Audio - Page 17

I don't listen to the radio much in my home because there aren't that many stations in my area and the ones we have tend to play music I don't like. In the car, I listen to CDs and digital tracks mostly. If you have the same issue and you don't want to move your CDs in and out of the car one of the internet radio devices from Grace Digital Audio would be perfect. The company will be unveiling three new devices at CES next week that all have color screens.

Monster teamed up with rapper Dr. Dre a long time back to create a line of headphones that promise good sound and cool style. The line has sense branched out with other beats by Dr. Dre offerings that are branded by other artists like Lady Gaga and now Justin Bieber. If you are a fan of the Beeb you will be glad to know that Best Buy is the exclusive seller of the Justbeats for the holiday season.

Speakal is well known for making some crazy speaker docks for the iPhone, iPod and other MP3 players. The company has the iPig, iPanda, iBoo, and other docks that look like flowers or soccer balls. I have used Speakal products before and they actually sound good even if the look a bit strange. Speakal has announced a new device today called the Cool iPig.

The product tie ins for the new Tron: Legacy flick are so widely varied that it's hard to see the tie in with some of the stuff. I have seen some clothing that looks like it was meant for strippers and all manner of toys and video games. We are also seeing audio gear and other electronics surface that tie in with the movie. Monster has unveiled a seriously high-end set of headphones that are the Daft Punk Edition Tron: Legacy headphones.

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The headphones are very high-end with a price tag that will make many geeks blush. If you want a set of the headphones, you will need to cough up about $350 to get them. The headphones are on Amazon and at other locations right now and have a cool design that is inspired by costumes worn by Daft Punk in the movie cameo. In addition to the Tron design theme and white color, the headphones also light up like stuff in the Tron world.

The headphones ship with a special surround sound mix of the Daft Punk soundtrack for the flick. The headphones have large over the ear pads for comfort, a removable mic boom for gamers, and noise isolation technology built-in. The headphones also have the Monster ControlTalk cable for making calls using the headphones.

When it comes to high-end headphones and headsets, Sennheiser makes some of the coolest around. The company has all sorts of headphones from units for audiophiles to headphones made for use with your gaming system or iPod. Sennheiser also makes a lien of headphones that are just for the DJs out there. The latest set of headphones form Sennheiser is the HD 25-1-II and they are branded with Adidas.

When most of us want to listen to our favorite music or watch a movie, we want to hear the audio not the noise in the room around us. This is particularly true for the user that travels a lot in a car, plane, or train where things can be noisy. Noise cancelling headphones are also a great way to block out noisy spouses and kids so you can get some work done. Audio-Technica has unveiled two new sets of noise cancelling headphones.

The weather has finally turned cool here in Texas so thinking about swimming right now is enough to give me chills. If you live where it is warm all the time or have an indoor pool you like to use, H2O Audio has a new set of waterproof earbuds that will also stand up to sweat without breaking on you. The new earbuds are called the Flex All Sport buds and they are offered in four different colors.

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You can get the things in Super Hero Blue, Envy Green, Onyx Black, and Power Pink. They look nice and the Super Hero Blue ones remind me of Superman. The Flex earbuds promise clear and rich sound in up to three feet of water and the ability to stand up to the sweatiest of workouts without breaking down. They ship with three different earplug sizes for a comfortable fit and you can pick up a set in any color right now for $29.99.

You will need to add some sort of waterproof case to your music player or phone before you try these things in water. "Flex headphones are another example of H2O Audio's innovation in waterproofing music for your active lifestyle. Flex provides the quality and waterproofing H2O Audio is known for, now in fun, fashionable colors for everyone," said Tom Kampfer, CEO of H2O Audio. "We are excited to expand our line of waterproof, sweatproof headphones to include an all sport earbud that delivers performance, style and value, perfect for running, gym workouts and an active, fit lifestyle.

I have never felt the need to have the artificial sound of crickets, waves, or anything else to fall asleep or stay asleep. I really don't need any colored lights to sooth me into dream land either. I guess some folks need that sort of stuff though and if you are one of the Pure has a new audio device for you called the Twilight. The thing might actually be a pretty cool radio for a kids room.

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The white dome on top of the radio hides a light that changes between several colors. The light can be white, blue, green, purple, red, or orange. It also has built-in lullabies for kids including 'twinkle, twinkle, little star' and 'rock-a-bye baby'. It also has a built-in FM receiver that will let you listen to your local stations and you can plug in an iPod or MP3 player via the aux input.

The Twilight also has a headphone port for private listening and it has a sleep timer that will turn off the music and the lights when you want I to. The snooze function is activated by touching the white dome and the alarm can wake you up with light as well with a dawn simulation. The Pure Twilight has an accessory for docking your iPhone or iPod and the price for the device is unknown.

