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If you read audio websites often, you’ve surely seen discussion about whether or not measurements are important in audio reviews. Unfortunately, few of the people writing about this topic have experience in audio measurement, and their comments rarely amount to anything more than excuses for why they don’t do measurements. Because measurement is such a big part of SoundStage!’s group of websites, and SoundStage! Solo in particular, I thought it important to explain why we do measurements, and what conclusions you should draw -- and not draw -- from them.

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The last ten years have seen a renaissance in headphone science. Important new research into frequency response and tuning has already improved the quality of headphone sound. But I’ve seen no research into something almost as important: isolation, or the degree to which headphones block outside sounds from reaching your ears. The less such isolation you have, the more your music will be polluted by the sounds around you. That’s no problem in a quiet listening room at home, but on a passenger jet or in a crowded Starbucks, it’s impossible to get good reproduction of music unless your headphones isolate your eardrums from the ambient sounds of such environments.

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Why launch SoundStage! Solo -- a new website dedicated entirely to headphone listening -- when the Internet already has several headphone-focused sites, and dozens more audio and tech sites that review headphones? Simple: Because we think headphones deserve more serious consideration than most sites give them.

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Rob Stivers 18 hours ago What is the Soundtrack to Your Life?
Love this article.  And couldn't agree more about there being no "correct" way to listen ...
Rob Stivers 1 days ago Traveling as an Audiophile
@Geoffrey MorrisonMany will, but Delta doesn't. If you're an audiophile who travels, maybe you want to ...
Rob Stivers 1 days ago Traveling as an Audiophile
@Geoffrey MorrisonActually, in most countries (215 of them) there's unlimited data at 256kbps.  I never actually ...
Geoffrey Morrison 1 days ago Traveling as an Audiophile
@Rob StiversI had T-Mobile for years. Overall it's very good. In most countries it's also very ...
Geoffrey Morrison 1 days ago Traveling as an Audiophile
@Rob StiversThis isn't the case with all airlines. Many will block streaming.
Rob Stivers 1 days ago Traveling as an Audiophile
On that flight to Salt Lake, I streamed Qobuz at high-res on my Hiby R5 ...
Rob Stivers 1 days ago Traveling as an Audiophile
Also...  I just flew to Salt Lake City and back on Delta.  Free wifi to ...
Rob Stivers 1 days ago Traveling as an Audiophile
By the way... T-Mobile users get free data while traveling internationally.  No problems streaming when ...
@oratory1990Yeah, I can hardly imagine it's an issue -- most people don't even turn their ...
@Doug SchneiderI fly quite a bit for work, and it was never an issue.  
Bluetooth can ...