iPod-based recording studio
(Visited 4919 times) Music
Jan 102007
I really shouldn’t lust after this given that I have no iPod. But I do anyway. It’s basically a digital mixer for iPods, with four inputs (two phantom powered XLR, looks like), EQ and pan controls, a preamp, records direct to iPod, and it also works as an offboard soundcard/mixer for your computer.
We now return to your regularly scheduled gaming stuff.
11 Responses to “iPod-based recording studio”
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I’ve never really understood the point of having an IPOD, I guess I am missing something. That one sounds pretty cool though.
You don’t have an iPod?!
No… when I got an MP3 player, I wanted like 40 gigs. This was several years ago. The iPod cost a few hundred bucks more than the Creative Zen. So I have a Zen. But the power jack on it is nearly dead, and so I can’t hardly charge it except by fiddling endlessly with the cord and then not bumping it even slightly.
I have never actually USED an iPod. The Zen is relatively bulky but I actually liked it a lot. There was software to use it as a server on your network, and so on… I should probably get it fixed.
AND then buy a new iPod. 😉
I don’t buy convergence devices. The iPod does everything now. Some people go ga-ga over that, but personally, I’d rather get a device that is differentiated by its specialization. Similarly, I don’t buy ethnic food at Denny’s, and I don’t buy music gear from Wal-Mart.
I still don’t get it… LOL I feel like such a newb! What is the point of an Ipod? My 11 year old wanted one for Christmas but I was thinking she was too young.
I’ll tell you what… I’ve never seen B so happy (well, with a gadget anyway) since we bought him the 80GB Video iPod with CC points in November. It’s his 3rd iPod, and probably his most favorite gadget ever. He has bought classic Star Trek episodes (At $2/ea! “I hope you enjoy them!” I told him), ripped his Family Guy DVDs and put those on there for when he works out on the elliptical, and he downloads podcasts of Splendid Table and other NPR shows for when he’s running. He bought a book-on-tape to listen to while on the elliptical as well.
Our new Subaru does not have a tape deck, so my mom bought him the Kensington FM Transmitter for Christmas, and we’re both surprised (after hating the iTrip for the previous iPod) how well it works, even in urban Seattle.
Raph, I’d think you were a natural for a video ipod. With all the traveling you do, the music you listen to, etc. It surprised the heck out of me that you don’t already have one.
As for 11 year olds… yeah maybe a little young. She’d definitely need some custom-molded earbuds.
There is no point. That’s why we call it a convergence device.
In early 2002, Apple announced the iPod as God’s Gift to music lovers. They billed the iPod as the music player that lets people carry one-thousand songs in their pockets. Apple launched the iTunes Music Store a year later.
Today the iPod handles digital music, podcasts, photos, audio books, home movies, music videos, short films, and television shows. The device also features data storage, calendar and contact software, and most recently games. Now it’s a portable recording studio. The iTunes Music Store also sells everything that the iPod can play.
The selling point of the iPod is convenience, but it’s a thinly veiled convenience. iPod consumers still watch films and television shows on the big screen. They still play DVDs using their DVD player. They still use specialized technology for photography. They still use their computers for data storage, Outlook or Thunderbird or Act for managing contacts, and Remember the Milk or a real calendar for managing their lives. And they still play games using any one of the many gaming devices available.
Ultimately, the iPod is not differentiated by its features. What sets the iPod apart from other devices that provide the same convenience of access (e.g., PSP, Zune) is its lifestyle brand. It’s cool, it’s hip, it’s for people on-the-go. Apple isn’t selling a gadget; they’re selling a way of life. Ironically, most people probably leave their iPod charging or sitting somewhere getting dusty until they actually have a use for the iPod in their busy lives.
I need to make a post about the device I want, and WOULD use, because it IS a convergence device. The fact is, I’m on the go a lot, and it’s at the point where I cannot and do not carry all the portable devices I want to take with me: A decent camera, decent MP3 player, decent phone, email access, playing games, browsing the web, reading an ebook… I want all of these things pretty much all the time.
In practice, my smartphone is the device that I ended up with that does all of these things — but it needs to have 80GB of storage, not 1, and needs to have 5 megapixels not 1. 😛
If you’re talking about music, a local San Diego company developed a service for smartphones called Mercora M. This service allows you to access your digital music library on your PC, your friends’ digital music libraries, or you can just listen to "over 100,000 channels of digital radio".
A really cool thing for musicians is the Boss Micro BR. It’s a 4-track recorder with FX and a rhythm machine the size of an MP3 player (iPod Shuffle for those Apple geeks ;o)). Sounds pretty good :o). And Boss (and Roland) have been knowing how to manufacture devices for musicians for years. However, I went for the bigger (still portable) version BR 600 :o).
OK, that thing is cool. 🙂
See, I mostly only record at my desk, these days. So I haven’t needed anything portable. What I really need is just a mixer, basically. I don’t really use the 4-track capabilities of the Tascam anymore — it’s just a 6 input mixer for multiple signals coming into the computer.