Audi S3 rolls out red carpet

THE headline almost came with the same element of surprise as one which screams "Poms win the Ashes".

A British magazine recently carried a cover story which simply said "RS4 beats new M3".

It was the face-off everyone who takes even a passing interest in supreme compact German performance had been waiting rather impatiently for.

Until now everything that had come up against the M3, which started life as a four-cylinder more than 20 years ago then progressed for a few generations as a cracking inline six before going the grunt with a high-revving V8, had come off second best.

So at least from a magazine's measure, Audi has come of age. And how.

Beating the super coupe by which a performance chassis is measured is no mean feat.

But this test is not about the M3 nor, for all its glory, the RS4.

It is about the Audi S3, which unlike the RS4 has few direct rivals.

Even so it will be of no surprise that the second-generation S3 crackles and sizzles.

At $65,500, this two-door hatch is not on everyone's shopping list, as defined by the 32,000 global sales of the first generation.

There is simply nothing on the market – not the rice-burners from Japan, not even competition from within the family such as the VW Golf R32 – that comes close to fusing the levels of luxury, quality and slick performance as the S3.

Slide into the S3 and the splashes of silver around the air vents, door handles and gear lever are reminders this is quite different from the cooking class of A3s.

Audi's trademark interior style and quality build rolls out the red carpet.

Point-to-point the S3 is a stirring ride with crisp steering, impeccable handling and loads of grip from the quattro all-wheel-drive layout.

The steering is well weighted and it thankfully transforms from being light at low speeds to feeling heavier as you truck along the highway and plough through bends briskly.

This is a very slick hatch and for all its A to B prowess it remains quite liveable as a day-to-day drive as it somehow gives you a ride that is the perfect balance between cosy and hard.

And that is even taking into account for the low profile 18-inch wheels and the fact that the ride height is 25mm closer to the ground than an everyday A3.

Running stiffer springs and dampers, the S3 is vice tight with excellent body control.

It has "let me loose in a tarmac rally" written all over its windscreen.

There is a Japanese slant to the intercooled turbo with the wastegate nattering away as the driver lifts off the throttle.

The aural experience intensifies with the pace as the note becomes more pronounced from about 4000rpm.

This two-litre is blissfully flexibile with response on tap all the way through the rev band.

Even in the upper echelons and in sixth gear there remains urge on demand.

Specific power is an impressive 7.73kg per kilowatt as the reworked engine develops a total of 188kW with the 330Nm of torque running through the most important part of the range from 2500-5000rpm.

So it can take more load Audi has given the engine more strength with stronger pins for the pistons, new rings and reinforced connecting rods with new bearings that transmit the increased force to the crankshaft.

Given that this 5.9sec 0-100km/h S3 is no slouch it runs massive 17-inch brakes that bite big time.

There are black callipers all-round with the ones on the front gaining the S3 motif.

The S3 is easily identified on the road with with trademark S silver wing mirrors, a rear roof spoiler, front and rear aprons and diffuser and prominent sills and the S logo embedded inside the single-frame grille.

An improved range of colours are available now with the test car, a striking Sprint Blue pearl effect not a patch on an exclusive Solar Orange hue if you really want to be ostentatious.

The boot space is relatively tight at 281litres but the rear bench seat folds flat increasing the load area to a wagon-like 1011litres.

Dynamically the S3 should be an improvement over the first generation with an increase in wheelbase by 59mm to 2578mm.

Silk Nappa leather comes standard.

The multi-function flat bottom steering wheel comes as a $700 option as does metallic paint at $1300.

If you really want to lash out on the options list there are Audi Exclusive front buck seats for $6700 and the Navigation Plus pack including the glove box mounted CD changer is available for $5300.

On its own the CD changer in the glove compartment is a $950 option.

It is very much a select market this hot hatch and Audi says it will be happy with sales of around 100 per year.


http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,22164960-5010760,00.html

CD player vs MP3 player

CD player vs MP3 player

The CD was introduced with great fanfare in 1982 and soon supplanted the audio cassette due to high quality digital sound. You could bring your portable cd player anywhere to listen to high quality audio music. The next revolution started with the acceptance of mp3 music. MP3 stands for Moving Pictures Expert Group 1 Audio Layer 3. This mp3 technology allows for the compression of normal CD audio file in WAV format and reduces the size of the file by a factor of 10 to 1. That means you can stored thousands of songs in a small portable player while previously a CD player could only hold a CD at a time.

