Oh! Gizmo

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 ]

By Andrew Liszewski

While Tascam might not be a household name, they’re well respected in the professional audio industry. And when a company like them decides to start supporting the iPod, well then there’s a good chance that Apple’s little MP3 player might just catch on.

The CD-200i is a rackmountable CD player that includes a pop-out dock which supports “any Apple iPod” according to their site. In addition to playing music from it, the iPod can also be controlled from the CD-200i’s front panel or wireless remote, be recharged while docked, and even play videos through an S-video connection on the back of the deck. Oh yeah! It also plays CDs too (MP3 or WAV files) with an improved internal clock for smoother sound and support for CD TEXT and ID3 tag info.

[ Tascam CD-200i ] VIA [ 7Gadgets ]

By Andrew Liszewski

These days there are mice that cater to everyone from gamers to road warriors, so why should the DJ’ing community be left out? The DJ Mouse from DJ-Tech is designed to work with the company’s Deckadance software and features a multi-function jog wheel for scratching or cuing up tracks that’s also back-lit with a glowing blue ring making it easier to see in the dark. The DJ Mouse also features a scroll wheel and a set of standard mouse buttons that can be configured to control a host of other features in the Deckadance software like triggering loops and samples, controlling knobs and faders or setting cue points. $79 available directly from DJ-Tech.

[ DJ-Tech DJ Mouse ] VIA [ Everything USB ]

By Andrew Liszewski

When I reviewed the Flip UltraHD I found the audio to be quite decent given the smallish microphone located on the front of the device. But if you want the audio done right on your pocket-friendly video recorder you might want to go with the Zoom Q3 (~$250) from Samson. It features a generously sized stereo condenser mic on top with an X/Y configuration for true “stereo imaging” and audio is captured as 44.1/48kHz 16/24-bit Linear PCM WAV files or MP3s up to 320kbps. The downside though? It only records video at PAL or NTSC resolutions, though with a 32GB SDHC card you can expect to capture about 16 hours of footage.

[ Samson Zoom Q3 ] VIA [ The Red Ferret Journal ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Call me cynical, but I’m finding it hard to believe these miniature Amp and Boom Box speakers provide anything other than a tinny, low-quality listening experience. Each one is barely larger than a quarter, but include a mini-USB port for charging the battery and a 3.5mm aux-in jack for connecting any external audio source. On a full charge they’re good for about 2.5 hours of playback, but something tells me the novelty will turn to annoyance somewhere around the 7-minute mark. ~$25 from BB Shopping.

[ Might Mini Speakers ] VIA [ technabob ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Is it just me, or does this recordable megaphone seem kind of lazy? On one hand I understand that a megaphone can be an effective tool for making one’s concerns known to the general public, but on the other hand, I’d probably have a hard time believing you felt strongly about a particular cause if you were walking around simply playing back a recording of your protest chant.

On a set of 4 x D-sized batteries you can expect to get about 6-8 hours of broadcast time, and it even includes a siren option if you find your protests aren’t annoying enough. $22 from Otherland Toys.

[ Recordable Supporter's Megaphone ] VIA [ Nerd Approved ]

By David Ponce

The Neuhaus T-2 amplifier is designed to work with a variety of inputs, most notably your PC. It features USB as well as optical SPDIF inputs and the spiel on the product page makes a point of pitting the T-2 against regular PC speakers that “simply won’t sound good, because computers are not meant to deliver superior sound quality. The sound cards on most computers are terrible.” Right, so the T-2 entirely bypasses your sound card by connecting through USB and processing the data itself. Here’s where things get screwy for me. From the page:

The T-2 Amplifier has a built in Digital to Analog Converter (DAC). A digital-to-analog converter, or DAC, converts digital information — 0’s and 1’s — into analog music signals.

In other words, it does exactly what a sound card does, except that it does it with vacuum tubes…

No offense here, but I find that audiophiles are an odd bunch. Perhaps because I’ve never felt the eargasms they clearly experience daily, I can’t grasp why anyone would spend the obscene sums this little clique feels justified in dropping on a regular basis. In this particular case, Neuhaus wants you to part with $800 for what is essentially a 20W amplifier with tubes that performs part time sound card duty.

Heck, maybe it’s worth it. Any audiophiles out there who can convince us muffle-eared mortals?

[ Product Page ] VIA [ Uncrate ]