YouTube is facing employee calls to remove a rap song that allegedly encourages violence against Asians, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Rapper YG’s “Meet the Flockers” is a detailed description of a burglary — a relatively common trope in rap music — but it opens with a specific reference to Chinese communities: “find a Chinese neighborhood, cause they don’t believe in bank accounts.” In light of the recent rise in street violence against Asians, a group of YouTube employees argued that message was straightforwardly dangerous, ultimately asking the Trust & Safety team to remove the video.
But YouTube ultimately declined to remove the song, citing the platform’s exception for “educational, documentary, scientific, and artistic” (or EDSA) content.
“While EDSA is not a free pass for any content, there are likely thousands of music videos that would otherwise violate policies… were it not for these sorts of EDSA exceptions,” executives wrote in an open letter to employees. “Removing this video would have far-reaching implications for other musical content containing similarly violent or offensive lyrics, in genres ranging from rap to rock.”
It’s not the first time “Meet the Flockers” has generated controversy. Largely ignored on its release in 2014, the song became a point of controversy for Chinese communities two years later after circulating in social media channels, with some police departments even blaming the song and a subsequent unauthorized music video for specific home burglaries. Concern became so heated that San Francisco supervisor Jane Kim called on YouTube to remove the video.
YouTube also declined to take action in response to the 2016 controversy, although the uploader later voluntarily removed the music video. The song remains on YouTube through the official YG account, played over a static album cover image.
Reached for comment, YouTube emphasized the importance of open disagreement within its workforce. “YouTube has an open culture and employees are encouraged to to share their views, even when they disagree with a decision,” a representative said. “We’ll continue this dialogue as part of our ongoing work to balance openness with protecting the YouTube community at large.”
Great news for high-end audio lovers and gamers alike: Bang & Olufsen has just announced its first-ever wireless gaming headphones, the Beoplay Portal. The high-end Danish firm promises that the Beoplay Portal brings the hallmarks of its design to a gaming headset.
Whether you plan on using them for gameplay, watching movies or enjoying music, Beoplay Portal offers an impressive set of features, including low-latency surround sound, Adaptive Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency Mode, Dolby Atmos for Headphones support, and on-ear touch controls (for volume, ANC, transparency, playback and call-handling).
Beoplay Portal was developed as part of the ‘Designed for Xbox’program, and it’s not the first time a collaboration between B&O and Microsoft has been touted. As such, the headphones connect seamlessly to Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One consoles via Xbox Wireless protocol for a high-bandwidth, low-latency connection. The Beoplay Portal headphones are also compatible with PC and mobile devices via Bluetooth 5.1, aptX Adaptive, and USB-C, allowing gamers to take their immersive audio experience on the go.
They sport two custom-designed 40mm drivers with neodynium magnets, with support for Dolby Atmos for Headphones processing adding virtual surround sound and texture to compatible games, movies and music.
There’s a new generation of the company’s adaptive active noise cancellation technology, plus something B&O is calling Own Voice. Thanks to the four voice mics and four mics for ANC (two per earcup), users should be able to hear their own voices while simultaneously cancelling out extraneous sounds.
(Image credit: Bang & Olufsen)
In terms of design, the earcups feature touch-sensitive aluminium discs; the jaw-supporting earpads are crafted from lambskin-wrapped memory foam; and there is a subtle protrusion on the rear of each cushion that conforms to the shape of the user’s head and promises to minimise sound leakage. The inner headband features offset padding designed to relieve pressure on the top of the head and it is covered with a high-quality bamboo fibre textile, chosen for its durability and breathability.
And at 282g, the Beoplay Portal headphones are quite light for the category, helped no doubt by a feature B&O calls an “all-new virtual boom arm”, which the company claims eliminates the need for the traditional (read: actual) boom arm found on most gaming headsets. Using Directional Beamforming technology, the array of microphones promises to isolate and amplify the user’s voice while eliminating background noise, allowing for clear conversations – whether calling out objectives to teammates or talking on the phone to friends.
The claimed battery life is strong, too, at up to 24 hours of continuous playtime using Bluetooth and ANC, or 12 hours of playtime using Xbox Wireless, Bluetooth and active noise cancellation.
Beoplay Portal will be available in three colourways – Black Anthracite, Grey Mist and Navy – from 29th April, priced at £449 (€499, $499, 3749 DKK), however a Black Anthracite finish is launching in the United States and Canada from today (30th March) exclusively at Bang & Olufsen, Best Buy and the Microsoft Store for a limited time.
MORE:
See our Sony PlayStation Pulse 3D Wireless Headset review
Read up on the best wireless noise-cancelling headphones 2021
Looking for a PlayStation 5? See PS5 stock and where to buy: latest PS5 restock details
Pretty much the only wireless headset you should consider if you’re a PS5 gamer
For
Punchy and exciting sound
Convincing 3D audio
Comfortable over long sessions
Against
Mic picks up background noise
Extravagant design
One of the best features of the Sony PlayStation 5 is its support for 3D audio. Sony’s so-called Tempest Engine does all of the hard work so that any standard pair of wired headphones can deliver immersive 3D sound when plugged into the DualSense controller.
But what if you want to go fully wireless? Currently, the only wireless headset compatible with the PS5’s 3D audio feature is this, the official PlayStation Pulse 3D Wireless Headset.
Having just one option is rarely a good thing, but the Pulse 3D headset comes from good stock – its predecessor on the PS4 combined excellent core sound quality, excellent comfort and (limited) 3D audio to the tune of a five-star rating.
Comfort
(Image credit: Sony)
Sony has decided to visually tie the Pulse 3D headset to the controversial design of the PS5, opting for the same white finish for the headband as on the faceplates of the console. It is instantly clear that the two products are related, but the headset’s design may be too attention-grabbing to consider using it as a standard pair of headphones when out of the house.
The plastic band also feels a bit cheaper than the brushed metal of the Platinum Wireless Headset, but that can be forgiven because the Pulse 3D headset genuinely is cheaper by some margin. Besides, having now used the headset for several months, there’s no sign of the slightly cheap feel translating into flimsiness. We have no reason to believe that the headset won’t last for many years.
It feels comfortable, too. The earcups are firmer than some headphones, but they create a good seal around the ears and the headband provides just the right amount of pressure. There’s no obvious heat generated around the ears in use, either.
Build
(Image credit: Sony)
The Pulse 3D headset’s controls are located around the edge of the left cup. They include a rocker to adjust the balance between game audio and chat, a switch for turning monitor mode on or off (useful for ensuring you don’t speak too loudly), volume, mute and power on/off. Most button presses are accompanied by an on-screen notification, something you won’t get from third-party headsets.
Sony PS5 Pulse 3D Wireless Headset tech specs
(Image credit: Sony)
Compatibility PS5, PS4 and PC (wireless), Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S (wired)
Wired Yes
Wireless Yes
Surround sound Yes
Battery life 12 hours
Weight 295g
There’s no button to enable or disable the 3D audio feature as there was with the Platinum Wireless Headset, but that’s because the tech is built in more at a system level.
Using the headset wirelessly involves plugging a dongle-like USB transmitter into your PS5 (you can use the socket on the front or rear) and from that point, the console will automatically output sound to the headset whenever you switch it on. Battery life is 12 hours, which isn’t huge by Bluetooth headphone standards but should cover even the longest of gaming sessions. Charging is via USB-C.
As well as the PS5, you can also use the Pulse 3D headset wirelessly with a PC or PS4, and there’s also an included 3.5mm cable for when you run out of batteries or want to use the headset with an Xbox, phone or tablet. The microphone works in wired mode, too, but you only get 3D audio when wirelessly connected to a PS5 or PS4.
The microphone picks up and projects your voice clearly, but it’s also prone to picking up background noise more than most, which will be of concern to anyone who plays online while there are others in the room. We understand why Sony would opt for a slick and minimalist appearance, but an optional stalk mic would be a nice touch.
Sound
(Image credit: Sony)
While you probably won’t be using the Pulse 3D headset primarily as a standard pair of wired stereo headphones, there’s value in benchmarking against models in this class to get a sense of the core sound quality of the headset.
Surprisingly, despite all of the additional tech on board, the Pulse 3D headset more than stands its ground against sub-£100 wired headphones in most areas. There’s energy, enthusiasm and a crispness to the delivery that’s foot-tappingly enjoyable. While some go deeper, there’s still more than enough bass here and it’s punchy and tuneful.
The treble, meanwhile, has a sparkle and zing that never veers into brightness, and the midrange is textured and clear, with vocals delivered directly. Dynamics are decent, too, with the headset able to convey subtle shifts as well as epic crescendos, and there’s more than enough detail for a pair of headphones costing this much.
But they fall down slightly on timing. When music tracks become particularly busy, the Pulse 3D headset struggles to maintain a complete grip on each strand, and that can make these sections a little hard to follow. Luckily, though, this timing issue isn’t apparent when gaming and the generally strong core sound quality translates well when you use the Pulse 3D headset for its intended purpose.
(Image credit: Sony)
Of course, the quality of the 3D effect depends on the way it has been implemented into the game, but opt for Spider-Man: Miles Morales or even PS4 game Ghost Of Tsushima and you get not only a sense of the direction that each sound is coming from, but also how far away it is. The sonic presentation becomes all-enveloping and it’s easy to audibly pinpoint effects.
Switch to Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and the 3D audio gives a real sense of the cavernous nature of the CIA safehouse, the distance of each character as they speak and the echo as their voices hit the interior walls of the warehouse. You get none of this when listening in standard stereo.
Though you can get 3D audio by plugging a pair of standard wired headphones into the DualSense controller, the crispness and precision of the Pulse 3D headset makes for a more engaging and exciting experience than is offered by most similarly-priced wired headphones. It feels as though the 3D audio delivery has been tailored for the official headset – there’s every chance that in some cases it has been – which is a benefit of having just one product on the market.
That’s not to say that the Pulse 3D headset is an adequate replacement for your surround sound speaker package. The Pulse headset is surprisingly accomplished at creating a 3D soundfield, but the placement of effects is even better with a properly calibrated home cinema system. Effects placed directly in front of or behind the listening position are a particular struggle for 3D audio via headphones, which is no issue with physical speakers in those positions.
Verdict
The Pulse 3D Wireless Headset is really the only option here, but it’s also particularly good at what it does. Those slight timing issues aside, it boasts an accomplished core audio performance that can take your gaming to new levels when combined with the PS5’s 3D audio processing.
If you don’t have the money, space or circumstances for a home cinema system, this is pretty much the next best thing as far as PS5 gaming is concerned, and that makes it a great buy.
SCORES
Sound 5
Comfort 5
Build 4
MORE:
Read our guide to the best gaming headsets
Read our Sony PlayStation Platinum Wireless Headset review
Nike has sued internet collective MSCHF for selling “unauthorized Satan Shoes” in collaboration with rapper Lil Nas X. The shoe company says MSCHF infringed on its trademarks by selling limited-edition custom Nikes that were allegedly modified with a drop of human blood. Since the Satan Shoes (as they are officially called) were announced last week, Nike claims they’ve harmed its reputation, “including among consumers who believe that Nike is endorsing satanism.” It’s asking for the shoes to be destroyed and for MSCHF to pay financial damages.
MSCHF is known for stunt products like its 2019 “Jesus Shoes,” a $1,425 pair of white Nike Air Max 97s with custom stitching and 60ccs of water from the River Jordan. Nike didn’t object to the Jesus Shoes. But it’s apparently less happy with their theological inverse: a 666-pair drop of $1,018 red and black Air Max 97s, containing 60ccs of ink and one drop of human blood, embellished with a pentagram.
Nike’s suit makes a few general arguments against modifying shoes, including that “making changes to the midsole may pose safety risks for consumers.” (These shoes stand accused of putting people’s souls and their soles at risk.) But it mostly argues that a satanic shoe containing literal blood is bad for Nike’s brand.
