There have been a few attempts to revive the iconic 80’s ‘boombox’ over the years, and while TDK’s new 3 Speaker Boombox doesn’t look like something you’d find in a classic Run DMC video, it tastefully spans the gap between old and new aesthetics. Sound is delivered via a pair of 6-inch coaxial drivers and a high excursion 6-inch subwoofer, while a combination of touch screen and simple dial controls give the boombox a clean, uncluttered finish.
In lieu of a cassette slot, the boombox features USB, 3.5mm and auxiliary ports that let you connect your iPod, iPhone, media players or even a flash drive full of music. And it’s also able to charge your iDevices while playing music from them with an included Apple dock connector cable. But what I like best about TDK’s boombox refresh is that instead of being powered by a built-in rechargeable battery, it actually has a compartment on the back for holding 12 ‘D’ sized batteries which is totally old school. (It will of course will run off AC too.) Pricing and availability are TBA.
If you are the sort that is obsessed with music and have to have your tunes, everywhere you go Sonance has some new gear for you for outdoors. The company has announced a new line of outdoor speakers that are called the Landscape Series. As you might guess by the name, the speakers are intended to blend in with the landscape and deliver good sound.
The speaker line has several models to choose from with the LS67SAT and LS47SAT speakers that share some of the same features. Both have 0.75″ tweeters and power handling up to 25 watts. The difference comes in the woofer size, the LS67 has a 6-inch woofer and the LS47 has a 3.5-inch woofer. Both speakers will work with a variety of mount options for in ground and tree mounting.
The new line also includes the LS10SUB in-ground subwoofer. The thing has a 10-inch woofer and 100W of power handling. The sub enclosure is designed to be buried or left exposed to the elements and it comes with a brown canopy to hide it with the landscape. The LS47SAT sells for $380 each, the LS67 sell for $720 each, and the LS10SUB sells for $2500.
If you like multiroom audio and need a new amp to power audio in a lot of rooms in your home or office SAVANT has you covered. The company has a new amp called the AMP-1640 that has 16-channels of power and uses efficient class D hardware inside. SAVANT designed the amp to work with its multi-room audio solutions.
The amp is shipping right now and has some really cool features. Each of the 16-channels gets 40W of power and it has RCA photo input jacks and screw terminal speaker connections that can accommodate up to 14-guage standard speaker wire.
The amp has a frequency response of 20Hz to 20kHz and at 4 ohms it will put out 50 watts per channel. The amp can be configured for stereo or mono applications and it needs no fan to keep it cool. The amp is not small as you might imagine with 16-channel capability it is a 3U design.
Sometimes it’s hard to understand what a large corporation like Sony is thinking when they release certain products, but at the same time I guess I’m not completely up to speed on what’s popular in the markets they serve outside North America. So while radio has lost some of its popularity to MP3 players and podcasts here, I’m assuming it’s still popular enough in Japan to not only warrant a fancy new unit, but one with PRR (personal radio recorder?) functionality.
Available in Japan on February 21 for ~$217 (¥18,000) the ICZ-R50 is at its core an AM/FM radio with advanced tuning functions like the ability to easily specify one of 54 locations in Japan to automatically load up a list of local presets. But instead of just listening the to the radio, its also got 4GB of built-in memory (expandable via SD cards or Memory Stick Duos) for recording your favorite shows. And while not as robust as the PVR in your living room, it does let you setup 20 pre-scheduled recordings for catching your favorite shock jock every morning, or whatever it is people listen to on the radio these days.
Jawbone’s newest Jawbone Bluetooth headset has arrived, the Jawbone ERA, evolving the discrete styling of the ICON and taking its place at the top of the company’s range. There’s more than just good looks promised, though; Jawbone has also slotted in a bigger speaker for HD Audio, together with an accelerometer for more intuitive control. Is it enough to warrant the $129.99 price tag? Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.
Hardware
The Jawbone ERA is longer than the ICON, which shifts the microphone closer to your mouth, but the physical controls have been streamlined thanks to the addition of an accelerometer. Jawbone call it Motion-X, but it’s basically a way to kick the headset easily into pairing mode – “ShakeShake” – or answer/end calls – “TapTap” – by shaking or tapping the body of the ERA. Power on and shake ERA four or so times and it will automatically go into pairing mode; then, when you’re wearing the headset, a brisk double-tap will answer incoming calls.
