Inside the pages of January's HIGH FIDELITY THIS YEAR PROMISES to be a very exciting one for home entertainment. Surely much attention will be focused on the digital Compact Disc and player. Our cover age of this revolutionary technology began last month with a hands-on report on Sony's CDP 101 by technical editor Michael Riggs. This month our classical- and popular-music critics and editors listen to the first Compact Discs. As they report, it is often difficult to separate the medium from the music.
More traditional playback equipment is seeing a revolution of its own. As Peter Dobbin reports in "Sound Views," such products as Carver's TX- II tuner and the Polk SDA-1 loudspeaker reflect a real renaissance in audio innovation.
Those two units are covered in detail in this month's expanded test-report section, for which we have selected ten new products for in-depth lab/listening reports by Diversified Science Laboratories and the HIGH FIDELITY technical staff. Supplementing these formal tests are two hands-on evaluations: In "Environments," Christine Begole appraises one of the new bookshelf component stereo systems, and in our video report, Edward J. Foster of DSL checks out a new, feature-packed color video camera.
In the area of classical music, this month we begin a two-part tribute to Glenn Gould, the legendary pianist who died last October and whose by-line appeared frequently in HF during the '60s and '70s. In this issue, we run his previously unpublished piece "What the Recording Process Means to Me," David Hamilton's appraisal of his importance to recorded music, and a review of Gould's recent Goldberg Variations by classical music editor James Oestreich. Next month we'll print excerpts from his eloquent and often eccentric HF writings.
Speaking of eccentric, BACKBEAT's interview this month is Steely Dan's Donald Fagen. With uncharacteristic candor, Fagen discusses his first solo LP and its digital recording sessions. In February, BACKBEAT will interview Billy Joel.
Next month's audio and video coverage will focus on tape and recording.
Along with test reports on six new cassette decks, we'll feature articles on how to make great recordings, how tape recording works, how to pick the best audio (or video) tape for your application, the future of home recorded and recording media, and tips on mistakes to avoid in your home recording studio .... That's enough to keep us busy. In the meantime, Happy New Year!
-W.T.
HF technical editor Michael Riggs (standing, right) explains the digital Compact Disc to HF music editors and critics assembled in High Fidelity's listening room.
High Fidelity.
Cover Design. Robert Maddocks
Cover Photo George Menda
ON THE COVER- (clockwise from rear) Polk SDA-1 loudspeaker. JVC GX S9U video camera. Design Acoustics PS-10 loudspeaker. Realistic Bass Enhancer. Teac V-95RX cassette deck. Sherwood S-6020CP preamp Vector Research VRX-9500 receiver, Technics SU-V9 integrated amplifier. Carver TX-11 tuner. Kenwood New Life integrated component system