In 2000, I finally upgraded from vinyl to CD. Denon made, and still makes, fantastic DJ equipment for use with CDs, so I bought that, a Numark mixing board, and a cabinet. But making mix tapes was still a pain, the old one-take scenario, and transferring them to digital form was worse. Roxio – which back then was called Adaptec – had a program that could transfer analog sources to digital format if you had the right equipment, but the signal loss was incredible. Once you amplified it to a reasonable level, the tape hiss was unbearable. Eventually, I stopped making mixes, though that had as much to do with a more demanding job and family life as it did with the archaic process of making the tape itself.

All that gear, of course, is woefully outdated now. I haven’t made a beat mix since 2002. Sigh.

Needless to say, when the email promoting MixMeister Express landed in my inbox, they had my attention. The program’s layout is similar to the loop-based remix software Acid, another toy I played with a lot back when I had more time on my hands. And the way MixMeister analyzes songs and plots transitions from one song to the next is, well, ridiculously smart. In a matter of hours, I had assembled an 80-minute mix, and not a single train wreck in sight.

Populating the database is a breeze (and necessary for the program to determine beats per minute), and adding songs to your mix is as simple as clicking and dragging. (You can even go back and change the order of songs, something that was impossible in ye olden days.) There were several instances where the program would set up a mix to take place at the exact point that I would have chosen on my own, though if it doesn’t, changing the “anchor point” on both the outgoing and incoming song is a breeze. Most of the time, the only tweaking that needed to be done involved the volume settings – it tended to do kill the volume of the outgoing song a little early, and suddenly – but that was an easy thing to adjust. They’ve even come up with a couple flashy transition tricks: the ping pong cut (it jumps back and forth between songs on every half step) and the bass swap (exactly what you think it does). I tended not to use these in mixes, though, as they’re more distracting than a regular beat mix.

Looping was a little more difficult to grasp, which surprised me given my familiarity with Acid, where I had to create the loops manually before being able to use them. There are buttons on the left that are supposed to help you with this, but I found that using the short keys to mark the beginning and end of a loop was much cleaner. And stay on top of the looping, or it will get carried away; I looped the first four bars of Muse’s “Map of the Problematique,” and it just kept going on and on until I hit Stop. (I thought I had it set to loop only four times.) You’ll get very familiar with the Undo function, that’s for sure.

The most curious feature was the Smart Playlist, which will take a group of songs and automatically come up with transitions between them, based on your criteria. (You can create BPM caps, limit to a certain year, etc.) It’s a neat idea, but be prepared to massage the mixes some, rather than clicking Play sight unseen. I threw a handful of tracks together, and the results yielded several train wrecks.

As handy and as efficient as MixMeister Express is, I expect that the old-school DJs will declare it an abomination, since it renders them obsolete…and they have a point, sort of. There is a great quote in “The Incredibles” where weapons manufacturer-turned anti-superhero Syndrome tells his former idol Mr. Incredible that when everyone’s special, no one will be. This software does much the same thing, since it does the majority of the heavy lifting and eliminates much of the guesswork. But relax, fellow DJs: yes, this will enable people who can’t mix vinyl to make pretty good digital beat mixes, but no one is going to use MixMeister in a live scenario. This is purely a bedroom beat mix kind of program, and for someone like me who has two small kids and zero free time, that is exactly what I’m looking for.

MixMeister home page

The song is set to be part of MIA’s new album, Kala which will be out later this year. For part of the song, MIA got Filipino Verizon employees to sing the hook. “I was having issues with my cable and wireless, and I was on the phone [with tech support] for three hours, and I thought, ‘Maybe this needs to be part of my music, could you just learn these lyrics and sing it down the phone to me?’” she said. “Ten phone calls later, I have Internet that sticks and a song.”

Now you know Verizon. You’ve got some bad publicity in the form of a pop song and your customer support reps aren’t helping your cause.

Source: Rolling Stone

Livio Radio for Pandora/NPR
The Livio Radio is a great choice for any audio lover you know. The original debuted with built-in Pandora support, allowing users to listen to Pandora in any room of the house. The little screen makes it easy to browse through your favorite stations and you still get your thumbs-up/thumbs-down buttons for encouraging/discouraging specific tracks.

Livio also added an NPR specific radio to its lineup this year, providing access to some 800 NPR stations over a wireless connection. The NPR radio just started shipping this week. You can get either model for $199.99 from the Livio website.

