No comments about Antique Phonograph: Gadgets, Gizmos, and Gimmicks (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

5 comments about CD-R/DVD Disc Recording Demystified.

1. made a difficult subject for me to understand much easier. very well written.



2. There are enough books available concerning disc recording and CD-ROM production. Lee Purcell's book is indeed a good one! I found the CD-ROM authoring techniques and specific case studies to be particularly enjoyable. There is also valuable information concerning art preparation (including templates) and packaging considerations.

   I have personally recommended this book to many people interested in the manufacturing of CD-ROMs and DVDs.




3. The book has sections devoted to interviewing folks that have authored DVDs. Some of the questions are really bad and have no need to be in this book (like asking a DVD expert who has better food - Texas or California).

   I was really disappointed to not see Spruce Technologies or Daikin listed. These are the top 2 DVD authoring tools on the PC market. This is a huge oversight, and shows off the books bias for Mac (which is almost well covered, although one Mac user reviewer felt slighted by the non-hybrid CD that has ISO naming conventions).

   This book is copyright Dec 15, 2000 and yet it has really out dated info. It still lists Astarte as a seperate company. Apple bought them in April of 2000 (and re-released the products as iDVD and DVD Studio at MacWorld this year).

   I did appreciate the coverage and diagrams of the CD-R and DVD-R formats and explaining how the laser reads the info off the disc.

   needless to say, maybe the updated version will be better...




4. Lee Purcell's book is a good snap shot of the industry's phenomenal growth since DVD's burst into the scene in 1997.

   The one trial software that should go in the next printing of this book is SpruceUp. This program will allow you to take the pratical knowledge you learn in Lee's book and put it to work actually creating content. SpruceUp allows you to create your own DVD content on either CD-R/RW or DVD-R/RW. .... I hope more books on DVD authoring come out!




5. I was under the impression that the book would give a step by step process of creating a CD, if that is what you are looking for, keep looking. It is a 500+ page tome dedicated to the history of the CD & DVD industry and deals in generalities when addressing the possibility of creating a CD.

1 comments about How to Do a Demo-Quality Recording in Your Bedroom (Teach Master).

1. The book (or should I say Manual) takes you through the process step by step, in reasonably simple language. It provides the reader with quite a lot of suggestiions regarding the topic, and should be a welcome addition to any library.

No comments about American Premium Record Guide 78'S, 45's and Lp's: Identification and Values.

No comments about The Physics of Magnetic Recording (North Holland Personal Library).

1 comments about Collector's Guide to Victor Records.

1. This book is an absolute must for any record collector with an interest in Victor records. Though small in size, no space is wasted and no expense spared to give the Victor aficionado clear and precise photographs - many in color, to illustrate the various label types. This enables any collector, from the neophyte to the more knowledgeable, to place a reasonable issue date on the record he has in his hand - not merely when it was recorded.

   Charts and graphs included provide, as accurately as currently possible, chronological placement of various records according to size, price class, and label type. The book places a large emphasis on the Red Seal (celebrity classical) label type, but the popular categories are not overlooked. The text is clear, concise, and quite readable, especially when one considers the huge amount of numerical information presented.

   A most interesting feature is a central section featuring Victor's most "important" classical artists of the period, taking the opportunity to use tenor Enrico Caruso (arguably Victor's greatest-ever recording artist) as an example to show every label variety presented. Since his recordings have been readily available in virtually every recording format since 1902, this is a most appropriate example. A useful annotated bibliography concludes the book.

   In conclusion, no serious collector of 78-rpm records should be without this book. It has already reached somewhat of a cult status and deserves it, and your purchase of this book will ensure that Sherman, Moran, and Nauck continue the excellent research they have done in the field of vintage recordings. If you don't buy it here, buy it somewhere!

5 comments about Desktop DVD Authoring.

1. The author appears to have done little more than collect a sheaf of manufacturers' literature and then rewrite it for this book. A typical chapter contains a step by step description of the tutorial that comes with Apple's DVD Studio Pro software. You'll get a lot more more from simply working through the tutorial than from reading Dixon's rehash of same, and you won't have to waste money on this book. Some overlap is perhaps inevitable, but 500+ pages of regurgitated material? No thanks! Save your money and wait for David Pogue to cover this topic.



