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Tag Archives: Audio

Create Your Own Arcade Music With Pianocade

By Hazel Chua on 08/31/12 • Leave a comment!

Pianocade

As expected, 8-bit games come with 8-bit music. I don’t know about you, but I always feel a strong sense of nostalgia every time I pass by my local arcade. It’s not just seeing all the arcade games that I used to play when I was still a kid; it was just the atmosphere, the sounds of the place, that reminded me so much of the childhood that once was.

If you’re missing the good old chiptune sounds of your old arcade gaming days, then you might want to check out the Pianocade. It’s a chiptune synthesizer that looks like an over-sized, extended version of your regular arcade game console. You’ll also be pleased to hear that the Pianocade is more than just a novelty product, as it boasts of a 128-note range and a MIDI connection.

Hit the jump to check out a video of the Pianocade in action!

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Urban Fidelity Art Speakers Are A New Take On An Old Product

By David Ponce on 07/12/12 • Leave a comment!

By David Ponce

It’s not every day a new audio company goes up against Bose, Sony and Best Buy. But the new Urban Fidelity Art Speakers are trying to do just that. Where typical speakers in the $300-$400 price range are black or gray generic boxes, Urban Fidelity speakers are like pieces of art for your living room, featuring dozens of designs from popular indie artists. They also boast features like eco-friendly construction and are made in Los Angeles, not China.

We’re told Urban Fidelity is aiming to do for home stereo what Skullcandy and Beats By Dre did for headphones. In the world of hi-fi, many speaker companies are competing to see who can make the smallest, most invisible speakers. Urban Fidelity dissents and thinks speakers should be as interesting as the music they play; forget hiding your speakers, these are meant to be seen.

The Urban Fidelity speakers pack some pretty impressive technology that’s unlike anything else in the price range: dipole Air Flow driver, 8” double cone and a crossover-free design that’s said to greatly improve clarity. Specs are mid-50Hz to 20kHz, and up to 80 Watts power handling.
Pick up a pair on Kickstarter for only $269. After they launch, the price jumps to $400.

[ Project Page ]

Parrot’s Zik Headphones Pack A Heavy Tech Punch

By David Ponce on 07/11/12 • Leave a comment!

By David Ponce

Headphones can be boring to write about. But when they’re designed by Philipe Stark and pack as much tech as these, they pique even our blasé minds. “Alongside the standard Bluetooth connectivity, Parrot’s new Zik headphones feature active noise cancellation technology, a touch panel on the right earpiece, a head detection sensor, bone conduction sensor, five microphones and, in a headphone first, integrated near field communication (NFC) technology.” The active noise cancellation senses outside noises and produces “opposite waves” to eliminate up to 25dB of ambient noise. The touch panel on the right ear cup lets you interact with your music: a left/right swipe changes songs, up/down toggles the volume, a single press answers a phone call and a two second press rejects it. The head detection sensor automatically pauses the music then you take them off your head. The bone conduction sensor keeps track of the vibrations in your head and jaw and allows it to better isolate your voice from the ambient noise, and make it easier for your interlocutor to hear you. And finally the NFC makes Bluetooth pairing easier: just tap a compatible device to the left ear cup.

Assuming the sound quality is on par with other headphones in this price range, Parrot may have a winner on its hands. It’s $400.

[ Product Page ] VIA [ Gizmag ]

You Can Now Print Your Own Earbuds-To-Headphone Adapters

By David Ponce on 05/15/12 • Leave a comment!

By David Ponce

There comes a time when stuffing little plastic speakers into your ears gets boring. Maybe your ears hurt, or you just crave the look of oversized headphones better. Who knows why you’d want to eschew the convenience of buds for the bulk of headphones, but there you have it… it could happen. Well, you can now print your very own adapters to do exactly that. You do need to have a 3D printer in the first place, but seeing as how the prices on those things are dropping at an astronomical pace, it’s not unlikely you already own one. Created by the Chilean-born, Paris-based designer JC Karich, the files needed to make them have been made available on the Thingiverse, the marketplace for 3D prints for the Makerbot Replicator we discussed back in January. Yes, the finished product looks like Ramen noodles that were wrestled into a headphone shape, but that’s normal for 3D printed objects. The technology is still in its infancy, and if you don’t like the DIY look, you can choose a finer resolution and/or sand them.

