Here’s Teenage Engineering‘s new CM-15 microphone, the latest addition to their ‘Field’ system. Besides the obvious good looks, Teenage Engineering promises this to be a ultra portable, studio quality large-diaphragm condenser microphone with a built-in audio interface and preamp (with 3.5mm output) powered by either USB-C, battery or 48v phantom mini-XLR. Running on the rechargeable battery should get you around 10 hours of use.

Now, this beaty will set you back a little, a whopping EUR 1058 or SEK 11,990 to be exact (but then you get textile cords and a carrying pouch with it, so that’s always something)

Read more @ TeenageEngineering.com

This is the Teenage Engineering Field Desk, the customizable desk they use themselves at the TE office to develop all those neat, minimalistic products. It’s made by double-sided formica birch plywood and rails by recycled Scandinavian aluminum. It ships flat-packed IKEA-style and is easy to assemble/disassemble and the rails used makes it easy to attach own accessories or ones they’re in the process of developing using m5 screws.

Our office is made up of people doing a variety of tasks, each with their own needs. since we love to build things, we decided to create our own modular work environment. field desk acknowledges our evolving workspaces and everything that comes with them.

Now, this might look minimalistic and all but the price tag sure isn’t. They want 15,990 Swedish krona for one of these, that’s a little more than £1200 (shipping not included). But then again, they make wonders with these desks, perhaps we could as well?

Read more at Teenage.Engineering Field Desk (£1260)

FiiO has unveiled the R7, a device they dubbed a “Desktop High Resolution Transmitter, Decoder and Headphone Amplifier All-In-One Unit”, a stylish little box that can act as an amp for either active speakers or headphones while displaying what you’re playing as well – be it local media via MicroSD or via major streaming services since it’s Android powered. Now, the FiiO R7 might be a little pricey, but I’m actually intrigued by getting a separate device for playing music (with a dedicated display) instead of just running apps on whatever other device I’m using at the moment.

Available in white or black, this device comes with a Android 10 powered display (Snapdragon 660+) to show and control your media, customizable RGB lights, 3.6W output power, exclusive DP mode and dual USB ports. Connection-wise you get a 6.35mm headphone + 4.4mm balanced headphone + four pin XLR balanced output in the front, in the rear you get support for up to 2TB MicroSD cards, 2xRCA line out, USB Host interface, optical input/output, three pin XLR balanced line out, USB-C, WiFi/Bluetooth (5.0) antenna, coaxial input/output and Ethernet for wired networks.

The FiiO R7 got the following modes by turning the knob on the front: Pure Music, USB DAC, Bluetooth receiver, Airplay receiver, Roon Ready, Coaxial/optical decoding.

The R7 can be controlled remotely using a Bluetooth remote (FiiO is planning to release a remote control in the future) or the FiiO Music app and the screen supports customizable screen savers (clocks, flying goats, what have you).

Read more at FiiO.com: R7 (£649.99)

Here’s Roland GO:MIXER PRO-X, a very portable phone and tablet-friendly mixer that works with both Android and iOS that looks pretty sweet if you’re a musician on the go, wanting to live stream from the bus or a mountain top (or just want to take your podcast interviews on the go). The mixer has 7 inputs as well as a loop-back feature if you want to play along to audio playing on your phone.

With its versatile input selection, you can plug in a guitar or bass, XLR microphone, mono/stereo instrument, and two line-level devices to mix and capture performances on the spot. […] The headphones jack even supports a second mic feed, allowing you to bring in another voice with a headset mic or smartphone earbuds.

Read more at Roland.com

Looking for something cheaper than a real TR-808? Behringer just announced the second version of their RD-8, the Rhythm Designer RD-8 MKII. According to them this is the most authentic Roland TR-808 clone ever, as they claim that they’ve managed a faithful reproduction of the classic 662 OTA chip.

Besides 16 drum sounds, a 64-step sequencer, wave designer and dual-mode filter you now have sequencer modes made to make live usage easier, like step repeat, note repeat, real-time triggering and live step-overdubbing.

