What’s in the “Hi-Fi World” – sound design for games and movies, audio networks and background music

Our classic Saturday digest with the most interesting materials from “World Hi-Fi“- specialized media” Audiomania “about audio technologies, music projects and other topics related to the ecosystem of sound, audio equipment and developments in this area.

Photo: ROOM.  Source: Unsplash.com
Photo: ROOM. Source: Unsplash.com

What to listen to when you write code… We continue to share remarkable audio projects that help to catch concentration and enter the flow state as quickly as possible. In one of the previous collections, we talked about playlists with ambient, rock music and game soundtracks… This time – we offer six dozen free mixes for developers and not only for listening [хватит надолго], a cover for a second monitor with nature sounds, and a couple of simple ambient players. The latter may not represent sophisticated audio services, but they are quite suitable for the background at low volume.


Remaster of the soundtrack of the legendary platformer from the 90s… We are talking about Super Mario World – a popular publication from the series of games that needs no introduction. In the material, we recall the history of the original soundtrack and explain what could be the most likely precondition for the appearance of a remaster, assembled from the original samples.

Plus – we are talking about a small audio pass connected with the Lego Island game for Windows 97 release. If you don’t feel like reading, right away go to listening – the mood and unique atmosphere of classic Mario are guaranteed for a couple of tens of minutes.


Why movies and TV shows are watched not on smart TV, but on laptops… As it turns out, the fight against overloaded interfaces and not the most successful functions of “smart” TVs like motion smoothing often leads to a complete rejection of the use of such devices. In their place are more familiar and understandable gadgets – computers, tablets and smartphones with streaming applications. Either “simple boxes“, To which the viewer connects the appropriate set-top boxes. We talk a little more about the complexities and prerequisites of the current situation, and also reflect on what to expect in the future.


Photo: Rachit Tank.  Source: Unsplash.com
Photo: Rachit Tank. Source: Unsplash.com

How SoundCloud Can Rebuild Monetization… Alternative compensation models for creators and performers are what nearly every online platform strives for. Music services are no exception. They have enough problems with complaints about small payments, and SoundCloud also has eternal difficulties with earning money. For the whole history of existence the company managed to get out “plus” for just a couple of blocks.

We discuss what the top managers of the platform have decided to do, what potential benefits musicians can get from this, and who is most likely to be among SoundCloud partners in joint projects aimed at attracting an audience.


Audio social networks are eager to reach a mass audience, but it turns out so-so… In addition to experiments with releases on the side of music platforms and labels, there is really a lot of movement in the audio project niche. Let’s talk about what is happening with the notorious Clubhouse, its direct and indirect competitors – Breaker, Twitter Spaces and Discord.

We continue this topic in other materials on Habré: in the first we talk about Facebook initiatives, and in the second we pay a little more attention to criticism of the “club house”.


Streaming Services, Acoustics, ATSC 3.0 and ELAC History… We share materials on these and other topics in one of the previous collections of selected notes from “World Hi-Fi“. We are raising the question of choosing a studio, talking about the “playlist” of audio content, the problem of piracy and more significant difficulties that musicians face. Feel free to use these materials for additional reading if you want to continue it after reading the sources in today’s collection.



Surround sound system “on paper”… We discuss how the specialists of the Technical University of Chemnitz managed to print it, and how the so-called “musical paper” is arranged. Interestingly, the project has been developed and improved for more than six years, and most recently, his team presented another technological update. A few words about him, the history of the project and its development – in our compact note on this topic.


Why did piano sound designers break… Of course, not for the sake of clickbait videos on YouTube, but for recording the sound effects of the Halo Infinite game. In a nutshell, let’s talk about how the sound engineers performed aggressive reverse engineering and what results they got. By the way, they posted the video version – you will find it in our compact material. And if you want, listen also to the interview with a Russian specialist who has been dealing with similar projects in the West for many years.


Our other selections on Habré:

  • Gaming headphones with mic – four models for recording podcasts and calls

  • Three off-the-shelf USB microphones for recording videos and podcasts

  • We share reviews of three pairs of noteworthy shelf-type systems


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