PT for Intel Macs Available

Pro Tools LE and Pro Tools M-Powered 7.1.1 software are free updates that support Apple’s new Intel-based iMac, MacBook Pro, and Mac Mini computers. Both updates run natively on Intel-based Macs, making full use of the host computer’s processing power. These updates are only for Intel-based Macs.

Talking Heads – Best of Brick [DTS] [2005/DTS/1411] (Alternative)

2006 DualDisc Remaster/Reissue – DVDA tracks (5.1 Audio –> DTS)

This is a collection of the DVD-Audio tracks found on the 8 DualDiscs in the recently-released Brick boxed-set. Rhino did a superb job of remastering the tracks into 5.1, and by way of DTS, you can enjoy them all in one place!

If this is what I think it is, it certainly is appalling. Someone’s figured out how to rip DVD-A tracks from the Talking Heads collection and has posted them as DTS files in a bit torrent.

First European HD DVD debuts with DTS-HD audio

The disc is also significant in that it’s the first HD DVD to feature DTS-HD Master Audio, as the exclusive lossless sound format. DTS-HD Master Audio is bit-for-bit identical to studio master quality. At present, there is no hardware available to play the format back, although conventional receivers and amplifiers will deliver a high-quality DTS track.
[Via AV zombie]

What a wacky business!

Fortuna Ushers Maestro to the Stage

Fortuna Classical Music, a company dedicated to “the technological and social advancement of classical music” has a new home electronics component out today which is designed to rip and store a massive classical music CD collection. The new Fortuna Maestro is priced at $4,995, which includes the company preloading 1,000 of your CDs free with your order.
The Fortuna Maestro, said its maker, is capable of holding upwards of 3,600 music CDs on its 400GB hard drive. With support for WMA Lossless and MP3 music formats, the Maestro is targeted towards classical music lovers and has a wide array of features including high quality audio output via analog or digital output . . . .

[snip]

“In the past, all digital music players were designed for pop music fans,” said Fortuna founder and CEO Bill Stensrud in a statement. “When I tried to put my classical music on those players it was tagged so poorly, I couldn’t find anything … We developed Maestro because I love classical music and none of the other digital music players had a clue how to deal with a classical collection.”

[Via Designtechnia - Home Audio]

High-Definition Radio: It’s The New Wave

With the technology and a standard already in place, high-definition radio needs the hardware to catch up… and maybe some public relations.

This is a fairly lengthy article going into some of the history and technical specifications of HD Radio. There are many user comments on the article, mostly complaining about the HD moniker.

Surveying HD Radio consumers

What all that means is that you’d expect the opinions of these folks to be particularly rosy.

[snip]

While 37% are VERY satisfied, only 25% are SOMEWHAT satisfied. And 38% feel HD Radio is “Just Okay” or worse.

Among those who were dissatisfied, the majority pointed to deficient signal reception or “quality not as advertised” which seems to refer to audio quality. “Value” (i.e., cost) was not a big mention. “Lack of variety” and “low quality programming” (which could mean the same thing, but not necessarily) were also in the mix, but at lower levels.

And this also reflects something else: That the radios are being purchased for technical quality reasons first and foremost. This could be characteristic of the “innovative” nature of these consumers. Because one thing’s for sure: Audio fidelity will never be a primary driver for the mass market.

[Via Hear 2.0]

Damning with faint praise. I think part of the problem is marketing. HD Radio? Perhaps you’ve seen an HDTV? There’s no question that the image is better than conventional television. Does HD Radio sound that much better than FM? I have my doubts. It’s 96 kbps at best and the actual data rate is lower. So where is the incentive from the consumers point of view?

XM Kicks Off New Season of Original Music Programming

The summer season of “Artist Confidential” also will feature Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, The Cars, The Doobie Brothers, INXS, Steven Stills of Crosby, Stills and Nash, and the first-ever “Artist Confidential” to be broadcast in 5.1 surround sound, featuring Alan Parsons.

But will he use the centre channel?! ;-]

MPEG |surround|

In 2004, the MPEG Audio standardization group started a work item on Spatial Audio Coding. The Spatial Audio Coding approach allows a fully backward compatible representation of multi-channel audio at data rates that are just slightly higher than the rates currently used for encoding mono or stereo sound. The resulting technology now is officially promoted as “MPEG Surround”, and the corresponding MPEG specification will be finalized within 2006.

A web site set up by “four of the main contributors to the MPEG Surround standard.” There is a basic explanation of the technology and a link to a pdf of an AES paper which goes into some detail.

This is the first I’ve heard of this site and I think the site is quite new. It’s clearly intended to get the word out about the evolving format. It would be great if they set up an RSS feed and updated the News portion of the site regularly.

Special first-anniversary CBC Radio 3 podcast coming

Consistently ranked as the No. 1 music podcast in Canada, the CBC Radio 3 podcast is celebrating its first anniversary and two million downloads. In the past year, CBC Radio 3 has broken international broadcasting boundaries to podcast more than 600 Canadian artists—including Arcade Fire, Death From Above 1979, Broken Social Scene, the New Pornographers and Elliott Brood — to subscribers around the world. CBC Radio 3’s first anniversary special will be available for download Friday at www.cbcradio3.com.

[Via I Love Radio .org]

Congrats to the Radio 3 people.

Cranking up MPEG Surround (EE Times)

PARIS — MPEG Surround, a new surround-sound technology targeting a broad range of digital applications, emerged as the star of this week’s Audio Engineering Society Expo here.

“The new technology promises a smooth transition from stereo to multichannel since it does not require broadcasters (or content owners) to send (or store) both stereo and multichannel versions of audio. Potential applications include digital radio systems such as Eureka 147 Digital Audio Broadcast in Europe and HD Radio in the U.S. Internet streaming is another possible application.”
[Via Yahoo Search: surround sound radio]