Child of the ’80s? Then you’ll most likely remember those notorious PSAs about your brain and eggs, and the dangers of turning yourself into an omelette. Yeah, well turn off your inner Nancy Reagan for a second because we’ve got an Arduino hack that should have you just saying yes. New Zealand artist Rich Decibels created a homebrew brain entrainment device that uses low frequency sound and light to induce different mental states. The mod pieces together an Arduino Uno with two separate interface boards — one for pitch and separation controls, the other for LED and volume — to deliver a combo of binaural beats (two slightly out of sync tones) and flashing headset-mounted lights that’ll slow down those cerebral hertz cycles. If you happen to live in the land made famous by Frodo’s Shire, you can check out the brain-slowing goods at Thistle Hall’s Project Briefcase exhibition. Not a Kiwi? Then be sure to hit the source for an audio taste of this hacked head experience.

Rich Decibels Brainwave Disruptor scrambles your head, not your eggs originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Aug 2011 20:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Full spectrum sound (20Hz to 20kHz) and low harmonic distortion (< =1%THD)
• Stiff and light cones with solid wood enclosures for precise vibrations
• Subwoofer-mounted LCD display with digital equalizer and AUX input jack
• Satellite measures 4.33 x 9.65 x 4.77 Inches, subwoofer measures 6.77 x 11.03 x 10.25 Inches
• Package contains two satellite speakers, one subwoofer, user manual, 3.5mm to RCA audio cable and remote control with battery

Quality matters! Stiff and light cone materials, precision shaped wooden enclosure and raised crossover points of the midrange and tweeter assemblies, make these speakers very efficient at vibrating air. Highly accurate sound reproduction gives you great imaging and soundstage of the music that is nothing short of clear and natural – even at high decibels! Each satellite features dual 3-Inch midrange and 1-Inch tweeter drivers with solid wood enclosure. Subwoofer features 5.25-Inch driver, solid wood enclosure, LCD display, digital equalizer and AUX input jack. Wireless remote included.

Rating: (out of 124 reviews)

List Price: $ 49.99

Price: $ 49.99

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Are you a pessimist or an optimist? Dave explains dB’s and how they are useful for us engineering types.

The Top Gadgets and Gifts of Gadgets UK

When you are looking for a gadget or toy to give as a gift or for personal use, you can find a huge selection at Gadgets UK. This is a store over the Internet which offers consumers various types of gadgets and boys toys. Not all of the items that the site provides have little use. There are some products which are really practical. There are devices which are used to forecast weather; while there are some gadgets which are used to find lost things. If you want to find the perfect gift for a loved one, you can also look for the most appropriate present at the site.

Gadgets UK provides its consumers with top picks in order for the latter to know which items sell most. Among the merchandise that sells most is the smartfinder. This is a locator gadget or a key finder that works as a wireless device useful for most homes. This remote control gadget comes along with four receivers which are attached to the things that you usually lose. If you keep on forgetting where you have placed your keys, the smartfinder is the perfect gadget for you. The great thing about this item is that it can send radio signals directly through floors and walls. The alarm of the receiver can be activated up to 85 decibels, allowing you to find your lost key or wallet up to a distance of 25 meters.

Among the famous gadgets of Gadgets UK is the weather station, which is also a wireless device. The weather station is available with a remote sensor reaching up to a range of 100 meters. Through this device, you will be able to read temperatures accurately. Whether you want to know outdoor or indoor temperatures, you can do so with the help of this certain gadget. Other than temperature readings, the weather station also reports weather. This forecast is based upon barometer readings. If you are not sure whether it will rain or not, the weather station of Gadgets UK will help you find out.

When it comes to boys toys, one of the most popular items of Gadgets UK is Picoo Z. This is a toy helicopter which you can hold right at the top of your palm. Its control system involves a proportional infra red beam which functions much like the remote control of your television. This toy is powered by a lithium polymer battery, enabling it to fly for ten minutes and sometimes, more. When the battery runs out of power, it will take you less than thirty minutes to charge it again with the use of a portable charger. When you want to fly this toy during evenings, it possesses a strobe LED to make night flights possible. As long as the weather is calm, you can fly this toy helicopter outside your home.

There are still several other items at Gadgets UK. All you have to do is look into its huge array of selection. You can opt to purchase household gadgets, since these are also available at the store. If you want to buy gifts for your loved ones, you can also find the perfect present at Gadgets UK.

More Gadget Articles

See? Hear, rather?

If you’re interested in a more technical perspective, Autopia’s got it. There’s still a long way to go before these things are actually quiet enough to sneak up on you, but I’ll tell you what, I guarantee nature photographers are going to enjoy these things. Losing a few decibels means you can hover a couple hundred feet closer to your subject critter.

