We’ve reviewed many headphones over the past several years as the popularity of mobile music continues to explode and more consumers look at their headphones as a fashion statement along with being a necessary gadget. We’ve seen many fashionable designs and impressive-sounding headphones, but the NuForce HP-800 headphones stand out for sound quality. That shouldn’t be surprising, as these headphones were designed for the audio enthusiasts. The sound quality was incredibly clear but never harsh. You can pick up various all of the nuances while really feeling the full base. The goal was to capture the “natural warmth, realistic highs and visceral bass” of the recordings and we feel that has been achieved.

These over-ear headphones are very large and comfortable, with ear cups made with a “human-protein” leatherette covering that is super-soft. It comes with a handy clothe carrying case along with one cord for you portable electronics and another for studio use. Yes, audiophiles can use this with premium audio or studio equipment and be very impressed with the sound quality.

Specifications include:

Driver Size: 40mm
Impedance: 32 +/- 15% Ohm
Frequency Response: 20 Hz – 20 kHz
Rated Power: 20 mW
Max. Input Power: 30 mW
Sensitivity: 91 +/- 4 dB
Included Accessories: One carrying bag, one 3.5mm plug cable, one 6.3mm plug cable

The bar was set high for these headphones, and the goal was met while keeping the MSRP at a very affordable $149. If you love music that sounds great then you have to check these out, and they make the perfect gift for Father’s Day as well.

With so many portable devices playing music, we’re seeing more and more options for portable speakers. We tested the new BRAVEN speakers and the sound was excellent. These units are loaded with other features and have a very slick design as you can see in the photos above, but sound quality is the most important feature and the Braven speakers deliver. The BRAVEN SIX Series speakers have two custom extended-range drivers and 3 watt speaker output providing high-fidelity stereo audio with left- and right-channel passive sub woofers.

You can take this speaker unit anywhere so you can share music with friends. It’s perfect for impromptu parties or just hanging out by the pool.

It’s also loaded with other cool features. Each device offers the ability to charge USB devices and daisy chain multiple speakers together through 3.5mm audio in and out jacks. The internal duplex microphone allows for hands-free speakerphone calls with most any Bluetooth cell phone as well as compatibility with FaceTime, iChat, Skype and other apps. Battery life ranges from 12 to 20 hours and the speakers allow continuous wireless play up to 33 feet away.

The line includes a rugged speaker built for durability in sporting and outdoor settings, as well as two striking aircraft-grade aluminum models. We tested the Stealth Black BRAVEN 625s which is encased in a rugged, shock-absorbing exterior with aluminum grills. The BRAVEN 625s is ideal for sport, travel, and outdoor experiences as it’s equipped with a waterproof bag, USB flashlight, and up to 16 hours of continuous play.

This also makes a great gift for music-loving dad on Father’s Day as well, or for anyone who is on the phone a lot and like to use the speaker phone option.

Check out the video below for a demonstration.

Father’s Day is coming up on Sunday, and in the gadgets section of our Father’s Day Gift Guide we’re focusing on stuff beyond the obvious choices like phones and iPads.

The Meteor Mic from Samson fits that criteria perfectly. It’s an incredible device that is chrome-plated and beautifully designed so that you can record great sound or use it as a speakerphone on services such as Skype. It looks like an old school mic, but it’s also portable as the three legs of the stand all fold up perfectly to make it easy to store in luggage or a briefcase.

Most importantly, the sound quality is so much better than what you’ll get from tiny mics or the mic built into computers. Features include:

- One of the largest condenser diaphragms (25mm) of any USB mic available to produce rich, CD quality recordings

- Fold-back leg design allows for the optimal positioning for any recording application

- A stereo 1/8-inch headphone output, no latency monitoring, and headphone volume knob give user complete control

- No drivers are required, allowing users to start recording right out of the box

It’s a great gadget for anyone and a great gift idea as well, so check it out online or at Best Buy.

As someone who grew up in the 80s, I miss the days of being able to carry around a boombox. Of course things got ridiculous as rappers carried around boomboxes as big as a house, but it was so easy back in the day to create a spontaneous party with a killer boombox.

Today, everyone is doing their own thing wearing their headphones with their iPhones or iPods. There’s nothing wrong with that of course, but it doesn’t lend itself to much socializing.

With the Eco Terra Boombox you get the best of both worlds as you can slide your phone or iPod into the boombox and share your music with friends. It’s the perfect gadget to take with you as you’re tailgating, hanging by the pool or anything else you might want to do with friends. It’s so easy to use and produces good sound.

It’s also 100% waterproof so you don’t have to worry about water splashing on it and ruining your phone. The internal waterproof casing houses your music player or smartphone, as well as some extra cash, credit cards, car key or driver’s license. The outside poly-carbonate shell with rubberized impact bumpers, fortifies your device and the boombox’s two 3” full-range forward firing speakers. Eco Terra also floats and is fully submersible. If you drop it into water the case will always rotate to point the speakers up! Pretty cool.

