beatbox

Crave giveaway: Monster Beatbox

OK, this week we've got a hot one courtesy of the folks at Monster: the Monster Beats by Dr. Dre Beatbox iPod Dock.

This is one room-thumping iPod/iPhone stereo system. I should know because I reviewed the thing. I said that, "The Monster Beatbox has a simple mission that goes something like this: deliver big sound from a small box." And while I didn't think it delivered the most refined sonics in the world, I recommended that if you were looking for big, aggressive sound from a compact system, this was the one to get. (… Read more

Monster Beatbox pumps up the jam (review)

The Monster Beatbox has a simple mission that goes something like this: deliver big sound from a small box. We'd call it monster sound, but the Beatbox doesn't quite go that far. But it certainly is compact and it certainly plays loud, filling even a fairly big room with sound.

That in itself is an impressive feat, and the $400 Beatbox may just be the loudest-playing iPod dock for its size. The first thing you'll notice about it when you pick it up--yes, there's a convenient carrying handle at the top--is that it's heavy, weighing … Read more

The 404 605: Where we pull the yellow card (podcast)

Today's episode of The 404 Podcast is all about techy gift recommendations for Father's Day, OpenBook exposing more Facebook privacy issues, and an amazing video of a Japanese beatboxer performing the Super Mario theme song.

We begin the show by pulling our own version of a yellow card in response to the questionable officiating in this morning's World Cup match between USA and Slovenia, but you'll have to tune in to hear our twist on the penalty.

Father's Day is this weekend, and if you still don't know what to get for your Dad, … Read more

Time to start that Kraftwerk cover band

Few things are as universally awesome as a cheap keyboard or drum machine. As a child of the '80s, I can vividly remember the first time I got my hands on a toy Casio keyboard and spent the afternoon sampling obscenities into the built-in microphone and playing through all the different preset sounds (I can still hear the Casio demo song in my head).

The Stylophone Beatbox ($25) is a retro music toy of a slightly different breed than my Casio, fusing together the design of a 1967 Stylophone pocket synthesizer with the sampled percussion layout of a modern day Akai MPC or Roland HandSonic.

However you choose to categorize it, the Stylophone Beatbox is exactly the sort of weird, noisy, cheap piece of tech I go nuts for. It's surprisingly sophisticated, too, allowing you to record loops of sounds, route in an MP3 player, and even adjust pitch and tempo. Check out some clever demo videos after the break.… Read more