We all love music. Some of us so much so that we hold on to old media long after it’s time has passed. Take that box of old cassettes you have stashed in the closet, for example. You know who you are. Problem is, tapes degrade over time. Eventually, you either have to buy it anew on more recent media, or convert it somehow.

Enter the plusdeckEX. It mates with your PC via USB and the result is beautiful digital music. A 7.1 channel built-in sound card converts the analog signal from the cassette tape into a digital file format like MP3. It’s just that easy.

The small table top jukebox reproduction stands 36cm high and has a real wood cabinet (veneer) and illuminated tubing that changes colors making it look and act like the real old time jukeboxes.

Instead of being packed with tiny records this jukebox houses electronics to play your favorite old-time music on CD’s through a retractable tray in the front. It also has an FM radio tuner and a USB 2.0 connection to connect and play MP3′s, although the jukebox itself does not have any internal memory or an MP3 player.

Teenie-boppers aside, I don’t know anyone who would sacrifice utility for aesthetic gimmicks. I suppose there are people who want a wine bottle shaped thumbdrive, or a Darth Vader shaped flashlight but I don’t know these people and I’m very glad I don’t. But that won’t stop companies from coming out with cheap devices, the sole selling point of which is a gimmick like the following Lipstick shaped MP3 player I have to dub the most ridiculous item of the day.

What’s in your gig bag? A common frustration for guitarists is not being able to work with an amp when they really want to. An idea pops in your head or you are thinking about the lick that isn’t as tight as it should be but its too late to turn on the amp or simply too inconvenient to bring an amp with. The Pignose and other small amp variants help with that but sometimes you only have what fits snugly in your gig bag and if you have a hard case like I do fitting that Pignose and a cable in just doesn’t work. Enter the Vox amPlug which not only does not require a cable but also does not vie for space with your spare strings, tuner and other misc. we keep in our cases.

The amPlug plugs straight into your guitar and comes in three amp styles: VOX AC30, Classic Rock, and Metal. An AUX jack lets you play along with your CDs or MP3s and gives up to 15 hours of use with just two AAA batteries. The 100% analog circuitry faithfully recreates the sounds of the original amps the amPlug units were modeled after and special attention was given to the gain circuits of each variation to not only recreate the original sounds, but also keep the high frequency and gain sounding good when the volume is turned down.

The solo work of George Harrison has now been added to iTunes making him the last of each of the Beatles to be available through the site, preceded by Paul McCartney, John Lennon and Ringo Star. Unfortunately the Beatles as a group are still not available on iTunes, just the solo work of each artist separately with no word of any Beatles albums as of yet.

For notebook or PC users that want to improve their quality of sound emanating from their machine Asus is pleased to bring to you the Xonar U1. This USB audio device looks like it should belong on the head of a member of Devo but in fact it clears up the electromagnetic interference and removes any residue static created by your computer’s circuitry using a digital to analog converter (DAC).

Two new PMPs by Energy Sistem are now available in Europe. Meet the the Inngenio 4000 DUET HDP M-EX and the Inngenio 5000 HDP M-EX right and bottom respectively. The 4000 model has a smaller 2.8-inch QVGA TFT LCD display compared to the 5000′s 3.5 inch, but exceeds the storage capacity of the 5000 with a whopping 6GB via miniSD in contrast to 2GB SD capacity of its counterpart.

The units understand many common formats including MPEG4, MP3, WMA, WAV and views JPG, BMP, TXT and in addition the Inngenio 4000 plays XVid and posesses an FM Tuner making it seem to be a higher end model except for screen size. The 4000 will fetch about $220 USD while the other is priced at $170 USD.

The verdict is in on the first file-sharing case to go to a jury. The defendant, a 30-year-old single mother named Jammie Thomas, was found guilty of copyright infringement and damages totaling $222,000 were awarded to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the group representing the record companies. While Thomas’ attorney tried to convince the members of the jury that she was not the Kazaa user “Tereastarr” that was logged as downloading 22 songs from such bands as Aerosmith, Journey and Green Day in the end the 12 members found that there was sufficient evidence to incriminate Thomas since the computer she owned was used to download the songs in question. The verdict works out to a staggering $9,250 that Thomas now owes the RIAA for each song illegally downloaded.

