Whether you’re looking for some calming white noise to help you drift off to sleep at night, or you just moved to the desert and desperately miss the sound of falling rain, this unique piece of vinyl should fill that void in your life. On one side of the endless rain record you’ll find a long track of, you guessed it, falling rain, while the other side features looped grooves that play a continuous stream of more distinct rain drops. $39 from the designboom shop, or free if you just move to a rainforest.

[ Endless Rain Record ] VIA [ Better Living Through Design ]

Wannabe DJs with a bit more money in their pockets now don’t just have to settle with DJ Hero to get their ‘wheels of steel’ fix. Vestax Japan has just announced the ‘Spin’ which is a turntable-esque USB console/controller designed specifically for the Mac.

It’s got a set of touch sensitive scroll wheels allowing you to scratch or backspin in real time, and while I can’t imagine it’s anywhere near as accurate or realistic as the real thing, the Spin at least allows you to play and mix songs directly from your iTunes library. In other words you don’t need to spend money on milk crates full of vinyl. It’s expected to be available in Japan come December for about $330 which gives me a glimmer of hope that it might not actually suck.

[ Vestax Spin ] VIA [ Newlaunches ]

This morning Blue Microphones announced their new Yeti model which is apparently the world’s first THX certified microphone. But what’s more useful is the mic’s ‘triple condenser capsule array’ which allows it to be switched between four different pickup patterns including stereo, cardioid, omni-directional and bi-directional. It’s also got a high quality built-in analog-to-digital converter (it does connect to your PC via USB after all) as well as its own headphone jack for zero-latency monitoring of what you’re recording. With an MSRP of $149.99 it might not be the most affordable choice if you’re just going to use it with Skype, but if you’re spitting out podcasts on a weekly basis or doing any kind of prosumer recording with your PC it sounds like it could really up your game.

[ Blue Microphones - Yeti ]

If internet radio is your thing, and you often find yourself befuddled by buttons, dials and knobs, design and development firm Cambridge Consultants has just the thing for you! Their recently unveiled Q2 Cube Internet Radio features no visible controls, but instead relies on gravity to change its settings. To select from one of four preset stations, you just turn the cube onto one of its four sides, and to adjust the volume up or down, you just tilt it forwards or backwards. At the moment pricing info hasn’t been revealed, but the company expects to at least have the Cube Radio available in the U.K. in time for Christmas.

[ Wired Gadget Lab - Q2 Cube Internet Radio ] VIA [ Core77 ]

Designed by Alyce Santoro and Julio Cesar, these rather dapper Sonic Fabric Neckties are made from 50% colored thread and 50% recorded audio cassette tape which means you can sacrifice an old Walkman to make a ’sonic fabric reader’ (see the video below) allowing you to hear remnants of what was originally on the tapes.

The Sonic Fabric Neckties are available from Supermarket in black, dark brown and grey for $90 a pop, plus the cost of a Walkman if your curiosity gets the best of you.

[ Supermarket - Sonic Fabric Neckties ] VIA [ Pocket-lint ]

If you’ve yet to make the move from analog cassette tapes to digital audio files, the Tape Express from ION Audio will make the transition a bit easier for you. First of all, the device looks like an old-school Walkman, and if you’re still listening to cassettes on a daily basis, there’s a good chance you’re a master of that technology. Converting your tapes to MP3s is as easy as connecting the device to your PC via USB and hitting play. The included EZ Tape Converter software will take care of the rest.

And if you’re having a difficult time transitioning to this futuristic circa-1995 digital MP3 technology, the Tape Express also works like a regular tape player, allowing you to listen to your music the old-fashioned way. IWOOT appears to have it for just over $80, though they’re sold out at the moment.

[ ION Audio Tape Express ] VIA [ Retro To Go ]

By Chris Scott Barr

Last month I showed you guys the Livio Radio, and gave you an in-depth review of the device. If you’re into listening to music all day long, then it really is one of the coolest radios out there. However, what if music isn’t really your thing? If you like talk radio, then Livio has something just for you.

I’ve never listened to NPR, but if that’s your thing then you might want to check out the NPR Radio by Livio. This device is very similar to is Pandora-playing brother, however you’ll be tuning into more than 1,000 NPR station streams. You’ll also have access to over 800 podcasts and audio archives of NPR programs. If you do feel like a little music, then you can tune into one of the 16,000 various internet radio stations through Reciva. You’re not going to find more talk radio without a PC or some sort of HD radio. You can pick the NPR Radio now for $199.

