Sound
Made famous in concerts by Jean Michel Jarre, laser harps recently gained a boost in popularity after being featured in Make Magazine. That's where one Japanese creator, who goes by the mysterious name of 'nameless911', found inspiration prompting him to make his own for an exhibition at his school. Rick Martin was on the scene to capture this and other Tokyo Make Meeting highlights. Read More
The last time most of us heard of Roger Linn, it was when he put his name to the revolutionary Linn LM1 drum machine that became such an integral part of the sound of 1980s pop music - it was used on so many #1 hits that you'll recognize its signature sound straight away. Now, Linn has come up with a new and equally novel tool for musicians - a digital music interface that uses a pressure-sensitive multitouch pad and a layout that combines a piano keyboard with a guitar fretboard. The LinnStrument is one of the most expressive, evocative and enticing new musical instruments we've seen, and its potential is enormous - but it seems this innovative device might be prevented from coming to the market due to unfortunate IP squabbling in the multitouch sector. Read More
The TightDrive from Amptweaker allows guitar and bass players to take control of that all important tone and overcome any unwanted delay that can slow down the sound as it moves through an amp's circuitry. As well as LED-lit gain, distortion, volume and Tight controls the pedal also features an effects loop where onboard effects can be moved in front of or behind the TightDrive's tone modifications. Read More
The ever popular partnership of a sunny day mixed with one’s favorite tunes takes on a new meaning with Japanese company Landport’s Solar Sound speakers. Charging up via embedded solar panels the uniquely shaped portable units offer up to eight hours play from a single charge as well as optional USB connectivity for those cloudy days. Read More
Product designer Matteo Cibic has come up with a very distinctive desktop speaker in the aptly named Hi-Fido. Shaped like a headless dog wearing an Elizabethan collar, Hi-Fido sports a 150-watt speaker that “uses the acoustic properties of ceramic to diffuse the high quality sound with a bass reflex system”. Read More
Just as people with sight in only one eye have problems with depth perception, those with impaired hearing in one ear, known as unilateral hearing loss (UHL) or single-sided deafness (SSD), face difficulty in localizing sound. Addressing the problem with a hearing aid worn in the mouth might not sound like a logical solution, but that’s just what medical device company Sonitus Medical is doing with SoundBite - a hearing system that transmits sound to the inner ear via the teeth. Read More
Logitech's in-ear monitor maker, Ultimate Ears, has announced the forthcoming release of a new member of its professional audio family - the UE 18 Pro six high fidelity speakers per bud, noise canceling monitors. Aimed at professional musicians or dedicated quality-at-any-cost music lovers, the earphones on steroids are claimed to give the user crystal clear sounds across the whole frequency range. Read More
The iPhone's application capabilities continue to astound us. We've seen on-the-fly multitrack recording already in our a cappella review of Sonoma's 4Track app, but this one takes it to a whole new level. Voice band is a multitrack recording app that lets you build up the sound of a full band, including guitars, bass, drums, sax, synths and vocals, using only your voice as an input. The demo video after the jump shows just how simple this process is, and how astoundingly good the results are. Amazing stuff. Read More
Orbitsound T12 soundbar and T3 personal speaker hit the sweet spot
UK company Orbitsound chose CES 2010 to showcase several of its speaker units that make use of its airSOUND technology, the T12 soundbar and T3 personal mobile speaker. The T12 dock features six front speakers, two side speakers and a subwoofer that create a permanent “sweet spot” no matter where the listener is in the room, while the T3 can be hung around the listener’s neck, also creating quality spatial stereo sound. Read More
A common problem with most MP3 players, portable game systems, and Bluetooth headsets is earbuds that don’t stay in your ear. Many earpieces, like the ubiquitous white iPod earbuds, are designed to be “one-size-fits-all” but simply do not stay put when you’re exercising, gaming, or walking through the airport. Yurtopia aims to fix that problem with their Yurbuds custom-sized earbud enhancers. Read More
