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The Nigerian musician returns on Thursday, July 11, with his first new project since 2022
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Matthew Strauss
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Tag: audio
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The DJI Mic 2 Might Finally Replace My Lav Mic
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Convenient magnetic attachments, solid noise cancellation, and 32-bit float recording all add up to the perfect mic for location shoots.
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Eric Ravenscraft
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The Beats Solo Buds Have Great Battery Life but Lack Key Features
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That’s not to say the Solo Buds sound bad. They certainly lean toward the brighter side in the treble and midrange, but their sound is accessible and never got excessively sharp in my testing. The dynamics feel rather flat, but there’s some decent detail here, and they wholly avoid the kind of muddled lower register common in so many budget options. You’ll find clear delineation of each register across a wide range of tracks and genres.
They also support Spatial Audio with supported videos and music on services like Apple Music and Amazon Music Unlimited, though they don’t offer the same head-tracking common with such features, designed to virtually anchor the listening position around you.
I took several calls with the Solo Buds with no complaints on either end. Beats says the buds employ a noise learning algorithm with “advanced logic” that targets your voice and suppresses “external unwanted noises.” While I wasn’t able to test them in especially windy conditions, I tried a call under the bathroom fan. The caller said my voice sounded a bit like a speakerphone call, but the fan noise wasn’t audible.
Minimal Extras
Finding the Solo Buds to be somewhere around the “just fine” level for sound quality isn’t uncommon at their price, but it does make their distinct lack of other features tougher to square. Unlike so many new options at this price (and even well below), you won’t get any noise canceling to buffer annoyances or even transparency mode to keep you aware of your surroundings.
Photograph: Ryan Waniata
Also missing here are plenty of now-standard Apple offerings, like sensors to pause the sound when you pull a bud out, “Hey Siri” voice assistant summoning, or auto-switching to seamlessly swap between iCloud devices. They offer a few handy Apple exclusives, including Find My support to keep track of them, audio sharing, and one-touch pairing, popping up on your iPhone automatically when you first open them.
Like other Beats buds, the Solo can switch hit for Android gear, with some handy tricks like auto-swapping between Google-connected cloud devices, as well as the same one-touch pairing and Find My Device features you’ll get on iOS. The Beats Android app provides some basic settings adjustments and firmware updates.
It’s not nothing, but it’s a rather short list when you look at the litany of extras Soundcore offers in the A40 or the even better outfitted Liberty 4 NC (8/10, WIRED Recommends), with everything from noise canceling and transparency mode to multi-band EQ control and multipoint Bluetooth pairing. Even granting the possibility of a sound upgrade for those who can find a better fit than I did, the Solo Buds are a tough sell with so many loaded budget options out there, and countless more on the way.
If you’re after ecosystem-agnostic buds nestled in the cutest little case in the galaxy, the Solo Buds fit the bill at a modest price that’s sure to see a swift drop. Otherwise, you’ll get more for your money elsewhere.
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Ryan Waniata
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Listen to Kesha’s New Song “Joyride”
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Kesha has shared the studio version of “Joyride,” her first single of 2024 and first to be released on her own label, Kesha Records. Below, check out a lyric video for the song, which she debuted live in June at Brooklyn’s Planet Pride. Kesha co-wrote the track with Zhone and Madison Love.
Kesha has touted the self-release of “Joyride” as a celebration of independence after a long, troubled relationship with Kemosabe, the label owned by super-producer Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald. As with her 2017 album, Rainbow, and follow-up High Road, Kemosabe released Kesha’s 2023 album, Gag Order, in conjunction with RCA. (Dr. Luke did not work on those records.) A month after Gag Order’s release, Kesha and Dr. Luke settled a years-long defamation case in relation to her allegation that the producer sexually assaulted her in 2014. “Joyride” is her first release since the end of the Kemosabe contract.
Kesha is set to headline Philadelphia’s Wawa Welcome America Festival tonight. A Lollapalooza show (and afterparty concert) follows this summer, along with an appearance at Mexico City’s Festival Hera HSBC.
