Audio News

Maxell Time Domain Speakers: Something Different

Alex — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:01:51 +0000

iPod docks have become as uninteresting and as common as some USB toy. In fact there are a lot of poor quality ones flooding the market nowadays as well. Some companies go in for technology to distinguish their products while others, like the uniquely shaped JBL Radial speaker dock, go in for shape. Maxell has tried to incorporate both strengths in their latest high-end and stylish MXSP-4000 time domain speakers. The speakers certainly look different with a shape of something like a fat cigar or Zeppelin on a stick. Although there have been similarly shaped iPod docks, this one is very affordable.

The sound quality delivered Maxell MXSP-4000 is quite good especially the vocals being very clear. As expected from a device which puts the drivers on the side, stereo separation is quite good. It is capable of filling the entire area with sound. This MXSP-4000 time domain speakers can hold together the sound even at levels that would fill up most of the rooms. The MXSP-4000 speakers from Maxell come with a remote control that is packaged with the system and also a male to male cable that enables you to connect it to anything that has 3.5 mm mini jack.

Maxell time domain speakers are quite intuitive and at the same time have an amazing user interface. It is quite light weight and small enough to stand alone on almost all the household counters and shelves. This stylish time domain speaker system from Maxell is quite affordable and is designed on a modest budget to suit almost every one and costs around 100 pounds.

Linn Majik LP12 Turntable: The Classic Returns

Alex — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:49:29 +0000

The history of LP12 starts in the 1970’s when it was a must have turntable. In fact your masculinity was doubted if did not have one. It was quite successful for a relatively expensive vinyl turntable then, and there were a variety of Linn and Naim systems were launched and which are still in the market. In the last ten years, LP12 has just been graded as just another addition to the already existing stock of turntables. It was quite expensive also and coasted around £4,480 pounds without cartridges.

The Linn Majik LP12 is the latest affordable version of the already existing version of LP12 turntable. It features solid base and standard armboard along with Mazak 8 platter and extremely low noise patented main bearing. This turntable is available in a variety of types and has a solid wood base board and is surmounted by a stainless steel which has the on and off buttons mounted on it. In order to get things moving, Majik LP12 turntable neoprene flat belt along with headshell and single piece carbon fiber armtube

This Linn Majik LP12 turntable features an internal power supply, Pro-Ject 9cc tonearm and Adikit MM cartridge. This latest high end turntable is highly intuitive and has an outstanding user interface. It is available in five different finishes and costs around £2000 pounds or $4000, which is obviously more than your basic and average turntable like the Numark TT 1650. It is capable of delivering outstanding sound quality. This turntable has its unique capability of bringing resolution, scale and at the same time wide bandwidth in order to rock the party.

Denon AH-D2000 Headphones: A Very High End Model

Alex — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:35:04 +0000

The AH-D2000 is one of the latest high end headphones from Denon which is based on the closed back model. The main advantage of this AH-D2000 model headphone is that it offers a high degree of isolation from exterior sounds. They are quite comfortable and at the same time beautifully constructed with quite luxurious soft leather padding wrapped around the headband, as well as the ear pads. After putting this AH-D2000 headphone on your head you will undoubtedly feel pampered.

These headphones deliver an amazing sound quality with absolutely minimal or no noise distortions or disturbances. They are able to shut the outside world more effectively than many other headphones available in the market. The Denon AH-D2000 pair of headphones has been constructed to cut out the peripheral disturbances as well. It has one added feature of maintaining a neutral balance because of the Acoustic Optimiser. AH-D2000 headphones from Denon are capable of delivering deep and detailed audio.

The best part about these headphones is its imaging. Headphones and speakers imaging do not work on the same lines, there is definitely going to be a difference in the results heard from speakers and those from the headphones. There is no doubt to the fact that headphone listening is not meant for everyone but headphones like these would just widen the products appeal. And if you already are one then once you try these there is nothing that can you from buying one of them.

Rega P3-24 Turntable: Improves on a Classic

Alex — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:30:42 +0000

The Rega P3-24 is a better version of the living legend Rega P3 turntable.P3-24 and delivers genuine hi-fi performance at any price. It has a highly simple and fresh design which incorporates a Medite Plinth with resin laminate overlay, low or almost negligible vibration 24V motor and, last but not least, a Rega’s RB301 tonearm. The tonearm provides extra rigidity by adding a three point mounting system and also the heavy duty phone cable which is equipped plated connectors. Rega P3-24 is quite a sleek and simple turntable which is relatively quite light weight.