I have a few friends that always want to go somewhere and sing karaoke. One of my hard and fast rules of life is that I don't dance and I don't sing in public. I will humiliate myself with some Rock Band at my house, but singing in front of drunken people at the local Mexican food restaurant isn't my idea of fun. If you like to sing karaoke and want a portable system that will let you belt out your favorite songs and can be used for meetings and more Samson has a new product for you.

I have tried out a bunch of different earphones over the years. I have grown to love the lightweight and compact ones the most. Heavy earphones tend to fall out of my ears when I am moving around a lot at the gym and it drives me crazy. The lightweight earphones are much more comfortable and stay in place with exertion much easier. A company called Lift Audio has pulled the covers off a new set of earphones that it clams is one of the smallest in the world.

When the new iPod nano launched with its touchscreen and the face that could be a clock, there were geeks everywhere that had the same though. The new nano would make a really cool and geeky watch with the right case. So far, we have seen a number of watchbands for the nano surface and some were cooler than others were. Griffin has jumped into the game with a new nano watchband called the Slap.

I am sure that we are all familiar with wireless headphones. Typically, we are talking about headphones that use Bluetooth or headphones that use special 2.4GHz dongles to connect to computers and other things from across the room. Elecom has unveiled a new set of Wireless headphones for the iPod shuffle that are far from what you would expect in wireless headphones.

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The headset doesn't need wires, but it is not what you would expect to find. Rather than having Bluetooth gear or 2.4GHz wireless connectivity inside, the thing has a 3.5mm headphone jack on one of the earpieces of the headphones. Rather than having to run a wire from the headphones to the shuffle, the Elecom headphones - called the Actrail - have a headphone plug and the shuffle sticks to the side of the earpiece.

That in fact means no wires, but having a shuffle hanging off your headphones looks strange to me. The headphones appear to only function with the latest generation shuffle player. They use a behind the neck design which some will hate and others will love. The behind the neck style keeps your hair nice and neat. The headphones are offered in Japan only right now for about $50 per pair.

Most Bluetooth headsets tend to look the same with black and silver designs that are more for function than fashion. The average Bluetooth headset is fine for many of us, but there are some out there that want their headsets to work well and look really good. For these folks there are are some fashionable headsets out there such as the offerings from Jawbone that put a lot of focus on looks and functionality.

When it comes to headphones and earphones, anything will do for some users. For some listeners they want a set of headphones with good sound and the ability to control music. If these listeners are on a music phone like the iPhone, most folks also want headphones that have a mic and the ability to take calls without having to unplug or use speakerphone. Urbanears has unveiled a new set of headphones that is specifically for the iPhone.

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The headphones are called the Urbanears Plattan Plus. The headphones have a 3.5mm headphone jack and a remote integrated into the cable. They are made for iPhone certified meaning they function perfectly for controlling the music on the device and for making and receiving calls. The Plattan Plus headphones have controls for answering and ending calls and for adjusting the volume of the tracks.

Urbanears promises that the full-size over the ear headphones will give quality sound and the over the ear design should help to block some external sound and keep the sound created by the music inside. the headphones are offered in four colors incoming red, grey, white, and aubergine. They will ship this week in the US and Canada for $60.

Audiophiles won't be caught dead using the earphones that came with their MP4 payer or music phone. They are always out for a set of earphones or headphones that offer better sound quality and look cool while sounding good. Future Sonics sells a line of earphones that are certainly aimed at the audiophile and the companies latest are called the Atrio Special Edition.

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The ASE earphones use a new MG7 transducer and have TrueTimbre audio quality to deliver rich, full sound to the listener. The earphones use multiple drive earphones have no crossover allowing them to be used on stage, in a studio, or plugged into your iPod. The earphones also have noise-isolating tips and come with several tip sizes for a custom fit. The drivers are also designed to deliver quality audio for a rich sound at lower volumes to protect the wearers hearing. Future Sonics earphones have been used by musicians like U2 and Phil Collins.

The ASE earphones have a frequency response of 18Hz - 20,000Hz and a sensitivity level of 112dB @ 30Hz. The ear tips can block up to 26dB of external sound to reduce the noise and allow the user to use lower volumes. The earphones are offered in a special edition brown color and come with a zippered case. The case is green with construction from rubber reclaimed from old inner tubes. The earphones sell for $229.

If you are an audio fan that has dreamed of playing a guitar instead of just listening to your favorite tracks or playing games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero Rockmaster is for you. This new stagekit is from Peavey Guitars and Wicked Audio and it packs in everything an aspiring musician needs to start playing the guitar for realz.