MSCHF x Lil Nas X “Satan Shoes”
Nike Air Max ’97 Contains 60cc ink and 1 drop of human blood ️666 Pairs, individually numbered $1,018 ️March 29th, 2021 pic.twitter.com/XUMA9TKGSX
— SAINT (@saint) March 26, 2021
To make its case, Nike cites social media comments from people who don’t realize MSCHF was just unofficially reselling the shoes. “Won’t buy Nike again. You are banned!” says one. “This is sickening!!! How is Nike not involved when there’s a Nike symbol on the shoe!!!” says another. “MSCHF is deceiving consumers into believing that Nike manufactures or approves of the Satan Shoes,” Nike’s complaint claims. “Consumers’ belief that the Satan Shoes are genuine Nike products is causing consumers to never want to purchase any Nike products in the future.”
As University of New Hampshire law professor Alexandra Roberts noted on Twitter, MSCHF can defend itself on multiple grounds. It can cite the First Sale Doctrine, which protects reselling goods that are protected by intellectual property laws — like people selling designer clothes on Poshmark, for instance. It can also claim the shoes are protected as a parody or argue that buyers are unlikely to confuse these modified Satan Shoes with off-the-shelf Nikes, random internet commenters notwithstanding.
Very, very few people will ever own a $1,000 blood-and-pentagram sneaker. If the case goes to trial, though, there’s more than a limited-edition satanic shoe line at stake. “The case has potentially broad implications because we’re seeing a rise in this kind of customization of branded goods as well as upcycling,” Roberts told The Verge via email.
Nike
It’s fine to directly resell products, Roberts says, and it’s legal to advertise goods while mentioning somebody else’s trademark. You can also do things like dismember Barbie dolls and sell pictures of them as art. “But what about the businesses making jewelry out of authentic Chanel buttons, or cutting fringes into genuine Vuitton bags?” Earlier this year, in fact, Chanel sued a company for “misappropriating” its brand for recycled button earrings.
Basically, MSCHF bought shoes that it could legally resell using Nike’s branding, but it heavily modified them into what’s arguably a new product whose quality Nike can’t control, then sold them as a commercial good rather than a traditional art piece. Depending on how a court weighs all those factors, it could create a precedent for future cases. “I think other high fashion brands will be keeping a close eye on this case,” Roberts says.
The Satan Shoes dropped alongside a provocative Lil Nas X music video that’s drawn the ire of conservative commentators. So it makes sense that Nike might distance itself. But as The Fashion Law notes, MSCHF has anticipated and even invited lawsuits in the past, saying a suit would “help increase the value of the product.” By taking it to court, Nike is almost certainly boosting the profile of MSCHF’s latest drop, as well as potentially causing new problems.
“I’m not shocked Nike chose to sue, but I think they might also want to proceed with caution to avoid being perceived as squelching speech or siding with the Christian right over a popular Black artist,” says Roberts. “I expect Nike might be hoping for a quick, low-key settlement in which MSCHF agrees not to ship out the shoes.”
MSCHF didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Lil Nas X, who posted a prank “apology” video for the shoes yesterday, is not named as a defendant in the suit.
It’s hard to fault a 32-inch VA 1440p monitor with 165 Hz that sells for so little. There are a few flaws, but taken purely as a gaming display, the Pixio PXC327 delivers excellent performance where it counts. With excellent SDR picture quality and smooth video processing, it’s a great way to put a big screen on your desk for not a lot of money.
For
Good contrast
Excellent, large color gamut after calibration
Good value
Against
No sRGB mode
Undersaturated HDR color
Smearing effect with backlight strobe
Features and Specifications
Gaming monitors come in a huge variety of shapes and sizes, and we’ve covered just about every category currently available. Whether your preference runs flat or curved, there’s a screen for you. For the best experience, a panel of at least 25 inches diagonal is a good choice, but if you have the space and budget, well, bigger is usually better. One of the more unusual form factors is 32-inch curved. We’ve looked at a number of these over the past two years and found them very worthy of consideration. A 32-inch screen in the 16:9 aspect ratio provides plenty of width and height to immerse gamers while still being well-suited for productivity. Adding a curve brings the user a little closer to virtual reality.
Some of these screens are premium priced, but the Pixio PXC327 manages to break the cost barrier. This 32-inch VA panel with 1440p resolution and an 1800R curve sells for just $310, cheaper than most of the best gaming monitors, either direct from the manufacturer or several popular online outlets. Though it doesn’t offer a lot of bells and whistles, it does have AMD FreeSync Premium, along with a speedy 165 Hz refresh rate and HDR.
Pixio PXC327 Specs
Panel Type / Backlight
VA / W-LED, edge array
Screen Size, Aspect Ratio & Curve
31.5 inches / 16:9
Curve radius: 1800mm
Max Resolution & Refresh Rate
2560 x 1440 @ 165 Hz
AMD FreeSync Premium
Native Color Depth & Gamut
8-bit / DCI-P3
Response Time (MPRT)
1ms
Brightness (mfr)
350 nits
Contrast (mfr)
3,000:1
Speakers
None
Video Inputs
2x DisplayPort 1.2
1x HDMI 2.0
Audio
3.5mm headphone output
USB 3.0
None
Power Consumption
29.3w, brightness @ 200 nits
Panel Dimensions WxHxD w/base
28.5 x 16.7 x 7.5 inches (724 x 424 x 191mm)
Panel Thickness
1.7 inches (43mm)
Bezel Width
Top/sides: 0.4 inch (9mm)
Bottom: 0.7 inch (17mm)
Weight
12.1 pounds (5.5kg)
Warranty
3 years
Backlit by a white LED edge array, the PXC327 is specced for 350 nits maximum brightness and coverage of about 83% of the DCI-P3 color space. It accepts HDR10 signals and runs at 165 Hz without overclock. AMD FreeSync Premium is the native adaptive tech. It’s AMD mid-tier screen tear-fighting offering and adds low framerate compensation (LFC) over standard FreeSync. The PXC327 isn’t G-Sync Compatible-certified, but we got it to run Nvidia’s anti-screen tear feature anyway (see: How to Run G-Sync on a FreeSync Monitor). Both flavors of Adaptive-Sync and HDR work in concert over DisplayPort at 165 Hz and over HDMI at 144 Hz.
The PXC327 has little else in the way of features, but as a basic gaming monitor, it offers a lot of positives for the price.
Assembly and Accessories
You’ll need to break out the Phillips-head screwdriver to assemble the PXC327’s metal base and upright. From there, just snap the panel in place. The external power supply is a small brick, and you also get a DisplayPort cable.
If you prefer to use a monitor arm, the panel has 100mm VESA lugs in back, but you’ll have to source your own bolts to use them.
Product 360
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(Image credit: Pixio)
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(Image credit: Pixio)
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(Image credit: Pixio)
The PXC327 maintains the current styling trend of thin flush-mounted bezels with a 9mm frame around the top and sides and a 17mm wide strip across the bottom. Only a small Pixio logo is visible in the center. In back, there’s a larger Pixio logo molded in a shiny finish with the surrounding plastic done in smooth matte. A large chevron is deeply cut into the back cover also finished in gloss. Underneath that are geometric shapes that resemble the side of a sci-fi movie spaceship.
The input panel is clearly labeled with white lettering visible from the back. You get two DisplayPort 1.2 inputs that support HDR and Adaptive-Sync up to 165 Hz. A single HDMI 2.0 can do up to 144 Hz, along with HDR and FreeSync. You can also plug your best gaming headset into the 3.5mm audio jack. There’s a USB port for service and firmware updates, but it does not support peripherals.
The all-metal stand is much more solid than its thin appearance would suggest. However, it allows for a 25-degree tilt. There are no swivel or height adjustments available, but the PXC327 is light enough to move around easily. The screen sits a little low for a perfectly vertical position, so we had to tilt it up a bit.
OSD Features
You control all of the PXC327’s functions by a single joystick/button on the back right side of the panel. It moves through the simple and efficiently designed on-screen display (OSD) menu with ease and doubles as a power toggle. Clicking the four directions outside the OSD brings up quick menus for picture mode, input selection, brightness and Game Assist’s aiming point, timer and frames per second (fps) counter.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
There are seven picture modes which correspond to different game types. User is the default mode and makes all image controls available. Additionally, there are three user memories in the User Data submenu that can be saved and recalled. Black Equalizer raises the black level to make shadow detail easier to see. We left that option alone as the PXC327 has very good gamma accuracy and deep black levels. We had no problems seeing fine detail in dark places.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The PXC327 packs three Color Temperature presets, along with sRGB and a user mode. The RGB sliders allow for precise and accurate results during calibration, which we recommend because the preset temps are all either too cool or too warm.
You also get five gamma options. 2.2 is the default and best one. If you want to tweak color saturation and hue, there are sliders for that. And you can dial in a low blue light mode for fatigue-free reading. Note that the sRGB mode here does not reduce the color gamut from the native DCI-P3. DCI-P3 is the one and only choice.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Gaming Setup is where you’ll find the FreeSync toggle, three-level overdrive, Game Assist, HDR, dynamic contrast and MPRT, which is Pixio’s term for blur reduction, a backlight strobe.
Pixio PXC327 Calibration Settings
The PXC327’s default User mode has a few flaws that calibration can correct. For one, grayscale runs cool, but that’s easily fixed with adjustments to the RGB sliders in the User color temp. These tweaks also improved gamma, which is a bit too dark by default. No change to the gamma preset is necessary. We also recommend lowering the contrast slider to make highlights pop a bit more.
Once these changes are made, measured contrast is improved, and color is very accurate in the DCI-P3 realm. Again, there is no sRGB option available. The sRGB color temp setting does not reduce gamut volume at all.
Please try our recommended settings for the Pixio PXC327 below:
Picture Mode
User
Brightness 200 nits
51
Brightness 120 nits
25
Brightness 100 nits
19
Brightness 80 nits
13
Brightness 50 nits
5 (min. 34 nits)
Contrast
46
Gamma
2.2
Color Temp User
Red 55, Green 53, Blue 47
Once you switch over to HDR mode, which you must do manually, there are errors in color and luminance tracking that cannot be corrected. We’ll tell you more about that on page 4.
Gaming and Hands-on
The 32-inch form factor is great for just about any use. It provides enough image area to line up two word processing documents side by side. It’s great for editing music scores or photos. And you’ll see a huge portion of any spreadsheet. In the PXC327’s case, QHD resolution provides 93 pixels per inch, enough to render small details sharply without obvious jaggies. You can sit up close to this monitor without seeing the pixel structure in photos and videos.
The PXC327’s curve is subtle, which is typical of curved monitors with a 16:9 aspect ratio. In the past, we’ve wondered if this aspect ratio benefits from curvature at all, and after reviewing many panels in both 27 and 32-inch sizes, we say yes. Though we wouldn’t call it a deciding factor, the PXC327’s 1800R curve clearly enhances gameplay while making no real difference to the Windows desktop, which is a good thing. If gaming is the only intended use for a monitor, it’s hard to have too much curve. But if you must spend part of your day working, an extreme radius can be distracting.
With the PXC327, the Windows desktop looked bright and colorful, thanks to the large color gamut. If you need sRGB for Photoshop or accuracy otherwise, you’ll need to use a software profile. There’s no usable sRGB option in the OSD.
At our reference setting of 200 nits brightness, there was more than enough light output for a brightly lit office. In fact, we turned it down a bit when browsing the web. White backgrounds coupled with a large screen mean less light is necessary.
We weren’t as enamored with HDR operation in Windows. Brightness is locked to the maximum, which made the image very harsh. Color was also more muted than it is in SDR (you’ll see why in our HDR gamut test on page 4). Ultimate, there was no benefit to working in HDR mode.
Booting up our SDR copy of Tomb Raider, we were impressed by deep blacks full of detail and the rich, saturated color palette. Though we saw a bit more color than the game’s creators intended, it looked natural thanks to the PXC327’s accuracy after calibration. Greens and reds were particularly vivid, and fleshtones looked slightly ruddy. With a huge dynamic range, over 3400:1, image depth is superb.