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Jazz Monroe
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Eminem, Big Sean, and BabyTron Share New Song “Tobey”
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Eminem is back with another new song. The Detroit rapper has released “Tobey,” a new single with fellow Michiganders Big Sean and BabyTron. To start the track, BabyTron raps, “Tobey Maguire got bit by a spider, but see, me, it was a goat.” The song’s credited producers are: Car!ton, Cole Bennett, Daniyel, Eminem, John Nocito, and Marvy Ayy. Listen to “Tobey” below.
Eminem will release his new “Tobey” music video, directed by Cole Bennett, on Friday (July 5). He has previously worked with Bennett on “Godzilla,” “Gnat,” and “Doomsday Pt. 2.” The rapper’s other recent single, “Houdini,” came with a music video by Rich Lee that referenced many of Eminem’s past visuals.
“Tobey” is Eminem and Big Sean’s fourth collaboration, following “Detroit vs. Everybody,” “No Favors,” and “Friday Night Cypher.” Neither rapper had previously made a song with BabyTron.
Eminem will release his new album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), on July 12. It follows 2020’s Music to Be Murdered By.
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Matthew Strauss
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The Best Headphones for Working Out
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“You’re always mooooving,” a parent friend once said in my direction, as he rapidly disappeared over the horizon. As the working parent of two kids, I … don’t disagree. Luxurious over-the-ear headphones are great if you primarily use headphones at work or for meetings, but for the rest of your life—working out, traveling, or puttering around your house pretending you’re putting things away—you probably want something much more convenient and durable.
Since I started testing workout headphones years ago, the sound, comfort, variety, and features have all improved dramatically. I pretty much always have a pair on or around me during the day, whether I’m biking on errands, running, rock climbing, or following along to mildly embarrassing yoga videos on my laptop in my bedroom. If you also need the distraction of music or podcasts while scrambling up stony slopes or mowing your lawn, here are a bunch of WIRED’s favorite pairs. We’ve worn and sweated on all of them. Don’t see anything you like? Check out our Best Wirefree Earbuds, Best Cheap Headphones, Best Bluetooth Speakers, or any of our other buying guides for more.
Updated June 2024: We added the Jabra Elite 8 Gen 2, the Ray-Ban Meta Wayfarers, and the Shokz OpenSwim Pro. We also updated links and pricing throughout.
Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-year subscription to WIRED for $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com and our print magazine (if you’d like). Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.
If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIRED
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Adrienne So
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The Go! Team Announce Tour and Thunder, Lightning, Strike Reissue, Share Remix
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The Go! Team are ringing in the 20th anniversary of Thunder, Lightning, Strike, their eclectic debut album, with a reissue and a fall tour. The new edition of the LP, out September 13 via Memphis Industries, comes with a bonus disc of band member Ian Parton’s original CDR versions of the songs in all their 2004 glory, which will be available on both the CD and vinyl reissues. Listen to the CDR version of “The Power Is On” and a Cornershop remix of “Everyone’s a V.I.P. to Someone” below.
The Rough Trade exclusive version of Thunder, Lightning, Strike’s reissue also comes with a 7″ featuring new versions of “Hold Yr Terror Close” by the Pastels and the Orielles. Those are the first in a series of remixes that the Go! Team requested from “a range of artists they love and admire.” The rest of those will be released throughout 2024.
The Go! Team kick off their Thunder, Lightning, Strike 20th anniversary tour on September 26 in Edinburgh, Scotland. After three more dates in Europe, the band will fly over to the United States for five concerts: one each in Chicago, Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. Opening those shows will be La Sécurité. Check out the Go! Team’s complete list of tour dates below.
Read about Thunder, Lightning, Strike at No. 171 on “The 200 Best Albums of the 2000s.”
All products featured on Pitchfork are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
The Go! Team:
07-06 Coventry, England – Godiva Festival
07-13 London, England – Kaleidoscope Festival
07-28 Thirsk, England – Deer Shed Festival
09-26 Edinburgh, Scotland – Queens Hall
09-27 Manchester, England – New Century Hall
09-28 Bristol, England – Marble Factory
09-29 Dublin, Ireland – Button Factory
10-28 Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
10-30 Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair
11-01 New York, NY – Irving Plaza
11-02 Philadelphia, PA – The Foundry at the Fillmore
11-03 Washington, D.C. – Black Cat[ad_2]
Nina Corcoran
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Chvrches’ Iain Cook Remixes the Cranberries’ “Linger”
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Chvrches’ Iain Cook has made a new remix of the Cranberries’ 1993 single “Linger.” Listen to the new track below.