Also Consider: Logitech Squeezebox Radio

Able Planet Clear Harmony Noise-Canceling Headphones
I reviewed Able Planet’s Clear Harmony noise-canceling headphones earlier this year and fell in love. I’d even pick them over the Bose QuietComforts because you can play music even if your batteries die (no active noise-canceling if that happens, though). These things sound excellent, last forever on a pair of AAA batteries, and tuck away nicely into a hardshell case.

The only thing that may scare you off would be price, but for this kind of quality you should expect to spend a little cash. Get a deal at Tiger Direct for $249.99.

Also Consider: Bose Quiet Comfort

Playstation 3 Slim
Personally, I’m not a Playstation guy. Never have been. Never will be. But I can’t think up a good reason you should follow suit. With the recent size reduction and price drop, the PS3 is looking as good as it’s ever likely to. With the recent release of Modern Warfare 2 and Uncharted 2 Sony’s lineup got a nice facelift as well.

Be sure you shop around for the bundles, though. Some of them are region specific, but Sony is so far behind in the console race that it’s offering crazy deals to get this system into your home. Most everything will run you $299 for the 120GB model.

Also Consider: Xbox 360 Elite Bundle

Samsung BD-P1600
This Blu-ray player is a nice little mashup for all your media needs. You obviously get BD Live support, but you can stream HD movies from Netflix and hook this thing up to your audio system for Pandora, too. And though price may have held Blu-ray back in times gone by, the P1600 is going for $149.99 as a part of Samsung’s Black Friday deals. Check the Samsung website for a list of retailers and other Samsung deals.

Also Consider: Roku Player

Wii Motion Plus
So you’re staying away from Blu-ray this year and you don’t want the PS3 Slim? I’d call you crazy, but Wii Sports Resort and New Super Mario Bros. Wii are plenty to keep you busy through the holidays. Just don’t forget to pick up enough Wii Motion Plus dongles for everyone to play along (with the first title, anyway). The tiny attachment dramatically improves the Wii’s motion-sensing abilities, so your jumper from the elbow can be just as bad as your game in real life.

Get a single WMP from Amazon for $16.99 or pickup the Wii Sports Resort Bundle (WMP included) for $46.99.

Also Consider: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2010 Bundle

That does it for this year’s holiday gift guide. Check back later in the week for a Black Friday Roundup including my favorite deals from the major retailers’ holiday ads. Happy Holidays from everyone at Gadget Teaser and Bullz-Eye to all of our readers and fans.

Now I’ve not yet had a chance to hear an Orb system, but the reviews I’ve seen have been good and the installed locations are pretty impressive. Orb Audio systems are featured in a couple Wired stores in New York, were chosen for the Guitar Center Artist’s Lounge, and have picked up a couple CES awards along the way.

You can pick up a basic Orb system from the company website – the only place you can purchase – for $549. A typical theater system will run $800-$1300 while premium system will push toward a few grand. That’s a good bit cheaper than many systems, especially considering the reviews that put the system in the company of B&W.

If there’s one thing that might scare potential Orb customers off it’s the unique design. Though the speakers are available in a wide variety of finishes, the shape is very modern and might scare off a few significant others. There’s also the fact that you can’t go just anywhere and listen to these things. The company has a 30-day trial, but you’ll need enough faith in reviews to get involved in it. I’m hoping my schedule slows down enough in the next couple weeks that I can review a loaner set for you guys. Until then, think about giving Orb a shot if you’re in the market for a modular system.

Because wireless systems are clunky, expensive, and prone to all kinds of interference, that’s why. Until now, anyway: thanks to a combination of a low $299 price point and deep Amazon discounting, you can get your hands on an Eos Wireless Audio System starter package for less than $180. Given that this includes two speakers — one of which acts as a docking station that charges your iPod while it plays — this is an intriguing development. (Additional speakers — each station can handle up to four — are $115-$150 each.)

So now that Eos has established itself as an affordable option for the budget-conscious wireless audio enthusiast, the only question is whether its system has managed to avoid the “clunky” and “prone to interference” part. And the answer, at least according to several weeks of home testing with the docking station and two speakers the company loaned me for review, is “yes and no.”

On the positive side, these things definitely aren’t clunky. Whether you buy your system in black or (slightly more affordable) white, the Eos is all curves and smoothly sculpted lines, and it’s dead simple to install: I literally plugged in the docking station, plugged in the speakers, and I was on my way. The system links to its satellite speakers via top-mounted antennae with blue LEDs that flash on or off depending on whether they can detect a signal (more on that in a minute). The station, controllable by remote, has its own volume setting, as do each of the speakers, which are controlled by a volume/power knob. It’s kind of a low-tech wrinkle for a high-tech gadget, and if you’re trying to precisely triangulate sound in a large room, it might be an annoyance, but if you’re that kind of listener you’re probably not in the market for the Eos system anyway.

