Artist: The Gear

The passion for design and creation is the very pinnacle of Bang & Olufsen ; to wrap technology and great experiences in beautiful designs. We’ve seen amazing Bang & Olufsen product designs integrated into cars such as Aston Martin and Audi A8 – and with the new BeoLab 14 system, Bang & Olufsen is redefining the home surround sound system experience. Krestan Krab Johansen, Concept Developer for Bang & Olufsen says about the BeoLab 14 surround sound system: [...]

Band & Olufsen are one of the worlds most renowned audio companies, not just for the beauty of the products that they create but also the clarity and quality of the sound that emanates from them. Today we are proud to introduce the world to the newest Band & Olufsen product, the amazing BeoLab14 a home surround sound system from the future. Krestan Krab Johansen, Concept Developer for Bang & Olufsen says about the BeoLab 14 surround sound system: The inspiration was that it [...]

Through the last century we have seen the home television set’s birth and how it has changed and evolved from the old, dimly lit black and white cathode ray sets of the early 20th Century to the high definition 1080 pixel brilliance that we have become accustomed to today.  My question is, what’s next?  In my opinion one of the more brilliant things about the human psyche (and why I think we’ve lasted as long as we have) is that we are never satisfied with what we’ve got. Our desire to improve and innovate is shown through our ever changing [...]

Check out the innovative gadget “The Vamp” by Paul Cocksedge + Paul Cocksedge Studios!  The Vamp is a cool little device that turns any speaker with a 3.5 mm audio jack into a bluetooth speaker compatible with modern mp3 players and smartphones. Any speaker, yes even those giant 1980s Hi-Fi ones in the attic at your parents house that haven’t been seen since Clinton’s presidency.  This product is great for those of us that have old speakers lying around and want the convenience of bluetooth technology without dropping a couple hundred dollars on a new sound system.  Check out The [...]

Cell phone tech is constantly evolving.  I often nostalgically recall the days of the old “indestructible” Nokia bar phones of the early 2000’s.  Ah, it was a simpler time, a time before we all had our hearts hardened by The Matrix sequels, a time when snake was the most popular mobile game and before quad core processors and power hungry applications.  Back then cell phones weren’t used for much more than calling people and sending ridiculously expensive text messages.  Today, 6 years after the release of the first iPhone, powerful smartphones are being released and improved upon on regular basis [...]

Cell phone tech is constantly evolving.  I often nostalgically recall the days of the old “indestructible” Nokia bar phones of the early 2000’s.  Ah, it was a simpler time, a time before we all had our hearts hardened by The Matrix sequels, a time when snake was the most popular mobile game and before quad core processors and power hungry applications.  Back then cell phones weren’t used for much more than calling people and sending ridiculously expensive text messages.  Today, 6 years after the release of the first iPhone, powerful smartphones are being released and improved upon on regular basis [...]

A couple of weeks ago Avid announced that they will release Pro Tools 11 on May 28th, 2013. Some of the updated features include a new Avid Audio Engine that delivers multiple times the processing power with the same hardware, 64-bit architecture which increases the number of simultaneous virtual instruments, and offline bounce that delivers mixes up to 150 times faster than real time. While there will always be people saying that you don't need to upgrade or that the pricing is too steep, I plan to upgrade to Pro Tools 11 mainly because of the increased power [...]

What started as an idea for yet another clothing line based out of LA, V-Moda became a headphone brand when inventor Val Kolton was out sketching designs at a cafe, and noticed  that the Achilles heel of a lady passing by dressed in haute couture was the cheap plastic of her iPod headphones. It wasn't just the dated glossy white appearance that was painful to watch, but the fact that after carefully selecting the most exceptional, top of the line pieces, she opted for the absolute bottom of audiophile design and sound. Of course you can't expect the [...]

professional audio plug-ins developer Camel Audio is proud to announce availability of Alchemy Mobile v2, a major update to its free iOS synthesiser for iPad/iPhone, as of April 30... Perfect for developing song ideas on the go or in the studio, Alchemy Mobile is the mobile version of Camel Audio’s award-winning Alchemy soft synth, which can be heard on thousands of records and films by world-class artists. Thanks to the most powerful synthesis engine on iOS, discover an almost limitless palette of musical instruments created from samples, VA, granular and additive synthesis — from fat [...]

Music and audio innovator Peavey Electronics mourns the loss of one of its most celebrated instrument designers; master luthier Michael Powers , who passed away on April 29, 2013. Powers was an integral part of Peavey ’s development of musical instruments throughout the last four decades. He will be remembered for his innovative guitar designs, uncompromising work ethic, and warm nature. Powers ’ first instrument was a $22 mail order acoustic guitar. He soon moved to an electric and attempted his first refinish. Stripping away the paint, he [...]