According to a press release, Cook made his new track by deconstructing the original and reassembling it, keeping intact the vocal melody of the late singer Dolores O’Riordan. “When I got the stems, the first thing I did was listen to Dolores’ vocal tracks in isolation,” he explained. “Hearing those for the first time was magical; I was shocked by the intimacy and emotion in her performance. The first thing I did was to sit with the vocals on their own and rework the chords on piano. I often find that this is a great starting point with remixes as it helps you to shake off some associations that you have with the song, and this is a song which I’ve known and loved for over 30 years.”
In a statement, Cranberries drummer Fergal Lawler, said, “Iain did an outstanding job in remixing ‘Linger.’ He reimagined the song completely, creating a fresh and upbeat version of this classic.” He added, “Dolores’s original vocal is retained and sounds so beautiful and vulnerable at times. I’m sure she would have loved it.”
“Linger” featured on the Cranberries’ 1993 debut, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?
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Matthew Strauss
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Listen to Clairo’s New Song “Nomad”
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Clairo has released Charm’s opening track, “Nomad.” It’s the second preview of the new album, following lead single “Sexy to Someone.” Listen to Clairo’s new song below.
Clairo co-produced Charm, her third studio album, with El Michels Affair’s Leon Michels. The album is out July 12, and the singer-songwriter will support the record with concerts in Los Angeles and New York. In addition, she will perform at Mustafa’s Artists for Aid benefit concert on July 4.
Revisit the reviews of Clairo’s first two albums, Immunity and Sling.
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Matthew Strauss
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New Ryuichi Sakamoto Album Opus Announced: Listen to New Version of “Tong Poo”
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Milan Records will release a new album from the late Ryuichi Sakamoto, Opus, on August 9. Leading the album is a new, solo piano version of the Yellow Magic Orchestra classic “Tong Poo.” Listen to it below.
Opus captures Sakamoto’s final concert performance, which his son, Neo Sora, filmed for a documentary of the same name. The film will premiere online on Sunday, June 30, at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on the Criterion Channel. After the streaming premiere, the documentary will be available exclusively on the Criterion Channel.
Read “Ryuichi Sakamoto’s Son on Directing His Father’s Final Concert Film, Opus” on the Pitch.
Opus:
01 Lack of Love
02 BB
03 Andata
04 Solitude
05 For Jóhann
06 Aubade 2020
07 Ichimei – Small Happiness
08 Mizu no Naka no Bagatelle
09 Bibo no Aozora
10 Aqua
11 Tong Poo
12 The Wuthering Heights
13 20220302 – Sarabande
14 The Sheltering Sky
15 20180219 (W/ Prepared Piano)
16 The Last Emperor
17 Trioon
18 Happy End
19 Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
20 Opus – Ending[ad_2]
Matthew Strauss
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AVID Products Introduces WonderEars Headset to Enhance Early Learning Experiences
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PROVIDENCE, R.I., June 22, 2024 (Newswire.com)
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AVID Products, a Rhode Island-based 100% employee-owned audio company, proudly announces the release of WonderEars™, a mindfully designed headset tailored for young children and early learning. With their commitment to innovation and accessibility, AVID Products continues to redefine audio solutions, empowering young minds on their listening and learning journey.WonderEars will make its debut at ISTE in Denver, June 23rd to 26th, 2024, showcasing to the education technology community as an audio solution for early learning and young students. ISTE, the premier education technology conference, attracts educators and innovators from around the world, making it the perfect platform to introduce this newly developed headset.
Beyond just a headset, WonderEars represents AVID Products’ dedication to enhancing educational experiences for children of all ages. With a focus on comfort, durability, and high-quality sound, this headset aims to transform early learning environments, inspiring young learners to engage with their activities.
