Special playback equipment is not required to access the discs' content. The DVD side plays wherever a DVD plays, including a DVD player, gaming consoles and computers. The CD side plays on all but a limited number of CD and DVD players, according to a package insert.

While the introductions of the competing DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD formats have been marked by consumer confusion and generally modest sales, label executives feel that DualDisc's fusion of two ubiquitous formats on a single disc and its compatibility with virtually all players increase the likelihood of mainstream adoption.

"Certainly, one of the important things for us is backward compatibility," says Larry Kenswil, president of Universal Music Group eLabs, "so that the DVD side will be playable on every DVD player in the home today."

'NATURAL PROGRESSION'

"The world is going toward more visuals in the entertainment sector," adds Jordan Katz, VP and general manager of BMG Distribution. "People more screen time, whether it's a computer, television or videogames. It's a natural progression for music to have a visual attached to it."

The initial launch will contain a mixture of current and catalog titles, says John Trickett, president/CEO of 5.1 Entertainment Group. "On Nov. 2, we'll release 25 titles; then on Nov. 16, we have another 25 coming out. Going forward, between 15 and 25 per month."

The first batch of DualDisc releases from 5.1 will include Blondie's "The Curse of Blondie," Blues Traveler's "Truth Be Told," Curtis Mayfield's "Live at Ronnie Scott's" and Robert Cray's "Time Will Tell." Trickett promises that all will be "fully loaded" with DVD content including high-resolution 5.1-channel audio mixes.

Sony will offer DualDiscs by David Bowie (news), Good Charlotte, Incubus, Yo-Yo Ma (news - web sites), Train, Five for Fighting and Miles Davis in its initial launch. Davis' classic "Kind of Blue" features a documentary with contemporary interviews and previously unseen performance footage, says Tom Donnarumma, executive VP of sales at Sony Music Label Group.

"If it's compelling content," he says, "we found that that's what the consumer is looking for: something they can't see on MTV, something they can't find anywhere else."

Warner Music Group will launch DualDisc with A Simple Plan's "Still Not Getting Any ...," the Donnas' "Gold Medal" and Trapt's self-titled 2002 release.

Universal Music Group will include Snow Patrol's "Final Straw," Keane's "Hopes & Fears" and a reissue of Nine Inch Nails' "The Downward Spiral" in its DualDisc launch.

BMG, which test-marketed a DualDisc of Usher's "8701," did not reveal initial DualDisc titles, nor did EMI, which test-marketed Fischerspooner's "#1" and Jane's Addiction's "Strays."

Label representatives indicate that the DualDisc pricing is "going to be very competitive to what we have out now."

DualDisc's convergence of audio and video with multichannel and interactive capabilities carries an extensive array of creative choices.

"It definitely opens up a completely new creative palette in a way that's intuitive," says Jeanne Meyer, senior VP of corporate communications at EMI Music. "The artist community is already getting excited about it for that very reason."

Chuck Comeau of A Simple Plan says, "It's great to be part of a new experience. We're a very visual band, and this is one more chance for our fans to get to know us."

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Lee Trink, General Manager of Lava Records commented, "We are proud Uncle Kracker's Seventy Two and Sunny has yielded such a prestigious nomination. His well-crafted tunes deserve the unbelievable audio quality that SRS Labs and Circle Surround delivers."

Introduced in 2000, the Surround Music Awards honor artists who have broken new ground in multichannel recording and mixing throughout the year. The awards cover 13 categories encompassing everything from best additional features on a DVD and best overall concert video to best standard resolution and the people's choice award. The event attracts a veritable who's who of recording artists, engineers, producers and music industry leaders, including past winners Queen, James Taylor, The Who, Led Zeppelin and Alison Krauss. At this year's ceremony, the Surround Music Awards panel of judges, who are recognized experts in multichannel technologies, will honor Herbie Hancock with the Surround Pioneer Award sponsored by the Consumer Electronics Association. The standard resolution award, for which Uncle Kracker is nominated, is for the outstanding use of the two-channel medium of the standard compact disc.

"In the past, music fans could never truly enjoy the experience of a live concert in a CD format," said Michael Canevaro, director of sales for SRS Labs. "But now, with Circle Surround, Lava artists such as Uncle Kracker can create 6.1 surround-encoded music on CD, which gives Lava a decided edge in today's competitive marketplace."

