Sound

What started as a search for an expensive effects pedal turned into something far more interesting. With one sentence, I sat back with my feet up and watched AI turn a spare Raspberry Pi into the effects pedal I almost spent a grand on.

AudioPrism's AI stem separation is impressive. Unfortunately, the software wrapped around it occasionally made me want to throw something.

What happens when a device becomes so small that there’s no room left for a battery or motor? Scientists have found a way to power tiny devices and robots and make them move by using sound.

Creative's Sound Blaster GS5 is an inexpensive "gaming" soundbar with surprisingly big sound (hello SuperWide!), and just enough annoying quirks to remind you how cheap it is.

If you enter a room to see someone dancing their heart out in silence, no headphones in sight, don't be alarmed. They may be jamming to music via a new 3D-printed speaker cover that can focus sound across a room to a focal point just above an inch.

Not everything old is worth a modern makeover, but this is something audio-lifestyle brand Gadhouse seems to understand. Following on from some stunning retro-modern turntables, it's now reviving 1980s portable audio paired with modern convenience.

With the SoundCam Go acoustic camera, you can be that person in your neigborhood social media group who can answer those “Where's that noise coming from?” questions whenever an unexplained sound is reported. And the device connects to your phone.

If you live in a noisy urban area, you're gonna love the sound of this. Researchers in Switzerland have developed a material that can dampen street noise while being four times thinner than similar-performing absorbers used in construction.

While headphones do provide an immersive listening experience, music is made to be heard through a good set of speakers in a room. Movengine's AirCore OWH headphones are made to simulate that experience, and I recently got to give the things a try.

Imagine being able to listen to music or other audio that no one else can hear, without having to wear headphones. Doing so is now possible via so-called "audible enclaves," which already exist in functional prototype form.

While there are already AI systems that generate sound effects to match silent images of city streets, an experimental new technology does just the opposite. It generates images that match audio recordings of streets, with uncanny accuracy.

In a crowd, background noise can make it hard to hear people talking. But soon we could be wearing headphones that use AI to filter out noise that’s more than a few feet away, creating a “sound bubble” that lets you focus on your own conversation.