LATEST ADDITIONS

Klipsch is commemorating its 70th anniversary by issuing limited runs of the iconic Klipschorn and Heresy Heritage series speakers. Special attention has been paid to the details of each new speaker, as they features design enhancements, exotic wood veneer finishes, special edition logos, and unique grille cloths.

The I.M. Pei–designed Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & Museum, with its soaring glass pyramid atrium, 162-foot tower, and haphazardly attached circular white column, sits at the edge of Lake Erie looking like the hard-won beachhead of some futuristic society risen from the depths. A crown jewel of Cleveland’s cultural scene, it entertains a half-million visitors a year who come to peruse the five levels and 55,000 square feet of exhibit space that house the instruments, personal effects, costumes, stage props, lyric sheets, recording gear, and still imagery that constitute an intricate, embroidered backdrop to countless American teenage lives.

Looks like they’re finally wanted enough. This Friday, April 8, Cheap Trick will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame alongside Chicago, Deep Purple, Steve Miller, and N.W.A at the 31st Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. “Well, like they say — it’s better than getting a sharp stick in the eye,” jokes Cheap Trick’s ever-jovial guitarist Rick Nielsen. “But, yeah, it’s quite an honor.”Not only that, but Cheap Trick have also just released their 17th studio album, Bang Zoom Crazy... Hello (Big Machine), and, as the saying goes, it’s all killer and no filler. Nielsen, 67, and I got on the horn to discuss the sound design of Bang Zoom, working with George Martin, and how it feels to finally get into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Last summer NPR posted a story entitled ”How Well Can You Hear Audio Quality?” that let users “blindly” compare six different tracks recorded at identical volume levels at three different qualities: MP3 at 128 Kbps, MP3 at 320 Kbps, and uncompressed WAV. The goal was to see if listeners could discern the quality difference and then correctly pick which version was WAV.

After thousands of results it turns out that people can tell the difference. But just barely.