Apple is bringing lossless audio to its AirPods Max headphones in a free updateApple has announced a new software update which will add lossless audio and ultra-low latency to its AirPods Max headphones.
The update, which will be released in April, will see AirPods Max become the only headphones musicians can use to create and mix in personalised spatial audio, including head tracking.

READ MORE: “When you try to do everything, you’re weak in some places”: Blink-182’s Travis Barker on why it’s important to delegate in the studio

The software update unlocks 24-bit, 48 kHz lossless audio. This integration allows for the preservation of the integrity of original records, meaning users can listen to music in the same way it was created in the studio.
Personalised spatial audio will also have the lossless feature, meaning uncompressed sound and a more immersive listening experience.
By using AirPods Max with music creation software such as Logic Pro, artists can record and mix using the headphones without compromising fidelity. To use the software to its full potential, users will require an iPhone with TrueDepth camera to create their own personal profile. TrueDepth cameras were introduced with the iPhone X, and all models more recent than this come equipped with the feature.
Streamers and gamers can also benefit from the lossless and ultra-low latency audio update, as it significantly lowers lag time. Hearing your enemy as soon as they’re nearby in shooter games, or wanting the most immersive gameplay experience possible will be invaluable to gamers.
While there’s no exact release date just yet, the free firmware update will roll out with iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and MacOS Sequoia 15.4. If you’re yet to get your hands on the AirPods Max, they’re available for £499 in Midnight, Starlight, Blue, Purple, and Orange colourways
For more information, head to the Apple Store.
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StubHub files IPO, acknowledges risks aheadTicket resale marketplace StubHub on Friday filed its initial public stock offering. More than 40 million tickets were resold on StubHub last year, according to the company.
The post StubHub files IPO, acknowledges risks ahead appeared first on Hypebot.

Music Marketing 2025: Swifties, Vaporwave, Superfans & MoreUnderstanding today’s music audiences is key to music marketing success. Learn how algorithms, niche communities and more are helping artists connect with fans in the new playbook for music marketing 2025.
The post Music Marketing 2025: Swifties, Vaporwave, Superfans & More appeared first on Hypebot.

Rupert Neve Designs introduce the RNDI-M Rupert Neve Designs' DI box line-up has gained a new single-channel unit that comes houses in a compact, pedalboard-friendly enclosure.

Rhodes unveils the Stage 61: A compact, gig-ready tine piano built for the modern musician.Rhodes Music has launched the Stage 61, a fully passive 61-key tine piano that offers the signature touch, feel, and sound of a Rhodes in a compact, gig-ready design.
Built for both touring musicians and studio environments, the Stage 61 will be available for preorder starting tomorrow (25 March). To mark the occasion, Rhodes is also releasing a special Launch Edition, limited to just 61 units worldwide.

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The Stage 61 is the latest addition to Rhodes’ legacy of handcrafted instruments, following on from the flagship MK8 piano in 2021. Designed with a focus on playability and portability, the new model distills the Rhodes experience into a streamlined, classic design inspired by the original pianos of the ‘60s, ‘70s, and early ‘80s.
At the heart of the Stage 61 is a precision-crafted 61-key Kluge Klaviaturen keybed, the same high-quality keyboard found in the MK8. The instrument operates entirely on passive circuitry, requiring no external power while maintaining an authentic analogue signal path.
Players have access to volume and tone controls, as well as a single jack output; the unit is also designed to be used with an amplifier, DI box, or preamp. Weighing just 59 pounds, the Stage 61 is said to be the most compact and portable Rhodes model to date.
Despite its lightweight design, it maintains the durability expected of a professional-grade instrument, featuring a Tolexed wooden case and a protective ABS lid. Every component, from the tines and pickups to the hammer tips and cable-driven sustain pedal, is drawn directly from the MK8, ensuring an authentic Rhodes playing experience.
For those seeking something extra special, the limited Launch Edition of the Stage 61 offers a distinct aesthetic crafted by renowned designer Axel Hartmann. This edition features a khaki green ABS hood with a premium wear-resistant vinyl finish, a sleek black front panel with orange accents, and exclusive design details.
Image: Rhodes
“The new Rhodes Stage-61 perfectly embodies the classic Rhodes Stage tone, now housed in a compact and portable retro-future shell designed by Axel Hartmann,” says Dan Goldman, Rhodes Music’s Chief Product Officer.
“Utilising the exact same (Kluge) keyboard, precision components, and technology found in our flagship MK8 tine piano, it’s the ideal choice for both stage and studio performers alike.”
​Preorders for the Stage 61 will open on 25 March, exclusively through the Rhodes website. Customers may place a 20 percent deposit or pay in full; the latter will receive a complimentary stand. The product page will remain password-protected until preorders begin. Orders are expected to ship approximately six months after purchase.
The Stage 61 is priced at $6,495/£4,995/€5,995, while the Stage 61 Launch Edition will set you back $6,995/£5,495/€6,495.
For more information or to register your interest, visit Rhodes Music.
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Producer Djrum on why having “too much of a goal” in the studio can be “restrictive”: “I’m always starting up sessions and not finishing them, but I don’t see that as unproductive”For UK producer Djrum, creativity thrives in the space between unfinished ideas. Instead of viewing incomplete tracks as failures, he sees them as building blocks – fragments that can merge, evolve and spark new directions in his music.
Speaking to MusicRadar, the producer – real name Felix Manuel – explains how his best ideas in the studio often emerge from unexpected detours.
“You have to allow yourself to not have too much of a goal in mind. It can be really restrictive,” says Djrum. “This happened to me just yesterday. I was working on a track and I wanted to add a bass sound to it. I loaded up Serum, which is a bit of a go-to when it comes to bass, and I started making a kind of Reese sort of thing.”

