Hi-Tech holiday headphone roundup

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Not all headphones are created equal so if you’re looking for some really hi-tech headphones to pop under the tree this year, then here are a few ideas that you just might find sound pretty good – pardon the pun.

Mo-Fi Powered Hi-Fi Headphones

To start off, for the devout gamer, musician or the discerning audiophile, the Blue Mo-Fi Powered Hi-Fi Headphones with built-in amplifier marries todays hi-tech with tried and true old-school technology.

At first glance they look like they would be right at home as part of a Transformer, but the robotic like look is purposeful; the formed ear cups, the multi-hinged design and adjustable headband allows the headphones to be adjusted for any head or comfort level while staying completely parallel so you block outside sound and hear the music as you are supposed to.

In fact, there’s no digital signal processing on this puppy. It has a built-in 240mW amplifier and it’s totally analog, baby! It also has three bass modes to choose from, so you can decide between passive, active or enhanced bass.  Read about all Holiday Hi-Tech Headphones at Canoe Tech Blog.

iRig Keys goes Mini

irigkeysmini_PR_image_20151113IK Multimedia, has announced iRig Keys MINI as the newest addition to the iRig KEYS universal MIDI controller range. iRig Keys MINI offers universal connectivity to a full-featured playing experience in an ultra-compact enclosure with 25 velocity sensitive mini-keys and full MIDI edit features, plus over $360 worth of included apps and software. Now players, producers, sound designers and audio engineers can plug in and create anytime and anywhere with compact convenience on their iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Android, Mac or PC.

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iRig Acoustic mobile mic for mobile players

irig_acousticIK Multimedia is proud to announce iRig Acoustic, the first acoustic guitar mobile microphone/interface specifically made for acoustic guitars. Inspired by a must-see documentary on flamenco guitar master Paco de Lucia, iRig Acoustic is an innovative and extremely compact patent-pending clip-on acoustic guitar microphone/interface for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac and Android.

iRig Acoustic features advanced miniature microphone technology, which gives it a rich quality of sound that beats piezo and magnetic pickups and rivals professional-grade studio microphones at a price that’s much more affordable. It installs (and uninstalls) in seconds: It simply clips onto the rim of a guitar or ukulele’s sound hole. iRig Acoustic also features monitoring and line-output capabilities for recording and performing live.

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AmpliTube 4 released for Mac/PC: hyper-realistic tone, control and feel

Amplitube4 IK Multimedia announced that AmpliTube® 4 for Mac and PC is now shipping. Offering exciting new features and gear, it marks a major upgrade to the world’s most popular and powerful guitar & bass tone studio: It includes the most advanced speaker cabinet section ever developed, new speaker modeling, 5 new British amplifiers, a new acoustic simulator pedal, a built-in 8-track DAW and a whole lot more. AmpliTube 4 offers more realism, more gear, better sound, more flexibility, more functionality, more tone and just plain more everything than ever before – quite simply, it’s the most powerful guitar & bass tone studio ever released. And there are now multiple versions that let musicians tailor their AmpliTube experience for their specific needs.

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IK Multimedia releases iRig Pro DUO

IK Multimedia just announce  iRig Pro DUO, the first truly mobile high-definition dual-channel mobile audio and MIDI interface for iPhone/iPad, Mac/PC and Android devices. The smallest fully-featured dual-channel interface, iRig Pro DUO finally frees musicians to create inspired music on the go with studio-quality audio and a whole suite of features found in interfaces costing three times the price. Designed and made in Italy, it comes fully loaded with everything musicians and producers need to record on the move.

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iRig Keys and iRig Keys PRO go universal

irigkeys_universalOctober 1, 2015 – IK Multimedia announced today that its iRig Keys range of mobile keyboard controllers is going universal, meaning they will be compatible with Lightning-compatible iOS devices and Android devices as well as Mac/PC right out of the box and at the same price as before.

Both the ultra-portable iRig Keys and mobile full-size keyboard iRig Keys PRO controllers will now come with a Micro-USB to OTG cable for Android devices in addition to their Lightning and USB cables. (30-pin cable is still available as an option)

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iKlip Case iPhone 6 multi-angle viewing stand

iklipcase_front

These days more musicians are taking their portable recording studio on the road. And they’re not just using laptops and iPads they are also creating music on their iPhones. So IK created the iKlip Case for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus a case that would protect your phone but also double as a stand and allow for the flexibility of multi-angle viewing.

4 Viewing Options

iKlip Case has both practical and protective design elements. Built into the case are two ridged polycarbonate wing-style legs that can be adjusted in various positions to create a stand. It allows you to view your iPhone screen four different ways; two positions in portrait mode i.e. 45° and 60° angles and two in landscape mode, 60° or 80° angles.  Read more…at Canoe Tech Blog.

Renamed Apple Music Festival returns this month

AppleMusicHead

As they’ve done for the past eight years, Apple will once again bring us a live September music festival from London’s famous Roundhouse. But for those of you who have faithfully tuned in to the festival over the years you’’ll notice it’s been blessed with a new name, will start later in the month and runs for 10 days – a much shorter time period than before. Regardless, it will still feature a world-class headliners like Pharrell Williams, One Direction, Florence + The Machine, Disclosure and more.

The former the iTunes Music Festival has been rebranded and now called Apple Music Festival to commemorate the recent launch of Apple Music. It will still be broadcast around the world for free or people can watch it live and on-demand via Apple Music. The beauty of it being provided through the new service, according to Apple is that music fans can get closer to their favorite performers as they are covered on Beats 1 giving them backstage news and footage straight from the artists the Apple Music Connect.  Read more…at Canoe Tech Blog.

Grammy nominee Ken Lewis launches MusicSchoolOnline

MSO1

There’s a new music school launching in town, but it’s online and appropriately called MusicSchoolOnline.com (MSO). Grammy nominated multi-instrumentalist and producer Ken Lewis who has over two decades of experience making music for major record labels is launching it today.

The new school is designed to provide easily accessible and affordable music lessons and resources for musicians, singers and aspiring individuals of all ages with an easy-to-follow streaming service, with prices starting as low as US $9.99 for a monthly subscription.

The video tutorials are created and delivered by Lewis and other award-winning instructors who are also top-level professional musicians. Lessons cover voice, individual instruments like piano, guitar, drums and bass along with rhythm section, extensive music theory and exclusive MSO Kids animated episodes. The school will launch with 400 music video lessons with more added every day. In fact over 200 more lessons have already been created. Read full post at Canoe Tech Blog.

IK Multimedia iRig Mic Studio digital pocket-sized studio quality mic

IK Multimedia, known for the iRIG series of hand-held and portable microphones for artists and podcasters has added yet another flavour to its line with iRig Mic Studio. It’s a large-diaphragm, digital desktop condenser mic designed for iOS and Android as well as for Mac and PC. It features an ultra-compact form-factor, smaller than their other handhelds that can actually sit in the palm of your hand.

What’s impressive, for it’s size, is it packs a hefty 1-inch diameter condenser, back electret capsule into an ultra-compact enclosure. It’s digital, so it has a built-in 24-bit audiophile-grade A/D converter offering 44.1/48kHz sample rates and a built-in low-noise, high-definition preamp all powered from whatever device you’re connected to. It has the capacity and sensitivity to capture a wide range of sounds from something that’s loud and proud to a soft whisper, making it very useful in a wide range of applications, including professional and broadcast quality recordings.  Read full Review at G4TV Canada.