Hasta La Gadget!

Ambidextrous, capacitive, programmable, open source, five simultaneous touch inputs. The Misa Digital Kitara has quite the laundry list of goodies to boast about, but we couldn’t let it slide through CES without getting our fingers on it and exploring for ourselves. The first thing that strikes you about this guitar-shaped synthesizer is its weight distribution — it’s no heavier than a good electric guitar, but a lot more of that weight is contained within its neck — and the second will inevitably be its lightning-quick response to touch. Misa tells us latency is less than 5 milliseconds and it felt like it.

There are two main modes of operation: a string mode, as seen above, and a ball mode allowing for even more adjustability. Both modes can then be further tweaked by choosing between the red and blue setting, with the former allowing for the performance of hammer-ons. Sliding your finger around the 8-inch touchscreen can do all sorts of wonderful things as well, such as altering pitch, tempo and volume, while those fearful of having no tactile feedback in string mode can apply a clear sheet over the screen that has tiny little ridges where the strings would usually reside. We say “usually,” because you’ll be able to configure the distance between the imaginary strings for yourself. The Kitara runs an open source Linux OS, which will be updatable via USB and is already compatible with Mac, PC and, naturally, Linux machines. It also has more than a hundred sound presets and we’ve been promised the option to customize them and create new ones by playing around with the algorithms in the future.

The black Kitara is made out of good old plastic (but it’s made very well) and costs $849 whereas the silver one you see in the gallery below is constructed out of a single block of aluminum and will set buyers back $2,899. Pre-orders are going on now through Misa Digital’s online store and shipping is set to start on April 3. Video follows below.

Continue reading Misa Digital Kitara hands-on preview (video)

Misa Digital Kitara hands-on preview (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 10:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We still haven’t been able to evaluate Creative’s original claim that the Sound Blaster Tactic 3D series can tell up from down, but the company’s already got a third set of virtual surround sound headphones. The Sound Blaster Tactic 3D Omega (whew) adds wireless to what looks like a nearly identical set of cans, and connects to PCs, game consoles, and other home audio components with a base station on the other end. At $200, they’re not cheap, so we hope Creative’s increased the quality of its materials and construction quite a bit — the original sets were fairly flimsy, as we recall. PR after the break.

Continue reading Creative Sound Blaster Tactic 3D Omega headphones have a long name, connect to PC and game consoles wirelessly

Creative Sound Blaster Tactic 3D Omega headphones have a long name, connect to PC and game consoles wirelessly originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 15:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LAS VEGAS — Samson is proudly showing off its new Meteor Mic at CES. And rightly so: the thing looks stunning, with chrome-plated retro-styling and cool, fold out tripod legs.

The USB microphone is designed for podcasting, and features a 25mm diaphragm, a cardioid pickup pattern and a stereo one-eighth-inch headphone jack for monitoring. It’s also driverless, showing up natively as a USB audio device. That means you can plug it onto an iPad via Apple’s camera connection kit and it will just work.

I actually have a different Samson mic, and while I don’t use it much, it sounds great – a hell of a lot better than the iPad’s built-in mic. If the Meteor Mic sounds as good as that one, it could prove to be very popular for budget podcast setups, especially at a price of $100. Available April.

Meteor Mic [Samson. Thanks, Mark!]

See Also:

• Microphone
• Touch-4-VoIP: Microphone For iPod Touch Now Available
• Super-Microphone Picks Out Single Voice in a Crowded Stadium …
• Why Does the New Kindle Have A Microphone?

Klipsch managed to unveil a black-and-white version of its high-end Image X10i earbuds as well as something referred to as a LightSpeaker at last CES, and this year they’re doing the inevitable: unveiling a trio of iDevice-friendly sound systems. All a part of the new Gallery series, the Studio, Forum and Arena are all making their debut tonight in Vegas. Each of these units are AirPlay certified, meaning that each one will wirelessly ingest smooth jams and fusion metal from a nearby iTunes library. The Studio and Forum each have slots along the front edge where you can rest your iPhone / iPod / iPad, while the high-end Arena actually has a 30-pin Dock Connector port as well as a video output. The unit’s the company had on display this evening were far from being production quality, but the overall design was nice, if not a touch understated. To remedy that on the Studio, the outfit plans to offer well over a dozen faceplates with various graphics — if sales are strong, we’re told that it could create similar plates for the higher-end siblings.

To go along with those, Klipsch also unveiled a trifecta of slim, passive speakers: the G-12, G16, G-28 and G-42. These range from $299 to $599 per speaker, and are obviously aimed at the more affluent crowd. One thing of note — the backs of these speakers have clever cutouts along the bottom and rear, enabling you to better manage your wires. Yeah, wires. These units definitely aren’t wireless, but here’s hoping for 2012, right? As for the iPod sound systems? Those are slated to ship in Q2 or Q3 with prices set for $399 (Studio), $599 (Forum) and $799 (Arena).

Continue reading Klipsch unveils AirPlay-enabled Gallery Studio, Forum and Arena soundbars (hands-on)

Klipsch unveils AirPlay-enabled Gallery Studio, Forum and Arena soundbars (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Jan 2011 02:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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