turntables

Grado headphones, still made in Brooklyn

Grado Labs is located in a small, four story building in the Sunset Park neighborhood in Brooklyn, where Joe Grado started making phono cartridges in 1958. John Grado (Joe Grado's nephew) took over day-to-day operations right after he graduated from college in the late 1970s, but he started working at the factory when he was 12 years old. The little company was producing 10,000 cartridges a week (520,000 a year), so everybody pitched in to get the orders out on time. The CD eventually lowered demand, but they currently turn out 60,000 cartridges a year, and … Read more

The 404 828: Where we laugh to ourselves but think Outloud (podcast)

YouTube turns 6 years old today, and we could spend an entire episode playing our favorite videos, but instead we're shifting gears to a different media sharing site:Outloud.fm is a collaborative way to play and discover new music with your friends! Anyone can join a chat room (or start their own) and immediately begin uploading songs that get added to an infinite playlist.

The current song plays simultaneously for everyone in the room, and we've created an exclusive 404 Outloud.fm room for our listeners to share and play their favorite tracks! The three of us will be in the room throughout the day, so log in using your Twitter or Facebook and start uploading music!

On today's episode of The 404 Podcast, we're celebrating YouTube's sixth birthday and discussing a recent change to TwitPic's terms of service that gives the company the distribution rights to any picture uploaded to the site. We also have plenty of stickers left, so send a self-addressed stamped envelope to the address below and we'll send you a few!

CNET Networks c/o The 404 Podcast 28 East 28th Street, 10th Floor New York, NY 10016

The 404 Digest for Episode 828

Outloud.fm is a collaborative, real-time music playlist for your friends! Join The 404 hosts in the Outloud.fm 404 chat room! YouTube turns 6 today. TwitPic alters terms of service, transfers distribution rights.

Episode 828 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Be the mobile mix master

Djay for iPhone and iPod Touch brings two turntables to your touch screen so you can beat match, scratch, and record mixes of music from your library. A unique interface lets you hold your iPhone sideways to view the turntables side by side, or you can switch to vertical and view a single turntable to adjust the EQ and BPM and get more screen area in which to work with your mixes.

Djay boasts a "hyper-realistic low-latency touch-screen interface," and we found that it definitely feels more precise than similar DJ apps in the category. As an added … Read more

A back-to-the-future tube amplifier?

Luxman was making high-end amplifiers long before the term "high-end" was coined. Take the original Luxman SQ-38 integrated amplifier; it debuted in 1963, the upgraded SQ-38D came in 1965, and the design was revised and refined again and again over the years. I recently reviewed the SQ-38u, which is the 11th incarnation of the amp! The new one still looks like 1970's hi-fi, but its insides reflect modern thinking. Or should I say modern tube amplifier thinking? The complete SQ-38u review appears in the latest issue of Tone Audio magazine.

There's a weird thing happening in … Read more

Digital vs. analog audio: Which sounds better?

The analog vs. digital debate has been raging for nearly three decades, and there's still no clear winner, because it's really just a matter of personal preference. I'm fine with that, but there's a lot of sniping in the analog/digital wars, and each side never misses an opportunity to put down the other side as misguided, deaf, just plain stupid, or worse. Each side claims its chosen format is superior and the opposite's is garbage.

I'm an analog guy, but I'd admit that analog's distortions, speed variations, and noise/hiss make … Read more

Gemini FirstMix for budding DJs (hands-on)

Young and broke. That pretty much sums up the DJ chapter in my life. Aside from the handful of celebrity DJs out there, most of us start out with only a few bucks, a love of music, and the goal of someday playing an unforgettable party.

It is with these humble roots in mind that Gemini created the FirstMix. A combination of USB hardware and cross-platform software, the $99 FirstMix system gives newbies an inexpensive entry point into DJ stardom.

As DJ rigs go, there isn't much to it. The hardware is a plastic slab with a toy-like feel, a crossfader, some knobs, and two jog wheel controls dressed up like little virtual turntables. The overall feel is about what you'd expect for the price. The sensitivity and responsiveness of the controls is impressive, though. … Read more

Be a mobile DJ and play that level again: iPhone apps of the week

As we draw closer to the release of the iPad 2, the Apple rumor sites are heating up, with the usual speculation and research into hidden clues about what the new device will be like. Rumors about faster processor speed and front- and rear-facing cameras have been out there for a while, but an article over at AppleInsider breaks down what types of the iPad 2 Apple is banking on selling most.

The first iPad came in Wi-Fi-only and 3G/Wi-Fi varieties. But with the introduction of iOS devices to Verizon, Apple has needed to make some adjustments to the hardware to make sure it works on all carriers.

According to the article, Apple is expected to offer three variations of the iPad 2: a Wi-Fi only version, a GSM/UMTS version for AT&T, and a CDMA/EV-DO version for Verizon.

AppleInsider reports that Apple is producing more of the 3G-enabled models than the others and concludes that the company thinks most people will opt for the 3G version over just Wi-Fi.

It's tough to say what Apple is really planning, but if you were going to buy an iPad 2 at launch, which variation would you buy? Let me know in the comments.

This week's apps include an app that lets you bring two turntables anywhere and a platform game that's so difficult you can't stop playing.… Read more

Get the Ion Audio USB Turntable for $49.99

Today only, Woot.com has the Ion Audio Profile LP USB Turntable for $49.99, plus $5 for shipping.

I've had my eye on this item for quite some time, as I have a stack of LPs (those are vinyl record albums, for those of you born in the 90s) and no way to listen to them.

The Profile LP turns albums into MP3s. All you do is plug it into a USB port, put the needle on the record, then let the software go to work.

I haven't tried one myself, but based on the various reviews … Read more

Djay for iPad fulfills your mixmaster fantasies

I'm not a musician, nor am I a DJ. I do fantasize about it, though, hence my obsession with DJ Hero, and my amateur songcrafting in GarageBand. I'd never buy a full-fledged turntable, nor would I know what to do with it. However, I'm a big fan of what's been accomplished on Djay, a new turntable app for the iPad.

Algoriddim's Djay app isn't cheap--at $20, it's in the high end of the App Store economy--but what it does matches what you'd expect from a regular PC/Mac application. In fact, it'… Read more