Hacker News with Generative AI: Audio

Don't Buy into Apple's Hype About AirPods Max Gaining Lossless Audio (macrumors.com)
Apple today announced that AirPods Max with a USB-C port will be gaining support for lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio with a firmware update next month, alongside the release of iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS 15.4.

Apple, Audio, Firmware Updates, Software Updates

48 points by ksec 9 days ago | 66 comments

Apple Now Selling USB-C to 3.5mm Audio Cable (macrumors.com)
Following today's announcement of Lossless audio and Personalized Spatial Audio for the AirPods Max, Apple today released a USB-C to 3.5mm audio cable.

Apple, Audio, Hardware, Accessories

8 points by walterbell 9 days ago | 2 comments

Apple Now Selling USB-C to 3.5mm Audio Cable (macrumors.com)
Following today's announcement of Lossless audio and Personalized Spatial Audio for the AirPods Max, Apple today released a USB-C to 3.5mm audio cable.

Apple, Hardware, Audio, Cables

5 points by tosh 9 days ago | 0 comments

Triforce – a beamformer for Apple Silicon laptops (github.com/chadmed)

Apple Silicon, Hardware, Software, Audio

591 points by tosh 9 days ago | 210 comments

Show HN: AudioNimbus – Steam Audio's immersive spatial audio, now in Rust (github.com/MaxenceMaire)
A Rust wrapper around Steam Audio, bringing powerful spatial audio capabilities to the Rust ecosystem.

Audio, Rust, Open Source, Gaming, Sound

77 points by mxncmr 21 days ago | 7 comments

Pocket Casts makes its web player free, takes shots at Spotify and AI (arstechnica.com)
To push that point forward, Pocket Casts, owned by the company behind WordPress, Automattic Inc., has made its web player free to everyone.

Audio, Podcasts, Streaming Services, Competition, Artificial Intelligence

8 points by ohmyblock 22 days ago | 2 comments

The first wi-fi earbuds are here (whathifi.com)

Consumer Electronics, Audio, Technology, Wireless

5 points by geox 22 days ago | 2 comments

Show HN: Autodio – Auto Audio/Sound Device Switcher for macOS (apple.com)
Autodio is an auto sound output input switcher app. It remembers your choices for output and input according to the attached devices. Just plug and unplug any sound devices that you set active output or input device before, and voilà... You don't even have to use Autodio window to set your devices!

macOS, Audio, Software, Productivity

8 points by raxetul 27 days ago | 2 comments

Raspberry Pi Pico audio player (blogspot.com)
For an index to all my stories click this text.After all the proceeding stories the time has come to build a complete stand-alone audio player with the Raspberry Pi Pico. The audio quality is not Hifi but it is really good !! Good enough as a player in your mancave, bedroom or even as a portable player. I have made a permanent setup and using it to play music and podcasts.

Raspberry Pi, Audio, DIY Projects

158 points by zdw 31 days ago | 41 comments

Ggwave: Tiny Data-over-Sound Library (github.com/ggerganov)
Tiny data-over-sound library.

Sound, Audio, Libraries, Data Transmission, Programming

284 points by LorenDB 37 days ago | 72 comments

Show HN: Sober Ringtones – Cringe-free ringtones for people who hate ringtones (wize.io)
Ever found yourself scrolling through ringtones on your brand-new phone, only to realize you can't find one that wouldn't make you and everyone around you cringe?

Software, Mobile Apps, User Experience, Audio

50 points by francescobonomi 43 days ago | 25 comments

Show HN: WhisperCat – An Audio Recorder and Transcription Tool (github.com/ddxy)
WhisperCat is your personal companion for capturing audio, transcribing it, and managing it in one seamless interface.

Software, Audio, Transcription, Tools

8 points by Slaight 51 days ago | 0 comments

PipeWire Is Doing an Excellent Job Handling Audio/Video Streams on the Desktop (phoronix.com)
Red Hat engineer and PipeWire lead developer Wim Taymans presented at FOSDEM 2025 last weekend around the state of the PipeWire project for this integral component to the modern Linux desktop.

Linux, Audio, Video, Open Source, Desktop

6 points by LinuxBender 54 days ago | 0 comments

Sonos Cuts 12% of Workers in Bid to Improve Product Organization (bloomberg.com)
Sonos Inc. said it’s cutting about 12% of its staff, or 200 workers, in a bid to make its product teams “flatter, smaller and more focused.”

Business, Layoffs, Technology, Audio

6 points by solardev 55 days ago | 0 comments

What does it mean that MP3 is free? (idiallo.com)
The MP3 format, once the gold standard for digital audio files, is now free. The licensing and patents on MP3 encoders have expired, meaning you can now include them in your applications without paying royalties. For software developers and audio enthusiasts, this might seem like a big deal. But, surprisingly, almost no one noticed. Why? Because the world of technology has changed so drastically that MP3's significance has faded into the background.

