Skip to content
Home

Category: Audio HardwareSyndicate content

RCA Lyra2 - Digital Media Player & FM Radio

Introduction The first version of RCA's Lyra Personal Digital Player, as noted in our report elsewhere in this section on portable digital media players, was one of the most full-featured digital audio walkabouts. The US$299 Lyra2 adds to the utility of the original with features like a built-in FM radio tuner and a handy belt-clip control that duplicates the Play/Stop/Skip and Volume controls found on the player itself.

RCA Lyra - Digital Audio on the Go

Portable MP3/WMA/RA player, cigarette lighter power adapter, cassette adapter... sounds good. However, an MP3 audio encryption "feature" makes this player less convenient than it should be.

Apple's iPod - Digital Media Player

Introduction Engage the Neodymium Transducers! Apple's iPod is a portable MP3 player with a built-in hard drive (the original model started at 5GB, a second-generation model added 10 and 20GB options) and a speedy FireWire connection capable of transferring a whole CD's worth of songs to the device in seconds. Capable of storing 1,000 songs, 2,000 songs or 4000 songs, respectively, in high-quality (160Kbps) MP3 format, the 5, 10 and 20GB iPod models differ in a few notable ways, which we'll detail in this article. First, let's look at their common features.

USB Makes Audio I/O Easy

Roland UA-30 USB Audio Canvas - USB Makes Audio I/O Easy UA-30 Overview

SoundBlaster Live! - Mac Edition

The PC market's popular sound card comes to the Mac... and ends up a disappointment Sound Blaster Live!

Music and Audio Hardware - part 3

Sound Solutions: MIDI Interfaces and Mac audio options In part one of this article, we looked at some of the basic questions you might have when considering what hardware to get for audio and MIDI applications. In part two, we dug into some of the problems you might encounter. In this section, we'll look at some Mac sound options and MIDI interfaces.

Music and Audio Hardware: Part - 2

Sound Solutions: A MIDI & Audio Hardware Primer

In part one of this article, we looked at some of the basic questions you might have when considering what hardware to get for audio and MIDI applications. In this section, we'll dig a little deeper into some of the issues related to PC and Mac sound cards and MIDI interfaces.

First, let's look at the multimedia, "do-it-all" type of cards for the PC.

Music and Audio Hardware

Music & MIDI Hardware Sound Solutions:  A Computer Music & Audio Hardware Primer Making the Right Hardware Choices

Roland UA-30 USB

Roland UA-30 USB Audio Canvas - USB Makes Audio I/O Easy UA-30 Overview

Digital/Analog Audio Recorder

A closer look at the Roland UA-30 Audio Canvas Introduction

Recording with Laptops

Introduction Laptop users have some special challenges when trying to configure a system for audio and/or MIDI recording. Because most laptops have relatively poor internal audio capabilities, an external recorder is often desired. In this article, we'll look at some of the typical configuration issues musicians face with laptops. USB or...?

Recommended Hardware for Audio

Overview As detailed in our article "Sound Solutions: A Computer Music & Audio Hardware Primer," those looking to purchase a Mac or PC for a home studio, have many decisions to make. This article provides additional details on recommended hardware and software. Obviously, these general recommendations may not apply to everyone. The main focus is on helping you to build a stable system to avoid crashes and other technical problems (you're a musician, not a computer wizard, right?) and getting the best possible performance.

Audio Players

Play audio files or listen to Internet Radio without a computer MP3 on the Go

Audio CDs & MP3s

How to make your own audio discs, or convert music to or from MP3 files Introduction