Australian HiFi November-December 2015

In my Editor’s Lead-In for the July/August issue, I wrote that Spotify is probably the best chance for musicians to make money they’ve ever had… given the proviso that they arrange their business affairs so that they get ALL Spotify royalties (which means they need to own all rights—performance, recording, reproduction… the lot—in their work.) So what happens if you don’t own all your own rights? Ask Taylor Swift. Spotify says it paid Swift $US2 million last year, but Scott Borchetta, CEO of Swift’s record label Big Machine, told Time Magazine that the label only received $US500,000 in Spotify royalties. The reason? Spotify paid the $US2mil to Universal, which took its cut before passing the balance to Big Machine (which would then take its cut, before handing what was left…

Yamaha has introduced a wireless music system it calls MusicCast. What differentiates Yamaha’s MusicCast from all other wireless music systems is the enormous range of device options on offer: 25 different AV receivers, two amplifiers, two audio systems, two wireless speaker systems and three sound bars, all of which can communicate with each other, with the internet, and be controlled by any mobile device… and that’s just what’s available at the initial launch. Yamaha says that every product in its range will eventually be MusicCast-capable. ‘MusicCast is a real revolution in network audio,’ said Simon Goldsworthy, Managing Director of Yamaha Music Australia. ‘Use all your MusicCast products together or separately—it’s completely up to you, and you can control it all using a free app on your phone, and it’s a…

EnigmAcoustics’ add-on electrostatic super-tweeter, the Sopranino, is now available in Australia through BusiSoft. The Sopranino uses EnigmAcoustics’ patented SBESL (Self-Biased Electrostatic) technology. ‘Sopranino is a groundbreaking product,’ said George Poutakidis of BusiSoft. ‘It brings the magic of electrostatic performance to essentially any full-range loudspeaker system, capturing air, texture, focus, and inner detail that you otherwise would not have known were there. Its ability to retrieve ambience and to reproduce music with a true listen-through quality simply must be heard to be believed.’ Unlike conventional electrostatic designs, which require an external bias voltage, Sopranino says it derives its polarising voltage from the signal itself and is able to extend the high frequency response of any speaker system to beyond 40kHz, with selectable 8kHz, 10kHz, or 12kHz crossover points. The Sopranino has…

Absolute Hi End has been appointed as the distributor for the range of equipment support and racks manufactured in the USA by Critical Mass Systems (CMS). Critical Mass Systems says that the racks it makes are not isolation systems as they do not prevent the transmission of vibration. The company instead states that its racks use: ‘proprietary internal vibration filtering materials and rack architecture to mitigate vibration in the floor, the rack, the shelf and the component at the same time. This ensures even energy transfer throughout the rack architecture and filter system so your component can retain the “sound” that was intended, revealing the inner detail of the music.’ ‘Vibration is everywhere in the listening room. The moment loudspeakers produce sound, the sound creates vibration in the floor and…

Richter Acoustics has extended the warranty period on its entire range of loudspeakers and subwoofers, to ten years on loudspeakers and to five years on subwoofers. ‘Following exhaustive testing by Dr Martin Gosnell, our Senior Engineer, we’ve determined that the current Legend range of loudspeakers will stand the test of time, so the normal warranty period of all speakers purchased after 1st of August, 2105, will be extended when the purchaser registers online within 14 days,’ said John Cornell, of Richter. ‘By registering their speaker product within 14 days, the purchaser will receive an extra five year warranty on top of the existing five year warranty (passive speakers) and for a subwoofer, the already existing two-year warranty period will be extended to five years.’ For more information, contact Richter Acoustics…

Convoy has been appointed the sole Australian distributor for Music Hall, and will in future be distributing that company’s turntables and cartridges. Gary Tye, Convoy’s General Manager of Specialty Audio said he was delighted to have secured the distribution rights for Music Hall. ‘Convoy has a philosophy of distributing the best value for money digital and analogue audio video products, and I see Music Hall turntables as a natural partner for our ranges of B&W and JBL speakers and our ranges of harman/ kardon and Classe amplifiers,’ he said. ‘While we’re over the moon at the success of our Bluesound wireless digital streaming products, we also recognise that there’s a passion amongst music lovers for products such as turntables, so we looked hard for a unique manufacturer of turntables that…