360 DEGREES Weblog

Apple’s iTunes announcement “you’ll never forget” today is the debut of the Beatles catalog to the music service, according to the WSJ‘s sources. The move has, people familiar with the situation claim, been in part prompted by label EMI’s ongoing financial woes; despite the age of the music, the recordings are still a significant franchise in EMI’s catalog.

If true, the launch is the conclusion of a legal spat that has continued since 1978, with arguments over brand and logo use. Terms of the deal have not been revealed, and the WSJ’s sources are cautious to warn that Apple could change plans at the last minute.

Billboard, meanwhile, is suggesting that Apple plan on milking the acquisition for all they can get, predicting a Beatles-branded iPod, iPhone or even iPad complete with other digital content. They point to Steve Jobs particular love of the band for Apple’s launch hyperbole.

For those impressed by the iPhone’s ability to let you blow candles on a birthday cake through the “birthday cake app”, prepare to be amazed yet again. Akai Pro’s SynthStation25 is now currently being augmented with a docking station for the iPhone and iPod touch, allowing one to record and add effects to your music, and even adding an extra set of keys, all from the touch screen of your iPhone.

With the use of SynthStation IOS app, you can make use of additional sound controls and the leisure of being able to work on your music away from home. Your own fully-functional and portable music studio can be available to you for $299.99 retail price, not including the SynthStation IOS app, available for $1.99 for a limited time.

Ultrasone AG, the firm that gave us the Edition 8 Palladium headphones and the luxurious Edition 9 headphones, has now announced the release of its first open back special edition headphone – Edition 10. The limited edition, high-end Edition 10 headphones from the German headphone manufacturer are made from a range of luxury materials. Limited to a run of 2000 units, the lightweight headphones feature Zebrano wood ear cup inlays, Ethiopian sheepskin leather ear cup pads, Titanium plated drivers and Kevlar coated cables. The ear cups boast high levels of air permeability through the grills, high specific torsion strength and exceptionally low resonance.

Since he signed his first big deal with ABC-Paramount Records back in 1956, Quincy Jones got used to utilize AKG equipment over the years of a legendary recording career. Finally, AKG introduces the Quincy Jones Signature line, a compact collection comprising studio-degree Q701 open-back headphones with 45-mm driver and two-layer diaphragm, the less bulky still top-notch Q460 cans for the urban commuter, and the easy stowable Q350 earbuds for the gym or the workout through the park.

Prices range from $149 $230 $480

There’s classical music and then there’s Classical Music. Yo-Yo Ma defined the latter, carving out best-in-class recordings for the entire history of classical music. Now fans of this musical genius are given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own the definitive collection.

Yo-Yo Ma 30 Years Outside the Box, out now from Sony Music, features a mind-blowing 90 CDs, every original album Yo-Yo Ma has recorded to date (including 15 Grammy award winners) and two bonus discs featuring the first release of John Williams’ Suite from Memoirs of a Geisha for Cello, all entirely re-mastered with DSD technology. The limited-edition, numbered set comes packaged in a velvet-lined cello box complete with a beautiful hard-bound book full of rare archival photos, essays and more.

Yo-Yo Ma created modern classical music, collaborating with artists from Bobby McFerrin to Mark O’Connor and Edgar Meyer, to recording his interpretations of an entire genre of music, with his groundbreaking Obrigado Brazil record. Throughout his career he has worked to bring classical music to young people. Such an extraordinary collection only befits such a legendary man. Give the music lover on your list this amazing collector’s set, and trust us, they’ll be set for life.

The entire collection retails for $789.98 and is available from Amazon.

Yamaha have been quietly plugging away at their soundbar technology for a while now, and their latest model looks to be the most alluring yet.? As ever, the concept is straightforward: why have a room stuffed full of speakers when a single row of them ? together with some clever digital processing ? can reproduce the same effect.? Targeted at TVs up to 50-inches (as well as projector setups), the Yamaha YSP-5100 packs 120W and five HDMI ports.

There?s no shortage of sound format support, either, with the YSP-5100 content with dts-HD, dts ES and Dolby TruHD/Digital Plus/Digital/ Digital EX/Pro Logic and Pro Logic?/x.? You?ll get pseudo-7.1 surround sound and there are apparently a total of 42 individual speakers hiding behind that grill (forty 2W speakers and two 20W speakers) plus a separate subwoofer output.

The YSP-5100 will also play nicely with your iPod, and if you have the Yamaha YIT-W10 wireless transmitter you can stream audio directly from the Apple PMP to the speakerbar.? It?s expected to land in Japan by the end of 2009, priced at the equivalent of $2,280.

Bluetooth handsets score over hands-free earphones because they literally come with no strings attached! If you travel a lot and want to do it in style, then Sennheiser has created the luxury M 450 travel headset just for you. Priced around a staggering $480, the product is compatible with a wide array of Bluetooth enabled devices. It promises crystal-clear sound quality with its active noise reduction capabilities and A2DP stereo Bluetooth profile. Packaged with airplane direct cable adapters, the headset also comes with a closed-capsule design and built in volume control features. A lithium-polymer battery that can be charged with a USB chord sums up the entire package.

For The Beatles, getting to digital downloads is a long and winding road. A new special limited edition release, though, brings us a step closer. On December 7th, the entire remastered Beatles catalog will be available to buy on a USB stick shaped like an apple.

Yes, you heard right. EMI is hawking a plastic apple, out of which slides a stick of flash memory containing 14 albums, documentary films, photos, cover art and liner notes. All this can be yours for under $300.

Of course, The Beatles

Whether you’re a seasoned jazz fan or just getting started, consider dropping some coin on The Complete Columbia Album Collection by Miles Davis ($330). This exhaustive set includes 52 albums spread across 70 CDs, a previously unreleased DVD of Live in Europe ’67, featuring performances by Miles, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams, a 250-page color book with a biography, annotated discography, and song index, tons of unreleased and rare audio recordings, and more.

$330

As a Steve McQueen fan you can just dream away on the wonderful 60′s tunes from the soundtrack of Bullit (’68) by famous