[ Livio ]

If you find yourself using the Voice Memos app on the iPhone a lot, or capture a lot of videos, this tiny pseudo-shotgun mic for the iPhone 3G and 3GS claims to provide “10 times better audio reception!” for just $14. It plugs into the iPhone’s headphone jack and can be pointed in any direction for capturing audio directly from the source, and according to Brando it gains 25+ db over the iPhone’s built-in mic.

[ Brando Workshop Flexible Mini Capsule Microphone for iPhone 3G S ] VIA [ The Red Ferret Journal ]

This post is syndicated with permission from GamerFront.net

If you play PC games with other people online, there’s a good chance that you use some sort of voice chat. When playing WoW, our entire guild would use Ventrilo in order to stay coordinated in raids, or just to chit-chat. I never cared for free-standing mics, so I would always be wearing a headset. Sometimes it can be hard to find one that sounds good, picks up your voice properly and feels comfortable during long-term gaming sessions. This is why I love getting to review new headsets, so you don’t have to figure out the hard way whether or not one is worth buying. Well today I’m going to be sharing my thoughts on the Logitech Gaming Headset G330.

First Look

The G330 headset is of the behind-the-head variety, making it smaller than more traditional headsets. You’ll see that the width is actually adjustable on these, which is a welcome feature not often seen (on behind-the-head styles). The mic extends from the left ear and is adjustable. You will find in-line controls and your choice of standard stereo jacks or a USB adapter for hooking the device to your computer.

Installation

There’s really not much to talk about here. If you’re completely out of USB ports, you can just plug this into your standard audio jack. Of course if you do have a free port, I would recommend using it. On Windows 7, I needed only to plug it in and the computer automatically switched over to using the headset as my primary audio source. On my Mac (Snow Leopard) I only needed to Option-Click on my volume icon to switch my source. No software was required on either OS.

Comfort

One of the most important features of a headset is comfort. Great sound quality doesn’t matter if you can’t wear them for more than an hour at a time. I’ve never been a fan of behind-the-head sets for this very reason. I’m pleased to say that these are my favorite to date. They still aren’t as comfortable as traditional headphones, but they are the closest I’ve found. One of the biggest reasons these are so comfortable is because of that adjustable band in the back. Most others I’ve used are too loose or tight, which eventually causes pain or discomfort. This was eventually felt on the ears themselves, but only after extended use.

Audio Quality

Sound quality is almost as important as comfort, but I’m more likely to deal with average sound if the headphones are comfortable. The G330 is nothing to write home about, especially when using the stereo jacks. When plugged in via USB, the sound was a little more crisp during gaming and when listening to music, but not very much. If anything, I’d say the audio was a little flat, regardless of how you had the headset plugged in. It was not enough to dissuade me from using them on a regular basis.

I’ve had a lot of issues with microphones in the past. The biggest problem was generally that it wasn’t adjustable. I honestly don’t know why anyone would make a headset without an adjustable mic. I will never purchase one again. The G330’s is very flexible, allowing you to find the perfect position. Once you’ve found that sweet spot, you’re going to be impressed. When at home, I make all of my calls via Skype (thanks to AT&T’s abysmal coverage in the area). Even with a bit of music or a movie on in the background at a moderate level, the people I spoke to would rarely notice any background noise due to the noise-canceling abilities of the mic.

Verdict

If behind-the-head is your thing (and it really does come down to a matter of preference) then you’ll love the G330 Gaming Headset. It is the most comfortable of its type, and while the audio output isn’t phenomenal, it is perfectly acceptable. The clear audio input and its ability to use either stereo jacks or USB definitely make this $50 headset worth the money.

[ Logitech ] VIA [ GamerFront ]

You can brag about your karaoke skills all you want, but if you want to prove you’ve got the chops when it comes to singing along with a bouncing ball you’ll need to take this karaoke machine for a spin. You see the microphone detects the pitch of each note you sing and compares it against how it’s supposed to sound, and the closer you are, the higher your score will be.

The Scoring Karaoke Game comes with 100 songs from the likes of Elvis, The Beatles and Frank Sinatra, but new songs can be downloaded and transferred to the base unit either via USB or its SD card slot. And while that base unit gets tethered to your TV with an included AV cable, the microphone is wireless, freeing you up to dance around and look as terrible as you sound. $199.95 from Hammacher Schlemmer.

[ The Only Scoring Karaoke Game ]