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Written by: Geoffrey Morrison

Created: 01 April 2025

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Do you remember your first audio system? What were your first headphones and audio player? I use the term “audio player” broadly to cover portable devices and home gear. Were you plugging a huge pair of “cans” into the front of a record player, or was it a Koss CD player with eight whole seconds of anti-skip technology?

Read more: The Power of Nostalgia

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Written by: Geoffrey Morrison

Created: 01 March 2025

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As I’m writing this, the last of the historic and horrific Los Angeles fires have finally been extinguished. A bit of rain, far less than we typically get this time of year, has quenched the dry brush and doused the remaining embers. I was lucky. My house was never in any real danger, largely thanks to the wind’s direction, though for several nights I could see the fires in the distance from my porch. They were close enough that, for at least one night, my friends and I had packed go-bags in case we needed to evacuate.

Read more: Fire and Music

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Written by: Geoffrey Morrison

Created: 01 February 2025

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As I mentioned last month, one of the things I planned to check out at CES was MEMS, or micro-electromechanical systems. These tiny devices, made by California-based xMEMS Labs, are a different type of driver for both earphones and headphones. I was able to get a closer look not just at the currently available drivers like what you’d find in the Creative Aurvana Ace Mimi earphones, but some upcoming variations and several other uses of the technology that look equally, if not more, fascinating.

Read more: MEMS!

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Written by: Geoffrey Morrison

Created: 01 January 2025

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If the title didn’t give it away, I figured this was a perfect time to take a look at some tech and tech-adjacent things coming in 2025. In all three cases, they have potential ramifications for 2026 and beyond as well. Perhaps that’s a bit too grandiose. Maybe it’d be less hyperbolic to say “here’s some stuff you should be aware of” when it comes to the narrow niche we cover here at SoundStage! Solo.

Read more: Headphones 2025 and Beyond

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Written by: Geoffrey Morrison

Created: 01 December 2024

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This isn’t a gift guide. OK, it’s kinda a gift guide. Recently I received an email from a reader who was spoiled by choice. They had a reasonable budget but couldn’t decide what to get. Fair enough—there are a lot of options out there. I figured, given the time of year, that a sort of gift-guide-related post might help point people like them in a specific direction. Maybe it’s a gift for yourself, or a gift for someone who’s interested in a style of headphones with which you’re not particularly familiar.

Read more: Don’t Call It a Gift Guide