GRACE NOTES

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Grace Notes
The Stradivarius Sound Bank: Capturing a Stradivarius Before It Sleeps
Leslie Shapiro  |  Feb 11, 2019  | 
It’s quite tragic; a Stradivarius violin creates arguably the most beautiful musical sounds created by man, but it’s only a limited time before the instrument goes to sleep, to be silenced forever. After producing brilliant sounds and melodies for centuries, the tone of the violin changes and it becomes too fragile and delicate to play; effectively the instrument is silenced in deep slumber. Fortunately, phase one of an ambitious project has just wrapped up in an attempt to save the sound of a precious few of these string instruments for generations to come.

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Headphone ReviewsGrace Notes
The TaoTronics SoundLiberty 53 Wireless Earphones Sound Decent for $45
Leslie Shapiro  |  Aug 05, 2019  | 
They say you get what you pay for. With budget audio products, that’s rarely a good thing. Finding a pair of true wireless earphones for under $50 is a rare thing, and finding ones with acceptable sound quality is even rarer. I had a chance to check out the TaoTronics SoundLiberty 53 earphones that retail for $45. Let’s see what just under fifty bucks gets you these days.

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Desktop Speaker ReviewsGrace Notes
Thonet & Vander Rätsel BT 2.1 Speaker System Review
Leslie Shapiro  |  Oct 05, 2015  | 
Pop quiz: What image first comes to your mind when you hear Bluetooth speaker system? Is it a small, portable, single-cabinet pseudo-stereo box with meager amplification? Would it blow your mind to imagine a Bluetooth system that’s actually a 2.1 desktop system, complete with two stand-alone two-way speakers, a separate amplifier/control box and yes, a separate subwoofer? Take a look at the Thonet & Vander Rätsel BT 2.1 Bluetooth system with a 75-watt. Sadly, I’ve gotten so accustomed to tiny little Bluetooth speakers that my mind was suitably blown.

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Grace Notes
TIDAL Announces Million Dollar Grant for New Talent in Detroit
Leslie Shapiro  |  Mar 11, 2019  | 
Get ready Detroit. Dust off your guitar, warm up those vocal chords. No, American Idol isn’t holding auditions. The music streaming service TIDAL is now accepting applications for a $1 million grant program designed to discover and develop new musical talent in Detroit.

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Grace Notes
Time to Vote!
Leslie Shapiro  |  Oct 24, 2016  | 
It’s that time of year. Nope, not Halloween, and even though Christmas decorations showed up in stores weeks ago, it’s not that either. It’s election time! No, no, not that election. It’s time to vote in the first round for the 59th Grammy Awards. Voting members of the Recording Academy just received their ballots for the first round of voting—the nomination phase.

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Grace Notes
TiVo and DirecTV: Reunited, and it Feels so Good
Leslie Shapiro  |  Feb 15, 2012  | 

Tristan and Isolde, Romeo and Juliet, Rachel and Ross, Brad and Angelina, Mac and Cheese. All great couples. Each individual may be fine on their own, but together - well, they're magic. Okay, so a few end up dead, but if it's written in the stars, then so be it.

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Headphone ReviewsGrace Notes
Torque Releases New Filter Valves for its Tunable t103z In-Ear Monitors
Leslie Shapiro  |  Apr 20, 2015  | 
Good news for audiophiles who like to take control of their music. A while back we reviewed a rather unique pair of in-ear monitors, the Torque t103z (MSRP $180). While they were a really good-sounding earphone, what made them stand out were the interchangeable passive filter valves—patented by Torque as PAVT, Passive Acoustic Valve Technology. When Sound&Vision initially reviewed the t103z, there were only three filter options. Now, we get a chance to listen to three new offerings from Torque Audio. For choosy music lovers (and who here isn’t?) this is great news.

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Headphone ReviewsGrace Notes
Torque t402v Convertible On-Ear/Over-Ear Headphone
Leslie Shapiro  |  Jun 15, 2015  | 
Choice is good. My laptop can convert to a tablet. My hiking pants convert to shorts. My car converts to a stargazing roadster. And my Torque t402v on-ear headphones convert to over-ear headphones. Even better than that—the sound converts from balanced headphones to bass-heavy beasts.
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Grace Notes
True-Fi Headphone Calibration Software More Popular than Ever
Leslie Shapiro  |  Sep 24, 2018  | 
Ever get a pair of headphones that you love for their style or comfort, but you’re just not in love with the sound profile? Sonarworks True-Fi makes it easier than ever to get “reference” studio-quality sound for over 200 headphone models.

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Grace NotesAudio Video News
Turn it Up! Spotify Lowers Streaming Volume
Leslie Shapiro  |  Aug 14, 2017  | 
Few people probably noticed a subtle change to Spotify that started a few weeks ago. In keeping with a standard already adopted by Tidal, YouTube and iTunes, Spotify has lowered the volume of its streams...
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Grace Notes
Turning the Page: The Rise of the Audiobook
Leslie Shapiro  |  Oct 10, 2016  | 
There’s a little-known corner of the audio world—one filled with drama and fantasy, science fiction and nonfiction. A world where anything is possible, and where many audiophiles rarely tread. It’s the world of audiobooks. And while the music industry may be struggling financially, the audiobook is exploding.
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Grace NotesAudio Video News
Unwrapped: THX "Deep Note"
Leslie Shapiro  |  Jun 04, 2018  | 
In honor of its upcoming 35th anniversary, THX hit Twitter with a post that sent music and movie fans alike into a tizzy. THX just released the written musical score of the THX logo theme, satisfying fans and showing us all how wonderfully simple, yet brilliant the piece is. 35 years ago, in time for the premiere of “Return of the Jedi,” Dr. James “Andy” Moorer created the THX musical icon, and it became one of the most recognizable scores in movie history. Now, we can finally see what they were talking about.

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Headphone ReviewsGrace Notes
V-MODA Zn In-ear Headphones
Leslie Shapiro  |  Dec 07, 2015  | 
V-MODA is forcing me back to high school chemistry and I don’t like it one bit. I guess most people probably know that Zn stands for zinc without having to break out a periodic table, and the properties of zinc are great for making acoustic devices. The new Zn in-ear monitors are the first in-ears released by V-MODA in four years, and they’re aiming for the modern audiophile with a blend of features that balance convenience and luxury.

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Bluetooth Speaker ReviewsWireless Multiroom Speaker ReviewsGrace Notes
Vifa Oslo Portable Wireless Speaker: Can Money Buy Love?
Leslie Shapiro  |  Nov 20, 2017  | 
A week ago, if you had asked me if I could love a $550 portable speaker, I would have laughed you out of my listening room. Yet here I am, just days later, completely smitten with the Oslo speaker from Vifa, a Danish speaker manufacturer. It’s uniquely stylish, massively overbuilt, and the sound is amazing. I am in love with the Oslo.

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Grace Notes
Vintage Vinyl: The World's Oldest Recording, Revealed
Leslie Shapiro  |  Sep 13, 2012  | 

A sound media historian at Indiana University recently made a remarkable discovery. Patrick Feaster was reading an article on early recording studios to help with a study he was doing on early Thomas Edison recordings.

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