently and enjoyed it too. I don't know if it will be the same on repeated listening though. I quite like the Village Vanguard box also.

Slightly off-topic: Teen arrested in alleged effort to bootleg "Spider-man 2'' - ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer Wednesday, June 30, 2004 (06-30) 18:00 PDT LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A 16-year-old was arrested early Wednesday in a theater showing "Spider-man 2" after a projectionist using night vision goggles saw him using a camcorder to make an illegal copy of the superhero sequel. The teen could be charged under a law that went into effect Jan. 1 and makes taking a recording device into a movie theater a crime punishable by up to one year in jail and a maximum fine of $2,500. The Los Angeles District Attorney's office is expected to review the case and determine whether to charge the teen, who was released into his parents' custody, said Sgt. Mel Amoroso, a spokesman at the Los Angeles Police Department's Devonshire Division. The film industry's trade group hailed the arrest and credited its recent initiative to offer cash rewards of up to $500 to theater employees who turn in moviegoers attempting to make illicit film copies. "In theaters nationwide, there are now thousands of eyes looking for camcording-pirates and this incident proves that pirates who use these devices in theaters will be caught," said James W. Spertus, vice president and director of antipiracy operations for the Motion Picture Association of America. Camcorders account for 92 percent of all illegal copies of films that appear for sale over the Internet and are sold on street corners from Burbank to Beijing, according to the MPAA. The teen, whose identity was not made public, was among the throngs of midnight movie viewers across the country who crowded theaters for the debut of the "Spider-man" sequel. According to the MPAA, the projectionist at the Pacific Winnetka theater in the Los Angeles suburb of Chatsworth spotted the teen using a camcorder a few minutes into the start of the film. He and two other individuals with him were escorted out of the theater by security and turned over to the police. The camcorder contained a recording of the beginning of the film, the MPAA said. "Hundreds of people have put tens of thousands of hours into making a truly great picture, and the notion of having it stolen and sent out for free around the world is just plain wrong," said Jeff Blake, vice chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, the film company behind "Spider-man 2." http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file...2100EDT0173.DTL

Surprisingly calm here (1/6th of the population is of Portuguese origin)

I thought Fantasy would now focus on SACD reissues instead of K2 20Bit CDs, as both serve the same audiophile market but SACD is the newer and better technology (although the remastering is generally more important than the format). Quite many albums which have been reissued as K2 CDs have now also been released on SACD. That being said, I've recently bought the K2 CD of Eric Dolphy "Outward bound", and it sounds a lot better than the Complete Prestige box set, although I never thought the box was sounding bad.

I also fully agree with Chris' opinion. It's an entertainment movie, and not a strict documentary (some parts are staged) or a concert film. What we need today would be a DVD with the original movie as well as uncut musical performances as a bonus part.

The problem with alternative (mostly better) compression formats is that many portable players don't support them. MP3 is the common standard that all players support. At higher bitrates (192kbs and above) it is also very good, at least for portable use.

No, nothing is restored. If an MP3 is played on the PC, it is being decoded. If it is converted to wav for audio CD burning, it is being decoded in the same way. It could be that the article meant that, when creating an audio CD from MP3s and playing it on a dedicated CD player, it sounds better because the player is better than the sound card of the PC when playing MP3s directly. But that has nothing to do with the wav file being better than the source mp3 file.