The best brand of microphone for heavy metal performers typically depends on a few factors, including the vocalist’s style, the specific sound you’re aiming for, and the environment in which you’ll be performing. However, a few brands consistently stand out for their quality and durability in high-intensity environments like heavy metal performances: 1. Shure 2.…

The microphone plays a crucial role in the quality of audio in heavy metal music for several reasons: In summary, the choice and quality of the microphone are pivotal in capturing the essence and power of heavy metal music. Investing in good microphones tailored to the specific needs of the genre can significantly enhance the…

Dynamic range in audio systems refers to the difference between the quietest and loudest sounds that the system can reproduce. Over the last 10 years, there have been significant advancements in this area, which have improved the listening experience. Here are the key changes explained in simple terms: Overall, the dynamic range in audio systems…

In the first part of this series, I gave a very brief introduction to sampling and more specifically, how samples go from a set of points in time to the brutal beauty of Bolt Thrower (say that three times fast). With this knowledge in mind, I’d like to cover the concepts of downsampling, upsampling, and…

Let’s all be honest with each other, Opeth’s latest release, Pale Communion, is not even remotely a metal record. Sure, there are a few metal bits sprinkled here and there, but at the end of the day, Mikael Akerfeldt and Co. are still squarely stuck in the mid-70s, where bands like Jethro Tull, King Crimson,…

2013 was a break out year for dynamics in metal. Not only did we see a lot of independent and boutique label artists such as Monolithe and Tortured Division deliver highly dynamic records, but we also saw much bigger named artists (or at least more well known) such as Gorguts and Dan Swanö crank out…

Bob Ludwig of Gateway Mastering Studio is a living legend and has mastered practically ever big name rock and pop star you can think of. Some of his clients include Led Zeppelin, Queen, Jimi Hendrix, Paul McCartney, Nirvana, Bruce Springsteen and Daft Punk to name just a few. But he is also no stranger to…

Meridian Audio has been causing quite a lot of ruckus of late with their announcement of MQA (“Mastered Quality Authenticated”), a new format that is supposedly going to revolutionize the way we listen to music. In fact, over the last couple of months a number of notable vendors have been getting on the MQA bandwagon.…

Alright, I don’t expect you to actually slog through the whole video. However, if you did get through the first five minutes or so then I’m fairly confident that you have a pretty good idea of what a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is now. But to recap, an FPGA is a collection of controllable…

Here’s a major first-world problem I have: I want a traditional home stereo setup for the living room but I don’t have the room nor budget for a pair of ginormous floor standing speakers. As of today, my wife and I use an Amazon Echo when we want to listen to music in the living…