Audio Magazines (Print & Digital)?

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hey guys - What, if any, audio magazines do you read? Do you read the print copy or digital download?

 

I just got three digital issues of Hi-Fi News in one day. How's that for a weird subscription? I tend to read many of the other mags as well. HiFi +, The Abso!ute Sound, Stereophile, and anything else the local Barnes & Nobel or Borders Books has in stock. Of course the reviews and comments are taken with a grain (or 2 or 100) of salt, but I like to see in TAS or SP if I missed something that happened four months ago. For example the October 2007 Rocky Mountain Audiofest coverage in the February issue of TAS. To be read with a smirk.

 

Of course I'm also a reader of Tone Audio Magazine (hint, hint more info coming soon).

 

[markr]

...I couldn't bear to part with them & they PILED UP. At that time, I read lots of Keyboard, Electronic Musician, Mix and EQ type mags. Today I spend sooooo much time on the computer between work, hobby (future business?), and here on CA that I don't really have time to be reading magazines. I did go and check out Tone Audio's website and I would say that I like their 'tone' so far. I am trying to d/l a .pdf of their issue 11 right now (the future of music), but the web isn't cooperating. I will go get it later though.

 

markr

 

[Lord Chaos]

I used to read "High Fidelity" and others, but haven't done so in years. Partly that's due to no longer being quite so taken by high-end audio. The other part is that they've become very fashion-conscious, in common with most other magazines. If there were a truly informative one out there I might look.

 

But... let's face it, when I want to reseach something I just turn to the Web. The variety of reviews and comments is much greater than what a magazine can do, although there are lots of biases and a large amount of info that's just wrong. It's a good thing I'm not a beginner.

 

[Shadders]

Hi,

I read Hifi News - subscribe to the print version only, since the digital version is an app based access only.

 

I subscribe to Elektor magazine as they periodically publish audio designs - Class D a few years ago - equivalent to current class D amps.

 

I have all the issues of Linear Audio which is a wealth of information for new and cutting edge design techniques regarding amplifier design etc.

 

Regards,

Shadders.

[mav52]

I went digital.  Just felt it got rid of a lot of clutter (Paper)

[vmartell22]

Stereophile, digital, because is soo cheap - $10 a year! - also the English Hi-Fi mags, guessing they are now Sterophile sister publications,  HiFi+, HiFi-Choice, HiFI-News - oh and HiFi World, which seems separate from the others... occasionally, whenever I see something interesting for the month. Only digital.

 

 

v

[GUTB]

I don’t know. The nice glossy print is a better experience reading while settled into the listening chair.

[Allan F]

I used to subscribe to the print edition of Stereophile. But, with the exchange rate and cost of shipping to Canada, I switched to the digital edition. Like others have mentioned, the print copies piled up, taking a lot of space. Having said that, I must say that I much preferred reading the print edition, either sitting on the couch or in bed before going to sleep.

 

I also subscribe to the digital edition of The Absolute Sound. However, I don't read the digital editions nearly as thoroughly as I used to read the print edition of Stereophile. I doubt that I will renew either subscription when they expire.

 

Although I don't subscribe to them, I occasionally visit a number of websites such as Positive Feedback, sixmoons.com, Audiophilia, etc.

[NOMBEDES]

dailyaudiophile.com

 

All the news that fits.

[tmkirst]

Good to get away from screens from time to time..

1. TapeOp (print/subscription)
2. Sound on Sound (print/supscription)
3. Hi-Fi News and Record Review (print/newstand)
4. Stereophile (print/subscription)

 

 

[NipperDog]

I stop by my local Barnes and Noble, pick up a coffee from their cafe and read Stereophile, The Absolute Sound and What Hi-Fi? every couple of weeks or so. 

[gmgraves]

On 1/21/2008 at 11:09 AM, The Computer Audiophile said:

Hey guys - What, if any, audio magazines do you read? Do you read the print copy or digital download?

 

I just got three digital issues of Hi-Fi News in one day. How's that for a weird subscription? I tend to read many of the other mags as well. HiFi +, The Abso!ute Sound, Stereophile, and anything else the local Barnes & Nobel or Borders Books has in stock. Of course the reviews and comments are taken with a grain (or 2 or 100) of salt, but I like to see in TAS or SP if I missed something that happened four months ago. For example the October 2007 Rocky Mountain Audiofest coverage in the February issue of TAS. To be read with a smirk.

 

Of course I'm also a reader of Tone Audio Magazine (hint, hint more info coming soon).

