Ever wonder why there are so many great summer
songs? "Summer in the City," "Hot Fun in the Summertime," "Summertime
Blues"--the list goes on. The reason odes to summer prevail while
tributes to, say, the fall colors are so rare is that summer and music
seem to go together like sand and suntan lotion.
But wanting
music with your summer means having to take it with you. If you like
your music summery and your summer musical, it's a good time to be
alive, because there are all kinds of options for packing up your tunes
wherever you happen to be summering. In that spirit, here are some music
products that promise to make what's left of summer positively tuneful.
Some alternatives
iPod this, iPod that. Sure, it's a
great product, but you'd think there wasn't another audio player worth
considering. We both know that's not true, so here are some other audio
player options worth singing about.
iZon
Wireless Bluetooth MP3 Player GNOME
Two of the hottest
technology segments going-wireless and portable music-join hands on this
nifty item. A rechargeable Bluetooth 1.1-compliant mobile headset/MP3
player features a 128MB memory card (and slot) for music storage, and it
can receive calls and stream music just like a standard BT headset.
And so you're not flying blind, there's a LCD for song selection
as well as an FM radio.
The iZon currently carries a $249
suggested retail price, although as with most tech gadgets, finding it
cheaper should take little effort.
RCA Lyra 256MB Flash
Digital Audio Player
Another entry in the versatility
sweepstakes, TCA's Lyra is an MP3 player, flash drive, and FM tuner in
one. What makes it stand out is an attractive price point: We had no
trouble finding a recent model of the Lyra (the 2012) online for around
$100.
Commodore Mpet II data and music player
Yes, '80s PC
maker Commodore is still around-or rather, it went away and came back as
a provider of digital entertainment items, with the Mpet II being the
reborn company's first significant venture.
The Mpet is a Flash
memory-based MP3 player (256MB and 512MB, retailing for $99 and $139
respectively), and it's so tiny and lightweight that you'll barely even
notice it's there.
It contains a basic equalizer, and it's
compatible with WMA DRM, meaning it can sync up with Windows Media
Player. It also includes an FM tuner and a voice recorder, making it
very feature-rich for the money.
Olympus M:robe
500i Digital Media Player
Another Swiss army
knife-type player, the M:robe ($500) provides one of the most dazzling
of what's quickly becoming the standard audio player/digital image
holder/flash drive combo platter. What makes it special is 20GB of data
storage space, an intuitive, graphically impressive 3.7-inch touchscreen
and a built-in 1.2-megapixel camera.
Rio Carbon Pearl 6GB MP3
player
Rio's been doing MP3 players right ever since
there was such a thing, and if there's a true Windows-based competitor
to the iPod, this little wonder might be it. Rio's Carbon Pearl ($230)
is about the size of a matchbox, but it can hold up to 96 hours of MP3
(192 hours WMA) music.
It also supports USB 2.0, can handle just
about any music file format, and contains a built-in voice recorder. For
a list price that's about two-thirds that of the comparable model of
iPod Mini, the Carbon Pearl is a tempting alternative.
Play it Now
Personal Digital Music Recorder
A little something
for the kiddies, the Playitnow recorder ($30) lets the user record from
a variety of sources, such as a CD player, computer, or TV.
It
doesn't include a microphone, so it does line recordings only, and it
records in real time-audio files can't be loaded onto it. It also
includes six arcade games in case the young users tire of the recording
business.
Actiontec Wireless Digital Media Player
Enough of players aimed at those on the go; what about at home?
One option is the Actiontec Wireless Digital Media Player ($200). It
handles not only music, but also high-definition photos, photos with
music tracks, and video when hooked to your TV or PC.
It can
connect wirelessly with your home stereo, letting you play streaming
audio or satellite radio through your component system. It also contains
a Web browser, not to mention an 802.11b Wi-Fi card that comes standard.
MediaReady VWB
Flyboy portable media player/recorder
What's that?
Portable music's not enough? The $349 Flyboy is a portable MPEG4 media
player and recorder whose 40GB hard drive is capable of carrying up to
80 hours of video or 740 hours music or 200,000 digital photos (if you
use the lowest quality setting in all three cases, of course).
The 3.5-inch LCD screen and built-in speakers make it easier on
the eyes and ears than most such contraptions, and even if it's not good
enough, you can use RCA interconnects to hook the device to your TV.
What makes the Flyboy stand out even more is that it's
Linux-compatible, one of the few media players that can make that
claim..
And Some Accessories
Man (and woman, and
child) does not live by players alone. One must accessorize, and if
necessary (like, if you're disenchanted with your music collection), one
must even create one's own music. Here are some more fab music products
that will give you more to listen to, and more ways to listen to it:
Plantronics MX100 Mobile + Music
headset
Convergence meets multitasking in this nifty
item, which has dual 3.5mm plugs-one for your audio player and one for
your phone.
The touch of a button lets you toggle from one to the
other, and the mini-mouthpiece integrated into the headphone wire means
you don't even have to bother picking up. The MX100s ($45) are
compatible with most headset-ready cell phones, including those from
Samsung, Kyocera, Audiovoc, Motorola, and LG.
Skullcandy
SCS-SC Skullcrushers
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Portable headphones are nice, but most of them are--how can we
say this nicely?--really wimpy. Bass response, especially on open-air
headphones, is all but out of the question, and noise-cancelling
headphones can be treacherous while biking or running.
The
Skullcrushers bass-amplified headphones ($89) feature an adjustable
in-line bass amplifier and speakers with what the company says is the
first built-in vibrating subwoofers for headphones. On-the-go music
lovers and gamers now have the best of both worlds.
Ultimate Ears Super.Fi 5 Pro headphones
I've got a pair of Ultimate Ears headphones, and they've got a
customer for life in me. Boasting both integrated high-frequency and
low-frequency speakers, the studio-quality, $250 Super.Fi 5 Pro
headphones outclass other portable headsets by not only sounding great,
but also by providing practical extras: They come with ear loops to keep
them in place, and different-sized earbud covers so that you can
custom-fit them.
Kontakt 2
Magix Music Maker 10 Deluxe
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Enough with
spending all your time listening to other people's music; how about
making some of your own? Native Instruments' Kontakt 2 isn't cheap,
($579), but it's a top-of-the-line, exceptionally feature-rich sampling
and looping package that will have you making spectacular beats in no
time (with surround-sound capabilities, no less).
Magix's Music
Maker 10 Deluxe is aimed more at the hobbyist music-maker, and it's
comparable (and superior, in some ways) to its chief competition,
Cakewalk Music Creator and Sony Acid Music Studio. It comes with 1,600
loops, a vintage effects simulator, a nice sound-restoration function,
and much more. At $60, making your PC into a home recording studio
couldn't be much easier or cheaper.
Sony DRX-720UL/T CD/DVD
burner
Sony's latest line of external CD/DVD burners
is notable for lots of reasons: This double-layer, dual-format burner
boasts DVD+R burning speed of 16X maximum, which means a full DVD is
yours in about six minutes (slower for double-layer recording, of
course).CD burning speed is a similarly zippy 48X.
The
DRX-720UL-T ($230) comes bundled with tons of necessary software, and,
maybe best of all for those in the Macintosh ghetto, it's OS
X-compatible.
Keith Mansfield writes from Mt. Laurel, N.J.