Inside there’s Bluetooth 2.1+EDR with headset and hands-free profile support, as well as (mono) A2DP, and Jawbone reckon up to 33 feet range. Multipoint support means the ERA will remember up to eight paired devices, of which two can be simultaneously connected at any one time; that means you can have your cellphone and your laptop paired, and handle voice and VoIP calls with the same headset.
In the box there’s the ERA, four round earbuds for use with the easily-detached ear hook, four different earbuds with integrated rubber hoops for when you don’t want to use the ear hook, a short microUSB cable, carry pouch and a USB AC adapter. Unlike previous Jawbone ear hooks, the loop supplied with ERA is far more flexible which makes for more comfort together with a better fit for those wearing glasses or sunglasses.
Jawbone ERA unboxing and hands-on:
As with ICON, ERA will work with Jawbone’s MyTALK online suite of services to extend the headset beyond merely answering calls. Basically, it’s an app store for your Bluetooth headset, and with ERA Jawbone has boosted the connectivity speed so that updates take seconds rather than minutes. That’s useful, because you can now upload your address book to the headset’s onboard flash storage: whereas on the ICON the caller ID was read out as a number by a synthetic voice, with the ERA you hear the caller’s name (Jawbone ERA’s CallerID Function works with ten contacts that you’ve programmed using MyTALK). read out by a proper voice artist. Jawbone tells us it will be adding further voice artist recordings throughout the life of the headset, so names not initially covered – and which will get the robotic voice – will eventually get the premium treatment. There’s also the usual voice-control, the ability to dictate an SMS or Twitter update by voice, and the ability to send a short voice memo to Jawbone’s Jawbone THOUGHTS app.
Performance
Audio quality lives up to the solid construction of the ERA itself, putting the headset among the best we’ve tested. Jawbone has used a new wideband speaker – supposedly 25-percent larger – for what it calls HD Audio, along with the latest version of its noise-cancelation tech, NoiseAssassin 3.0. The latter adds automatic volume adjustment and intelligent DSP; with normal voice calls and Skype there was little in the way of obvious processing and simply clear, bright sound. When we tested in more noisy environments, however, such as while driving, the processing shifted into gear and was more ruthless at cutting out background sounds. We prefer the ERA’s performance to that of our previous favorite, Plantronics’ Voyager PRO+, and the Jawbone is more discrete in its design as well.
While the ShakeShake pairing system is slick, it’s the tap-to-answer that really makes the ERA straightforward to use. Rather than hunting for a button – or having to press so hard that it hurts your ear or even dislodges the headset – it’s intuitive to gently tap the ERA a couple of times and then start talking. Jawbone tells us that the Motion-X tech on the ERA is simply the first step in how it expects to develop the technology, and the upgrade potential via the MyTALK system means there’s a good chance new motions will be introduced at a later point.
We haven’t had a chance to put battery life to the test properly yet, but will do so over the next week or so. Jawbone claims up to 5.5hrs of talktime or 10 days of standby time.
Wrap-Up
It’s tough not to be impressed by the Jawbone ERA: the HD audio and effective noise-reduction technology take care of the core functionality, around which the solid build quality, innovative use of an accelerometer, and comfortable fit add up to an all-round winner. Jawbone definitely seems to be listening to feedback, and given the upgradable nature of the ERA we’re hopeful the MyTALK platform will mean future software modifications aren’t solely preserved for new headsets.
At $129.99 – available in Shadowbox, Smokescreen, Midnight and Silver Lining finishes – it’s in the premium price range, but the functionality means you’re getting one of the best performing devices for your money. We’d opt for the ERA over the $99.99 Jawbone ICON (which will remain on sale alongside the new flagship) for its boosted HD Audio performance and easier control.
What I like most about this simple professional audio dock from Alesis is that it’s not trying to be a jack-of-all-trades, but still ends up being one, in a good way. At its heart it’s basically a professional audio breakout box for the iPad, letting musicians and technicians connect all manner of audio gear to a couple of combo 1/4″ XLR jacks or MIDI inputs. It’s also got a set of 1/4″ headphone jacks with independent volume controls, and even video output for connecting to a projector or TV.
