It's curious enough to find venerable speaker companies getting into the headphone business, but the announcement today by Apple accessories specialists InCase of an all-new - and very complete - line of headphones is even more of a surprise.
Does the iPad have a role to play for audiophiles, or for the new breed of iDevice-inspired audio enthusiasts? It's hard to beat the touchscreen interface for music listening - it provides a tactile browsing experience that hands-down beats the UIs on most high-zoot audiophile servers. On the desktop there are plenty of audiophile file players that load audio into RAM for supposedly improved fidelity - but the iPad offers all-solid-state audio storage to begin with, freeing your bits from jitter-inducing hard-drive-access. But is iOS - and the circuitry within - up to snuff?
If you're a fan of Blue Note's classic releases of the '50s and '60s - and frankly, what jazz aficionado isn't? - and you're a discerning digitally inclined audiophile, you're in luck! Blue Note/EMI, through our friends at HDtracks, is releasing six classics of the period in glorious 96kHz/24bit and 192kHz/24bit remasters from the original analog masters.
Kaiser Chiefs' fourth studio album, The Future is Medieval, comes out today - but with a twist. The Chiefs have invited purchasers of the record to assemble and sell their own versions, building an online hub where fans they can find an audience for their personal Medievals.
Our friends at KEF are looking to raise some money this summer for the ChildLine Rocks Foundation, and naturally they're doing it in a high-octane, high-volume fashion. The organization works to prevent child abuse.