 

Good question. When I was getting ready to move last time, I found that I had to throw away more than 500 pounds worth of old audio magazines (mostly HFN&RR and Hi-Fi Choice). As I had a second floor flat, I brought up a wheeled plastic trash bin from the building's trash area. I loaded all the magazines in the bin (not realizing how much they actually weighed) and wheeled the bin out the door and onto the landing. I pushed it forward onto the first step and it was then that I realized that if I went down another step, the bin would get away from me and go careening down the steps. Also found that I couldn't pull the bin back up onto the landing either. I found myself holding on for dear life with one arm while I unloaded the bin, throwing the magazines back through my open door onto my living-room floor!

I relate that anecdote to explain why I made myself a vow, right then and there, that I would never take a print subscription or buy a print magazine again. I get all my periodicals via my iPad and no matter how many I have, the iPad doesn't get any heavier or take-up any more space.

At the present time, I take (digitally) Hi-Fi News and Record Review, Hi-Fi Choice, Hi-Fi+ (all from GB) as well as The Absolute Sound and Stereophile. I write for The Audiophile Voice and I get a complementary copy, but as it's a quarterly, I throw e'm away when I've read them. I think that's all the English Language Hi-Fi magazines that there are. If there is a digital Canadian magazine, or an Australian or South African or New Zealand digital audio magazine, I'm unaware of it. If I knew of any of those, I'd probably maintain a digital subscription to them as well! 

[crenca]

1 hour ago, gmgraves said:

Good question. When I was getting ready to move last time, I found that I had to throw away more than 500 pounds worth of old audio magazines (mostly HFN&RR and Hi-Fi Choice). As I had a second floor flat, I brought up a wheeled plastic trash bin from the building's trash area. I loaded all the magazines in the bin (not realizing how much they actually weighed) and wheeled the bin out the door and onto the landing. I pushed it forward onto the first step and it was then that I realized that if I went down another step, the bin would get away from me and go careening down the steps. Also found that I couldn't pull the bin back up onto the landing either. I found myself holding on for dear life with one arm while I unloaded the bin, throwing the magazines back through my open door onto my living-room floor!

 

This really is a parable that is just pregnant with meaning that probably goes all the way down...you know, like the turtles. ?

[robocop]

I subscribe to Stereophile digital only but find little in it for me these days, save odd industry news items and music reviews. I do enjoy reading Kal Robinson's digital reviews and a recent review in the August issue Herbert Reichert Power Cords and puzzlements.  I mostly read online HiFi reveiws/articles of interest from a variety of sites.

I will keep subscribing though at the low digital rate. If you don't subscribe, you have to rely on someone in an online forum mentioning it.

Strangely one always looks forward to the next issue with bated breath. Experienced this years ago with the printed TAS mag when Harry P was in control. Always something to tickle your Audio brain. Never Stereophiled in those days but always bought the "Recommended components yearly" issue.  

I guess you take out of it what you will.  

 

Robert

 

[Fokus]

HiFi News, print, subscription (since 1990 or so)

Stereophile, digital, subscription (since 2016)

 

I also had a couple of years' worth of HiFi+, 2000-2009 or so.

 

I only buy Stereophile because it is cheap. Whenever a new issue comes in I scan it in a minute and

then despair because of the lame content and the ever hopeless layout (that also holds for the paper version).

I always found HFN quite decent, and still read most of it.

 

But regardless of magazine, I now always skip the meaningless, flowery prose.

 

As for RG-era HiFI+ ... the less said the better. The only value of that pile of paper is in its smell and photography.

[Temporal_Dissident]

Brushing off this topic. Odd 10 year gap between OP and most responses. What is the landscape like today? How do these compare...

 

The Absolute Sound

Stereophile

HiFi+

TONE Audio

 

I get magazine subscriptions for free (long story). Trying to pick 1-2 to carry. 

[Teresa]

I no longer read any audio magazines (print or digital). I recently tried dirt cheap introductory print subscriptions to both Stereophile and TAS. It was had to say no at less than $1 per issue. However, I mostly read the music reviews, new music technologies and the advertisements. I've never been interested in audio equipment except for the fact it is needed to play my music. TAS reviews more recordings that Stereophile, but neither one reviews many of the audiophile recordings I like so I let both subscriptions expire for lack of interest.

 

I read TV Guide print and on online to know what to watch on over-the-air TV. Also the magazine and newspaper AARP sends each month. I also read a lot at Audiophile Style.

[MetalNuts]

I was once a regular reader of print version of a number of Hi-Fi magazines but in these few years, I no longer buy any since most of those reviews are not trustworthy at all. 