READ MORE: “When you try to do everything, you’re weak in some places”: Blink-182’s Travis Barker on why it’s important to delegate in the studio

“As it developed, I made this really cool sci-fi kind of sound that was absolutely not a bassline. That’s the sort of thing that happens when you’re tweaking parameters and you just find something that sounds good. It was a tangent. I ended up making this sound that wasn’t the bass that I needed for the track.”
As one can probably tell by now, Djrum’s process is anything but linear. The producer often juggles multiple unfinished tracks, allowing them to develop organically over time.
“I’m probably working on four or five different tracks at any time, or even more,” he says. “I’m always starting up sessions and not finishing them, but I don’t see that as unproductive.”
“Those aren’t necessarily dead ends. It might seem like that, but maybe I’ll pick them up later. It’s a case of having a lot of ideas that are free to connect with each other in the pool of ideas. It’s about allowing them to cross pollinate.”
Often, some elements in his tracks become highly polished early on, even when the rest remain skeletal: “I can have a very polished intro, and have no idea what’s going to happen next,” the musician says. “But that intro is finished, because I really went in on it, because I needed it to be finished in order to know that it was right.”
According to Djrum, it’s important to follow ideas as they appear without overthinking so as not to disrupt the “flow” of things.
“I know some people like to do all the polishing at the end,” he says. “I think it’s fine as long as it doesn’t upset the creative flow. That’s the most important thing in all of this. Any detail you can get bogged down by at a too early stage can kill the vibe. It kills the creativity, it kills the flow and the enjoyment. Enjoyment is one of the most important things.”

Djrum’s upcoming album Under Tangled Silence arrives 25 April. Check out his new single Three Foxes Chasing Each Other below.

The post Producer Djrum on why having “too much of a goal” in the studio can be “restrictive”: “I’m always starting up sessions and not finishing them, but I don’t see that as unproductive” appeared first on MusicTech.

“When you try to do everything, you’re weak in some places”: Blink-182’s Travis Barker on why it’s important to delegate in the studioTravis Barker has built a reputation not just as Blink-182’s powerhouse drummer but as a go-to producer for artists like Machine Gun Kelly, Avril Lavigne, and Fever 333.
Now, in a new studio tour video, Barker pulls back the curtain on his creative process, sharing insights on music production, gear selection, and the art of collaboration.

