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XLR MAG

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On the calendar

· Trade shows and launch events, this week's stories from each corner of the industry, and what its press is covering.

On view

This week, from that corner the newest stories from the corner of the industry you picked

The wire their own posts, translated

How records get made in 2026 from the industry's own reports

Sources

Fetched every three hours, linked to the original

About

Three pins, and nearly every signal in this business passes through them.

The magazine is named after the cable: the microphone in the booth, the line to the desk, the DMX run that fires the lights. Studio, stage and rig share the same cable. Most magazines pick one of the three. This one covers all of it, because the people we read do too — the engineer mixing a record on Tuesday is on front of house by Saturday.

Around a hundred and sixty sources, in English, Japanese, Spanish, German, French, Chinese and Italian: makers and their release notes, reviewers who put a hand on the thing, studios and touring crews, the producers and collectives surfacing this month and the scenes they came out of. Synths and modular, plugins and DAWs, guitars and drums, microphones, monitors, PA and lighting. What the trade is talking about is counted and plotted. The editor's letter has just started; it will find its rhythm.

For each story: a headline, a short excerpt, one picture and the link out. We never reprint the article, and the picture belongs to the maker or the photographer. A German review appears in German and a Japanese one in Japanese, as the writer published it; the link goes to the original.

Nothing is sold on this site. When a link leads to a shop, it is the maker's shop, not ours.

Library/Gear/Headphones

HEAD-PHONES

Illustration

For recording

Closed-back

Sealed cups keep the click track out of the microphone and the room out of your ears. Wear these while you record.

For listening and mixing

Open-back

Grilles let air move, so the sound feels wider and more natural. They leak both ways: keep them away from live mics.

Studio classics

Model names and back type only · each opens its maker’s page · checked 2026-10-07

Sony ↗ClosedMDR-7506 Audio-Technica ↗ClosedATH-M50x Beyerdynamic ↗ClosedDT 770 Pro Beyerdynamic ↗OpenDT 990 Pro Sennheiser ↗OpenHD 600 Sennheiser ↗OpenHD 650 AKG ↗Semi-openK240 Studio Shure ↗ClosedSRH840A

See also: studio monitors · plan your room

Sources · checked 7 October 2026

Sony, MDR-7506 specifications: headphone type “Dynamic, closed” (Sony’s English page in Taiwan; Sony’s US pages refused our automated check).
Audio-Technica, ATH-M50x: type “Closed-back dynamic”.
beyerdynamic, DT 770 PRO: “Closed studio headphones”.
beyerdynamic, DT 990 PRO: “Open studio monitoring headphones”, open-back.
Sennheiser, HD 600: open-back earcups.
Sennheiser, HD 650: an open, circumaural headphone.
AKG, K240 Studio: over-ear, semi-open.
Shure, SRH840A: closed-back, circumaural.
The picture at the top is an illustration made for XLR, not a product photo.