Here’s a novel solution to the need for portable recording: the new Gemini iKey lets you leave the computer at home for recording, but only provided you connect your own USB hard drive. (See Harmony Central; nothing posted at Gemini’s site as I write this.)
The good news: it only costs US$229 and lets you connect however much hard drive space you need. The bad news: you’ll have to lug two boxes to record, and this only includes RCA connectors — no XLR ins, so you can’t record from microphones (or a lot of other things from that matter).
Bottom line: who cares? Gemini claims “Never before has a portable device allowed you to do this without extra hardware and software.” By which I guess they mean, never has a “portable” device “allowed you” to need an extra hard drive just to record. And as for a hard drive that can record without a computer? Uh, wouldn’t that be virtually every MP3 player on the market? (Even the iPod can pull it off — just get iPodLinux and a power adapter, and you’re done.) And that solves the problem of how to fit your 4 hour gig onto an SD car– wait a minute, do you really want to record that whole thing anyway? On the upside: the mockup has giant LEDs.
Other blogger watch: MusicThing’s Tom agrees this doesn’t quite make sense, though he’s naturally impressed by the fact that it’s white.
this box makes alot of sense to me . . . I can record my band directly off our mixer, my brother is a dj and he likes recording his shows. I checked on-line snf the street price is only $149 plus my USB memory stick and the best part is . . my computer can stay at home . . . Sign me up, where, how soon?
For the record this is a $150 box that does a whole lot of things. First of all it will allow a DJ or band to record a complete set onto a thumbdrive and then pull that thumbdrive and plug it into a computer and do instant cdrs of their set on the spot. It will also allow technology challenged people to take their old vinyl records and move them to mp3 instantly that can be placed later on their Ipods.
Also no extra software is needed. analog music goes in and mp3 or waves files of your choice come out the other side into a thumbdrive memorystick or USB mini-drive.
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All I can say is that it doesn't work with my iPod nano (third generation), but with any other storage device i have (external hd, smart disk with an usb-adapter, etc.).
And this makes me mad.