Please indulge me as I begin this post with a quote from the Ultimate Ears 18 press release:

“The Ultimate Ears 18 Pro Custom Monitors are expected to be available beginning in February for a suggested retail price of $1350 (U.S.). (The price of the Ultimate Ears 18 Pro Custom Monitors does not include the initial cost to have a qualified audiologist create your ear impressions.) The optional ambient noise feature can be added to your custom monitors for an additional $50 (U.S.).”

I’m not entirely sure how much it costs “to have a qualified audiologist create your ear impressions,” but I’m guessing that it’s not a service offered at your local Sam’s Club.

If you’re an aspiring musician, though, think of these things as a big fat write-off on next year’s tax return. And if you’re a professional musician, you probably already have these or something comparable. For the rest of us, $1350 plus a trip to the neighborhood audiologist just isn’t in the cards, financially.

As for the nuts and bolts, each earbud contains six speakers. How do they do that?! They also reduce ambient noise by 26 decibels. Here’s more:

“In addition to the six-speaker design, Ultimate Ears’ newest monitors combine four-way crossovers with acoustic and electrical tuning, patent-pending triple-sound channels and a new low-distortion cable to create the Ultimate Ears sound signature. Each sound channel includes an acoustically tuned in-line filter that keeps the frequencies separate and balanced until they blend naturally in your ear – not inside the monitors.”

Sounds nice. Pun intended.

Full press release:

Ultimate Ears Rocks Industry with Six-Speaker Custom In-Ear Monitors

Ultimate Ears 18 Pro Custom Monitors Deliver Best-in-Class Sound, Fit, Comfort

The 2010 NAMM Show

IRVINE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–To deliver a live-sound experience directly to your ears, Ultimate Ears, a product unit of Logitech® (SIX:LOGN) (NASDAQ:LOGI), today introduced the Ultimate Ears 18 Pro Custom Monitors. Featuring the company’s first six-speaker design, the Ultimate Ears 18 Pro monitors offer you and your band one-of-a-kind sound definition and clarity. Handcrafted like the finest instrument for a comfortable fit, while reducing ambient noise by 26 dBs, Ultimate Ears’ new monitors are designed for performing artists and audiofiles alike.

“These Ultimate Ears 18 Pros are unbelievable – very crisp, detailed and more pronounced”

Ultimate Ears professional in-ear monitors are used by 75 percent of the world’s touring professional artists, including world-renowned bands such as The Killers, Kenny Chesney and the Jonas Brothers. Customized to be as unique as your fingerprint, the Ultimate Ears 18 Pro Custom Monitors feature a proprietary six-speaker design that fits six individually tuned drivers in each ear, delivering the audio without distortion that artists demand for live stage performing. No matter how loud you’re rocking out on stage, when you’re using the new Ultimate Ears monitors you’ll enjoy amazing instrument and vocal clarity in the mid range, extended sound reproduction of the high notes, as well as a powerful and visceral low end.

“Ultimate Ears is synonymous with live stage performance, and the Ultimate Ears 18 Pro monitors are an extension of this lineage,” said Philippe Depallens, Logitech vice president and general manager of the Ultimate Ears product unit. “These new in-ear monitors are our next-generation, top-of-the-line professional monitors that build on decades of music and technology expertise. With the Ultimate Ears 18 Pro monitors, you get the distinctive Ultimate Ears sound signature you expect and deserve.”

In addition to the six-speaker design, Ultimate Ears’ newest monitors combine four-way crossovers with acoustic and electrical tuning, patent-pending triple-sound channels and a new low-distortion cable to create the Ultimate Ears sound signature. Each sound channel includes an acoustically tuned in-line filter that keeps the frequencies separate and balanced until they blend naturally in your ear – not inside the monitors.

Professional artists and sound engineers who have tested the Ultimate Ears 18 Pro monitors on stage had this to say:

“The new Ultimate Ears UE 18 Pro custom monitors are simply the best I’ve used on stage – a new benchmark has been set,” said Jon Lewis, professional sound engineer for AC/DC. “The low end and levels that can be achieved are outstanding. It’s like wearing a pair of reference studio headphones on stage.”

“These Ultimate Ears 18 Pros are unbelievable – very crisp, detailed and more pronounced,” exclaimed a very excited Natalie Cole. “I have more control over what I hear and therefore more control of my vocals through my microphone.”

The Ultimate Ears 18 Pro Custom Monitors are compatible with wireless transmission systems and portable media devices. Packaged in a rugged, personalized aluminum roadie box, the Ultimate Ears 18 Pro monitors are designed to withstand the rigors of any tour.

