Today a playlist is an audio experience; the only visual association you have with one is a series of text lines on a screen. But in the ’80s and ’90s, we (or at least I) formed a strong visual connection to mix tapes. Because they were physical media, you had to select and handle each mix tape in order to play it. Each manufacturer had a different label design, and the variety of colors they came in made it easier to distinguish one mix from another. I still remember when transparent cassettes came out, and they seemed like they were from the future.

German graphic designer and graffiti artist Neck has built Tapedeck.org, a visual archive of cassette tapes.

“[The project was] built to showcase the amazing beauty and (sometimes) weirdness found in the designs of the common audio tape cassette. There’s an amazing range of designs, starting from the early 60’s functional cassette designs, moving through the colourful playfulness of the 70’s audio tapes to amazing shape variations during the 80’s and 90’s. We hope you enjoy these tapes as much as we do!”

The site lets you select by brand, running time, color, and even the type of magnetic coating each cassette used. If you’re of a certain age, you’ll find it a real blast from the past.

Beyerdynamic, the German audio brand synonymous with professional-grade equipment, is making a bold leap from the recording studio to the consumer market. As the company celebrates its 100th anniversary (coincidental with IFA’s 100-year anniversary), it’s fascinating to reflect on its legacy, one that’s intertwined with some of the greatest names in music. From the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Jimi Hendrix to contemporary superstars like Ariana Grande, Justin Beiber, and Taylor Swift, beyerdynamic headphones have become a silent partner in the creation of iconic sounds. And now, the company is taking all that studio expertise and packaging it into products for everyday listeners, offering premium audio experiences for anyone willing to invest.

At IFA 2024, beyerdynamic marked its centennial year by unveiling two new consumer products: the Aventho 300 over-ear headphones and the Amiron 300 true wireless earbuds. Both products are packed with cutting-edge technology, promising a seamless audio experience that brings the beyerdynamic studio sound to everyday life.

beyerdynamic Aventho 300: Studio-Grade Sound Goes Mobile

The Aventho 300 is beyerdynamic’s latest flagship over-ear headphone, and it brings the precision of the studio into a portable, wireless format. Featuring beyerdynamic’s legendary STELLAR.45 drivers (from their flagship DT 770 PRO X headphones), these wireless headphones deliver the kind of detail and clarity typically reserved for professional-grade equipment. Whether you’re listening to music on the go or mixing tracks on your laptop, the Aventho 300 ensures you hear every note as the artist intended.

beyerdynamic Aventho 300

One of the standout features is the Dolby Atmos head-tracking technology, which offers immersive spatial audio that adjusts to your movements, making it perfect for watching movies or playing games on the go. And for those who need quiet, the hybrid Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) powered by dual Sony chipsets will keep distractions at bay. But if you’re navigating a busy airport or commuting, the transparency mode ensures you stay aware of your surroundings without having to take off your headphones.

The Aventho 300 boasts up to 50 hours of continuous playtime on a single charge. With a two-hour charge giving you full battery life and a quick 10-minute charge providing five additional hours of use, these headphones are designed to keep up with even the busiest lifestyles. The Aventho 300 also supports Bluetooth 5.4, multi-device pairing, and high-resolution audio codecs like AAC, aptX Adaptive, and aptX Lossless, ensuring top-tier sound quality no matter what device you’re using.

Priced at $399.99, the Aventho 300 will be available on the beyerdynamic e-shop and Amazon in Q4 2024.

beyerdynamic Amiron 300: True Wireless with a Studio Edge

For those who prefer earbuds but don’t want to sacrifice sound quality, beyerdynamic has the Amiron 300. These true wireless earbuds pack the company’s signature 10mm dynamic drivers into a compact design, delivering deep bass, crystal-clear highs, and precise mids that rival much larger headphones. Whether you’re working out, traveling, or just enjoying some downtime, the Amiron 300 provides pristine audio for every occasion.

beyerdynamic Amiron 300

Like the Aventho 300, the Amiron 300 features customizable ANC and a transparency mode, ensuring you can tune out the world or stay aware when needed. These earbuds also offer up to 38 hours of total battery life, with 10 hours of continuous playtime per charge and a Qi-compatible charging case that provides an additional 28 hours of battery life. A 10-minute charge gives you 2 more hours of listening time, making it easy to keep the music going.

