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Pulse!

The Five Best New Headphones and Earphones from CES 2017

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Pulse!

February 2017

My assignment at last month’s Consumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas, was to cover headphones -- a chore I thought might leave me plenty of free time to check out new speakers and subwoofers. But so many new headphones were launched that covering the category took up almost all of my time at the show. Much as I love high-end, audiophile-oriented headphones -- and there were plenty of new ones at CES 2017 -- I was just as excited to see promising new models at prices as low as $14.99. In fact, the most important trend was the introduction of many new headphone models that combined noise canceling with Bluetooth wireless operation, neither of which would be considered an audiophile feature, though both are vital to those who rely on headphones to keep them entertained as they wander the world.

Read more …

Six Audio Predictions for 2017

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Pulse!

January 2017

As this column posts, the editors and writers of SoundStage! will be packing their bags for Las Vegas and the 2017 International Consumer Electronics Show. I’ve already received embargoed information about many of the products to be launched at CES 2017, and based on that (sorry, can’t reveal specifics until the show starts) and information I’ve picked up from talks with manufacturers and engineers, I have six predictions about what we’ll see at CES and in the rest of 2017.

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Can We Know What the Artist Intends?

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Pulse!

December 2016

A pro-audio company recently asked me to run measurements on a prototype recording monitor -- the kind of speaker recording engineers and producers use to listen to what they’re recording and mixing. I thought the task would be simple. I own a pair of Genelec recording monitors, and they measure almost perfectly: nearly dead flat on axis, with a smoothly increasing treble rolloff as I move off axis. But the job turned out to be quite complicated, and it raised some questions about what, exactly, I should be listening for when I test speakers and headphones.

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How Audio Products Are Really Designed

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Pulse!

November 2016

The No.1 speaker brand in the US is now Amazon, with a 26% market share. It took Amazon less than two years to attain this rank.

Those shocking facts should tell you where audio is headed. While the AmazonBasics line of cheap Bluetooth speakers does well, Amazon’s meteoric success in audio is due in large part to the Echo, a voice-command speaker that has sold some five million units since its launch a year and a half ago, and is expected to sell twice that in 2017.

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Is It Valid to Say that an Audio Product Sucks?

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Pulse!

October 2016

One of the most dispiriting events in an audio reviewer’s life is when a reader sharply disagrees. It’s one thing if the reviewer praises, say, the AKG Q701s and the reader says, “Those headphones sound too bright to me.” Fair enough -- and useful feedback. But when a reader describes a product that the reviewer raved about as “awful,” or says that “it sucks,” that’s different. That’s a criticism not only of the product, but of the reviewer’s competence and judgment.

Read more …

Four Rules for Getting Great In-Wall Sound

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Pulse!

September 2016

In-wall and in-ceiling speakers get no respect. In fact, they barely even get any attention. I rarely think about them, but last week I was twice reminded what an important part of the audio industry these speakers represent. My first reminder came when I made my arrangements to attend the CEDIA Expo in Dallas in September, which I’II be covering for SoundStage! Global. CEDIA focuses on custom-installed media systems, of which in-wall and in-ceiling speakers are often an important part. My second came when I was asked to run measurements on and give a listen to a prototype pair of in-ceiling speakers.

Read more …

Why Most Audio Products Don't Deserve Glowing Reviews

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Pulse!

August 2016

Recently, while working on an article that sought to pick the best of a bunch of wireless speakers, I was struck by a question put to one of the article’s writers by a manufacturer’s PR rep: “Why wasn’t our speaker chosen?”

Read more …

What the USB-C Revolution Will Mean for Headphones

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Pulse!

July 2016

I’ve recently witnessed a lot of handwringing about Apple’s purported plan to eliminate the 3.5mm analog headphone output jack on its smartphones and tablets. Recently, I asked an Apple employee about it. “There have been a lot of rumors to that effect, from some very reliable sources,” he said, a big smirk on his face. What hasn’t been discussed much, though, is the possibility that Android devices might also soon eliminate the 3.5mm jack -- and how that might affect the sound quality of portable audio devices.

Read more …

The Future of Headphone Listening

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Pulse!

June 2016

For years, I’ve labored under a skewed perception of the headphone listening experience, thanks to two unique experiences, one of which took place two decades ago. But two experiences in the last couple of weeks have completely changed my beliefs.

Read more …

A Cheap Wireless Speaker Shows the Future of Audio

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Pulse!

May 2016

I buy a lot of the audio gear I buy because I think I should. After all, it’s part of my gig to know what’s going on in audio. Recently, one of those products I bought because I thought I should completely changed my ideas about the future of audio, and in just the first few days I owned it.

Read more …

  1. A Shakeup at Sonos Shakes Up the Audio Industry
  2. Can You Trust Customer Reviews on Amazon?
  3. The Five Best New Headphones at CES 2016
  4. What We Can and Can't Tell from Measurements of Headphones
  5. Why Hi-Rez Audio Still Struggles
  6. The Five Best Noise-Canceling Headphones and Earphones (According to Me)
  7. Why Believing in Headphone Break-in Can Be Harmful
  8. The Most Promising (and Unexplored) Area in High-End Audio
  9. The Five Best Closed-Back, Over-Ear Headphones (According to Me)
  10. Does a Product's Backstory Matter?
  11. The Five Best Earphones (According to Me)
  12. Why Headphone Amps Drive Me Nuts
  13. We Need a New Definition of "Audiophile"
  14. How Bad are Digital Streams and Downloads?
  15. What CES 2015 Means for the Future of Audio
  16. The Biggest Audio Development of 2014
  17. Why Simpler Isn’t Always -- or Even Usually -- Better
  18. Audiophiles: Stop Hating on Science!
  19. Should You Listen to Someone Who Criticizes Your Taste in Headphones?
  20. Dolby Atmos: A Lot More than More Channels
  21. Do Subwoofers Have a Sound?
  22. Why Dynamic-Range Compression Is Not the Work of the Devil
  23. Why Designing Wireless Speakers and Soundbars Is So Different . . . and So Much Harder
  24. What Measurements Really Tell You About Headphones
  25. The Point People Are Missing About Pono
  26. Why You Shouldn’t Ridicule the Bluetooth Speaker
  27. Are Headphones for Serious Listening?
  28. Binaural Recordings
  29. A Modern A/V Receiver: The Onkyo TX-NR808
  30. Cheap Stuff Can Be Surprisingly Good
  31. All About the 6th-Generation Apple iPod Nano
  32. ThinkFlood RedEye Universal Remote Application and Transmitter
  33. How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Home Audio
  34. Is Bipolar Dead?
  35. Media Players and Servers: Something for Everyone
  36. (Don’t) Look Before You Leap
  37. In Praise of 5.1
  38. 3D Home Theater: Should You Wait?
  39. iPod Touch Apps: Free is Good
  40. The Apple iPad and Alternatives
  41. New Integrated Amps Are Truly Integrated

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