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Veteran music editor Robert Baird reflects on high-end audio’s tribalism, from gear vs. music purists to loudness wars and streaming woes, vowing to spotlight artists who value both sonic integrity and musical impact.
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Tracing disco’s roots back to slave songs, chain gangs, and swing countercultures, the article shows how rhythm evolved into a movement — one made possible not by concerts, but by records and multitrack recording.
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Dragged along to T.H.E. Show by chance, Jonson Lee’s wife — a professional pianist — helped crown Heavenly Soundworks’ active speakers as the event’s best, praising their astonishing clarity and bass, all powered by just a $500 streamer.
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A recent article by PMA Magazine editor Robert Schryer got me wondering about when I began to think of music and audio — and, specifically, of myself as an audio hobbyist. The answer to “when” can’t be clearly defined by a single moment; it’s scattered across a handful of events that took place over a
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As music lovers, we strive for the best possible sound quality. They say all roads lead to Rome, but we still need to contend with our needs, our path, our budget, and the time available to us to get there. Across my next columns, like a travel guide, I will try to recommend memorable places for
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I’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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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 saxophonist’s Giant status, the track I had my friend listen to was “Giant Steps”. As he was listening, I was trying to decide what I
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The High-Fidelity Scene Recording technology revolutionized how music is produced, played, and experienced. From the perspective of experiencing it, to the old model of attending a live concert was added the option of listening to a recorded performance. In this new model, the listener’s role and situation were profoundly transformed; with recordings, listening has been
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More than 30 years ago, the tabling of the Brundtland report introduced the concept of sustainable development, of which there are three pillars: economic, social, and environmental. This begat fair trade, at the time considered avant-garde, which instituted a set of policies that spanned the world and forever altered the standards we use to buy
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The human voice is an amazing thing. I can think of no other instrument that moves our emotions and soul as powerfully. The examples are endless: Freddie Mercury, Beyoncé, Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby McFerrin, Luciano Pavarotti, Ariana Grande… Just take your pick. And it’s not just singers’ voices that we respond strongly to. How about the
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Recalling his journey from AM radio to Julian Hirsch-era Stereo Review, Tom Gibbs charts how flashy gear and measurements gave way to the deeper truth: great sound comes from system synergy, not specs alone.
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I am not an audiophile, or an expert on music. I don’t like being labelled. But I do love most musical genres. I fell in love with music when I was nine. “That’s a young age to fall in love for the first time!” I hear some of you saying. It is. But by nine
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We all know about music’s power to change a life, but can it literally save one, to make the difference between life and death? According to a Nashville FOX 17 report, that’s exactly what Johnny Cash’s grandson, Thomas Gabriel, says music was for him — a determining factor in keeping him alive. After spending eight
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Just as listening to bad music is no fun, it’s no fun listening to bad audio, so knowing what to listen for when auditioning a component is important. “Stop, Hey, What’s That Sound?” is a series dedicated to recognizing aspects of good and bad sound reproduction. Once you’ve settled on what features you want your
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Jay Jay French recalls funding his first hi-fi with pot money, trashes a Dylan concert, and champions budget gear that “sniffs cocaine like it’s Jaws”—all while slowly, skeptically courting jazz.