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Blue Microphones Tiki, Mikey Digital and Spark Digital hands-on
We swung by Blue Microphones' booth at CES to get our hands on its trio of new mics, and while the Mikey Digital and Spark Digital (the former for iPhone and iPad, and the latter for iPad only) looked very much like their analog counterparts, the cute little Tiki was quite the attention-seeker with its cyborg snail-like shape (and did we mention that there's a push button on its butt for toggling Intelligent Mute?). The new Spark's shock-mount desktop stand also intrigued us -- we'd say it's a nice blend of the old mount and the Yeti's stand. Other than that, there's really not much else to say about these funky-looking mics, so we'll let our photos below do the rest of the job.
iRig Mic: because your iPad, iPhone and iPod just aren't complete sans a microphone
IK Multimedia, the same dudes and dudettes responsible for the downright hilarious iKlip, seem to be on somewhat of a hot streak. This week, the company's hitting back with the iRig iMic, hailed as the first handheld condenser microphone for the iPhone. The image above truly explains it all -- it's designed to plug directly into your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, and so long as you've got a recording app of choice, you'll be capturing your vocals in no time flat. The obvious next step is to run everything through the T-Pain app, but for those who'd rather roll more naturally, IK's VocaLive effects processor is tossed in gratis. Pricing details are being kept under wraps for reasons unknown, but let's be honest -- you're buying one even if it means losing two arms and a leg.
Yeti Pro USB condenser microphone touts 24-bit / 192 kHz digital recording, XLR output, we go hands-on
Who says you have to wait until NAMM for new audio gear? Blue Microphones is on-hand here in Vegas to introduce its newest and Yeti-est USB condenser microphone to date: the Yeti Pro. Picking up where the original Yeti left off, this professionalized version offers a 24-bit / 129kHz digital recording resolution, analog XLR output and a proprietary triple capsule array. We got a chance to fondle a unit a little early and, as expected, it feels decidedly top shelf. Knobs turn smoothly and with just the right resistance, stand is heavy and secure. It'll ship later this month for $249, and you can catch the entire release just after the break. %Gallery-112569% %Gallery-112380%
MIT developing hairy capacitors, Energizer Bunny weeps
Check it grandpa, 'cause your 18th century inventions are set to change modern portable electronics in a big way. Those neomaxizoomdweebies over at MIT have discovered a process whereby capacitors -- those little stored energy devices knocking dim-witted TV tinkerers on their asses for decades -- can be slathered at the electrodes with nanotubes thereby increasing the surface density to store more energy. So just like a thick fuzzy towel soaks up more slop than a bedside sock, these new capacitors can be kept small and store the equivalent energy of today's chemical batteries. Why do you care? Well, the device could potentially be recharged hundreds of thousands of times and in only a matter of seconds saving you time and the environment, heartburn. Prototypes are expected within the next few months with actual product hitting the market in less than five years. Fuel cells, fool cells, bring on the capacitors!