Gibson has decided to employ the Tronical Powertune automatic tuning system in a new line of guitars. Although it isn’t the first, and maybe not the best, Powertune gives a guitar player some appealing options. Guitarists who’ve been playing for any length of time at all should be able to tune their own instrument, but consider the advantages of a self-tuning system.

In performance, any downtime can be bad. The audience isn’t particularly interested in hearing the band tune when they walk on stage, yet a lot of groups do that. Even using a digital tuner in your line will still take a bit of time that would better be filled with something else. Enter self-tuning. Pop the tuning knob and strum the guitar, wait until the light flashes blue and pop it back in. The audience missed it.

Music players are evolving slowly but surely adding features here or there, miniturizing etc. This particularly small MP3 player has a good feature set for what it is. For musicians, this device would work perfectly as a scratch pad during the writing process with its built in voice recorder to name just one of the interesting features.

The 2 tone LCD is adequate for its purpose and the navigation screen is simple. The player includes a built in speaker for when you’d rather not be wearing headphones, and hosts a 7 mode EQ to adjust the output of your WMA or MP3 files and the WAV files recorded via the built in voice recorder.

The MOSMC1319P by Ministry of Sound provides almost everything you’d want in a desktop music station. Twin speakers, disconnected from the control unit, provide a total of 20 Watts (2 x 10Watt RMS speakers) and kick out sounds from a number of sources. Hook up your iPod or inject tunes in MP3, WMA or WAV formats stored on a SD or MMC flash card or via USB device.

The micro station also includes an FM/MW PLL digital tuner for streaming radio and is compatible with all CD types and includes a 30-track programming feature. And as you’d expect these days the unit is controlled via a wireless remote.

Illustrated right is a render of the Meizu M7 touch screen miniPlayer geared to compete directly with iPod Touch. The media player is targeted for a March 2008 release with a price tag that could draw business away from Apple for all but the most die-hard iPod users. The tentatively named M7 will sport a 2.8 inch touch screen with a 16:9 480×228 resolution and supports H.264 playback. At $100, $110 and $150 for 2GB, 4GB and 8GB models respectively, the M7 is likely to be a very popular iPod clone.

While a cheaper alternative to the Apple iPod MP3 player, its lower price likely indicates this Chinese manufactured Miezu clone will lack the quality and attention to detail that the Apple players have become known for. The design concept has only recently and hurriedly been announced so stay tuned for any updates.

This little wooden spherical-shaped device is home to an 18-key chime that’s permanently set inside with nothing escaping aside from the music it plays when you wind it up. Using a classic wind-up key the orb will chime out the famous Austrian composer’s Voi, Che Sapete from The Marriage of Figaro with the wood giving it a naturally unique sound.

The music plays equally well if the music ball is sitting still or rolling across the floor, making an interesting conversation piece to have around the house. This musical orb has a diameter of 3.5″ and comes made out of either Beech or Oak natural wood along with the necessary key, all encased in a box donned with the Mozartkugel name from which a similarly-shaped, Mozart-inspired confection was named.

It’s being touted as the world’s first pocket-sized DJ system. The Pacemaker is a digital music player that lets you create your own music by mixing between two separate audio channels all from a device the size of a mobile phone (the actual dimensions are 164x69x23mm.)

Created by German-based company Tonium, the unit has a ton of mixing features that you can use to spin your tracks like fades, loops, filters, bends, pitch and even add audio effects into the mashed-up song. You control the mixing by pressing a P-button located on the side of the Pacemaker and the circular touchpad, essentially creating your sonic message using just your thumb.

If space travel were as easy as driving to the local Kwik-E-Mart then this is the device that would have to be in our ship’s cockpit. Say hello to today’s new sexyness, the Eagle Neo-Retro CD Player from Loit, a Singapore-based electronics firm.

Designed by Art Lebedev, the same house that brought us the $1,500 OLED keyboard Optimus Maximus, this CD player looks more like a nice piece of art than a means to play your tunes. I mean, just look at it: if that doesn’t say “HAL, play me something like Dirty Vegas meets Justin Timberlake and make it fresh,” what does?