Few would disagree that wires are a real pain, especially when they run from a phone or media player on a belt or in a pocket up to earbuds.  Those little tethers aren’t just annoying, they seem to actively reach out and grab hold of everything you pass.  Bluetooth gives us a reasonable, if not perfect, solution to this problem with wireless headsets, like the Philips SHB 7110.

The SHB 7110, a headset designed to work with Bluetooth phones, consists of two earpieces connected by a thing wire worn behind the neck, The elegant simplicity of the design is complemented by touch controls on each earpiece that raise and lower volume, picks up a call, or by removing the headset, transfers the call to the phone.  The headset supports A2DP, so it can be used with any computer or MP3 player that supports that profile, although you will need to make sure there’s a Bluetooth transmitter on the other end of the connection, as none comes with the headset.

I confess to a growing interest in audio equipment.  I blame the influence of Neal Campbell.  He’s going to make an audio geek out of me yet.  A couple of months ago, I bought a Blue Snowball mic, stand, and shock mount (okay, yes — a pop filter, too — see, it’s a sickness), ostensibly for voice-over use on an upcoming video project.  I’d hoped that might be enough to quell the cravings, but now I’ve seen something else that perhaps I can’t live without.

The Belkin TuneStudio is a 4-channel audio mixer that records directly to an iPod in 16-bit, 44kHz quality, or will stream its output to a PC or Mac through a USB connection.  It’s compatible with the iPod Classic, 2nd or 3rd generation Nano, or the iPod with Video (5th generation).  Each channel has a 3-band EQ and phantom power on the two XLR inputs.

I always hate to get rid of old iPods, and this is a pretty nifty way to put an old one to good use.  Thanks to The Red Ferret Journal for bringing this device to my attention.