For information regarding Circle Surround, contact Mike Canevaro at (949) 442-1070 Ext. 3216 or mikec@srslabs.com. Additional information is also available from the company's website at www.srslabs.com. For more information on Uncle Kracker, visit http://www.unclecracker.com. For more information regarding Lava Records, visit http://www.lavarecords.com.

About Circle Surround® and Circle Surround II®

Circle Surround ("CS") is a patented and highly versatile multichannel audio encoding and decoding technology capable of supporting a wide range of surround sound creation and playback applications. CS hardware and software encoders can encode up to 6.1 channels of discrete audio for distribution over existing two-channel carriers such as broadcast television, cable and satellite transmission, streaming media over the Internet, CDs and VHS tapes. The next generation of Circle Surround is Circle Surround II ("CS II"), a powerful and versatile multichannel decoder capable of delivering up to 6.1 channels of audio from any mono, stereo, matrix-encoded, or Circle Surround- encoded material.

Circle Surround encoding has made inroads to many of Hollywood's most influential creative talent and professional broadcasters. The CS format is the optimum surround solution for television because it enables any network currently telecasting in stereo to now deliver up to 6.1 surround to its listeners or viewers with no change to the distribution or broadcast infrastructure. Top television broadcasters in the U.S. and abroad, who have adopted Circle Surround technology include ABC, CBS, NBC, ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN HD, FOX, FX, TNT, PBS and over two dozen programs including the 55th Annual Prime Time Emmy Awards, X Games, NFL and NBA broadcasts. Circle Surround is also quickly being adopted as the surround encoding technology of choice for radio broadcasting in the U.S. and abroad by companies such as HD Radio, which is the standard for digital radio broadcasting in the U.S., TOKYO FM in Japan and Guangdong Radio in China, which have audiences in the hundreds of millions. CS is also widely used by music and video entertainment companies, including Lava records, a prestigious music label, and Coming Home Studios, one of the hottest independent full service television and music DVD companies that creates and distributes live concert DVDs. Concert DVDs mixed in Circle Surround include Matchbox Twenty's SHOW -- A Night In The Life Of Matchbox Twenty, Boz Scaggs' Greatest Hits Live, and Rush in Rio.

To date, Circle Surround decoding has been incorporated by leading hardware and software manufacturers including: Kenwood, Marantz, Motorola, Theta Digital, Accuphase, M-Audio, Orion Studios and Smart Devices. A wide range of analog and digital implementation options for CS and CS II are available from the SRS Labs' family of platform partners including AKM, Analog Devices, ASP Microelectronics, Cirrus Logic, Philips Semiconductor, STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments. CS II features patented post- processing techniques to enhance the surround sound experience, including SRS Dialog Clarity™, which improves the intelligibility and clarity of center channel information such as dialog, and SRS TruBass®, which uses patented psychoacoustic techniques to deliver deep, rich bass from any playback system, including those with or without a subwoofer.

About SRS Labs Inc.

SRS Labs is a recognized leader in the advancement of audio and voice technology. The company works with the world's top manufacturers to provide a richer entertainment experience through patented sound techniques. SRS Labs' technologies can be heard through products ranging from televisions, flat panel displays, DVD players, mobile phones, car audio systems, headphones and notebook and desktop computers. The company also offers hardware and software tools to professionals and consumers for the creation, production and broadcast of content featuring SRS Labs' technologies. SRS Labs' wholly owned subsidiary, ValenceTech, is a Hong Kong-based semiconductor company that designs and sells custom ASICs and standard ICs to leading manufacturers worldwide. Based in Santa Ana, Calif., the company also has licensing representation in Hong Kong, Japan, Europe, and Korea. For more information about SRS Labs, Inc. please visit www.srslabs.com. The information on the aforementioned website is not incorporated by reference into this press release.

Except for historical information contained in this release, statements in this release, including those by Mr. Canevaro in paragraph five, are forward- looking statements and projections (which include statements concerning plans and objectives of management for future operations) that are based on management's belief, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management. While the Company believes that its expectations are based upon reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurances that the Company's goals and strategy will be realized. Numerous factors, including risks and uncertainties, may affect the Company's actual results and may cause results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the Company. Some of these factors include the acceptance of new SRS Labs' products and technologies, the impact of competitive products and pricing, the timely development and release of technologies by the Company, general business and economic conditions, especially in Asia, and other factors detailed in the Company's Form 10-K and other periodic reports filed with the SEC. SRS Labs specifically disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

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"The entertainment media has been moving toward visual elements over the last few years," said Jordan Katz, executive vice president and general manager of BMG Distribution. "It's just natural for visual elements to enter in music as well."

