XLR

Latest

On the calendar

· Trade shows and launch events, this week's stories from each corner of the industry, and what its press is covering.

On view

This week, from that corner the newest stories from the corner of the industry you picked

The wire their own posts, translated

How records get made in 2026 from the industry's own reports

Sources

Fetched every three hours, linked to the original

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

MusicRadarGear

“You wouldn’t have expected me to state Blur and Radiohead as influences. But I get bored and I sit around and play along to songs that I like”: Slipknot’s Jim Root on his unlikely guitar inspirations

September 16

The darkly-hued, brutal menace of Slipknot’s fifth album, .5: The Gray Chapter captivated eager fans upon its release back in 2014. Starved of new Slipknot material since 2008’s All Hope is Gone , the album found its twi

Electric guitars & amps

Read at MusicRadar ↗

IK Multimedia launches flagship amp and effects modeller that lets you run four Tone Models simultaneously: “The complete Tonex rig on a single pedalboard”

GearIK Multimedia launches flagship amp and effects modeller that lets you run four Tone Models simultaneously: “The complete Tonex rig on a single pedalboard” MusicRadar

One letter a week, in your inbox.

Latest

“You wouldn’t have expected me to state Blur and Radiohead as influences. But I get bored and I sit around and play along to songs that I like”: Slipknot’s Jim Root on his unlikely guitar inspirations

Related

GearIK Multimedia launches flagship amp and effects modeller that lets you run four Tone Models simultaneously: “The complete Tonex rig on a single pedalboard” MusicRadar

Gear"Superb playability, a versatile sound set, and pretty unbeatable value": Shergold Telstar Standard ST14 12-String review MusicRadar

ScenesFENDER HONOURS LEGENDARY SESSION BASSIST LEE SKLAR WITH SIGNATURE PRECISION BASS® Australian Musician

GearFender honours Lee Sklar with signature Precision Bass Mixdown

GearGibson and Baggs unveil HiFi DNA pickup system Mixdown

ScenesGIBSON x BAGGS INTRODUCE HIFI DNA™ PICKUP SYSTEM Australian Musician