BAASnotes.com – Bay Area Audiophile Society

Sumiko to Hold Open House in Berkeley

See the flyer below for details of Sumiko’s Open House (9/15/2010):

Home Audio Market Forecast Raised – Really!

As documented in an interesting article published by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA, think CES), sales forecasts for home audio over the next decade have been raised. Wow.

Basically, folks have all bought their flat-screen TV’s and iPods and such, and now industry analysts think they’ll turn to audio. Nice.

Of course, what this means to the ‘high end’ market remains to be seen. But I doubt if it’s bad.

Quotables:

A few years ago, most everyone seemed excited about the the iPod. Everyone, that is, except the majority home audio manufacturers. Their reluctance was somewhat understandable. For a while, it seemed as though the increasingly old-fashioned concept of listening to music through a set of speakers on a system powered by an amplified receiver was going the way of the raptor.

and

A resurgence of LPs-fueled by nostalgia as well as a reaction to the often atrocious sound quality of audio files – kept the old-fashioned fire burning….

and the punchline:

CEA’s Industry Forecast anticipates home audio revenues of $915 million by the end of this year, a 4 percent year-over-year increase and a refreshing jump from the $863 million we forecasted in January.

Great news…

Bob

Audio Objectivist Makes Case at AES 2009 (Video)

Most audiophiles who have frequented the forums know Ethan Winer – both as sound trap manufacturer and audiophile skeptic.

While the video below is more about the latter, I think that there are a few good learning points as well….

(Note: If the geeky video below isn’t your thing, try this one – with Mr. Winer on cello!)

Silverman to Return to Beethoven Sonatas

Audio High will bring pianist Robert Silverman back to the Bay Area, this time for an eight-concert series of the entire cycle of Beethoven piano sonatas (32 in all).

These events will be open to the public and all proceeds will benefit the Elf Foundation. Dates are Sept 9th & 16th and Nov 11th & 18th, 2010; Feb 3rd & 10th and Apr 7th & 14th, 2011.

Audio High will be recording and producing a CD set of all 32 sonatas with Mr. Silverman that will also contribute to the Elf Foundation’s Rooms of Magic program. The recordings will also likely be offered in a high-resolution format. (Yah!)

BAAS was treated to Silverman’s masterful playing in a private session last year.

More information will be available at www.audiohigh.org (note the .org).

Fremer Laments HiFi as ‘Object of Scorn’

Today’s NY Times features a survey piece on the state of high fidelity.

Centerstage is the market movement from high-fidelity home systems to mobile lofi devices.

Key stat: The hifi market, now $1B annually, has shrunk to half of where it was 10 years ago.

Michael Fremer offers some insights as well.

Apple Launches New Macbooks with Firewire 800

Apple just released a great (to the converted at least) new lineup of laptops.

As I expected, all feature Firewire 800 ports.

So the (audiophile) rumors of Firewire’s demise are greatly exagerated…

Bob

Keeping up with audiophile happenings

Daily Audiophile (link) features a very nice set of blog and audio-website links. (The site was down for months, but is now back – better than ever.)

A similar, if less structured, site is High End Matters (link).

So these two join Stereophile, Absolute Sound, and the various blogs and forums as places to go to keep up with our crazy hobby passion obsession.

Where do you go for music and audio info? Add your sources of news to the Comments!

Brian Eno on Music and Whale Blubber

Today’s Guardian has a very interesting interview with Brian Eno.

The far-ranging discussion presents some novel views on music and its relation to our commercial and cultural worlds.

Thanks, Aaron, for pointing this one out!

Will New FTC Rules Improve Audiophile Product Reviews?

As reported in today’s New York Times (here), the FTC is moving quickly to tighten disclosure laws for bloggers (or other website authors) doing product reviews.

In short, if the reviewer has any financial relationship to the vendor – including receiving free samples – it must be disclosed. One would assume that advertising deals would also fall under the ruling.

This is good news for most consumers, as abuse is rampant in some areas (see article). But what about audiophiles? Will they benefit?

I believe so. Transparency is a cornerstone of journalism, and audio buyers should be made aware of any biases of reviewers.

On the other hand, as the new rule may slow down the volume of review samples – and no publisher that I am aware of has the capital to buy samples of high-end gear in any volume.

Time will tell…

[This article represents the opinions of its author - Bob Walters - and not necessarily those of BAAS or its membership.]

A Dozen Opinions on Computer Audio

Dave Clark at Positive Feedback recently interviewed 12 experts, asking 10 questions on the trends in digital playback.

The result is a valuable compendium of info on topics such as:

• USB or Firewire
• Jitter
• “Pro” gear vs “Audiophile” gear
• And much more….

If you are thinking about computer or ‘music server’ sources, then this is highly recommended reading.

Click here to read….

by bob walters

Tags: Audiophile, baas, computer audio, digital audio

Music Industry: Trading Analog Dollars for Digital Cents

As reported in today’s NY Times, a major record label – Atlantic Records – now makes more money from digital downloads than CD or record sales.

Big milestone. The labels had better get used to it. This is the future, and it’s happening now.

The article goes on to document how the labels plan to make up for the lost margins on (cheap) download sales. Excuse me, how about the artists? Well, the internet has begun to set them free.

This’ll be fascinating to watch over the next few years. It’s a bigger fundamental shift than the last one – LP to CD.

Bob Walters