SoundStage! Solo | SoundStageSolo.com

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

As 2023 comes to an end, so does my first year at the helm of SoundStage! Solo. OK, technically it’s the end of my first 11 months, but let’s round up. This isn’t exactly a best-of-the-year story. It’s a few standouts from the year, along with a few headphones and gear I keep returning to between reviews. Let’s dive in.

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

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Noise canceling is kinda magic. Not literal magic—it’s just physics and electronic shenanigans, but the effect is magic. Being able to put something in or over your ears and have the world get significantly quieter? That’s brilliant. Unfortunately, as good as noise canceling has gotten, it’s still not perfect. “Canceling” is a bit of an oversell. In reality, “noise attenuation” or “noise reduction” would be more accurate. “Some stuff gets a little quieter” is even more descriptive, if less pithy.

Read more: Perfect Noise Canceling?

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

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This is a little deeper into the weeds than I normally wade, since it has to do with a fairly esoteric piece of technology and a bunch of companies who are trying to make money with it. However, said thing is interestingly controversial, and it definitely intersects with what we cover here at SoundStage! Solo.

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

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Some studies have shown that tastes in music solidify when you’re young and rarely change. Some say your musical interests lock in during your teenage years. Basically, once you’ve settled on what you like, that doesn’t change once you hit adulthood and middle age.

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

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A recent episode of the Audio Unleashed podcast touched on something important to audio enthusiasts of all kinds. Important enough that I felt it worth diving into a bit more here. If you haven’t heard of the Audio Unleashed podcast, it’s cohosted by my predecessor here at SoundStage! Solo, Brent Butterworth, and the editor of SoundStage! Access, Dennis Burger. The topic was AI, and if you’re Very Online like I am, I’m sure you’re tired of hearing those two letters even remotely near each other. More than a buzzword, AI has the possibility of changing the web in dramatic ways. None of them, in my opinion, good. But we’ll get to that. Where it’s going to directly affect you is the increasing potential that you’re going to stumble upon an AI-generated review, or even more likely, an AI-generated review aggregator. First, though, a quick primer.