To the average listener, these are going to sound like the best earphones you’ll have ever come across: well balanced, detailed, with a huge soundstage and with plenty of enthusiasm across the board. Not only do they sound and feel exceptional, but they’re also brimming with features that are actually very usable. Sony’s WF-1000XM4 earbuds are the brand’s best yet and a cut above the competition by a big margin. A pair of class-H amplifiers inside makes sure you get a decent amount of punch out of it as well.

The Roam comes with Auto Trueplay, Sonos’ proprietary technology that uses the Roam’s internal microphones to measure acoustic reflections, obstructions and its position in a room to tune itself and make it sound its best.

You wouldn’t typically expect a sub $200 speaker to offer self-tuning, but this is where we are now. Smart features, a compact design and an affordable price help to propel the Sonos Roam above the pack in the very crowded Bluetooth speaker market. Also nominated:Ĭheck out the full list here. Combined with their ultra-comfortable ear cushions, these are headphones which you won’t tire of wearing during longer sessions and on that note, there’s also a 24-hour battery life and charging with USB-C.

The star of the show here has to be Bose’s active noise-cancelling technology, which executes noise with impunity if you want it to. There were a number of premium entrants to the wireless headphone arena this year, but a $500 purchase isn’t warranted right now – especially when the Bose QuietComfort 45 does such a fine job at providing a well-rounded listening experience whether for a few hours or on a long-haul flight. This year’s Gear Of The Year awards celebrates the pinnacle in music technology in 16 categories – strap yourselves in. The MusicTech team got together to crown the best product releases of the year, from trailblazing new innovations to reimagined classics, along with some underdogs you just might have missed. For many of us, however, this year simply meant more time to spend working in our studios – which isn ’t a total loss, all things considered. Fortunately, it seems that concerts, festivals and clubs have been making a bit of a comeback in some parts of the world.

Music fans and artists have, of course been eager about the return of live music.

READ MORE: The best free software for music-making.

2021 was a strong year all across for tech releases in the industry, and as both lovers and creators of sound, we were given many new and exciting ways to both create and listen.

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