Having a audio compression file format allows music to be easily distributed . Instead of having to go to the CD shop to buy your CD , you can now download from the internet the songs which you want. An MP3 player also offers skip free music while a CD player doesn't. Also, flash based memory mp3 players have no moving parts which enable longer lasting battery life not to mention less occurrence of break down or failure due to moving parts. Mp3 players also allow the ability to create play list of songs while cd players generally have limited capability in this arena. Finally, now there's no need to buy an entire music album. You can buy just one song instead of the whole album. It makes more sense since you may only like one particular song.

Does it mean that CD technology is a goner? Not necessarily, firstly although mp3 allows for huge numbers of songs to be stored a portable flash memory or hard disk player the sound quality is compromised. Of course we can't tell the difference because of mp3 removes information pertaining to frequencies which we are unable to hear. Remember the audio cassette technology which preceded the cd technology ?Well, it is still around. It still has uses and purposes.

CD player have advantages in that CD players are cheaper than mp3 players. There is no need to buy storage media which is expensive. Songs in mp3 format have different sound volume levels while in a CD you get consistent sound volume. Why bother with the hassle of encoding, transferring and managing files which is troublesome, time consuming and more demanding when you can just simply pop in a new CD and get instant gratification. Also, if you travel to a less developed country , a CD player proves to be more useful as access to broadband is hard to find for downloading of your internet music. In addition, CD can last a life time and are virtually indestructible compared to a mp3 hard drive or flash memory players which have a limited life span and could spoil.

Lastly, you don't have to face headache of incompatibility issue as some players can play only specific file format.

About the Author

The writer is the webmaster of Understanding Technology

Is An Alarm Clock Cd Player More Desirable Than My Old Alarm Clock Radio

The short answer is that the sound quality that the alarm clock CD can supply is far superior to that of the alarm clock radio.

If there is one thing that I prefer about my alarm clock CD over my old alarm clock radio it is simply the sound quality.

My old clock radio was great and I had good choice as to how I could use it but the quality of sound left much to be desired. The sound repetition was very trebly if you know what I mean. Like the sound you would make banging an empty tin can.

Yes these gadgets will wake you up in the morning. But not with the full bass and full rounded tones of a good quality alarm clock CD. I am sure you would feel a lot better hearing the rich base sounds of your favorite piece of music over the scratchy hollow sound of the clock radio.

There is really no credible choice between the two for me. The bonus difference between the two is that you can select a particular piece of music with the CD player but you can’t do that with the radio.

So technically what makes the difference? They both function as radios, they both function as clocks. Well as I said earlier it’s the quality of the sound. You see in my opinion in clock radios the signal comes through very small speakers whereas the technology incorporated in systems that play CD’s have much more up to date Bose style technology.

It’s this technology that is good enough to be described as being of decent quality stereo sound.

We have just discussed a little bit about the technicalities but really in making a decision you need to balance desirable features against purchase cost.

I mean what do you really want? Do you just want to be woken up in the morning-then get an alarm?

There are many mechanical and electrical ones and they’ll both do the job for you. Do you want to be woken up in the morning to the news or the radio station of your choice that happens to sound a bit tinny? Well get a clock radio alarm.

The clocks and the alarms are reliable but the radio is at best average. Or do you want to be woken up in style with the rich sounds of Mozart or Beethoven that are well balanced between bass and treble. Then get yourself a good quality alarm clock CD.

When purchasing an alarm clock CD player you need to balance features against cost.

Good luck and good hunting!

About the Author:

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Long player

A five year dispute ends successfully for BPI against CD Wow (perhaps). Chris Scroggs, disputes associate at Wards Solicitors celebrates.

Last month saw the conclusion (or did it....?) of a long running battle between the BPI, on behalf of record companies and CD Wow, effectively fighting on behalf of consumers everywhere.
The story behind the dispute

The case had its genesis in 2002, when the BPI issued proceedings against CD Wow, alleging that it had illegally imported discs into the UK, from Asia. That case was settled in January 2004, when CD Wow gave undertakings to the court.

The allegation was that CD Wow was buying discs in the Far East and selling them to consumers in the UK. CD Wow accepted that it was selling cut-price CDs but claimed that they were all licensed to sell in the UK and that there was nothing improper, let alone illegal, about what they were doing. Not so, said the BPI, who felt it was a clear case of 'parallel importing'.

Parallel importing is what happens when copyright material that is intended for a market outside the EEA (European Economic Area) is introduced for sale in Europe without the consent of the copyright owner. Such a practice contravenes UK and also European copyright law and is therefore illegal.

There was then a further flurry of proceedings in September 2005, when it became apparent to the BPI that the illegal importation of CDs - in particular the Live Aid DVD - by CD Wow was still happening. In that particular case, the charity had been deprived of income.

The BPI spent some time gathering further information and then brought contempt of court proceedings against both CD Wow and its principal share holder, Philip Robinson, in October 2006.

That case was due to come to court in July 2007 but in fact the court short-circuited that process and dealt with the case in mid May. That followed a four day hearing in March when the High Court ruled that CD Wow was in breach of the 2004 agreement and CD Wow was ordered to pay £37 million damages plus costs and interest, altogether totalling c. £41 million.

In the hearing, CD Wow admitted to breaches of copyright law but put them down to human error in its despatch process. The court would have none of it and that evidence was unhesitatingly rejected.

The court said there was clear evidence that CD Wow was committing widespread breaches of the undertakings that it gave in 2004. In fact, not only was it in breach, but even after the application for contempt of court had been pursued, in September 2005, the court found evidence that even then, CD Wow had taken no effective steps to ensure compliance with the 2004 undertakings.

Trial Judge, Justice Evans-Lombe continued in his ruling that in 'meeting the criminal burden of proof' the BPI had established 'beyond reasonable doubt' that CD Wow's actions were a 'substantial breach of the court order' and that it had 'no tenable ground of defence to the claimants' claim for damages for primary infringement of the claimants' copyright'.

Although the damages enquiry was due to take place in July 2007, the court felt the matter was so serious it could not wait until then.

In particular, given CD Wow's alleged failure to cooperate with the court orders for disclosure of documentation and for payment of security, the court assessed damages in May 2007. The BPI had then already obtained a freezing order against CD Wow's assets and bank account in Hong Kong.

The arguments for and against

The BPI's case was quite simple: the record industry is a business like any other. Artists need to be paid and record companies need to receive a return on their investment. CD Wow said (in effect) fine, all well and good. But... you should be targeting pirates, in particular, in the Far East rather than us. All we are doing is selling a licensed product, at a discount. You still get your royalty payments from all the discs we ship.

The difficulty is that although it was part of the CD Wow case that it was simply selling in the UK discs that it was entitled to sell, where royalties still went to the record company in question, an anonymous survey by the BPI and random purchases that it carried out, showed that the reality was somewhat different.

The BPI had made repeated test purchases of albums from CD Wow discs such as Robbie Williams' Greatest Hits and the Live Aid DVD that were being despatched from Hong Kong to UK consumers, were not discs that were licensed to be sold in the UK.

Those were the instances that CD Wow referred to as 'a little human error'. Unfortunately for them, the court found that though one or two incidences of human error could be excused, the same could not be said where it happened, as it did, on a wholesale basis (the BPI produced evidence to show 33 instances in total).

On a wholesale basis, selling in the UK albums that were despatched from Hong Kong but that were licensed to be sold in the UK, contravened the relevant legislation and was a clear case of parallel importing. Whereas CD Wow’s initial purchase of the CDs i.e. the bulk purchase, was legitimate, even though it happened outside of the EEA, when it resold that CD in the UK, it did so illegally.

CD Wow's argument was simplicity in itself. It was a Hong Kong based company. It purchased its products in Hong Kong and distributed from there. If, from Hong Kong, it sold a product to a customer in the UK, that sale was a personal import by that customer. That, it claimed, was not parallel importing.
The implications

The BPI disagreed and sued and the court in May 2007 resoundingly came down in the BPI’s favour.

