Brent Butterworth

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Headphone Reviews
Review: WeSC Chambers by RZA Headphones Page 2
Brent Butterworth  |  Mar 21, 2012  |  0 comments

We haven’t made any secret of our general disdain for headphones endorsed by hip-hop artists. Not that we have anything against hip-hop artists, nor is there any good reason why hip-hop ’phones should sound bad.  It’s just that many of them do.

In last year’s celebrity headphone test, we didn’t dig the Soul by Ludacris SL300WB at all, and had a mixed reaction to the Beats Pro and Skullcandy Roc Nation Aviator. But our not-unpleasant experience with the Sync by 50 SMS-WS got us thinking that maybe someone in the hip-hop world was starting to understand that while crazy, bass-heavy tonal balances may be initially impressive, they’re not something most of us want to live with on a day-to-day basis.

Next up in the battle of the rapperphones is the $275 WeSC Chambers by RZA.

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Headphone Reviews
Review: Westone ADV Alpha
Brent Butterworth  |  Jun 30, 2013  |  0 comments

The companies that have most benefitted from the headphone boom are the ones who are great at marketing but don't know much about audio engineering. (Yet.) Two of the hottest brands in the biz are Beats and Skullcandy, companies that didn't even exist when the iPod debuted.

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Subwoofer Reviews
Review: Wisdom Audio SCS Subwoofer
Brent Butterworth  |  Nov 03, 2011  |  0 comments

Most subwoofers are large, roughly cube-shaped black boxes that look about as elegant as a Vietnamese potbellied pig.

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Headphone Reviews
Review: Yamaha Pro 500 headphone
Brent Butterworth  |  Dec 19, 2012  |  0 comments

From mixing boards to Blu-ray players to soundbars to saxophones, Yamaha makes just about everything audio. Which is why it’s surprising that in the one field that practically every audio company has piled into—headphones—Yamaha hasn’t done much in the last few years. The Pro 500 represents a re-entry of sorts, a flashy blue bombshell designed to attract both audiophiles and fashion-oriented “listeners.”

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Tech2
Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2012 Report: Best Speakers
Brent Butterworth  |  Oct 17, 2012  |  0 comments

If you’re looking to hear the latest speakers, there’s no better place to go than Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Audio Fest. Last weekend’s show was packed with new speakers, ranging from bookshelf designs to huge towers, budget models to budget-busting models, and ordinary to exotic.

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Audio Video News
Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2012 Report: CanJam
Brent Butterworth  |  Oct 14, 2012  |  0 comments

The CanJam section of the annual Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, which took place this weekend at the Denver Tech Center, is one of the best places in the U.S. for audiophiles to sample headphones and headphone amps.

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Tech2
Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2012 Report: Electronics & Turntables
Brent Butterworth  |  Oct 17, 2012  |  0 comments

As I said in Monday’s coverage of headphones and Wednesday’s coverage of speakers, Denver’s Rocky Mountain Audio Fest is the biggest, most exciting, and most important of the regional hi-fi shows that have sprung up all over the U.S. and Canada.

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Tech2
Rocky Mountain Audio Fest Report, Part 1: CanJam
Brent Butterworth  |  Oct 17, 2011  |  1 comments

Visitors to the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest that ended yesterday got to see two shows in one.

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New ProductsTurntable ReviewsStreaming Device Reviews
Rocky Mountain Audio Fest Report, Part 2: Speakers, Amps, and More
Brent Butterworth  |  Oct 18, 2011  |  0 comments

The Rocky Mountain Audio Fest is growing up. A few years ago, it was known as a gathering of small (sometimes one-man) companies demonstrating exotic (sometimes downright wacky) audio products. Some of those guys are still there, but so now are most of the better-known high-end audio companies.

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Soundbar Reviews
Roundup: Six Soundbars Put to the Test
Brent Butterworth  |  Nov 13, 2013  |  2 comments
A Satisfying Substitute for Real Home Theater Sound?

I’ll assume that you, as a Sound & Vision reader, would prefer a conventional 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound system to a soundbar. But I’ll also assume that you don’t have 5.1 or 7.1 in every room of your home. Or in your vacation home, or your parents’ home, or your kids’ rooms. For these situations, even the cognoscenti—that means you—might be tempted by the convenience and low cost of a soundbar. Still, though, you’re probably not going to risk your status as an audiophile by buying one of those bottom-of-the-barrel, $150 cheapies at Costco.

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