Topic
audio
The Daisy One Headphones Are a Very Nice First Try
Read the full story for in-depth analysis.
Technology Headphone Jack Phones Dwindle as Samsung Cuts Port and Asus Exits Market
Samsung removed the headphone jack from its Galaxy A-series in 2025, and Asus is exiting the mobile business, leaving fewer options for wired audio fans. WIRED now points to the Moto G Stylus 2026, while $9 USB-C adapters and $31 USB-C earbuds offer a fallback for newer phones.
Technology Two-Person Startup Starling Replaces Hated Microwave Beeps With Just Software
Joel Corelitz and Colin Coogan, sound designers at Starling, have developed a software-only solution to replace the grating beep of microwave ovens. By reprogramming the existing microcontroller using C++, they create pleasant alternative sounds without any hardware changes, potentially saving manufacturers costs.
Manufacturing Soundcore Nebula P1i Projector Offers Pop-Out Speakers and Google TV for Affordable Home Cinema
WIRED's Chris Haslam reviewed the Soundcore Nebula P1i projector, highlighting its pop-out surround sound speakers, 1080p resolution, 380 ANSI lumens brightness, and Google TV integration. The budget-friendly device offers solid picture quality and punchy audio, ideal for impromptu movie nights.
Manufacturing Daisy Sound Launches $399 Daisy One Headphones Targeting Premium Market with Aluminum Design
Daisy Sound, a new California-based audio brand founded by Jack Mulroe, launched its first product, the Daisy One headphones, at $399. The premium noise-canceling headphones feature an aluminum and TR90 construction, 35-hour battery life, and a sound system from Utah-based ((nxc)) systems. Mulroe aims to shake up a market dominated by Apple, Sony, and Bose.
QC-GAN: Parameter-Efficient Speech Enhancement Model Delivers High Fidelity with 0.89M Parameters
A new speech enhancement framework, QC-GAN, combines a Quaternion Conformer generator with MetricGAN-based training to deliver state-of-the-art perceptual quality using remarkably few parameters. The model achieves a PESQ score of 3.48 with only 0.89M parameters, and a 35K-parameter variant reaches 3.23, outperforming conventional methods at a fraction of the size. This parameter efficiency makes it suitable for edge deployment in voice-controlled systems, including logistics and supply chain applications.
FlowFake: Liquid Time-Constant Architecture Boosts Audio Deepfake Detection Cross-Dataset Generalization
FlowFake, a new audio deepfake detector using Liquid Time-Constant networks, achieves 75-80% accuracy on cross-dataset benchmarks with only 34K parameters, matching models 300x larger. It addresses the critical cross-dataset generalization problem threatening speaker verification systems.
UniSinger: First End-to-End Framework Unifies Song Generation and Singing Voice Conversion
Researchers have introduced UniSinger, the first end-to-end framework that unifies song generation and singing voice conversion with accompaniment co-generation. Built on a multimodal diffusion transformer, it enables zero-shot speaker cloning and fine-grained timbre control across tasks. Experiments demonstrate state-of-the-art performance on both tasks, offering new possibilities for intelligent music production.
Technology Qobuz Gains Subscribers as Artists and Audiophiles Reject Spotify's Model
Qobuz, the French hi-res music streaming service, has seen a surge in subscribers and revenue, driven by artist and consumer backlash against Spotify's business practices. It now has 1.2 million active monthly users, pays an average of $0.01873 per stream, and expects profitability by March 2027.
Cough Regression Benchmark Reveals Trade-Offs in Respiratory Acoustic Foundation Models
A new benchmark from researchers at NC State evaluates five respiratory acoustic foundation models on cough regression tasks—predicting age, BMI, and disease probability from cough audio. The study reveals that smaller MLP heads often outperform linear probes, but full-MLP heads overfit on small clinical data. HeAR and M2D+Resp achieve near-full performance with only 50 samples, while OPERA models require 400. Cross-dataset transfer is asymmetric, with large diverse datasets generalizing better to small clinical populations.
Technology ‘We’re not flipping a switch and pushing it to everyone at once’: Sonos is about to make its biggest changes yet to the controversial new app, designed to make it way more intuitive to use — and it seems to have learned from its past mistakes
Sonos is releasing a major update to its controversial app, focusing on intuitive navigation and volume control. The changes, available in a beta this week, are opt-in and based on extensive user feedback. CEO Tom Conrad emphasizes humility and rebuilding trust after the app's troubled launch.
Dual-Granularity Orthogonal Disentanglement: New Framework Boosts Generalizable Audio Deepfake Detection
A new paper on arXiv proposes a dual-granularity orthogonal disentanglement framework for generalizable audio deepfake detection. The method enforces sample-level cosine orthogonality and batch-level cross-covariance regularization to avoid speaker identity leakage. Experiments show equal error rates of 1.35%, 7.88%, and 21.58% on standard benchmarks.
