Life

Life


  • A family affair: great new jazz by Pat Metheny Groupโ€™s Lyle Mays and Aubrey Johnson

    Lyle Mays, the introspective sonic architect of the Pat Metheny Group, gets a fitting farewell in Eberhardโ€”a sweeping, posthumous masterwork co-produced with his niece, Aubrey Johnson, whose voice helps carry Maysโ€™s final vision home.

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  • A conversation with my younger selfโ€”an audio fable

    In a playful dialogue with his younger self, Jonson Lee explores how sound quality deepens musicโ€™s magicโ€”while cautioning against losing joy in the endless quest for upgrades. The message? Savor the music, now.

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  • Want the Best Speaker Bargain? Iโ€™ll give you two!

    For under $1,500, the Zu Audio Omen and Magneplanar LRS offer two thrilling yet wildly different sonic pathsโ€”one bold and dynamic, the other refined and immersiveโ€”both delivering serious high-end sound without a high-end price.

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  • The Best of Record Store Day: Bill Evans, Behind the Dikes

    One of the leading music business stories of the 21st century is the continued discovery, sonic restoration, and release of previously unknown recordingsโ€”either from the studio or the stage. As the constant advance in digital technology has reclaimed live tapes once thought to be sonically inferior, and refreshed forgotten or leftover studio recordings, record labels,…

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  • A stone-cold classic: Carole Kingโ€™s Tapestry

    For Wayne E. Goins, Carole Kingโ€™s Tapestry isn’t just an albumโ€”itโ€™s a life marker, from teenage homework sessions on a beloved console to rediscovering its soul-stirring power decades later on a high-end setup.

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  • Diving into Disco, Part 2 โ€“ Uncovering the Roots of Dancefloor Magic

    Tracing discoโ€™s roots back to slave songs, chain gangs, and swing countercultures, the article shows how rhythm evolved into a movement โ€” one made possible not by concerts, but by records and multitrack recording.

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  • Gilles Laferriรจre, saved by the music?

    In this short video, Gilles opens up about his life and reveals how his passion for music and audio helped bring him back from the brink.

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  • T.H.E Show 2021

    Dragged along to T.H.E. Show by chance, Jonson Lee’s wife โ€” a professional pianist โ€” helped crown Heavenly Soundworks’ active speakers as the eventโ€™s best, praising their astonishing clarity and bass, all powered by just a $500 streamer.

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  • When was your audio awakening?

    A recent article by PMA Magazine editor Robert Schryer got me wondering about when I began to think of music and audio โ€” and, specifically, of myself as an audio hobbyist. The answer to โ€œwhenโ€ canโ€™t be clearly defined by a single moment; itโ€™s scattered across a handful of events that took place over a…

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  • Uncensored secrets of my audio feet fetish

    Iโ€™ve been pursuing good sound quality for decades. Along the journey, I learned about various elements that make up a good audio system. And one important lesson I learned is this: Sometimes, those small, seemingly less important elements turn out to be game changers. In an audio system, we pay most of our attention to…

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  • Nearfield listening โ€” what you hear may surprise you

    Nearfield listening reveals hidden stereo depth and clarity by minimizing room interferenceโ€”a technique once limited to studio engineers but now common among desktop audiophiles using compact speakers near their screens.

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  • Jazz isnโ€™t noise. Itโ€™s special. Hereโ€™s why.

    I have a friend who listened only to classical music. One day I had him listen to the music of John Coltrane, a jazz giant. And in honor of the saxophonistโ€™s Giant status, the track I had my friend listen to was โ€œGiant Stepsโ€. As he was listening, I was trying to decide what I…

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  • Pimping your system (on the cheap)

    Whoever said โ€œthe best things in life are freeโ€ obviously never dabbled in high end audio. Thatโ€™s not to say you canโ€™t improve the sound of the system you already have with some judicious tweaking.

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  • PS Audioโ€™s Paul McGowan: a candid interview about a man and his speaker

    Paul McGowan opens up about PS Audioโ€™s evolving speaker plans, his friendship with Seth Godin, and a life shaped by draft dodging, vegetarianism, and a passion for building audio gear he’d proudly use himself.

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  • Are you a Believer?

    Listening to music is akin to a religious ceremony. For one, it invokes the spirits of the past, and every recording ever made is about the past. Secondly, it involves rituals. This is especially true when it comes to listening to music on my big rig downstairs. When I say big, I donโ€™t mean too…

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