Monthly Archives: September 2003

Harman Kardon comes up with a winner

Posted on September 30, 2003 by Stephen Dawson

Harman Kardon claims that its new DVD-30 actually does DVD Audio properly. Well, I’ve just completed a review of it and, I have to agree, it does. And does it well. Yep, finally Denon has some competition. The DVD-30 offers … Continue reading →

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Now that’s sad

Posted on September 30, 2003 by Stephen Dawson

There are three pieces of software I use so often that they almost define my work. One is TextPad), upon which I am writing this. Another is the best damned calculator on the planet: Kalkulator. And the third is CoolEdit … Continue reading →

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Denon bringing proper mutichannel SACD, and future DVI to these shores

Posted on September 26, 2003 by Stephen Dawson

Look forward to the introduction by Audio Products Australia of the Denon DVD-A11 everything* player this month. Recommended retail price: $3,999. I am drawing here on information about what I take to be the equivalent US model, the Denon DVD-5900. … Continue reading →

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Did you know: MP3 is ‘Studio Quality’?

Posted on September 25, 2003 by Stephen Dawson

 Got a chuckle out of this ‘explanation’ of MP3 in the manual of an inexpensive Conia DVD player I’ve been reviewing. Talk about overstating the quality of MP3! Sure, at 128kb/s MP3 is quite indistinguishable from the CD source for … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Codecs, Compression, Portable | Leave a comment

New article up – Killer CDs

Posted on September 24, 2003 by Stephen Dawson

A superficial reading of the specifications of a CD-ROM drive can generate a fearsome number. The now standard 52x read speed suggests a disc running at 24,000 rpm, with a linear velocity at its edge of over 150m/s (that is, … Continue reading →

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Calling Virginia!

Posted on September 23, 2003 by Stephen Dawson

The statistics on hifi-writer.com show that the highest volume of visitors, by region, come from North America (not surprisingly, closely followed by Oceania, which is where I am). And for the past couple of weeks the biggest number of visits … Continue reading →

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My Denon DVD-2900 review on-line

Posted on September 23, 2003 by Stephen Dawson

The DVD User Group has come to arrangment with Sound and Image magazine to reproduce some of the magazine’s hardware reviews on-line. My review of the Denon DVD-2900 DVD player is now there (you need to become a member — … Continue reading →

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Damping Factor – not as important as I thought

Posted on September 23, 2003 by Stephen Dawson

The damping factor of amplifiers is a measure that has fallen out of favour in recent years. Many brands don’t specify it any longer. I had long considered it an important specification, since a low damping factor can lead to … Continue reading →

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Infrasonic squirms

Posted on September 22, 2003 by Stephen Dawson

Some experimental types have been working out the effect of infrasonic sound on people’s emotional states. The recipe: take a seven metre long pipe, stick a ‘long throw’ bass driver (woofer) therein a third of the way down, then drive … Continue reading →

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The CRT projector lives

Posted on September 21, 2003 by Stephen Dawson

Yesterday I finished a review of the Barco Cine 7 LT projector, which should appear in a couple of weeks in the ‘Livewire’ section of The Age newspaper. I had thought that CRT projectors were big, heavy and expensive. The … Continue reading →

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