“We are very excited to introduce WonderEars to the education community,” says Mike Logan, Chief Commercial Officer at AVID Products. “Our goal with this headset is to provide young learners with a comfortable, durable, and high-quality audio solution that enhances their learning and nurtures their listening skills.”
Key features of the WonderEars early learning headset include:
- Properly sized for comfort – Tailored for children aged 4-9 to ensure a perfect fit for comfort during learning sessions.
- Durability – Crafted with robust materials to be durable and resilient to the demands of daily use in learning environments.
- High-quality audio – Designed to clearly deliver spoken word, enhancing comprehension, literacy, and engagement in educational content.
- Safer sound – Limited volume to 85dB provides a safer listening experience for young ears, promoting healthy auditory development.
- KidCom™ built-in microphone – Ensures consistent voice capture without the risk of breakage or distraction, empowering young voices to be heard.
- Sturdy cord design – Chew-resistant and tough against tugs and twists, ensuring uninterrupted listening experiences for active young learners.
- Easy to clean and store – Featuring a sleek design and easy-to-clean materials, WonderEars is convenient to maintain and store.
- Regulatory compliance – Meets strict safety standards for a worry-free learning experience.
“We believe in the power of audio to transform early learning experiences,” continues Logan. “With WonderEars, we aim to inspire young learners to explore, discover, and grow through the magic of sound.”
The WonderEars early learning headset is offered at an MSRP of $24.95 for a 3.5mm pin connection and $29.95 for USB-C. This headset is available now at shop.avidproducts.com and through select reseller partners. For more information and to join the AVID Community, visit avidproducts.com and connect with AVID Products on social media platforms, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X.
‘Listen, learn, wonder!’ with WonderEars—your trusted friend for early learning.
Source: AVID Products
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The Polyend Tracker+ Is a Powerful but Niche Groovebox
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Polyend’s Tracker+ is a significant update to its powerful (if somewhat anachronistic) sample-based groovebox, the Tracker. What made the Tracker so unique, and also confounding, was that it was a tracker (small t), but in hardware form. Trackers were an early form of music-making software that emerged in the late ’80s. They were initially used mainly for video game music but eventually found favor with a certain strain of electronic musicians, most famously Aphex Twin.
They’re very much a product of their time though, designed to work around the limitations of late 20th century personal computers like the Amiga. The new $799 Tracker+ has evolved to take advantage of modern technology, but its interface stays true to its forebears. The best way to describe a tracker is that it’s like composing in Excel. They’re vertically scrolling, spreadsheet-like collections of letters and numbers that can easily scare off a newcomer. But persistence will reveal a shocking amount of flexibility.
The Basics
Let’s get all the specs stuff out of the way first. The Polyend Tracker+ is a 16-track groovebox. Eight of those tracks can support stereo samples, with various methods of playback, and the other eight tracks can either control external devices via MIDI or one of the five built-in virtual synths. Samples can be simple one-shots or loops; you can slice up loops, or even load them into granular and wavetable engines for sample-based synthesis.
All of the tracks are monophonic. So playing a chord will eat up multiple tracks unless you’re using a sample of a chord. But tracks aren’t dedicated to any specific instrument so, you can combine kicks and snares on track one and maybe squeeze your bass in between hi-hats on track two.
The tracks themselves can be up to 128 steps, and each step contains instrument and note data, along with two slots for FX. The “FX” in this case aren’t chorus or reverb but things like chance, micro timing, and rolls. These two effects slots are the key to making your music not sound like it was written in a spreadsheet.
In addition to the increased sample memory, virtual synths, and stereo sampling, the other big upgrade from the original Tracker is support for audio over USB. This means you can connect the Tracker+ to your computer and get 14 stereo audio tracks out straight into your digital audio workstation (DAW). This makes it easy to put the final touches on an arrangement you’ve created on the Tracker+.
In Use
Photograph: Terrance O’Brien
Polyend nearly nailed the hardware with the original Tracker, if you ask me. The Tracker+ introduces some minor tweaks, but it’s mostly the same. It’s lighter and easier to toss in a bag but feels solid enough. The buttons are slightly clicky but have a new soft-touch finish. The large encoder has a bit more resistance, and the screen is brighter.