Check out the video below or read more at Behringer.com

The Monome Grid turns 15 and Monome celebrates that with releasing a new edition of the 16×8 button grid USB midi controller. This beauty predates controllers like Ableton Push and Native Instruments’ Maschine and while being… well, basic, that’s what made it get a community built around it.

We’ve redesigned the grid, again. but this time almost everything is new, even though we added nothing.

The completely re-worked-but-still-the-same keypad is produced by a Massachusetts keyboard company, Monome says that while the size is the same the feel of the buttons is slightly snappier yet easier to press and have better detection mechanics. The aluminum enclosure has been optimized and it’s now connected using USB-C. There’s no new bells & whistles added, keeping the protocol the same.

In short, grid doesn’t do much on its own. It’s inherently modeless, adapting to the immediate needs of the artist through a host application. Through one, it might do traditional MIDI controller things. Through another, it might facilitate + visualize realtime buffer manipulation. The host determines grid’s usefulness in a specific context.

The “New and the same” Grid edition is available for pre-order now with the first batch of three already sold out, so if you’re out to get one you might just have to hurry up. They’re available for $550 bucks.

Monome: The Grid ($550)

The Apogee Duet 3 is a 2×4 USB-C audio interface claiming zero-latency recording when used together with the Symphony ECS Channel Strip plug-in with fx (sold separately, $49). The channel strip offers presets from Bob Clearmountain to to get you going as well. The exterior of the interface got an aluminum chassi with a top covered in scratch resistant glass and a backlit main knob.

As for connectors you get two 1/4″ instrument inputs, two mic/line inputs (featuring 65dB of gain and 48v phantom power) and two line-level analog outputs for speakers plus a 1/8″ headphone output.

Oh, and there’s a stylish little dock available for the Duet interface as well, for easier portability if you often find yourself on the go.

Apogee: Duet 3 Audio Interface ($599)

Looking for new earbuds? Here’s Beats Studio Buds, priced at $149 they’re way lower than AirPod Pros ($249) and offers active noise cancellation (ANC) as well as transparency mode (similar to the AirPod Pros but can also be found in say, Galaxy Buds+) where it helps you stay aware of your surroundings by using the external-facing mics. Thinking the latter feature might come in handy whenever biking through traffic or going on an evening run.

Even though Apple owns Beats they’re boasting both native Apple and Android support (including Google’s Find my Device feature), support for Apple Music’s new spatial sound, IPX4 classed water resistance, 8 hours of listening time and two extra charges using the case as well as three colors (white, red and black).

PCMag got a pretty comprehensive review of the Studio Buds right here.

Read more @ beatsbydre.com: studio buds ($149.99)

Here’s a pretty sweet deal if you own a pair of PreSonus studio monitors (or if you’re thinking of buying a pair). No matter if it’s the Eris, R-series or the Sceptre monitors they’re currently giving away their Studio Magic software suite with ’em. That’s over $1,000 worth of music software including Studio One Prime, Ableton Live Lite, plugins (both synths and effects), tutorials as well as loops and samples.

Worth mentioning are Arturia Analog Lab Intro, the Brainworx bx_opto compressor, Cherry Audio Surrealistic MG-1 Plus Synthesizer, Cherry Audio Voltage Nucleus, iZotope Neutron Elements, KV331 Audio Synthmaster Player, Mäag Audio EQ2 and Melodics.

If you bought your monitors after March 1st PreSonus says they’ll backdate the offer so you don’t miss out.

PreSonus: Read more about Studio Magic

Here’s Arturia MicroLab, a small and portable MIDI 25-key controller targeted to anyone looking for something with either a small footprint or just being able to bring your controller wherever you go.

Besides the 25 velocity sensitive keys it got smart features like a small dent around the rubberised casing where you can safely store the usb cable when not in use, chord mode and touch strips for pitch bend and modulation.

Read more about the MicroLab at Arturia.com ($89)