Silicon Valley firm xMEMs is working on robust headphones, that would revolutionise the headphone market, BBC reports. The basis of their tech is "piezoelectric effect" - if you bend some materials, they produce an electric current, and if you pass an electric current through them they bend. They're using that bendiness to make small speakers that can match the very best sound produced the traditional way, while also being robust and waterproof. The first headphones with this technology are expected on the market next April.

Geeks & Beats podcast talked to Audeze founder Sankar Thiagasamudram who is convinced that the next big thing in audio is - 3D headphones. The headphones of the future will be spatially aware, and adjust to your listening preferences using artificial intelligence.

Washington Post has a great read about the beauty of walking while listening to music (on your earphones): "In her book 'Wanderlust: A History of Walking', Rebecca Solnit writes that 'walking is a mode of making the world as well as being in it'. What a terrific definition for listening, too. Listening to music requires imagination — and listening to it while walking gives you the rare opportunity to move through three places at once: your mind, the song and your route. Somehow, instead of ripping your psyche to shreds, your brain synchronizes all three worlds effortlessly".

Quartz wrote a nice notice about how listening to music on headphones/earpods in changing music. Selena Gomez and Billie Eilish made songs with style of singing almost like a whisper; music producers have to boost bass frequencies in the higher range in order for the bass to be heard well on headphones; producers are also […]