While many labels have experimented with CD releases that included companion DVDs with concert footage, videos or other media, music executives tout the DualDisc as a more convenient and streamlined way to deliver both on one disc.

On a DualDisc, the CD side has Red Book standard audio playable on most CD players. The other side of the disc is playable on most DVD players, and holds DVD-compatible material.

The CD side can hold a full album and the DVD side can hold the full album in an enhanced sound format such as Surround Sound, DVD-Audio, or LPCM stereo, the record companies said.

"Convenience is clearly one of the major driving points here because we have had success with the CD-DVD combos," said John Esposito, president of WEA Corp., the distribution arm of Warner Music Group.

"To have a consumer have one disc that can provide a multitude of experience is a logical step to making their experience better," Esposito said.

Ventura record store owner Brandon Salzer wasn't entirely convinced. He has concerns the DualDisc will be doubly vulnerable to becoming scratched.

"How many times do you see someone put a CD upside down on top of the stereo?" said Salzer, part owner of Salzer's Records. "I'm a little skeptical of the DualDisc. I think it's not going to be as valuable as an added bonus DVD."

Salzer said he does like that the recording companies are moving toward providing more content. But since they already are paying for the added video or other materials to be included in the DVD, he wonders why they don't simply give it to consumers in separate formats.

"They're trying to cut their costs, and I'm not sure that's really for the better in terms of the consumer," he said.

Other retailers greeted the DualDisc positively.

"DualDisc is a compelling new product; a proposition that we believe will help drive sales," said Don Van Cleave, president of the Coalition of Independent Music Stores.

Several of music labels tested the DualDiscs in two U.S. cities earlier this year.

The recording companies say they're confident the DualDisc will be compatible with most devices, including portable CD and DVD players, game consoles and personal computers.

Several releases are planned nationwide beginning in October, including from David Bowie, Miles Davis, A Simple Plan, The Donnas and Nine Inch Nails. Executives wouldn't discuss pricing.

The companies developed the project together and plan on handing it over to an independent entity to manage, said Erica Birke, a spokeswoman for the DualDisc campaign.

The record companies who developed the DualDisc are EMI Music, Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and 5.1 Entertainment Group.

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On SACD players, these discs reproduce these classic albums in the highest resolution ever. These Hybrid discs are also playable as standard CDs on any regular CD player."

The First 4 Kinks Remastered SACDs
This week's release includes the following albums in Remastered SACD Stereo:

The Kinks - Muswell Hillbillies (Konk/Velvel Records VEL-SC-79801)

The Kinks - Misfits (Konk/Velvel Records VEL-SC-79802)

The Kinks - Give The People What They Want (Konk/Velvel Records VEL-SC-79804)

The Kinks - Schoolboys In Disgrace (Konk/Velvel Records VEL-SC-79805)

A fifth album in the Kinks SACD Remastered Series, One For The Road (Konk/Velvel Records VEL-SC-79803), was originally slated for release this week. It has been bumped to September 7th for in store availability.

A Note About the Packaging and Labeling
The new Kinks Remastered SACDs come packaged in Digipaks, following the lead set by other major artist SACD Remastered Series discs by the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, the Animals, Sam Cooke and others. Unlike the two SACDs by Robert Earl Keen, the Kinks SACDs feature a grey sticker on the front that says "Newly remastered in SACD format. Hybrid Stereo Super Audio CD. Plays on All CD Players."

Unfortunately the Kinks SACDs carry over from the Robert Earl Keen Super Audio CDs a labeling error on the back cover. If you look at the SACD Info Bar on the back, you'll see an indication that the disc also includes a SACD Surround Sound track. This is incorrect. Hopefully this labeling error will be fixed in time for future releases in this series so that music buyers know that the discs are indeed Hybrid Stereo SACDs and not Hybrid Surround Sound SACDs.

