Three pins, and nearly every signal in this business passes through them.

The magazine is named after the cable: the microphone in the booth, the line to the desk, the DMX run that fires the lights. Studio, stage and rig share the same cable. Most magazines pick one of the three. This one covers all of it, because the people we read do too — the engineer mixing a record on Tuesday is on front of house by Saturday.

More than three hundred sources, in sixteen languages: makers and their release notes, reviewers who put a hand on the thing, studios and touring crews, the producers and collectives surfacing this month and the scenes they came out of. Synths and modular, plugins and DAWs, guitars and drums, microphones, monitors, PA and lighting. What the trade is talking about is counted and plotted. The editor's letter has just started; it will find its rhythm.

For each story: a headline, a short excerpt, one picture and the link out. We never reprint the article, and the picture belongs to the maker or the photographer. A German review appears in German and a Japanese one in Japanese, as the writer published it; the link goes to the original.

Nothing is sold on this site. When a link leads to a shop, it is the maker's shop, not ours.

← XLR MAG Archive

Chicago Music ExchangeGear

Benson Amps | CME Exclusive Blue Floral Amplifiers

09.03

Chris Benson has spent over a decade building hand-wired tube amps that give classic American circuits a harmonically rich twist — and now three of his amps are getting a look you can only find at…

Electric guitars & amps

Read at Chicago Music Exchange ↗

One letter a week, starting soon.

Latest

Benson Amps | CME Exclusive Blue Floral Amplifiers

Related

GearIntroducing | Frank Brothers Guitar Company Chicago Music Exchange

GearMarshall | 1959BJA Artist Signature Amp Chicago Music Exchange

GearFender & Squier | New Baritone Guitars for Summer 2026 Chicago Music Exchange

GearTwo-Rock Amplifiers At Chicago Music Exchange! | Two-Rock Explained Chicago Music Exchange

GearThe Rarest Guitar You've Never Heard Of - The Allure of Languedoc Guitars Chicago Music Exchange

GearIbanez | April 2026 New Guitars Chicago Music Exchange