1/08/2007

Belkin's $180 iPod-powered four track mixer

Palm Sounds report on Belkin's great-looking TuneStudio iPod portastudio, which can record 4 tracks mixer - which can mix four tracks into a two channel recording on a 5G ipod. You can nearly do the same thing with a Behringer mixer and a Tune Talk (although there will be a level problem as the Tune Talk only has a mic input). But this thing is cute and knobby, and $180 isn't a terrible price. Alternatively, for $99 you can stay strictly old-school on cassette with the Tascam MFP01 which is actually sold with the line "Records one track at a time with classic warm analog sound"... (More coverage of the TuneStudio at iLounge, Engadget and Gizmodo.) (Thanks to everyone in the comments for explaining this story back to me...)

8 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:35 pm

    Looks dead cool, unfortunately it doesn't appear to be a four-track in that it only records a stereo mix of the four channels.

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  2. Anonymous3:05 pm

    Just what I was thinking, aj. Belkin's TuneTalk stereo + a cheap behringer mixer would probably be a cheaper/less cool equivalent.

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  3. Anonymous9:54 pm

    I have the Tunetalk and it has issues with data corruption if you try to record an audio file longer than 10 mins.

    I wonder if they've fixed this for the mixer version? The end result is crapy, unuseable data. I'm sorely disappointed.

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  4. Anonymous8:48 am

    FWIW, you get a lot more bang for your buck with the Boss Micro BR. I bought one recently, and I'm just totally blown away with its ability and specs.

    Sure you can only record two tracks at a time (through stereo line in), but can also record through the guitar input and internal mic.

    Worth taking a look at if you're looking for a cheap portable 4 track to carry around with you.

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  5. Anonymous9:41 am

    I have the Tunetalk Stereo (works with a 5g iPod). I regularly use it to record live sets (16bit 44khz stereo wav files, each one usually about 10-15 mins) straight from the output of my laptop soundcard.

    It doesn't seem to have a problem with line level signals either (with the autogain switch in the off position).

    That Boss Micro BR does look cool though.

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  6. Anonymous9:48 pm

    it doesn't seem much more to me than a mixer + recorder.

    Multi tracks would have been great: most folks already have shiny black 30gb hard drives, and it would be great to integrate those into multi track recording.

    As it stands: it is a big piece of pseudo-nickelodeon-style (remember their cameras?) stuff that doesn't do much.

    I'd get a fostex mr8 (or mr8hd) instead. The boss does look cool, though.

    Geoff

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  7. Anonymous12:11 pm

    I didn't understand where the Tunestudio gets the power. I see just a usb plug... if so, it works only with a usb power source (like a laptop or something...), or does it get power directly from the Ipod?

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  8. Anonymous3:24 pm

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