Audio Unleashed

By Brent Butterworth & Dennis BurgerTechnology Arts

Audio Unleashed episodes

October 30, 2024“If Marc Maron Can Do It, So Can We!”
We’re on Patreon now! Find us at https://www.patreon.com/AudioUnleashed

This week, Brent and Dennis finally lift the lid on the secret Audiophile Society project Brent has been teasing for months, dive deep(ish) into the subject of soundstage in headphones, and check out a new video from Audioholics’ Gene DellaSala about whether or not you should upgrade your speakers’ crossovers.
Buy-now links for products mentioned herein (As Amazon Associates, we may earn a small cut from qualifying purchases):
📚 Budget Travel For Dummies by Geoffrey Morrison: https://amzn.to/3uiIPlp
📚Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms by Floyd Toole: https://amzn.to/3ZlTLtE
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/silicone-face-scrubber-review/
📚Loudspeaker Design Cookbook 8th Edition: Volume 1 by Vance Dickason: https://amzn.to/42pdwk0
📚 The Loop: How Technology Is Creating a World Without Choices and How to Fight Back by Jacob Ward: https://amzn.to/4cyzSET

Further Reading:
“The Audiophile Society's Headphone Evaluation and Spatial Audio Test Album”: https://theaudiophilesociety.com/products/the-audiophile-societys-headphone-evaluation-and-spatial-audio-test-album
“Soundstage Is (Much) More Complicated Than You Think” by Griffin Silver: https://headphones.com/blogs/features/soundstage-is-much-more-complicated-than-you-think
“After Half a Century of My Skipping Skin Care, This $9 Scrubber Finally Got Me Washing My Face” by Brent Butterworth: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/silicone-face-scrubber-review/
“Loudspeaker Crossover Upgrades - Are They Worth the Effort?” by Audioholics: https://youtu.be/3cbe7q2bnvA?si=rlrFePFKYGO9uWPn
54 min
October 16, 2024“The One with Sandy Gross!”
We’re on Patreon now! Find us at https://www.patreon.com/AudioUnleashed

This week, Brent and Dennis are joined by industry legend Sandy Gross—co-founder of Polk Audio, Definitive Technology, and GoldenEar Technology—to reflect on the legacy of Sound & Vision and its forebear Stereo Review, following the news that S&V is ceasing print circulation. And in an Audio Unleashed first, Sandy sticks around for the second segment to talk about home theater, personally and professionally.
Next up: a discussion of John Atkinson’s Bowers & Wilkins 805 D4 Signature loudspeaker in this month’s Stereophile.
Buy-now links for products mentioned herein (As Amazon Associates, we may earn a small cut from qualifying purchases):
📚 Budget Travel For Dummies by Geoffrey Morrison: https://amzn.to/3uiIPlp
📚Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms by Floyd Toole: https://amzn.to/3ZlTLtE
📚Loudspeaker Design Cookbook 8th Edition: Volume 1 by Vance Dickason: https://amzn.to/42pdwk0
📚 The Loop: How Technology Is Creating a World Without Choices and How to Fight Back by Jacob Ward: https://amzn.to/4cyzSET
Further Reading:
“Sound & Vision Magazine Takes a Bow” by Mark Henninger: https://www.soundandvision.com/content/internet-killed-magazine-star
“Bowers & Wilkins 805 D4 Signature loudspeaker” by John Atkinson: https://www.stereophile.com/content/bowers-wilkins-805-d4-signature-loudspeaker
“Do We Really Need All These Target Curves?” by Brent Butterworth https://soundstagesolo.com/index.php/features/354-do-we-really-need-all-these-target-curves
“How Far Have Headphones Come?” by Brent Butterworth https://www.soundstagesolo.com/index.php/features/233-how-far-have-headphones-come
1 hr 9 min
October 02, 2024“Yub Nub, Baby!”
We’re on Patreon now! Find us at https://www.patreon.com/AudioUnleashed