The grid of 48 pads is the same and remains, at best, usable. If you plan to use the built-in synths, I recommend connecting a MIDI keyboard. The pads are tiny, not velocity-sensitive, and don’t feel particularly natural to play. The quality of the hardware here is important since the interface can feel a bit like doing office work. But the feel of the keys and the resistance of the click wheel are all incredibly satisfying.
Polyend put a lot of thought into the interface to keep things from getting too tedious. There are shortcuts for quickly filling in entire tracks with data. For instance, you can quickly lay down a four-on-the-floor kick pattern with just a few button presses, generate a melody quantized to a specific scale, or randomly tweak the velocity on a hi-hat to give it a more natural feel.
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Terrence O’Brien
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Jamie xx and Robyn Share New Song “Life”
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Jamie xx has shared another new song from In Waves, his long-anticipated new album. The track is called “Life” and it boasts a guest feature from Swedish pop star Robyn. Give it a listen below.
In Waves arrives September 20. Jamie xx’s follow-up to his beloved solo debut, 2015’s In Colour, includes the singles “Treat Each Other Right” and “Baddy on the Floor.” Discussing “Life” in a press statement, the producer said:
Robyn added, “I just want to see how ‘Life’ gets people dancing this summer. I can’t wait for that. Jamie is such a brilliant creator, I’m excited to be part of his album.”
This summer, Jamie xx will return to Chicago to headline Pitchfork Music Festival, which takes place July 19-21. Also on this year’s lineup are Alanis Morissette, Black Pumas, Carly Rae Jepsen, Jessie Ware, Jai Paul, Brittany Howard, De La Soul, Unwound, 100 Gecs, and more. Tickets are now on sale.
Revisit Pitchfork’s interview “Jamie xx: Taking Shelter in Loud Places” and see where In Colour landed on “The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s.”
All products featured on Pitchfork are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
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Nina Corcoran
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I Love the NZXT Relay and SwitchMix System—but Wish It Was Wireless
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The NZXT Relay Headset isn’t noteworthy on its own. It’s a solid gaming headset with decent audio quality, comfortable earcups, and an understated design. But NZXT swung for the fences with its foray into the world of audio. Paired with NZXT’s SwitchMix accessory, the Relay Headset gets far more interesting.
The NZXT Relay Headset ($100) and the NZXT SwitchMix ($130) are sold separately, but they’re designed to be used together (along with NZXT’s Relay Speakers and Subwoofer). The headset plugs into the SwitchMix, which plugs into your PC, and you can use the SwitchMix to adjust the volume with the giant stylish knob or balance between game audio and voice chat with a simple slider.
But the headset hangar is the star of the show. It has a built-in pressure plate switch that tells the SwitchMix mixer to change devices between the headset and your external speakers. No more fiddling with device settings in Windows, forgetting to swap outputs, and accidentally waking your partner with your game. Just take the headset off the hangar and your PC will switch to it. Put the headset back on and audio will come out of your speakers. It’s a dream come true—when it works.
One Simple Switch
The SwitchMix accessory doesn’t come with the Relay Headset, and it costs slightly more than the headset itself, but that feels appropriate. It’s pretty unique. It comes in two parts: a mixer and a headphone stand.
The mixer is a sturdy yet sleek brick with a large stylish knob and a slider along the right side. The bottom of the mixer has four circular rubber pegs on the bottom that fit neatly inside a grid of holes on the base of the stand. It’s a nice little design touch that lets you rotate the mixer so it’s positioned best for your desktop setup. The knob and slider are large and distinct, making it easy to adjust them without looking, which can be crucial when you’re trying to adjust audio in-game.
Photograph: Eric Ravenscraft
The switch in the stand is easily the most appealing part of this setup, and it pulls off this party trick in a low-tech way that’s both a blessing and a detriment. A small 3.5-mm connector runs from the base of the stand into a port on the rear of the mixer. A USB-C port on the rear of the mixer runs to your computer, while two more 3.5-mm ports run to a speaker and (wired) headset.