We had the same experience playing Call of Duty: WWII in SDR mode. The PXC327 has contrast to spare. This is a good thing because switching to HDR mode showed some color flaws in terms of saturation. The game just didn’t have the expected pop in pop. Instead, it looked a little more muted than the SDR version of the game. You’ll see why this is so on page four. Meanwhile, HDR contrast looked about the same as SDR, which jives with our measurements, but the image was extremely bright. We weren’t able to play in HDR mode for long before fatigue set in.
There were no such issues with video processing. Our GeForce RTX 3090 graphics card was able to hit 165 fps no matter how intense the action became. That’s a benefit of the PXC327’s QHD resolution. Would 4K resolution look better? Probably a little but at a much greater hit to the wallet. This is one great-looking monitor for the price. Our machine with a Radeon RX 5700 XT card ran the same games at 120-140 fps, still very smooth and responsive. In all cases, we used the High overdrive setting. There was no visible ghosting, and motion resolution remained clear and sharp.
The backlight strobe was unusable in our tests. In addition to reducing brightness by around 20%, it created a smearing effect that made some objects appear doubled around the edges. We stuck with Adaptive-Sync for all gameplay and were more than satisfied.
“I suppose you can’t have true respect for something unless you’re willing to challenge it,” we posit to Nils Frahm. “Exactly,” he replies. “Exactly.”
It feels good to have Frahm agree with you. Not only because his music is as much part of our homes – and the What Hi-Fi? test rooms – as the light fixtures and soft furnishings. It feels good to have Frahm agree with you because he comes across as an expert on whichever topic he is speaking about in that moment.
He even makes his own soap. Because that devilish streak of tinkering with his instrument, which we celebrate today on Piano Day, is just symptom of a wider curiosity this exquisite composer applies to every part of his life. Whether or not he is an expert is almost moot, as that infectious interest in everything travels down the phone line to us.
Even Piano Day cannot be taken at face value when Frahm, the very man who appointed it as the 88th day of the year, discusses the instrument’s more menacing symbolism.
Nonetheless, it is clear that there is a lot of love in this relationship. To celebrate this year Frahm has today released Graz, the first album he ever recorded for Erased Tapes.
This grand piano recording has taken 12 years to surface – though certain pieces you might recognise from his live performances – and captures a more youthful musician nearer the start of a career, and nearer the beginning of this mischievously respectful relationship with his instrument that we hope is nowhere near its end.
Over half an hour, we managed to talk with Frahm about Graz, recording the piano and a heavily customised hi-fi set-up. Not that we’d have put him through it, but we could have spoken for hours upon hours longer.
Lisen to Graz by Nils Frahm, released to celebrate Piano Day 2021, on Tidal or Spotify.
An emotional reaction
(Image credit: Sebastian Rieck)
What Hi-Fi?: We should probably start by congratulating you on getting Erased Tapes to release your debut album, at last. We’ve listened to it a few times and it’s got that real sort of transformational quality that your music has; it goes through that metamorphosis depending on what time of day or when in the year you hear it. Is the album as recorded in 2009?
Nils Frahm: It was recorded in a place where there was a special setup. It was basically a big studio that has variable acoustics, realised through microphones in the room and speakers where there’s a custom-made reverb algorithm, which basically takes the sound from various points – I think it has about 16 microphones and 64 speakers – and you can change the the parameters of the ambience through this.
So the shortest reverb is maybe 1.8 seconds, then you can turn on the engine and it will generate a reverb which you would like to hear in that room. It can be quite impressive; when you close your eyes and you play, and somebody tweaks with the parameters of the settings, you basically travel through space. Basically, while I was improvising, my colleague was turning some knobs and dials from this reverb engine, and that was inspiring me to play in a different way maybe.
WHF?: Reverb, and natural reverb especially, has been a huge part of your playing; it was in All Melody you used a dry well that you had found on holiday. How important for a piano recording is it to hear the space that it’s been recorded in?
NF: I think the room for acoustic instruments plays a big role, because essentially the room makes stuff louder and sound more immersive. With reflections and some sort of ambience an acoustic instrument sounds like it’s floating around you. Coming from various points, it becomes more three-dimensional and big sounding.
This is why a piano or a symphony orchestra sounds much better in a room over being played outside; I still don’t understand why some festivals curate classical concerts outside, because strings or the whole classical ensemble without the natural reverb for me doesn’t blend. You can’t blend the elements together without ambience. So I think the same for the piano: you have a lot of different sounds and notes and things on a piano. With the acoustics you put all of this together in one concept, almost as if you would dress a person from tip to toe.
WHF?: The performance is obviously key, and a recording lives or dies by it, but what other things are important to get right when recording the piano?
NF: The performance. Because when the performance is well put and the balance between the notes and the balance in the voicing, the loudness of each finger, is put right then basically the recording is quite stable. And if you have an unstable performance you have to really work much more with the mixing, or focusing on the microphone position, or choice of reverbs and processing to get the performance organised. Basically that’s the case for every musical performance. When the performance has some integrity and is put well, then as a recording engineer or as a person listening back at home, it’s an easy task to transport that wonderful moment.
Because sound in the end is decoded in our brains into an emotional reaction somehow – I don’t know how that works – but I would say that if you hear something that doesn’t really get you emotionally, you will analyse more technically. And if something just haunts you or something strikes you, and you don’t know why, you will not really ask so many questions.
It’s like a phenomenon. When I listen to Chet Baker records and I hear the voice then hear the piano, the piano sounds kind of bad, honestly. But together with the voice, the quality of the piano and the quality of the voice becomes something that’s hard to explain why it works. I think it’s because Chet really just sings so beautifully, and the piano just really plays wonderfully, and that gives you so much freedom as a producer to put these elements wherever you want. When you play really good you can make that element 6dB louder or 6dB quieter: it will still be amazing. If you have a bad arrangement or a bad take, you will fiddle with the volume to fit it in, because it will never be right.
A rebellious angle
(Image credit: Leiter Verlag)
WHF?: You have what we would describe as an almost two-way relationship with the piano, in that it feels like it’s rewarding you for the care you put into its tone and its timbre. What makes it such a special instrument?
NF: I think all instruments are pretty special. The piano is so special because I think it has had such a big success in the history of music. Ever since it was invented it played a huge role in the creation of music, especially in the Western world. Not so much in other places in the world. The piano is also testimonial to an industrialised society, a Western capitalist industrialised society, because it’s very difficult to make unique heavy machinery; you need vast skill sets and machines to make a piano. And you need a lot of money!
And so the piano is a symbol for power as well. These are all components I am also aware of. I try to have the awareness to treat the piano with a certain respect, but also show a sense of humour. Because when you take the piano too seriously, you also take the society we live in too seriously. You might get more interesting results from the piano if you treat it with respect but also with a rebellious angle, because there are many things I don’t agree with. I don’t think the West created a fair world, or a better place for everybody. So if the piano is a statue or symbol for all of this, then whatever the critique is towards a society or towards our philosophy, or our culture, the critique also addresses the piano.
So that’s why I respect it but I also disrespect it, in terms of changing its sounds or putting things inside, or doing wrong things maybe with it. Because I think the piano shouldn’t rule us, we should rule the piano; in as much as the values of a capitalist society or a white supremacist society shouldn’t rule us, we should rule the society. So it’s very philosophically put, but the piano is a symbol also for all the things I don’t agree with, and it creates an interesting angle for me to approach this special instrument.
WHF?: You can’t have true respect for something unless you’re willing to challenge it.
NF: Exactly, exactly.
WHF?: As well as experimenting with your instrument, on Spaces in particular you have a lot of different ways of recording; it’s almost a collection of field recordings. Is using things such as reel-to-reel an experiment, or is there a particular sound to each medium that you really like and want to capture?
NF: For me it’s a little bit like with photography: the best camera is always the one you have with you. You can say the best recorder is always the one you can just work with in the moment, and is reliable and records the music. And true, they sound all a little bit different, but when I choose to record something on a cassette tape it probably reflects the approach of that session. I probably just don’t have real good equipment available and I take maybe just a really cheap USB junk sound card rather than my really high quality converter that I only have in one place.
I like to record on really interesting broadcasting master recorders. I like quality from all eras, and when I buy a cassette deck on eBay for 200 bucks, it’s maybe the Marantz PMD master recorder that was built for broadcasting documentaries. It has a certain quality: it will always turn on, it’s made out of metal, you can listen to the record head and you can definitely check what you’re recording. I really go with whatever sound comes out of it, if the machine is so well designed.
I’m a big fan of the Nagra tape recorder as well, or I record a lot on portable to track field recorders, made for film sounds. For me – tape, digital, analogue – whatever gets the job done and I feel happy with is my colour of choice. Because I know that whatever I do there is so much flexibility to treat material further in the mixing processes, and have more decisions. Of course, when I put something on tape I will never make it sound like a really good modern recording, but there’s still so many places that I could go with it that I just trust what will come out.
WHF?: It comes back to the performance being key; but if you set a certain recorder up do you think that affects the way you play?
NF: I don’t try to make the recorder a big inspiration or compositional element. I would rather record in a way that I can play loud notes without distortion, and if I play very quiet I will record in a way that I don’t just hear noise. But obviously the piano is a very dynamic instrument: if you want to get a good recording done, before you start playing you should think ‘is this a loud piece or a quiet piece?’.
I always turn the gain on the mic preamps to an according position, because the piano has over 90dB of usable dynamics. If I play super quiet and I have to crank the preamps up otherwise I will record almost nothing, and if I know I’ll play a loud piece or dynamic piece I have to turn the amps down knowing the quietest elements will not otherwise sound as good. So obviously I take this into account [but it doesn’t change the way I play].
WHF?: Do you have a list of favourite piano recordings that you go back to again and again?
NF: I think my favourite piano record, that I have gone back to for years, is one that doesn’t really sound like my style of recording. It’s actually the opposite: it’s a very far, distant sound. It’s a recording called Bagatellen und Serenaden by Valentin Silvestrov. He is a Ukrainian composer living in Kiev; I think it’s like nobody recorded the grand piano in such a loving way as ECM has done. Another mind-blowing recording from ECM is Der Bote by Alexei Lubimov. And there’s one piece [on that record], In the Landscape by John Cage, and that piece is just sounding unreal.
But again most of that is how the piano was treated and prepared by the piano technicians prior to the session. They really make the sound of the piano, these people, the piano tuners. They don’t tune the piano, they touch it in every possible spot; they put oil here, they sand down the hammers, they put needles inside the hammers to see whether the density should be different. So each note gets basically custom tuned, and so the whole piano becomes one thing that sounds like an instrument, which inspires the player. Because a piano that doesn’t inspire the player will not lead to a good take.
So all becomes like one beautiful thing: the room, the acoustics, how the piano is set up, who is the piano builder and the player, the performance. All that composition. And out of a thousand piano recordings, there are some that are just reaching far beyond what I thought was possible. That always sets imagined horizons, for me to remember: ‘wait, maybe we’ll get something else out of that wooden box, something more engaging than what we’ve heard.’
Principles and physics
(Image credit: Leiter Verlag)
WHF?: We want to talk to you about not just what you listen to, but how you listen at home. Do you have a mix of sources, amplifiers and things?
NF: At home I listen strictly to vinyl at the moment, just because I don’t need flexibility. I have the studio where I can listen to digital files. At home I just play records. I have a good pick up on a customised [Technics SL-1200] MK2. I just love that record player; I actually like how it looks also, people hate the Technics now but I still have mine and I’m very happy with it.
And that goes through a phono stage. I forgot the name: it’s a custom box from Sweden by a guy who put all the equaliser curves of all the different pressing plants – the Philips and Columbia and whatever – because I have a lot of original Columbia records for my US tours. I collect some original jazz records. And so I can just set the equaliser settings, because I realise that some of the records sound really much different when I change the EQ – and that makes sense when you know the history of that.
