Category: ambient music

An interior spread of the table of contents from Inscriptions: Architecture Before Speech, designed by Studio Lin (Courtesy Harvard GSD/Harvard University Press)

Inscriptions: Architecture Before Speech
Edited by K. Michael Hays and Andrew Holder | Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Harvard University Press | $60

Inscriptions: Architecture Before Speech is a 624-page doorstopper reminiscent of the shelf-busting tomes published in the anni mirabiles of the late 1990s. It is filled with excellent work, much of it exhibited in a show staged at the Harvard Graduate School of Design’s Druker Gallery in 2018, also called Inscriptions. Both efforts attempt to extract a theory of contemporary architecture from a constellation of 112 practices—some young, others more well-known—that fill faculty rosters in architectural schools throughout the world. Many of the designers and practices come from the GSD’s ranks or have studied there. However, Inscriptions does not feel burdened by a sense of disproportionate representation. In looking at the 750 images chosen by K. Michael Hays and Andrew Holder for Inscriptions, what emerges is a snapshot of a moment in contemporary practice invested (as usual) in forms, materials, and tectonics. This is no surprise, of course, and even an architecturally interested reader with no prior knowledge of the book or appetite for its heady arguments will recognize the work by the featured practices. Viewers will likely appreciate seeing these projects in a single bound volume, fully outside the more familiar formats of social media. Gathered together, there is a hint of cohesiveness—a flash of understanding that, yes, these folks are all up to something interesting.

Blink, however, and you may miss the occasional nods to urbanism, landscape, or infrastructure. The same goes for the handful of moments that address current events (primarily in essay contributions by Lucia Allais and Sylvia Lavin). History, or rather its imperfect, formalist eidolon—breathed into life by Rudolf Wittkower and Colin Rowe and kept alive today by Hays—remains at the forefront in Inscriptions. Hays and Holder argue for a persistence of forms (“Originals”) that predate texts and thereby inscribe themselves in architectural culture. Readers may find it strange that a term that refers to the act of writing is used to refer to something that existed before speech. Yet in his introductory “Prelude,” Holder disposes of this conundrum rather quickly. He is clear in his insistence that “Inscription” is not about writing, but about creating a media-friendly array of objects with banal titles like “slack collections,” “scatters,” and “stacks.” “Architects pitch design against—or rather inscribe it onto—the emptiness of what we would call an original […] such that the original persists as a regulating substrate even while it is overwritten by the architectural activity reforming its surface,” Holder continues, in a passage reminiscent of Franz Kafka’s “In the Penal Colony.” In that story, a visitor travels to a prison to get a firsthand glimpse of the “Harrow,” a machine that inscribes and re inscribes a sentence for a crime on a prisoner’s flesh.

I also thought of Fredric Jameson’s 1975 book, The Prison-House of Language. As a reviewer, I feel sheepish about conjuring Jameson, yet his presence lurks within the heady conceptualizing in Inscriptions. The Prison-House of Language is especially relevant: In it, Jameson remarked how “philosophic language feels its way gropingly along the walls of its own conceptual prison, describing it from the inside as though it were only one of the possible worlds of which the others are nonetheless inconceivable.” Something similar is happening in Inscriptions, and it becomes especially evident when noticing the book’s design. In each of the chapters dedicated to an inscription, project images are printed as monochrome plates, a design decision that leaves them bereft of any vitality. (Color arrives on the glossy signatures, reserved for the table of contents and interludes.) Within the pages of Inscriptions, the field of contemporary architecture is flattened, whether due to Studio Lin’s now-familiar brand of monograph normcore, or conformed to Hays and Holder’s curatorial vision pinned to the page.

Reading through Inscriptions is like listening to a piece of ambient music or binge-watching a streaming show. It is like the steady blur of white noise, a kind of background that does not necessarily serve as a setting but is just there. Relentlessly so. And after a while all your eyes may recognize are fields of square black-and-white images interspersed among lengthy essays typeset in a vertically elongated sans serif typeface that seems to be made to be read quickly from top to bottom in a PDF format on a computer screen. The book captures today’s doomscroll aesthetic.

The debt to semiotic theory is clear enough that the diagram that organizes the book’s content comes from A. J. Greimas’s “semiotic square.” The square bears a passing resemblance to the Klein diagram made famous in Rosalind Krauss’s “Sculpture in the Expanded Field,” and yet it is supposed to operate more like a blank terrain, or even something like the “Approval Matrix” in New York Magazine. It is, in other words, a flat space, an idealized frame for idealized relations. It also puts readers in the unlikely position of having to make sense of the book on their own. It is all well to ask the reader to make conjectures and find patterns. However, when your only guide is a talismanic diagram that itself becomes an empty signifier, things can get a bit taxing. (It evokes Laurie Anderson’s quip from her song “Sharkey’s Night”: “Hey sport. You connect the dots. You pick up the pieces.”) Or, to use a term from astronomy, it is asterism: finding, in a vast field of objects and stars, connections and patterns that otherwise did not exist.