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Reflecting on how Blink-182’s recording process has evolved over time, Barker explains [via MusicRadar]: “The way Blink albums were written, was a different style of production to what happens now. The songs would be written and we would just go in and record them.”
“Trav, you’re gonna come in and you’re gonna record all your drums in one day… For the entire album… I’d be like, ‘OK you guys. See you in three months… And Mark and Tom would stay there for three months and record guitars and vocals.”
“But when I was there for some guitar stuff [Producer Jerry Finn] would be like, ‘You can play better than that. Play it right. You can think of a better part than that – you can beat it. Seeing him do that kind of stuff was really helpful,” Barker adds. “He was very good about making sure that everyone’s ideas were heard and challenging everyone to play as good as they could.”
The studio tour also sees Barker showcasing his enviable collection of gear, from the Ludwig Black Beauties to Sonor’s HLD-590 Signature Cast Bronze snare drum. But despite his extensive collection, the drummer stresses that expensive equipment isn’t what makes a great musician.
“If I was just playing in Blink, or if I was just practicing, I’ll play on your drum kit,” he says. “I never want kids to think like you have to have the best drum kit. I could play Blink shows all around the world on rental kits if I needed to.”
“It’s really about practicing and you’ll make any kit sound good. You take like the best drummer and put him on the trashiest kit, and he’s gonna be great.”
Elsewhere, Barker also reveals his weapon of choice in the control room – the Neve 5088 Mixing Console.
After struggling with an older 1970s Neve that constantly needed repairs (“we recorded a lot of stuff with it,” says Barker), he upgraded to the modern version, trading in his vintage board for a more reliable unit.
“Some days we’d all show up to work and it’d be like, ‘I’m not working today’, and I’d have to get some wizard to come through and spend days with it to get it working again,” he recalls. “There was one guy that could fix it. I couldn’t rely on it any more.”
And while Barker has developed a sharp ear for production over the years, he, too, acknowledges the importance of trusting other experts in the studio.
“I’ve recorded. I’ve written. I’ve done all of the pre-production where I listen to everything solo-ed. I listen to every bass track soloed. Whatever I’m looking for, I do all that stuff. Then I really feel comfortable sending it off to get mixed and trusting the process,” he says.
“I really respect them as mixers and I’m going to them for a reason. I find that when you try to do everything, you’re weak in some places, you know?”
Watch the full video below.

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Kanye West drops surprise Bully album – but did he clear the samples?Between selling Nazi T-shirts, social media attacks on Jay-Z, Beyoncé, and Playboi Carti, and a general commitment to burning bridges, Kanye West has still found time to release new music.
In a move as chaotic as his recent online antics, West surprised fans early Wednesday (19 March) by leaking his own album, Bully, via X. The release came alongside a 30-minute wrestling-themed short film, directed by famed music video director Hype Williams and starring Ye’s son, Saint West.
Despite the unorthodox rollout, Bully quickly became a hot topic – not just for its content but for the murky legal waters surrounding its use of samples.

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Musically, Bully – which includes previously teased cuts like Preacher Man, Beauty and the Beast, and Highs and Lows – appears to follow Ye’s recent trend of playing fast and loose with copyright law.
Among the most glaring inclusions are a straight-up cover of Can’s 1972 song Vitamin C on the second half of the track Take My Last Breath Away and interpolations of classics like Close to You by Burt Bacharach and Hal David (famously performed by The Carpenters) and You Can’t Hurry Love by the Supremes. His collaborator-turned-rival Playboi Carti also appears on the track Melrose despite their recent public feud.

Other potential sample sources include Cortex’s Huit octobre 1971, Poncho Sanchez’s Bésame Mamá, and Pomme’s Soleil Soleil. Notably, Pomme has previously denied Ye permission to use her music. Back in January, the French singer-songwriter publicly addressed an unreleased track by Ye that sampled her 2019 song Soleil Soleil without her consent after a video snippet of the rapper – presumably from one of his Bully sessions – surfaced online.

New Ye snippet surfaced probably for Bully pic.twitter.com/6xYUYhT3Mg
— VZN (@vznfeed) January 4, 2025

Pomme released a statement on Instagram at the time, stating, “I have never given my consent for the use of this sample for reasons that seem obvious to me, being in deep disagreement with the political positions of this artist that I have nevertheless admired in the past.”

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A post shared by Pomme (@pommeofficial)

Ye’s history with uncleared samples is well-documented. His 2018 track Lift Yourself, for instance, contained two uncleared samples, including one from Trax Records, which prompted re-negotiations for ownership of the track. And last April, underground producer TSVI accused Ye of sampling his music without permission on the latter’s 2021 album Donda. He also criticised the rapper for repeatedly sampling independent artists “without any repercussions”.
“I’ve seen stories of him stealing samples from other producers in the underground music scene, and it sucks,” TSVI said in a now-deleted post on X. “We producers are at the bottom of the chain; he’s at the top with billions in his bank account, with a team of producers who have complete freedom to sample whatever they want. He has an infinite sample pack at his disposal, which he can use as he pleases, without any repercussions.”
Adding to the confusion, Ye himself has claimed that “half the vocals” on Bully are generated using AI, which certainly raises questions about artists’ credits and legal liability.
Complicating matters even more is the way Bully was distributed. It isn’t an official album on streaming platforms like Spotify or Apple Music, which have established copyright policies. Instead, it was shared through X and a file-sharing app — platforms that exist in even murkier legal territory.
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Ed Sheeran pens open letter urging UK government to invest £250 million in music education “to repair decades of dismantling music”Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran has penned an open letter to UK government officials, calling for both immediate and long-term funding into music education.
The letter, co-signed by music icons including Fred Again, Elton John, Coldplay, Central Cee, Harry Styles, Stormzy, and Robert Plant, urges British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to commit £250 million towards music education “to repair decades of dismantling music”.

