I think IASCA just closed the door on the empeg as a competition device. Here is a quote from their proposed rule change for the 2001 competition season:


Well, now the door is not just closed, but dead-bolted and chained, I'm afraid. Below is an excerpt from a letter I received from Manville Smith, of the IASCA Rules Development Committee:


> Dear Mr. Burnside,

> Thank you for your comments about the future of digital audio storage for the automobile. We at IASCA are certainly aware of the developments in this area.
>
> The primary reason for requiring that all competitors use the official judging CD is that we must ensure that all are using the same source. As you mentioned in your message, it is quite possible to edit, equalize, expand or otherwise alter audio with any digital editing suite. We must ensure that all competitors play the same source material to keep the playing field level.
>
> While it is certainly possible to digitally watermark files to ensure that they have not been tampered with, judges would have to be equipped with computers to verify the judging software. Not only would this be very expensive, but also very time consuming in the lanes. Some audiophiles also believe that digital watermarking is audible (perhaps a bit of a stretch, but an issue nonetheless.)

> I certainly understand your enthusiasm for the new digital storage technology. I find it fascinating as well... but for the immediate future, IASCA will require a good old CD player as the source and will also require that its official software be used in competition. In the more distant future we will probably evolve as the media evolves, but for now it's CD only.

I am still trying to persuade them to change their minds, but am not optimistic. If the player software could have an enhancement so that a button-press on the remote would over-ride whatever was on the display and show the official IASCA watermark of whatever file was currently playing, and if I could get IASCA to (a) watermark their files and (b) allow empeg to display the watermarks, then maybe, just maybe...

It's a long shot, however I look at it.

tanstaafl.



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