Gadgety News

Ok fellow string botherers!

Anyone that has jammed, had a moment of brilliance and thought “I’ll remember that and get it down when I get home” only to find that the inspired riff eludes you will realise the importance of recording practically everything.

This little fella is called BackTrack and is the latest from those digital music maestro’s, Line 6.

Just plug your bass/guitar into BackTrack, plug BackTrack into your amp, and start playing.

The gadget starts recording when it detects a signal and it will keep doimg so until it runs flat (up to eight hours).

The basic package retails for $139.99, can capture up to 12 hours of audio and comes equipped with 1GB flash memory.

BackTrack + Mic comes equipped with 2GB flash memory and an internal microphone, records for up to 24 hours and retails for $209.99. Both models are rechargeable via USB and have the standard 1/4-inch in / out and headphone jacks.

I might have to upgrade from my MiniDisc………..

 
CNET

The quickest way to make anything look hi performance, modern and cutting edge is to construct it from carbon fibre.

This even works with a pair of studio grade cans!

These are Phiaton’s latest model weighing in at a mere 6.5oz.

To keep the weight down Phiaton have made the MS-400 from carbon graphite fibre encased in a double-shell high polymer enclosure.

They also say that they have worked on the airflow, optimizing it to deliver “concert hall sound quality”.

The MS 400 features flexible joints that fold in two steps making it perfect for mobile studio engineers (kinda like the PortaPro’s that rock with my iPhone).

Light doesn’t mean cheap at $249 but if they perform like top-level studio headphones then it’s not that expensive really when you compare them with other top end monitor cans on the market.

I’d love to test them in a studio environment so…….if I could try a pair……

Other specs include:

• Weight: 6.5oz
• Drivers: 40mm electrodynamic
• Sensitivity: 98dB
• Impedance: 32 Ohm
• Input power: 1000 mW

The press release, issued today says:

“…The carbon fiber housing helps deliver crystal clear sound and eliminates any sound leakage. To ensure better resonance values, deep rich bass, a full-bodied midrange, and sparkling high notes, the carbon is encased in a high polymer enclosure with a double-shell structure

Machines That Go Bing!

Dell is pandering to those funky urbanites out there with their Special Art Edition designs for its Studio 15 and Studio 17 laptops.

Dell has teamed up with artist Mike Ming and produced five designs aiming to bring new life into the boardroom or your home.

Design names include “Red Swirl”, “Seaweed”, “Sunburst”, “Bunch O Surfers” and “Sea Sky”.

The Special Art Edition Dell Studio laptops are available for order now, starting at £449.

The specs include built-in webcam, capacitive touch media control buttons, slot load drives, and optional mercury-free LED displays, backlit keyboards and built-in mobile broadband.

Remember when we first saw the pic of Dell’s Studio Hybrid in June?

Well, it is finally being released with a starting price of $499 and features interchangeable sleeves of real Bamboo and plastic in the colours of Emerald, Quartz, Ruby, Sapphire, Slate and Topaz.

The specs aren’t too bad and it looks like Dell wants us to place the puter (horizontally or vertically) in your main room.

There’s an HDMI port as standard and options for WiFi, a wireless keyboard and mouse, Blu-ray and a TV tuner.

Dell’s eco-quest with this line continues with the included system recycling kit and the reduction in packing and manufacturing materials.

The Studio Hybrid should be available today.

Updated bit:

Before you go sprinting off to buy one of these EeeBox/Mac Mini threatening machines go and Read what PC Magazine have to say!

They reckon it’s a great buy for style-conscience consumers, but it couldn’t help but mention that there “are more-powerful and more-expandable choices out there if you’re less concerned about design.”

I’ve been looking around at various things to attach an iPod or iPhone to and found this little beauty.

The Belkin TuneStudio looks to be a neat bit of gear.

Just slot your iPod into the socket and you can start recording your musical ideas or, indeed, your band in CD quality.

It has four inputs, 3 band EQs per channel and even phantom power.

All this for a lot less than a ProTools MBox Pro - £179.95.

This is quite a handy bit of kit for the recording artist/producer on the go.  It’s roughly the size of a typical USB flash drive but the Digidesign Mbox 2 Micro offers high-quality 24-bit / 48 kHz sound, a 1/8-inch stereo output for headphone or speaker monitoring and a volume wheel, providing you with the freedom of true editing, sequencing, and mixing mobility.

Don’t be fooled by it’s size.  It comes fully loaded with an assortment of creative software and processing plug-ins to mix and master your sessions.  Along with the Pro Tools LE software and Xpand! there’s  also a collection of Bomb Factory and DigiRack plug-ins.

While the Mbox 2 Micro is an output-only audio device, it also serves as a simple music creation studio thanks to the included Pro Tools LE software and bundled software.  You can easily import audio files, MIDI files, and loops into Pro Tools, and edit and mix them.  Plug in a USB MIDI keyboard into your computer and capture the virtual instrument performance in Pro Tools.

Unfortunately, like the Pro Tools suites, it’s not exactly 2 bob and a pickled egg.  This tiny tool will hurt your wallet about £155 worth - but as a pretty handy widget for someone with a Pro-Tools studio or someone that records gigs via the front-of-house desk and needs to mix between gigs, this could be quite a handy thing.