Throughout Inscriptions, the editors and contributors refer to Hays and Holder’s curatorial vision. What this vision is, however, remains a mystery, as it is alluded to in the most generic terms. “Curation,” Holder declares in the prelude, “is perhaps the ideal test bed for this ambition to align discourse with architecture’s artifacts.” And when it comes to the tricky issue of writing an exhibition catalogue, Holder admits that the book is not so much a tabula rasa as an opportunity to revisit and reimagine the meaning of “inscription” and its relation to architectural culture. And yet the contributing essays seem to operate as if the book were a more traditional exhibition catalogue. Stan Allen, for instance, observes that “Inscriptions maps […] the dilemma of the exhibition curator when practice itself has become a form of curation. For many younger architects, including some represented in this publication, design is reconceived as an operation of selecting, sorting, and editing.” These are largely generic statements about curation, the equivalent of telling readers, “Our curatorial strategy is that we have a curatorial strategy.” And if the intent is to portray design as curation, this too is unfortunate, because it reveals an all-too-overbearing curatorial strategy that focuses on similarity rather than originality.

There is a lot that is good in Inscriptions. The design work is generally excellent, and the reader is rewarded at the end of the book with a portfolio of projects with full descriptions and better images that do more work in describing the book’s ambitions. The essays too are often illuminating: Texts by Antoine Picon, Edward Eigen, Marrikka Trotter, and Lavin set a historiographic armature for Hays and Holder’s disciplinary ambitions. The temptation to mention Lavin’s essay in the same breath as Lucia Allais’s is because both are exceptional works that stand out in their analysis of the history and theory of screen culture in architectural education. Phillip Denny’s study of “the creaturely” is a bit puzzling only because his reliance on literary critic Sianne Ngai’s theory of the aesthetic category of “cute” is rendered into a purely visual category without acknowledging the importance of “larger social arrangements,” in Ngai’s words. The book ends with an intense postlude by K. Michael Hays that reconfigures semiotic theory with the goal of “allowing us to pass from identity politics to a political economy of the Thing” in a “theoretically infinite series of possible encounters.”

Inscription’s contents will no doubt be pored over in studios and seminars in the years to come. But any intellectual gains will be hard-won, as the opacity of the framework threatens to obscure the work of the 112 practices whose images are lodged within.

Enrique Ramirez is a writer and historian of art and architecture. He teaches at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning.

In Studio One at Ambient + Studio, nestled up against one wall there sits a giant scale big enough for a person – or two – to step on. 

During the plethora of weddings hosted in the space, the occasional, perhaps slightly inebriated guest will find their way to the scale. Maybe thinking it’s a replica, they’ll step onto it briefly before jumping back when the ground beneath them begins to shift, eyes widening as they realize the scale is in fact, authentic, left over from the building’s cotton mill days. 

© Provided by Rough Draft Atlanta
The scale that sits in Studio One.

Ambient + Studio – which serves as a photography and film studio as well as an event space – has more hidden knick knacks than just that scale. Located on Wells Street in Southwest Atlanta, the building that houses the studio is a former cotton mill and is 113 years old. In the 1920s, it served as home to the Dixie Lumber Company. In the 1940s, it became Southern Mills, a large specialty textile manufacturer. 

When Jason Ivany, owner of the studio, came to the building in 2007, it had fallen into disrepair. Since then, what started as one studio has transformed into four, and the space hosts everything from weddings to corporate events to magazine photoshoots. 

Ivany, originally from the Toronto area, moved to Atlanta from Los Angeles in 2003. He was a photographer at the time, and on the west coast he had been mostly using daylight studios, or studio spaces with a lot of natural light, but couldn’t find much of a market for those in Atlanta. There must be a need, he thought. 

“I wrote a business plan to open such a business,” Ivany said. “I couldn’t get it funded and put it on the shelf.” 

Four years later, he found himself walking through what is now Ambient + Studio. “They walked me through this room,” he told me. We were standing in Studio One – a cavernous, warehouse style space with a row of giant windows facing west. “At sunset, this thing glows like an industrial cathedral.” 

© Provided by Rough Draft Atlanta
A wall of windows in Studio One.

The building was perfect for Ivany’s needs, but required a lot of work. 

“Before we came along, the building was derelict,” Ivany said. “It wasn’t like we took over a factory. It was like we took over a junkyard.” 

But in that rubble came some of the aspects of Ambient + Studio that make it so unique. In addition to the scale in Studio One, multiple original aspects of the building are leftover. There’s original brickwork, flooring, and windows throughout. Some of the giant, barn-style doors are original, while others were made by Jonathan Hanson, a local artisan. 

In one of the smaller studios, the floor was originally covered in concrete and asphalt, but Ivany has it removed to reveal hardwood floors. They saved an embroidery machine that was too heavy to move, as well as an old 1974 AM General Mail Truck that sits in the garage space. But the biggest find – literally – was a huge cotton baler saved from the mill. 

© Provided by Rough Draft Atlanta
A cotton baler in Ambient+Studio.