Pricing and Availability

The Ultimate Ears 18 Pro Custom Monitors are expected to be available beginning in February for a suggested retail price of $1350 (U.S.). (The price of the Ultimate Ears 18 Pro Custom Monitors does not include the initial cost to have a qualified audiologist create your ear impressions.) The optional ambient noise feature can be added to your custom monitors for an additional $50 (U.S.).

Ultimate Ears monitors are made specifically for each of our customers and you will need to have ear impressions made by an audiologist. Please contact us or check on our website to locate a Ultimate Ears qualified audiologist. Once Ultimate Ears has received your ear impressions, we will create your personal set of in-ear monitors. For additional information, visit www.ultimateears.com.

The Phonofone II

(Credit: Tristan Zimmermann)

I’m no fan of iPod speakers; most of the ones I hear at the CNET offices tend to sound pretty awful. But Tristan Zimmermann’s Phonofone II iPod speaker is just so cool I couldn’t resist writing about it. The ceramic device uses what looks like a miniature horn modeled after an old-fashioned Victrola.

Conceptually the Phonofone II owes a lot to the earliest pure acoustic record players that made sound without electrical amplification. I have heard some of those sound remarkably good. Victor-Victrolas were made from 1901 to 1929.

According to Unica Home’s Web site the Phonofone II “… boosts the audio output of standard earphones to up to 55 decibels (or roughly the maximum volume of laptop speakers) upon connecting active earphones to the Phonofone their trebly buzzing is instantly and profoundly transformed into a warm, rich and resonant sound.” In other words the horn acoustically amplifies the sound of the earbud/headphone driver.

…

Originally posted at The Audiophiliac

The trick went down like this: they showed us the QuietComfort 2 headphones, the older model, and ran about 92 decibels of airplane noise in a little room they set up for the purpose. I’ve been using the QuietComfort 3s for a year or so now and love them for airplanes so I noticed just about the same noise reduction with the 2s as the 3s, meaning a considerable reduction in the hissing and clanks associated with air travel.

Then they had us try on the QC15s, the $299 replacement for the QC2s. The noise reduction was quite drastic. Wham. Most of the noise was gone. Fair enough.

So then they had us watch a video of Yo Yo Ma and Diana Krall or whoever. Really jazzy. They like that stuff. And as we were watching it, engrossed in the video, they surreptitiously turned up the airplane noise. No one in the room noticed it at all. All you could hear was the music.

Why is this important? Because, well, these QC15s really seem to work. Bose knows that most audiophile junk is highly subjective and it’s easy to sway the brain one way or the other. Why not take advantage of it? If you can reduce the ambient noise and offer good sound, more power to them.

That said, the QC15s were pretty impressive. At $299 they’re a little expensive but the noise cancellation was a wonder. I’m hoping we get these in to really test sooner than later – I’ve got three long flights coming up – but you can call me aston-Bose-ished!

They new headphones are available in stores tomorrow.

Physical comparison vs. original PS3:
The shape is relatively unchanged, as you saw from the pics this morning, retaining the George Foreman grill top and the same ports on the back. We thought Sony shrunk it down by moving the PSU outside the body, like the Xbox 360, but no, it’s still the same. There’s no power brick.

Its power and eject touch buttons are changed to actual buttons (an improvement, I think), and the USB ports are shrunk down to 2. Also gone are any of the card readers. Because of the decreased size, the Slim is much less stable in vertical mode, which explains the $24 stand coming in September. You also can’t twist the PS logo on the front to vertical orientation, like you could the PS3 fat.

My favorite change is definitely the matted finish, but the decreased vents might mean that the slim is quieter and/or cooler. We’ll see once we start playing some games on it.

Audible comparison vs. original PS3:
We tested the two consoles with a Transformers 2 game. While the fans were pretty much the same between the two consoles, the disc drive is noticeably louder (but not a ton louder) on the PS3 Slim. Using a decibel-meter app on the iPhone, the Slim got somewhere between 25-33dB when playing the game, and the PS3 Fat got between 22-30dB. It’s not a huge difference, but you should remember that decibels are logarithmic, so every 3 decibels equals about double the loudness, give or take. So if this thing is accurate—which it probably isn’t, since it’s just an iPhone app—that’s about twice as loud.

While $30 might seem like quite an outlay for an air horn, the Ecoblaster can be refilled endlessly with ordinary, everyday air from a bike pump. Each recharge provides up to 70 adjustable-volume blasts of up to 115 decibels apiece.

Bonus: you can take it to your next environmental rally, as it doesn’t use any harmful gases. It also meets Coast Guard regulations, so get one for the pontoon and start honking at people.

Ecoblaster Rechargable Air Horn [Things You Never Knew Existed via OhGizmo!]