The system’s sound itself will be another issue for audiophiles — but again, because of the limitations of wireless, audiophiles probably won’t be looking at something like this anyway. For what it is, the Eos is more than adequate; it doesn’t have the broadest dynamic range you’ve ever heard, but the company has tried to compensate for a rather thin bottom end by adding 2.1 sound and SRS to the mix. The result is a system that you probably wouldn’t want to blast at top volume, but for ordinary around-the-house listening, it’s just about perfect.

The only real drawback to the Eos — and it is, admittedly, a pretty major one — is an annoying tendency to drop its signal. My kitchen, dining room, and living room are all in one open area, and I arranged the dock and speakers in a triangle far smaller than the system’s advertised 150-foot range, but the Eos kept bumping up against some kind of interference, and the signal would go through random bursts of flickering. It might run for an hour with no issues, then go another hour with each speaker dropping its signal at least once a song. It isn’t the end of the world, but if I’d paid for the system, I’d probably be pretty aggravated, especially since the one option Eos gives you for boosting the signal doesn’t really work if you have the components in the same space — the system’s signal amplifier causes a slight echo that ends up being more annoying than the fade, and in my case, it didn’t even fix the problem.

Hiccups like these are probably to be expected when you’re going the extra mile to avoid dealing with speaker wire, however, and I wasn’t able to find reports of anyone else experiencing the same issue, so it could just be something specific to my environment. And even with the signal fade, the Eos is an attractive, affordable option for anyone looking to free themselves from the tyranny of speaker wires. Just make sure you buy them from a store with a good return policy…just in case.

Say goodbye to your FM tuner, and the static and frustration that come with it. With the Sony Xplod’s USB 1-Wire, you can now hook your iPod, iPhone or any other USB-compatible digital music player right into your car’s stereo system and get the kind of crisp sound quality an FM tuner could never provide. And with Bluetooth hands-free calling capabilities, MP3/WMA/AAC playback, Satellite radio and HD Radio compatibility, and a wireless remote, the Xplod MEX-BT5700U, provided by Sony for this review, is ready for just about anything you can throw at it.

Give Sony credit for coming up with a menu style that makes browsing through your iPod’s library to find a particular song much easier than similar units. The Quick-BrowZer function allows users to search for music by artist, album, genre or playlist, but when you’ve got hundreds of artists and thousands of songs on your player, that’s just not enough. Fortunately, the Jump Mode gets you where you need to go much more efficiently by fast-forwarding through a category in 10% increments. No worries about having to turn the dial for five minutes just to get to your “R” artists. Finally, Zappin mode will play music in six-, nine- or 30-second segments to help speed up your search for that one elusive song.

Of course, some of us are stubborn and have grown very comfortable with our music player’s navigation menu, making the switch to a new format – no matter how intuitive it may be – a bit of a challenge. Fortunately, the Xplod features Passenger Control, which puts the menu back in the palm of your hand and allows you (or, ostensibly, your passenger) to control your tunes directly from the portable player. While it doesn’t take long to learn how to navigate the Xplod’s menu, it’s pretty handy to have the option of switching to Passenger Control when needed. Unfortunately, this feature doesn’t work with iPod Nano 1st generation and iPod 5th generation, much to my chagrin since I have no plans to replace my iPod 5G anytime soon. Ah, but don’t forget about the handy front auxiliary input, which lets me hook into the stereo while still controlling everything from my iPod. Of course, connecting this way won’t charge your portable music player, but it’s nice to have that option.

The Xplod’s appeal doesn’t end with the iPod connectivity. The unit’s Bluetooth capabilities are impressive, to say the least, and are fully compatible with the iPhone 3G and 3GS. The new Phonebook Access Profile feature allows you to browse your linked cell’s phonebook to make a call, save a contact, or download your entire phonebook (up to 300 contacts) for easy access via the Xplod’s Bluetooth menu. Speaking of the menu, there are all sorts of options to play with, whether you want to choose your phone’s ringtone or the stereo’s default tone, enable “Auto Answer” or “Echo Canceller/Noise Canceller Mode,” or set the microphone’s default volume level. And since the unit comes standard with an external microphone in addition to the built-in mic, you’re able to easily improve your audio quality. Finally, if your portable music player supports Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP), you can stream your audio via Bluetooth.

In short, this is one heavy duty car stereo with more features than most people would probably ever use. As a bonus, the in-dash unit looks great, with a customizable, bright and easy-to-read display that offers up to four lines of music and phone call data, the ability to choose between red, blue or green illuminated keys, and a flip-down, detachable faceplate. Anyone who’s ever battled with an FM tuner will fall for the instant iPod connectivity the Sony Xplod MEX-BT5700U offers, but the fun most definitely doesn’t stop there.

