Reece Bithrey

Unlike the decades of experience that some of the good folks of Sound Advice have, I'm much newer to the world of tech journalism, chancing into the profession back in the summer of 2019.

I'd been writing for a small, UK-based blog about the niche of mechanical keyboards for a couple of years, and ran my own blog, UNTITLED, before sending a barrage of emails to tech publications in search of mandatory Year 12 work experience. One positive email back was from Trusted Reviews, where, after four days of work experience, I was offered freelance work - it felt like winning the lottery.

Nearly seven years later, I've broadened from peripherals and PCs into the world of sound, using it in part as an excuse to get mentions of Marillion and Rush into headphone and speaker reviews at every turn. I also spend time reviewing other things, such as home wares like air fryers, coffee machines and multicookers - as you can imagine, my house is about as well stocked as your local white goods retailer.

Listening to music is something I've always done, be it through a cheap set of wired Sennheiser headphones I had as a pre-teenager, or the bigger and better equipment acquired as I've gotten older. There's always something exciting about the right equipment allowing you to discover hidden details and nuances in some of your favourite songs.

I'm also a collector of rare and interesting vinyl - and because they're mostly picture discs they never see the light of day and never get played. Just as it should be. CDs seem to be coming back into fashion, so there are some of those around too -- and this at a time when a lot of my generation doesn't even know what a CD is.

I've got a particular fascination for tabletop audio. Being someone with a more modest living space, it can be quite a fun and interesting challenge to see how good a system you can build on a smaller sideboard or combine on a desk, and usually at a more affordable price tag, too.