Every Moment Has A Song

“Didn’t know it was possible to fall even more in love with an album”

Pitchblack Playback offers dark room deep listening events in cities around the world.

Bucking the trend of low-quality audio consumed through cheap earbuds, they invite serious listeners to experience classic albums and pre-release premiers at ticked events in dedicated spaces on the best equipment possible.

Check out their website: Pitchblack Playback | immersive album listening sessions in the dark

Pitchblack Playback FAQ:

Why don’t I just listen in the dark at home?

Because unless you’re very lucky, we’re guessing you don’t own a massive cinema sound system. And if you do, we imagine your neighbours probably don’t like you much.

Why ever go to the cinema if you can just download or stream the film to watch at home? Why go to a pub if you can drink at home? Besides, how often do you really put aside the time to just listen without any distractions?

There’s something incredibly special about feeling the bass moving through your body, hearing the sound fill the space around you, and experiencing your favourite music in comfort, silently sharing the experience alongside other people. The combination of volume, the physicality of the low end and the darkness brings about a sort of meditative state.

Basically, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.

Are your events really held in complete darkness?

We’ve allowed ourselves a tiny bit of poetic license here (we love alliteration). We turn out all the house lights at our events to get the room as dark as possible, but fire safety regulations mean we have to keep fire exit lights on. So, at most of our events, you’ll also receive a Pitchblack Playback eye mask in case you want to completely immerse yourself.

What happens at your events?

You grab a drink if you want one (although a few of our venues do not have bars), take your seat, kick back and relax. Before we start, we ask everyone to turn their phones to silent, to keep their phones in their pockets at all times, and to refrain from talking, whispering or singing.

We turn the lights out, play the album loud, in full, in the dark. And that’s it. Food is  available at some of our venues before and after the playback.

How do you play your music?

We play 16-bit or 24-bit uncompressed files. We NEVER play compressed lossy formats or streams (basically, we play the highest definition files we can find which give the most detailed and full sound). We use 24-bit files wherever possible at the highest available sample rate.

Aside from events where the album is available in a Dolby Atmos or 5.1 version (which we advertise as such), we ‘upmix’ stereo files to surround sound to make full use of the venue’s sound system and to create an immersive sound field. We love the effect that this creates as it means the music is coming from all around you rather than just from the front. It’s a different way to listen to music.