Baumgartner will be placed inside a capsule to attached to a gigantic helium filled balloon which will carry him to about 120,000 feet in altitude. The air temperature at that altitude is -70°F and there isn’t enough oxygen to sustain life. The daredevil plans on wearing a custom-made pressure suit that is designed to handle the velocities he will attain on his return trip. It will take him roughly 3 hours to get to 120,000 feet while it will take him only 5 1/2 minutes to freefall to 5,000 feet, at which point he will pull his parachute ripcord.

Baumgartner says that from the time he steps out of the capsule and begins his freefall, it’ll only take 30 seconds for him to break the sound barrier. He claims that testing has been completed and the jump window is set for July. The stunt will be performed somewhere over New Mexico. I hope he has a camera that can survive the jump. I want to see some first-person video.

[via Fox News]

Bring me the head of Darth Vader and plug it into my MP3 player! As far as sound quality, it is likely on par with something that the Ewoks built, but at least it’s cool to look at.

These speakers feature an audio jack and a USB connection, so you can plug one directly into your phone/MP3 player or your computer. They’re available for pre-order from Entertainment Earth for $30(USD) and will arrive in April 2012. Boba Fett and Stormtrooper versions are also on the way.

[via Chip Chick]

Instructables contributor DIYHacksAndHowTos came up with this simple circuit which you can install into a box, and it’ll play back any sound you want when the box is shaken.

The circuit requires just a small number of inexpensive components you should be able to pick up at a Radio Shack (or order from their website), and minimal soldering skills. Once assembled, you record the sound you want it to play, hot glue it to the box, and let the fun begin.

Nice sound there at the end. Though I like the idea of recording Chewbacca’s growl or maybe some broken glass if I make one.

This seems like a simple enough gag that someone over at ThinkGeek should consider turning it into a product for next Christmas. For now, you’ll hae to build your own. You can find complete build instructions over at Instructables.

The Pyro Board was constructed for Fysickshow Aarhus in Denmark, and can create patterns from sound using flammable gas, pushed through a grid of pinhole jets. The rig sits on top of a loudspeaker inside of a flameproof metal box. When the sounds or music are played, they create low and high pressure zones between the metal box and the grid. These result in cool patterns of flame which move along to the beat of the music. Here, check it out for yourself:

It’s sort of like one of those sound-synchronized light shows, but using flames instead of LEDs or bulbs. While the patterns are definitely not as predictable as a Rubens’ tube, I think the effect is still pretty cool. Now I want a nightclub to install one of these and hand out marshmallows to roast on top of it.

[via Buzzfeed]

The MIDI-Moov is a new device from TangibleFX. Currently in the prototyping stages, it’s a small box you can attach to your body or musical instrument to detect motions and use them to control effects. The wireless device acts as a full MIDI controller, allowing you to attach an effect to each X, Y and Z axes of movement. So for instance, leaning forward or backwards could trigger an increase or decrease in the intensity of an effect or sound. The transmitter would then send these signals directly to a remote computer running software like Logic Pro, Cubase or Ableton Live to manipulate sounds in real time. Here’s a demo video of the current prototype in action:

Currently, the guys at TangibleFX are in the early stages of fundraising over on IndieGoGo for production of the MIDI-Moov, but haven’t really nailed down retail pricing for the gadget at this point. A $500 contribution will get you a handmade beta unit, but that seems like a whole lot of coin – especially on a musician’s budget. Still, the idea is cool, and I hope they figure out a way to get the costs down or to apply the same idea to an iOS or Android app at some point.

Created by Dutch audio designers Thodio, the iBox XC is packaged in a handcrafted wood cabinet, and looks like it means business. The speaker system has a pair of 6.5-inch Kevlar coned drivers with soft-dome tweeters. Power output is a hefty 70 watts RMS (140 watts peak) per channel, so this thing is going to push out some serious sound.

The system weighs in at a hefty 19.8 pounds, partially due to the built-in rechargeable battery, which is supposed to give you about 12 hours on a charge. The iBox XC and can be custom ordered a variety of different woods, including MDF, beech, oak, teak and zebrawood, and there are options available for a Bluetooth audio receiver, or an integrated Apple universal dock if you prefer not to connect via the 3.5mm audio jack.

The iBox XC is available over on broodr starting at $495 (USD). That’s the price for the MDF model. Solid hard woods will run you a bit more.

Made by the tinkerers over at Gadget Gangster, the Toilet Buddy has three abilities based on two parameters. When it senses that the toilet seat is up and the restroom light is on, it plays a flushing sound. When the toilet seat is down but the room’s light is on, it plays back a reminder to turn off the light. And when the toilet seat is up but the room’s light is off, it’ll tell you to put the toilet seat down. You monster.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

As you may have guessed you can turn the Toilet Buddy into another kind of Buddy, like one that automatically rings the door bell or plays a scary sound to surprise passers by. And then reminds them to put their toilet seat down. Check out the build instructions and parts list over at Gadget Gangster.