[bluesman]

On 8/2/2018 at 4:46 PM, Allan F said:

I used to subscribe to the print edition of Stereophile. But, with the exchange rate and cost of shipping to Canada, I switched to the digital edition

 

 

For me, the catalyst for change was retirement and moving from a 4000 sq ft house to an apartment.  I do love my hard copy, but now I can read my Stereophile anywhere I am on my phone or tablet.  I still have several years of Downbeat from 1959 and a fair pile of the BAS Speaker (plus Road and Track from Vol 1 #1 to the present and an almost complete set of Sports Car Graphic - I couldn't bring myself to get rid of them either).  But I gave or threw away hundreds of back issues of other mags.

[Ralf11]

On 8/2/2018 at 1:13 PM, GUTB said:

I don’t know. The nice glossy print is a better experience reading while settled into the listening chair.

 

it's more analog

[TubeLover]

I still subscribe to Stereophile and The Absolute Sound print editions. I agree that a break from the computer screen is nice at times. While reading them from cover to cover is no longer all that rewarding, I do read certain reviews, for comparison sakes, the music reviews, and the occasional extended music article. 

 

JC

[gmgraves]

On 1/21/2008 at 11:09 AM, The Computer Audiophile said:

Hey guys - What, if any, audio magazines do you read? Do you read the print copy or digital download?

 

I just got three digital issues of Hi-Fi News in one day. How's that for a weird subscription? I tend to read many of the other mags as well. HiFi +, The Abso!ute Sound, Stereophile, and anything else the local Barnes & Nobel or Borders Books has in stock. Of course the reviews and comments are taken with a grain (or 2 or 100) of salt, but I like to see in TAS or SP if I missed something that happened four months ago. For example the October 2007 Rocky Mountain Audiofest coverage in the February issue of TAS. To be read with a smirk.

 

Of course I'm also a reader of Tone Audio Magazine (hint, hint more info coming soon).

 

I take TAS, HiFi+, Stereophile, HiFi News, HiFi Choice, and Australian HiFi. All digital. The last time I moved, I had to throw away more than 500 pounds of back issues of audio magazines! Every month I get new issues of all the above, and my iPad doesn’t gain one ounce of weight. That’s all the justification I need to to transition from print to digital!

[DinoSore]

I subscribe to The Absolute Sound and Stereophile in print.  In fact, I've been a subscriber to TAS since issue 4 or 5.  Since I have a nearly complete collection, I feel that I can never stop my subscription or toss out any old issues!

 

With regard to digital vs paper, I really prefer paper.  The magazine is right there in front of me and I read it (usually while listening to music).  I do have some digital magazine subscriptions, but I find myself falling behind in reading them because I have to actively go searching for the latest issue on my iPad.  It does not sound like a big deal, but at some point I realize I have not read the last several issues of one of my subscriptions.  I will read a magazine if it physically on my coffee table or desk.  If the magazine appears digitally in an email, or is automatically downloaded to an app, I am much less likely to remember read it.  In other words, the digital mags get lost among all the other stuff on my computer or iPad.

 

That said, I think the days of paper magazines are numbered.  A number of my magazine subscriptions (in other interest areas) have gone out of business in the past couple of years.

[audiobomber]

On 8/2/2018 at 7:01 PM, gmgraves said:

If there is a digital Canadian magazine, or an Australian or South African or New Zealand digital audio magazine, I'm unaware of it. If I knew of any of those, I'd probably maintain a digital subscription to them as well! 

UHF Magazine is Canadian, and a very trustworthy source for reviews, IME.

http://www.uhfmag.com/ 

I subscribed for years to the print version, now they only offer digital copies. I don't read digital magazines cover to cover like I do with print, I tend to browse. I had a digital subscription to Stereophile and found the same thing. I never even read some issues at all. 

 

I used to buy the Brit mags off the shelf at Chapters, now I only browse the 'net for gear reviews. I check DailyAudiophile regularly. The only subscription I have is to UHF Magazine, but I likely will not renew because I'll be done buying gear for a long time after a new DAC/Pre purchase.

[gmgraves]

3 hours ago, audiobomber said:

UHF Magazine is Canadian, and a very trustworthy source for reviews, IME.

http://www.uhfmag.com/ 

I subscribed for years to the print version, now they only offer digital copies. I don't read digital magazines cover to cover like I do with print, I tend to browse. I had a digital subscription to Stereophile and found the same thing. I never even read some issues at all. 

 

I used to buy the Brit mags off the shelf at Chapters, now I only browse the 'net for gear reviews. I check DailyAudiophile regularly. The only subscription I have is to UHF Magazine, but I likely will not renew because I'll be done buying gear for a long time after a new DAC/Pre purchase.

I did find a ‘zine from OZ, it’s called “Australian Hi-Fi”. Publishes bi-monthly, it seems. Very good magazine. I especially like their in-depth technical equipment reviews. They’re even better than Atkinson’s for S’phile!