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About

XLR is a magazine, a radar and a diary about music gear and the making of music — for the people who make records and put on shows, wherever they do it.

The name is the three-pin connector that every signal in the business passes through: the microphone on stage and in the booth, the line to the desk, the DMX cable that runs the lights. Studio, stage and lighting rig share it, and so does this magazine. Every few hours XLR collects what the makers shipped, what the reviewers heard, what the studios and the touring crews are doing, which producers and collectives are surfacing and what they are saying — synths and modular, plugins and DAWs, guitars and drums, microphones, monitors, PA and lights, the rooms and the people — from a few hundred sources in English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese and more, then plots what is moving. The editor writes a letter every few days. Nothing is sold here; when a link leads to a shop, that is the maker's shop, not ours.

← XLR Archive

Guitar PlayerGuitars

Tony Iommi urged Ozzy Osbourne to skip Black Sabbath’s final show: “It was difficult seeing him like that”

September 15

Tony Iommi admits he didn’t want to perform at Black Sabbath’s historic final gig in July 2025, and he also turned down an opportunity to record a final album with the band’s original lineup. The electric-guitar icon tel

Read at Guitar Player ↗

GuitarsDavid Lee Roth and Alex Van Halen reunite for the first time in more than a decade: “This is also a step towards world peace” Guitar Player

GuitarsWe review the Warm Audio Dirty Boy Jr. Overdrive, Fuzz and Booster effects pedals: "For players seeking a classic U.K. palette” Guitar Player

GuitarsDolly Parton honored at the Emmys as Sally Field remembers her: “If there are truly angels on Earth, then we just lost one” Guitar Player

Dave Grohl on how Nirvana were blindsided by the success of “Smells Like Teen Spirit”: “We played that song for the first time and the audience went nuts”

GuitarsDave Grohl on how Nirvana were blindsided by the success of “Smells Like Teen Spirit”: “We played that song for the first time and the audience went nuts” Guitar Player

Dave Mustaine names four bands that could reshape thrash metal’s Big Four — Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax: “I believe there are ways to do it”

GuitarsDave Mustaine names four bands that could reshape thrash metal’s Big Four — Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax: “I believe there are ways to do it” Guitar Player

GuitarsBilly Gibbons and Dion had made music together but never met — until a remarkable backstage encounter this Saturday: “We instantly bonded” Guitar Player

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