This week, Brent and Dennis discuss the death of music hard drives (and the inevitable doom of all music recordings?); riff on a cut’n’paste review of a Coherence Systems… something or other, and worry whether a podcast they created about the Harman target curve using A.I. might actually be better than … well, not Audio Unleashed, of course, but much of what passes for audio journalism.
Buy-now links for products mentioned herein (As Amazon Associates, we may earn a small cut from qualifying purchases):
📚 Budget Travel For Dummies by Geoffrey Morrison: https://amzn.to/3uiIPlp
📚Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms by Floyd Toole: https://amzn.to/3ZlTLtE
📚Loudspeaker Design Cookbook 8th Edition: Volume 1 by Vance Dickason: https://amzn.to/42pdwk0
📚 The Loop: How Technology Is Creating a World Without Choices and How to Fight Back by Jacob Ward: https://amzn.to/4cyzSET
Further Reading:
“Music industry’s 1990s hard drives, like all HDDs, are dying” by Kevin Purdy:https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/09/music-industrys-1990s-hard-drives-like-all-hdds-are-dying/
“New five pound note plays vinyl records” by Blowfelt: https://youtu.be/MtNXDTPBzB0?si=3nL6eNrKeVCbnE3X
“Coherence Systems/ADD Powr Sorcer Apprentice Review” by Alan Sircom: https://hifiplus.com/articles/coherence-systems-add-powr-sorcer-apprentice/
“Google is using AI to make fake podcasts from your notes” by Emma Roth: https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/11/24242138/google-notebook-llm-ai-fake-podcasts-research
“Segmentation of Listeners Based on Their Preferred Headphone Sound Quality Profiles” by Olive, Sean; Welti, Todd; Khonsaripour, Omid: https://aes2.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=20289
“We Used A.I. to Make a Fake Podcast About the Harman Target Curve for Headphones” by Audio Unleashed: https://youtu.be/H_rx7UMMYq4?si=tU_Wx4xPYi7PMol6
1 hr 4 min
September 18, 2024“Math UNLEASHED!”
We’re on Patreon now! Find us at https://www.patreon.com/AudioUnleashed

This week, Brent and Dennis opine about whether or not an elaborate AI-powered streaming music scam is any worse than most of what Spotify does, pontificate about whether or not anyone needs to read amplifier reviews, and dig through the mid-year revenue report from the RIAA for clues about the future of music formats.

Buy-now links for products mentioned herein (As Amazon Associates, we may earn a small cut from qualifying purchases):

📚 The Loop: How Technology Is Creating a World Without Choices and How to Fight Back by Jacob Ward: https://amzn.to/4cyzSET

📚 Budget Travel For Dummies by Geoffrey Morrison: https://amzn.to/3uiIPlp

📚Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms by Floyd Toole: https://amzn.to/3ZlTLtE

📚Loudspeaker Design Cookbook 8th Edition: Volume 1 by Vance Dickason: https://amzn.to/42pdwk0

Further Reading:
“FBI busts musician’s elaborate AI-powered $10M streaming-royalty heist” by Benj Edwards: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/09/fbi-busts-musicians-elaborate-ai-powered-10m-streaming-royalty-heist/
“Eleven Predictions: Here's What AI Does Next” by Ted Gioia: https://www.honest-broker.com/p/eleven-predictions-heres-what-ai?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=296132&post_id=148502330&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=130q1&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
“Hegel H600 and H400: Unleashing the Power of the New Control App” by CE Critic: https://cecritic.com/news/integrated-amplifier/hegel-h600-and-h400-unleashing-the-power-of-the-new-control-app
“RIAA MID-YEAR 2024 RECORDED MUSIC REVENUE REPORT” Analysis by Matt Bass, RIAA Vice President, Research | Gold & Platinum Operations: https://www.riaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/RIAA-Mid-Year-2024-Revenue-Report.pdf
“Music Keeps the Groove in the First Half of 2024” by RIAA: https://riaa.medium.com/music-keeps-the-groove-in-the-first-half-of-2024-8844d6c9949d
The Tronosonic Experience: https://thetronosonicexperience.bandcamp.com/
1 hr 4 min
September 04, 2024“The Paradox of Punks”
We’re on Patreon now! Find us at https://www.patreon.com/AudioUnleashed

This week, Brent and Dennis kick things off with everyone’s favorite: a vocabulary lesson! What’s the difference between decibels and SPLs, and how are those distinct from loudness? Also, what the heck are LUFS? Next: If EarFun’s new earphones are all that, why pay more? And can Sonos un-punch its own face?
Buy-now links for products mentioned herein (As Amazon Associates, we may earn a small cut from qualifying purchases):
📚 The Loop: How Technology Is Creating a World Without Choices and How to Fight Back by Jacob Ward: https://amzn.to/4cyzSET
📚 Budget Travel For Dummies by Geoffrey Morrison: https://amzn.to/3uiIPlp
📚Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms by Floyd Toole: https://amzn.to/3ZlTLtE
📚Loudspeaker Design Cookbook 8th Edition: Volume 1 by Vance Dickason: https://amzn.to/42pdwk0
Further Reading:
“EVerything Explained | Episode One: What Do ‘dB’, ‘Loudness’and ‘SPL’ Actually Mean? by Electro-Voice Official: https://youtu.be/SrOiveJvlFE?si=mvHVLeGBjZiaufMw
“For the Love of Music: Loudness Normalization” by Thomas Lund: https://audioxpress.com/article/for-the-love-of-music-loudness-normalization
Harry Styles - “As It Was” (Official Video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5v3kku4y6Q
“Spirit They've Vanished” by Avey Tare & Panda Bear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_pyaRPzZ3A
“Earfun Air Pro 4 review: the best budget wireless earbuds on the planet” by Simon Cohen: https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/earfun-air-pro-4-review/
“The Sound Of Failure At Sonos” by Dan Pontefract: https://www.forbes.com/sites/danpontefract/2024/08/24/the-sound-of-failure-at-sonos/
“Apple’s War on Windows” by Dennis Burger: https://www.soundstagesimplifi.com/index.php/feature-articles/259-apples-war-on-windows
1 hr 3 min
August 21, 2024“The Microsoft of Really Cheap Turntables”
We’re on Patreon now! Find us at https://www.patreon.com/AudioUnleashed