With Avid's announcement of Pro Tools 11 being released on May 28th, 2013, I've been thinking about some changes to my studio. And although my additions will mainly be plugin related, this video got me thinking of redoing my room. Enjoy!

specialist British loudspeaker drive unit and complete sound reproduction system manufacturer ATC is pleased to announce that Yellow Box Studios, Singapore’s largest and most highly-awarded audio post-production facility, has installed a top-of-the-range pair of SCM300ASL PRO three-way active series loudspeakers in its new no-expense-spared music production and recording facility... “The music production and recording facility is also meant to cover our post-production needs as we do quite a lot of music recording and ADR for our films and commercials.” So says Yellow Box Studios Managing Director Rennie Gomes, a go-getting, multi-tasking individual who is also [...]

When it was announced that Dave Smith (father of MIDI and Sequential Circuits) was to team up with Roger Linn (Linndrum) to create an innovative new instrument, it was rumored to take the analog community by storm. That storm has of course touched down, and ravaged all preconceived notions of what drum machines can do. For starters, this unit isn’t exactly a drum machine. It is a drum synthesizer. Which in short means that when you play sounds, you are not just simply recalling samples from a ROM chip, you are actually creating drums from analog and digital oscillators. How [...]

analogue and digital audio processor developer/manufacturer SPL is proud to launch its Madison 16+16 Channel Studio I/O System and Crimson USB Audio Interface & Controller at Musikmesse 2013... As implied by its full name, Crimson combines a USB interface with high-quality pre-amps and a separate, fully-featured monitor controller, creating a cost-effective, portable package. Play, playback, record, convert, control, and listen with a single device. Add a DAW and you’ve got yourself a truly professional recording setup with outstanding SPL performance to boot at a hitherto unachievable price point. How is this possible, though? To [...]

music software and hardware company Arturia is proud to launch its KeyLab range of professional-grade MIDI keyboard controllers with all-new accompanying Analog Lab synthesizer software at Musikmesse 2013... As implied by name, KeyLab 25 features 25 keys with velocity sensitivity for performance flexibility. As such, it’s the smallest, most lightweight, and simplest member of this trio of professional-grade MIDI keyboard controllers, ideally suited to travelling musicians, mobile music producers, and performance-orientated DJs alike. Complimenting that full-size keyboard is a feature-packed panel bristling with controls, including two clickable encoders; 12 encoders; nine sliders; pitch bend and [...]

Welcome to the future: might I interest you in a strawberry Saturn?  No, that’s not a cleverly masked alcoholic concoction.  Vintage Confections , as of January 2013, have released a line of lollipops shaped like planets.  Set within an edible black and silver coating, these treats are sold in sets of ten and stand 4 inches tall.   While the flavor options are limited to strawberry and cotton candy, included in the set are the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, despite its recent removal from the planetary ranks.  These treats offer a fun, if not [...]

In response to an unspoken yet oft pondered question, Playboy has released an app for the iPad entitled, quite deftly, “iPlayboy.”  A mere $8 a month gains access to all pictures, articles and even ads from its 50 year span.  However startling it might be to seeing the infamous Playboy bunny next to the Instagram camera, it follows a much more conspicuous external hard drive proposed in 2010.  Although it provided 250 GB of storage space, it included the magazine’s entire run pre-loaded, and almost assuredly the word “PLAYBOY” embossed on every side.  While the stigma will no doubt remain [...]

Calling all nature-lovers and hippies! Nguyen La Chanh has created, for your ultimate pleasure, the mossy bath rug. Not only does it feel great between your nature-loving toes, but its looks pretty great, too! This could definitely be a fun DIY project for any moss fanatics, click here , and here , for more info. -Gabby Petrocelli

Music software company XILS-lab is proud to announce availability of Oxium 1.5, an Avid Pro Tools 11 AAX format-ready major update to its popular performance soft synth plug-in, as of April 13... Oxium has gained a solid foothold in the competitive computer-centric music marketplace since successfully launching last year to critical acclaim. Its intuitive GUI and awesome realtime modulation capabilities conspire to deftly deliver those still-sought-after analogue sounds of yesteryear alongside today’s more modernistic adventurous tones. Thanks to the Grid, Oxium’s onboard advanced sequencer modulator adapted from the Mask concept introduced in XILS-lab’s Le Masque: [...]

Musikmesse 2013 sees music software and hardware company Arturia announcing a major update to its iMini authentic recreation of the all-time classic Minimoog monosynth for Apple’s all-conquering iPad... Arturia broadened its appeal in February 2013 by introducing iMini to transform any iPad mini, iPad 2, or iPad with Retina display into the ultimate classic analogue synth emulation! This timely musical move into iOS portability was an overnight success since iMini is based on the TAE® (True Analog Emulation) synthesis technology found in Arturia’s award-winning Mini V soft synth, meticulously modelling the distinctive tones and analogue [...]