“As much as it looks like I was preserving something, there was just no way I was going to try to make this thing leave,” Ivany joked as he showed off the huge machine. “Inside it goes down six feet, so that you can compress that much cotton into one cube.” 

Ivany said while it’s easy for weddings to dominate Ambient’s calendar, the schedule is usually split 50/50 with film or photography shoots. Musicians in particular like to use their garage space for gritty, industrial-style music videos. On the day I visited, Fugo Studios was set up for a small shoot in Studio One.  It’s hard to remember everything over a 16-year period, but Ivany said over the years, they’ve had everything from one of the “Step Up” movies to the Netflix show “Raising Dion” grace the stage. Zaxby’s has filmed part of a commercial in the space, and magazines like Rolling Stone, Marie Claire, and Details have all held photoshoots there. Brands like Carter’s and Spanx have also used the space for photoshoots. 

© Provided by Rough Draft Atlanta
The garage space at Ambient + Studio.

Last year, Lauren Liz Hubbard of Lauren Liz Photo served as the chair for a portrait project for the Atlanta chapter of American Photographic Artists (APA). The holiday portrait project was a full day photoshoot at Ambient taking family portraits for families of patients with the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. 

Hubbard said Ambient’s spaciousness was crucial to the photoshoot. 

“One of the most important things for this particular shoot was accessibility for people with any kind of physical challenges,” she said. “The space was a really important part. They have a large amount. The studio spaces are just very open floor plan, so it was really ideal for our needs.”

Photoshoots are how Ivany originally envisioned Ambient would get the most use. It didn’t dawn on him that his huge hall, with its sunset facing windows and copious amounts of room, could be used for weddings until a set designer asked him about it in 2009. 

“I thought of [the space] as a photo studio,” he said. “I never imagined it for events or anything like that.” 

In retrospect, he said, opening the space up for weddings definitely helped financially. Ambient has also been open to other events, such as an artist forum that the space hosts regularly. 

“The promoters … will select 10 artists and each artist puts up a booth, so it’s a marketplace to sell their own work,” Ivany said. “But it is sort of cross-pollination, in that anybody that’s following one artist now gets ten that are kind of like them.”  

That’s really what’s special about Ambient + Studio, said Ivany. Its age and style definitely, but it’s the versatility that works best in its favor. Ivany didn’t try to decorate the space in any specific way, not wanting anyone to feel locked into a certain look – a blank canvas, if you will. 

“For some, it can be intimidating, because it’s a lot of space to fill with vision,” Ivany said. “But mostly, I think – I hope – it allows folks to create their own world.”

The post Southwest Atlanta’s Ambient + Studio combines history with vision appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta.

On December 11, 2022, Ryuichi Sakamoto returned to public performance after an absence of two years. Recorded at Tokyo’s prestigious 509 Studio and streamed online, Playing The Piano 2022 found Sakamoto dressed in black, hunched over his grand piano, playing a selection of music from throughout his career. It brought into focus the Sakamoto we’re most familiar with – the artist in communion with his instrument of choice, playing music that is both delicate and fluid. But Sakamoto has travelled far and wide since his beginnings in the late ’70s with the pioneering techno-pop trio the Yellow Magic Orchestra – his work has encompassed Oscar-winning film soundtracks, critical electronic touchstones like “Riot In Lagos”, aesthetically heightened piano compositions and, as a tireless collaborator, he has recorded with everyone from David Sylvian to Caetano Veloso and Austrian digital adventurer Christian Fennesz.

Playing The Piano 2022 also marked Sakamoto’s first performance since his cancer diagnosis – his second in a decade. In a brief video interview to accompany the concert film, Sakamoto admits he finds concert projects too taxing, even when filmed one song at a time; live performance has been paused, at least, for the foreseeable future. As a consequence, the film – shot in crisp, atmospheric monochrome – captures a sense of quiet dignity and reflection suitable for the occasion. This mood extends further to Sakamoto’s first album of new solo material since 2017’s async. 12 was recorded following this latest diagnosis, the dozen pieces titled and sequenced by the dates each were written, culminating in what Sakamoto describes as a “sound diary” of this challenging period.

The album opens with “20210310”, a synthesiser piece that passes slowly through a series of softly sustained chords, occasionally moving far down the instrument’s lower register to create a more apprehensive effect. “20211130”, meanwhile, finds Sakamoto at his piano, picking out melodies while a crepuscular keyboard sound rises slowly and quietly in the background. Close listening is the key here: you might catch the sound of Sakamoto’s foot lifting off the piano pedal or the keys move as he lifts his hand. At the start of “20211201”, you hear Sakamoto breathing, then towards the end of the piece there’s a faint but quite defined sound, as if he’s shifting his position on his piano stool. The deeper you immerse yourself in the album, the more compelling these random, vérité details become; moments of intimacy and humanity that physically insert the composer into the music he’s performing. Sakamoto’s 21st-century output has tended towards ambient and abstraction, music that doesn’t naturally come with built-in narratives. Yet the emotional gravity of 12 is so palpable, one wonders how much our response is to the music, or to the context. During his treatment for throat cancer in 2014, Sakamoto collaborated with the ambient heavyweight Taylor Deupree and Corey Fuller and Tomoyoshi Date, known as Illuha, on Perpetual, which they improvised live at an event in the Japanese city of Yamaguchi. A mix of piano, processed guitar, pump organ and synthesisers, along with field recordings and found objects, Perpetual’s most radical quality was its silence – the way the music gradually dissipated like fine mist leaving nothing behind. In some ineffable way, the disappearance of sound on Perpetual seemed entwined with Sakamoto’s condition; a notion that reasserts itself on 12, particularly in the pauses where Sakamoto raises his hands above the piano keyboard and the room beyond him is still.