Technology, Audio, Software, Licensing, Patents

164 points by foxfired 56 days ago | 103 comments

Ask HN: Why isn't an open source A/V receiver a thing? (ycombinator.com)
So FFmpeg can decode pretty much any modern home theatre audio standard, including the multi-channel Atmos and DTS. It can take HDMI input, process the audio as separate channels on the fly, mapping them to a sound card, while passing through the video further out. There are very good sound cards that can process the channels and pass the analog signal to also very good and inexpensive, audiofile-level amplifiers.<p>Why isn’t building a modular A/V receiver a thing, then?

Open Source, Audio, Home Theater, Hardware

15 points by cromka 61 days ago | 9 comments

Ask HN: Is onboard audio still good enough compared to dedicated Sound Cards? (ycombinator.com)
Recently, I upgraded my outdated PC to a Z890 motherboard, primarily because it was significantly discounted compared to AMD alternatives.

Audio, Hardware, Personal Computers, Technology, Comparisons

66 points by monkburger 62 days ago | 73 comments

Show HN: Design/build of some parametric speaker cabinets with OpenSCAD (calbryant.uk)
This post documents a saga of speaker design dating back to 2019. Since then, I’ve been gradually working on a CAD model for a new set of what started as (yet another) subwoofer, but became some compact 2-way office ribbon speakers.

Open Source, 3D Printing, Audio, DIY, Design

66 points by naggie 65 days ago | 27 comments

Yoodio generative radio stations app – looking for testers (youtube.com)

Generative AI, Mobile Apps, Audio, Testing

4 points by quicheshore 66 days ago | 0 comments

The Ribbon Microphone (khz.ac)

Audio, Music Production, Equipment, Recording

207 points by glittershark 73 days ago | 65 comments

"Better for you if you take me off" – The Whispering Earring (gwern.net)

Creative Projects, Fiction, Technology, Audio

12 points by barry-cotter 73 days ago | 2 comments

Apple starts pushing AirPods owners into Transparency mode, with no easy opt out (keydiscussions.com)
A couple of weeks ago I noticed my pair of AirPods Pro 2 aggressively switching me into Transparency mode. It seemed like a bug. Again and again I would have to manually switch back out of Transparency mode. Annoying.

Apple, AirPods, Audio, User Interface, Technology

69 points by spenvo 78 days ago | 40 comments

Sonos CEO Leaves Company (sonos.com)
SANTA BARBARA, Calif., January 13, 2025 – Sonos, Inc. (Nasdaq: SONO) today announced that the Sonos Board of Directors and Patrick Spence have agreed that Mr. Spence will step down as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and as a member of the Board effective today.

Business, Leadership, Technology, Audio

20 points by FinnKuhn 79 days ago | 4 comments

Free music archive (freemusicarchive.org)
Free access to original music & creators

Music, Audio, Creative Commons

179 points by empressplay 80 days ago | 27 comments

Show HN: I've been posting a sound I made everyday day for the last year (listenfaster.com)
A minute of sound a day.

Creative Projects, Audio, Sound Design, Music

9 points by listenfaster 85 days ago | 2 comments

Building Ultra Long Range Toslink (benjojo.co.uk)
This post is a textual version of a talk I gave at The 38th Chaos Computer Congress at the end of 2024. You can watch the talk that was recorded by the wonderful C3VOC team below if that’s your preferred medium:

Electronics, Networking, Hardware, Audio

279 points by ingve 86 days ago | 118 comments

Show HN: Asak – cross-platform audio recording/playback CLI tool written in Rust (github.com/chaosprint)
A cross-platform audio recording/playback CLI tool with TUI, written in Rust. The goal is to be an audio Swiss Army Knife (asak), like SoX but more interactive and fun.

Audio, CLI, Rust, Open Source

16 points by chaosprint 96 days ago | 4 comments

The Christmas story of one tube station's 'Mind the Gap' voice (2019) (theguardian.com)
If you happen to find yourself at Embankment station on the London Underground, pay particular attention to the tannoy: the station’s “Mind the Gap” announcement is pronounced in rich, theatrical tones, a voice you won’t hear elsewhere on the network.

London Underground, Public Transportation, Audio, Storytelling, Culture

34 points by taubek 103 days ago | 4 comments

OpenAI WebRTC Audio Demo (simonwillison.net)
OpenAI announced a bunch of API features today, including a brand new WebRTC API for setting up a two-way audio conversation with their models.