The Next Track

By Doug Adams and Kirk McElhearn

Doug Adams and Kirk McElhearn discuss music and musicians, and how we listen to music, whether it be analog or digital, downloaded or streamed, audio, or video.... more

4.7

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FAQs about The Next Track:

How many episodes does The Next Track have?

The podcast currently has 311 episodes available.

The Next Track episodes:

July 29, 2016♫ Episode #11 – Audio Myths & Superstitions
Doug and Kirk welcome back Andy Doe, digital music consultant, to discuss myths and superstitions around audio: cables, breaking in hardware, digital audio, and more. But first we discuss classical music playlists on streaming services.
“Hooray, good for you, you have magical bat ears.” Andy Doe.
Show notes:
Andy Doe
Proper Discord
Classical music playlists:
Here’s What’s Wrong with Classical Music on Streaming Services (Part Whatever)
Audio myths & superstitions:
Articles on Kirk’s website about hi-fi magazines writing about audio equipment
How Hi-Fi Magazines Write about Cables, Part 7: An Audiophile Shelf
IsoAcoustic speaker stands
Mastered for iTunes
Our next tracks:
Kirk: Bach: Lute Works (original version for ten-string guitar), Stephan Schmidt
Doug: Rolling Stones, Get Yer Ya-Yas Out
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.
Special Guest: Andy Doe.
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33min
July 22, 2016♫ Episode #10 – Setting Up a Home Media Server
Have you ever wanted to set up your own home media server? Doug and Kirk discuss the pros and cons of doing this, and explain how to set up a Mac mini as a media server.
Show notes:
Discovering new music:
Apple’s Mac mini
OS X Server
I wish there was an iTunes Server
WD My Passport 4 TB portable hard drive
Carbon Copy Cloner
Change Screen Resolution on Headless OS X Server
Sonos
Plex
The Merchant of Venice, by the Royal Shakespeare Company
Apple improves iCloud Music Library matching, ditches copy-protected matched files for Apple Music users
VNC Viewer
The best way to watch media on the new Apple TV: iTunes Home Sharing vs. Plex
Our next tracks:
Doug: Jeff Beck, Loud Hailer
Kirk: Emerson String Quartet – Complete Recordings On Deutsche Grammophon
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28min
July 15, 2016♫ Episode #9 – Will Hermes on Discovering New Music
In the latest episode of The Next Track, Doug Adams and Kirk McElhearn welcome NPR and Rolling Stone music critic Will Hermes. We take a brief stroll down memory lane, then discuss music discovery: how does a music critic, overwhelmed with choice, discover new music.
“For me to just become a nostalgia merchant; as a writer, and as a music fan, not interested.”
Show notes:
Discovering new music:
Will Hermes’ website; his writing on Rolling Stone; his reviews on WNYC; All Things Considered
Love Goes to Buildings on Fire, by Will Hermes
NPR Music
Uncut Magazine
The Wire
Pitchfork
Rate Your Music
Other People
Listen to all ten albums from Brian Eno’s Obscure Records label
Day of the Dead
Chimes Of Freedom: The Songs Of Bob Dylan
Rock Family Trees
Our next tracks:
Kirk: Steve Reich, Music for 18 Musicians
Doug: Johnny Thunders, So Alone
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.
Special Guest: Will Hermes.
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31min
July 08, 2016♫ Episode #8 – Listening to Words: Audiobooks and Spoken Word Recordings
In the latest episode of The Next Track, Doug Adams and Kirk McElhearn discuss spoken word recordings. How to get them, how to manage them, and how to listen to them. And we discuss how the history of recording started with recordings of spoken word content.
“Like a Victorian call center.”
Show notes:
Spoken word and audiobook recordings:
Key dates in the history of audiobooks
Walt Whitman reading four lines of America
James Joyce reading from Ulysses and Finnegans Wake
JRR Tolkien reads from The Lord of the Rings
Audible.com, Audible UK, free trial with two free audiobooks
Librivox: free, public domain audiobooks
Join Together, Mac app that splices multiple audio files into one
Ripping and Playing Audiobooks
Our next tracks:
Doug: Fleetwood Mac, The Boston Box
Kirk: Arkangel Shakespeare, and King Lear on the iTunes Store
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31min
July 01, 2016♫ Episode #7 – Music and Genres
In the latest episode of The Next Track, Doug Adams and Kirk McElhearn analyze the rumor that Apple is planning to remove the headphone jack from the iPhone, and then discuss how people organize music by genre.
“No matter where we steer this thing, we always end up driving down inelegant boulevard.”
Show notes:
The headphone jack rumor:
An iPhone without a headphone jack? No way!
On the Recurring Rumor that Apple Is Getting Rid of the iPhone Headphone Jack
What’s the Logic Behind Apple’s New Headphone Jack?
Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter
Headphones with lightning connectors:
Philips Fidelo M2/27
Audeze EL-8 Titanium
Organizing music by genre:
ID3 version 1 genre list
Gracenote’s genre list
How the Over-Genrification of Music Is Bad for Listeners and Musicians
Here’s How Messed Up Apple Music Metadata Is (List of iTunes Store genres in a comment to this article)
YouTube Users Are Reinventing The Way We Classify Music – vocativ
Our next tracks:
Doug: Where There’s A Will There’s A Way: The ABC-Dunhill Recordings By Bobby Whitlock
Kirk: Bach, Goldberg Variations (1981), on Glenn Gould: The Complete Columbia Album Collection box set
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.