Technology OneOdio Studio Max 2 Review: Wireless DJ Headphones With Trade-Offs, But a Niche Appeal
TechRadar's review of the OneOdio Studio Max 2 finds them too bulky and poor-sounding for general listeners or professionals, but praises the low-latency wireless transmitter (9ms), 120-hour battery life, versatile connections, and foldable design for amateur musicians and DJs. The main upgrades over the original Studio Max 1 include halved latency and doubled transmitter battery life, though the price has increased.
Technology Aldi's $14 Earbuds: Imported via Balco from China, They Beat $100 Rivals
TechRadar tested Aldi's $14/£12 Balco Wireless Sports Earbuds and found them superior to $100 alternatives. The earbuds are imported from China via product import company Balco, highlighting a growing trend of discount retailer electronics competing with premium brands.
Technology Apple to Add Customizable EQ to AirPods with iOS 27, According to Engadget
According to Engadget, Apple's iOS 27 update, expected this fall, will introduce a Custom EQ feature for AirPods. The tool will let users manually adjust highs, mids, and lows, supplementing the existing Adaptive EQ. Details on supported models and cross-device syncing are not yet available.
Technology Bluesound Pulse Cinema Mini: Global Pricing Strategy and Market Launch Analysis
The Bluesound Pulse Cinema Mini soundbar launched August 27, 2025 at $999/£799, with availability in the US, UK, and Canada but not Australia. The review highlights its versatile features and premium pricing compared to competitors like Bose and Sonos, offering insights for international trade executives on pricing disparities and market entry.
Technology New GSS Model S1 Subwoofer Driver Fits in a Tiny Box Yet Delivers Powerful Bass Comparable to Units Six Times Larger
At the High End Show in Vienna, GSS Audio demonstrated its new Model S1 bass driver, a slim transducer just 62.5mm tall and 299mm wide. When placed in a sealed box with only 1.75 liters of volume, the system delivers bass comparable to a subwoofer six times its size, according to the company. The driver achieves this through extreme excursion of 34mm total movement and a specially designed ridged diaphragm.
Technology Budget Majority Bowfell Halo Atmos soundbar offers powerful bass but fails at spatial audio
The Majority Bowfell Halo Atmos is a compact 5.1 soundbar system with a subwoofer and rear speakers priced at £169. It delivers powerful bass and clear dialogue, making it ideal for small spaces. However, its Dolby Atmos performance is lackluster due to virtualized height effects and limited width.
Suunto Spark Open Earbuds Review: Best Exercise Companion for Runners and Cyclists
The Suunto Spark open earbuds are designed for runners, bikers, and hikers. Weighing only 9 grams per bud, they offer a comfortable and secure fit that works with glasses and caps. They are the latest in Suunto's audio lineup, shifting from bone conduction to an open-ear form factor.
Manufacturing Justin Bieber's SKYLRK brand teases two Bluetooth speakers and headphones, entering audio market
Justin Bieber has teased new Bluetooth speakers and over-ear headphones under his SKYLRK brand, according to TechRadar. The products include two speaker sizes and a headphone set, with no pricing or specifications yet. For manufacturing executives, the entry of a high-profile celebrity brand signals potential new OEM sourcing and production lines in consumer audio.
Technology Denon and Marantz Reference Home Theater: A 9.4.6-Channel Dolby Atmos Setup That Sets the Benchmark for AV Receiver Tuning
TechRadar visited Denon and Marantz's factory in Shirakawa, Japan, and experienced their 9.4.6-channel Dolby Atmos reference home theater. The room, established in 1983, features eight Bowers & Wilkins 801 D4 speakers and four subwoofers, costing about $250,000. It is used by Sound Masters to tune AV receivers like the new X3900H and X2900H and the flagship AVC A1H.
Technology Shokz OpenDots 2 review: Open-ear earbuds with powerful sound and long battery life, but prone to dislodging
TechRadar's review of the Shokz OpenDots 2 finds excellent open-ear sound quality with powerful bass, strong battery life (10 hours buds, 40 with case), and stable fit for runners. However, they are prone to dislodging on contact and expensive at $199.95.
Technology Razer Launches Seiren V3 Pro, Its First XLR Microphone for Streamers and Creators
Razer has introduced the Seiren V3 Pro, its first microphone with an XLR analog connector, targeting both beginner and advanced streamers. The $249.99 mic features onboard DSP including AI noise removal, a 30mm cardioid capsule, and works with Razer Synapse software.
Manufacturing Majority Move M4 Review: A JBL Xtreme Rival That Falls Short on Sound Quality
TechRadar tested the Majority Move M4 Bluetooth speaker, aiming to rival JBL's Xtreme line. Despite a rugged build, 30-hour battery, and multiple connectivity options, the M4 suffers from compressed sound and lacklustre bass. For manufacturing procurement teams sourcing portable audio for job sites or facilities, the M4's durability is offset by poor audio performance against competitors like the JBL Xtreme 5.
Manufacturing Marshall's Stockwell III Speaker Doubles Battery Life
Marshall's new Stockwell III portable speaker boasts over 40 hours of battery life, doubling the previous model's capacity. It features True Stereophonic technology for 360-degree audio and a modular design for user-replaceable components.