Click here to buy the Sony Xplod MEX-BT5700U.

The funny thing is, the Pre could sync with iTunes via an xml file, which is an Apple approved and supported method for third-party devices. Instead, Palm keeps trying to find ways to make the Pre look and perform like an iPod, something about which Apple is none to happy. So why bother? Why keep fighting back against every new iTunes update that breaks the functionality?

Craig Hunter, a mobile developer who we’ve talked about for his tough review of the WebOS SDK, said it best:

Clearly, other companies know how to sync painlessly with iTunes music (see RIM’s Blackberry Media Sync for example), so why doesn’t Palm develop a syncing solution for their own hardware? …I seriously question the strategy and brains of any company that ties critical product capabilities to the unsupported use of their competitor’s software. I mean, really? Can it get any more ridiculous? Can you possibly send a more mixed, less confidence-inspiring, “we’re a bunch of hacks who can’t provide our own sync software for our products” message to customers?

Well put, Craig. Well put.

“What about iTunes?” Someone is going to ask it. You might not be aware that iTunes results in a lossy conversion of your favorite CDs, imports album art that can only be read by Apple products, and occasionally misses some important tags. Herrman does a great job of covering the options available to both Mac and PC users for creating a digital library that commands respect.

Come back here on the 21st of September to see how the way you listen to music changes forever.

I know this sort of language isn’t exactly rare in the tech world, but give me a break. Forever? Hell, changes? This would have to be something truly radical to make the kind of impact the webpage suggests. I literally have no idea what Sony Ericsson could be talking about. Even if Sony put all the power of the Walkman behind whatever device will probably be launched, it still wouldn’t change much, and most certainly not the way I listen to music or the forever of that hobby.

Check back on the 21st for more of me mocking Sony Ericsson for making ridiculous statements about an underwhelming device.

The body of the Nano 5G is pretty similar to the last model. The screen did get a bump from 2 inches to 2.2 inches, and the finish is a much shinier anodized aluminum. Oh yeah, there’s also that little camera on the back, but more on that later. The new Nano comes in two models, an 8GB and a 16GB, at $149 and $179, respectively.

Within the Nano’s slim and trim body, Apple added all sorts of goodies, the most notable of which is a video camera. It’s that itty bitty lens you see on the bottom-left of the device if you’re looking at the back. The camera is capable of shooting video at a 640×480 resolution, which are then stored as .mp4 files with h.264 video compression and AAC audio. Unfortunately, the cam doesn’t take still photos. The tech is definitely not something to write home about, and as much as Apple would like the addition of a camera to kill the Flip, I just don’t see it happening. The tech is just too far behind the Flip for the current price.

The other problem I see with the Nano is camera placement. I don’t know if Apple hired a bunch of lefty industrial designers, but someone should have changed this. Granted, it’s probably a space issue – the camera and the screen can’t coexist at the top of the device – but every right-handed person that touches one of these things will have the same complaint: my hand is always in the frame. There’s just no way around it. It’s the natural place for a righty to grab a device of that size.

The camera brings us to the next addition: the microphone. Again, awesome to be able to record video with audio on such a tiny device. Again, terrible mic placement. The ability to record voice memos is great, but gets quickly diminished by the sound of my index finger rubbing over the mic as I talk. The bottom of the device is the natural place to put your hand – hell, that’s where the controls are – so why put the mic right where my hand will always be? Stupid.

Among the smarter things Apple did in the update was add a radio. Yes, there’s an iPod with an FM tuner. Crazy, no? The tuner does require a headset to work, but it works well and has some cool features. The radio app retrieves RDS info, allows you to pause and rewind, and you can even tag songs. Plugging the Nano into your computer will take you to the iTunes location for songs you’ve tagged.

Last and certainly least, Apple added a pedometer to the Nano. I don’t know if they’re marketing this at soccer moms or the early 90’s, but it seems like a pretty weak addition. In fact, the whole thing operates like a lite version of the Nike+ campaign, which itself strikes me as incredibly lame.

To wrap it all up, I’m unimpressed. This update is a completely underwhelming attempt to take market away from Pure Digital and the Flip, and I think consumers are going to notice. The camera is bad enough that Apple doesn’t even want you to see the pictures it captures. The video isn’t a whole lot better, and the rest of the features have been on other MP3 players for years. I guess this is what happens when you’re on top and no one else is even close. You get complacent. Really, really complacent.