Photo: Michael Lavorgna
Experience 1
On August 25, 2016, John Atkinson, Michael Lavorgna, and I attended an event at Battery Studios, Sony's Manhattan-based music production facility.
The event itself was very personal, as we three were the only non-Sony people present at this particular session. (There were multiple sessions held that day.) We were introduced to Sony's latest hi-res personal audio products—the "Signature Series," which consists of the MDR-Z1R headphones $2199.99), NW-WM1Z ($3199.99) and NW-WM1A Walkman players, and the TA-ZH1ES headphone amplifier ($2199.99).
The MDR-Z1R headphones, which use Kimber Kable leads, were the main highlight of the event. Mark Wilder, a Grammy-winning mastering engineer, and the senior mastering engineer at Battery Studios (left in photo), was there to present the headphones to us. Mark had played a major role in tuning the MDR-Z1R in collaboration with engineers from Sony Tokyo, including Koji Nageni, who has been with Sony since 1982 and designed the pro-audio workhorse MDR-7506.
We were able to listen to the MDR-Z1R in the same room that Mark had used to listen to numerous prototypes before. As in, we were able to listen to the same tracks used in the tuning process, on the same chair, in the same position, while comparing them to same monitors used, accompanied by Mark himself.
John, Michael, and I took turns sitting in the chair, listening to different tracks. I was even able to request a Fred Hersch track and listen to his piece "Floating," mastered by Mark himself!
The entire experience was unbelievable.
Sony PR Link, for further details on the new headphones and amplifier, which will be available in November, click
here.
Experience 2
5 days later, on August 30 I attended a Sonos press event at NeueHouse Madison Square, as the sole representative of
Stereophile.
We learned about Sonos's new partnerships with Amazon, Spotify, Pandora, various connected home leaders (Crestron, Lutron, Savant, Control4, iPort, and Deutsche Telecom's QIVICON), Airbnb, and OMI. You can find one of the campaign videos we got to watch at the presentation
here.
The main point made by Sonos was people need to listen more —in more places, to more music, and more frequently. It shouldn't take a ton of effort and it shouldn't limit us. Music first.
In the
official Sonos press release, Sonos president Patrick Spence is quoted saying, "Our mission is to fill every home with music. We don't care what you listen to, how you get to it, or in what room—we just want it to be effortless, quick, and epic." Sonos chief marketing officer Joy Howard adds, "There's a huge gap between how people feel about music and how they experience it at home. We're using the weight of our brand and our unique position in the industry to create a better future for music."
I have no qualms with this. I am a fan of music, of modern technology, and of Sonos itself. Despite the fact that words like "hi-res" or "Tidal" weren't uttered at all in the entire keynote, I still left NeueuHouse feeling inspired by technology and excited for the possibilities of the future.
But after experiencing Sony and Sonos, major forces on opposite ends of the market spectrum, I can't help but think—why, in the case of music reproduction, are accessibility and performance rarely combined when it would be so easy to do so?
We can listen more and we can listen better. It doesn't have to be an either or ultimatum . . . Or does it?