The Amiron 300 is also equipped with six microphones, enhanced with advanced algorithms to filter out ambient noise during calls. Whether you’re in a busy office or on a noisy street, your voice will come through clearly. Multipoint Bluetooth 5.3 allows for seamless switching between devices, and automatic play/pause functionality means you won’t miss a beat if you take out an earbud.

The Amiron 300 will be available in Q4 2024 for $279.99.

Accompanying the two new launches is the Verio 200, beyerdynamic’s open-ear earphones launched earlier this year. The Verio 200, beyerdynamic’s first foray into open-ear sports headphones, offers an entirely new experience for active listeners. Launched in June 2024, the Verio 200 is designed with athletes and outdoor enthusiasts in mind, combining an ergonomic, lightweight frame with a durable build. Its open-ear design with a secure ear stem ensures that users stay aware of their surroundings while enjoying high-quality sound, making it ideal for running, cycling, or other outdoor activities. The Verio 200 was a significant first step for beyerdynamic as it moved beyond its professional roots and enters the broader consumer audio market. With its water-resistant construction and long battery life, it’s clear that beyerdynamic is applying the same rigorous attention to detail that has made its studio products legendary.

beyerdynamic Verio 200

Beyerdynamic’s transition into the consumer space feels like a natural evolution. For a century, the company has been at the forefront of professional audio, helping artists craft timeless music in studios around the world. Now, with the Aventho 300, Amiron 300, and Verio 200, they’re giving consumers access to that same world-class sound in everyday settings, with a consumer-friendly price-point to match.

The post Beyerdynamic Elevates Consumer Audio: Hands-On with the Aventho 300 and Amiron 300 Launch at IFA 2024 first appeared on Yanko Design.

This limited edition 31-year-old single malt scotch matured for nine years in Bordeaux red wine casks

In the age of permanent portfolio expansions, annual experimental expressions and limited edition releases, the world of single malt scotch whisky is continuously complicated and its audience often divided. Since the introduction of Grand Cru in 2019, however, Glenfiddich’s Grand Series has been a north star in the market—a series of reliably exquisite age-statement releases that have tapped into the flavorful potential of unexpected casks from around the world. Today, Glenfiddich announced the latest in the highly awarded Grand Series, Grand Château, a boldly sophisticated 31-year-old single malt scotch that spent nine years maturing in Bordeaux red wine casks. This lengthy finishing process has produced a scotch whisky that’s both recognizably Glenfiddich, and yet unlike any other aficionados may have tasted before.

In advance of the release, COOL HUNTING ventured to Speyside, Scotland to sample the 47.6% ABV liquid for our annual September Scotch series. Inside the Glenfiddich distillery, alongside others in the Grand Series (including the aforementioned Grand Cru, the 26-year-old Grande Couronne and the 21-year-old Gran Reserva—though not the limited edition 29-year-old Grand Yozakura finished in rare ex-Awamori casks), we nosed and sipped a dram of Grand Château. The rich, reddish single malt’s initial aromas of almond and vanilla yielded to luscious cherries flavors, with a touch of apple and pear. A long finish then introduced baking spices to a toasted oak undercurrent. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the sensory experience felt full-bodied—much like certain tannic red wines.

Grand Château, ultimately, surprised and delighted—a signifier of the Grand Series, which has been architected from the beginning by Brian Kinsman, Glenfiddich’s Malt Master. Kinsman explains that releases in the series are born in two ways. “Occasionally,” he says, “there will be a very deliberate concept that we want to make a whisky for. At this age, 31 years old, however, it’s typical that everything is underway and it slowly morphs into the concept. It’s in play already.” 

