Tag: AUDIO

Like the eight-track before it, the cassette tape is riding off into the sunset -- just not in a car. According to The New York Times, no 2011 model vehicles manufactured or sold in the U.S. will feature a cassette player as a standard feature or as part of an extra package. The Lexus SC 430 will go down in history as the last car packaged with a factory tape deck. The deck won't be placed in a ...

For many people, the mere sound of a dentist's drill starting up is enough to make them sweat and panic. But researchers have created a new device that cancels out the drill's high-pitched whir while allowing patients to hear the dentist's voice. According to BBC News, the device, which was developed jointly at King's College London, Brunel University and London South Bank University, contains ...

Custom-fit earbuds are nothing new, but usually such audio gear costs in excess of $400, requires a trip to the audiologist and takes weeks to arrive on your doorstep. Sonomax wants to bring the luxury of custom headphones to a broader audience. The core of that effort is the SonoFit system, which creates custom ear-wear in four minutes, without the need for a trip to a professional. The folks at ...

At just 3.5 inches tall, the ZiiSound D5 keeps a low profile, making it exceedingly suitable for shelf placement. If you've got a Bluetooth-enabled smartphone, MP3 player or computer, you can effortlessly stream tunes to the D5, and for those with iPods sans Bluetooth (Nano, Classic, first-gen iPod Touch), it comes bundled with a special Bluetooth dongle that attaches to the bottom of your iPod ...

Despite its small frame, Audyssey's Audio Dock packs a whole lot of punch -- with a surprising amount of bass and high-end clarity. You can stick your iPod or iPhone into the dock connector (GSM-shielded so phones don't need to be switched into airplane mode), or stream tunes over Bluetooth from virtually any Bluetooth-enabled device (even your PC). Built-in dual microphones turn the dock into a ...

It's tough to stand out in the headphone crowd (especially without looking like you're trying too hard), but Aiaiai's TMA-1 phones do so with the utmost subtlety. These minimal, utilitarian cans are coated in a matte rubber, which makes them remarkably drop-, bend- and crush-resistant. They're sturdy without being heavy (less than seven ounces, in fact), meaning they won't cause ear soreness or ...

ATM skimmers are a growing problem, thanks to the ease and low cost of producing the card readers. Brian Krebs writes that the European ATM Security Team has found crooks using audio technology to read the magnetic strips on cards, almost as if they were audio cassettes. A software package is then used to convert the audio data into usable ATM card numbers. (PINs are harvested via a separate ...

The Web is teeming with the unrealized ideas of both students and established designers who set out to produce astonishing renderings and prototypes for unusual products. Unfortunately, due to the lack of time, money, or technology, many of those products never move from the planning stages to the mass market. But that doesn't mean we can't salivate over their creations, nevertheless. The good ...

Eclectic composer Troels Brun Folmann has crafted a laudable, award-winning career through the ingenious musical manipulation of natural and unorthodox sounds. His all-star soundtrack and editing credentials include seminal video games ('Tomb Raider'), popular TV programs ('True Blood') and epic films ('Avatar'). While suffering from food poisoning, he once even reportedly transformed ...

The Web is teeming with the unrealized ideas of both students and established designers who set out to produce astonishing renderings and prototypes for unusual products. Unfortunately, due to the lack of time, money, or technology, many of those products never move from the planning stages to the mass market. But that doesn't mean we can't salivate over their creations, nevertheless. Can you ...

A couple of Norwegian scientists have created a "super-microphone" that sports fans will love and athletes will probably hate. According to New Scientist, the AudioScope, which hangs from the ceiling, is comprised of 300 microphones arranged in a circle with a wide-angle camera placed in the middle. And it's apparently powerful enough to isolate a single sound from the din of an arena. After ...

Share A reader asks: I just moved in with roommates to my first dorm room and realized we need speakers. (Three dudes listening to headphones in the same room is just creepy.) We don't have a ton of space, so a 5.1 system is out of the question, and a booming subwoofer would probably get us written up anyway. High-quality audio matters to me, though, and all the computer speakers I've seen sound ...

Earlier this year, Koichi Futatsumata of Case-Real floated a concept for this deliciously retro-futuristic vacuum-tube amplifier around the Internet. The Elekit Tube Amp, as it was originally called, has now been re-named 22 [tu: tu:], because it's going into production, and hopefully into our undeserving apartments. The amp will be available for pre-order in late October for ¥73,500 (about ...

The Web is teeming with the unrealized ideas of both students and established designers who set out to produce astonishing renderings and prototypes for unusual products. Unfortunately, due to the lack of time, money, or technology, many of those products never progress from the planning stages to the mass market. But that doesn't mean we can't salivate over them, nevertheless. Maybe we've ...

Share Summer is a time for outdoor parties, wherever possible -- be it the beach, rooftop, courtyard or front stoop. And with traditional boomboxes having gone the way of the dodo, you'll need something else to blast your digital music. We've rounded up some of our favorite portable speaker options on the market. All are iPod and iPhone compatible (with shielded speakers to prevent ...