It’s not straightforward being an audiophile. You spend months crafting a Christmas music megamix as a present on your familiars, sourcing lossless recordings of the classics and mastering them right into a high-fidelity playlist with added sleigh bell. Then some joker skips the queue and streams a low-res bootleg of Dominick The Donkey.
Detest their mule music? Don’t decrease your requirements for the sake of undeserving ears. Stick this tuneful tech on the prime of your want checklist and escape to a world of sonic satisfaction.
From moveable synthesisers to noise-cancelling cans, these melodious presents can be an even bigger hit with music lovers than a FLAC back-catalogue of their festive favourites.
Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wi-fi
Available in the market for muffs? This Sennheiser set isn’t the most affordable strategy to defend your ears towards winter climate. However if you need cushioned cups that heat with superlative audio, they’re up there with one of the best. Eight mics mute the whoosh of an arctic wind, whereas 42mm full-range drivers deal with your lugs to a dynamic pay attention. And with a 60-hour battery, your extremities will go lifeless lengthy earlier than they do.
512 Audio Tempest
A grainy YouTube vid was sufficient to burden the world with Bieber. However when everybody’s a content material creator, it takes higher manufacturing values to get observed. Give your demos a lift with this premium mic. Impressed by classic pick-ups, it encompasses a 34mm gold-plated condenser to seize your dulcet tones in wealthy element. Its USB-C connection cuts out mixers within the center, whereas a built-in headphone output gives real-time suggestions.
Bose SoundLink Flex
Christmas is such a busy time for campanologists that even the keenest pealer can be jingled out by January. For cheer to final the 12 months, do that strong speaker from Bose. With a sturdy metal grille and water resistant construct, its 12-hour battery can outlast even the burliest of bell-ringers. Like a chime, you’ll be able to pair it with further items. Not like a chime, it optimises sound output to swimsuit its orientation.
Audio Technica LP3XBT
A die-cast platter will set your dinner service aside. It’s additionally a strong strategy to scale back vibrations when company are eating to your report assortment. For a stutter-free soundtrack to your December banquet, pop an analogue A-side on this Bluetooth turntable. Totally automated and easy to function, it really works with wired or wi-fi audio system, whereas a hydraulically dampened tonearm protects your vinyl from flippers too eager for the second course.
Lego Fender Stratocaster
A songwriting course may equip you with the constructing blocks to create an amazing riff, however solely this Lego package provides you the bricks to construct your personal Fender Stratocaster. No, you gained’t get a killer lick out of its plastic components, however with a transferring whammy bar, twistable tuning pegs and a panel that may be eliminated to disclose the hooked up amp’s innards, it’s the right presents for aspiring guitarists whose expertise are clapped out quite than Clapton.
Pioneer DDJ-REV1
Put squabbling relations beneath one roof and also you’ve received the final word battle mixer. However nothing brings feuding factions collectively like a little bit of wicky-wah. With sideways sliders located up prime, these digital decks will make scratchmasters of your clan. Computerized monitoring cuts straight to your cue, whereas beneficiant jog wheels give your fingers loads to spin. Plug in a mic and you’ll lay some hype straight on the grasp.
Pickmaster Plectrum Punch
Picks are the right stocking-filler for six-string strummers. Choose up a pack they usually’ll be shredding for months. However add this cutter to their gig bag they usually’ll have a plectrum provide for all times. Fed with any plastic that’s thinner than 2mm, it’ll punch out teardrops that are able to riff. Rage towards the ATM by cookie-cutting your bank card, or go full punk and stamp a gap in your library move.
Akai MPK Mini Play Mk3
Nothing says Christmas repetition like household carols across the pianoforte. Bored with the identical previous singalong? Remix the Yuletide tunes with this mini music maker. Good for 14 hours of festive electro, the moveable plaything options 25 keys and an eight-strong array of illuminated drum pads. The setup is delicate to the pace of your fingers, so you’ll be able to tinkle quiet as a mouse or drop laborious like a Dwelling Alone bandit. A financial institution of greater than 100 sounds means you may make like Mike Oldfield, whereas a built-in speaker delivers the EDM ditties once you tour to your nan’s.
Dorothy Stamp Albums: Hip-Hop
Gathering stamps is as removed from hip-hop because the monarch who normally adorns them. However this print sheet provides philately an MC ship up. Not a set to lick and stick, its 42 graphics reimagine seminal albums of the style. Spanning from Run-DMC and Wu-Tang to Jay-Z and Run The Jewels, every report’s launch 12 months defines the postage class. Sadly, none will ship a diss from east coast to west.
Denon AH-C830NCW
Sensible trimmings may the feast on your ears, however generally you fancy a less complicated sonic snack. Had your fill of fiddling? These earbuds serve scrumptious sound with out the facet dishes. With no app, no EQ and no voice assistant, the menu is boldly barebones. As an alternative, they provide balanced constancy because the proving pudding. For those who favour an expressive flavour and a centered soundstage, the AH-C830NCW ought to sate your aural urge for food.
Revolution, The Historical past of Turntable Design
Assume Christmas comes round repeatedly? Strive a vinyl single. However whereas their groove may transfer in circles, turntables aren’t caught in a loop. A report of report gamers, this espresso desk tome charts the evolution of phonograph design, from the funky flip-tops of the Fifties to the edgy platters of right this moment. Like its material, the e book adopts an analogue format, with 300 illustrations to place audiophiles in a spin.
Fender George Harrison Rocky Instrument Cable
You want greater than a technicolour cable to put down platinum licks. Nonetheless, if you wish to riff like a Beatle, a wacky wire can’t harm. Impressed by George Harrison’s hand-painted Stratocaster, the Rocky lead encompasses a woven jacket extra psychedelic than the instrumentation on Solely a Northern Music. With customized moulded ends bearing the signature of the strummer himself, the prolonged 18.6ft version presents an elevated danger of tripping.
Q Acoustics M20
They are saying good issues are available in twos, but the Intercourse Pistols solely made one studio album. Restore stability to the adage with this pair of bookshelf audio system. Extra like a whole music system, the M20s characteristic a built-in 65W amp which powers 22mm tweeters and beefy 125mm mid/bass drivers. There’s Bluetooth 5.0 on-board for straightforward wi-fi streaming, however connecting through USB unlocks 24bit/192kHz audio – so you’ll be able to punk-rock across the Christmas tree in excessive decision.
iFi Zen DAC V2
It takes a keen-eared audiophile to select every instrumental layer on In Dulci Jubilo. Amplify your probabilities with this dinky DAC. Outfitted with a 16-core processor and fed through USB, it may well decode full-fat MQA information on the fly, for hi-res audio because it was recorded on the supply. PowerMatch mode provides your ‘telephones extra oomph, whereas the TrueBass setting can beef up bassoon components with out muddying the mids.
Roland T-8 Aira Compact
Classic synths add old-school sauce to any set. Don’t have the roadies to cart round a basic? This beat machine places retro R&B in your backpack. Reviving sounds from Roland’s drum and bass again catalogue, the T-8’s processor is coded to imitate the variation of analogue circuits. Deploy 64 patterns to drop entice bangers on the fly, or hook as much as different Aira Compact package for a full electro setup.
