Hegel H150 Integrated Amplifier Officially Announced
Sonus faber Announces Amati Supreme Speaker
FiiO M27 Headphone DAC Amplifier Released
Audio Advice Acquires The Sound Room
Sponsored: Pulsar 121
CH Precision and Audiovector with TechDAS at High End Munich 2025
KLH Model 7 Loudspeaker Debuts at High End Munich 2025
Marantz Grand Horizon Wireless Speaker at Audio Advice Live 2025
Sponsored: Symphonia
Where Measurements and Performance Meet featuring Andrew Jones
Sponsored: Symphonia Colors

LATEST ADDITIONS

ToTL Madness! 24 Top-of-the-Line Custom In-Ear Monitors Reviewed

This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

It's extremely hard to compare custom IEMs. Few users have more than one pair, so direct personal comparisons are rare. They can't be measured by InnerFidelity because they don't fit in the measurement head's ears. What to do?

Damn the torpedos, full speed ahead! In this review 5 InnerFidelity writers, blessed with the generosity of manufacturers willing to put their ToTL CIEMs through the ringer do a massive comparative review of 24 of the worlds best custom in-ear monitors.

Epic!

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Remix: UNKWON Does “Love and Respect” by When Saints Go Machine feat. Killer Mike

On March 27, 2013, Stephen Mejias blogged about the single “Love and Respect” from Danish electro-pop group When Saints Go Machine, which “features Killer Mike offering strong and exciting contrast to Nikolaj Manuel Vonsild’s delicate falsetto.” Although the track left him “wanting more,” SM admitted the restraint from both Killer Mike and Vonsild made his yearning a good thing.

In UNKWON’s remix of this track, the Danish DJ leaves yearning at the door, and unleashes an onslaught of sonic manipulations, big bass, and layered tambourines, handclaps, snares, and bells transforming the track from one of self-discipline to groove indulgence.

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2013 Jazz Journalism Awards

The Jazz Journalists Association, of which I'm a member, announced its awards yesterday. Here are the winners in the major categories (a full list of the nominees and the winners can be found here and here), followed by my own choices (which, as you will see, differ from the consensus more than usual).

(It's worth noting up top that Sonny Rollins was declared "Emeritus Jazz Artist / Beyond Voting," which, though a bit of a cop-out, is sort of fitting.)

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Logic3 Scuderia R300 Headphone Sweepstakes

Register to win a Logic3 Scuderia R300 Headphone (MSRP $349.00) we are giving away.

Distinctive design inspired by the Scuderia Ferrari racing team and the aerodynamic air vents and traditional grille incorporated in the GT Cars. Active Noise Cancellation Technology (ANC) powered batteries, reducing unwanted ambient noise. Closed-back design which seals the ear pads to prevent loss of music dynamics. Robust machined crafted metal arms and diamond shaped grille finish to ensure durability and quality. Ultra-Soft ear pads constructed from enhanced breathable materials to ensure maximum comfort. Ergonomic 2-way folding design for compact storage and includes a Scuderia Ferrari carry case trimmed in carbon fibre texture for additional protection. Anti-tangle and detachable in-line remote cables trimmed in woven fabric.

[This Sweepstakes is now closed.]

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iFi Audio iDAC & iUSBPower USB D/A processor & outboard power supply

Bratty, mollycoddled, and altogether spoiled consumers such as you and I have inflicted on computer audio the same injustice that laparoscopic surgery, antilock brakes, mobile telephones, word processors, e-mail, microwave ovens, and over-the-counter proton-pump inhibitors have suffered at our hands in recent years: In less time than it takes to say "ho-hum," we've knocked it from the pedestal to which all such breakthroughs are entitled and begun taking it for granted.
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The Entry Level #29

It wasn't very long ago that I boasted, in my casual, self-effacing way, that I didn't really like headphones—that I didn't need headphones. Because most people in the New York metropolitan area would rather die than communicate with each other, they use headphones as a sort of fortress of solitude, shielding themselves not only from their physical environment but from all other living creatures. I, however, claimed to enjoy listening to the sounds of the world around me—even screeching tires, blaring sirens, and the drone of air ducts could be musical. La-di-da.
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What Price Audio?

Few topics ignite more heated arguments among audiophiles than the price of audio equipment. How much do you have to spend to get really good sound? Are people who buy expensive gear wasting their money, or is it simply a matter of getting what you pay for? There are many such issues, most of which have been discussed at length in Stereophile and various online forums; here are a few I haven't seen addressed except in passing.
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Recording of May 2013: There's a Time

Doug MacLeod: There's a Time
Reference RR-130 (HDCD). 2013. Doug MacLeod, Janice Mancuso, prods.; Keith O. Johnson, Sean Royce Martin, engs. DDD? TT: 58:00
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½

Like a lot of other once-pure forms of American music, the blues today has become a swirl of influences, mixing folk, rock, rhythm & blues, and even Latin flavors into a music that its aficionados—that fervent contingent known as "blues nuts"—have grudgingly accepted as being a part of the music they adore. But if blues fans thought Hendrix or Stevie Ray Vaughan muddied the wellsprings of the Devil's own music, it'll be only a matter of time before rappers mix blues in with their beats, and then—horror of horrors!—dance music begins to "borrow" from da blues. Rather than resist these changes, blues fans should willingly embrace any new energies brought into the music; rather than ruin, these fresh ideas and passions may actually revitalize a musical form that many already see as a museum piece.

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Mercury Living Presence Resounds Again on May 14

Heads up! Not long after the sellout of both Decca Classics' First Collector's Edition box set of 50 Mercury Living Presence CD reissues, and their box set of six 180gm LP reissues, both drawn from the famed Mercury Living Presence catalog, Collector's Edition 2 arrives on May 14. The CD box's 55 titles include two first-CD issue rarities: Antal Dorati's 1953 Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra mono recording of Stravinsky's groundbreaking ballet, The Rite of Spring, and one of the final Mercury Living Presence recordings, John Corigliano's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra. The Corigliano recording premiere, performed by pianist Hilde Somer and the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Victor Alessandro, is paired with a close to 17-minute interview with Corigliano, conducted by Paul Hume one year after the concerto's 1968 premiere, and the Paregon to Richard Strauss' Sinfonia Domestica, Op.73.
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