There was substantial risk involved, putting a 22-year-old liquid into a series of Bordeaux barrels for nearly a decade. To this, Kinsman says that for his team, research and development is done through practice. “Grand Château is the result of building up this knowledge bank,” he says, “not just with me but with our technical team and the cooperage. We were doing Age of Discovery released matured in wine casks 15 or 20 years ago. We were bringing Malbec casks and trialing it. Over all these years, we’ve been maturing and finishing in different types of oak from different types of regions and figuring out what works and what doesn’t work. If you’ve got a big intense cask, like these from Bordeaux, you need a big intense whisky to cope with it—otherwise it gets crushed.” That’s why Kinsman started with the 22-year-old single malt.

Consumers often look to age statements for guidance. When asked what a 31-year-old single malt scotch means, Kinsman looks back upon his extensive tenure in the industry. “You never know if something is complete,” he says. “Would it have been even more amazing as a 34 year old? We don’t know. But it’s pretty amazing as a 31 year old. It’s our job to see when it feels right and this felt right. It’s 31 years old but it’s got a flavor profile that I don’t think anyone has tasted before—with this exact, deep maturity.” Kinsman hopes people appreciate it, but on an even more fundamental level he hopes that they don’t squirrel it away but rather open it and share it with people that they love.

To emphasize the artistry of the release, Glenfiddich partnered with beloved French artist André Saraiva for two limited edition Grand Château packages. One features a charming watercolor print on the inside of the box; the even more exclusive iteration (with only 24 bottles arriving to the US), entitled The Artist Edition, incorporates a traditional Toile de Jouy print accented with Saraiva’s signature motifs on the front.

Though the Grand Series deserves headlines, Kinsman refers back to the core collection when discussing the brand in 10 to 15 years time. “It will be exactly as it is today,” he says. “There are two parts to my role and two parts to the distillery. One is maintaining the history and the heritage and doing things right. Our expansion at the distillery is stunning and features beautiful architecture, but fundamentally it operates as it did 40 or 60 years ago. Complementing that, we will be doing even more unusual things around Grand range. The identity will be identical but it will evolve into something new.” And both sides of this assessment are worth eager anticipation.

Local studio The DHaus Company has combined digital fabrication with arts and crafts influences at this extension in London, which is covered in shingles in a variety of shapes.

Named Gingerbread House, the 1960s home in the north London neighbourhood of Muswell Hill was refurbished and expanded to create a new kitchen and dining area overlooking the garden.

The existing building is finished with a distinctive cladding of concrete shingles, which served as the starting point for The DHaus Company‘s design.

“The first thing that caught our eyes as architects going on their first site visit was the existing facades – they were clad in a kind of concrete shingle,” explained the studio.

“We were fascinated by this architectural dress, and wanted to see if we could blend the new rear extension with the rest of the shingle house,” it added.

“When researching shingle designs, we went down a rabbit hole that led us into a wondrous place of William Morris and arts and crafts.”

Designed to maintain a feeling of “individuality and uniqueness”, the single-storey extension is clad with CNC-cut timber shingles in a variety of curved, arched and angular shapes, some of which mirror the original home’s facades. Together they are also intended to evoke a gingerbread house, inspiring the project’s name.

“While Morris might have been sceptical of modern digital fabrication, the principles of the arts and crafts movement can indeed be compatible with contemporary digital tools,” said the studio.

“The movement emphasised the use of high-quality, sustainable materials and ethical production practices, and digital fabrication can reduce waste through precise material use and can support local, small-scale production,” continued The DHaus Company.

“Both of which are aligned with Morris’s vision of sustainability and ethical production.”

Gingerbread House’s extension connects directly to the home’s existing reception and is centred around a skylit dining space. It overlooks the garden through full-height windows and a sliding door that leads to a small outdoor seating area.

An L-shaped glazed area creates a courtyard-like space next to the kitchen counters, where an additional door provides access out onto a gravel patio.

“We actually had to reduce the size of the rear extension to get the project to work financially, the extension was at the start a full-width extension going out into the garden, but we halved it, and strangely it made the project quite special,” explained founder David Ben-Grunberg.

“By making the rear extension and kitchen-dining area a kind of L shape, it meant the garden was more linked to the living space and actually this was a lovely thing to happen out of arguably something negative,” he told Dezeen.

