Hasta La Gadget!

Shouldn’t your music player look as good as it sounds? Radius thinks so, which is why it just introduced the TruTune Fine Color series of in-ear earphones. It’s the perfect accessory for iPod nano 4G owners, since the nine colors match Apple’s rainbow lineup. Time to coordinate your look, nano owners.

The earphones are available for a reasonable $19.99 each, and are made from ultra-light aluminum. The mini-plug is gold-plated, for better audio quality. Each set comes with three sizes of silicone caps, so you can get the most comfortable fit possible.

The TruTone line is available from several online retailers, including Amazon and Buy.com. Check the Radius site for more information.

Eytmotic‘s $180 hf2 earbuds with in-line controller for iPods and iPhones have been around for awhile. In that time, they’ve racked up plenty of gold statues and plaques to backup their claim of delivering “the most accurate, unaltered sound of any earphone or headset today.” Now Etymotic has teamed up with ACS (Advanced Communication Solutions) to deliver silicon sleeves custom-moulded for your inner-ear to ensure a perfect, comfy fit while further isolating you from the ambient noise around you; a trick that allows you to pickup audio detail at lower volumes and thus spare your hearing. Of course, ACS’ 15 minute customization service is available for other buds as well, but offering it within the hf2 Custom Fit bundle as a £90 (about $130) voucher redeemable at any of 300 approved ear impression outlets in the UK is a pretty shrewd move.

[Via Tech Digest]

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Filed under: Portable Audio

Etymotic hf2 Custom Fit buds bundle ACS’ customized ear-mould service originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Apr 2009 09:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Logitech’s high-end Ultimate Ears division just announced these new Ultimate Ears 700 in-ear headphones. Weighing in at 11.6-grams, the dual-armature layout separates the 10Hz to 16.5kHz frequency response into two high-fidelity channels per ear while offering passive noise-isolation of up to 26dB. While the press release touts iPod compatibility in the boisterous headline there doesn’t seem to be anything about these — like Apple’s proprietary in-line remote control (and chip) for the new iPod shuffle — that’s unique to the iPod… other than the price. Available in the US and Europe for $230 sometime this month.

Filed under: Portable Audio

Ultimate Ears 700 noise-isolating earphones for your iPod, not Apple’s originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Apr 2009 06:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s a big difference between giving people choices and giving people a choice, and while Sleek Audio did the smart thing by doing the former, Radiopaq is carelessly banking on the latter to still go over well. Rather than producing a set of earbuds with customizable acoustics to fit whatever genre you find yourself into, Radiopaq’s custom tuned earphones take that personalization away from the end-user. Oh sure, you could plop down for four different sets to handle your classical, jazz, pop and rock records, but that would easily go down as one of the most absurd decisions you’ve ever made. The company proclaims that each set actually can be used to enjoy other genres, noting that each pair is simply optimized for one specific style. Each package will go for £59 ($86), so make sure you choose carefully — does your allegiance lie with The Cranberries or Taylor Swift?

[Via Pocket-lint]

Filed under: Portable Audio

Radiopaq launches custom tuned earphones to single our your audio originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Apr 2009 06:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s springtime, and flowers are starting to bloom just like deals in a Cheap Geek column. Please enjoy this garden of savings.

1. You may not believe this, but Staples, the place that gives you a great price on paper clips as long as you buy a crate of them, is delivering a super price on an HP Pavilion notebook. And you don’t have to buy more than one! With instant savings you’ll pay only $549.98. BOnus deal: If you also buy an HP Deskjet printer (certain models only), you’ll get a rebate that covers the cost of the printer.

2. You rarely see a deal on gift cards, so I’m presenting this special offer on iTunes cards because it’s such a curiosity. Shop at Best Buy, and you can get three $10 iTunes gift cards for $25.00. That’s $5 of music free, an especially good deal if you buy it for yourself.

3. What is it about iPod and iPhone earbuds that make them so, well, crappy? If yours kick the bucket, as mine recently did, replace them with a set of Shure SE110 Sound Isolating Stereo Earphones, which are going for a low $65.95 (with free shipping) from Buy.com.