Audio News for July 21, 2007

by | Jul 21, 2007 | Audio News | 0 comments

Rating Objectionable Sounds – Researcher Trevor Cox of Salford University in Australia sought opinions on 34 annoying sounds which he posted on his website in hopes of learning what makes certain noises so objectionable to people.  Over 1.1 million votes were cast. The results?  No. 1: a person vomiting; No. 2: microphone feedback; No. 3: tie between baby crying and squeaks/scrapes of a train. Snoring, surprisingly, was way down at No. 26.

Audio Engineer John Eargle Dies
– One of the leading names in audio recording passed away in May at age 76. John Eargle was recording director for Delos Records, and pioneered recording in surround sound and releasing as Dolby Matrix Surround CDs. He was awarded a Grammy in 2001 for his recording of the Dvorak Requiem conducted by Zdenek Macal for Delos. He also had a love of jazz and recorded such artists as Joe Williams and Clark Terry. Eargle authored many tech books on audio, including The Microphone Handbook, the Loudspeaker Handbook and others – many of which are used as textbooks at colleges and universities.

Audio vs. Music Quote
– This came from New Zealand audio publication Tone, with some slight editing from us. It’s something to keep in mind concerning the dichotomy between the “convenience/portability” crowd of digital data reducers and those of us dedicated to true high fidelity (who sometimes forget that the music is the reason for all this gear and media):

Blind testing will reveal differences between true hi-res, vinyl, CD or MP3, but what a
test doesn’t reveal is whether the music itself is exciting, involving or relaxing.


Armour Announces New Hard Drive MusicServer
– An example of the growing convenience and accessibility of hard disc-based audio servers for the home is the new UK-based Armour Home Electronics Systemline MusicServer. The unit becomes the owner’s one-box music library, with all selections categorized and organized exactly as desired. The MusicServer can be integrated into a multiroom system and controlled and enjoyed from anywhere in the home. Three separate audio outputs allow three users to simultaneously hear their individual selections. They can also audition stations – including Net radio – from anywhere, or hear music from compatible  mobile MP3 players connected to the MusicServer. A 160 GB hard drive is standard and five different recording bit-rates range from 68Kbs to uncompressed PCM. This will hold over 300 albums at the uncompressed rate or more than 40,000 tracks at the lowest rate. The server can also “see” other music content stored on other PCs and hard drives on the home network, and add them to the MusicServer collection. The server has an audiophile-quality CD player which displays artist, album and track information.

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