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Panasonic CQ TX5500D

Panasonic just went retro on us and announced their very first car deck that includes a tube amplifier! The Panasonic CQ-TX5500D features dual tube amps to give that old fashioned warm sounding sound stage. The CD deck can read CD-R and CD-RW discs and play MP3’s. Now I realize that true audiophiles really like tube amps and think they offer the cleanest warmest sound (and I have to agree) but can anyone figure out why you would care when you are listening to digital audio with it? If you are listening to an MP3 that’s been compressed to begin with why would you care about how natural sounding the amp is? Well if you do care you can pick one up later this year for a little under a grand and be the first guy on your block with this awesome looking deck.

Read More | Uncrate via engadget

Gallery: Panasonic CQ-TX5500D: Retro Style Car Deck


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Virgin LogoBritish telecom giant BT is getting together with Virgin Mobile to roll out BT Livetime today.  This service will allow users to listen to 50 different stations via their mobile phone, and even download songs for a small fee.  BT hopes that these services will take a chunk out of the multi-billion pound music download industry dominated by Apple. Other services available through Livetime include music videos, and live news and sports coverage.

Read More | The Guardian

Gallery: BT and Virgin Launch Mobile Music Download Service


Musical Porch Swing

When I was younger, I always wanted to have porch swing.  I also wanted a xylophone.  I got the xylophone, but my parents weren’t willing to get me the porch swing, so you can imagine my delight when I came upon the Musical Porch Swing from Musical Furnishings.  At first glance, it appears to be no more than a regular cedar swing, but make no mistake, each piece of the swing is hand tuned.  Each swing also come with a pair of mallets and a songbook to get you started.  While this is a high quality piece of home furniture, the price is also high at $1,000 USD.  The company also makes coffee tables, chests, and childrens’ furniture as well.

Prior to these offerings, a person would have to purchase two separate items at a substantially higher cost and still not achieve the space conservation, ease of access, and novelty that of our products offer. Whole sections of musical instrument classifications are waiting to be explored and incorporated into the home setting.

Read More | Musical Furnishings via I4U

Gallery: Musical Furnishings Xylophone Swing


Save iTunes Videos

Ever since iTunes unveiled their music video section (free music videos you can watch via streaming media in the iTunes player) it’s been frustrating to have to wait for the videos to buffer before watching them.  Another irritation is that you can’t watch the videos in full-screen, even if you have Quicktime Pro. But can it be done?  As always, we have your hookup. You see, digging through the web doesn’t help – the instructions out there on the Internet are rather vague and half of them don’t work.  Trust me – I’ve tried.  The only viable solution seemed to be to use a video capture program but then you generally won’t have audio — defeating the purpose of a music video.  It seemed like a lost cause, that is, until now. On his website “A Warm Gun,” Seattle web designer, tech blogger and self-proclaimed Mac geek Ian Adams details for the world exactly how one should go about this suprisingly simple (albeit slightly unintuitive) proccess, in language that anyone who is familiar with MacOSX should be able to understand.  It’s so easy once you get the directions right!  All you need is an AppleScript, a few videos you’d like to save, an Internet connection and some spare time. Be sure to give it a try, this is one hack that Mac users shouldn’t miss! Save iTunes Videos to your Desktop |  awarmgun.net

Gallery: OS X Hack: Save iTunes Videos to your Mac’s Desktop


Sony CD Piracy Sony is testing out some new Anti-CD burning technology in hopes of stopping what they refer to as “school-yard piracy”. Ah, when will they learn? I mean it takes them how long to come up with a “new” anti-piracy technology; and it takes people how long to come up with a work around? Even without someone breaking the security there’s always some other method to work around it. Nonetheless, Sony’s new method allows consumers to make limited copies of protected discs, but blocks users from making copies of the copies

Read More | ABC News

Gallery: Sony Tests Anti-CD Burning Technology


ColdplayIf you needed proof that we now live in a digital age, here it is.  The band Coldplay had their hopes of a #1 debut for their newest single dashed this weekend when “Crazy Frog Axle F,” a wildly popular ring tone, sold more copies.  That’s right – a mobile phone ring tone is topping the charts in the UK right now. 

Update: It has been falsely reported, with the popularity of this super-hot new ringtone, that the song was originally written less than a decade ago by a 17-year-old Swedish student.  However, a sharp-eyed reader pointed out that the song is much older – appearing on the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack in 1984.

Read More | The Independent

Gallery: “Crazy Frog” Ringtone Tops UK Charts


X-fi Xtreme FidelityDemonstrated at E3 2005, the X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity Audio Processor is capable of upconverting 16-bit audio to 24-bit audio.  According to Chris Roper of IGN, who was able to listen to a demonstration, it’s able to convert all kinds of audio back into their original 24-bit/96 KHz masters.  Looks like Creative has another product to attract audiophiles and possibly the general consumer - sounds good to me.

Read More |  IGN Gear

Gallery: X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity: Amazing Audio From Creative Labs


Internet2Proving that no one is safe, the RIAA is once again going after Internet2 users. Described as a second-generation network serving universities and research institutes, Internet2 is the means by which students have illegally shared music with the i2hub program.  The RIAA is filing lawsuits against 91 students from Berkeley to Harvard.

Read More |  Internet News

Gallery: RIAA Hands Out Lawsuits To Internet2 Users


Converting LP To MP3

Posted by Troy Categories: Music,

Convert LP to MP3I personally don’t own any LPs or EPs, but I might consider converting some of my dad’s albums later on.  I honestly don’t see much in the collection, but some invaluable LPs like a Pryor record are just too good to let them go to waste.  I could buy a new record player, but even with all these technological advances they still haven’t created a portable LP player. This CNet article presents a more rational solution to anyone that wants to preserve and convert their records.

Read More |  CNet

Gallery: Converting LP To MP3


Winamp ml_ipodiTunes has officially been moved over as the only major software platform that you can use to easily sync your music collection to the iPod. Sure, there are other programs available - but none are as popular as Winamp.  The plugin is available at no cost.

The Winamp ipod plugin (aka ml_ipod) is a plugin for winamp. It allows you to manage your iPod from within the winamp media library. It supports all kinds of iPods, from the classic first generation iPods, to the iPod shuffle and the latest models.

Read More | Ml_ipod

Gallery: Use ml_ipod Plugin To Sync Ipod With Winamp


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