Hit the jump for a few more pictures.

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Props Attachment Keeps Earbuds From Dropping Down When Out Of Your Ears

By David Ponce on 04/25/12 • Leave a comment!

By David Ponce

We live in a comfortable world, where thinking men and women spend time and effort creating products that solve the smallest, most insignificant of problems we have. Like when we take our earbuds out for a little bit, and have nowhere to put them. Do we just hold them in our hands? Let’em dangle down? Our pockets? The Prop is a polypropylene and silicone tether that latches onto your earbuds and holds onto them when they come out. It comes with an adjustable slider “for a perfect fit”, but really we think that feature is just something someone thought of so that they could put it in the product description. It’s $5 and is being made by Quirky, so it should see production soon, although we’re not sure exactly when.

[ Product Page ]

Super Mario Earphones

By David Ponce on 04/10/12 • 1 Comment

By David Ponce

You can choose to drop a few hundred dollars on a set of multi-driver earphones and run the risk of forgetting them someplace. Or you can spend an order of magnitude less and express your undying admiration for iconic game franchises. The Super Mario Earphones probably sound like crap, might break after a few uses and generally don’t scream “quality product”, but they do sport 8-bit images of your favourite plumber and related Mario paraphernalia. For $25, you won’t break the bank even as Mario goes about breaking blocks on your ears.

And that, my friends, was the terrible joke of the day.

[ Product Page ] VIA [ Newlaunches ]

Jack White Releases 3RPM Record To Celebrate Label’s 3 Year Anniversary

By David Ponce on 04/02/12 • 1 Comment

By David Ponce

Jack White, you’re one quirky sumbitch. But that’s alright, because at least there’s some talent to go along with the quirk. See, to celebrate Third Man Record’s 3rd year anniversary, there was a party. And at this party a very limited edition LP was given to all in attendance. It contained all 29 Blue Series singles, but happened to be recorded at 3RPM. Yeah. 3. Of course, there’s an obsession with the number 3 here, and after the break you can read the official statement on this most strange of records.

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The Berlin Boombox Ia Made Of Cardboard, Is Eco-Friendly

By David Ponce on 03/30/12 • Leave a comment!

By David Ponce

We read somewhere that the consumer electronic device with the highest rate of acceptance in American households was the boombox. It was accepted faster than the CD player (came in 2nd) or even the VCR (4th). And despite it falling out of fashion in the mid 90′s or so, like so many trends, it seems to be making a comeback these days. So that’s why we’re not surprised to hear of the Berlin Boombox, a cardboard boombox that you assemble yourself. It comes with all the electronic parts, including an amplifier, and assembly just takes minutes and requires no specific knowledge. It features a phone dock, but with a 3.5mm jack so you can use almost any music player and not just an iPhone or iPod.

It’s currently under funding on Kickstarter, and it costs $50 to pre-order with delivery in June. Not a bad price considering just how unique a product you’re getting. Plus, when you’re done with it you can just put it in the recycle bin.

[ Project Page ]

JLab B-Flex X-Bass Laptop Speaker Reviewed. Verdict: Surprisingly Good

By Ian Chiu on 03/29/12 • Leave a comment!

On-board audio quality on notebooks and most all-in-one computers leaves a lot to be desired. Sometimes the audio quality is so bad users can barely hear anything without resorting to headphones or a bulky set of external speakers. Something that notebook or netbook users wanting improved sound may want to check out is the JLab B-Flex X-Bass Laptop Speaker reviewed at Everything USB. This unique one-piece speaker connects to computers via a USB port and is on a rigid flexible arm which means no excess cable on your desk and allows you to place the speaker for the best use of available space.

The B-Flex X-Bass integrates a tiny passive sub-woofer, which is great for improving bass – something that is typically very lacking in on-board audio. The reviewer is also pleased with the surprising amount of sound it pumps out. The crisp highs and solid lows are equally impressive, considering the driver size. The X-Bass does have a few caveats such as lacking mid-range sound, minimal stereo separation due to the speaker’s design and it lacks an analog input for MP3 players. The little speaker sells for about $40, and is worth checking out.

[JLab B-Flex X-Bass Speaker Review @ Everything USB]

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