The most conventional pieces on 12 are “20220302 – sarabande” (the only song from 12 on the setlist for Playing The Piano 2022) and its companion piece “20220302”. A sarabande, a courtly dance popular during the Baroque period, seems to be a suitable reference point for Sakamoto’s precise, geometric configurations here.

As you might imagine, the ghosts of Erik Satieand John Cage are summarily evoked. On “20220302”, though, he introduces sudden, inquisitive flurries of notes that provides a playful interlude to these elegant, nuanced though ultimately melancholic compositions. Though “20220307” and “20220404” are also piano pieces, Sakamoto begins to gently disrupt the atmospherics: unlike the close-mic conditions of the earlier piano pieces, “20220307” sounds like it was recorded at a distance, while on “20220404” the music threatens to disappear in places until its final eight seconds experience a gradual falling away of sound. “20220304”, 12’s final track, consists entirely of bells. Perhaps because Sakamoto switches instrument, this track feels like a coda; a point where you sense things are being wrapped up, when the music has become so abstracted it disappears. As sparse as 12 is, we’ve worked hard to engage with it, and for it to gradually, finally vanish is a strangely disquieting experience.

Incidentally, the album is released on January 17 – which is also Sakamoto’s 71st birthday. As much as these graceful and meditative pieces became threnodies for Sakamoto’s condition, 12 is also something of a personal and creative victory for the composer. Once again, I guess, context is everything.

Taking Back Sunday dominated the emo scene of the early oughts and influenced so many bands of the era. They also had a legendary rivalry with Brand New, which Taking Back Sunday eventually won mainly because Jesse Lacy proved to be a creep. Anyway, we ranked all their albums, you might disagree with our top spot, but we don’t care what you have to say about it. Go whine to the police for all we care.

I haven’t gotten around to listening to TBS’s latest album, seeing as it just came out in 2016. Seven years might seem like a long time, but it’s only 6 months in “I’m in my 30s” years. We just have to assume it belongs here in last place.

Play it again: “Tidal Wave”

Skip it: “I Felt It Too”

This is the worst version of the classic Taking Back Sunday formula: Adam Lazzara sharing vocal duty with another guy who also can’t really sing (but can at least play guitar).

Play it again: “Sink into Me”

Skip it: “Where My Mouth Is”

It’s never good when a band makes their fifth album self-titled. That’s some failed reinvention, midlife crisis type shit. You know these guys named the studio’s WiFi “Taking Back Sunday” and the password was “takingbacksunday” and I hope they got their identities stolen, because they deserved it after this one.  But hey, click here if you want to add this to your record collection.

Play it again: Best Places To Be A Mom (Finally, a song about shopping at Target)

Skip it: Money (Let It Go)

When it comes to getting into popular bands, there’s a right and wrong time. The first record is for the diehards, but the second is still early enough to jump on the bandwagon. But getting really into the band’s third record?? Christ. I bet The Matrix Revolutions is your favorite movie, ya jackass.

Grab a copy for yourself in our merch store, click here.

Play it again: What’s It Feel Like To Be A Ghost?

Skip it: Miami (Emo songs should be about Detroit or Cleveland…let Pitbull have Miami)

This is a good album even though “Happiness is…” was also a prompt on my rather disastrous appearance on Family Feud. My answer was “taking a big crap at work.” Apparently no one surveyed felt the same way, and my family hasn’t spoken to me since. Steve Harvey said he 100% agreed, for the record.

Buy this album and send it to my dad and maybe he will forgive me, click here.

Play it again: Stood a Chance

Skip it: Preface (An ambient music album opener? Chill out, Dream Theater)

This album still has the perfect lyrics for when you need an AIM away message that will make your girlfriend and best friend both ask, “Oh shit, is that about me?” And maybe you’re thinking this album should be number 1 on our list, and maybe you’re right. But just remember the ice caps are melting and you will die from a new plague before we change our mind.

Remember CDs? They are coming back. Check it out.

Play it again: You’re So Last Summer

Skip it: Ghost Man On Third

You probably think this is only my favorite because I was a high school student on Long Island when it came out. Well, the joke’s on you…I was a high school student on Long Island when all of these albums came out! And I’ll never graduate because I vow to spend the rest of my life reading on a 10th-grade level and listening to music on an 8th-grade level.