Production of the Kinks SACD Remastered SACD Series
The new releases were produced for SACD by Bill Crowley, mastered for SACD by Alan Silverman and additional DSD Engineering by Dawn Frank from the SACD Project in Boulder, Colorado. As has been noted previously, an extensive tape search was done and the group's original 2 channel analog master tapes were used whenever possible for the tracks from the original albums on the newly remastered SACDs. The SACDs were made by Sony DADC in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Prior to the release of the Kinks SACD Remasters, there were rumors on the Internet about DAT tapes being used in this series. This question was cleared up recently by a posting on the Steve Hoffman web forum. In that message, Kinks Remastered Series mastering engineer Alan Silverman states that some of the "bonus tracks" on the Kinks SACDs come from a set of DAT tapes from Kinks member Ray Davies personal collection. So the rumors had some truth to them. But it is clear that the use of these DAT tapes were the only way to add some of the bonus tracks to the series. I think Kinks fans would agree that is worth doing to get to hear this added material.

As to the quality of the SACD Remasters, I listened to the SACD Stereo track on the Muswell Hillbillies SACD. It was very well done, providing some good detail and definition - especially for a recording from 1971. Fans of the Kinks will definitely be interested in this series if the SACD I heard is representative of the balance of this group of SACD remastered albums.

Availability
The first 4 albums in the Kinks SACD Remastered Series are now available at music stores including Borders and Tower Records. They are also available on several web sites that carry SACDs including Acoustic Sounds, CD universe, Elusive Disc and Music Direct.

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All other things being equal, it’s better to have a center-channel speaker than not to have one. Besides lending greater clarity to dialogue and lead singers, it also produces a seamless front soundstage that anchors the soundfield. That becomes a major advantage in any kind of music playback, whether you’re listening to a 5.1-channel DVD-Audio or SACD release, or playing your CDs in the 5.1-channel Dolby Pro Logic II music mode.

DPLII is a relatively new surround format that I can’t praise highly enough. Not only does it derive center, surround, and subwoofer channels from two-channel sources like CDs and LPs—it actually does the job well. In better surround gear offering the full array of DPLII adjustments, you can alter the balance between the center and sides, either concentrating sound in the center or redistributing it toward the left and right. You can also adjust the front-to-back balance. All this can be done without messing with the overall channel levels in the speaker setup menu.

If I listened to nothing but DPLII-enhanced CDs I’d be well content. It’s the high-res DVD-Audio and SACD releases in my listening diet that worry me. Too many multi-channel music mixes either underuse the center channel or don’t use it at all.When I’m listening to older surround material, I don’t get too worked up about this. My collection includes a lot of orchestral music recorded in quad during the 1970s and ’80s, everything from DVD-Video titles with Dolby Digital soundtracks to SACD releases. Dolby Digital and SACD are 5.1-channel media, but since the source recordings have only four channels, that’s what comes out of my speakers. Fair enough. I’ll listen in quad if that’s the only way I’ll ever get to see and hear Herbert von Karajan conduct the Berlin Philharmonic in surround—he didn’t survive long enough to record in 5.1. (And I can always finagle my receiver’s bass management settings to route bass to the subwoofer, turning four channels into 4.1.)

What annoys me are the new SACD and DVD-Audio recordings that underuse the center channel. One example is Mongo Santamaria’s Live from Jazz Alley, an SACD release on the Concord label. It’s great music and well-recorded in every way but one: the congas, which are really the lead instrument here, only come out of the front left and right channels, leaving the center virtually unused. As a result, the congas waver from left to right as you move your head from side to side, and the old hole in the middle is baaaack. What could have been a seamlessly tight soundfield collapses as soon as you move out of the sweet spot—and the spell is broken.

On the other hand, mixing surround properly can pay big dividends. If you’re looking for a perfect music-in-surround mix, look no further than another Concord SACD, Gary Burton’s Like Minds. Burton’s vibes come out of every channel, placing him just where the bandleader belongs—smack in the center of an arc formed by his band—with the rhythm section just behind him and the guitarist and pianist on either side of him. This logical shaping of the soundfield serves to make fine music even better.

Why would anyone mixing music in surround avoid using the center? Surely a collapsed soundfield is not a desirable artistic goal. The culprit is not the center channel itself but the center-channel speaker. In many home systems it’s often mismatched and just as often poorly placed.

