Audio Arsenal

Orb Audio ‘Mod’ Speakers

• March 3rd, 2006 |

I have been doing research on super compact speaker systems for quite some time now. It basically started when my wife said we needed to get some smaller speakers for the house. The ones I had previously were Infinity Reference 2000.5 three ways (mini towers at 2.5′ in height). The Infinity speakers took up alot of space and are totally over powered for the small house we have now.

A friend of mine has the Anthony Gallo Nucleus Micros, and I have been keen on the for awhile now. Since I own a house now, price is more of an issue for me than it was in the past. So, I had to find an alternate to the Nucleus Micros.

I found another high end brand called Mirage, they had a compact system called the Nano, this was an intersting setup, as its an omnidirectional system. The speakers fire striaght up and then are deflected in a 360degree spread. Any spot in your home you are listening from you get the same audio fidelity. I listened to them and was pretty much sold. But…

I did have one more more research expedition to make, to Orb Audio in Sherman Oaks. I really wanted to listen to the Orb Audio speakers. I saw them online, and read some reviews in Wired Magazine, so I figured it was worth a shot.

Well, when I got to the demo showroom, it was a very very pleasant surprise. It turns out that the president/founder of Orb Audio, Gary Pelled, was co-founder of Anthony Gallo Acoustics, and THE man responsible for the innovative globe product design for the Nucleus Micros! Gary explained that after years of working at Gallo it was time for him to start his own company.

When I listened to his speakers, I was converted from the Mirage system immediately, the Orbs sounded as rich and saturated as the Gallo Micros, if not even more so! The best part, since Gary sells his product factory direct, its a major savings for a similar high end and deep sounding compact 5.1 system.

I ended up buying a 3.1+ System (4 Orb speakers plus the Super Eight Subwoofer) and it cost me around $700! Still def. not cheap, but compared to what a Gallo system would have cost, a steal!

The Orbs really are amazing in size and sound! YOu can set up a demo for yourself at the site (they have show rooms ins LA and NYC). Check them out!

View: Orb Audio site

DJ Aptem, Cassette Deck DJ

• June 14th, 2005 |

This just in from my musically inclined friend DJ Tony Watson, as posted on this Flickr page. Thru them I found DJ Aptems site, Cassette DJ. DJ Aptem is the Russain DJ who made a DIY Mixing Deck out of hacked together Cassette Decks (He has also made a mixer to go with the setup). I have posted a whole bunch of tracks sourced from this DIY Cassette DJ Deck. This is way cool! On the same tip as Konono NO1 (Congotronics).

1–2
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View More Photos of his Cassette Deck Rig and Gear!

via Cassette DJ

ourTunes, LAN Music Sharing

• June 2nd, 2005 |

This is yet another great app to enable people on a LAN (not the Internet) to Share Music. Its a tiny footprint JAVA app for MacOSX and Windows (only 292k!), and gives you a startlingly similar interface to Acquisition or Gnutella for browsing all LAN users iTunes Libraries and then cueing MP3s for download.

ourTunes Sourceforge Project Page

RoboCop, The Musical!

• June 1st, 2005 |

Alrighty then, just when you thought you heard all the parody musical numbers you could (thanks Weird Al), they go and do RoboCop The Musical! RoboCop is like my favorite of all time Sci-Fi cult film! Kurtwood Smith is the shiznit as the villain, a far cry from the grumpy dad on That 70’s Show!

“Murphy, It’s You” from RoboCop The Musical Performed by RoboCop and Officer Lewis.

PSP Drive, PSPcasting Site

• June 1st, 2005 |

This link has probably been cross linked to death by now (after all it was on Boing Boing yesterday). I meant to post this over the weekend, but got delayed due to some computer issues. Well, now here it is… The site uses a special JAVA applet to automatically download the media file (weather it be MP4, MP3, or Still Image) to your PSP if its plugged in to your computer!

PSPDrive 1.0

Firemusic UK, Megamixes

• May 27th, 2005 |

Firemusic UK, has some nice long form mixes from a couple of their resident Musician/DJs… plus a nice jazzy funk homage to retro music compilation EP called October Revolution…

Ian LLoyd - Discohop 41MB zip
Jez Proctor - Diabraham 44MB zip
October Revolution EP 25MB zip

via Fire Music UK

Konono No1, African Electro DIY Dub

• May 25th, 2005 |

Just got this link from my musical friend Tony Watson via Francois Kevorkians bulletin board… Holy Jeeesus is all I can say!!! Its some of the most amazing electronic spiritual ethnic percussion I have heard… You HAVE to check out the site it has some amazing photos of the gear these guys built to make the music.

KONONO N°1 was founded over 25 years ago by Mingiedi, a virtuoso of the likembé (a traditional instrument sometimes called “sanza” or “thumb piano”, consisting of metal rods attached to a resonator). The band’s line-up includes three electric likembés (bass, medium and treble), equipped with hand-made microphones built from magnets salvaged from old car parts, and plugged into amplifiers. There’s also a rhythm section which uses traditional as well as makeshift percussion (pans, pots and car parts), three singers, three dancers and a sound system featuring these famous megaphones.

Konono No1 MP3 Excerpt

via Crammed (Belgium)

Buy CD from Amazon
Buy MP3s from iTunes

Stir15 Recordings, German House

• May 11th, 2005 |

This week I had to go to Frys and buy some tech stuff, I stopped by their CD section as I have found some realy good deals on out of print music of late. I did it again, I found this great compilation from STIR15 Recordings and EFA, called Cityslickers Volume 2, Allstar Alliance, for $4.00 marked down from $12.99! Its a compilation of a bunch of very moody german house music, lightly mixed.

I checked on their website and they have a few tracks from a pending house release for your listening pleasure, WESTPARK UNIT vs. VINCENZO “SET FREE (MUSIC). I have linked to the three tracks here…

Westpark Unit vs. Vincenzo - Music (Set Free)
Westpark Unit vs. Vincenzo - Original Club Mix
Westpark Unit vs. Vincenzo - Satin Soul Mix

via Stir15 Recordings

Etymotic ER6i Headphones, $79.99 at Buy.com

• May 11th, 2005 |

If your into mobile music and your an audiophile and want to HEAR your music, not just a feined attempt at audio fidelity like most media player headphones, then you need to get some Etymotic in ear headphones. These guys beat out noise cancelling by a long shot. The main difference is that with noise cancelling, they actually use another frequency of noise to cancel out or negate the ambient noise your accustomed to… The Etymotic in ear foam headphones use the form fitting seal and insualtion of the foam insert in your ear to block out the noise. I dont know about you, but I would rather have the insualtion and form fitting create an optimal music experience rather than some other type of noise?!

Right now on Buy.com you can buy a pair of the Etymotic ER6i Isolator Headphones (White or Black) Pillow Pack. This includes two pairs of ear inserts, the rubber ones and the foam ones, extra filters, and the tool to change them, and a carry bag and shirt clip. All this for a mere $79.99 (they retail at around $139.99) so thats almost half off! I bought a pair today on the spot when I found this deal.

Etymotic Research ER6i Isolator Earphones $79.99 (plus Tax & Shipping).

PSP MP4 Video Links

• May 6th, 2005 |

This just in from my friend Jonathan at RES.com, apparently now (as I professed to him earlier this year!) there are a whole slew of sites now releasing PSP compressed video content. Have fun downloading, make sure to check out my PSP resource links to get the best software to PSPcast!

Method Studios has many clips of their design reel.
Method Studios

PES has a bunch of his short films available as well.
PES PSP

HEAVY.com has a number of their clips available.
Heavy PSP Video Packs

ATOMFilms also has PSP short film content for viewing.
Mobile Movie Theater