Rega P3-24 turntable incorporates an impressive solid dust cover which is absolutely non-resonant and whenever the record side or the tonearm need to be changed, it just flips up gracefully with fluid motion. The setup of Rega P3-24 turntable is extremely simple and therefore it does not require any kind of extensive kit of adjustment tools just for start spinning. In order to align the cartridges, a protractor is included with this turntable. At extremely high volumes, this P3-24 turntable delivers very crisp and clear sound, and it is leaps and bounds beyond other Rega turntables like the Rega Planar 2. Rega P3-24 turntable has this quality of delivering true sound of any recording in comparison to any other type of turntable.

This P3-24 turntable from Rega is an affordable and solid unit which has the ability to reveal the sonic details as well. The package becomes all the more appealing once the company’s TTPSU power supply is added to the entire package. It gives a new life to the vinyl which sound even better when played on P3-24 turntable.

Line 6 Pocket Pod: Pocket Sized Powerhouse

Alex — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:20:30 +0000

If you ever dreamt of mimicking any guitarist’s trademark sound, then this line 6 pocket pod is just the one for you. The pod pre-amplifier from line 6 may look quite small but it is surely a pocket size powerhouse and has much more classic rock sounds than any roadie’s collection. Though this pocket Pod may be quite similar to that of a standard guitar tuner, the fact is that this Pod acts like a digital pre-amplifier and thereby allows the user to easily mimic the effects pedals as well as the sounds of the classic amplifiers.

In order to sound just like a professional guitarist like Jimmy Page or Eric Clapton, all you need to do is just plug in your guitar and simply connect your Pocket Pod either to your Mac or to your amplifier and you are all set to rock. The Line 6 Pocket POD Guitar Multi-Effect Processor is a highly compressive and portable device and has an amazing user interface. It is battery powered and can be connected to any computer via a USB port. Wherever inspiration strikes, this Pocket Pod allows you to create mind blowing guitar tones, as it is equipped with 32 modern and classic pre-amp models in conjunction with sixteen cab models.

Pocket Pod is capable of allowing a wide variety of tonal characters as it comes equipped with sixteen professionally designed effect models. This compact and portable multi effects device weighs 6oz and measures 5 x 3.5 x 2 inches. Its intuitiveness and portability make it a must have for any home Mac musician.

Sony DAV F-200 Home Cinema System: Attractive Entertainment Solution

Alex — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:05:13 +0000

If you are looking for a very smart and trendy home cinema system which will not only win your hearts by its sheer looks, but also bring satisfaction to people who want quality A/V products at affordable prices, then look no further than the Sony DAV F-200 home cinema system. The main unit holds a DVD player, an audio processing unit along with a radio tuner and its looks and elegance are unmatched. It also has the option of wall mounting with a bracket (optional) or can be arranged with a vertical stand.

The aesthetic of design can be felt from the fact that the playback controls are underneath on the silver section and get illuminated with a white light and the disc slot is also discreetly located on the right side. The Sony DAV-F200’s speakers are attractively slim, and compliment the main unit and the subwoofer. Further the back side connections are also covered by a panel which can be removed and the HDMI port offers up to 1080p resolutions. There is also a provision of coaxial input / output, optical digital audio input and provision of external audio gear through a pair of analogue phonos, a USB port for audio players for AAC, WMA and MP3 files, mobile phones and memory devices and also the DivX files from CD or DVD.

The set up is simple and once connected, you have option for quick set up or the custom set ups and the operating system of the unit is intuitive and works with great speed. The S-Master amplifier gives real power to Sound. The bass is excellent and the top end frequencies and the midrange perform outstandingly. Similarly the picture quality produced was also impressive with rich colours but still looked natural coupled with sharpness gives life like images.

To sum up a stylish and attractive home cinema packed with features and reproducing quality sound and life like picture at affordable price.

Samsung YP-T9: Another Stellar Music Player

Philip — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:08:27 +0000

The YP – T9 is a multifunctional MP3 player from Samsung which adapts a completely tactical approach. This specific T9 MP3 player tries to incorporate a variety of multimedia functions, supported by constructive features, and combines a simple interface with an attractive portable design. The YP – T9 has definitely a lot of strong features that are incorporated into this small unit.

This MP3 player features 4GB of memory storage, 30 hours of playback time and 1.8inch LCD screen with QCIF resolution and 256K colour. It supports MP3, WMA audio files, MPEG video playback, text files, JPEG files and flash games. It’s an addition to the MP3 players to add text as well as the flash games as one of the feature. This MP3 player also incorporates an FM tuner in its list of features.

