ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.
Listen "“Headphone Sty”"
Episode Synopsis
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First, Dennis and Brent take a minute to praise a Stereophile article that harkens back to the good ol’ days of audio journalism. Before the dark times. Before … well, all sorts of unsavory developments in the publishing biz. Then they peruse a number of new articles about the state of Spotify, as well as one potential new alternative that’s pretty much just Bandcamp in a trenchcoat. Next, they run a serious risk of being tagged as “garbage” on YouTube by examining the claims of a young audio pundit who’s convinced he’s smarter than everybody else in the headphone industry. Finally, they rant against a Headphonesty scare piece about audio networking until they realize that Headphonesty completely misrepresented the views of the network engineer quoted therein.
💿 Michael Gaughn’s Jour et Nuit on Bandcamp: https://michaelgaughn.bandcamp.com/album/jour-et-nuit
Brent’s audio projects:
💿 Plaid Pants, Brent’s latest album! https://cygerbutterworth.bandcamp.com/album/plaid-pants
💿 The Audiophile Society's Headphone Evaluation and Spatial Audio Test Album (engineered by Brent): https://theaudiophilesociety.com/collections/albums/products/the-audiophile-societys-headphone-evaluation-and-spatial-audio-test-album
💿 tics by Flip City, mixed by Brent
https://davidaaron4.bandcamp.com/album/tics
Further Reading:
A Poor Man's Audio Show Review by Roy Midyett: https://stereophile.com/content/poor-mans-audio-show-review
A random 1993 Corey Greenberg article: https://www.stereophile.com/content/sumiko-blue-point-blue-point-special-phono-cartridges
Spotify Terms of Use: https://www.spotify.com/us/legal/end-user-agreement/
Lossless audio finally comes to Spotify - here's how to enable it by Craig Donaldson: https://www.pocket-lint.com/spotify-lossless-audio-launch/
AI-generated music is here to stay. Will streaming services like Spotify label it? by Isabella Gomez Sarmiento: https://www.npr.org/2025/08/08/nx-s1-5492314/ai-music-streaming-services-spotify
The music industry is broken: OpenWav’s new app aims to change that by Sarah Perez: https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/11/the-music-industry-is-broken-openwavs-new-app-aims-to-change-that/
The B&K5128 Is Garbage by Sharur: https://youtu.be/G2S-Agwxiy4?si=TPTGvDStmG2eYePU
Tidal and Qobuz Connect Are Ruining Your Hi-Fi Sound Without Dropping a Single Bit, Warns Principal Network Engineer by Alexandra Plesa: https://www.headphonesty.com/2025/09/tidal-qobuz-connect-ruining-hifi-sound-engineer/
Audiophile Streaming in 2025 - Zoom Event by Audiophile Foundation: https://youtu.be/z3VC65XOhxg?si=UNNCNA8tHIvo_8-F
First, Dennis and Brent take a minute to praise a Stereophile article that harkens back to the good ol’ days of audio journalism. Before the dark times. Before … well, all sorts of unsavory developments in the publishing biz. Then they peruse a number of new articles about the state of Spotify, as well as one potential new alternative that’s pretty much just Bandcamp in a trenchcoat. Next, they run a serious risk of being tagged as “garbage” on YouTube by examining the claims of a young audio pundit who’s convinced he’s smarter than everybody else in the headphone industry. Finally, they rant against a Headphonesty scare piece about audio networking until they realize that Headphonesty completely misrepresented the views of the network engineer quoted therein.
💿 Michael Gaughn’s Jour et Nuit on Bandcamp: https://michaelgaughn.bandcamp.com/album/jour-et-nuit
Brent’s audio projects:
💿 Plaid Pants, Brent’s latest album! https://cygerbutterworth.bandcamp.com/album/plaid-pants
💿 The Audiophile Society's Headphone Evaluation and Spatial Audio Test Album (engineered by Brent): https://theaudiophilesociety.com/collections/albums/products/the-audiophile-societys-headphone-evaluation-and-spatial-audio-test-album
💿 tics by Flip City, mixed by Brent
https://davidaaron4.bandcamp.com/album/tics
Further Reading:
A Poor Man's Audio Show Review by Roy Midyett: https://stereophile.com/content/poor-mans-audio-show-review
A random 1993 Corey Greenberg article: https://www.stereophile.com/content/sumiko-blue-point-blue-point-special-phono-cartridges
Spotify Terms of Use: https://www.spotify.com/us/legal/end-user-agreement/
Lossless audio finally comes to Spotify - here's how to enable it by Craig Donaldson: https://www.pocket-lint.com/spotify-lossless-audio-launch/
AI-generated music is here to stay. Will streaming services like Spotify label it? by Isabella Gomez Sarmiento: https://www.npr.org/2025/08/08/nx-s1-5492314/ai-music-streaming-services-spotify
The music industry is broken: OpenWav’s new app aims to change that by Sarah Perez: https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/11/the-music-industry-is-broken-openwavs-new-app-aims-to-change-that/
The B&K5128 Is Garbage by Sharur: https://youtu.be/G2S-Agwxiy4?si=TPTGvDStmG2eYePU
Tidal and Qobuz Connect Are Ruining Your Hi-Fi Sound Without Dropping a Single Bit, Warns Principal Network Engineer by Alexandra Plesa: https://www.headphonesty.com/2025/09/tidal-qobuz-connect-ruining-hifi-sound-engineer/
Audiophile Streaming in 2025 - Zoom Event by Audiophile Foundation: https://youtu.be/z3VC65XOhxg?si=UNNCNA8tHIvo_8-F
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