This week, Brent and Dennis ponder whether our objective measurement techniques are keeping up with the sorts of audio gear people are actually buying, talk more trash about Spotify, and dig into the pros and cons of single-driver speakers.

Buy-now links for products mentioned herein (As Amazon Associates, we may earn a small cut from qualifying purchases):

📚 The Loop: How Technology Is Creating a World Without Choices and How to Fight Back by Jacob Ward: https://amzn.to/4cyzSET

📚 Budget Travel For Dummies by Geoffrey Morrison: https://amzn.to/3uiIPlp

📚Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms by Floyd Toole: https://amzn.to/3ZlTLtE

📚Loudspeaker Design Cookbook 8th Edition: Volume 1 by Vance Dickason: https://amzn.to/42pdwk0

Further Reading:
“New Ways to Measure Noise Cancelling, Transparency, and Other Modes in Headphones and Earphones” by Brent Butterworth: https://audioxpress.com/article/new-ways-to-measure-noise-cancelling-transparency-and-other-modes-in-headphones-and-earphones
“We're changing our scoring” by Christian Thomas: https://www.soundguys.com/were-changing-our-scoring-103635/
“Why I Finally Quit Spotify” by Kyle Chayka: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/why-i-finally-quit-spotify
“Why Crossoverless Single-Driver Speakers Are (Mostly) Crap! (Ep:84)” by soundstagenetwork: https://youtu.be/Uc7dtawhSVg?si=HLOhQknvyXbh-fE3
GR Research LGK 2.0 Speaker Review (A Joke): https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/gr-research-lgk-2-0-speaker-review-a-joke.34783/
“Voxativ Ampeggio 2024 loudspeaker Measurements” by John Atkinson: https://www.stereophile.com/content/voxativ-ampeggio-2024-loudspeaker-measurements
1 hr 2 min
August 07, 2024“I Bought My Lightsaber; Now I’m a Jedi!”
We’re on Patreon now! Find us at https://www.patreon.com/AudioUnleashed

Apologies for the sound quality this week. We had some back-end technical issues and had to rely on our compressed cloud backup audio stream for editing.

With that said, the conversation is one we hope you dig. We start by digging into the reader mailbag to address comments in support of and opposed to our take on the ASR v. GR-Research kerfuffle. Next up, we dig into why Sonos felt it needed to send out an apology letter to its customers, then discuss a cool episode of Your Morning Coffee that breaks down how algorithms and pay structures affect what music we hear.
Buy-now links for products mentioned herein (As Amazon Associates, we may earn a small cut from qualifying purchases):
📚 Budget Travel For Dummies by Geoffrey Morrison: https://amzn.to/3uiIPlp

📚Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms by Floyd Toole: https://amzn.to/3ZlTLtE

📚Loudspeaker Design Cookbook 8th Edition: Volume 1 by Vance Dickason: https://amzn.to/42pdwk0

Further Reading:
Audio Unleashed Ep. 32: “But... the Nakamichi Dragon!”: https://youtu.be/4_1NoCl_uzw?si=Sj_0ohv0Dnn69BLG
“What the HECK was Revel Thinking?! Revel Performa M22 Upgrades!” by GR-Research: https://youtu.be/JH1DrkqHatQ?si=4NLBuHevAogzefcJ
“Does a ‘high end’ name equal high end performance? Revel M106” by GR-Research: https://youtu.be/liNKOnNinSs?si=1aDAbEnTqvMiiHpC
“Sonos Apologizes for Widely Criticized App Redesign, Provides Progress Update” by Juli Clover: https://www.macrumors.com/2024/07/25/sonos-app-update-apology/
“The Best Multiroom Wireless Speaker System” by Dennis Burger: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/sonos-player/
YMC Special - Will Page's “A Case For Completion” by Your Morning Coffee: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ymc-special-will-pages-a-case-for-completion/id1529809478?i=1000662736677
1 hr 12 min
July 24, 2024“But... the Nakamichi Dragon!”
We’re on Patreon now! Find us at https://www.patreon.com/AudioUnleashed