But what’s most important is that the StudioDock isn’t designed to be only used with some proprietary Alesis app. Not at all. It’s compatible with pretty much ever single audio and MIDI app in the App Store, so you can create and craft music however you want. You can even connect your guitar and use it with the various amplifier and effects-modeling apps available. So in theory, it can be used to do almost anything as long as there’s an app for that. I can’t seem to dig up any pricing info just yet, but don’t expect it to come cheap given it’s targeted at professionals. But I’m sure if it gets rid of the tangled collection of wires and/or dongles that iPad musicians have had to deal with so far, they’ll be happy to pay a premium.
If there’s one lesson I’ve learned from YouTube, it’s that amateur videographers don’t care enough about audio! Sure you can get a 1080P capable camcorder for a couple of benjamins these days, but I don’t care how amazingly shot or directed or carefully edited your production is, when the audio sounds like crap, it brings the whole thing down. So why not do us all a favor and get yourself a nice mic, like Samson’s new Meteor Mic with its lovely polished chrome finish. (I’m talking to you podcasters as well.)
Its 25mm diaphragm condensor with its 20Hz – 20kHz frequency response will more than outperform the built-in MacBook mic you’ve been using for your dramatic voiceovers, and it easily connects to your computer of choice via USB providing CD quality (44.1 or 48kHz) recordings. It’s also got its own 1/8-inch headphone jack for monitoring recordings without having to deal with any latency or delay of your voice, and of course there’s that lovely reflective finish and the folding leg design making it both easy to prop-up in various positions, and even easier to collapse down and travel with. All for a very reasonable $99.
Back at CES rapper 50 Cent unveiled a new headphone brand that he was part of that carried the rappers name. This is nothing new, the headphone market is flooded with headphones that have the name of various artists and Monster with its Beats by Dre line is one for the most prolific.
I am not a fan of the style of the Monster offerings but the Sleek by 50 Cent headphones are cool with a design that uses a carbon fiber look and black. The things also promise to sound good. Apparently, while at CES promoting the headphones 50 Cent tweeted something about the headphones and urged followers to buy stock in the company.
Enough of the rappers followers actually did buy stock in the company that it set off a wave of comments because 50 Cent didn’t notify the users in the Tweet that he owned a part in the company as well. Considering his name is on the product, I would think most folks understand the rapper is part of the company. Apparently, the ruckus is because the FTC has stated already that when people associated with company advertise for it they have to disclose their ties.
According to Tom Chernaik, CEO of CMP.LY, “This is a classic example of a shrewd entrepreneur using social media to get the word out about something that they believe in; and in this case, have a personal financial stake in. Unfortunately, without knowing it, by virtue of those Tweets, 50 Cent is now in the crosshairs of a great online debate. The use of social media promotion to raise the share price of a fledgling company is certainly a concern, not necessarily from SEC regulations but, rather, under the FTC Guidelines for Testimonials and Endorsements. The guidelines, updated in late 2009 require endorsers to disclose when they have material connections to the brands and products that they promote. In this example, there certainly seems to be a connection that might come as a surprise to the average reader.”
Got iTunes? Got a Windows Phone 7 device? Then you’ll probably want to check out the new Remote app in the Marketplace. It promises to make the two sing in perfect harmony by making them talk over a WiFi connection. There’s a basic set of iTunes controls at your WP7 phone’s disposal, including volume, starting /stopping music, and searching by album, artist, and song, and a corresponding piece of desktop software you need to install to make the magic happen. It’s compatible with both Windows (XP and above) and Mac OS (10.5.8 and above), so all you really need now are $1.99 for the mobile app and the overwhelming desire to control your playlists remotely.
As television sets get slimmer, full surround sound systems are looking more and more out of place. However, along with TV innovation comes audio innovation and Sonic Emotion, a 3D sound company in business for over 8 years, has just announced their new sound line-up for the 2011 calendar year.
Focusing heavily on small clutter-free solutions, Sonic Emotion’s 3D sound technology has been embedded into both the Coby CSMP88 3D Soundbar and the Haier Evoke Series 3D Soundbar with docking station. From what we heard, amidst the loud happenings of CES, the sound was very impressive. Bass was great and the sound was of a quality that would be refreshing for any avid home entertainment fan.
The Coby CSMP88 3D Soundbar is available now for $99 and the Haier Evoke Series 3D Soundbar has yet to be given a release or pricing.