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30min
June 24, 2016♫ Episode #6 – What Is High-Resolution Audio?
In the latest episode of The Next Track, Doug Adams and Kirk McElhearn welcome special guest Chris Connaker who runs the Computer Audiophile website to discuss high-resolution audio. What are the pros? The cons? Is high-res for you?
“Is high-resolution worth it? There really is no definitive answer to that…”
Show notes:
The Computer Audiophile website
High-resolution audio:
Episode #3 – Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know about Audio File Formats
Gimell Records, John Taverner – Missa Corona spinea
Why do CDs use a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz?
Hdtracks
JRiver Media Center
Fiio X7 portable audio player
roon
The Dark Art of Mastering Music – Pitchfork
Our next tracks:
Kirk: Roadies
Doug: 2, Mudcrutch
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.
Special Guest: Chris Connaker.
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32min
June 17, 2016♫ Episode #5 – Headphones or Speakers?
In the latest episode of The Next Track, Doug Adams and Kirk McElhearn take a quick look at the new features coming to Apple Music, and then discuss how we listen to music with headphones and speakers. What’s the best kind of headphones? When should you use speakers? Why not use both (not at the same time, of course)?
Show notes:
News:
A Brief Overview of New Features Coming to Apple Music
Headphones and speakers:
Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro Studio Headphones
Sennheiser HD 280 Pro Headphones
AKG K 240 Semi-Open Studio Headphones
Sony MDRV6 headphones
Sony STR-DH100 receiver
Jabra Revo Bluetooth headphones
Bose 201 speakers
Denon PMA 720AE amplifier
Focal Chorus 705v speakers
Cambridge Audio DacMagic 100
IsoAcoustics ISO-L8R155 speaker stands
Mackie MR mk3 studio monitors
Sonos PLAY:5
Yamaha R-N301 network stereo receiver
Our next tracks:
Kirk: The Drop, Brian Eno
Doug: The Ventures, The Ventures A Go-Go
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.
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30min
June 10, 2016♫ Episode #4 – Streaming Shenanigans and Metadata
In episode #4 of The Next Track, Doug Adams and Kirk McElhearn welcome special guest Andy Doe, digital music consultant and classical record label head, to discuss some streaming music shenanigans, and audio file metadata, the information that tells you who a track is by, its name, its album, and more.
“This is the kind of mass-production of music that Henry Ford would have appreciated.” Andy Doe.
Show notes:
Andy Doe
Proper Discord
Streaming music shenanigans:
Albums are getting unbearably long and sh*tty streaming rules are to blame
Metadata:
Metametadata: almost everything you read about classical metadata is wrong
Dart Music
Our next tracks:
Doug: Brazil Classics 1: Beleza Tropical
Kirk: The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions, Miles Davis
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.
Special Guest: Andy Doe.
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33min
June 03, 2016♫ Episode #3 – Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know about Audio File Formats
In episode #3 of The Next Track, Doug Adams and Kirk McElhearn examine the various audio file formats that you may encounter when you listen to music. You’re familiar with MP3, AAC, and, perhaps, Apple Lossless, but do you know your FLAC from your AIFF, or your WAV from your Ogg Vorbis?
Show notes:
Audio file formats:
Here’s a selection of links about audio file formats, working with lossless audio, etc.
An Overview of Audio File Formats Supported By iTunes
Everything you need to know about digital audio files
The ABCs of Lossless Music Files
Wikipedia article about lossless compression
The complete guide to using iTunes with lossless audio
Why You Shouldn’t Use WAV Files with iTunes
How to Play FLAC or Other Lossless Audio Files in iTunes, with links to free apps for Mac and Windows to convert audio files to different formats
Rip To Lossless – and Never Rip Again
Our next tracks:
Doug: Tomita, Greatest Hits
Kirk: Schubert: Die Schone Mullerin, Winterreise & Schwanengesang, by Ian Bostridge
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.
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29min
May 27, 2016♫ Episode #2 – To Stream or to Own Music?
In episode #2 of The Next Track, Doug Adams and Kirk McElhearn take a brief look at the iTunes 12.4 update, and then discuss streaming music versus owning it. Do you want to have access to most of the recorded music available or do you want to own your music, listen to it when you want, even if labels or artists decide they don’t want to play with streaming services?
Show notes:
News and Updates:
Kirk’s review of iTunes 12.4 on Macworld
Some Minor Changes in iTunes – Kirkville
Main topic, streaming versus owning music:
A New Survey of British Consumers Suggests That People Older Than 35 May Be Being “Left Out in the Cold” by Music-Streaming Services
Music Taste Matures by Age 35 (And It’s Different for Parents)
ECM Records
ECM Selected Recordings IX-XX, ECM’s only album available to stream on Apple Music
Hyperion Records
Other People Records
Pandora Music
Our next tracks:
Doug: I Still Do, Eric Clapton
Kirk: Fallen Angels, Bob Dylan
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.
Support The Next Track
...more
31min

FAQs about The Next Track:

How many episodes does The Next Track have?

The podcast currently has 311 episodes available.

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