iOS: One of the best parts of any science-fiction game or movie are those ominous tones that suggest a conversation or discovery is about to head south — a quintessential part of the soundtrack that adds a lot of atmosphere (and tension) to an experience. And now, thanks to an open-source iOS app, you can make your own imposing synthesiser sounds and teach yourself the basics of music production.

Most audio receivers worth their salt come with a tiny microphone that you can use to automatically calibrate your speakers to your room’s specific setup. Easy.

WhatsApp Messenger is a free messaging platform that you can use to send messages, voice notes and photos to your friends; ring them up for a quick video call; or send secrets.

iOS: You know what's easy? Sending your friend an audio file via iPhone text message. You know what isn't easy? Listening to that audio file via iPhone text message. Well, there's a better way.

Mac: Sometimes an app doesn't have to do a lot to be incredibly useful. And that's exactly why I like Simple Recorder. As its name implies, it allows you to turn your Mac into a miniature sound-recording machine, whether you're looking to capture the noise blasting out of your speakers or the sounds of wherever it is you happen to be using your laptop (or desktop, I suppose).

Android: There are plenty of people who don't need bells and whistles when an easy-to-understand, well-designed app will do. And that's my impression of Google's new Podcasts app - teased for some time and finally made available for download as of yesterday.

Dolby Atmos is the latest evolution in surround sound technology that puts audio from movies and games not just around you but above you too, allowing you to hear sound from every direction. It also assigns individual on-screen elements their own audio track that the system can position in the listening space beyond the limitations of traditional 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound channels.

In the beginning, the laurel-or-yanny clip said laurel and nothing but laurel. Here is the original version of the clip, recorded by an opera singer working for Vocabulary.com. Chances are, you'll hear it as laurel too. Let's compare it to the viral clip and we'll see exactly what changed, and why half of us hear the viral clip as yanny.

A sound clip of the word "laurel" sounds like "yanny" to some people (people who are wrong) in a new, auditory counterpart to The Dress. Already heard it? Great! Here are some more mind-bending audio clips you should listen to.

For many of you, a single pair of speakers or headphones is all you probably need for your desktop or laptop system. For others, rocking out, gaming, and listening to movies is a constant battle with Windows over which connected audio device the operating system should use to blast noise.

Google's latest update to Chrome came with big changes about how the browser treats autoplaying videos, but it's now causing a lot of audio issues with various web apps and games.

Here's the bad news: If you're an aspiring sound designer or you're looking for some random noise to insert into a big project you're working on, the BBC's new archive of more than 16,000 free sound effects won't help you much. They're all bound by a RemArc licence that prohibits using these files in commercial work.

iOS: As a reporter, I end up taking a lot of notes pretty much everywhere I go. Audio recordings are great for not missing anything, but one thing has proved true for me pretty much across the board: The part of the interview I want to find is always the part where I was paying so much attention to the person talking that I failed to note the time code.

There are plenty of existing soundboard apps (and sites), but the new app Farrago may be the best.

Broadway superstars Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ben Platt dropped a bomb for theatre geeks early this morning, remixing two songs from their always-sold-out musicals into a lovely duet you can purchase or stream for free across a number of different online services, like YouTube.

As Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen fans burn through their data plans putting this hot track on loop, it's a great time to revisit all the different ways you can save YouTube content offline for obsessively watching later.

iOS: Not everyone has a list of favourite podcasts like the nerds at Lifehacker. If you're new to podcasts, the available apps for managing them can feel needlessly complex - especially if all you want is the latest episode of that one show your friend mentioned. If you don't want to worry about things such as storage cache and playlist generation, check out 'sodes, an easy-to-use podcast app.

Sure, you've heard of binge-watching shows on Netflix, but how about binge listening?

At the tail end of 2017, I had the good fortune to babysit some adorable children for a few hours, during which they proceeded to ask all sorts of (mostly PJ Masks-related) questions. One actual question was: "How does the TV make sound?" As I explained how sound and air interacted, what I really wanted was something tangible I could use to show them exactly how it works - specifically, I wanted this guide on waveforms.

This review is about the Sonos Play:5 but it's a little more than that. I've had various bits of Sonos kit running in my home for several years so it's also about the user experience that comes from being a long-term user of Sonos' kit. While Sonos gear is priced at the premium end of the market, the quality it delivers in terms of sound quality and usability means any new entrants (this means you Apple with your HomePod) needs to be very good.