365 days is a lot of time to seek out stories on adventure, gear, and everything in between. Here’s a look back at the best our tech writers spun up over the course of 2015 — from testing the best electric car in the world to a 10-player arcade cabinet that’s changing gaming.
Quote of the Year
A Great Gripe
“Not to sound like an old curmudgeon, but how often do you really need 50MP?”
The Stories
Powering Up
Building the World’s Premier Synthesizers
By J. Travis Smith: At the Moog Music factory, 20 employees make every iconic synthesizer by hand, the same way they’ve been making them for decades. In the world of digital, they remain steadfast in the value of analogue — and now they’ve announced plans to reinvest in the past.
6 Perfect Hi-Fi Headphone Setups
By Eric Yang: Listening setups for at home, on the go, at work and more — premade with the best gear around.
The Games that Inspire Video Gaming’s Top Creators
By Chris Wright: What do Pac-Man, Halo, Limbo and Minecraft have in common? They all influenced some of gaming’s best and brightest.
The Party Game that’s Reinvigorating the Arcade
By Chris Wright: Killer Queen, a 10-player game that breaks all the rules of arcade gaming, may be coming soon to a city near you.
The Best Car in the World
By Eric Adams: After driving the Tesla P85D around Silicon Valley, we’ve come to a definitive conclusion about its place in today’s car rankings — it beats all comers.
The Real Story of Record Store Day
By Nick Milanes: Record stores were sinking, till some enterprising upstarts thought up Record Store Day and saved them. Or so they say.
Why American Esports Are Taking Off
By Nick Milanes: Esports are a multimillion-dollar industry, but remain a mystery to most Americans. Halo‘s nascent championship league is a good primer for noobs.
The Pitch-Perfect Legacy of Joseph Grado
By Tom Samiljan: Joseph Grado, who died at the age of 90 earlier this month, took his watchmaker skills to handmade audio cartridges, turntable tone arms, and headphones at Grado Labs.
A Primer to TIDAL Hi-Fi Music Streaming
By Tom Samiljan: Tidal hi-fi music gives unlimited streaming of a catalog of more than 25 million hi-fi tracks and high-def videos. That’s music to our ears.
The 5DS R Is the Best Camera Canon’s Ever Made (But You Probably Shouldn’t Buy It)
By Henry Phillips: The Canon 5DS and 5DS R are ultra high resolution and incredibly impressive. But who are they for?