Then out of the phone stage I go into a… Jesus Christ, I’m so bad at names; I just bought this thing.. it’s an Air Tight, used 34-watt tube amp. I go straight into that and I need the boost to drive my 15 Ohm Klangfilm speakers. I made some custom wood panels for it so it’s not a closed chassis, it’s an open-baffle speaker. They have a coaxial driver with a tweeter in the centre, which is similar to the system I use in the studio, but it’s from the 1940s or something. And I made my own frequency divider for this with just an old British condenser, which sounds fantastic and takes the low out of the tweeter.
It’s very rough but it gives me such a good overall sound and tone. It isn’t very good with very low bass, and it’s not a fast speaker, but when you play resonant, atmospheric music like piano or jazz or old records especially, it sounds almost like people are in your room playing. It’s absolutely mind-blowing. Obviously it’s not a reference system, but it’s a very good sound system.
WHF?: It sounds a lot like the way you approach the piano, tinkering and tailoring to make it fit your own taste. Is that something you’ve always been interested in, on the listening side?
NF: Yes, every aspect in life for me is similar. I don’t want to buy brands, I think it’s boring when you just go ‘I like this brand and I like that brand’. I want to go beyond and when I like something I want to know why; I want to understand the principle, and often it’s not the magic of some brand. I mean, people think they should buy Bose speakers – I don’t want to bash Bose, they just don’t do the equipment I like – but if people trust the name, they think whatever they do will work.
Even if you listen to people with the everyday stuff, they say ‘oh, I have to buy the soap from this brand’ and ‘you have to buy the soap from that brand’. And I am always like, well let’s take that soap let’s look at the back: so it’s this, it’s this, it’s this… and then I go back and try to find the basic components. Usually it gets much easier without the additives and the weird colouring stuff, and it’s for the same for me with instruments or speakers.
I want to know, why do I like this? For example, why do I like coaxial speakers? The principal for me is much more important than the brand. All the forums that try to figure out how to make stuff sound good, they discuss brands and models; but people don’t really discuss physics, and they don’t really discuss principles, and types of signal flow. So there’s little knowledge about Class A, B, C, D – and so people try to remember what they should buy, and they think, ‘so I heard Class A sounds the best, so I need class A’. But often you don’t need class A. For me it’s always about looking under the bonnet.
WHF?: It’s testament to your creative mind that everything is an interaction rather than a consumable for you. Is it a similar tweaked set-up when you’re touring and on the move?
NF: No, my life is simple: when I don’t have a sound system that I like, I don’t really listen to music. I also need time away from sounds and away from music, nobody wants to listen to music 24/7. So if I’m not in the studio or not at home, I just stop listening to music. And if I’m in the car, I go with whatever sound system is in there. I would never spend money on that: it’s just a car. Maybe I listen to NPR or something like that, and it helps me also to listen to music on just a very average sound system, just for double-checking mixes.
So yeah, I’m not a picky type. Like I said, I value good-sounding records over a good-sounding sound system. Because I learnt a lot of people who are crazy about good speakers, they start buying CDs that are only made for good speakers, where the music was recorded through golden cables or whatever. And the musicians are not so good, but their sound recording is really good, and so they listen to reference where the music is not so interesting. For me, that is the point where I’m just getting lost, because the sound system is just there to play music from talented people with a message. Sometimes these moments are recorded great, and then if they’re recorded great I can also listen to that on a shitty sound system where it will cut through.
My first Radiohead experience was like that. I listened to a €100 or whatever, portable, shit CD player back in the day in the late 90s, designed for a children’s room. And I sat and I played Amnesiac, and it sounded huge. It sounded absolutely insane, it sounded completely different to all the other records I had, and I could never really get sound out of that box. I was at that point more interested in bypassing the quality of what people have as a hi-fi, and try to make music which transforms the speaker, whatever quality it is, into to what the composer or the artist wants from it.
I know examples of records that will sound good on every sound system I know, and that’s not 100 per cent what is important but it’s very interesting to learn about this. Especially when people don’t make music and they just buy equipment to play back, and they’re not so familiar with how music is made. They need to know that when something doesn’t really sound right in that room ,or something doesn’t really sound right in that moment, it’s mostly a problem with the producer. It should not be the problem of the consumer to help whatever didn’t work in the recording or production stage. So whenever we want to listen to good music, we just have to find the good music. It’s very easy and you don’t need to spend too much money on on anything
WHF?: Those recordings you know will sound good on any system, what are they for you?
NF: Basically anything Miles Davis recorded In the 50s and 60s, especially Kind of Blue and the soundtrack he did for the French film, Ascenseur pour l’échafaud. That will transform your iPhone into to a huge soundstage. And obviously the Chet Baker example is is the most convincing for me, because when you put Chet Baker on your iPhone and you put your iPhone into a Pringles box, it will also almost sound as good as if you listened on thousand euro speakers. Maybe just 90 as opposed to 100 per cent. It’s a rough statement to make, but people probably get the point.
MORE:
10 of the best movie scores to test your system
40 of the best 1990s albums to test your speakers
Music for sleep: the best ambient albums to help you relax
The ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 3 is a ThinkPad through and through. It’s got the keyboard nub, the discrete mouse buttons, and the all-black chassis with scattered dots of red. (If you’ve seen its predecessor, the ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2, you’ll know what you’re getting — the models are identical, with different chips.)
But this ThinkPad has a unique feature you don’t see every day: an OLED screen. That, combined with its discrete GPU, puts the X1 Extreme Gen 3 out of the business laptop space that ThinkPads traditionally dominate and into the crowded market for ultraportable content-creation machines. Among those competitors, the X1 Extreme has some significant drawbacks that keep it from reaching the top of the pack. But it still includes the features that have made ThinkPads so dominant across the board, and that means there’s certainly an audience for it.
Like other ThinkPads, the X1 Extreme is customizable for a variety of price points. All configurations have an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q. The base model is $2,734 (currently discounted to a much more reasonable $1,640) and includes a Core i5-10400H, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, a 1920 x 1080 non-touch display, and a standard 720p HD webcam. Among prebuilt models, you can go all the way up to a system with a Core i9-10885H, 64GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, a 3840 x 2160 OLED touchscreen, and an IR camera, all for — wait for it — $4,959 (currently listed at $2,974.40). My test configuration is in the middle; it includes a Core i7-10850H, 1TB of storage, 32GB of RAM, and the OLED touchscreen. It has an MSRP of $4,111 but is currently listed at $2,466. You can tweak most of the specs to your liking, though some are dependent on others; for example, all models that don’t have the base display come with the IR camera.
This model has two absolutely standout features. The first is the keyboard. ThinkPads usually have great keyboards, and this one is no exception. It’s one of my favorite keyboards that I’ve tried on a workstation laptop this year, with the possible exception of the Dell XPS 15. The keys have a comfortable texture and a heck of a lot of travel, without being too loud. The typing experience feels closer to that of a mechanical keyboard than to that of flatter laptop keys. I actually found myself eschewing my personal laptop during my testing period in favor of the ThinkPad because of how much I love typing on it.
There’s a row of useful hotkeys on the top of the deck. New to the X1 Extreme are three buttons tailored to remote work: F9 brings up the notification center, F10 answers calls, and F11 ends calls. There are also keys to cut the volume and microphone, toggle airplane mode, and adjust volume and brightness.
Ports include two USB 3.2 Gen 1, two Thunderbolt 3, one HDMI 2.0, one SD slot, one combo audio jack, and an optional Nano-SIM card slot.
One quick thing about the keyboard: the Fn and Ctrl keys are swapped from the locations where you’ll find them on most keyboards. This is how ThinkPad keyboards have been laid out since forever, and you can remap the keys through the BIOS or with Lenovo’s utility app if you prefer. But if you’re not a regular ThinkPad user, or you’ll be swapping between this machine and a personal laptop, it’s worth noting that it’ll take time to adjust (or you’ll be using mislabeled keys). I’ve been using the X1 Extreme for almost a week, and I’m still accidentally hitting Fn all the time.
The second standout feature is the 15.6-inch 4K OLED panel. It covers 100 percent of the sRGB spectrum, 100 percent of Adobe RGB, and 100 percent of P3. (Basically, it maxed out our colorimeter.) The panel is sharp and vibrant with great contrast. You can watch streaming content that supports HDR and swap between various color profiles with Lenovo’s Display Optimizer.
Build quality is another strength. Like most of its ThinkPad siblings, the X1 Extreme feels quite durable. There’s no flex in the keyboard or lid, and Lenovo says it’s been tested against “12 military-grade certification methods and over 20 procedures” for resistance to vibrations, shocks, extreme temperatures, humidity, and the like. The laptop achieves this without sacrificing much portability. It’s on the thick side at 0.74 inches — but at four pounds, it’s lighter than many competitors including the Dell XPS 15 and the MacBook Pro 16.
Lenovo says the multi-layered carbon fiber top cover “provides durability and weight advantages.”
The chassis has a black finish with a nice texture. The ThinkPad logo on the right palm rest and the X1 logo on the top cover add splashes of red. The lid has a unique carbon-fiber weave pattern, which looks and feels similar to the carbon-fiber palm rests on the Dell XPS 15. (This is only available on UHD models). Lenovo says this material is lighter and more durable than aluminum and other common chassis materials. It’s also likely part of the reason for the X1 Extreme’s lofty price tag.
There are dual far-field microphones that work alongside Cortana.
One note on the build: the lid and chassis aren’t the worst fingerprint magnets I’ve ever seen, but they do pick them up. After a few days of use, the keyboard deck was pretty smudgy.
Finally, the X1 Extreme comes with some helpful features for remote meetings. You can optimize the dual microphones for various settings (including voice recognition, solo calls, and conference calls) in Lenovo’s Vantage software. They didn’t have any trouble picking up my voice. And the stereo speakers are fine, delivering distortion-free audio with percussion and bass that are audible but not exceptional. You can create custom equalizer profiles in the preloaded Dolby Access software, and you can also toggle presets for scenarios like voice, music, movies, and games.
The infrared webcam was also a pleasant surprise — while a bit grainy, it was fairly color-accurate and delivered a decent picture in low-light environments. There’s a physical privacy shutter that’s easy to click back and forth. You can sign into the X1 Extreme with Windows Hello facial recognition, as well as a match-on-sensor fingerprint reader on the side of the keyboard deck, which was quick to set up and didn’t usually have trouble recognizing me.
All of this stuff is similar to the ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 — there’s not much noticeable change. The Gen 3’s upgrades are on the inside. It has a six-core 10th Gen Intel processor and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q, where its predecessor had a 9th Gen Intel processor and a GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q.
The Core i7-10850H isn’t the most monstrous processor around, especially compared to AMD’s recent H-series chips. But it does bring the business-specific benefits of Intel’s vPro platform, and it did a fine job with my piles of spreadsheets, emails, Slacking, and other general office work.
Similarly, the GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q is a midrange graphics card — it’s not what you’d want to use for serious gaming or high-throughput professional video editing. But for amateur creators and other artists, it can certainly lend a hand.
My test model scored a 386 on PugetBench for Premiere Pro, which tests its proficiency in real-world Premiere Pro tasks. That’s not a shameful score among top competitors, but it’s not great either. The system comes in under scores we’ve seen from the Dell XPS 15 with the same GPU, and the six-core MacBook Pro, which has AMD Radeon Pro 5300M. And, of course, it loses out to creator machines with more powerful Nvidia chips, such as the lower-priced Gigabyte Aero 15 with an RTX 3060.
If you’re going to be doing intense content work, prepare to hear the fans. Even when I was just bouncing around in Chrome, they were audible quite often. On the plus side, they did their job: the laptop’s bottom, keyboard, touchpad, palm rests, and hinge all remained cold.
Lenovo says the ThinkPad can charge up to 80 percent in 60 minutes with its “Rapid Charge” feature.
Another compromise you’re making here is battery life. I only averaged four hours and 59 minutes on our battery test, which involved using the ThinkPad for continuous office multitasking on the Battery Saver profile, with the screen around 200 nits of brightness. I ran a trial without using Chrome to see if that would make a difference; it didn’t. And this result actually seems to be a bit on the high side — Tom’s Hardware got an even pithier two hours and 19 minutes on a synthetic streaming benchmark.