This setup, unfortunately, means that the hangar switch works only with wired headsets, and can only connect to external speakers via a single 3.5-mm port. That limits the amount of hardware this setup will work with. But when it does work, it’s delightful. I prefer to watch videos on my desktop with my speakers but put on my headphones while I play Overwatch 2 with my friends. Picking up the headset from the stand, the audio switched over before I even got the headphones on my head. The word “seamless” was invented for experiences like this.
The SwitchMix also functions as a standalone digital-to-analog converter (DAC), though in my experience, this isn’t a particularly noteworthy benefit. The SwitchMix supports 24-bit/96-kHz audio output, but I didn’t notice a meaningful difference in the audio compared to plugging the headset directly into my PC.
One Solid Headset
The Relay is a solid first entry from NZXT. The earcups have a smooth matte surface in either black or white. I tested the white version and it looked particularly stylish. The foam inside the cups is soft and comfortable, and the headset is lightweight enough to wear for hours without discomfort.
Photograph: Eric Ravenscraft
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Eric Ravenscraft
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How to Use Your Smartphone to Cope With Hearing Loss
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MFi hearing devices usually have additional settings (it depends on the manufacturer) and can be configured from Control Center (with Hearing added) or through the Accessibility shortcut, which you can turn on and configure in Settings > Accessibility > Accessibility Shortcut.
To use hearing aids with Android phones, pair them like any other Bluetooth device by going to Settings > Connected Devices and Pair New Device. You may also have the option to pair through Settings > Accessibility > Hearing Devices and Pair New Device.
Additional features vary by phone manufacturer. Look for hearing aid compatibility (HAC) to see what your phone supports. For example, here is the Google Pixel hearing aid compatibility page. Some hearing aids can now stream music and podcasts directly to hearing aids from Android phones, but it’s wise to check compatibility before you buy.
When using hearing aids with Pixel phones you should also open the Phone app, tap the three vertical dots for Menu at the top right, and tap Settings > Accessibility to toggle Hearing Aids on.
If you don’t yet have a hearing aid but think you might need one, read our guide on how to buy a hearing aid. We also have a guide on how to stream audio to hearing aids and cochlear implants.
How to Use Real-Time Text With Your Phone
Some folks may prefer to type responses on a call, and you can do this with the real-time text (RTT) feature. Sadly, availability depends on your region and carrier. If there’s no RTT option, you will likely have Teletype (TTY) support instead. (RTT is more advanced and can transmit audio as you type.)
On Android phones, open the Phone app, tap the three vertical dots for Menu at the top right, and tap Settings > Accessibility to turn on RTT or TTY. If you choose Always Visible, you can tap the RTT icon (a capital T) after dialing someone to start an RTT call, and you can tap to launch it during a call.
To review transcripts of calls on Android, open your Phone app and tap Recents, choose the call you want, and then Call Details > See Transcript.
For iPhone, you can turn on RTT or TTY in Settings > Accessibility and you can select Answer All Calls as RTT/TTY. You can also choose RTT/TTY Call when calling someone and tap the RTT/TTY icon (looks like a landline phone) to answer a call or switch to text during a call.
To review transcripts of calls on iPhone, open your Phone app and tap Recents, then the i next to the call. You will see the RTT/TTY icon next to calls with transcripts in your call history.
Why Some Android Accessibility Features Are Baked Into Pixels
You may be wondering why some hearing accessibility features are baked into Google’s Pixel phones but offered as separate apps for other Android devices. Angana Ghosh, director of product management for input and accessibility at Google, says this allows the accessibility team to try new things on Pixel, where Google designs the hardware, especially since some phones may not be capable of the same level of on-device processing.
Keeping certain features as stand-alone apps also allows for regular updates so other Android phones can benefit from the latest developments without requiring firmware updates, which are often less frequent on non-Pixel phones.
Special offer for Gear readers: Get WIRED for just $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com, full Gear coverage, and subscriber-only newsletters. Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.
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Simon Hill
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Halsey Works With Alex G on Vulnerable New Song “The End”
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Halsey has released the new song “The End.” She co-produced the track with Michael Uzowuru and Alex G, the latter of whom also plays guitar on the song. Listen to the single below.
