I’ll be the first to admit that while I know nothing about tech and sound from a behind-the-board perspective, my ears do work well enough to recognize when something sounds like shit. A master at knowing what does and does not sound like shit is our prog God, six-time-Grammy-nominated musician, songwriter and producer Steven Wilson. He’s never not up to a lot, and his most recent endeavor shows him bringing studio-quality immersive sound to masses. What exactly does that entail? I don’t fuckin know, but whatever it is, he’s calling it Headphone Dust.
It seems like Headphone Dust will offer up special, high-resolution, 5.1, and Atmos/spatial audi editions of Wilson’s work. Its first release is Impossible Tightrope: Live In Madrid, which features the full, two-hour show of the final night of the European leg of Wilson’s 2025 “The Overview” tour in Stereo, 5.1 and Atmos. As of right now, there are no plans to release physical copies of this, so it’s exclusive to Headphone Dust. The platform also offers a new Dolby Atmos mix of Wilson’s 2013 album The Raven that Refused to Sing, as well as high-res editions of The Overview, The Harmony Codex, and more. Allegedly, a new Atmos mix of 2015’s Hand. Cannot. Erase. will come out soon, as well.
Wilson said this of the new venture:
“I am thrilled to announce the launch of Headphone Dust, a new online platform dedicated to studio-quality immersive sound.
“For some time, I’ve wanted a permanent home for my work where listeners can hear the music exactly as I envisage it, without compression or compromise and in every audio format available.
“While I remain committed to the Blu-ray format, I know they are not practical for everyone, and physical releases often go out of print. Headphone Dust solves this with ‘Definitive Digital Editions’ which establish the MKV format as a ‘virtual Blu-ray,’ making high-res, 5.1, and Dolby Atmos mixes as easily accessible as possible.”
Headphone Dust is open now at headphonedust.store, so go check it out.