The walls and ceilings of Gingerbread House’s extension have been given a rough plastered finish, which is continued in the refurbished reception and complemented by wooden frames, furniture and built-in storage.

The energy efficiency of the home has also been improved through the introduction of underfloor heating, triple glazing and air-source heat pumps.

The DHaus Company was founded in 2010 by Ben-Grunberg and Daniel Woolfson.

Other projects by the studio include an extension in London that is clad in angular brickwork and a row of arched brick townhouses on the site of a former petrol station.

The photography is by Matthew White.

Project credits:

Architect: DHaus
Project architects: David Ben-Grunberg, Daniel Woolfson, Nikki Smith
Digital fabrication: Base Models
Glazing: Oakmont
Energy consultant: Bertie Dixon (Inside Outside Engineering)

The post The DHaus Company clads Gingerbread House extension in wooden shingles appeared first on Dezeen.

Japanese architect Keiji Ashizawa referenced louvres on townhouses in Kyoto when designing the concrete House in Aoyama, which is intended to foster a sense of privacy.

Located in Tokyo’s central Aoyama area, the home is designed for a family with a child and two dogs.

House in Aoyama’s location at a busy intersection led Keiji Ashizawa Design to create a design that would offer its owners privacy, which informed the choice of concrete as the building material.

“We had to choose a material resilient to acoustic disruption and vibration for the urban context,” studio founder Keiji Ashizawa told Dezeen. “Considering the need for a basement, rooftop, and balcony, we picked concrete as the best fit.”

Tall wooden louvres shade the entrance of the four-storey house and its balcony, helping to shield it from neighbours and passersby.

“Louvres create subtle seclusion within the urban setting with a soft ambience, often seen in traditional townhouses in Kyoto,” Ashizawa explained. “They serve both as a privacy screen and light filter.”

The studio used a tropical hardwood to create the louvres.

“To achieve a sleek and slender design in the delicate louvres, we chose Itauba wood, a tropical hardwood known for its water resistance and strength, making it ideal for thin and long parts,” the architect said.

Inside House in Aoyama, the concrete structure is left exposed but given a variety of different finishes, including ribbed ceilings and washed and blasted walls.

“Concrete is exposed throughout the interior, contrasting with the insulated exterior,” Ashizawa said.

“We curated a palette of finishes: raw concrete on the entrance ceiling, ribbed textures for acoustic enhancement in the living room, water-washed concrete in transitional spaces such as the entrance and stairs, and shot-blasted concrete in wet zones like the kitchen.”

Bedrooms are located on the first and third floors of House in Aoyama, while the second floor holds the living and dining room.

The floors are connected by a winding wooden staircase, which combines with wooden furniture to add a more organic feel to the house and contrast the stark concrete.

Keiji Ashizawa Design planned the house to create space for the clients’ art collection, with walls in neutral hues functioning as a backdrop.

The studio also wanted to fill the home with natural light and added a skylight to illuminate the interior.

“The blend of soft natural light filtering through the louvres and dramatic illumination from the toplight enhances the living experience,” Ashizawa said.

“The gentle light creates a serene ambience for everyday life, while the toplight adds a dynamic, poetic glow to the space – transforming it into a luminous sanctuary within a bustling city.”

House in Aoyama is complete with a basement and a tree-planted rooftop designed as a “garden in an urban residence”, intended to be used for relaxation and socialising.

“The design blends urban architectural principles with a desire to create a comfortable living environment,” Ashizawa concluded. “We wanted to craft an urban retreat within the heart of Tokyo.”

Other recent residential projects by Keiji Ashizawa Design include a minimalist Tokyo home and an apartment decorated with wooden art pieces.

The photography is by Tomooki Kengaku.

Project credits:

Architect: Keiji Ashizawa Design
Project architect: Keiji Ashizawa / Rie Honjo
Structural engineer: Tetsuya Tanaka Structural Engineers
Construction: Matsumoto Corporation

The post Wooden louvres create “subtle seclusion” at Tokyo house by Keiji Ashizawa Design appeared first on Dezeen.