In the best of all possible worlds the center speaker would always be an identical clone of the left and right. In the real world, manufacturers are hawking horizontal center designs in a popular but usually nonmatching woofer-tweeter-woofer configuration—and the consumers who unwittingly buy these things compound the error by setting them up badly. The cumulative result is a center speaker that’s way out of whack with the others.

There’s a second underlying culprit here, and that’s the hulking video display, which makes correct placement harder. If you’re using a rear-projection or direct-view set, the logical place for the center speaker is atop the set, which puts the center tweeter higher than the left and right tweeters, and may even be too high for a direct hit on the listening position. Few consumers bother raising the left and right speakers to the same level—and if they did, all the front speakers might be too high.

Front-projection systems are better in this respect. It’s easy to keep all speakers at the same level when you’re putting them below the screen. Better yet, you might even use an acoustically transparent perforated screen and have the center speaker directly behind the center of the image.

As a practical matter, what can you do? If you’re in the market for surround speakers, don’t buy anything with a nonmatching center. The center speaker should be identical to the left and right (except maybe for video shielding). Avoid those horizontal woofer-tweeter-woofer designs—they’re prone to acoustic problems that result from one woofer’s output canceling the other. Don’t buy any speaker package that condemns you to living with a horizontal center speaker.

Then there’s placement. Regardless of what kind of center speaker you use, proper placement always helps. If the speaker must sit on the TV, angle it downward so that its output hits the listening position, as opposed to the wall over your head. If you’re setting up a flat panel display, put all the front speakers below the screen at the same level.

A lot of the people who engineer surround recordings simply think that you’re an idiot and always will be. They assume you haven’t got the sense to buy a matching center speaker—or the gumption to set it up correctly—and believe they are protecting the artist by acting defensively.

There are two flaws in their reasoning: One, someday you might wise up, if you haven’t already. Two, once your system is working right, your music library would still be compromised by expensive but badly mixed software that prevents you from getting the best out of your equipment.

By optimizing multi-channel mixes for systems that are set up wrong, mixing engineers are punishing consumers who do things right and favoring those who do things wrong. All those manufacturers selling horizontal center speakers—even though they and their engineers know better—are just as bad. It’s a cynical, pessimistic way of doing business.

Me, I’m an optimist. As surround continues to penetrate more households, I firmly believe that the number of people doing things right will increase, as consumers gain experience in the surround medium, learn how to use it better, and take their first steps on the upgrade path.

OK, I’m sure I’ve annoyed those of you who are stuck with horizontal center speakers. Feel free to retaliate in your postings. I’m a grownup, I can take it, and if I’ve coaxed a few of you to improve your systems—or to avoid making a terrible mistake in the future—then I’ll have earned my paycheck today.

Spare the center—spoil the surround. Multi-channel audio, done right, is one of the greatest pleasures on earth. Don’t settle for a collapsed soundfield. It just doesn’t have to be that way.

________________________________________________

Mark Fleischmann is the author of Practical Home Theater (http://www.quietriverpress.com/).

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Hailing from Dallas, TX, The Polyphonic Spree is a 24-member band that is paving new ground in music today. The brainchild of former Tripping Daisy singer Tim DeLaughter, the group is an ongoing experiment with one man's vision and the talent of two dozen accomplished musicians/voices propelling the venture. The sound of The Polyphonic Spree is evolving, though it is currently harnessed under the term "choral symphonic pop band" until its own truly unique catch phrase is coined. Known for their powerful live performances in which they perform in flowing long robes, singing and dancing their hearts out, the group features trumpet, trombone, harp, French horn, theremin, flute, pedal steel guitar, keyboards, piano and ten-piece choir, along with Tim's voice and the usual guitar, bass and drums.

Mixed by renowned producer Frank Filipetti, "Together We're Heavy" DVD-A features many extras, including:

-- Exclusive surround remixes of all 10 tracks

-- DVD-Audio surround & stereo, plus DTS for DVD-Video players

-- Two versions of the "Light & Day" video in 16 × 9 widescreen

-- Video interview session with Tim DeLaughter

-- Special "Mix Breakdown" track -- "Hold Me Now"

-- Onscreen biography and photo gallery

"The Polyphonic Spree has such a big, dynamic sound, with so many elements, that the group's music is an ideal medium for creating a powerful surround experience," said Jeff Skillen, Vice President of DTS Entertainment. "Fans familiar with their work as well as those hearing them for the first time will be blown away by the 5.1-channel remix of 'Together We're Heavy' -- there are so many nuances that truly come to life in surround."

