Are you on Facebook? Twitter? Instagram? Reddit? Social media has done much to bring together people of every interest imaginable to share their fascinations, desires, and, occasionally, delusions. From fans of frogs (FrogStomp) and proponents of clean public toilets (Benjyo Soujer) to a group that challenged an Iranian cleric's statement that women's flimsy attire causes earthquakes (Boobquake), social media is a global town square in which anyone with a keyboard and an attitude has an equal voice.

The world's leading figure in orchestral jazz has not released a jazz recording in eight years. In her liner notes, Maria Schneider says, "This album was funded by my ArtistShare fan base. Making a recording like this is becoming increasingly difficult and would now be impossible without the generous support of my many participants."

Today, big jazz bands rarely tour. Some are stable entities, but on a part-time basis. Most, like Schneider's, come together for projects, then go their separate ways. Yet against all odds, large-ensemble jazz survives because no other format offers its range of expression and its power.

Something had to give: Tyll has given me the assignment of evaluating a bunch of midprice phones. But I feel that the amps I have to drive them are not completely up to the task. The Burson Soloist is fun, punchy and “tubey”. The O2 sounds comparatively transparent and is a great bargain, but how would it compare to the big guys? So I knew I needed to include a transparent high class amp to drive and test these phones. But Mary would divorce me if I proposed buying yet another expensive headphone amp. Instead I found a solution: Build one instead. The process has proved to be very rewarding in all respects. Let me tell you about it here.