Play it again: …Slowdance On The Inside

Skip it: New American Classic (No ballads for me, I actually prefer to weep in my car to a quick tempo)

Aching back, sores and injuries after a long hard week at work? How does a 24-7 massage in your living room sound? We took a seat in a EMPIRE Massage Chair to see whether it meets the expectations of an exhausted parent.



Although EMPIRE is a new entrant to the massage chair industry long dominated by big players, it promises a compact massage chair that gives effective massages at a super accessible price point of $1,399 whereas industry prices are usually between $3,000 to $5,000.

SCROLL TO BOTTOM FOR A CHANCE TO WIN AN
EMPIRE MASSAGE CHAIR

EMPIRE Massage Chair: Overview Of Features

This chair offers a full body massage – neck, back, arms, shoulder, hips, calves all the way to the soles of the feet.

It is also the market’s most compact massage chair measuring 70 cm by 150 cm, and can easily fit into any living space.

10 Hands Massage

Experience the 10 Hands sensation massage on the EMPIRE Chair – yes it does feel like ten hands massaging you at the same time!

Of course, everything is customisable so you can have massages on targeted areas by using the touchscreen control pad to manage all controls including speed and strength.

In addition to the 10 Hands massagers, there are compression airbags for shoulder, hands and calves. Compression therapy helps relieve fatigue, stress and pain and simulates the actual massage from a therapist.

For those who love foot massages, the leg and sole reflexology will be a balm to your soles! After standing for a long time or a busy time doing chores, the rollers relieve the aches from the legs and feet. To maximise the experience, there is also heat therapy at 45 degrees Celsius applied to the calf areas stimulating blood flow.

Zero Gravity

To get a top-notch massage experience, the Zero Gravity function is a must-do. EMPIRE’s massage chair can tilt up to 170 degrees which makes one feel like you are levitating. This also keeps the pressure off the spine as you float into a zero gravity world.

One will clearly doze off to sleep with a Bluetooth surround sound system that projects your favourite tracks and ambient music right into your ears.

Our EMPIRE Massage Chair Experience & Review

After a 20-minute session on it, I felt rejuvenated and really impressed on how the massages were soothing. As one who prefers lighter massages, I loved how I could customise the intensity of the strength for every massager.

My favourite function had to be the zero-gravity mode! It felt really relaxing just “suspended” and any tired parent would welcome the chance to just “float” in a massage chair. It’s easy to drift off to sleep while receiving a “knead-ful” massage.

Given the attractive pricing for such a powerful machine, I dare say the EMPIRE Massage Chair is a worthy addition to any household. Its sleek design shaped like a Business Class cabin gives it a futuristic look unlike the traditional massage chairs.

A stylish massage chair plus one that gives your sore muscles a good rub whenever you need it – it’s every parent’s dream!

For an even more Luxe Edition, try the EMPIRE PRO

To experience an even stronger massage, take a seat in the EMPIRE PRO. It mimics hand movements like a real masseur with techniques like tapping, kneading, deep tissue intrusion. It also scans the body to tailor the massage accordingly.

The wow factor comes in a form of a Thai Stretch Mode which is programmed to stretch the body muscles thoroughly. Through compression, intrusion and stretching, feel your aches relieved in a classic Thai-style massage.

To experience the EMPIRE & EMPIRE PRO, it out at their showroom at CT Hub, #09-19, 2 Kallang Avenue, S339407. 

You can also get more details about at the EMPIRE website.

EMPIRE MASSAGE CHAIR GIVEAWAY!

Stand a chance to win your very own EMPIRE Massage Chair in our Little Day Out giveaway. Do the following steps for a chance to win:

1. Follow Little Day Out on Facebook and Instagram.
2. Answer the question in the form below.
3. Get an extra chance to win by tagging three of your friends in the giveaway post on Facebook or Instagram and describing why you would like to win an EMPIRE Massage Chair.

Submit your entry by 11.59 pm, Sunday, 19 February 2023.

The OnePlus Buds Pro 2 force you to answer a difficult question before you buy them: Do you value wonderful musical fidelity over having the most effective Active Noise Cancelation (ANC)?

If the answer is yes, then OnePlus’s partnership with Dynaudio should put the Buds Pro 2 on your radar. If you want the best of both worlds, then they may not be so attractive, as I found out after a couple of weeks of listening to them. Here’s what they are like.

OnePlus Buds Pro 2: design and fit

These small earbuds blend a matte finish with polished stems for an eye-catching look, and the Arbor Green color seen in our photos is made to complement the Eternal Green color of the OnePlus 11 smartphone. The OnePlus Buds Pro 2 are also available in black. The case is in the same color and is made of slightly textured plastic. This makes it light, but it does feel like it’ll scratch easily, and I really wouldn’t want to accidentally tread on it, as the lid doesn’t feel like it’ll survive without cracking.