It’s not unexpected that a machine with a 4K screen and a discrete GPU wouldn’t last all day. But I got more juice out of the Gigabyte Aero 15, which has both an OLED display and a heftier graphics card. And if you don’t need the high-resolution screen (which many people won’t), the Dell XPS 15 (which still has an exceptional display) lasted an hour longer with my workflow, while my colleague Dieter Bohn got up to eight hours out of the MacBook Pro. Folks who are interested in the X1 Extreme who would prefer not to have it plugged in all the time should consider an FHD (1080p) model.
It’s a ThinkPad through and through.
Ultimately, the decision between the ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 3 and other 15-inch thin-and-light workstations really boils down to: do you want a ThinkPad?
This is to say that the X1 Extreme shares many of the strengths and weaknesses of Windows machines like the XPS 15. Both have dazzling displays, decent chips, sturdy build, boisterous fans, and mediocre battery life. Both have best-in-class keyboards and touchpads, with average webcams and speakers.
But a ThinkPad and an XPS are still very different machines — and if you’ve used any member of either lineup before, you probably know which one you prefer. They have different looks and different feels. The ThinkPad is slightly lighter and slightly thicker, with more ports and larger bezels. The XPS is a bit more powerful, but the ThinkPad has extra business features.
The XPS, due to its lower price, is a more accessible model for most consumers. And the X1 Extreme’s weaker chips and poor battery life, in particular, are tough pills to swallow at such a high price. But there’s still a market for the X1 Extreme — and if you’re willing to sacrifice a bit of power, a bit of money, and a bit of battery life for the unique advantages of a ThinkPad, you probably fall into it.
To call Rega a little bit dominant in the world of turntables would be rather an understatement. After all, of the 30+ turntable What Hi-Fi? Awards we’ve dished out over the last five years, Rega has scooped up around half of them, leaving its rivals to scrap over what’s left.
The current Award-winning turntables didn’t come out of nowhere: they’re the culmination of over four decades of tireless development and refinement and built upon the legacy of the turntables that have gone before.
But while record players and cartridges are what Rega are most renowned for, and quite rightly so, the British company has also excelled in a range of electronics – mostly amplifiers and phono stages – over the years that have many an accolade and an impressive heritage of their own. It’s got a few pairs of speakers under its belt, too, having recently launched the Kyte.
That makes this a perfect time to revisit Rega’s greatest hits, from its very first turntable to its most recent What Hi-Fi? Award-winners across a number of categories.
Rega Planet (1973)
Pre-Rega, founder Roy Gandy spent his free time installing, upgrading and repairing turntables. Dismayed by the poor reliability of the decks he was seeing, Gandy set out to make an alternative with real solidity and longevity.
He also wanted his first turntable to look different to everything else that was available at the time. “Why can a turntable not have three outrigger points spinning round, that people might buy as a piece of sculpture?” he asked.
The result of his experience, goals and theorising was the Rega Planet, with its three-spoke, steel and aluminium platter and Acos Lustre tonearm. This was also the beginning of Rega as a company.
Rega Planar 3 (with RB300 arm) (1983)
As you’d assume from the name, the Planar 3 was not the first Planar by Rega. What’s more, the model we’re highlighting here wasn’t even the first Planar 3. What makes this the Planar 3 to focus on is the RB-300 tonearm that came pre-installed on it.
Having used Japanese and Danish manufactured arms for the first decade of its life, Rega’s own RB-300 and RB-250 took performance to new levels and received plaudits that you might not expect, with Modern Metals magazine proclaiming that it was ‘still trying to figure out how you produce such a long cored hole so accurately’.
More importantly (we hope), we proclaimed at the time that the RB-300 edition of the Planar 3 ‘seemed to get so much more off the discs’. This is arguably the point at which Rega came of age.
Rega Brios (1991 and 2018)
(Image credit: Rega)
The original Brio amplifier first launched in 1991 – it was the company’s third model after the higher-end Elex and Elicit – ever since has pedalled a reputation for being a musically engaging affordable amplifier.
The generations we’ve seen over the years have all stayed true to the original’s musical foundations, managing to be sonically engrossing to entertaining and mostly class-leading degrees. And while they haven’t strayed far from the original design in terms of aesthetics and connectivity – half-width casing and analogue-only connectivity is infused into their design DNA – the performance benchmark they set has continued northwards. The current, sixth-generation Brio – the standout iteration alongside the first-gen model – is the best in the line yet: a stickler for detail and dynamics, rhythm and timing and, perhaps the simplest, truest summation, outright fun.
Read the Rega Brio review
Rega P5 (2002)
Rega spent much of the ’80s and ’90s focused on electronics and speakers, ensuring that someone looking to build an entire two-channel system could do so using Rega components alone. New decks were occasionally launched along the way but it’s the P5 and its 15mm glass platter of 2002 that we’re picking out.
The idea here was to bring some of the features of the company’s more premium turntables – particularly the P25 of 1998 – within the reach of more hi-fi fans, hence the aluminium surround, complex CNC machined skeletal low mass micro-fibre plinth, and the RB700 tonearm of the P7.
Rega P3-24/Elys 2 (2007)
It would take Rega 24 years to launch the second-generation Planar 3, called the P3 2000, but then just seven years to launch the third model – the P3-24.
This model kept much of what made the original Planar 3 great but added some serious upgrades, including a new plinth, arm and motor.
You could buy just the turntable and arm for £400, but our sample was also fitted with Rega’s own Elys 2 cartridge, a model that would become part of the Rega furniture for years to come.
It was a terrific-sounding package, with class-leading and rival-obliterating drive and rhythmic ability. It’s fair to say this turntable left a lasting impression, so much so that it won the Product of the Year Award twice in a row.
Read the Rega P3-24/Elys 2 review
Rega RP8 (2012)
Rega’s goal of combining lightness and rigidity bore striking fruit in 2012 with the launch of the RP8.
The skeletal plinth was constructed using little more than foam – closed cell, polyolefin foam to be precise. Phenolic resin skins were added to both top and bottom surfaces to deliver higher rigidity and an element of damping, but the RP8’s plinth still wound up being seven times lighter than that of the original Planar 3.
To say we were impressed by the RP8 – which is still available, by the way – would be an understatement. ‘When the company really goes for it, shooting for the stars rather than trying to meet a price point’, we said, ‘the results are spectacular’.
Read the Rega RP8 review
Rega Naiad (2013)
It should be clear by now that Rega is renowned for building brilliant turntables at the relatively affordable end of the spectrum, which is why the Naiad might come as a bit of a surprise – it costs £30,000. Not that you can buy one even if you had the money: only 50 were ever made.
Built to celebrate Rega’s 40th birthday, the company considers the Naiad to be the ultimate representation of its engineering ideas when executed with little regard for cost or ease of manufacture. In other words, it’s the best deck Rega knows how to make.
Unfortunately, we’ve never tested the Naiad – there’d be little point reviewing a product almost no-one could buy – but it’s fair to assume it should sound pretty special, given Rega’s track record. And it sure is pretty.
The making of: Rega Naiad
Rega Elex-R (2014)
(Image credit: Future)
Rega’s Elex-R arrived in 2014, 13 years after the original Elex, which was the company’s second-ever amplifier following its debut Elicit the year prior. It’s still going strong today – something we’re very thankful. Because while the Elex-R’s five-time What Hi-Fi? Award-winning streak came to an end in 2019 when Cambridge Audio’s better-connected CX models showed up, it still remains a go-to for analogue purists who aren’t worried about digital connectivity.
As with the Elicit and Brio siblings, its biggest strength lies in its effortless, uncompromising musicality; it’s the kind of product that gets straight to the heart of the music and conveys all the emotion in the recording with ease. We anticipate the next-generation Elex (which we’d imagine is due in the not-too-distant future) with avid eagerness.
Read the Rega Elex-R review
Rega RP1 Performance pack (2014)
We’ve always been fans of Rega’s entry-level turntable, the RP1, but this enhanced version took things to a new level.
Mostly, this is the same turntable we know and love, but with a few key tweaks. For starters, there’s a new, thicker drive belt. You also get a new mat: it’s thicker, and made of natural wool as opposed to the synthetic material of the original. The moving-magnet cartridge is new, too, with the standard Ortofon OMB5 having been replaced by Rega’s own Bias 2.
We proclaimed the RP1 Performance pack a ‘blindingly good turntable for the money, and a great entry point into the world of vinyl’.
Read the Rega RP1 Performance Pack review
Rega Planar 2 (2016)
In 1976, three years after Rega’s creation, the Planar 2 launched as one of the brand’s very first turntables. Its S-shaped tonearm was then replaced in 1984 with Rega’s RB250, and at the turn of the century a brand new version of the deck – fittingly named the P2 2000 – took its place in Rega’s catalogue until 2005.
Over a decade later, the Planar 2, having been developed over the past two years, was brought back from the dead – this time with the unabbreviated ‘Planar’ name.
The only things existing from the original being the drive belt and the plastic mouldings for the dust cover lid hinges, despite the two decks looking remarkably similar. But changes included a new plinth, power switch, 24v low-noise motor, central bearing, platter and feet. Quite a lot, then.
Most importantly, the Planer 2 received Rega’s new RB220 tonearm, which features new ultra-low friction ball bearings, a stiffer bearing housing and an automatic bias setting, making it virtually plug ’n’ play.
We proclaimed it a ‘proper step-up in performance from the RP1’, which is saying quite a lot.
Read the Rega Planar 2 review
Rega Planar 3 (2016)
Despite there being a 40-year gap between the original and current Planar 3, we surmised that if we put the two side-by-side, ‘most people would be hard pushed to find any differences beyond the smarter plinth and the updated tonearm’.
In actual fact, almost every part had been revised since the last iteration – the P3-24 of 2007. The company had, fairly unusually, put some real effort into the styling, too. The core of the turntable was the same, though: simple, well-engineered and designed to put performance first.
“Want the best value turntable on the market?”, we asked. “This is it”.
And it is still.
Read the Rega Planar 3 review
Rega Planar 6 (2017)
£1400 is no small price to pay for a turntable, particularly when a perfectly capable version of the same turntable is available for £200 less. But, such is the quality of the combination of Planar 6 and Ania cartridge, it’s a price well worth paying.
‘It’s a frankly astonishingly refined and mature sound’, we said in our review of the Planar 6, ‘with refinement adding to the deck’s customarily musical and insightful performance’.
It won an Award that year and repeated the feat in 2018. Will it be third time’s the charm? You certainly wouldn’t bet against it.
Read the Rega Planar 6 review
Rega Aura MC (2018)
(Image credit: Rega Research)
While Rega is a leading light at the more affordable end of the turntable and electronics fields it is a part of, ever mindful of value, it certainly knows how to make high-end products too. The Aura MC phono stage, which launched at £3999 ($5995), demonstrates that entirely.
Largely thanks to a three-stage symmetrical FET (Field Effect Transistor)-based main circuit board that’s packed with good quality components and driven by a generously specified power supply, the Aura MC is a virtuoso with moving coil cartridge-fitted record players, able to squeeze every last drop of energy from music signals it’s handed – not surprising considering that’s what Rega components do best. “If you have a system that can make the most of a phono stage of this level, dive right in,” is how we ended our review, and two years on from penning that statement we stand by it.
Read the Rega Aura review
Rega Planar 8 (2018)
If you’re not one of the lucky 50 who managed to get hold of the Naiad, above, you should probably take a good look at this Planar 8, which is designed to encapsulate the essence of the Naiad at a far more affordable price.
To these eyes it’s a gorgeously designed turntable that looks like nothing else out there. It’s vastly more capable than Rega’s more affordable models, too, including the Planar 6.
‘Rega has pushed the boundaries of performance at this level and has given premium rivals positioned above it plenty to worry about’, we said at the time, and little has changed since.