[via Hack A Day]

Of course, if you’re even the slightest bit tech-savvy, you’d have long found a way to procure the tune through less official channels, like from this YouTube video for instance:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Head to Major Nelson’s blog to download the Achievement Unlocked sound. The Major was considerate enough to upload an .m4r version as well, meaning iPhone owners can use it as a ringtone right away. Would you like to have the multiple notes of the PlayStation Trophy sound as well? Go here, then here. You’re welcome.

Image via Wallpapers Wide

[via Joystick Division]

Based on Native Instruments’ Maschine groove composer, the Mikro is its new little brother. Running the same acclaimed sequencer, effect and sampler software as its older sibling, the Maschine Mikro lets you easily access the vast majority of the software’s capabilities using the hardware controller itself. It also includes a massive 6GB sample library for you to play with, and works with both Windows 7 and Mac OS X (10.6 or greater) computers.

The compact box offers 16 backlit performance pads, each sporting velocity and after-touch sensitivity, along with a variety of smaller buttons for controlling software functions remotely over a USB connection. Here’s a couple of videos showing off the Maschine Mikro in action.

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The second clip is defnitely worth watching if for nothing more than watching the prowess of the fleet fingers of Jeremy Ellis.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The best thing about the Maschine Mikro is its price. While the original model sells for $669, the Mikro will sell for $399 (USD)/349 € just including both hardware and software. It’s expected to launch on October 1, and you can find more information and demo videos here.

If you have a similar experience trying to listen to music with a group or to hear the audio from your videos, you might like this new Logitech Tablet Speaker for iPad. The new speaker is a rectangular looking device that is a bit narrower than the iPad in landscape mode. It plugs into the 3.5mm headphone port of the iPad and runs from a rechargeable battery.

The speaker has iPad in its name, but it will work with any 3.5mm headphone port device. The battery is good enough for eight hours of use per charge. It also comes with a fabric carry bag and has clips to grip the iPad and prop the screen up. The battery is charged via USB and the cable is included. You can pre-order the Logitech Tablet Speaker for iPad for $49.99 right now.

The 24-bit/96kHZ uDAC-2 converter is covered in 24K gold, and has a Swarovski crystal on the volume knob. The front and back panels of the device are stainless steel, rounding out its luxurious styling. The converter has a USB port for power and connectivity to your computer. Sound from your computer is then converted into analog signals and sent to your headphones.

The device has an audiophile grade USB connector for input. Outputs include analog RCA, coaxial RCA digital output, and a 3.5mm headphone port. The uDAC-2 SGE has a double jitter reduction mechanism and an oversampling filter. You can buy the SGE version of the converter right now for $399 (USD).

Each of the words is bound to one of the keys on the keyboard with the white and black keys getting their own words. The project is called the Obama Board and mostly you can use it to make gibberish sentences. (That might be what some of you already think come out of Obama’s mouth anyway.) Here it is in action, so turn up the volume:

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The words seem like you would be able to make a sentence pretty easily, but it’s actually harder than it looks. Lewis says she is a big fan of Obama, even though she didn’t vote. Actually, she can’t vote since she is Canadian.

[via Make:]

Case in point? This Steampunk plasma speaker that produces sound because of a small electrical discharge inside a glass tube.

It sounds pretty complicated, right? It’s probably not something that we ordinary folks can come up with, but it sure wasn’t that tough to figure out for Polish artist Conscious Flesh. (In case you’re wondering, no, that’s not his real name; that’s just his YouTube handle).

The Steampunk plasma speaker is actually a small, audio-modulated VTTC, which stands for Vacuum Tube Tesla Coil. The sound is produced in the large glass chamber that’s connected to the horn, which improves the low-frequency speaker response as you play your music.

Check out the video below of the speaker while it’s hooked up to its maker’s equally Steampunk MP3 player:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[via Dvice]

What, pray tell is a Bop Gun, you ask? Well according to Urban Dictionary, it’s “an imaginery(sic) term/weapon to be shot at the funkless people to fill their heart with funk in order to get them dancing. Invented by Parliament and George Clinton in the 1977 song Bop Gun.”

The operative word there is “imaginary,” but that didn’t stop circuit-bender/synth builder Greg Francke (aka “dobart”) from making an actual, fully funk-tioning (see what I did there?) Bop Gun.

I’ll leave it to the gun’s creator to describe his Bop Gun for you:

5 mixed squarewave oscillators allow for rapid phase matching and total funky collapse of even the most complex wave functions!

LFO modulates filter! All oscillators, LFO and filter are controlled by global attack/decay functions at the pull of a trigger! INVERT function allows for continuous function for those situations requiring fancy long-term funkic interventions. Funkify traffic! Passers-by! Bar Mitzvahs! The sky!