The design itself hasn’t really changed over the OnePlus Buds Pro, but there are tiny alterations. The dimensions have changed by a millimeter or two, and the weight of each ‘bud is up by half a gram. The case is lighter though. The Buds Pro 2 share the same IP55 water resistance rating for the earbuds and IPX4 rating for the case too. This means you’ll be able to listen in the rain, and sweat won’t bother them either.

I like the fit of the Buds Pro 2. OnePlus says the earbud casing has been streamlined for a better fit, and they certainly do nestle comfortably in my ears. They haven’t fallen out when I’m exercising, but they can feel like they don’t seal very well for me, and that’s due to OnePlus unfortunately only including a choice of three differently sized alternative silicone ear tips, which is a little restrictive. I found the middle ones a little too small, and the largest ones a little too big. I doubt I’ll be the only one, but all ear shapes are different.

This is the only negative thing to say about the earbuds’ fit and comfort, but I do think that if the silicone tips were slightly more adaptable, or a set of foam alternatives were included, the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 would have almost perfect in-ear fit and comfort.

OnePlus Buds Pro 2: connectivity, controls, and app

The OnePlus Buds Pro 2 connect using Bluetooth 5.3 with both Android and iOS devices. If you use a recent OnePlus phone with OxygenOS 12 or 13, all the settings can be found baked into the operating system — but only if you go searching for them as for some reason they’re hidden away. If not, then you need to download the HeyMelody app available from Google Play or the App Store. Some features, such as Spatial Audio, are not available on iOS. I had no problem switching between devices, the Bluetooth range has been excellent, and the connection has been rock-solid, too.

I like the Dual Connection feature here, where the Buds Pro 2 will connect to two devices simultaneously. To enable this you have to activate it in the settings menu, as it’s not on by default. The earbuds happily stayed connected to my phone and computer at the same time and played back audio without complaint. It’s a handy feature that works really well. Fast Pair is also available, and it has taken only seconds after pressing the button on the case to pair with all the devices I’ve tested.

You control the Buds Pro 2 with touch controls on the stems, which provide a button-like haptic response when you press or squeeze them. The controls are sensitive and easy to locate due to the long stems. Switching between noise cancelation being on, off, or in transparency mode is awkward, as it plays a nondescript sound to accompany the modes. Due to the sometimes loose fit and the noise cancelation’s effect not always being that pronounced, you end up cycling through the modes or reaching for the app to confirm which setting is active.

The app also provides the option to personalize the noise cancellation feature, an equalizer, a Game Mode, a fit test, and a “Golden Sound” mode that tunes the sound based on your hearing and inner ear structure. It certainly changes the sound of the headphones when you use it, and you can save different profiles, too. Finally, there’s Zen Mode Air, where one of five different ambient sounds (from white noise to a seashore sound) are stored and played on the earbuds.

In the future, OnePlus will add a feature that will apparently inform you about your posture using the earbuds, but it has not provided an exact date outside of it being this year. Controlling the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 and using the app isn’t any better or worse than other true wireless earbuds, but squeezing the stems is slightly less awkward and uncomfortable than pressing the body of the ‘buds, as you would pairs like Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 2 Pro.

OnePlus Buds Pro 2: Listening and sound

Each OnePlus Buds Pro 2 earbud has an 11mm and 6mm driver, co-created with Dynaudio, inside, with support for SBC, AAC, and the LHDC 4.0 Lossless codec. I listened to the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 using the OnePlus 11, an iPhone 14 Pro, a 2020 iPad Pro, and an M1 Mac mini, using Tidal, YouTube Music, and my own collection of music, plus YouTube, Netflix, Disney+, and Vimeo.

Duran Duran’s A View to a Kill is a great example of where the Buds Pro 2 excel. A strong bass kick that doesn’t overpower the ever-present mid-bass and percussion, with centered, realistic, and powerful vocals inside a wide soundstage. They make that almost over-produced stereo effect that continues throughout the song really come alive, so it’s involving and exciting. They sound excellent.

Not every track is so successful, and the Buds Pro 2 can sound muddy and confused in guitar-driven pop tracks, like they’re struggling when pushed hard, leaving you a little disappointed. Oasis’s Don’t Look Back in Anger (Tidal’s remastered version) isn’t as full or rounded as I expect, for example, and The Bluetones Marblehead Johnson doesn’t have as much punch as I want either.

For my preferred choice of music, having vocals front-and-center is important, and almost regardless of what you listen to, the Buds Pro 2 certainly succeed here. Voices have way more depth and emotion than the Nothing Ear 1’s, and there’s more bass than the Apple AirPods Pro. I have not been able to test them against the AirPods Pro 2 though. Compared to the original AirPods Pro, the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 have a fuller, more vibrant tone, but they can’t match the AirPods’ wonderful precision, stereo separation, and balance.

But it’s how they handle vocals that has really made me warm to the OnePlus Buds Pro 2. The cute voice of each Woo!Ah member is distinct during Rollercoaster, where the baseline really pumps away throughout, making it immersive, fun, and exciting, just as the song should be. Vocals remain clear and centrally staged during Nogizaka46’s Koko ni wa Nai Mono, and the build-up to the chorus sounds fantastic because of this. Genuinely, the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 are superb for vocal-forward music.

