Interfaces/Hardware

The TNR-O Orange is the orange version of the original Tenori-On instrument, with more plastic, fewer LEDs, and a lighter price. According to Yamaha, the orange one has the same features and creative capabilities as the original; it's just cheaper.  

With the street look of a giant brass knuckle and the functionality of a Palm Pilot, the Stylophone Beatbox is sure to electro-fy your pocket with beats, percussion, steel drums, and more.  

Eight out of 16 inputs on this Firewire interface are auto-sensing universal inputs with Brilliant mic preamps, which make for easy recording on any Firewire-ready computer.  

Mytek Digital's announcement of the new Stereo DAC did two things: 1) it described a digital-to-analog converter, and 2) it introduced us to Mytek.  

Add the US-122mkII and the US-144mkII to you holiday wish list, as they are now smaller and faster, with all the necessary features as before and then some. For under $150, you can have one of these audio interfaces and a copy of Cubase LE4 too.  

Tascam may have gone overboard with its gratuitous flaunting of inputs, leaving little room for outputs. Announced at AES today, the US-2000 has not 8, but 16 inputs for your plugging pleasure.  

Want more polyphony, lower latency, and more storage space? Receptor 2 and its new option for Solid State Drive technology can help you out, after it pimps your ride.  

Oh, hi. Are you having a normal day? Allow us to upset you with this video of a talking piano. Austrians have discovered a way to make precocious children even creepier. You knew they would.  

You really can't afford to go catch a pig and bring it to the studio for the sake of analyzing its snorts. You are also bound to have a tough time capturing Carnegie Hall's acoustical data if you don't have something handy. Studio Six Digital iAudioInterface gives you all that much needed data and analysis from within a small black box connected to your iPhone.  

Those who recently upgraded to Snow Leopard only to find their Symphony Mobile systems immobilized, as it were, are in for some good news. Apogee has just announced official Snow Leopard compatibility for the Symphony Mobile system. Good talk, Symphony Mobile users, see you out there.  

It's a pity that most pro audio applications have that tendency to confuse the average musician to the point that they fail in one of the most important aspects of pro audio application use: capturing musical ideas. The M-Audio New Fast Track just goes as simple as plug-and-play and suddenly you're making that record.  

Instant coffee, instant noodles, etc. have always been viewed as inferior versions of the real stuff like brewed coffee and a meticulously prepared bowl of Vietnamese beef noodle soup. Could the same be true with regard to pro audio? Focusrite Saffire 6 USB begs to differ.  

The Mackie Satellite was one of the more radically-different audio interfaces on the market when it was introduced. The fact the Mackie's gone back to a more traditional design concept with their new Onyx-i series firewire mixer / interfaces should be a hint as to how well the Satellite fared. These smart-looking units should inspire a bit more excitement, especially when folks learn that they're compatible with Pro Tools M-Powered.  

It's good to know that manufacturers of pro audio gear are beginning to recognize that not all musicians would want to bother studying a lot of detail with regard to recording. The Steinberg CI2 Audio Interface proves that point via instant recording through USB plug and play.  

Musicians starting out with recording by themselves for the first time can lead to that annoying initial frustration because of all the technicalities that seem to be very foreign to learned musical concepts. Breaking through that technical barrier, the TASCAM US-100 is also going to break the $100 price barrier.  

Have you been dreaming about getting a TC Electronic upgrade for yourself? Here's is an easy game of chance brought to you by the TC Electronic Desktop Konnekt 6 Giveaway.  

The wait is finally over for the RME Fireface UC. This impressive 36-channel USB 2.0 audio interface is now shipping.  

If you're hesitant to upgrade to Snow Leopard after the hairy upgrade that was OSX 10.5.2, we feel your pain. So does PreSonus, who want to asuage your fears by letting you know that the PreSonus Universal Control Driver is completely Snow Leopard-compatible.  

The Cakewalk-Roland partnership is still going on strong. As evidence of such, the Cakewalk UA-25EX, UA-4FX, and UA-101 have just been introduced to the market and features Roland's reliable designs.  

Scooping up a tablespoon of lard and putting it in your mouth doesn't seem to be the greatest culinary experience in the world. With some culinary tweaks, however, it can become the most wonderful sensation you'll ever experience at the cost of your health. In a musical manner, you can do a similar thing with Goldbaby Productions FatsoSynths Volume 1 without the guilt and the health risks.  

It is true that today's softsynths that emulate hardware CV-controlled analog ones bring us an experience very close to the real thing. However, as most would say, nothing ever beats the real thing in terms of experience, and some would then aspire to have these CV-controlled devices. However, there are occasions that you want to use your MIDI controller to operate your CV gear in a latency-free and pitch-stable manner. The Kenton Electronics USB SOLO just fits like a perfect glove for the job.  

There will come a time when "micronization" will be a thing of the past and the trend shifts to implanted electronic devices. The Jim Mielke Digital Tattoo Interface enables control of Bluetooth devices right under your skin, including musical ones.  

The diversity of available components and options for the PC are so numerous that the average musician might spend some significant amount of time researching for that ideal setup. Save that brain power for musical work as your requirements are covered in an instant via PCAudioLabs Rok Box 64.  

Playing and recording your guitar using your Mac may be fun in most respects, except for trying to manage playing the guitar with both hands and manipulating the mouse and keyboard all at the same time. With the goal of giving you control over your Mac hands-free, the Apogee Electronics GiO has just hit the computer music scene.  

Despite having a laptop and the availability of USB-MIDI controllers and interfaces, some DJs still love to use their old vintage turntables and mixers with their new laptops. The Numark STEREO|iO is an instant solution to incorporate your old hardware into your new computer.  

Today’s computer music age appears to be similar to what Generation Y encountered; a transition from old to new technology. With the computer music age blossoming further, Generation Y appears to have held on to the gear of yesteryears. Alesis AudioLink USB-MIDI Cable is bound to help bridge that gap, just other USB-MIDI interface before it did.  

Alright. Now that you're fortunate enough to have a ULN-8 as well as your computer, you begin to wonder now about where in this thing will I be plugging in my tons of mics and instruments. You're in more luck now as NetworkSound has created a new breakout box/patch bay for the ULN-8 called the Mamba UDB.  

The Saffire PRO 24 is impressive enough, right? Getting it featured last month was enough to make most readers get their jaws dropping and their mouths drooling. You better be prepared to pick up your jaw off the floor as Focusrite adds something new to this amazing interface.  

Enough with the competing Les Paul Jr. / Hammond B3 blues solos! Why can't guitarists and keyboardists learn to get along?. The Line 6 POD Studio KB37 picks up where the Toneport KB37 left off in this quest as shipping of these units kicked off recently, and not a moment too soon. Oh, the humanity!  

Rui Pereira designs interfaces, which means he knows how to make it so human beings and machines play nicely together. His latest design is the Looop-r (not a typo), a revised version of a video mixer that he created in reaction to the existing software / controller options. And you know, there's a version with integrated audio controls too. Check out the multimedia that is the Gearwire review.