"Working on the surround mix for 'Together We're Heavy' was an amazing experience," said Tim DeLaughter. "For the first time, we were able to truly realize what we had envisioned musically as a group. I definitely intend to create more multi-channel mixes in the future."

About DTS Entertainment

DTS Entertainment is an entertainment label that licenses, produces, and markets an expansive series of DVD-Audio and 5.1 Music Discs to millions of DTS Digital Surround enthusiasts. Currently, there are more than 100 DTS Entertainment music titles available covering a wide variety of genres, including pop/rock mega-hits such as the Eagles' "Hell Freezes Over" and Sting's "Brand New Day." For more information, please visit www.dtsEntertainment.com.

About DTS

DTS (Digital Theater Systems, Inc.) is a digital technology company dedicated to delivering the ultimate entertainment experience. DTS decoders are in virtually every major brand of 5.1-channel surround processors, and there are 280 million DTS-licensed consumer electronics products available worldwide. A pioneer in multi-channel audio, DTS technology is in home theatre, car audio, PC and game console products, as well as 5.1 Music Discs, DVD-Video, DVD-Audio and DVD-ROM software. Additionally, DTS is featured on more than 22,000 motion picture screens worldwide. Founded in 1993, DTS is headquartered in Agoura Hills, California and has offices in the United Kingdom, Japan and China. For further information, please visit www.dtsonline.com.

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Standard surround-sound systems can simulate these types of panning effects only with sounds that rapidly traverse the listening space; Iosono, on the other hand, can create these illusions for sounds that move slowly across it as well. As a result, individual actors can be pinpointed on a movie screen, so the voice of each is perceived to emanate from an exact position, while the voices of other actors can give the impression of being in the middle of the audience.

In addition to movie theaters, the most likely markets for this new technology include multimedia rides at theme parks, Mr. Brandenburg said.

Kahne Krause, a senior audio-video engineer for Walt Disney Imagineering, the company's theme park and new-media division, heard a demonstration of the system at a sound stage in Studio City, Calif. "We all thought the technology was pretty neat," she said. "This may provide some opportunity to enhance an attraction's story soundscape."

Iosono could also be used to enrich live concerts, with the performers' voices and music perceived to be coming from unusual locations in a dance hall or nightclub, or from precisely where the performers are situated.

In the demonstration in Studio City, sounds were made to travel throughout the room. At one point, a whispered voice appeared to be off in the distance; at the next moment, it shifted to just inches behind the listener's ear.

"This is astounding," said Dave Stump, a Hollywood director of photography and a member of the technology committee of the American Society of Cinematographers. "Now you can locate sounds in space irrespective of the speaker's location. Nobody to my knowledge has done this before."

Unlike standard surround systems, which sound optimal only if the listener is in a "sweet spot" at a certain distance from the speakers, the Iosono system can create a uniform listening field, greatly enlarging the sweet spot.

Mr. Brandenburg was a developer of the MP3 audio compression format now used to download and play music. He based the Iosono technology on the principle of wave propagation put forward more than three centuries ago by Christiaan Huygens, the Dutch physicist, an idea that led to the theory of wave field synthesis, which states that the acoustic wave field of a sound source can be emulated by secondary sources.

Sound direction is determined not by the physical location of a sound source, but by the length of time it takes for particular frequencies to reach the ears. Consequently, an array of speakers can be programmed to emit certain frequencies at different moments and decibels so that they will mimic sound coming from a specific location.

To accomplish this, a belt of speakers is installed across a room's four walls at 8-inch intervals. The room used in the demonstration mandated a total of 304 speakers. In addition, two subwoofers were placed against each wall.

Unlike standard mixing, in which an engineer assigns particular sounds to certain speakers, the Iosono engineer only decides where effects should seem to be coming from. Using a workstation with a touch-screen display, the engineer drags and drops a pictogram representing each sound — whether a violin or a bomb blast — to a point in the room. The software algorithms then assign the various frequencies to the appropriate speakers for the desired result.