I find AirPods Pro are clearer and more controlled, but the Buds Pro 2 have a greater capacity for deeper bass and therefore can be more exciting to listen to. I’ve used them for video calls on my Mac and for voice calls with various phones, and call quality is excellent. However, the active noise cancellation (ANC) can cause problems, which I’ll come back to later.

OnePlus Buds Pro 2: Spatial Audio

Spatial Audio, now part of Android 13, has two different settings, Fixed and Head Tracking, which are adjusted in the phone’s settings. I tested the feature using the OnePlus 11, which OnePlus announced alongside the Buds Pro 2. Dig into the complicated settings menu for Spatial Audio and you get a demonstration of both modes so you can hear the difference. Later in February, a specially tuned Spatial Audio EQ designed by composer Hans Zimmer will be added through an update.

Watching spoken word on YouTube you do notice the Spatial Audio effect, but it’s not as effective as Apple’s implementation. The problem is where it shifts from left to right when your device is not in the center of your view, as it can distinctly mute the opposite earbud. It gives you the odd feeling the earbud has suddenly stopped working, especially with additional pressure created when you have noise cancelation activated. It takes a few seconds to reorientate itself and sound more natural.

The effect is slightly less distracting when listening to music, but it does drastically change the sound of the music. There are all kinds of algorithmic magic going on in the background to make Spatial Audio work, and not everyone is going to appreciate how it alters the tone, bass, and vocals of different songs. I’m not convinced there’s much value in Spatial Audio on Android yet, and when it’s not as seamless as it should be, the feature becomes more of a distraction than anything else.

Spatial Audio did not seem to have an effect when watching Netflix (but I don’t pay the Premium subscription level, so this may be part of the problem) or listening to Google Podcasts. It’s not a feature I would choose to use very often on the Buds Pro 2, due to the strange sensation it currently gives, and the lack of wide cost-free support.

OnePlus Buds Pro 2: Active Noise Cancellation

I don’t like the OnePlus Buds Pro 2’s noise cancellation system. Not only is it a pain to actually activate, as discussed above, but I don’t think it’s very effective. In certain listening situations, it can be bafflingly hard to tell the difference between on and transparency mode, due to outside sounds being artificially introduced by both. With ANC on, subtle outside sounds can take on a metallic, strangely amplified timbre. It’s the same with your own voice when using the transparency mode, and it’s nowhere near as pleasant and natural as the AirPods Pro.

I’m wearing them as I type this, and although noise cancelation is on I can still easily hear myself typing on a mechanical keyboard, and it’s not even an especially loud one. Worse, these ambient sounds that aren’t blocked out, tend to become harsher when mixed with voices, and particularly on calls, this can make it uncomfortable to have ANC on.

Louder sounds are suppressed using ANC, including passing traffic or dull, continuous noises like ambient conversation and machinery, but it’s far less effective than the Apple AirPods Pro and the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro 2. I have reached for both these when I really want to isolate myself, despite really liking the way the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 sound when playing music. I’m using the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 ahead of release, and there’s a chance a software update will fix this odd performance, but I can only review what I hear.

Effective noise cancellation is an important feature for me, and the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 fall well short of the competition. I don’t know whether this is a software problem, an issue due to the earbuds not always sealing well, or just the way they’re supposed to be, but I know ANC is usually a lot better than it is here.

OnePlus Buds Pro 2: Battery life and charging

Expectations regarding the Buds Pro 2’s battery life are high due to some big claims from OnePlus. On paper using the 520mAh case battery, you can expect 25 hours with ANC on and 39 hours with it off, and nine hours from a single charge (ANC off) of the 60mAh battery in the earbuds. The case has a fast charge feature that should provide three hours of listening time from 10 minutes charge. There’s also wireless charging built into the case.

The battery life has been good. Playing music and using the headphones for voice and video calls, between multiple devices, for three and a half hours with ANC on depletes them from 100% to 50%. This suggests you should get around seven hours of continuous use. This is longer than you’d likely get from the AirPods Pro and the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, both of which should deliver around five hours with ANC on.

OnePlus Buds Pro 2: Price and availability

The OnePlus Buds Pro 2 cost $179 and will be available from February 16, with pre-orders opening on February 7. They come in the Arbor Green color seen in our photos, and an Obsidian Black color too. You’ll be able to buy them through OnePlus’s own store and through Amazon. In the U.K. the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 cost 179 British pounds, and they will also be released on February 16.

You’re in a difficult position with the OnePlus Buds Pro 2

Dynaudio’s presence can be heard in the sound produced by the OnePlus Buds Pro 2, and it has brought them alive. I really enjoy listening to music on them and appreciate the punchy bass and the wonderful way they treat vocals. They’re also lightweight and comfortable, even after three or four hours of continuous use, and the battery life is excellent. Cross-device compatibility is great, and the fundamentals are all in place to make living with the Buds Pro 2 painless. However, the ANC feature doesn’t perform well, Spatial Audio is a gimmick, and the price increase over the OnePlus Buds Pro is unfortunate.