Interestingly, the Consumer Association described the initial CD Wow settlement as a 'sad day for consumers and a sad day for ecommerce'. It felt that the whole purpose of the internet and internet shopping would be circumvented, if customers in the UK were not allowed to use the internet to buy goods from abroad.

The BPI's case is that there is no objection to that conduct, in principle. Its objection however is to customers buying whatever they like and ignoring the law of copyright. We do have some sympathy for the statement by CD Wow's founder, Henrick Wesslen, who condemned the BPI's pursuit of its company.

He said that at a time when the record industry was losing out vastly to piracy, it seemed ludicrous that the BPI could set out to destroy a section of the market that was actually making it money.

So where does this all leave us? Five years down the line we have a substantial judgement and an authoritative statement of the law on parallel importing and copyright laws.

But.... we are left with the uncomfortable feeling that free trade or, at least, healthy competition has been suppressed.

If nothing else, we are still left feeling that consumers in the UK are still paying far too much for their music, now as much as ever. However, we may not have heard the end yet, as CD-Wow says it will fight the High Court judgement in the European Courts if it can.


http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=ConWebDoc.12852

How To: Burn CDs

First came audiocassettes, and everyone was excited about making mix tapes for their car. Now with the advent of CD burners, it's a whole new ball game. Okay, with the coming and going of Napster, we don't have the luxury of making CDs with whatever music we want, but there are still plenty of MP3s available on the Internet.

So learn what all the hype is about and find out how to burn CDs for your listening pleasure.

getting started

First off, the term "burning" implies that you are taking data from your hard drive and saving it onto a CD-ROM.

Purchase a CD burner (otherwise known as a CD-R Drive). This may be stating the obvious, but not all computers come with one. If you do not already own a CD-R drive, you must have this hardware in order to create your own music CD.

These devices come in a variety of brand names such as HP, Sony and Yamaha. They also come in a variety of speeds; the quicker the writing speed (the speed at which information is copied to the actual CD), the more expensive the hardware.

mp3 to cd

Here are the steps involved in making an audio CD from MP3s downloaded from the Internet.

1- Download your favorite music
In order to create your own CD, you must first have the music. Therefore, you must download the audio file in MP3 format. This can be done using several different tools, Napster being the most popular of the bunch (which may be more difficult now).

2- Convert your MP3 into WAV file
This is the most important step because if you don't convert your files from MP3 to WAV, you will not be able to hear the CD in a conventional CD player.

This involves simply changing the format of the audio file from MP3 format to WAV format. In order to do this, you will most probably need to download a free program that will complete the task for you. Some of the more popular programs that can do this are MusicMatch Jukebox and WinAmp.

In order to efficiently complete this step, you're best off creating a temporary folder on your hard drive in which to store the converted WAV files. This is done for two reasons:

-- To easily locate the files you have converted once you are ready to actually burn them onto your CD-ROM;

-- It makes it easy to delete the files once you're all done, which you will want to do as WAV files can be quite large (usually 6-8 times bigger than MP3 files), taking up a lot of hard drive space.

3- Burn baby, burn
Once all the songs you want to place on your CD are converted into WAV format, open your burning software that comes with your CD-R device and locate the songs you have converted and placed in your temporary folder. Then, allow the software to guide you through the final steps.

http://www.askmen.com/fashion/how_to/45_how_to.html

Oracle CD player

This has got to be the wildest, craziest gadget any man could want. AskMen.com staff believe that the new Oracle CD Turntable is the ultimate in audio entertainment. It contains has a magnetic clamp that holds the disc flat resulting in a ultra smooth rotation.

The Oracle CD Player's main chassis assembly is suspended and isolated from room vibrations using four suspension towers that have shock absorbers inside. Each suspension tower assembly combines twelve different components.

The suspension system is a highly sophisticated device combining seven different mechanical filters, all working together to effectively control unwanted vibrations. The result is clear sound that music lovers everywhere can appreciate. It's no wonder that Oracle won the Innovation Award at this year's International Consumer Electronics Show.

AskMen.com gives this product two enthusiastic thumbs up. The only setback, of course, is Oracle's asking price: a hefty $8,000.


http://www.askmen.com/toys/mrtech/tech2.html