A bank of eight Pentium 4 PCs was used in the demonstration to process the signal. Mixed tracks can be stored on a DVD-ROM for delivery to a movie theatre, where a similar computer setup is required to decode and distribute the sound.

For the last year, a demonstration of the technology has been running in a 100-seat movie theater in Ilmenau. No actual movies have been mixed in the Iosono format, nor has the system been sold to any film venues.

"You want to have the audience in an encapsulated environment," said Stanley Johnston, a veteran rerecording mixer who has tested the new technology. "We've pushed the image. Now Iosono opens up a lot of acoustical possibilities."

Mr. Stump, the cinematographer, was so impressed by the system that he discussed it with his technology committee and "dragged everyone" involved in a feature film on which he is working to hear the demonstration. "They took sounds right through my head," he said. "It was chilling."

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5 Elton John Albums Set for Release
The big news this week from Universal Music is that 5 of Elton John's best known albums are now set for release in October. The albums were recently added to Universal Music's SACD release list as coming in the months ahead. This week, the albums Captain Fantastic, Elton John, Honky Chateau, Madman Across the Water and Tumbleweed Connection were shown with a U.S. release date of October 26th on the company's New Formats web site. While these five SACDs have yet to get official SACD catalog numbers assigned and have yet to appear on the Universal Music SACD Release List itself, music fans will hope those steps are coming in the weeks ahead.

Elton John - Captain Fantastic (Island)

Elton John - Elton John (Island)

Elton John - Honky Chateau (Island)

Elton John - Madman Across The Water (Island)

Elton John - Tumbleweed Connection (Island)

SACD Plans for 3 More Key Artists
Also new to the New Formats web site this week are plans for Surround Sound Super Audio CDs by three of Universal Music's key artists. This group of SACDs include the albums Deja Vu All Over Again by John Fogerty, Hopes and Fears by Keane and Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails. At the moment, all three are shown in the "U.S. Releases Coming Soon" section of the web site. We'll keep an eye on these three titles to see if formal SACD release dates are forthcoming in the weeks ahead.

John Fogerty - Deja Vu All Over Again (Geffen)

Keane - Hopes and Fears (Interscope)

Nine Inch Nails - Downward Spiral (Interscope)

5 Jazz SACDs Set for Release
Jazz fans will be pleased to hear that 5 of the Super Audio CD Jazz albums on the Coming Soon list have been promoted to the label's formal SACD Release List this week. This means that albums by Chet Baker, John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson and Shirley Horn are now slated for in store availability in the U.S. market on November 9th.

Jazz fans will recall that these SACDs have been scheduled for in store release in the U.S. market before. We'll have to wait and see if the November 9th date for this group of Super Audio CDs holds.

Chet Baker - Baker's Holiday: Chet Baker Plays & Sings The Billie Holiday Songbook (Verve)

John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman - John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman (Impulse)

Herbie Hancock - Gershwin's World (Verve)

Joe Henderson - Lush Life: The Music of Billy Strayhorn (Verve)

Shirley Horn - Here's to Live: Shirley Horn With Strings (Verve)

Upcoming Universal Music SACD Release List
In addition to the additions and changes noted above, an upcoming Classical Music Super Audio CD has also received a new release date. The SACD in question involves Music for San Rocco by the Gabrieli Consort which moves from October 12th to November 9th.

Here's the complete list of upcoming SACDs from Universal Music with the additions and changes mentioned above included:

August 24, 2004 SACD Releases

Allman Brothers Band - Live At Fillmore East (Mercury)

Monica Mancini, Stevie Wonder, Kenny Rankin, Joey De Francesco, Tom Scott, Gary Burton, Take 6, Michael Lang & Plas Johnson - Ultimate Mancini (Concord Records)

Snow Patrol - Final Straw (Interscope)

August 31, 2004 SACD Releases

Toby Keith - Shock 'n' Ya'll (Dreamworks Nashville)

Lee Ann Womack - Greatest Hits (MCA Nashville)

September 14, 2004 SACD Releases

Pierre Boulez, Berlin Philharmonic - Ravel: Bolero (Deutsche Grammophon)

Ray Charles with Norah Jones, James Taylor, Diana Krall, Elton John, Natalie Cole, Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Michael McDonald, B.B. King, Gladys Knight, Johnny Mathis & Van Morrison - Genius Loves Company (Concord Records)