I’ve turned to the AirPods Pro and the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro for in-ear ANC duties, both of which isolate me from outside sounds far more effectively. They are both more expensive, but the brilliant Sony WF-1000XM4 can be found for about the same price as the OnePlus Buds Pro 2, as can the Jabra Elite 7 Pro. Both are better purchases if ANC is a feature you use a lot. The disappointing ANC casts a shadow over the OnePlus Buds Pro 2, as does the increased price, which is unfortunate considering how good they sound when simply playing music.

Today’s tech news, curated and condensed for your inbox

Check your inbox!

Please provide a valid email address to continue.

This email address is currently on file. If you are not receiving newsletters, please check your spam folder.

Sorry, an error occurred during subscription. Please try again later.

Editors’ Recommendations

During the political tumult and COVID-19 spikes of autumn and winter 2020, when the world felt overwhelming, Gossip Wolf often found brief respite via the self-titled debut album by Chicago duo Midnight Minds, which came out on cassette that September. Allison Trumbo (director of outreach education for Music House) plays violin, guitar, and flute, while Rob Logan (drummer for Desert Liminal) adds drum machine, percussion, and synthesizer; together they improvise gently throbbing psychedelia and blissful ambience. Last week, Midnight Minds dropped a brand-new tape, Angsty Bodies (via Tone Deaf Tapes, the in-house cassette label at the record store of the same name), and it further refines the duo’s peaceful jams. Through headphones, the album recalls the infinitely pleasing moments between hitting the hay and drifting into dreamland—sort of like an acid-rock automatic ASMR trigger. Who couldn’t use something like that?

^{Midnight Minds captured the music on Angsty Bodies live with a single handheld digital recorder.}

If you’ve got an itch for hardcore and metal this weekend, Chicago four-piece Bovice can help. On Thursday, February 9, metal-focused Avondale record shop Meteor Gem hosts a free listening party for their gnarly album Dreaming of Paradise, released last fall by Albany label Upstate. The listening party runs from 6 to 8 PM; the band will sell merch, and Meteor Gem’s stock will be discounted 15 percent for the duration. The next night, Bovice kick off a tour by headlining a jam-packed bill at Cobra Lounge.

^{When Bovice recorded Dreaming of Paradise, they had a five-piece lineup with two guitarists.}

Chisel’s February 16 reunion show at the Empty Bottle is extremely sold out, but on Friday, February 10, Big Star hosts a release party for the Numero Group’s double-LP reissue of the band’s final album, 1997’s Set You Free. (Full disclosure: Leor does occasional contract work on Numero reissues, but he wasn’t involved with this one.) The band will DJ at the party, which runs from 6 to 10 PM.

^{The original 17-song version of Chisel’s Set You Free, without the tracks added by the Numero reissue}

The Rise of Melodic Techno and Emotional House Music in 2023.

Electronic dance music (EDM) is constantly evolving and changing with the times, and in 2023, a new sub-genre is taking the scene by storm: melodic techno and emotional house. These styles of music are characterized by their focus on melody and emotional depth, as well as their use of atmospheric sounds and textures.

The rise of melodic techno and emotional house can be attributed to the growing demand for music that connects with listeners on a deeper, more emotional level. These styles of music offer a new take on traditional techno and house, incorporating lush soundscapes and intricate melodies that evoke feelings of nostalgia, longing, and introspection.

At the forefront of this new genre are several talented artists who are pushing the boundaries of what is possible in electronic music. Some of the main artists producing melodic techno and emotional house in 2023 include:

Charlotte de Witte

This Belgian DJ and producer is quickly making a name for herself in the techno scene with her raw, powerful sound. Her music is characterized by its driving beats and intense emotional energy, making her a standout artist in the world of melodic techno.

Solomun

This German DJ and producer is widely considered to be one of the pioneers of melodic techno. He is known for his innovative sound design and emotionally charged tracks that seamlessly blend techno, house, and ambient elements.

Adriatique

This Swiss duo is leading the way in emotional house music, with their lush, dreamy tracks that are both beautiful and haunting. Their music is characterized by its intricate soundscapes and subtle, melodic lines that evoke feelings of nostalgia and longing.

Apparat

This German producer is known for his innovative sound design and atmospheric tracks that are both beautiful and haunting. His music combines elements of techno, ambient, and IDM to create a unique and emotionally charged soundscape.

In conclusion, the rise of melodic techno and emotional house music is a testament to the continued evolution of EDM and the growing demand for music that connects with listeners on a deeper, more emotional level. These talented artists are pushing the boundaries of what is possible in electronic music, and their work is sure to be a major influence on the EDM scene for years to come.

UFO Network continues to go from strength to strength as the most in-depth and global EDM news source for everything electronic dance music related. With an audience in over 125 countries, we are fast becoming a valued and trusted source for electronic dance music news, reviews, interviews and features for DJs, Artists and Labels alike.

Connect with UFO Network

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter