By Andrew Liszewski

Good news everyone! You know that sad feeling when one of your iDevices is docked to a stereo system, while the others lie about unused, lacking a place of their own to dock? Actually no one probably ever has that feeling. And thanks to JVC, no one ever will! Their new UX-VJ5 dock features not one, not one and a half, but two docks allowing you to play multimedia content from an iPad and an iPhone/iPod Touch at the same time! Well, not at the same time, but you can select which source you’d like to play from.

It’s got a couple of 15W speakers which should provide ample sound to fill a room, but there’s also AV out connections if you’d prefer to play your music through a larger setup, or send video from either device to a TV. Tucked away behind where the iPad sits is something JVC refers to as a ‘CD’ player. And the dock is capable of automatically ripping your music stored on this archaic digital media to MP3s, and copy them to an external USB device. The UX-VJ5 will be available in Japan in mid-July for ~$370 (¥30,000) in your choice of six different colors.

[ PR - Victor JVC UX‐VJ5/VJ3 ] VIA [ Akihabara News ]

By Andrew Liszewski

The RIAA might try and do everything in their power to stop you from sharing your music collection digitally, but their hands are tied when it comes to old-school analog methods. So if you happen to find yourself on the beach with some friends today, Kikkerland’s branching headphone splitter will let you share that 4th of July playlist you spent all weekend making with up to 2 other people. You read that right! While most splitters only let a couple of people use their headphones with a single device, this one pushes the limits to 3 listeners at the same time! And it’s available in 3 colors right now for just $10 from Kikkerland. You don’t have to wait almost an entire year for the designer to work out the kinks on the white version.

[ Kikkerland Branching Headphone Splitter ]

By Andrew Liszewski

When you’ve spent tens of thousands of dollars on a home stereo system, you’re probably willing to do anything it takes to make it sound as amazing as it can. Or at the least, do anything to convince yourself it sounds as amazing as it can. Like spend $650 on these wooden boards from Japanese home stereo component maker Kripton, which are designed to neutralize vibrations which could affect the performance of your equipment, while minimizing electromagnetic noise.

The Kripton AB-3200 (pictured above) weighs in at ~33 lbs, can support gear up to ~330 lbs, and is actually priced at ~$442. (¥35,700) While the more substantial AB-5200, which weighs in at ~52 lbs, will set you back ~$650. (¥52,500) Both are made from natural woods including teak and rosewood, with a dense MDF wood substrate providing the heft and stability.

[ Kripton AB-5200B & AB-3200C ] VIA [ Akihabara News ]

By Andrew Liszewski

At first glance you might mistake the Pocket HiFi C4 Pro from Colorfly for a knock-off PMP that someone has given an impressive steampunk facelift too. But that’s not the case. The C4 Pro, which features a luxurious hand-engraved black walnut housing, is actually targeted at audiophiles since it’s apparently the first player capable of playing 24 bit/192 KHz WAV files. Inside the C4 Pro you’ll find CIRRUS Logic CS4398 DAC and CS8422 SRC chips which result in a signal-to-noise ratio of up to 108dB. The headphone jack also has its own built-in amp which outputs up to 13.3mW of power from its 6.3mm headphone jack (it includes a 3.5mm as well) allowing you to use high-end headphones without an external box.

As you can see it also sports an old-school pushrod volume slider, includes an SPDIF port for connecting it to modern stereo equipment (for playback or recording) and as for storage I can’t seem to find too much info on their site as to how much is built in, but I believe it includes a microSD slot meaning you can throw a 32GB card in there. As for the price. The Colorfly website is pretty mum on those details, but a seller on Amazon is asking $799 for a new model.

[ Colorfly Pocket HiFi C4 Pro ] VIA [ 7Gadgets ]

By Chris Scott Barr

The great thing about smartphones these days is that they can effectively eliminate the need to carry around a bunch of extra devices. Calculators, PDAs, MP3 players and even personal recorders are all obsolete when you have the latest technology. I personally use my iPhone for all of the above, and then some. I never thought that I had a need to record voice memos, but now that I have a phone that can do it, I use the feature quite often. The audio quality isn’t bad, but it’s not the best in the world. Thus, having an external microphone to attach could prove rather useful.

I’ve had a chance to take a look at the i-Microphone, which is a tiny mic designed specifically for Apple devices. If you own an iPhone, you’ll quickly find out that just plugging in an ordinary mic won’t work. This is because it uses the same jack for audio input and output. So how well does this little device perform?

Read the rest of this entry »

By Andrew Liszewski

While giant retro-looking horns and intricately carved resonating chambers are the shapes I usually associate with natural sound enhancing iPhone docks, apparently an IKEA salad bowl turned on its side works just as well. Well almost as well according to Apartment Therapy Unplggd. The Clingo ‘dock’ not only boosts the sound levels of the iPhone or iPod Touch’s built-in speakers, but it also serves as a sort of lens hood, shielding the display from ambient light. While the design is certainly simple and eye-catching, Unplggd found the sound to be “a little bit on the softer side” and chocked it up to a case of form over function. $34.99 available directly from Clingo.

[ Clingo Parabolic Sound Sphere ] VIA [ Apartment Therapy Unplggd ]

In an ideal world, I’d play all of my games while looking at a giant HDTV and surrounded by some sweet speakers with the volume cranked up. Unfortunately most of us don’t get to live such a dream. Instead we find ourselves trying to make the most of the small area that we have for out gaming needs. If you’re tight on space, but still want a great set of speakers to compliment your gaming experience, Antec wants you to give their SoundScience Rockus system a look.

This 2.1 speaker system does more than just crank out your sound effects and music with 150 Watts of power. With the push of a button, it can simulate 3D surround sound, letting you feel like you’re in the action, without messing with a 5.1 or 7.1 setup. Console gamers will be happy to see the inclusion of an optical input, as this means you can plug your 360 or PS3 directly into the speakers.

The SoundScience Rockus has a nice set of features, but the real question is whether they are enough to make this a “must buy” setup. Check out the full review over at GamerFront for all of the details.

[ Review – Antec SoundScience Rockus Speaker System @ GamerFront ]

By Andrew Liszewski

There’s nothing like a good old pair of over-the-ear headphones if you’re looking to really hear the bass from your music. But contrary to popular belief, wearing them outside of a home or studio setting makes you look like an idiot. (Those ‘Beats’ you’re wearing on the subway aren’t fooling anyone into thinking you’re an audiophile.) A subtle pair of earbuds are the way to go, and Maxell believes they’ve found another way to boost their bass performance.

Their new Vibrabone HP-VBC40 earbuds are a hybrid of standard speaker drivers and vibration-based bone conduction drivers which serve to give your tunes a bit of an extra kick. They’re also a bit safer for your ear drums since the standard technique for boosting bass performance is to simply increase the size of the driver which puts more stress on your inner ear bits. Available in black, blue and white the Vibrabone earbuds also feature a dual inline volume control for adjusting both the overall sound and the bass vibration, and will hit stores on April 25 for a yet to be disclosed price.

[ PR - Maxell Vibrabone HP-VBC40 Earbuds ] VIA [ Akihabara News ]

In the highly competitive market of computer gaming headsets, a few companies such as Logitech, Razer, and Steelseries have predominantly dominated in the last few years. Recently, a few unexpected manufacturers such as Corsair and Coolermaster have introduced their own headset lines hoping to invade this tightly knit stalemate. Thermaltake also introduced their eSports lineup of gaming accessories recently hoping to make an impact in this market, and leading the charge is their flagship gaming headset eSports Shock One.

The eSports Shock One offers great sound quality after the initial break-in, and brings a refreshing sense of balance and fullness to the sound compared to the competing headset from Corsair. With the DTS Surround Sensation certification, the Shock One headset brings great treble and bass with great dimensionality, which shows from its impressive performance in gaming, movies and music. Although it did not offer the best experience out of the box, with the occasional bit-rate issues, acquired comfort, and the acoustically unsound pleather pads, the Shock One brings a nice package overall for Thermaltake’s first step in the headset market. In all, the Shock One shows everything a gaming headset should be and brings some stiff competition to the $100 range. In-depth review available at Everything USB.

[ Thermaltake Shock One Gaming Headset Review @ Everything USB ]