The Listening Rooms

Marginalia #3 — Ben from Soundmeow

Marginalia is a series of short interviews with music lovers from small corners of the internet — bloggers, reviewers, and listeners worth knowing about.

'Soundmeow

Who are you and what do you do?

I’m Ben and I have a Youtube channel called Soundmeow. I review audio gear. But it’s a secret identity because most of my family and friends don’t know about it. The audiophile hobby is quite niche so they don’t really understand it. Usually they slowly back away or start talking about the weather. I’ve been so good at keeping it a secret I have less than 1000 subscribers.

How did you get into music? Any highlights in your journey?

I’ve always had music in my house since I was young as my father loves music. We used to go buy cassettes together. He loves country music which I never could get into. Actually my whole family loves music. I used to go to the record store with my grandfather, aunts and uncles where they shopped for records. Not a lot to do in a small town so shopping for music was a favourite pastime! 

So I grew up with all kinds of music - Carpenters (didn’t like), Perry Como (not bad), Pat Boone (nope), Boney M. (yeah!) ABBA (yes!) etc. But they were usually in the background and not something I actively sought out. Until…..Eye of the Tiger by Survivor! That was when I started actively trying out new music.

What's your current favorite album/artist and why?

I listen to a lot of stuff and don’t really have a favourite album or artist. I’d say Chance Pena at the moment. I just make a playlist of my favourite tracks from him so no particular album. Check out Burned It Down.

Why? I don’t know. It just resonates with me I guess. Emo music. LOL

What's an album that you feel holds up to the years and will stand the test of time?

ACHTUNG BABY
U2's Achtung Baby

Achtung Baby by U2. The first time I heard The Fly, it….flew past me. I didn’t realise it was U2 until the radio announcer said the band name. That blew me away because it sounded so different. And the whole album still holds up today with a solid tracklist that ages well musically and lyrically.

What's a "guilty pleasure" artist you'll defend to anyone who'll listen?

1 song: Dragostea Din Tei by O-Zone.

Not giving them credit for anything apart from putting a smile on my face and annoying my family. I’m not brave enough to check out anything else by the band.

How do you discover new (or old) music these days?

TIDAL’s My Daily Discovery and Spotify’s Release Radar. Also their weekly New Releases playlist. I also just go to a track radio sometimes and let whatever plays do its thing.

What's an album or artist everyone seems to love that you just couldn't get into?

Men I Trust, Laufey. One day I’ll get it.

If you could only listen to one genre for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?

Rock I suppose. It covers a wide enough range so I guess I’m cheating. Why? The energy and emotion. And I like the use of analog instruments if you can call electric guitars analog. I wish most of them were produced better though.

How do you listen to music i.e. via streaming, vinyl, CDs? What audio gear do you use?

Mostly TIDAL streaming. I do have a few hundred CDs that are collecting dust so a CD player is in the plans.

I mainly use IEMs and sometimes headphones and the music is streamed through Digital Audio Players, sometimes connected to separate amplifiers.

My IEMs (In-ear Monitors):

Digital Audio Players:

Amp:

True Wireless Earbuds:

Where can we find you and do you have anything you would like to share?

I’m on Facebook under Soundmeow Audio.

Maybe I’ll do something this year but nothing ongoing at the moment. Hit me up with collab ideas!

Ben is the first audio-gear-focused content creator that Marginalia featured! He is a fellow audio-gear fan and one of the few Malaysian Youtube and Facebook reviewers active :)

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