It has a plastic body with a silver frame on the bottom and the side edges and the black and the front surfaces are hard and reflective. The Samsung YP-T9JB 2GB is quite durable in its construction. This MP3 player is quite intuitive and has an outstanding user interface. Because of its small and compact size, it might give an impression of being deficient. It is a slightly rounded small unit with a multitude of features.

The FM radio included in this MP3 player has 20 customisable preset stations which can either be set automatically or manually. IT has outstanding reception quality. Therefore, if you are looking for a customisable MP3 player that is capable of performing more than the standardized tasks then, T9 is just right for you.

Philips SHE9850: Classic In-Ear Headphones

Philip — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:58:36 +0000

If you are looking for some classic in-ear monitors and are fans of listening to Jazz, Blues and Classical music styles then the Philips SHE 9850 headphones are perfectly suited for you. The design is very aesthetically pleasing and looks very pretty. They are fairly small in size and, with the classic black tip and contrasting gunmetal case, compliment each other very well as true eye catchers. As they are small in size with special tiny tips, they can easily slide into the ear, and as a result they are very comfortable to wear; especially when compared to other models in the canal phone category.

The size of the earphones is no judgment of sound quality. This is more than evident with these small headphones that still manage to emit impressive quality sound with a strong overall performance. Further the emphasis on detailing and transparency is outstanding and as a result you will enjoy the above styling of music much more with these Philips SHE9850 headphones as compared to others. You can easily get the effect of all the nuances of music, whether it is the individual guitar strings, the subtle inclusions of other musical instruments, the drum beats or the vocal back ups all get reproduced in a very well defined and transparent fashion, giving a musical treat to the listener.

The highs are full of richness with a sweet sound effect and also the extension is excellent. Similarly the smoothness and clarity in high pitched piano notes are also soothing and you never get the tiring effect which becomes very evident if there is harshness in high pitched musical notes.

The mid-range is excellent and can be judged from the consistent smoothness found in the treble notes. To sum up they are an excellent piece of comfortable IEMs both in design and performance.

iAudioize turns your Emails and Documents into MP3s

Chris — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:38:30 +0000

iAudioize is a special piece of software for the Mac from Limerick, which is used for converting all word, email, page documents and PDFs to an audio file in MP3 format. This then gives users the convenience to listen to the entire document on their MP3 player. The best part about these MP3 files is that they are approximately three to four times smaller than the size of the actual song. The iAudioize software costs around £25.

iAudioize works on the concept, where it features natural voices and compresses al the audio files to take up approximately four times less space than would be taken by any normal MP3 file. This software is capable of automatically downloading the files first to your Apple iPod and then storing your documents and emails like music in your iTunes and finally building portable email or document.

This software is highly intuitive and has an extremely simple user interface. iAudioize works with playlists and also supports drag and drop feature. This software is also capable of automating the population iAudioized playlists. This software also features search functionality and much more. This is one software programme makes it very easy for all the people or professionals who keep travelling. The basic system requirements for this software are Mac operating system with versions 10.4 and later, 512MB RAM, 150MB hard disk and the speed should be 900MHz or above.

Samsung Vidego MP3 Player: Very Pocketable

Alex — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:20:53 +0000

The Samsung Vidego is ultra portable and one of the most pocketable MP3 players available on the market. It is a super sleek MP3 player and it will attract you with its mere 9mm thickness. This MP3 player gives an impression of a slightly thick credit card. This MP3 player, like all other MP3 players, supports MP3 and WAV audio files but at the same time it also comes equipped with an FM tuner, voice recorder, picture viewer, e-book support and video playback. That’s a lot of features to expect from such a small device.

It also supports 1GB of internal memory which you can be further expanded using a micro SD slot. This MP3 player displays the content in the landscape format rather than the usual portrait format as is done by the other normal MP3 players. This small little player has quite a bit of functionality to offer, despite being far smaller than players like the Archos 7 internet media tablet 320GB. The Samsung Vidego delivers an amazing sound quality and the best part being that it comes with several preset settings which includes jazz, normal, rock, pop and classic which can be easily set using an equalizer.

VIDEGO is a highly intuitive MP3 with an amazing user interface. Although this MP3 player comes with a vast array of features, yet it does not make the user feel the complexity. All in all this is a remarkably thin and compact MP3 player. Samsung has undoubtedly improved on the sound and the quality of the product. The touch screen controls and the multi-functionality make it a must have MP3 player.