We have a new installment of our quasi-weekly round-up that is “This Week in Headphoolia”. Here we go…
CAN JAM 2017 Part II
We posted a lot of CanJAM 2017 (So Cal edition) action in the previous round-up but more things came out since them. These are some of them…
+ AudioHeads visit Noble Audio (3 min video)
+ AudioHeads visit ZMF (3 min video)
If you missed it last week, there’s a 1-hour video from Headfi previewing the action, YouTube-embedded below…
REVIEWS
This is only a sampling of what’s available, definitely not a comprehensive listing of every review out there 🙂
+ seven top-tier closed-back headphones are group-compared at earphiles.org (includes TH900, ZMFs, Z1R, modded BeyerD T5P, Audeze) in a unique slide-show responsive-web style format
+ Audeze LCD 3 Fazor by Metal/571 (18 min video)
+ Sony MDR-Z1R flagship at Verum Sonus
+ Beats Solo 3 bluetooth on-ears at RTings which has its own style of reviewing things, part of the “Reviewing 2.0” wave with things like Wirecutter and such. But they have a measuring head and measurements, which are not easy to procure and operate for the average audiophile
+ Campfire Audio Lyra IEMs by PortaFi (8 min video)
+ Cayin N3 DAP at Headfonia
+ Hidizs AP60 DAP at The Headphone List
+ Fiio i1 lightning to 3.5mm headphone adapter at iLounge
+ lots of new measurements at Innerfidelity highlighted in their April 2017 update
NEWSY
If you were not convinced Schiit’s announcement of a real-world store, there is now pictorial evidence of its existence, a reddit user visited and posted pictorial evidence. It looks pretty good. And using Microsoft Surface tablets to drive the demo stations (the last two pictures). In case you needed another reason to visit Southern California 🙂
LEARNINGS
Bluetooth 5 will be everywhere in a few months, and it will be even more chaos to untangle and detangle. Here’s another attempt at an explainer article, this one at Andriod Authority, accompanied by a 15-minute video explainer, YouTube-embedded below:
MUSIC and APPs
Coachella 2017 streaming live on YouTube with three separate channels/streams available. Schedules are available. Replays are not loaded there yet, except for a few individual song performances. Soundhound is getting owned by these songs, although partially to its defense, some of them are brand new songs that are first played at Coachella.
How many of you remember the Flexi Disc? Ars Technica (no, it’s not an Audio Technica blog) reminds us all 🙂
Here’s a little how-to turn any music app into an alarm clock, prepared by Android Central.
Now that Spotify has reached an agreement with labels/artists to delay the availability of (some) new music releases to the free ad-sponsored tier, Le Verge asks, is the free Spotify still worth it?
THERE IS a TEST!
Spotify has a 3-song test. Each song is available in three options, 160 kbps, 320 kbps and 1411 kbps. You listen and listen and rank them in terms of quality. Works best with Chrome browsers it says.