miles

Monster and Dr. Dre spearheaded the trend of celebrity-endorsed headphones, starting with the eponymous Monster Beats by Dr. Dre and Lady Gaga's own signature earbuds. But an increasing number of artists are partnering with other manufacturers for their own collaborations.

Signeo announced the Soul by Ludacris headphone series at CES 2011, and 50 Cent stopped by the CNET stage this year to demo his own wireless cans, but does a celebrity shout-out mean that those devices sound better than the competition?

Check out the following list to get the real scoop on all these new headphones supported by famous musicians.… Read more

Like any normal jazz fan I have 30 or 40 Miles Davis albums. It was impossible to stop adding to the collection because Davis' music was always moving ahead. Take this new set by the Miles Davis Quintet, "Live in Europe 1967." It's the first installment of the new Bootleg Series, and though it's from the tail end of Davis' acoustic period, the feel is electric.

It's a wild ride, and the band's creative energy is unstoppable. Trumpeter Davis is playing with Herbie Hancock on piano, Wayne Shorter on sax, Ron Carter on bass, … Read more

Great-sounding albums are becoming increasingly rare, so when I find noteworthy efforts I'm happy to share the news. The goal is highlighting new stuff--or at least newly recorded/remastered music--so there's no need to include Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" or Steely Dan's "Aja." I assume you're already hip to the best music from decades past; I'm trying to spread the word about the best new music over a range of styles, with something for every taste.

For more sonicly superior music, check out my "How to make your speakers sound better: Play better-sounding music&… Read more

You don't have to be an audiophile to appreciate good sound and music, so I've put together a healthy selection of great gift ideas, all priced under $300. Tuesday's blog has nine more, and they're all less than $100 each!

The Sherwood RX-4503 stereo receiver ($130) would be a great way to start building an awesome-sounding budget hi-fi. I briefly auditioned the Sherwood and came away really impressed with its sound quality. The stereo receiver serves up 100 watts into each of its two channels, and includes a mono preamp output if you decide to add a powered subwoofer. It has Dolby Virtual Surround and Dolby Headphone faux surround processors. A front-panel connection is also included for the Sherwood BT-R7 Bluetooth Audio adapter, allowing wireless streaming from your mobile phone or other devices. The Sherwood could also work wonders in a stereo home theater system.

B & W is one of the more legendary names in British hi-fi, and its speakers are used in many of the world's top studios, including the Beatles' favorite, Abbey Road. B & W is also known for its sleek styling, and its P5 on-ear headphone ($300) is definitely a looker. Its real leather earpads and chunky tubular metal construction put all of the other similarly priced headphones on the market to shame. The P5 sounds best plugged into an iPod or other portable music players.

The Audioengine P4 is a bona fide audiophile mini speaker that sells for $249 per pair. I gave it a very positive review last year, and now I love it so much I retired my self-powered Audioengine A2 ($199 a pair) speakers. While the A2 is still amazing in its own right, the P4 is better in every way, but it has to be used with a receiver, like the Sherwood on this list, so the P4 winds up costing a lot more than an A2. If you have the dough, or a spare amp, the P4 is the way to go. … Read more

Miles Davis' music has always been a feast for the ears, but now it can reach all five senses: hearing, seeing, touching, smelling, and tasting.

It's the release of Miles Davis' "Bitches Brew" in a "40th Anniversary Collector's Edition" box set that inspired the album's new sensory explorations. The set comes with a 48-page book; three CDs (two CDs containing the original 94-plus minutes of music with six bonus tracks); a third CD with a previously unreleased concert by Davis' group with Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette, Airto Moreira, and … Read more

Let's say you want to take public transportation to a meeting in the 'burbs, but your destination is about a mile away from the train station. Sure, you could call a cab, wait around for a bus, or break a sweat walking. But if you don't have the time to spare or don't want to wrangle with bus schedules that match up to train schedules, you might be tempted to scrap the whole plan and just drive.

That's the problem Treadways aim to solve.

Treadways are motorized shoe attachments that can be used as a last-mile transportation solution that you strap on where public transit drops you off. Designer Peter Treadway recently entered his personal mobility solution for the James Dyson Award (namesake of the famous vacuum cleaner reinventor), a competition for newly minted design engineers who have invented a product that solves a problem.

Less bulky than a skateboard and easier to transport than a bike, Treadways are ideal for covering longer walking distances. The advantage of motorized shoes over current portable transportation solutions such as scooters, Treadway says, is that you can easily carry Treadways with you and don't have to worry about locking them up or babysitting them all day. In fact, Treadway, who also designs a line of messenger bags, is working on a bag specifically designed to carry his motorized shoes. … Read more

The Fillmore East didn't last all that long, from March 8, 1968 to June 27, 1971, but a ton of great music was played there. Pretty much every legendary 1960s band--except the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Cream, and Bob Dylan--graced the stage. Led Zeppelin; The Who; Pink Floyd; Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young; Elton John; Fleetwood Mac; Derek and the Dominos; Creedence Clearwater Revival; Santana; and the Doors rocked the 2,700 seat theater in the East Village, in NYC. Ticket prices, as I recall, were always affordable: $3, $4 and $5, and there were usually three acts … Read more

In yesterday's blog, I wrote about the 1937 BMW 328 MM Roadster, a rare classic car that will be up for auction at the RM Auctions' upcoming event in Monaco on May 1. We got a glammed-up look at this collectors' car and learned a little about why this car is much sought after, but I wanted to dig even deeper on what makes this Roadster so significant. With that in mind, today's clip is all about the history and technology behind the making of the famous BMW 328.

This car, conceived in 1936, was designed to be … Read more

I read last week that the BMW Classic Center in Munich was throwing open its doors to work on customer's vehicles, both BMW and otherwise. Thinking that it would make a fun blog topic, I went hunting the Web for video of classic BMWs. In this process I stumbled upon a promotional video for the 2010 Sporting Classics of Monaco event presented by RM Auctions that boasted the presence of one of the most notable and valuable BMWs ever made--the 1937 BMW 328 MM Bügelfalte Roadster.

RM Auctions will be bringing this classic BMW to its first-ever … Read more