Audio

The world's first voice recording dates back to 1860, more than 17 years before Edison's phonograph was invented

Thomas Edison's “Mary had a little lamb” on a sheet of tinfoil in 1877 wasn't the first recorded sound. A Frenchman named Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville was the first to record sound almost two decades earlier.Read More

A Sonic Blaster So Loud, It Could Be Deadly

The Thunder Generator uses mixture of liquefied petroleum, cooking gas, and air to create explosions, which in return generate shock waves capable of stunning people from 100 to 300 feet away. At that range, the weapon is absolutely harmless, making people run in panic when they feel the sonic blast hitting their bodies. However, at less than 30 feet, the Thunder Generator could either cause permanent damage or kill a person.Read More

Developed by Korean electronics manufacturer FILS, this innovative and transparent material is actually a stereo speaker system.Read More

Evertune Bridge keeps guitars in tune forever

Stringed instruments have been around for centuries, but nobody's figured out how to keep those strings in tune — until now. The breakthrough introduced at CES 2010 is called the Evertune Bridge, with individual springs constantly pulling against each string at precisely the correct tension to keep each note the same.Read More

Powerful new spectral software economically converts your photos to mesmerizing sound [Amazing video after jump]
Software turns images and photos into sound

Photosounder is a new image and sound analysis program that is absolutely amazing in its operation, and might one day change the way we interpret our visual and audio senses. It is unique in that it synthesizes both images and sounds. Sounds, once turned into images, can be powerfully modified to achieve effects and results that couldn't be obtained in any other way.Read More

$25 fake vacuum tube amplifier computer speakers are designed to impress, but all show - no go

Created by Japan’s Hanwha, the fake vacuum tube look-alike is just a speaker that plugs into the USB port and audio jack on your computer, with the tubes lighting up blue when powered on.Read More

Zero Gravity (Magnetic Levitation) Shelf from Moon Audio

Vibration elimination is well recognized to improve the sound of almost any component and Moon Audio's Zero Gravity magnetic levitation component stands accomplish this task by floating components on air - the ultimate vibration insulation material.Read More

MoonAudio TITAN speakers claim to be the best, and at $500,000 for the pair, they should be

The MoonAudio TITAN is a state of the art audio transducer system designed to outperform any other speaker system currently made in the world today. Unique to the audio world is that it will be a strictly limited edition run of only 3 pairs with each pair hand-signed by the designer.Read More

Wavac SH-833 vacuum tube amplifiers cost a staggering $350,000 - and you have to wait three months for delivery

While most of the audio world has gone with digital, solid-state technology, music purists still swear by the warm, natural sound that can only be produced by old-school, vacuum-tube amplifiers.Read More

The carbon-fiber guitar certainly seems like something culled from the Dark Knight's arsenal: Sleek and shiny, with black-and-gray patterns marking its bizarre cut-out design, the Handle both looks and sounds dangerous.Read More