What Are The Listening Sessions?

Started in 2002, TLS has become the largest independent project for testing, comparisons and reviews in the audio-recording industry. As of 2007, TLS has recorded and evaluated over 200 microphones and 100 microphone preamplifiers. TLS is contacted regularly by major pro audio manufacturers for input on product development.

TLS also provides comparison sound clips of audio recording equipment in real-world applications via MP3 files, WAV files Audio CD's and high-resolution Audio DVD's and SACD's. Today there are staggering amounts of products on the audio-recording market and more people than ever are operating their own home/project/recording studios. The purpose of TLS is not only to educate the ear of the listener, but also to provide unbiased aural information so as to assist in the purchase-decision process for the audio-recording consumer.

A Little Background

The Listening Sessions started as nothing more than a need to test and review gear for industry publications.

I was living in NYC — a recording-industry haven — until the Fall of 2001 when I moved to the coast of South Carolina. A great place for sun and beaches, but the nearest store with any serious audio gear is probably a good half-day's drive away. I began with a few mics and a few mic preamps, and contacted a local recording studio about having an an informal session with a few of the hot new mic pres and a fist full of new mics. That session led to The Listening Sessions — a fun day never intended for prime time. The levels were all over the place and we weren't going for perfectly consistent performances. I wasn't even that concerned with recording the session. I was there to audition audio equipment by listening to the sound-source in the studio and to the studio monitors. Nothing more. The studio made a CD of the session, and I ripped MP3's of the whole thing and posted all the tracks to a little page on an undeveloped website on November 21, 2002. The page received over 20,000 hits in the first two weeks.

Obviously we were on to something — and so The Listening Sessions was born.

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Dan Richards - "Dot"
Engineer / Producer, The Listening Sessions

Special thanks to John Hardy, The John Hardy Company — Vince Poulos, Speck Electronics — Shaun Leveque, Phoenix Audio (UK) — John La Grou, Millennia Media — Dan Lakin, Lakland and Matthew Larrivée of Larrivée.