On Instagram, Halsey shared photos and videos of herself receiving treatment. She captioned the post, “long story short, i’m Lucky to be alive. short story long, i wrote an album.” Halsey has also announced that she is making donations to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the Lupus Research Alliance.
“The End” will appear on Halsey’s fifth studio album. They made their fourth album, 2021’s If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, with producers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
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Matthew Strauss
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Review: Sonos Ace
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As soon as you want to hear the same music in multiple rooms, you understand why so many people love Sonos. When it comes to set-it and-forget-it multiroom audio, the company makes the hardware and software experience easier than anyone. From speakers to soundbars (and even turntables and networked amps), Sonos has taken over the homes of everyone who doesn’t want to drop oodles of cash on a “real” custom-installed system with wires running through walls. In a roundabout way, this makes a somewhat-costly Sonos system feel affordable.
The same can be said about its first pair of headphones, the $450 Sonos Ace. They might ride the high-water mark of the price set by Apple’s AirPods Max, but they also work seamlessly within Sonos’ ecosystem, albeit over Bluetooth rather than Wi-Fi.
Sonos has dabbled in portable speakers like the Roam and Sonos Move 2 to extend its in-home sound to patios and beach blankets, but the Ace headphones mark a real mobile turning point for the company, and they’re largely great. They might not perfectly match the expectations of audio nerds who have been begging for Wi-Fi-based Sonos headphones for a decade, but the Ace are a fantastic pair of Bluetooth over-ears that go toe to toe with the best from Bose, Sony, and Apple. If you’re shopping for premium wireless headphones, these should be on your short list.
Going Mobile
The Ace feel incredibly well-made. Pop open the included hard case—something the Airpods Max notably, and very oddly, lack—and you’ll see a sleek pair of over-ears with shiny metal bands and supple leather around the headband. They’re round, traditionally shaped headphones that do nothing to grab anyone’s attention—they look a lot like Sony’s WH-1000XM5.
The simple design is timeless, sleek, and professional, so as never to seem out of place. It’s a design language borrowed from the “I didn’t see you there” styling of its speakers, and a welcome one in the world of flashy modern cans. Like the speakers, they come in matte white or black.
Photograph: Parker Hall
You have two tones of gray inside the ear cups to tell you which is right and left (darker is left, lighter is right, which makes these great for people who are colorblind or have low vision), and they have three basic buttons on the outside, set between a large assortment of mesh-covered microphones. The replaceable ear cups use magnets to attach and come with a built-in mesh cover that helps keep gunk out of the headphones’ drivers, and there is also a slot for a USB-C cable on the bottom left.
The main thing you’ll use to control the headphones, apart from the app and your smartphone, is the volume slider on the right ear cup, which allows you to play and pause music with a press; you can slide it up or down for volume control. On the bottom of the left cup is the power button, and there is a similarly sized button on the bottom of the right that adjusts active noise canceling between on and transparency mode (which pipes in sound from the outside world). Inside the Sonos app, you can also set this button to turn off ANC and transparency entirely, but that isn’t the default option.
Other settings you can change in the app include basic bass and treble EQ, and whether you want the headphones to pause when you remove them, or to answer calls when you put them on.
All-Day Listening
The fit is astonishingly comfortable, thanks to the Ace’s 11-ounce weight. and there’s an excellent design choice where the headband attaches to the ear cups. It links up at the center of the cup, which gives the headphones a nice, center-directed clamping force. This means less headband fatigue and better comfort when wearing glasses, something I experience with the AirPods Max, which are heavier and have a higher clamping force on my head.
It’s headphone-reviewer hyperbole, but I genuinely did forget I was wearing the Ace on a few occasions. They’re that comfortable, and the included transparency and associated mics are so good that they have a weird ability to trick your brain into feeling like you have nothing on your head at all. I found none of the weird boxy sensations I get from other headphones with transparency turned on. I had full conversations with the headphones on, which I’ve usually felt too awkward to do with other over-ears. (I still think it’s rude to not remove your headphones when chatting.)
