Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

Unlike their Vaio P laptop, whose pocketability is dubious at best, Sony’s PCM-M10 digital audio recorder is small enough to be easily stashed in your back pocket without sacrificing functionality. Audio is captured as 96 kHz/24-bit WAV files (at the maximum quality setting) or as MP3s to max out the 4GB of internal memory, but that can be expanded with microSD or Memory Stick Micro cards. It is a Sony product after all.

Other features include a built-in electret condenser stereo mic and speaker, cross-memory recording, digital pitch and key control, a digital limiter, low-cut filter and a USB connection for easily transferring recordings to your PC. It also uses standard AA batteries instead of an internal rechargeable one, and can be yours for a somewhat hefty $399.99.

[ Sony PCM-M10 ] VIA [ Akihabara News ]

By Chris Scott Barr

You don’t exactly see a lot of innovation in the world of earbuds. Sure, a company might make some that sound particularly awesome, or feel a little more comfortable than others. Heck, in-line controls are probably the most advanced thing you’ll see these days. Well Sony Ericsson has created a new technology which they hope will revolutionize the way we use earbuds.

Sony Ericsson’s new MH907 earbuds allow you to control your music in a very unique way. Just pop in both buds and your music will automatically start playing. Take one (or both) out, and the song will pause. If you get a phone call, insert one of the buds to answer, and take it back out to hang up. The features only work with skin contact, so you don’t accidentally answer your phone while the earbuds are in your pocket or anything.

The MH907 earbuds are a little expensive (depending on the quality, as I’ve seen some pretty pricey high-end ones) coming in at $55 when they go on sale later this week. The biggest pitfall I see is  that you’ll need a Sony Ericsson phone with a fast port connector in order to use these.  Hit the jump for one of the craziest commercials I’ve seen in a little while, depicting these earbuds.

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By Andrew Liszewski

The upcoming DJ Hero game looks like a lot of fun, but unlike Rock Band where you can actually learn to play the drums, no one’s pretending a high score will earn you a DJ’ing career at your local clubs. The Discover DJ system from Ion Audio also isn’t a guaranteed ticket to DJ super stardom, but it looks like a cheaper way to see if you’ve got the mixing and scratchin’ chops before you drop the cash on a couple of real 1200s.

The faux turntables feature a couple of natural-feeling ’scratch’ wheels (though smaller than the real thing) as well as the mandatory cross-fader, bass & treble dials and pitch controls. It connects to your PC via USB and includes the MixVibes DJ software which allows you to scratch and mix with any song in your iTunes library. Pricing and availability to be announced.

[ Ion Audio Discover DJ ] VIA [ Acquire ]

By David Ponce

These handcrafted ceramic and cork speakers by Joey Roth claim better sound by virtue of their construction materials not absorbing any sound waves and thus more faithfully reproducing whatever it is the artist intended you to hear. Other features include:

Output – 15 W/ channel, Sensitivity: 89 dB, Frequency Range: 70 Hz – 20 kHz. System includes a dedicated amplifier based on the Tripath 2024 T-Amp, oxygen-free copper speaker cables with banana plug termination, and interconnects for RCA and 1/8″ sources.

The stand is made from maple plywood and the set costs $500. No stock right now, but you can head over to the product page to email and be notified whenever they’re back in stock.

Keep reading for a couple more pictures and links.

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By Andrew Liszewski

It’s hard to find a compact speaker that doesn’t, well, suck when it comes to sound performance. And I can’t say for sure whether or not the U-Tube i-Speaker from Brando continues in that tradition of non-excellence, but it at least includes a rechargeable lithium-ion battery so it’s not just relying on power from the headphone jack of an MP3 player or a laptop. The tube design might also be of some benefit when it comes to this speaker’s sound performance, but with a price tag of just $19 I have my doubts. It’s definitely compact though… I’ll give it that.

[ USB U-Tube i-Speaker ] VIA [ Datensklaven ]

By Andrew Liszewski

There, was that so difficult? I can’t tell you how long I’ve been hunting for a simple Bluetooth headphone adapter that will let me use my OWN headphones, not some crappy bundled pair. Well the Sony DRC-BT30P appears to do just that, complete with buttons for answering calls as well as volume and playback controls given the device you’re paired with supports those features. And if for some reason you don’t choose the black model, white, pink and blue color options are also provided.

[ Akihabara News - New Bluetooth Headphones from Sony ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If you’re curious what $3,200 worth of CD player looks like, then feast your eyes upon the Impression II from Grant Fidelity. Designed for even the most picky of audiophiles, all of the electronics in the Impression II, including the power supply, the tube and solid state circuits, the tube analog output and the tube headphone amp are placed in the four corners of the player to prevent them from interfering with the CD player which sits in an isolated aluminum chassis in the middle.

The Impression II also features “defeatable up-sampling” with 3 optional frequencies including 44.1 kHz/16bit, 96 kHz/24bit and 192 kHz/24bit, though from what I can tell it doesn’t play SACDs which seems odd given the clientele they’re targeting. And since you’re already spending over 3 grand on this thing, you might as well go ahead and opt for the $380 polished stainless steel finish instead of the standard brushed aluminum one.

[ Grant Fidelity Reference Tube CD-1000 Player AKA The Impression II ] VIA [ Born Rich ]

By Andrew Liszewski

So it might not be from the Logitech we all know and love, but this “professional audio recording” accessory for your iPod or iPhone includes an X-Y style microphone that should improve the quality of your captures if it works as promised. Audio is recorded in the uncompressed WAV format, and the lovingly named LIC-iREC03P module includes switches for enabling automatic gain control and adjusting the attenuation. ~$117 from Geek Stuff 4 U.

[ Logitec LIC-iREC03P ] VIA [ The Red Ferret Journal ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Thanks to an ultra thin headband (or ’seamless headband’ as the company has dubbed it) Audio-Technica’s new line of ONTO ear goggles won’t mess up your hair and can even be worn over a hat if so desired. The ATH-ON300 line pictured above feature 30mm drivers, a gold-plated 3.5mm stereo mini-plug and come in 6 different colors including red, blue, pink green and of course black and white. $49.99 from AudioCubes.com.

[ Audio-Technica ATH-ON300 ONTO Headphones ]