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This follows the launch of the Ed Sheeran Foundation in January, a nationwide initiative aimed at providing inclusive, high quality music education.
“As an industry, we bring in £7.6bn into the UK economy, yet the next generation is not there to take the reins,” the letter states. “Last year was the first in over 20 years without a UK global top 10 single or album in the charts.”
“The time to act is now. State schools – which educate 93% of the country’s children – have seen a 21% decrease in music provision.”
“Artists and industry can’t deliver on the world stage for the UK without schools, youth clubs and stages at home,” it continues. “We collectively ask for a £250m UK music education package this Spring to repair decades of dismantling music. Music education is cross-departmental: Culture, Education, Foreign Office, Health & Social Care and Business & Trade.”
“We understand that there are many pressures,” the letter concludes. “As artists, civil society and industry, we want to be part of the solution.”
The call for action follows high-profile speeches at the BRIT Awards earlier this month, including from Rising Star winner Myles Smith, who has also endorsed the letter.
While accepting his award, Smith urged the government, venue conglomerates, and music executives to do more to support emerging artists.
“I was a kid raised by a single mum on free school meals in a state school that only had instruments because of government-backed schemes. And I’m somehow here, a four time BRIT nominee, a graduate from a Russell Group university and having the biggest hit single of 2024,” Smith said [via NME].
“But tonight, whilst I have the attention of the nation, and this award which gives me this really cool speaking power, I want to ask three questions. My first is to the government – if British music is one of the most powerful cultural exports we have, why have we treated it like an afterthought for so many years?”
“How many more venues need to close, how many music programs need to be cut before we realise that we can’t just celebrate success, we have to protect the foundations that make it.”

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A post shared by Ed Sheeran (@teddysphotos)

The post Ed Sheeran pens open letter urging UK government to invest £250 million in music education “to repair decades of dismantling music” appeared first on MusicTech.

Buy now, pay later . . . for a burrito?In 2010, a programmer who was mining bitcoin famously made the comically expensive mistake of spending 10,000 bitcoin on two pizzas. As of this writing, those coins would be worth $850 million dollars. While there are few comparisons to that kind of miscalculation, the prospect of adding interest payments to fast-food orders is raising concerns […]

Vox Samples Bouncer Sidechain EffectInstant Sidechain with our FREE Bouncer Sidechain Effect Plugin! Simply load it up, choose the rate and shape, and you get the perfect sidechain or volume pumping effect, synced to your DAW. Read More

RTL-SDR with Only a BrowserSurely by now you’ve at least heard of RTL-SDR — a software project that let’s cheap TV tuner dongles work as a software-defined radios. A number of projects and tools have spun off the original effort, but in his latest video, [Tech Minds] shows off a particularly unique take. It’s a Web browser-based radio application that uses WebUSB, so it doesn’t require the installation of any application software. You can see the program operating in the video below.
There are a few things you should know. First, you need the correct USB drivers for your RTL-SDR. Second, your browser must support WebUSB, of course. Practically, that means you need a Chromium-type browser. You may have to configure your system to allow raw access to the USB port, too.
Watching the video, you can see that it works quite well. According to the comments, it will work with a phone, too, which is an interesting idea. The actual Web application is available as open source. It isn’t going to compete with a full-fledged SDR program, but it looked surprisingly complete.
These devices have grown from a curiosity to a major part of radio hacking over the years. Firefox users can’t use WebUSB — well, not directly, anyway.

Vaults: Acid Synth from The Crow Hill Company The latest addition to The Crow Hill Company’s series of free instruments recreates the sound of the short-lived synth that sparked the birth of acid house. 

Charlie Javice trial becomes a master class in hubris for both sidesCharlie Javice’s high-profile fraud trial has become a showcase of embarrassing missteps on both sides, with eyebrow-raising details about how JPMorgan Chase was allegedly deceived into buying her startup, Frank, for $175 million when it had just 300,000 customers instead of four million. Per a new WSJ article, one pivotal moment came when former Frank […]

zazz Harmonic EQUp to 16 peak filters controled by several macro parameters. Read More