In http://webwork/j2se/1.4/relnotes.html#sound , Merlin Beta 3 contained a note about a seemingly regression bug of Java Sound. For unknown reasons, this note had been removed from relnotes.html .

The entry consisted of this line in the content listing, after NIO entry:

<a href="#sound">Java Media Framework Bug Affecting Java Sound</a><br>

and this paragraph after the NIO paragraph:

<a name="sound">
<h3>Java Media Framework Bug Affecting Java Sound</h3>
<blockquote>
Bug <a href="http://developer.java.sun.com/developer/bugParade/bugs/4387291.html">4387291</a> in
<a href="http://java.sun.com/products/java-media/jmf/index.html">Java
Media Framework</a> (JMF) 2.1 and earlier versions prevents the output
of sound when using Java 2 SDK 1.4.0. To avoid this problem, use
JMF 2.1.1 (or later) in which this bug has been fixed.
</blockquote>

This release note is still valid for FCS, and it should be inserted again.
The emails that led to this release note are in the comments of this bug.