1. The Boston Audio Society Test CD-1 (now available — the button is on the left) contains 71 minutes of contributions by members. It begins with a setting of Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky" for chorus, then selections by Saint-Saëns (Organ Symphony), Bach, Bruckner, Soler, Schumann, Mahler and Verdi (Requiem); an excerpt from Shoptalk with Peter Mitchell, Richard Goldwater and Brad Meyer with guests; 21 tracks of test signals which test the limits of CD players and playback systems and your hearing; and a selection from the Opus "Frogs".

It is available by donation of $40 to the Society (independent of dues). If you wish to order a copy, send a check for $40, made out to the Boston Audio Society, to David Hadaway, POB 460, Rindge NH 03461. (If you have already made a donation of $40 or more and have not received your CD, please notify me).

2. Under the title "Fans search out the golden oldies of tech", US News & World Report (27Nv2000) reviews the nostalgia market in Beta Video, Super 8 movies, LPs, and 8 track cartridges.

3. MCM electronics is now carrying S-video connectors, both cable and chassis, and raw cable so you can now make S-video custom cables and switchboxes. www.mcmelectronics.com, (800) 543-4330

4. Brian Dipert, Tech Editor of EDN mag, writes (21De00) about a visit to Sony Musical Studios in Santa Monica CA for a critical listening test of the Verance Corp's watermaking technology. This is designed to insert media identification data without (allegedly) affecting the audio. It uses perceptual coding, similar to MP3. [I believe it is designed to survive cassette copying--DBH] In an ABX (double blind) test he identified 8 out of 10 correctly. He has professional experience with audio codecs, so he is not the "man on the street", but he feels the errors in lossy compression would become more noticeable as consumers spend more time with the technology. Verance's watermarking will debut on DVD Audio discs that target discriminating audiophiles. "Why would these folks pay thousands of dollars for equipment and dozens of dollars per disc to listen to media that they perceive has less-than-optimal quality because of the watermark?" [Why, indeed?--DBH].

5. Walmart is now selling a CD player with headphones (batteries not included) for under $20. It features a 1 bit converter and "bass boost" circuitry.

6. Actress Kim Cattrall is collaborating with her husband Mark Levinson on a book--a manual designed to help men in their ongoing quest to satisfy women. "It's kind of like a book you would buy in a stereo store on how to put speakers together," Cattrall says with the smallest of smiles. "Guys are gear-heads. The book's tone is more like: 'Hey, this is what you need to know, because a lot of women are scared to talk about it.' It can be...as simple as where to plug in the energy, the circuitry. And guys can understand that." (I will spare the reader her discussion of multiple O's). [MORE Fe01]