Within half an hour of Tweeting the fact that I finally got my paws on the new stereo Beatles remasters this week, my email inbox was clogged with the same question repeated practically ad infinitum: “So... don’t leave me hanging. How do they sound?” The ellipses were often stretched to the point of abuse, and the question marks ranged from solitary to the obscene, but I read that exactly question so many times I almost started to have Tweet remorse

Honestly, though, who doesn’t want to know how these discs sound? So I’ll cut to the chase and tell you all what I told them:

On Music and Filters

Did rock die in 1972? Are "old people" just glamorizing classic rock and ignoring modern music?

In our most opinionated, animated and heated podcast yet, Brent, Geoff, Kevin and Steve get into a debate on the state of music.

Download link after the jump.

I still remember the first time I bought this album. I was going on fourteen years old, on a school trip to New York City. I found the tape in a little store off the beaten path. Nevermind had just come out, but no one could foresee the impact on music Nirvana was going to have.

Fast forward to 2009 and I sit here admiring a gorgeous 180-gram white vinyl 2 LP set. Album #1 is a remastered pressing of the original Bleach LP. The other is a February 9th, 1990 show at the Pine Street Theatre in Portland, Oregon.

I know what's about to happen. I'm about to sit here and type a thousand words or so, waxing left and right about The Beatles: Rock Band, how it fits into the current glut of music/rhythm games, whether it does justice to the band and their legacy, blah blah blah...

When really, what it all boils down to is this: if you like The Beatles, go buy this game. Now. If you like the Beatles and don't own a PS3 or Xbox 360 (or Wii, I guess), go buy one of those. Now. And then buy this game. Right after that.

Our 10 Best Software Award winners.

Nothing less than our picks for the best demo material of the past year.

"Marantz combines our commitment to creating the best sounding products using the most advanced audio technologies with our deep passion for music - all to deliver an extremely high quality and emotionally connected listening experience. And as a longtime supporter and proponent of both classical and rock music, our sponsorship of David Garrett is a perfect fit. David conveys both the excitement and emotion of classical music while engaging younger audiences with his stunningly modern rock and pop compositions. We are delighted to be working with such an exciting talent in this stage of a career that is sure to set the world on fire!"

Garrett is one of the most exciting crossover stars in the music world today. He made his first public appearance at the Hamburg Philharmonic when he was ten and at 13 became the youngest classical artist ever to sign a contract with a record label. After graduating from New York's prestigious Juilliard School in 2004, where he was among the first students to study with Itzhak Perlman, he launched a unique career that energetically combines classical elements with those of pop, rock and rhythm and blues. He recently performed live on NBC's "The Today Show".

To learn more about Marantz and David Garrett, click here:

Digital hi-fi never really went away, but it’s back and better than ever after taking a bit of a beating.

If your golden ears have shied away from the digital domain before, though, it’s time for another listen. Not only are old formats like SACD finally reaching their full potential thanks to pure digital interconnectivity, the new high-resolution audio formats found on Blu-ray are making access to eerily  high-fidelity music playback easier than ever.