Read the Rega Planar 8 review
Rega Planar 1 Plus (2018)
When we heard Rega had finally developed a turntable with a built-in phono stage, the reaction of the What Hi-Fi? reviews team was a mixture of relief, anticipation and a fair bit of “about time, too”.
The Planar 1 Plus is essentially a Rega Planar 1 turntable with the Rega Fono Mini A2D built in. Both are Award-winning products, of course, and Rega says it only felt natural to combine them together. We absolutely agree.
‘Rega has struck gold in combining two superb products into one’, we said, commenting that in some ways it’s actually a better performer than when the turntable and phono stage are bought and combined as separates. This is a future classic and no mistake.
Read the Rega Planar 1 Plus review
Rega Planar 10 (2019)
(Image credit: Rega)
While the sparkliest jewels of Rega’s crown are arguably its lower-ranging Planar decks, its mainstream range-topper is the pinnacle of the Planar series and demonstrates the level of impressive engineering available at this price point.
The closest the company has got to building a production version of the Naiad – closer still than after the Planar 8 that came just before it – it’s an exceptional performer that packs clever engineering and fine build into a visually striking design. In fact, it’s the most sonically capable turntable we’ve heard at this price. If you really want to find out what’s hidden in that record groove, start here.
Read the Rega Planar 10 review
MORE:
10 of the best British record players of all time
12 of the best Cambridge Audio products of all time
There must be something in the water in Cambridge, England.
Not only did Cambridge Audio emerge from the university city, but so too did another bastion of British hi-fi. Amplification Recording and Cambridge (as it was known originally) was founded back in 1976, the brainchild of John Dawson and Chris Evans, who met while studying at Cambridge University. Over the years, the name was shortened to A&R Cambridge before Arcam was adopted in the 1980s.
Arcam has cast its product net far and wide over the years, always willing to experiment and entertain new product categories as they have emerged. From iPod speaker docks to standalone DACs, DVD players to music streamers, Arcam hasn’t been afraid to push itself, and the sonic envelope, in terms of both design and performance.
And the results speak for themselves. We’ve seen some absolutely classic products emerge over the years, and in celebration of British Hi-Fi Week, we highlight a number of them below. We kick things off where it all started, with a classic stereo amplifier…
Read our British Hi-Fi Week reviews and features
A&R Cambridge A60 (1979)
(Image credit: Future)
Arcam got off to a flier with its first-ever product, the A60. Launched in 1976, it was a well-equipped integrated amplifier, with a solid selection of line-level inputs and a quality moving-magnet phono stage. We were impressed by the A60’s solid build and sound quality from the start. It cost £190 in the early Eighties and was very much the go-to middle-market amplifier of the time.
The A60’s smooth presentation and expressive midrange made it a fun and entertaining listen. It was surefooted rhythmically and provided decent punch too. The power output of 40W per channel wasn’t special, by any means, but it was still enough to work with a wide range of speakers.
That Was Then… A&R Cambridge A60 (1976) vs. Arcam A19 (2013)
A&R Cambridge P77 (1977)
(Image credit: Future)
If you were looking to upgrade your record player in the late 70s, Arcam’s budget P77 cartridge would probably have been somewhere on your shopping list. It was designed using Japanese parts and boasted excellent tracking ability, although you needed to get the right capacitive loading to get the best sound from the moving-magnet design. We were big fans of its wonderfully open and intimate soundstage at the time, as well as its dynamics, and its rhythmic ability.
The cartridge wasn’t completely immune from criticism, however. We questioned its “slightly fat bass quality and a brightness when not correctly loaded”, proof that there’s always room for improvement, even in some top-performing products.
A&R Arcam Two (1985)
(Image credit: Future)
Arcam might be better known for its electronics, but in 1985 it managed to serve up a cracking pair of stereo speakers in the shape of the Arcam Two. For petite budget standmounters, these really stood out from their rivals. This was partly down to the fantastic build quality on offer. The real-wood finish was superb, while each cabinet was heavily braced and damped to keep vibrations to a minimum. A&R even offered optional wooden pedestal stands for you to perch them on.
We highlighted their “marvellous” stereo imaging and the fact they weren’t lacking in top end detail. They also displayed a “midrange resolution which is of benefit with any kind of music”. At the same time, though, this was a pair of speakers that also benefited from careful system matching. We noted the Arcam’s weighty bass had the potential to sound a little thick and unwieldy if the speakers were partnered with unsuitable electronics.
17 of the best British speakers of all time
Arcam Alpha 7 (1996)
(Image credit: Future)
Based on Arcam’s landmark Alpha One CD player, the Alpha 7 left the competition in its wake when it launched back in 1996. The ‘7’ featured a modular design, which offered the possibility of an upgrade path. This meant that with a new DAC board and a badge change you could transform the Alpha 7 into an Alpha 8. Neat.
It had a smooth, mature and relaxing sound, which made for treble that was softer than that from other players. But the sound had a good weight to it, which helped tracks sound big and substantial where necessary. The Alpha 7 took the game to similarly priced Japanese efforts and held its own – and not many affordable British-made players achieved such a feat.
Arcam Alpha 7SE – The What Hi-Fi? Hall of Fame: 1990s
Arcam DiVA A85 (2001)
(Image credit: Future)
The A85 was different from its forebears. Where previous Arcam efforts veered towards warm and safe, the A85 had the ferocity of a sledgehammer smashing through glass. It worked well with all genres of music, with no trace of boom or bloom, and a clarity that extended throughout the frequency range.
We noted its “immaculately clean” midrange that had a resolution its rivals couldn’t match. The A85 was a sonic leader in its class, a fully featured amp that blew away the competition.
11 of the best British stereo amplifiers of all time
Arcam FMJ AV8 / FMJ P7 (2002)
(Image credit: Future)
If we were to make a list of home cinema highlights from the noughties, then Arcam’s potent processor/power amp combo would be a shoo-in. Granted, at £5500 for the pair, it wasn’t cheap, but the AV8/P7 justified every penny thanks to its breathtaking sonic ability.
The P7 power amp boasted an impressive 170W of power into seven channels, and it deployed it all with a sofa-shaking amount of force. The beauty of this Arcam pairing, though, was also its musicality. It was capable of elevating any movie soundtrack to a level where the listener couldn’t help but be blown away.
For the time, there was also a fair chunk of technology on show too. The AV8 showcased THX Ultra2 certification, and included format support for THX Surround EX and DTS-ES, among others. Remember, this was before the days of HDMI sockets and Dolby Atmos.
Our pick of the best AV receivers you can buy
Arcam Solo (2005)
(Image credit: Arcam)
For hi-fi fans who couldn’t accommodate a stack of separates, the Arcam Solo was the perfect solution – it provided the convenience of a one-box micro system with sensational sound quality. All you needed to do was add speakers. It was the benchmark product of its kind back in 2005, a premium hi-fi set-up that delivered brilliance across the board.
Playing a wide variety of genres, the Solo just refused to put a foot wrong and produced “consistently listenable results, packed with detail and expressive dynamics”.
The Arcam looked understated, but extremely elegant at the same time – the unit felt solid and was beautifully finished too. It combined CD player, DAB/FM tuner and amplifier to fantastic effect and you even had the option of connecting an iPod and controlling it through the Solo’s remote control. As an all-in-one proposition it was very tough to beat.
Read our Arcam Solo review
Arcam rDAC (DAC) 2010
(Image credit: Arcam)
Thanks to the increasing amount of music being stored on computer hard drives, DACs (digital to analogue convertors) had exploded into the mainstream by the time the Arcam rDAC arrived on the scene in 2010. It was a talented device and Arcam got the design, the feature set and the sonic performance absolutely spot on. Emphasis was put on the performance from the asynchronous USB input for computer-based music and the company focused heavily on reducing jitter (digital timing errors).
But to be fair, the rDAC performed well across all inputs delivering a “spacious, controlled and big-boned sound”. Low frequencies were controlled yet authoritative, and detail levels and the DAC’s ability to translate textures accurately was second to none at the money. A superb example of its kind.
Read our Arcam rDAC review
Arcam rCube (2011)
(Image credit: Arcam)
With the rCube, Arcam proved it could be flexible enough to shift from traditional separates and embrace new sources of audio – in this case, the Apple iPod. This portable music player’s emergence spawned the arrival of numerous iPod speaker docks which brought added convenience and a new angle to home audio.
There was no lack of rivals on the market at the time, but, to its credit, Arcam rose to the challenge. The rCube not only delivered excellent cohesive sound quality, it also offered portability (via the rechargeable battery) video playback and a wireless option; it even had multi-room potential – you could buy two and stream from one to the other. Its design meant the speaker dock sounded better tucked in the corner of a room, but it also featured an all-important ‘bass’ boost function which gave it a helping hand in open space. A very clever speaker that stood out from the crowd.
MORE:
Read our Arcam rCube review
6 of the best British hi-fi innovations and technologies
12 of the best Cambridge Audio products of all time
Linn has taken the wraps off its next-generation flagship Klimax DSM music streamer, the original of which kickstarted the British company’s successful journey into hi-fi streaming way back in 2007.
According to Linn, the all-new Klimax DSM represents “a complete reimagining” of its top of the line streamer. That’s largely down to its Organik DAC, the first ever all-Linn digital to analogue converter, manufactured entirely in-house. Organik combines FPGA processing (which uses custom algorithms to increase upsampling and ensure precise volume control) with a discrete conversion stage that benefits from a new ultra-low jitter oscillator and clock distribution network. This combination – implemented in a double-sided circuit design to reduce signal paths – has allowed Linn to have control over every stage of the conversion process.
Linn says Organik measures better than anything the company has achieved before, offering significantly lower noise and distortion and its “most natural sound ever”.
Read our British Hi-Fi Week reviews and features
(Image credit: Linn)
It feeds a plethora of digital inputs – USB-typeB (24-bit/384khz, DSD256), optical and coaxial. They are complemented by analogue RCA and XLR inputs, which should benefit from an all-new ADC design that has its own circuit board with dedicated power supply, as well as wi-fi, Bluetooth and Airplay for a range of streaming needs. Linn’s dedicated Exakt Link ports enable direct hook-up of an LP12 turntable with Urika II phono stage, too.
A home cinema variant of the streamer, the Klimax DSM (AV), expands that connectivity list with HDMI socketry (four ins, one eARC-compatible out).
Both versions are housed in a new chassis, which is machined from solid, special-grade aluminium and takes on an aesthetic that’s in line with both the latest Majik DSM and Selekt DSM as well as the Klimax DS heritage.
To that end, you’ll find diamond-cut circles on the upper surface, stainless steel buttons and a mirror-screen frontage, not forgetting the beautiful, custom designed, precision-cut glass control dial with 100 status lights. Each unit will also be signed by the Linn engineer who built it from start to finish.
(Image credit: Linn)
(Image credit: Linn)
The sheer weight of the machine, coupled with internal damping, helps isolate the Klimax DSM from vibration in the room, while a number of pockets and partitions separate the analogue, digital and power stages in an effort to reduce interference.
The Linn Klimax DSM (either the ‘Audio’ or ‘AV’ variant) costs £30,000.
Linn is also taking this opportunity to offer an Organik DAC upgrade for its Klimax 350 speakers and Klimax Exaktbox, costing £10,800 and £5400 respectively. New orders of the 350 and Exactbox, priced £57,500 and £15,000, will come with Organik as standard.
(Image credit: Linn)
Finally, there’s the Klimax System Hub (£15,000), which is for anyone “seeking the highest performance from a complete Linn system”. Designed for use in a Linn system with Exakt technology, the System Hub is housed in the same new enclosure as the Klimax DSM. It also uses the company’s latest ADC design, and features the same inputs as the Klimax DSM (AV) variant – including the option to upgrade with surround 7.1-channel capability.
The pinnacle pairing is, Linn says, between the Klimax System Hub and the Klimax 350 speakers or Klimax Exaktbox, both with the new Organik DAC onboard. An impressive system, no doubt.
