We’ve been waiting for a sub$200 field recorder. CDM’s Josh Jancourtz found this one at NAMM: no availability, no PR, but some interesting details. Here’s a serious play for budget mobile recording from Zoom: a US$199 recorder with an integrated mic and some unusual flexibility thanks to 3 integrated capsules. Translation: point this at whatever […]

No press release, no specs, but our own Josh at least got some “spy pics.” At Sony’s NAMM booth I came across this nameless prototype mic pre that matches their popular PCM-D1 flash memory field recorder. No release date, price, or even a name. (If you don’t feel like waiting you might look at the […]

Photos: Josh Jancourtz for CDM Have you ever plugged your headphones into your microphone? Well now you can! Besides winning a nomination for longest alphanumeric name, the USB2200A microphone from sE Electronics features a 1/8” headphone output and volume control on its body. This allows zero latency monitoring from the Class A 1” cardioid condenser […]

Move over, Adobe — Ubuntu Studio, due in April, promises to put a full, completely open-source graphics package together for Linux. The OS and apps will all be bundled together for easy installation. We recently covered pure:dyne, a high-performance visual OS. Ubuntu Studio looks a little friendlier and broader for newcomers; it’ll be interesting if […]

It takes a dedicated turntablist to use a deck as a melodic instrument. It makes Theremins, violins, and bassoons easy to play. Kypski shares the Beatles’ Michelle in scratch form: Yep, I’m sticking to keyboards and Theremins. This does make me wonder, though, about fun ways of playing things involving giant mechanical wheels, though, which […]

Linux is looking better and better as a fully open-source, multimedia-optimized operating system for visualists. Adobe has announced the availability of Flash Player for Linux. The bad news is, it’s x86 only, and as expected, there may be some issues. But the good news is, it’s here, and early reports indicate it works. Even as […]

One open source DVD with an operating system and all the free tools you need for creative work, ready to run on any PC or Mac — it’s an interesting vision. That’s the idea behind Ubuntu Studio. Details are sketchy on development so far, but the basic idea is bundling together the tools you need […]

While we’re talking DRM, bless those progressive Vikings. Norway’s Consumer Ombudsman (whom I imagine wears a long, ornate robe and a thick beard — or something archaic and cool, since us Americans don’t get any ombudspeople, just a lot of corporate lobbyists) has pronounced iTunes/iPod FairPlay DRM illegal. Apple DRM is illegal in Norway, says […]

Good things about Microsoft: they’re the rich kid next door who can book Jefferson Starship for their Vista launch tour. Good news for PC users: DRM probably isn’t going to keep you from getting a shiny new OS after all. Whether you choose Mac OS X, Linux, Windows XP, or Windows Vista — or some […]

Moose has taken a fantastic gallery of images from NAMM, found at MIDIZoo.com, and clearly is attracted to a lot of the same stuff as Team CDM. Now, here’s a tantalizing banner for fans of analog synths and early MPCs. If you had to pick a dream team to build an analog/digital hybrid drum machine, […]