As far as noise reduction, I was genuinely astounded how the Ace immediately offers some of the best noise canceling on the market with a press of a button. Turning on ANC mode feels like turning the volume of the world from a 9 to a 1 on some global volume dial. HVAC noises all but disappear, cars on roads are reduced to nothing, and even my clacky mechanical keyboard sounds like a light tap of a pen on a pad. The noise reduction is easily on par with the top brass, with Bose still narrowly edging out the competition on high frequencies.
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Parker Hall
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The Best Bookshelf Speakers to Blast Your Tunes
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Active (aka “powered”) speakers do not require a separate amplifier or receiver. Instead, they have amplification (which is what makes the sound loud enough to play through speakers) built in. These amps are often customized for their specific drivers and cabinetry, which can deliver performance benefits. Modern powered speakers also have other perks, like fully wireless designs (apart from power cables) and wireless support to source devices via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. They’ll typically provide physical connections for CD players, turntables, subwoofers, and TVs.
Passive speakers are wired speakers that require a separate amplifier or receiver and speaker cables for playback. This creates more steps since you’ll need to find an amplifier with matching power specifications (more on this below). The benefit is that passive speakers are more versatile and dependable, letting you mix and match them in multiple systems and configurations. When treated properly, passive speakers can last for decades.
Impedance is a specification measured in ohms referring to a speaker’s resistance to electrical current flow. Most passive speakers’ nominal impedance rating (essentially the average impedance) is rated at 4, 6, or 8 ohms; the lower the number the less resistance to electrical current. You can think of it like plumbing pipes: the wider the pipe, the less opposition to pressure you get and the more flow, or electrical current, you’ll need. The upshot is that 4-ohm speakers are the hardest to drive, requiring the most power. Much is made about impedance in audiophile circles, but most good amplifiers and receivers are rated for both 8-ohm and 4-ohm speakers, with appropriate wattage ratings to match. For 6-ohm speakers, you’ll generally want an amplifier with a 6-ohm or 4-ohm impedance rating and enough power to match the speaker’s requirements (available in the manual or website).
Speaker power requirements: Passive speakers include specifications for their minimum and maximum power requirements, measured in watts. Without getting too deep into the weeds about amplification types and power efficiency, a good rule of thumb is to pick an amplifier with a wattage rating per channel that closely matches your speaker’s power requirements for its nominal impedance rating. If you’re having trouble finding the right match, you’ll generally want an amplifier that meets your speaker’s minimum power requirements for its nominal impedance rating.
Tethered connection options: Most modern amplifiers and active speakers offer multiple wired connections like analog input (RCA or 3.5 mm), digital optical input for CD players or TVs, and a subwoofer output for connecting a powered subwoofer. Many new systems connect to TVs over HDMI ARC too, letting you control basics like power and volume with your TV remote. They may also offer a phono input for turntables, though many of our favorite turntables come with a built-in phono preamp (or you can purchase a separate phono preamp as needed).
Wireless connection options: Nearly all active speakers—and many modern amplifiers—support Bluetooth. Wi-Fi connectivity is also increasingly standard to access services like Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, AirPlay, and Google Cast. Wi-Fi is generally preferred over Bluetooth for its improved sound quality and conveniences like uninterrupted streaming and expanded wireless range.
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Ryan Waniata
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Meshell Ndegeocello Announces James Baldwin Tribute Album, Shares New Songs
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Meshell Ndegeocello has announced her second album for Blue Note Records. The new album is a tribute to James Baldwin and will be released on the 100th anniversary of the iconic author’s birth, August 2. Below, listen to the first two singles from the album, “Travel” and “Raise the Roof.”
Ndegeocello’s new album, No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin, follows The Omnichord Real Book, her 2023 Blue Note debut and the inaugural winner of the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Jazz Album.
Ndegeocello co-produced No More Water with guitarist Chris Bruce. She recorded the new album with Bruce, vocalist Justin Hicks, saxophonist Josh Johnson, keyboardist Jebin Bruni, and drummer Abe Rounds. Additional guests include poet Staceyann Chin, author and critic Hilton Als, vocalist Kenita R. Miller-Hicks, keyboardists Jake Sherman and Julius Rodriguez, and trumpeter Paul Thompson.
Read the Meshell Ndegeocello’s Sunday Review of Bitter.
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Matthew Strauss
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