SoundStage! Solo | SoundStageSolo.com

Details: Written by: Geoffrey Morrison; Created: 01 September 2023

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There are few brands that elicit a more varied response between audiophiles and average consumers than Beats. Perhaps because I’m firmly on one side of that divide, I understand why. Early Beats headphones were pretty bad, even by the standards of the day (headphones have come a long way since then). To counter that situation, Beats had a colossal marketing budget. Honestly, though, I think their mainstream appeal was a huge factor behind the explosion of headphones as an audio category.

Read more: Sivga Luan Headphones

Details: Written by: Geoffrey Morrison; Created: 01 August 2023

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And now for something completely different—well, at least for SoundStage! Solo. Not completely different. Mostly different. They’re still headphones, but they’re aimed at a different market than we normally cover. However, being Bluetooth and noise canceling, they’re not that far removed from what we normally test.

Details: Written by: Geoffrey Morrison; Created: 15 July 2023

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Reviewers' Choice Most ultra-high-end headphones peacock some visual indications of their price. Whether it’s size, materials, or the overall design, they exude “expensive.” It’s certainly a choice, and an understandable one. The Yamaha YH-5000SE headphones are almost understated in comparison. They have a delightful, chunky, old-school look that, to the casual headphone fan, could be from 1976 or 1986 or just about any time, including now. No wood veneers, no fancy colors, just structural metal work, grilles, and a hint of yellow where the cables connect to the earcups. I like it. The design shows purpose, and if you know what you’re looking for, they telegraph their price in perhaps an even more impressive way than some other, more visually bombastic headphones.

Read more: Yamaha YH-5000SE Headphones

Details: Written by: Geoffrey Morrison; Created: 01 July 2023

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There is something appealing about big headphones. I think it’s the visual rebuttal of the endless trend towards smaller. True wireless earphones, wafer-thin flatscreen TVs, minimalist noise-canceling over-ears that are practically skeletal—most mainstream electronics just strive to minimize.

Details: Written by: Geoffrey Morrison; Created: 15 June 2023

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I didn’t intend to write so much about Sony in such a short span. Ironically, this was the article I planned first. But then I bought an NW-A306 portable media player and wanted to write about that, so this review got bumped. After hearing the March 17, 2023, episode of the SoundStage! Audiophile Podcast, Doug Schneider suggested I write an article about the Sony MDR-7506 headphones. I agreed, and these ’phones got bumped again. So here we are.