Apogee’s Duet 2, a USB audio interface device now features a full-color OLED display to offer visual feedback for its multiple functions, including level metering, audio input / output and more. The Duet2 offers full 24-bit/192kHz recording, a configurable touch pad, Soft Limit technology, a breakout cable and Maestro 2 software, along with completely re-designed mic preamps, four balanced outputs, and an independent speaker.

The Duet2 is best used for sound recording in a mic or directly plugged into the device. It uses a fully-redesigned breakout cable to convert its one I/O port into two mic (XLR) or two line/instrument (1/4-inch) preamps, and a click-free multi-function controller knob to assign gain up to 75dB. The visual display allows users to pick the perfect volume without distortion (along with monitoring phantom power and phase invert), and the Soft Limit technology previously found only in Apogee’s top-end gear now prevents digital clipping by instantly rounding off transient peaks before they hit the also-redesigned analog-to-digital converters.

The unit also features up to four outputs, including: two balanced line outputs, up to 20dBu, along with separate speaker and headphone outs, allowing a user to monitor one source while sending another out — useful for Djs at live events, recording studios or spoken word. The configurable touch pads allow uses to quickly access output functions or switch headphone sources.

Apogee Duet 2 costs $595 and will be available in April. It is designed exclusively for the Mac and works well with most popular music software, particularly Garageband and Logic. It also works with other music-creation suites like Live, Pro Tools and Cubase.

Tokyoflash put together this odd USB watch which looks and acts very much like it’s from the future. In addition, it will challenge your cognitive abilities when someone asks you what time it is [see image 3]. The Konect is not only a watch using an unorthodox approach, it also doubles as a flash drive.

The USB flash drive, slips out from the right and the blue radial area is the watch itself.

From the description of what is what, the Konect also has voice record ability and a lavish setting of alarms. Ability to stream audio live or communicate via Skype when loaded to the USB flash.

From the source post at

Parrot is launching their new car stereo receive which has strayed away from the trend of all touch screen interface.  The Asteroid is a Google Android based receiver with loads of features and functionality.

The receiver still has a graphical interface to display the content being played, but the navigation is all “old school” buttons and radial dial.

What is most interesting about the new Parrot receive is the many number of USB ports located on the back side.  With the four USB ports the Asteroid gives the user plenty of options.

Of course you’ll get the expected RCA jacks for hooking up your car’s stereo system and a 3.5 mm jack for connecting your MP3 player.  The Asteroid has three high speed USB ports and one 1.1

Whether you are a serious musician or just like playing as a hobby to relax, chances are you have a guitar and a tuner.  As with most musicians your budget is probably tight or with the casual player you don’t keep up on the up-keep of your gear, so when your guitar is out of tune, you go for the tuner.  But most likely the battery is dead because A) you didn’t want to spend the cash or B) hadn’t played in so long, the batteries just went dead.  This is why the solar powered guitar tuner makes perfect sense.

Tascam has done a great job with this tuner and thought about including a USB port just in case that tuner was stuffed in your guitar case for too long and you need a quick fix to get back in tune.

Released just in time for the holidays and priced right [under $20] with a range of hues to select from: black, pink, orange, green, blue, white.

Yet another “i” product for all those Apple gadgets, but this time we feel it’s a product worth mentioning.  The iPADock is a dock station to power or sync all your Apple gear in one handy location.  The iDevices has designated USB power ports, designated USB-to-PC sync ports and additional flash memory ports for SD cards, SDHC and Compact Flash downloading.

So if you haven’t asked yourself how to clean up your sync area at work or home for the Apple gear…don’t worry, that day will come.  For example, at our house we have 4 iPhones, two iPods, a FlipVideo and several cameras.  All of them will receive power via USB.

First off, we have 4 iPhones because we’ve migrated from 3G or 3GS to the 4.  The iPods are legacy products we had before the phones, yet we still use them for workouts…and the cameras, well those are good anytime.

What I like about the iPADock station are all the power and sync options. [video after the jump]

The Corsair HS1 USB headset is about as serious as you can get for superior audio while gaming, watching movies or simply Skyping.  The all new line from Corsair is a bit out of their comfort zone of storage and cooling gear, but at least they’ve done it right.  Headset gear is an essential part of enjoying intense games like FPS Doom, Half Life or Halo.  In addition it keeps the other half equally as happy [meaning Mom's, girlfriends and wives don't b!@ch about the cranked up noise].

The HS1 was built for supreme audio with massive 50mm drivers to deliver more accurate low-frequency effects in a carefully tuned acoustical design.  The clear, low-noise reproduction of the unidirectional noise-canceling microphone lets teammates hear better, and with extra-large inline volume and microphone controls it’s easy to grab and control sounds given the situation of the game.

Some other notable points before making the jump to Corsair for full details:

Marantz, a premium set-top audio manufacturer, introduces a new Network solution for home audio.  The M-CR603 is a combination of all good things. Featuring a built-in amplifier, a receiver, a CD player, an AM/FM radio and the ability to stream music from Rhapsody, Pandora or Napster.

In addition, the Marantz unit includes a USB port for iPod / MP3 docking, but what we really like about the unit is the ability to stuff a 64GB flash drive in there loading with MP3 files and you’ve now got one hot audio box!

No pricing yet, so I’m assuming the executives and sales guys are hammering out those details.  Check Marantz for more info on pricing / availability.