Awesome Music

Classical guitarists are finally getting love with Blackbird’s Rider Nylon; the nearly indestructible carbon fiber body stays, but with nylon strings, side-address tuners and wider spacing.

New to Teac’s Esoteric line are the AG-H600 digital amp and PD-H600, both of which sport aluminum chassis and large toroid power transformers; an iPod dock will also play videos.

For Blizzard fanatics: Echoes of War; is an orchestral soundtrack with 90 minutes of music from StarCraft, WarCraft and Diablo, and will be available in standard and legendary editions.

Head Porter’s DJ Bag is top-loading tote for musicians: generously padded and constructed from ballistic nylon, it also has two extra compartments and side mesh inserts.

The glowing red LED screams Cylon, but this Tony Stewart NASCAR Helmet has peaceful intentions; it’s actually a radio with a CD tray in place of the mouth and a flip-up visor.

Recently awarded PopSci’s “Best Of What’s New ’08”, the Tonium Pacemaker lets DJs mix two songs on the go; it packs a 120GB hard drive and a touchpad for speed and pitch control.

Microsoft has intro’d 46 new designs for Zune Originals, divvied up into Artist, Zodiac and Tattoo series. They’re available with all Zune players for $10-$15 extra. Thanks, Alvaro!

Modern and minimalist, the Vers 1.5R is an iPod radio/alarm that includes an AM/FM tuner, 15 watt speaker, 3.5 mm input and output, IR remote and your choice of six wood cabinets.

It’s not quite as cool as playing Zelda with tesla coils, the Ocarina iPhone app is more portable and less likely to electrocute; you can even hear what others are playing around the world.

Chicago-based web dev and journalist Adrian Holovaty is also a skilled guitarist; check out this awesome gypsy jazz video with him playing the Super Mario Bros. 2 theme. Thanks, Jerry!

William Kang’s 9999 Boom Box concept is updated for the 21st century; not only does it have a design that Apple would be proud of, but it sports both video and mp3 players.

Chop Shop’s latest t-shirt continues their line of music-themed apparel; this one is our favorite so far, shaped like a guitar and featuring 21 rock and punk celebs from the 1970s.

Above is a goofy lip-synched a capella video by Corey Vidal, done to John William themes including Star Wars and Indiana Jones; it was done with the original singers’ blessing.

Mixing a bit of the old with the new, Sanyo’s R227 tabletop radio gets FM tunes as well as internet stations and podcasts via Wi-Fi or ethernet; there’s also an input for your iPod/mp3 player.

Gene Simmons is our hero–guitar hero, that is. This Axe Guitar (Wii, PS3/PS2) works with both GH and RB and takes badassery to a whole new level; its got both a strum and whammy bar.

This upcoming waterproof mp3 player by Freestyle Audio isn’t much of a looker, but it’s the tech we’re digging: it has a color e-paper display. Translation: it can be easily read in direct sunlight.

Similar to Marka’s Mini-Gods, Headphonies are portable speakers with an urban vinyl twist; they’re actually made with ABS plastic and will be released in limited editions of 500-1000 in November.

A mix of open-source goodness and flashing lights, Monome is like a mixer that interacts with you; its buttons are largely trivial, but that hasn’t stopped it from developing an active community.

Mixing satellite radio with a bit of TiVo-like tech, the Pioneer XMp3 is a portable satellite radio that’ll record up to five stations simultaneously; it also has a 30-min buffer for rewind.

So advanced it requires Flash 10, Hobnox’s Audiotool is essentially a virtual Roland synthesizer that allows you to create your own electronic music; it looks and sounds freakin’ awesome.

Forget bluetooth: Onkyo’s MHP-UW2 wireless headset uses a 2.4Ghz wireless connection in order to deliver CD quality audio; the transmitter will work with all current iPods.

Sony’s CDX-H910UI is a splash-proof headunit, and is the first to work with iPods or iPhones via a USB port; part of their Marine line, you’ll of course need a boat for this to be useful.

Made by Sleek Audio, Kleer is a wireless transmitter that hooks up to their existing SA6 headphones; if the batteries run out, simply remove it and hook the SA6 back to its original cable.