A thermally-assisted magnetic recording head includes a main pole, a plasmon generator, and first and second side shields. The main pole has a front end face located in the medium facing surface. The plasmon generator has a near-field light generating surface located in the medium facing surface. The front end face of the main pole includes a first end face portion, and a second end face portion greater in width than the first end face portion. The first and second side shields have first and second side shield end faces located on opposite sides of at least part of the near-field light generating surface and at least part of the first end face portion in the track width direction.

A method and apparatus for synchronizing audio streamed over a network. The system makes use of a reference track and a common clock that is provided by a server to all participating performers. The performers perform along with and to the reference track wherein the reference track and common clock serve as a baseline reference for all the performers in regard to their audio transmitted to the server. Using the reference track and common clock, the server of the system can reconstruct and synchronize received audio from all the participating performers. The synchronized audio is then provided to a mixer where it is combined and live or real-time adjustments to the audio are made before being provided for broadcast.