Comments on: CES 2008: Alan Taffel Takes a Look at Next-Gen Audio from CES http://www.avguide.com/news/2008/01/23/ces-2008-alan-taffel-takes-a-look-at-next-gen-audio-from-ces/ Fresh daily content for AVguide.com Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:48:05 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Mark Waldrep http://www.avguide.com/news/2008/01/23/ces-2008-alan-taffel-takes-a-look-at-next-gen-audio-from-ces/#comment-11091 Mark Waldrep Sun, 27 Jan 2008 01:33:18 +0000 http://www.avguide.com/news/2008/01/23/ces-2008-alan-taffel-takes-a-look-at-next-gen-audio-from-ces/#comment-11091 While I heartily applaud just about all of your observations (especially the recognition that REAL High Definition audio has finally arrived and can be downloaded at iTrax.com), I would like to point out that multichannel audio is not dead at all. It's true that there was very little surround being demonstrated at the Venetian this year...but I believe the reason is the lack of adequate space to pull of a great demo and the limited view of most manufacturers. The future is high definition, surround audio playing back from a music server. It will take time and the tipping point is still some years away, but those that have heard great recordings in 5.1 surround wonder know it's coming. AIX Records has been creating true HD Audio in stereo and surround for 8 years (almost 58 recordings many with HD Video) and is glad that optical discs are diminishing in importance. We still produce and release DVD-Audio titles for those that appreciate the benefits of HD PCM encoding...but now those that are properly equipped can download HD into dedicated music servers. The show was a hint of things to come. The most important technological innovation in the area of music servers was not being shown to the public but was tucked away in a suite at the Belaggio. The future is coming but I have to hold my thoughts until April or May. While I heartily applaud just about all of your observations (especially the recognition that REAL High Definition audio has finally arrived and can be downloaded at iTrax.com), I would like to point out that multichannel audio is not dead at all. It’s true that there was very little surround being demonstrated at the Venetian this year…but I believe the reason is the lack of adequate space to pull of a great demo and the limited view of most manufacturers.

The future is high definition, surround audio playing back from a music server. It will take time and the tipping point is still some years away, but those that have heard great recordings in 5.1 surround wonder know it’s coming.

AIX Records has been creating true HD Audio in stereo and surround for 8 years (almost 58 recordings many with HD Video) and is glad that optical discs are diminishing in importance. We still produce and release DVD-Audio titles for those that appreciate the benefits of HD PCM encoding…but now those that are properly equipped can download HD into dedicated music servers. The show was a hint of things to come.

The most important technological innovation in the area of music servers was not being shown to the public but was tucked away in a suite at the Belaggio. The future is coming but I have to hold my thoughts until April or May.

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