“Velvet Noise?”

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This week, Dennis and Brent get caught  in the trap of being forced to discuss Apple’s big new thing—improved open-ear noise cancellation—and how it might compare to that of the Cleer ARC 3 Open Wireless Earbuds. Then they riff yet again on the subject of AI music, largely centered on UMG’s recent deal with the devil, as well as 404 Media’s intentional hacking of Lathe of Heaven’s Spotify page to inject it with lazy AI slop. Last up for most people, they dig into Brent’s thoughts on several recent one-small-driver speakers, as well as Steve Temme’s first published measurements for Stereophile in the dystopian post-Atkinson world we hi-fi heads find ourselves living in. The real question, though, is: how many mic adapters can Brent manage to string together before the end of the episode?

💿 “The Audiophile Society's Speaker Test and System Optimization Album”: https://theaudiophilesociety.com/collections/albums/products/the-audiophile-societys-speaker-test-and-system-optimization-album. Use code AudioUnleashed25 for 25% off. 

📖 Get your copy of the 4th edition of Floyd Toole’s legendary book, Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers, Rooms and Headphones with DISCOUNT CODE 25SMA4: https://www.routledge.com/Sound-Reproduction-The-Acoustics-and-Psychoacoustics-of-Loudspeakers-Rooms-and-Headphones/Toole-Olive-Welti/p/book/9781032761930

Dennis’ relaunched YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AdventureswithCPAP

Brent’s audio projects:

💿 The Audiophile Society's Amazing Fabulous Magnificent Speaker Test Album (engineered by Brent with VO by Dennis): https://theaudiophilesociety.com/collections/albums/products/the-audiophile-societys-speaker-test-and-system-optimization-album

💿 The Audiophile Society's Headphone Evaluation and Spatial Audio Test Album (engineered by Brent): https://theaudiophilesociety.com/collections/albums/products/the-audiophile-societys-headphone-evaluation-and-spatial-audio-test-album

 

💿 Plaid Pants, Brent’s latest album! https://cygerbutterworth.bandcamp.com/album/plaid-pants

 

Further Reading:

• Apple AirPods 5 Improve Open‑Ear Active Noise Cancellation by Joao Martins: https://audioxpress.com/news/apple-airpods-improve-open-ear-active-noise-cancellation
• Fresh From the Bench: Cleer ARC 3 Open Wireless Earbuds with Noise Cancelling by Brent Butterworth: https://audioxpress.com/article/fresh-from-the-bench-cleer-arc-3-open-wireless-earbuds-with-noise-cancelling
• Universal Music Group and ElevenLabs Announce Multi-Year Strategic Agreement, Beginning with a New Licensed AI Music Creation Platform: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/universal-music-group-and-elevenlabs-announce-multi-year-strategic-agreement-beginning-with-a-new-licensed-ai-music-creation-platform-302875284.html
• I Hijacked a Real Artist's Spotify with AI Music. It Was Disturbingly Easy by Emanuel Maiberg: https://www.404media.co/spotify-ai-music-scam/?ref=weekly-roundup-newsletter
• Salad Line Compact Speakers: https://apos.audio/products/salad-line-compact-tower-speakers?_pos=1&_sid=ea2192066&_ss=r&variant=46955751669996
• Pearl Acoustics Model One loudspeaker review by Robert Schryer: https://stereophile.com/content/pearl-acoustics-model-one-loudspeaker