Steven Wilson has announced details of a new online platform that will become the one-stop home for his renowned, Grammy-nominated spatial audio mixes, making “studio-quality immersive sound accessible to everyone”.
The platform represents a major shift in music distribution, designed to solve the problem of physical media obsolescence by establishing the MKV format as the new standard for archival-quality digital download releases.
Headphone Dust will be the first destination for anyone wanting to hear Wilson’s records exactly as he envisages them. The platform will sell music in the highest possible quality, offering fully immersive versions of Wilson’s classic, expansive releases that elevate the listening experience from simple stereo into something closer to celestial sound.
Headphone Dust will offer listeners two ways to experience albums. Releases will be available either as a Definitive Digital Edition (MKV & FLAC) or for releases where there are no Atmos mixes are available as a Standard Digital Edition (stereo and 5.1).
Each Digital Definitive Edition version is the equivalent of a “virtual Blu-ray”, with a primary MKV file containing the album in every conceivable format, allowing fans to switch instantly between mixes without compression or compromise. Listeners can expect to find Dolby Atmos, 5.1 Surround, and Hi-Res Stereo, alongside Hi-Res Stereo Instrumentals, Binaural “Headphone Dust” mixes, and even 4K music videos/visuals where available.
Additionally, select Definitive Digital Edition releases also come with a secondary MKV file containing bonus features (like studio documentaries and demo tracks).
Individual FLAC downloads of stereo, 5.1 and Binaural are also included with every Definitive Digital Edition. Every release also includes PDF booklets featuring artwork, lyrics, and recording credits.
Initially, Headphone Dust will focus on selling Definitive Digital Editions of Wilson’s own hugely acclaimed solo albums and Bass Communion releases. After launch, the plan is to expand to include other like-minded artists whose work he has mixed over the last decade.
The platform will launch with an exclusive live recording from 2025’s The Overview tour. Impossible Tightrope: Live in Madrid captures the final night of the European leg of the tour, which The Guardian described as “an interstellar sound voyage with Floydian grandeur”.
Impossible Tightrope Live in Madrid will not receive a physical release and will not be available anywhere else.
Steven Wilson on Headphone Dust: “For some time I’ve been planning to have an online platform where I can focus on making audiophile versions of the things I work on. I love (and am still committed to) the Blu-ray format, but not everyone has the capacity to play these discs, not to mention that these releases need to be limited and tend to go out of print quickly, meaning the audio becomes unavailable.
“So I’m happy to announce that a brand new Headphone Dust high res audio resource has now launched and will provide a permanent home for my work to be downloaded in high resolution, 5.1 and Atmos / spatial audio. To begin with I’m concentrating on my solo catalogue, but in time I hope to also be able to include other work with my own bands / collaborations and the many artists I’ve mixed for.
“To celebrate the launch an exclusive live album is now available. Impossible Tightrope is a complete document of the final concert of the European leg of The Overview tour. Recorded in front of a lively Madrid audience, the two hour plus show has been mixed from the multitracks in stereo, 5.1 and Dolby Atmos. There are no plans for any physical release of this recording.
“Additionally I have remixed two of my most popular albums The Raven That Refused to Sing (2013), and Hand.Cannot.Erase (2015) into Dolby Atmos for the first time. Raven is out now and Hand. Cannot. Erase. will be available soon!”
Headphone Dust’s first exclusive release – Impossible Tightrope: Live in Madrid – high res stereo / 5.1 / Atmos / Binaural (all mixes exclusive to Headphone Dust) – features:
- Objects Outlive Us
- The Overview
- The Harmony Codex
- Home Invasion/Regret #9
- What Life Brings
- Voyage 34
- Dislocated Day
- Abandoner
- Impossible Tightrope
- Harmony Korine
- Vermillioncore
- Ancestral
- The Raven That Refused To Sing
AVAILABLE NOW AT HEADPHONE DUST
Steven Wilson:
- Impossible Tightrope: Live in Madrid – MKV / FLAC (Headphone Dust Exclusive)
- The Raven That Refused to Sing – MKV / FLAC (New Exclusive Dolby Atmos/Binaural Mixes)
- The Overview – MKV / FLAC
- The Harmony Codex – MKV / FLAC
- Grace For Drowning – FLAC (Stereo & 5.1)
Bass Communion:
- The Itself of Itself – FLAC (Stereo & 5.1)
Pure Sound No Compromise – Headphone Dust is open now.
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