HEADPHONE HEAD TO HEAD
SOUND is just as important as vision. It is everywhere around you, and can take your mind away to wherever you want. Sometimes you can’t always put your finger on why you like a sound, you just like it. That’s why judging audio quality is a tough review process to trust. Everyone’s ears are different, and we pick up every sound in our own way. Every click, cry, sigh, laugh, shout, car, plane, melody—you name it, we are all going to hear it a little differently to the next person.
Over the last half a century, audio listening has become a staple of day-to-day life. Whether that is starting your day by waking up to your favorite 1980s thrash metal song, walking the dog to some Cher (we know you people are out there), or you are more on the commercial side, with conference calls from nine to five—audio listening has pushed its way into everyone’s homes.
THE JOURNEY OF PERSONAL AUDIO LISTENING
THE MUSIC WORLD as it stands is a strange one. As a whole we no longer own music. Streaming is the done thing, and it has fundamentally changed the way we consume music. Meanwhile, everything is going wireless—less is more, cables seem old-fashioned, and the chances of you seeing someone walking around looking like a special agent with buds in their ears is increasing. However, can streaming bring the music industry back up to track where it was in its heyday? Potentially, but first, we must look at how we got here.
REVOLUTIONARY SOUND
1877, remember it? Well, it was the start of it all, with the invention of the cylinder phonograph, the first real
