katie bain

Investment: $1,900 Worth it For: These suspended, front of the ear headphones by Japanese maker Taket, provide a rich listening experience that sounds as viscerally detailed as a live performance. This top of the line sound experience does require a bit of effort, as the H2+ demands loudspeaker outputs that are used to feed the Taket TR2 transformer box that then feeds the H2+ the its required vo

Investment: $945 Worth it For: One of the most popular models of high end headphones, (and still financially manageable at less than $1,000), the Audeze LCD-2’s offer outstanding detail retrieval from bass to treble and all points in between...

Ultimately, it was all about the dancing, and perhaps LA dub DJ favorite Gaslamp Killer put it best during his standout Saturday night set when he advised the crowd that, “If you aren’t moving right now, you’re f*cking dead.” They were moving...

Cork may make you think more of wine drinking than music listening, but Portugal-based designer Joaquim Rocha is out to change that with his cork-based headphones. Rocha’s prototype over the ear SOURK design is assembled from stainless steel, leather and cork, which the designer says both boosts sound quality and prevents sound bleed outside of the headphones, meaning that the product’s output so

Investment: $1,000 Worth it For: The German company’s mid-range headphones offer superior comfort in a lightweight, easily portably body. The Sennheiser 700 also provides incredibly rich sound and compatibility with myriad amp systems, from the everyday to the high end, making their highly detailed output useful for a diverse group of audiophiles...

If you’ve got an iPhone, an ear for high-quality full-bodied sound and an extra $650 to blow on a phone cover, (and who doesn’t!), treat thyself to the V-Moda Vamp. This state of the art digital to analog converter/iPhone cover takes tracks on your phone and filters them, improving their sound quality and ridding songs of the tinny, compressed sound that often plagues digital files...

More than 30 artists including electro-heavies DJ Shadow, Tycho, MiMOSA, Tipper, Dam Funk, Sepalcure, Star Slinger and Groudislava have been added to the lineup for Seattle’s Decibel Festival. The four-day electronic music, art and new media event will happen in a dozen plus venues throughout Seattle on September 26-30, 2012...

Can’t make it to Tokyo for the annual Big Groove festival in the city’s Shibuya ward? Yeah, us either. Get in on the action by wearing it on your back via Stussy Japan’s collaboration with festival headliner DJ Stretch Armstrong. The legendary DJ has joined forces with the apparel company for a limited edition t-shirt commemorating the fest, which will go down in Tokyo’s Sound Museum Vision... Re

The daily lineups and set times for the upcoming HARD Summer were released today. Festival headliners will include Skrillex, DJ Antention, James Murphy, Zedd, Boys Noize, A- Trak, Nero and Bootsy Collins. HARD Summer will go down at the LA State Historic park in downtown Los Angeles on August 3 and 4...

We’ve long loved Tivoli for their excellent design and unparalleled sound quality, and the same is true in this new Model One design. The BT’s AM/FM radio also features wireless, meaning Bluetooth-enabled devices can send music straight to the BT’s long-throw driver...