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The kit includes a 5-in- bundle with a guitar, internal dual channel headphone amp, cable, integrated digital tuner, a strap, picks, and a GT-5 amplifier. That GT-5 amp has an MP3 input that will let the player plug in a MP3 player to play along with their favorite tunes on a real guitar. Wicked Audio also adds a set of its black Jaw Breakers earbuds to the kit.

"Peavey Guitars is a leader in the world of guitars, music accessories and everything rock, and we pride ourselves on providing ground-breaking accessories for musicians and consumers alike," said Paul Marshall, VP of Sales. "With interactive and simple music composition being such a huge trend, this is an ideal partnership to continue providing our customers what they demand." Rockmaster will land in Best Buy stores this fall for $199.99 and will hit other retailers next year.

Creative has been known for its line of sound blaster sound cards in gaming circles for years. The company did for audio what ATI and NVIDIA do for graphics in gaming computers. Over the last year or so, things have been quiet on the sound card front with few new products coming to market. Creative has unveiled a couple new Sound Blaster sound cards for the Australian market today.

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The new sound cards include the PCI-E X-Fi Titanium HD discrete audio card and the USB Sound Blaster Digital Music Premium HD digital audio system. Both of the devices have THX TruStudio PC audio tech inside to add quality to audio listened to on the PC. The X-Fi card has audiophile grade DACs and has a 123db signal to noise ratio.

The sound card has RCA line out, RCA line in, and a headphone output. The 3D sound effects are positional and use EAX 5.0 and the card supports DTS and Dolby Digital sound. The USB sound card has an analog photo input and standard audio inputs as well. Analog audio from records and cassettes can be turned into MP3, AAC, and FLAC with the device. It has a RCA line out, RCA and photo line input, and SPDIF output for digital audio. The X-Fi card will sell for A$299.95 and the USB card will cost A$149.95.

The home theater fan has a huge number of speakers on the market today to choose from. There are offerings that are affordable enough for the average Joe, but lack the quality that high-end fans want in speakers. A company called Aperion audio has unveiled a new line of home theater speakers that are aimed at high-end shoppers that have the budget for quality.

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The line is called Aperion Versus Grand Home Theater Speakers and the line is matched to provide quality sound. The series has tower speakers, a center channel, and bookshelf speakers for rear channels. The 5.0 system can be turned into a 5.1 system with the addition of the Aperion Bravus subwoofer.

The Verus Grand Tower speakers have a 3-way design with a base reflex system. The tweeter is a silk done unit that is a 1-inch Axially Stabilized radiator unit. The mid-range drivers are a pair of 5-inch woven Kevlar units. The woofers are a pair of 6-inch Kevlar units with rubber surrounds. The tower speakers sell for $1798 per pair, the center channel speaker is $699, and the bookshelf speakers are $598 per pair. All of the speakers can be pre-ordered right now.

Geeks can be some of the hardest people to shop for. Many of us tend to already have the latest gadgets and the best computer gear so finding gifts for birthdays and holidays is challenging. If you know a geek that likes music, and most do, Pandora has a cool new gift subscription offering that is working right now that will make an excellent gift.

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The service will let you purchase a gift subscription for a year's worth of access to anyone you want. The gift price for a year is $36 and you can give the gift as a printable gift card or as an email gift card. The email option will be perfect for people who want to give someone a gift that lives far away. Another cool feature of the email option is that you can schedule the gift to be sent up to a year in advance.

That means you can give a year now and then schedule a second year to be sent at the same time the following year. The gifted subscriptions include all of the features of a normal subscription like unlimited listening with no ads. The audio streams at 192kbps for high quality and the music can be played on the desktop, a smartphone, and some connected TVs and Blu-ray players.

Pioneer Electronics has been in the audio world for as long as I can remember. My dad had a Pioneer stereo when I was a kid. Today the company makes all sorts of electronics for audio fans and home theater users. Pioneer also has an entire line of gear that is specifically aimed at the professional or aspiring DJ. That gear runs the gamut from turntables and controllers to the headphones and mics a DJ needs during a performance.

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The latest product to be added to the Pioneer DJ line is aimed at DJs, but can be used by anyone and is a special edition of the HDJ-1000 DJ headphones. The headphones have previously been spied in a chrome finish, the new gold version is metallic looking, and a new black version is available as well and shares the same specifications. The headphones are designed to fold away for portability and storage and have a mono or stereo selector switch.

The headphones are designed to be comfortable during long performances with low rebound urethane ear pads for a better fit and increased comfort. The ear pads also provide sound isolation. The headphones ship with a carry pouch and the black or gold versions will ship in December for $209. Specifications include 50mm dome type drivers, a frequency range of 5Hz to 30kHz, 36 ohms impedance, and a 3.5mm plug with a 3P gold plated adapter. The headphones weigh 9.52 ounces without the cord.