modern tech that you find somewhat cool?

[inlinesix]

idk, for me nearly all modern tech products are just boring, expensive, fragile, built cheap, boring, annoying, always online, boring, slow and expensive. BUT however, every now and then I come across some things that get me interested and look different (and slightly interesting?).

some stuff I've found recently

1. Punkt MP02 - a budget phone that has a Design and isn't running android


2. LIT DUO 1 - cool looking modern lightmeter for photo/video nerds

3. Moondrop MIAD01 - cool budget(ish) DAC for audio nerds, essentially a modern android phone with good quality 3.5mm and 4.4mm audio outputs

4. Sony TX660 - small voice recorder thing, I have zero use for something like this but holy hell if the product design isn't amazing

 

[Mukky]

I absolutely love the playdate. A very tactile little indie console, and the crank is more than a gimick. Extremely well made, and packed with fun and interesting games.

I wanna see more quirkly little things like this, but I understand why people don't bother, it's a big investment.

 

[crantheman]

The new Fairphone 5. Designed for you. Made fair.

Ten swappable spare parts. Eight years of software updates. Five-year warranty. This is Fairphone's most sustainable phone yet.

shop.fairphone.com

Fairphone has some great devices that are very nature-friendly and also very repairable and reusable. The only flaw is that they're only sold in EU regions (You can't buy them in the US).

 

[KeplerElectronics]

The Dirtywave M8 looks phenomenal to my eyes. It's a small synth/sequencer/sampler thing that has an interface based on the legendary chiptune program LSDJ. If it weren't $600 I'd already own one, but dang does it look cool. It's even using Mechanical Keys!!

There's a ton of cool music gear with awesome design (Korg and Teenage Instruments have been on a tear lately) but I don't want to clutter up the thread with too much stuff so I'll leave it here for right now :)

 

[inlinesix]

View attachment 1135
The Dirtywave M8 looks phenomenal to my eyes. It's a small synth/sequencer/sampler thing that has an interface based on the legendary chiptune program LSDJ. If it weren't $600 I'd already own one, but dang does it look cool. It's even using Mechanical Keys!!

There's a ton of cool music gear with awesome design (Korg and Teenage Instruments have been on a tear lately) but I don't want to clutter up the thread with too much stuff so I'll leave it here for right now :)

oh I've wanted one of these for SO long, problem is I can never get my head wrapped around trackers haha, will need to learn some day.

 

[KeplerElectronics]

oh I've wanted one of these for SO long, problem is I can never get my head wrapped around trackers haha, will need to learn some day.

LSDJ is the easiest tracker I've used, the gamepad interface works better with my brain than the keyboard based ones, but I can never finish music with it. I'm a dedicated DAW guy, even if I have a pretty decent collection of weird music tools on game consoles.

I'd try and get ahold of LSDJ even if it isn't on real hardware (You can get the ROM for a small donation at littlesounddj.com and just run it on whatever). I've used it on PSP a bunch, and it seems to work well on Delta on my phone too.

 

[log64]

I find Nothing Tech's lineup really aesthetically pleasing (sucker for transparent electronics)

 

[inlinesix]

I find Nothing Tech's lineup really aesthetically pleasing (sucker for transparent electronics)

i can't lie, i'm a fan of nothing's "CMF" brand

 

[Mukky]

ugh that is some slick looking tech

 

[inlinesix]

literally just found this a minute ago,

Korg Nu:Tekt HAS Nutube Headphone Amp

DIY headphone amp, the rest of the Nu:Tekt series is also entirely DIY, while also encouraging user-mods and stuff, this headphone amp is pretty price-y though

 

[KeplerElectronics]

i can't lie, i'm a fan of nothing's "CMF" brand

I thought their stuff looked like Teenage Engineering, turns out they contract them to design their stuff! Definitely some of the most stylish hardware out there

 

[spc_daicon]

Not realy morden since the technology has been out since the 80's, but E-Ink still baffles me. Pure technological wizardry

 

[Mukky]

Not realy morden since the technology has been out since the 80's, but E-Ink still baffles me. Pure technological wizardry

I really want a little E-Ink display that I can put little widgets on but I can't find one that suits my needs

 

[inlinesix]

adding the Intech Studio VSN1

basically, a little macro thing with integrations into creative software, Intech Studio does a lot of music-focused gear so its cool to see them expanding into just the creative space. iirc all their stuff is open source, serviceable, and hand built, which is cool asf.

I actually have the Knot from them in my dawless rig, which imo is like the best midi interface on the market atm.

 

[mugrootbeer]

obvious target but i genuinely love teenage engineering's pocket operator line, one of the most charming and clever designs ive ever seen for a synthesizer. turns out they also did a collab with street fighter!

 

[inlinesix]

obvious target but i genuinely love teenage engineering's pocket operator line, one of the most charming and clever designs ive ever seen for a synthesizer. turns out they also did a collab with street fighter!

I have both the PO-33 KO and the bigger KO-II and they're both super fun bits of gear :)

 

[Mukky]

Anything teenage engineering does is like a massive need for me