katie bain

Decibel Music Festival + Orbital from The Confluence on Vimeo. The city long known for its grunge scene was taken over by music of the more digital persuasion with the ninth inception of the Decibel music festival, which went down in Seattle from September 26 through 30...

Investment: $2,000 Worth it For: Not only are these Japanese-made headphones gorgeous to behold, (Japanese cherry birch wood finished with an overcoat of wine-colored paint with a deeply glossy finish), they offer unparalleled comfort derived from cutting-edge technology, (the earpads are made of an advanced synthetic leather derived from eggshell membrane), superior sound quality and compatibili

Investment: $699 Worth it For: These planar magnetic headphones by HiFiMAN demand a high quality set-up for optimal output (read: they aren’t primed to play on your iPhone), but if you’ve got access to such driver technology, than these classically designed around the ear headphones will deliver sound quality unmatched by products twice their price...

This elegantly designed UE Airplay iPhone/Pod speaker dock is equipped with Airplay wireless streaming, which allows users to stream high-quality uncompressed tracks from iTunes with top notch sound quality. Another tech perk is in the deep bass foundation created by the speaker’s dual subwoofers...

Much-beloved west coast electro-fusion trio Beats Antique is out with a new EP this week. The eight song Contraption Vol 2. is thick with the group’s trademark world music meets west coast sub-bass sound, which merges laptop technology, live instrumentation, brass, strings, glitch, and dubstep...

Investment: $1,945 Worth it For: While the price of these California-made headphones might induce a moment of sticker shock, hardcore audiophiles know that the comfort, lush sound quality, detailed bass impact and chic design provided by the latest incarnation of the Audeze LCDs are all well-worth the financial investment...

Investment: $1,300 Worth it For: These German-made full-size, around-the- ear headphone provide highly effective isolation, making them useful for on the go listening, a feature that makes the fact that they can be driven by an iPhone without sacrificing sound quality even more useful...

Investment: $1,500 Worth it For: This top of the line model by Germany’s Sennheiser has been touted by some experts as being “the most significant headphones of the last decade.” This sturdy reputation comes from the product’s ultra-fast drivers and non-reverberant chassis, both of which provide an ultra-rich 360-degree sound experience...

This stereo preamp by Transcendent Sound boosts audio signals while cutting unnecessary interference and noise (the power supply and audio circuits are isolated on two separate boards to assist with noise reduction), thus readying electrical signals for further amplification or processing...

Investment: $1,300 Worth it For: The highly detailed sound of Beyerdynamic’s Tesla T1 headphones matched with their distortion neutralizing wraparound speakers, ease of portability and compatibility with myriad amp systems (without sacrificing sound) makes this mid-range German model a frontrunner on the current market...