LED feedback ring at the business end reacts to funk levels, providing photonic enhancement in attractive aqua green tones. Extra-sweet readout panel provides incomprehensible feedback from selected functions. Audio output jack included, and batteries fit in the handle.”

In case you need further explanation, here’s a couple of handy diagrams illustrating all of the Bop Gun’s funky powers:

It looks like the Bop Gun got its humble start as a Victoreen Model 470A Panoramic Survey Meter, a gizmo designed for monitoring radiation levels around medical facilities. Hopefully all the noises it’s making in the video below are from the synthesizer portion, and not from high levels of plutonium in the atmosphere.

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This Bop Gun does come at a price though. Since it’s the only one in the whole funky universe, it’s selling for 1200 bucks over on Etsy. Go on, Toe Jam and Earl just landed from Funkotron and told me you should buy it.

There have been metamaterial acoustic cloaks before, but the caveat was that these cloaks could only hide things underwater. Researchers at Duke have discovered a new acoustic cloaking technique that will work in air. The metamaterials is a series of layers of perforated plastic.

The material is able to manipulate the sound waves in the air to make the majority of them seem like they passed through the solid object underneath and bounced back. The tests used a triangular wood block a couple inches high and more than a foot at the base. Despite early progress, the researchers say they are a long way from a full acoustic cloak.

[via BoingBoing]

I guess the tennis-playing version of those annoying horns are the grunts and groans of the players as they bash that little ball around. If you like to watch Wimbledon, but you don’t like to listen to the grunts over the top of the commentary, an experimental video player has landed just for you that will only work while the Wimbledon tournament is going.

The NetMix player is cool because it has a slider that will let you choose how much of the court sounds and grunting you hear and how much of the commentary you hear. Unfortunately, the  app will only stream the big matches from Center Court at the stadium, but at least it works for both Windows and Mac users.

With open-baffle acoustics inspired by a concert grand piano, these speakers are designed to disperse sound 360 degrees. They are made out wood, measure 43¾ inches in height, 18 inches in depth, and have a depth of 22 inches. Inside, they each have two 7-inch E7 reference drivers, a pair of high-frequency tweeters and the bass system has two 8-inch woofers.

With an average sensitivity of 95 dB and full-range frequency response from 20 Hz – 20kHz, they must sound great with recorded music. Still, nothing beats having ginormous speakers plugged into a guitar. Needless to say that your neighbors will hate you.

If you’ve got an extra $40,000 lying around, then you’d better act fast because these speakers are truly limited – with just 12 pairs being produced.

[via stereophile via Born Rich]

Like the earlier model, these were created by sneaker artist Nashmoney, but this time in collabo with hip-hop artist MF Doom, the Sneaker Speakers Doomsday Edition not only have actual sneakers as part of them, they’re gigantic. I’m talking Yao Ming size feet. PUMA ponied up the world’s largest pair of Suedes in order to form the foundation for these crazy things. These massive speaker shoes are loaded with LED disco lights, and the base station offers lighting controls, inputs, and an LCD screen that claims to have “barometric pressure readouts,” which I don’t quite get. But heck, we’re talking about shoes with speakers in them, so none of it makes all that much sense.

You can see a bit more of the speakers in action, along with a brief interview with Nash Money in the video clip below:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Check out the full story of the giant Sneaker Speakers over at Sneaker Freaker (just try and say that 10 times fast), and see how they were built here.

Say hello to the ADEL inflatable earbuds (with the balloon portion resembling the outer covering of hakaw, which is a shrimp dumpling dish that I absolutely have to have every time I go out to get some dim sum.)

Looks aside, the earbuds are made inflatable for two simple but very important reasons: comfort and improved sound quality. I love listening to music, especially when I’m on the go or when I’m in bed about to turn in for the night. I usually just pop on my earphones and I find that they aren’t the most ear-friendly things in the world because they start to hurt after an hour or two. That’s specifically what these ADEL inflatable earbuds hope to eliminate. Aside from the added comfort, it also delivers louder sound at lower volumes than what would have been required with your plain, old balloon-less earphones.

These are actually an invention by Stephen Ambrose published in Sound+Vision mag. They’re not being produced yet but I’m going to stand in line to get one if they eventually will be made available commercially.

[via PopSci via Slippery Brick]

Inside each of those cubbies is a little DC motor with a wire sticking off of it. The other end of that wire is stuck inside what is supposed to be a cotton ball. The balls look more like ping-pong balls than cotton to me.

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There are 138 of the DC motors and boxes in the installation by “sound sculpture” artist Zimoun. When the thing is turned on all the rubbing of the cotton balls makes a noise that is part of the installation. That noise gets irritating on the video quickly, I can only imagine having to work close to the installation would be no fun.

[via Design-milk]