Editor in Chief, Ian White has been lurking around the consumer audio, home theater, and A/V industries since 1998—long enough to remember when people read manuals voluntarily and HDMI standards didn’t require a Ouija board. His work has appeared in eCoustics, The New York Times, Gear Patrol, Digital Trends, JAZZIZ, Big Picture Big Sound, SoundStage, Enjoy the Music, and The Jerusalem Post, covering everything from high-end audio and TVs to the slow, inevitable collapse of bad engineering ideas that should’ve been euthanized at birth. He’s a certified ISF calibrator, a former Lead Copywriter, and a veteran of the less Instagram-friendly corners of threat engineering and cybersecurity, where NDAs are thicker than vault doors, three-letter agencies never quite introduce themselves, and even the coffee machine looks compromised.
Academically, he holds degrees in Near Eastern Affairs with minors in Judaic Studies and Forensic Science. His worldview is shaped by history rather than theory: grandson of Holocaust survivors, descendant of Irgun founders, and named after an IDF tank commander killed during the Yom Kippur War. Born in Toronto, his upbringing ricocheted between Washington, D.C., Chicago, London, Northern Israel, Arkham Asylum, and a few other formative environments best discussed off the record, before settling in New Jersey and South Florida—because chaos, like mold, thrives in humidity and traffic.
He was conceived at a drive-in movie (yes, really) and has since watched more than 5,700 films across eight countries, though he will still go to his grave insisting he waited only seven days—not eight—to see The Phantom Menace.
When he’s not writing, Ian collects vintage film posters, books, and an unreasonable amount of Detroit Red Wings and Washington Capitals memorabilia—enough to arm a small rebellion. He’s a professional-grade foodie and former pizza maker whose loyalties lie with dim sum, biltong, curry, pizza, deli sandwiches, pho, and Korean BBQ. If it bites back, he’s interested. Weekends involve parenting, Shul, record digging, scribbling notes in a Hemingway-adjacent shawl cardigan, rewatching movies he’s already memorized, firing slapshots at the garage door like it’s Game 7, and casting into the Atlantic Gulf Stream in search of dinner, clarity, and whatever’s left of his moral compass.
Thorens taps Chicago’s MoFi Distribution for a real North American comeback, finally giving its Swiss classics the Windy City muscle they’ve been missing.
Advance Paris’ 30th Anniversary APEX line brings hybrid power, modern connectivity, and refined musicality offering French hi-fi with subtle sophistication.
IsoAcoustics upgrades, IsoTek power cleaning, Stranger Things mania, and the Great Weiner Resurrection—this Editor’s Round-Up dives into audio, culture, and hot dog chaos.
Can $129 wireless earbuds really deliver xMEMS clarity, LDAC, aptX Lossless support, and strong ANC? The SOUNDPEATS Air5 Pro Plus makes a compelling case.
At $269, FiiO’s DM15 R2R portable CD player debuts with an in-house DAC, balanced and single-ended headphone outputs, Bluetooth transmit mode, and a high-voltage...
Focal Naim America debuts “Mixed on Focal #7” and the “Holiday Cheer Mix,” highlighting new tracks mixed or mastered on Focal’s professional studio monitors.
Shanling’s SCD3.3 treats SACD like it never died—true DSD output, a 212-resistor R2R DAC, tube stage, and enough engineering muscle to shame most “modern”...