2. As a newbie getting acquainted with Apple's DVD Studio Pro, I found this book to be a great suppliment to the manual. It also contains useful user guides to other authoring packages such as iDVD, Sonic DVDit!, Sonic ReelDVD and Sonic Scenarist. An interesting read if you already own or are considering any of these products. The book also covers other DVD related topics, from buying a DVD player, to technical summaries. A great starting point for those ready to take the DVD plunge.



3. Do not purchase this book if your intention is to learn the technicalities of DVD authoring. It is only an introduction to most of the software products out there right now.
   Purchase this book if you intend to attain a software product and are unsure which to select among the many choices out there.
   It is a good overview of these products and would be a very useful book for this purpose.
   There is discussion about DVD authoring but it is weak and vastly incomplete. As a long time author and owner of several products, and all books on the subject I am dissappointed with this book. I would have liked to have seen at least some command sequence examples. There are none. If you wish to learn the intricacies of DVD authoring,do a course.



4. Dixon and Matey have done an excellent job in putting together a text that will certainly help those who are new to this complex subject. Although there are other well-written and broader books on DVD (most notably as DVD Demystified by Jim Taylor), I'd recommend this book first to anyone looking to specifically get started in creating personal DVD-Videos. In fact, if at all possible, buy this book *before* investing in any hardware or software for the task!!

   "Desktop DVD Authoring" really cuts through the complexities of DVD, focuses exclusively on what matters, and provides a remarkably up-to-date breakdown on what is available in the market as of late 2002/early 2003. The authors are also to be commended for taking a very "platform independent" approach to the topic, with equal weight given to both Windows and Mac platforms.

   Also impressive is the logical way the material is organized, and the way it scales from "Automated DVD Authoring" for absolute beginners, to "Personal DVD Authoring" for those who crave more customization in their work, to "Professional DVD Authoring" for professional and feature film production. Considering that companies in the digital video and DVD authoring application industry do such a poor job in their marketing and dissemination of this information, "Desktop DVD Authoring" is an invaluable and unique resource for getting through the hype, and understanding exactly what is required to do your own high-quality productions.

   Again, I cannot recommend highly enough that you pick up this book *before* heading off to the store to buy anything to make your own DVDs. Doing so will save you a great deal of the time, money and pain currently associated with trying to get your own videos onto DVD. And unlike many technical books, this is an easy and pleasurable read without any hardware or software in front of you.

   Kudos to the authors and New Riders Publishing for delivering a fluff-free, timely resource for DVD authoring, and for filling a gap that exists right now.




5. The key to any good technology book is its ability to teach the reader something new and complicated in a way that is entertaining. Some tech books read like high school Calculus books, this isn't one of them. Dixon does a solid job of covering the entire complex world of DVD authoring in a very straightforward and easy to understand way. Highly recommended for those just getting started in DVD or for old pros who want to brush up on the latest and greatest.

No comments about The Dat Technical Service Handbook (Communications Technology).

No comments about Design and Analysis of Magnetoresistive Recording Heads.

3 comments about Goldmine Christmas Record Price Guide.

1. Goldmine's Neely has once again produced a gem of a book, this time focusing on the oft-neglected niche of Christmas music. Well documented, with lots of color glossy pages of rare album covers, this is a must-have for those of you addicted to holiday vinyl.
   The book's only shortcomings: (1) It has now been almost seven years since its publication, it would be nice if Goldmine would issue an updated version of the book every few years to update its content; and (2) the book contains few international titles, of which there are hundreds if not thousands, particularly from the Western European countries (where most of our modern-day Christmas celebration traditions originated!). It would be nice to see more of them incorporated into a future edition.
   Well organized and written by someone who obviously is passionate about the genre, I highly recommend this publication.



2. Even during the off season I find myself thumbing through this book, it's a great source of information on collecting rare, hard to find holiday records. Plenty of singles and albums are listed that are worth hundreds of dollars if they're in mint condition and have a picture sleeve cover. It is also fun to look up the names of favorite artists & groups to see what, if any, holiday tunes they may have recorded. So next time you're cleaning out your attic, basement or in back of your closet, if you come across an old box or bin of 45s and/or albums-poke through, you never know if some hidden treasure is in there, and not just Christmas music either! Tim Neely has a few Goldmine Collectors guides out there and all are tops. Very highly recommended.



3. If you are into collecting Christmas Music of every variety whether traditional,pop,rock,etc.than this is the book for you! It lists every artist who ever recorded Christmas songs and hymns,and it also gives a listing of the worth of the original vinyl record(according to the condition of it,of course). A fun book to browse through even if you just want to see what's out there & perhaps to make some additions to your collection.