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Digitized audio is the format most of us have accepted for the storage, distribution and reproduction of music today. The Compact Disc (CD) is the medium of choice for digitized music, but just as the platter extincted the cylinder, the 45 replaced the 78, the LP took over for the 45 and the CD relegated the LP to basement storage, another revolution in music technology, Digital Audio, is poised to reduce the CD to a minor role. Wait a minute, you’re probably saying to yourself, didn’t I just state that digital audio is the format we’re all using for music today? Well, yes, CD’s do consist of digital audio, but the term Digital Audio has recently come to mean audio stored on hard disks, memory cards and the like. Although the distinction may seem subtle, these new storage media imply dramatic changes in the way music is distributed and played. The most dramatic and potentially devastating transformation has been in the way that some people acquire music today – downloading it, sometimes for a fee, but more often illegally. Digital Audio music is most often listened to on portable MP3 players, but also gets played on PCs, and, more increasingly, on Digital Audio players connected to in-home stereo systems. Mechanisms to play Digital Audio in automobiles are still not readily available today, but will become more and more prevalent as the Digital Audio revolution gathers steam. It seems likely that the average recorded music fan will ultimately maintain a centralized music storage device, perhaps a PC dedicated to the task, maybe a general purpose PC used for a variety of activities, possibly an external (1394 or USB) disk drive or potentially a Digital Audio jukebox device. Whatever the form, the music store will be used to load-up portable playback devices and to feed music to multiple music zones within the house. One of the challenges today is to help music fans get Digital Audio to existing stereo systems in the home and/or to any location where a resident wants to listen to tunes. There are 8 basic ways to accomplish this goal today: 1. PC with internal or attached speakers; 2. PC connected directly to stereo system; 3. RF between PC and stereo; 4. Baluns; 5. USB to RCA; 6. Ethernet Digital Audio Receiver; 7. Wireless DARs; 8. Ethernet-enabled stereo system. |
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