Buy-now links for products mentioned herein (As Amazon Associates, we may earn a small cut from qualifying purchases):
📚 Budget Travel For Dummies by Geoffrey Morrison: https://amzn.to/3uiIPlp
📚Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms by Floyd Toole: https://amzn.to/3ZlTLtE
📚Loudspeaker Design Cookbook 8th Edition: Volume 1 by Vance Dickason: https://amzn.to/42pdwk0
This week, Brent and Dennis respond to ASR’s criticism of Danny Ritchie, discuss whether or not you should get a portable cassette deck, and wonder if the rumors about Bluetooth’s death are greatly exaggerated.
Further Reading:
“Danny Richie's latest…” on Audio Science Review: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/danny-richies-latest.38223/page-4#post-2021834
“New Portable Cassette Players Transport You Back to the ’80s. But Do You Really Want to Go There?” by Brent Butterworth and Arriana Vasquez: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-portable-cassette-players/
“Bluetooth is Dead and You Should Be Happy About It!” by cheapaudioman: https://youtu.be/B6dp7Uvc0Fs?si=SjcPgJJQwH2_xgQB
54 min
July 10, 2024“We’re Just Giving Ted Denney Free Ideas”
We’re on Patreon now! Find us at https://www.patreon.com/AudioUnleashed

Buy-now links for products mentioned herein (As Amazon Associates, we may earn a small cut from qualifying purchases):
📚 Budget Travel For Dummies by Geoffrey Morrison: https://amzn.to/3uiIPlp
📚Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms by Floyd Toole: https://amzn.to/3ZlTLtE
📚Loudspeaker Design Cookbook 8th Edition: Volume 1 by Vance Dickason: https://amzn.to/42pdwk0
This week, Brent and Dennis ponder how long it should actually take to evaluate a product under review, speculate on what’s going on with Tidal, and weigh in on why some people say music sucks so much these days.

And for Patrons: Stereophile did blind testing?! How’d that go?
Further Reading:
“HiFi Thoughts: How Much Time Is Enough Time to Write a Meaningful Review?” by Michael Lavorgna: https://twitteringmachines.com/hifi-thoughts-how-much-time-is-enough-time-to-write-a-meaningful-review/
“End of an era: Tidal to drop last remaining MQA tracks” by Ben Patterson: https://www.techhive.com/article/2370126/tidal-to-drop-last-remaining-mqa-tracks.html
“So long, Samsung: Tidal drops support for Samsung TVs” by Ben Patterson: https://www.techhive.com/article/2377017/tidal-drops-support-for-samsung-tvs.html
“The Real Reason Why Music Is Getting Worse” by Rick Beato: https://youtu.be/1bZ0OSEViyo?si=dNMs9Bitjb33VSC1
“Blind Listening” by John Atkinson, Will Hammond: https://www.stereophile.com/features/113/index.html
1 hr 9 min
June 26, 2024“I'm Not a Redneck; I'm a Hillbilly!”
We’re on Patreon now! Find us at https://www.patreon.com/AudioUnleashed

This week, Brent and Dennis talk about Jabra blowing out of the True Wireless earphone market with two last hurrahs, Passion for Sound redefining what it means to be an audiophile reviewer, and Lenbrook teaming up with HDTracks to start a new MQA-centric streaming service.
Buy-now links for products mentioned herein (As Amazon Associates, we may earn a small cut from qualifying purchases):

📚 Budget Travel For Dummies by Geoffrey Morrison: https://amzn.to/3uiIPlp

📚Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms by Floyd Toole: https://amzn.to/3ZlTLtE

📚Loudspeaker Design Cookbook 8th Edition: Volume 1 by Vance Dickason: https://amzn.to/42pdwk0

Further Reading:
“GN Group Announces Surprising Decision to Exit True Wireless Earbuds Consumer Space” by Joao Martins: https://audioxpress.com/news/gn-group-announces-surprising-decision-to-exit-true-wireless-earbuds-consumer-space
“Jabra Unveils Elite 8 Active and Elite 10 Generation 2 True Wireless Earbuds” by Joao Martins: https://audioxpress.com/news/jabra-unveils-elite-8-active-and-elite-10-generation-2-true-wireless-earbuds
“Why I'm quitting being an audiophile reviewer” by Passion for Sound: https://youtu.be/P0beuLLYR5c?si=WlR9G0O4rBH28s09
“FLAC or MQA? ‘Yes!’ says HDTracks & Lenbrook’s new streaming service” by John Darko: https://darko.audio/2024/06/flac-or-mqa-yes-says-hdtracks-lenbrooks-new-streaming-service/
59 min

About Audio Unleashed

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This is Audio Unleashed: the world’s only totally unfiltered, freewheeling, fearless discussion about the latest events in the world of audio, featuring veteran audio reviewers Brent Butterworth and…