MORE:
Read our British Hi-Fi Week reviews and features
See our pick of the best Linn products of all time
Interview! Cyrus XR Series: a clean break from Classic
We ask the industry: is there such thing as ‘British hi-fi sound’?
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It’s still fair to call audio sunglasses a niche category, but with Bose offering several models, Amazon in the game, and counting recent announcements from Razer and JLab, it’s certainly a growing one. There are people out there who just aren’t particularly fond of earbuds — often because they dislike the feeling of silicone tips plugging up their ears. Open-style products like the standard AirPods and Galaxy Buds Live are one alternative, but then you still face the possibility of losing them. If you’re running on a trail or out for an intense bike ride, it’s not an insignificant risk.
For those people, I can absolutely see the appeal of the Bose Frames Tempo, which have speakers built right into their frame and will stay planted on their face no matter how strenuous outdoor activity gets. The Tempo glasses are the sportiest model of Bose’s Frames family, clearly geared at hikers, runners, cyclists, and anyone else who spends a good chunk of their time outside. Bose says they’ve also got the best sound performance of the bunch.
From the front, they look like your typical pair of Oakley, Nike, or Under Armour sunglasses. Bose is clearly going after that same market with the $250 Tempos. If you’re more fashion-forward or looking for a pair of audio sunglasses that don’t give the impression you’re in the middle of a triathlon, you’ll want to stick with the Tenor or Soprano styles of Frames. These come with black mirrored lenses in the box, but Bose also sells a couple of other pairs of $40 lenses that you can swap in to let different amounts of light pass through. The oversized temples are where it becomes more obvious that these are audio sunglasses.
But there’s a benefit to that chunky design: unlike the Tenor and Soprano Frames, which use a proprietary charger, the Tempo model has a regular USB-C connector on the left temple. Bose says the frame is made from “TR-90 nylon.” There’s not much give, but they feel rugged to me, and they’ve got an IPX4 water and sweat resistance rating, so if you get caught running or biking in the rain, they’ll survive.
The large temples are the obvious tell that these are audio sunglasses.
For the first couple of days wearing the Tempos, I felt a slight squeeze at the sides of my head that got uncomfortable. Now, I’ve got an extremely large dome — they used to have to bring out a special-sized helmet in Little League, friends — but thankfully, the fit loosened up a bit because this pressure went away by the end of the first week. The sunglasses didn’t get loose enough to where they started bobbing on my head or anything; they still felt nice and secure. (My friend Theresa, who has a normal-sized head, never mentioned any headache-inducing tightness.) Bose includes three sizes of nose tips in the box, and I found the large to be the right match. Even if my face was covered in sweat from a long run, the nose tips helped ensure the sunglasses didn’t slide around.
The frames have an IPX4 rating for water and sweat resistance.
The controls that Bose came up with are wonderfully foolproof, which is crucial when you’re trying to stay focused on other things. You swipe across the right temple to raise or lower the volume, and on the underside of that temple is a small circular button that you can press to play / pause, double-tap to skip tracks, or triple-tap to go back. In no time at all, these controls felt so natural and easy. Powering off the Frames Tempo just takes holding down the button for a few seconds. Or you can flip them over and lay them down with the top of the frame on a surface. After two seconds in that orientation, they shut off. (You can disable this in settings, but I found it really convenient and, again, natural.) Battery life is listed as eight hours, and that’s lined up with my experience so far. The sunglasses take roughly an hour to charge back to 100 percent. Bose’s mobile app lets you update the sunglasses’ firmware, but there aren’t any EQ controls or other options that adjust their performance.
The sunglasses stay firmly in place through all sorts of outdoor activities.
Describing the sound quality of audio sunglasses can be tricky. They’re nothing like headphones or earbuds since these are essentially down-firing speakers pointed at your ears. But Bose stepped up its game compared to the first-generation Frames, which I’ve tried on occasion. These have more life to them across the whole EQ range.
There’s a surprising amount of separation between vocals and instrumentation, and the Frames Tempo have a nice clarity and even-handed balance. There’s more bass than before, but this is where I think it’s most important to set reasonable expectations: the low end you get from any decent pair of in-ear buds will blow these out of the water. No contest. That said, Bose has at least reached a place where the bass no longer sounds anemic or flat, which is a legitimate improvement over the first-gen Frames. It’s there and perceptible.
Sound bleed is easily canceled out by everyday street noise, but if you’re inside with the volume turned up, people nearby will be able to tell that you’re listening to music. These are sunglasses, after all, so I imagine those situations will be few and far between. The Bluetooth connection has held stable throughout the vast majority of my time with the Frames Tempo so far. No complaints there.
Voice calls while wearing the Tempos have also been a joy. Callers say I sound nearly as good as when speaking directly into my phone, and something about taking calls with your ears totally open just feels very cool.
Bose sells additional $40 pairs of lenses that let in different amounts of light.
Even after a relatively short time using the Frames Tempo, I get this audio glasses thing. I really get it. It’s like Dieter recently wrote: “Not having to put in or take out headphones changes your relationship to audio — it’s just always available, always there when you want it.” Do I wish I could pop clear lenses into them and wear them everywhere? In theory, you bet. But this style wouldn’t really work for that, nor is it what the Tempos are meant to be at the end of the day. So I can’t knock Bose for the disappointment I feel when switching back to my normal glasses, which now seem so very primitive.
The Bose Frames Tempo let you hear the world around you with no obstructions — with a soundtrack playing over everything, while at the same time giving your ears a bit of a break compared to normal earbuds. At $250, they will be a tough sell for some. But I’ve come to realize that audio sunglasses are the exact sort of thing you won’t ever realize you needed. Until you put ‘em on — and all of a sudden, you do.
Select titles on HBO Max now have audio descriptions, which are separate audio tracks that describe what’s visually happening on-screen. The option is currently available on the website and mobile apps but not on TV apps.
Audio descriptions are useful for people who are blind or visually impaired, as they provide context that isn’t obvious from only hearing dialogue and music. So far, the described shows and movies include Euphoria, His Dark Materials, Generation, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Dunkirk, and more.
There’s now a category in HBO Max that lists all of the currently described shows and movies in one place, though it doesn’t yet show up on TV apps. There will also be improvements to the screen reader compatibility of the website and apps.
The audio descriptions and other changes will “[allow] our community to share equally with family and friends in the truly universal pastime of viewing television and movies,” said Dan Spoone, president of the American Council of the Blind, in a statement today.
For shows and movies that have audio descriptions, the tracks can be turned on from within the caption settings at the bottom of the video player.
Turning on audio description. Image: WarnerMedia
The rollout follows a settlement between WarnerMedia and blind individuals and advocacy groups that was reached last October. The agreement called for at least 1,500 hours of described content on HBO Max by the end of this March, increasing to at least 6,000 hours by the end of March 2023.
(Pocket-lint) – The line between Oppo and OnePlus may be blurring at the management level, and when it comes to launching smartphones in their homeland in China, but when it comes to delivering flagships in western markets, they still take different approaches to things.
For the start of 2021, Oppo delivered the Find X3 Pro as its standout performer while OnePlus has launched the OnePlus 9 Pro. The two phones both offer top notch specs and performance, but with the prices driving higher this year, how do you choose between them? Should you spend more on the Oppo or is the 9 Pro good enough?
Design
Oppo: 163.6 x 74 x 8.3mm – 193g
OnePlus: 163.2 x 73.6 x 8.7 mm – 197g
Oppo: Gloss Black, Blue and White colours
OnePlus: Morning Mist (silver), Forest Green and Stellar Black colours
Both: Aluminium and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 construction – IP68 water/dust resistant
There was a time when Oppo and OnePlus flagships looked very similar to each other, but with the latest range, that’s no longer true. Of course, from the front they both look almost identical, given they have the same sized skinny-bezeled display and a hole-punch camera in the left corner. Turn them over however, and there’s no way anyone’s confusing these two.
Oppo’s latest premium phone is unlike anything else on the market. The glass curving up to the camera housing is all part of the same glass that makes up the rest of the phone’s rear. That means you get an attractive, seamless look and feel. Plus that matte frosted glass on the blue model makes it feel super soft.
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OnePlus has taken a vastly different approach, placing its cameras in a rectangle protrusion which is attractive in its own right. Each lens is surrounded by a metal ring, making them stand out visually, while the camera housing is colour matched to whatever the colour of the phone is.
Despite both being large phones, the Oppo is noticeably slimmer in the hand, and it feels more nimble and lightweight in the palm than the OnePlus does. Technically, there’s not a lot of difference in measurements, but holding the two yields very different feels.
Both have metal and glass construction and both are water and dust resistant up to IP68 rating, so which ever one you go for, it should survive being caught in the rain or dropped in a basin full of water.
The one area these two phones really are identical is in the display used on the front. Both have exactly the same 6.7-inch LTPO AMOLED display capable of reaching refresh rates up to 120Hz and a peak brightness of 1300 nits.
Maximum resolution for the both is set at QuadHD+ or, specifically, 1440 x 3216 pixels which gives it a density of 525 pixels per inch. That means they’re among the brightest, sharpest and smoothest displays currently available on any phone.
Both use an adaptive frame rate technology too, so that means if you’re looking at a still or slow-moving page, they adapt to the frame rate needed for that page. In the process, that means less power is wasted refreshing the display and as a result, it uses less battery.
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Both feature Always On ambient displays too, although Oppo gives you more available style options to choose from. Plus, you get the ability to design and customise your very own.
OnePlus used to be the customisation champion with Oxygen OS, but Oppo has pulled ahead in this department offering more wallpapers that take advantage of the fluid, smooth display and giving you more fingerprint animation options.
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Both sets of software let you enable various display features like a comfort tone that adapts the white balance based on your current ambient lighting, plus the ability to schedule night modes and kill blue light.
We experienced some quirks with Oppo’s notification system during the review however, where the OnePlus didn’t seem to suffer with as much inconsistency here.
Hardware and performance
Both: Snapdragon 888 processor
Oppo: 8GB/256GB or 12GB/256GB RAM/storage
OnePlus: 8GB/128GB or 12GB/256GB RAM/storage
Both: 4500mAh battery (2x 2250mAh)
Oppo: 65W Super VOOC 2.0 wired and 30W Air VOOC wireless charging
OnePlus: 65W Warp Charge wired and 50W Warp Wireless charging
Like its displays there are some clear similarities when looking at the internals of the two phones. Namely: they both have the Snapdragon 888 processor inside keeping everything ticking over smoothly.
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They both even use the same speedy LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage, so that means that not only do your apps and games all run smoothly, but downloads and installations are quick too. Especially if you happen to live in a 5G area and can download over 5G.
What’s interesting here is that while batteries are the same size (4500mAh), we had slightly better battery life with the Oppo. No doubt, this is in part down to its pretty aggressive background task management. Still, sometimes we were able to get through two full days with the Find X3 Pro, where the OnePlus 9 Pro was a couple of hours short of making that mark.
Despite that, both will easily get you through a full day even if you’re someone who’s on the move constantly, listening to music, making calls and catching a few Pokemon on your travels.
With both being part of the same tech family, you often find similar charging technology in the companies’ devices and it’s no different here. Both use a proprietary flash charging system that can reach up to 65W speeds.
What’s different here is the OnePlus’ phone will retain those speeds for longer and can charge a battery from 1-100 per cent in under 30 minutes. The Find X3 Pro will take a few minutes longer to do the same, but in truth, both charge really quickly.
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It’s in wireless charging where the OnePlus 9 Pro has the clear advantage. Its Warp Charge 50 Wireless can give you a full battery in 43 minutes using the bespoke wireless charging stand while Oppo’s 30W charge will take noticeably longer (around an hour).
In our experience, it’s in the camera department where you notice the biggest differences between the two phones. Both have high quality wide and ultrawide cameras, but Oppo opted to put the same 50-megapixel sensor on both, giving consistent results between them. Both give colour rich, detailed and warm shots.