Anne Sofie Von Otter, Thomas Quasthoff, Claudio Abbado, Chamber Orchestra of Europe - Schubert: Lieder With Orchestra (Deutsche Grammophon)

September 28, 2004 SACD Releases

Nick Drake - A Collection [Greatest Hits] (Island)

Marvin Gaye - The Marvin Gaye Collection (Motown)

October 12, 2004 SACD Releases

Argerich & Pletnev - Cinderella Suite from the Ballet for 2 Pianos & La Mere (Deutsche Grammophon)

Antal Dorati, Philharmonia Hugarica Orchestra - Respighi: Ancient Airs & Dances for Lute (Decca Classics)

Antal Dorati, London Symphony Orchestra - Stravinsky: The Firebird (Complete); Tango; Scherzo à la Russe (Decca Classics)

Byron Janis, Antal Dorati, London Sympohny Orchestra, Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra - Rachmaninov: Piano Concerti 2 & 3; 2 Preludes (Decca Classics)

Paul Paray, Detroit Symphony Orchestra - Suppé: Overtures (+Auber) (Decca Classics)

Janos Starker - Bach: Six Suites For Solo Cello (Philips)

Bryn Terfel, Claudio Abbado, Chamber Orchestra Europe - Mozart: Don Giovanni (3 SACD Box Set) (Deutsche Grammophon)

Jaap van Zweden, Residentie Orchestra - Beethoven: Complete Symphonies (5 SACD Box Set) (Philips)

October 26, 2004 SACD Releases

The Carpenters - Singles: 1969-1981 (A&M Records)

Elton John - Captain Fantastic (Island)

Elton John - Elton John (Island)

Elton John - Honky Chateau (Island)

Elton John - Madman Across The Water (Island)

Elton John - Tumbleweed Connection (Island)

November 9, 2004 SACD Releases

Chet Baker - Baker's Holiday: Chet Baker Plays & Sings The Billie Holiday Songbook (Verve)

John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman - John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman (Impulse)

Cotrubas, Domingo, Kleiber, Bayerischer, Staatsorchester - Verdi: La Traviata (2 SACD Set) (Deutsche Grammophon)

Richard Croft, Minkowski, Les Musiciens du Louvre - Gluck: Orphee et Eurydice (Deutsche Grammophon)

Paul Mc Creesh, Gabrieli Consort & Players - Music for San Rocco (Deutsche Grammophon)

Herbie Hancock - Gershwin's World (Verve)

Joe Henderson - Lush Life: The Music of Billy Strayhorn (Verve)

Shirley Horn - Here's to Live: Shirley Horn With Strings (Verve)

SACD Releases Coming Soon

Count Basie & His Orchestra - April In Paris (Verve)

Dorati, Enescu, London Symphony Orch - Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies (Decca Classics)

Frederick Fennell, Eastman Wind Ensemble - Sousa Marches (Decca Classics)

Renee Fleming - Handel (Decca Classics)

Juan Diego Florez - Great Tenor Arias (Decca Classics)

John Fogerty - Deja Vu All Over Again (Geffen)

Hilary Hahn, Colin Davis, London Symphony Orchestra - Elgar: Violin Concerto Op. 61 & Williams: The Lark Ascending (Deutsche Grammophon)

Howard Hanson, Eastman Rochester Orchestra - Hanson: Symphonies No. 1 (Nordic) & 2 (Romantic); Song of Democracy (Philips)

Tonu Kaljuste - Te Deum (ECM)

Eleni Karaindrou - Soundtrack: Ulysses' Gaze (ECM)

Keane - Hopes and Fears (Interscope)

Christina Milian - It's About Time (Island)

Motley Crüe - Greatest Hits (Hip-O Records)

Anne Sofie Mutter, Andre Previn, London Symphony Orchestra - Tchaikovsky & Korngold: Violin Concertos (Deutsche Grammophon)

Anna Netrebko, Claudio Abbado, Mahler Chamber Orchestra - Sempre Libera (Deutsche Grammophon)

Nine Inch Nails - Downward Spiral (Interscope)

Zimerman, Polish Festival Orchestra - Chopin: Piano Concertos No. 1 & 2 (Deutsche Grammophon)

Linda Ronstadt - Humming to Myself (Verve)

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