The OnePlus 9 Pro we found quite inconsistent at times, offering photos that looked cool and blue from the primary and warmer shots like the Oppo from its ultrawide.
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Both phones have a telephoto zoom lens and although the Oppo only goes up to 2x optical, we found it delivered higher quality results than the OnePlus’ 3.3x optical zoom lens. It was sharper and delivered relatively decent images up to 5x where the OnePlus lost a lot of detail and went quite mushy at times even at its lowest zoom.
Add to that the fact that the Oppo also delivered sharper, better looking images in its night mode vs. OnePlus Nightscape mode and it’s clear that the Find X3 Pro is the much better camera experience overal.
That’s without mentioning the gimmicky Micro lens which lets you get really close into objects and see right into their contruction at an almost microscope-like level. It’s fun to play with, but hard to get sharp in-focus shots from.
Pricing and availability
Oppo: From £1099
OnePlus: From £829
It’s no surprise to see OnePlus’ latest premium model cheaper than the Oppo alternative, however, to see the company’s phones getting so expensive in recent years must be difficult for some of its early fans. With prices starting at £829 in the UK, it’s as expensive as some big-name flagship phones, but still comes in cheaper than phones that are similar in terms of specs and features.
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Oppo’s phone is a flagship device at a flagship price, and creeps over the £1000 barrier just as Samsung and Apple have done in recent years. It sees itself as a true flagship that doesn’t need a discounted price to persuade people to see value in its offering.
Conclusion
Ultimately there are likely only a couple of things that will sway you one way or the other on these two phones. A major factor will likely be the price. Oppo’s top tier phone is more expensive than OnePlus’, and looking at the spec sheet there may not be enough difference between them to warrant that extra money.
With that said, given the more consistent and excellent performance of the cameras on the Oppo, and the more refined design – particularly on the matte blue model – we think that’s extra money worth spending if you’re happy to pony up the extra cash.
(Pocket-lint) – The Garmin Enduro is a brand new watch range with one goal in mind: to give the biggest battery life you’ll find on any multisports watch when you put GPS tracking to work.
It’s also looking to appeal to endurance athletes offering that big battery in a lighter watch design than other battery powerhouses in its range – like the Garmin Fenix 6 and the Forerunner 945.
There’s some new features on the software front too, including as VO2 Max scores for trail running and an advanced ClimbPro feature that will now help you better strategise tackling hilly routes and courses.
That big battery life unsurprisingly comes with a big price tag though. So does the Enduro deliver the goods to make it worth spending on?
Design & Display
Weighs: 58g (titanium), 72g (stainless steel)
Measures: 51 x 51 x 14.9mm
1.4-inch 280 x 280 display
Size options: 51mm only
10ATM waterproofing
If you like small watches, then the Enduro is not for you. It’s got a 51mm case size to give it a stature similar to Garmin’s Fenix 6X and it’s the same thickness as the biggest model option in the latest Fenix range.
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You’ve got your pick of titanium and or stainless steel polymer cases – with the former offering a significantly lighter build to keep on your wrist day and night. It means it’s almost as light as Garmin’s Forerunner 945 watch.
It’s been partnered up with one of Garmin’s UltraFit nylon straps, both ends of which are adjustable with a Velcro strap to secure it in place. It’s interchangeable, so you can swap it for a range of different straps including leather, silicone or metal bands.
Partnered up with the titanium case option, this nylon strap helps to make this big watch an easier one to live with when you’re tracking or just using it day in, day out.
In typical Garmin fashion, there’s an array of five physical buttons to navigate a display. This isn’t a touchscreen or full colour panel. Instead it’s a 1.4-inch, 280 x 280 transflective display, matching the one on the Fenix 6X for size and resolution. It’s nice and big, so it’s easy to see in all conditions with a backlight in tow for nighttime or early morning sessions.
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The neon ring around the display is an indication that Garmin’s Polar Glass lens is included, giving you solar charging powers to offer an additional battery boost. As a package, you’re getting a watch that’s been slapped with a 10ATM waterproof rating that does make it safe for a swim and leaving it on in the shower. Well, and the rest: 10ATM means it’s actually good for depths of 100m, so it could survive some diving too.
The Enduro gives off serious Fenix vibes, and while it’s definitely a bulky beast, grabbing it in titanium and pairing it up with a lighter feeling strap means you can enjoy that big screen without it weighing heavy on your wrist.
Fitness & Features
Built-in heart rate monitor
GPS, GLONASS, Galileo
Pulse oximeter sensor
24/7 fitness tracking
Advanced ClimbPro
Trail VO2 Max
The Enduro gives you pretty much all you could want and most of what Garmin has to offer on the fitness, health monitoring and smartwatch front.
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All the key outdoor and indoor sensors are in place, including a barometric altimeter and its Pulse Ox blood oxygen saturation monitor – although the latter that will sap up battery life if you have it in use 24/7. You’ve also got the main satellite players covered and once the Enduro recognised our running terrain, it picked up a signal nice and quick.
One surprising feature that doesn’t make the cut is topographic maps, which you will find on the Fenix 6 Pro series and the Forerunner 945. This feature has apparently been left out to preserve battery life and does still offer real-time breadcrumb navigation and the ability to upload routes to the watch.
It seems like a strange one to not include on a watch built for spending a lot of time outdoors and we have to take Garmin’s word that it would have such a noticeable impact on its big battery numbers.
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As a fitness tracker, it’s a lot of what we’ve already seen on Garmin’s other watches. Features like adaptive step tracking and the inactivity ‘move bar’ are present, as is the sleep monitoring (which still can feel a little heavy handed on the amount of sleep it tracks and pales in comparison to Fitbit or Polar’s more reliable sleep tracking features).
When you switch to sports tracking mode, you’re getting pretty much everything you’d find on a Fenix 6 series watch. A multitude of sports modes covering core sports like running, swimming and cycling indoors and outdoors. There’s hiking, climbing, skiing and and a whole lot more besides.
Garmin has introduced a new ultra running mode that adds a rest timer to take in consideration of stopping at aid stations, cutting off the GPS, so you have a more accurate representation of your finish time. This is no longer unique to the Enduro, though, as Garmin has since rolled out the mode to its latest Fenix and Forerunner 945 watches.
It’s the same story with the new advanced ClimbPro and Trail VO2 Max. We’ll start with ClimbPro, which has been on Garmin watches for a while and is a feature designed with helping wearers to better strategise for hilly routes or races by giving a heads-up about big ascents. It’s a feature where you need to upload routes to the watch so it can give you that information in real time. Now it will also factor the descent and flat sections, giving you more information to form how you tackle the terrain.
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The other new feature is VO2 max for trail running, which is a feature unsurprisingly designed for spending time off-road and will factor in the more challenging terrain to generate a score to gauge of your current state of fitness. We ran with a Fenix 6 without that VO2 Max trail option and there was a 1-2 point score difference. Theoretically, it shouldn’t greatly differ, but if you spend more time on the trails than the road, it’s a nice little extra to have.
Other features of note including new mountain biking specific metrics, along with the ability to generate flow and grit measurements, to offer an insight into the level of difficulty of the trail you’ve been riding on.
Garmin has also included the heat and altitude acclimation and advanced training metrics introduced on its top-end Forerunner and Fenix watches. It’s also brought over its recovery advisor and suggested workouts features that debuted on the Forerunner 745 and are useful to have if you want to add structure to running or cycling or have a better idea of when you should take on a heavy training session or take a rest day.
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As a smartwatch, you don’t get a built-in music player here, which would be a noticeable drain on battery life based on our experiences with Garmin watches that do support it. You do still get notification support (for Android and iPhones), Garmin Pay for contactless payments, and access to Garmin’s Connect IQ Store to top-up on apps, watch faces, widgets and extra data fields.
Performance & Battery Life
70 hours GPS battery life
80 hours with solar power
Up to 65 days in smartwatch mode
Battery life is the headline draw of the Enduro and Garmin talks some pretty big numbers as for how far the Enduro is capable of going.
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In smartwatch mode, it will deliver up to 50 days or 65 days when you factor in solar charging. There’s some other impressive numbers like lasting a year in basic battery saver watch mode, or the 65-95 days in expedition GPS mode, when you choose to sacrifice some GPS accuracy.
It’s when you don’t sacrifice that GPS accuracy and opt for the most accurate tracking where the Enduro continues to impresses. Garmin states it can last 70 hours in full GPS mode or 80 hours with solar charging. We should clarify that those solar numbers are based on spending three hours a day outside and exposing the screen to 50,000 lux conditions.
To put those numbers into context, Polar’s Grit X outdoor watch offers 40 hours in full GPS tracking mode, while the Coros Vertix outdoor watch goes bigger with 60 hours when putting that GPS to use.
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What we can say about those battery numbers in full GPS mode, is that they appear to hold up. A few hours of running saw the battery life drop by three per cent. That was a similar battery dent we saw with the Polar Grit X and the Coros Vertix.
At the time of writing this review we haven’t needed to touch the charger for about three weeks – and that’s when putting this watch to regularly GPS use, monitoring sleep, heart rate, and receiving smartphone notifications. That tells you everything about this watch performs.
There’s very little battery drain in-between those tracking times too. On most days it was a couple of per cent – and that was with a tracked activity or two as well.
If you really feel the need to optimise the battery usage further, there’s also the Power Manager features that were introduced on the Fenix 6 to disable features that could be a drain on that battery.
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Outside of meeting those big battery claims, this operates much like the Garmin watches that sit around it. It performed well for tracking activities like running and trail running and the heart rate monitor held up for HIIT home workouts as well. Though to make the most of the heart rate based analytics and insights, we’d recommend grabbing a heart rate monitor chest strap to get more useful information.
Verdict
If you crave big battery life, then that’s exactly what the Enduro offers. It holds up well when GPS is in use and doesn’t horribly drain in-between those times either.
The lighter titanium version is comfortable to wear and the nylon strap helps to keep the weight down if every gramme matters.
Software extras are no longer unique to the Enduro and that missing topographic maps support is more disappointing than the lack of music features.
The Enduro also doesn’t come cheap, but if having bucketloads of battery life and having most of the great features from the Fenix appeals to you, you might just break the bank for it.
Also consider
Pocket-lint
Garmin Fenix 6 Pro Solar
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If you want maps, music and battery life that should still be good to last a big day out on your legs or bike, you can cast your eyes over at the Fenix Six with solar powers.
Read our review
Pocket-lint
Polar Grit X
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Polar’s first outdoor watch offers sizable battery life and some useful features like smart refuelling that will have endurance athlete appeal and you won’t find on the Enduro.
The end of lockdown may be just around the corner, but if you’re craving some contact, Audiozen has you covered with its latest product: the Alchemy Embrace, an amp designed to hug you. Kind of.
Based at the foot of Mount Etna in Sicily, the boutique brand has been making high-end amps since 2009 with the mantra ‘let your ears be your guide’. The Embrace, a replacement for the company’s best selling Alchemy ‘hybrid’ integrated amplifier, uses separate tube preamp and power stages – a decision the company describes as being derived from the isolation most people have experienced over the past year, with the hope that the amp will “embrace” both music and the listener.
Audiozen says its choice of components is meticulous, with the preamp containing two NOS tubes, ClarityCap ESA series polypropylene capacitors and a transistor power stage.
The power supply section houses three toroidal transformers: a50 VA pair dedicated to the preamplifier section and a larger 300 VA unit connected to the power stage. On the front panel, the power switch has been labelled ‘hug power’ and features a stand-by setting to gently heat the core of the tubes before switching on.
The volume knob has been re-dubbed ‘hug intensity’; the VU-meters are ‘hug meters’ (with the level of backlighting controlled by a ‘hug meters light’ dial), and when selecting between the four RCA stereo inputs, you can use the amenably named ‘your choice’ switch. But rest assured, it also comes with a remote.
The sleek aluminium front panel is contrasted by wooden sides made from sustainable Asian doussié wood and a transparent perspex cover on the top letting you view all the inner workings.
The Embrace is available in black or silver and costs £2830 ($3890).
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