With Father’s Day around the corner you should check this out for the dad who misses his boombox but also loves his MP3 player.

We’ve talked about gadget gifts and stocking stuffers, and here we have two items that are great for the tech-savvy people on your list who like to create music.

GuitarConnect Pro

This cool device from Griffin Technology (pictured above) is designed to work with any instrument that has a ¼ inch jack (including guitars, bass guitars, electric violins, keyboards, etc.), GuitarConnect Pro was created to turn iPad or iPhone into a compact performance or practice rig. A built-in gain control wheel allows the user to adjust the strength of the instrument’s input signal. Users gain a high-quality, all-digital connection from guitars and other instruments directly into GarageBand and other audio apps. It’s a simple yet very powerful device and music lovers will really appreciate it. And, it fits nicely into a holiday stocking!

Korg nanoKEY2

Here we switch to keyboards, which is a very popular way to create music. The nanoKEY2 is built with 25 keys and allows full control of pitch. It’s one of the devices in the NanoSERIES2 which are all compatible with GarageBand. Imagine how much fun music-lovers can have playing around with this device.

Even if someone hasn’t tried to create their own music in the past, devices like these two above offer an easy way to get started. They spur the creative process, and for that reason alone they make great gifts.

In today’s world, you always have a need for more storage, and as we start to organize photos and videos in digital format, we need ways to back up and protect our data.

Toshiba has introduced a new series of Canvio 3.0 hard drives that meet these needs. They offer blazing-fast transfer speeds and pre-loaded backup software, and they are cloud-backup capable. The units offer a variety of storage capacity and we tested the one terabyte model.

One of the main characteristics of these devices is the ability to sync with the cloud. The Canvio 3.0 is pre-loaded with Windows™-based NTI® BackupNow EZ™ software that provides step-by-step and fully-customizable backup capabilities to the cloud and to the drive. Users create a cloud account with NTI® BackupNow EZ™ where they can backup specific folders, certain file types, and conduct a complete system backup to the Canvio 3.0. The backup software also scans the user’s system and files and recommends which files to backup to cloud-based or on-device storage.

The Canvio family now includes the support of USB 3.0, enabling Canvio users to take advantage of the faster data transfer speed of USB 3.0-enabled devices. We were impressed with the speed when we tested it out.

Some advanced features include complete password protection with up to 256-bit data encryption to prevent unauthorized access to data and an on-screen Drive Space Alert monitor that sends an alert when storage space is running low. The internal Shock Sensor and Ramp Loading Technology protect the drive during daily movement from a pocket, desk, bag, or beyond so you can feel comfortable carrying this around. It’s amazing how small these devices have become and how much you can store in a portable device.

The design of the unit is very slick and sturdy with rounded rectangular form factor and sleek high gloss finish. It’s also easy to grip it on the sides. It’s available in black, white, silver, red, green, and blue3.

This makes a great gift for anyone on your list, both techies who will appreciate the advanced features and others who need a simple way to protect their photos and home videos.

Check out our Holiday Gift Guide for more gift ideas.

These problems can be solved by the Wireless Dual-Band Travel Router from Belkin. Hook this device up using the cable hookup, and then all your PCs and other gadgets can use this personal hotspot to get online. So basically you pay for one online hookup and get to use multiple devices. It’s pretty small so it’s easy to pack, it comes with a handy carrying case and has high dual-band performance.

With the holidays around the corner, this device could be a great stocking stuffer for the personal on your list who loves gadgets and loves to travel. Check out our Holiday Gift Guide for more gift ideas.

In a world dominated by gadgets, we’re always looking for power. There’s nothing worse than losing a charge in your phone when you really need it.

So we all have car chargers, but now with iPads and other gadgets, we sometimes need more than one charger.

The USB Twin Tablet Charging Kit from Qmadix is a handy tool as it lets you charge two items at the same time through a USB cable. With this dual charger, you and your passenger can both charge your phones at the same time, or you can charge your phone and iPad at the same time. The unit comes with the dual charger and one USB cable for Apple products. It’s a great stocking stuffer if you’re looking for holiday gifts.

We tried the new NoiseHush NX80 3.5mm Stereo Headphones and there were plenty of features to like. First and most importantly so sound was very good, particularly when you consider the reasonable cost for these headphones.

Next, these headphones have an inline answer/end button and microphone. With so many gadgets, we all need several sets of headphones and it’s nice to have options that let you make hands-free calls as well.

This headset also sports a fettuccine style no tangle cord. After dealing with cords that tangle up you’ll appreciate this feature. The cord is also bright red, so with the black ear buds the headphones look unique as well.

These make a great stocking stuffer, particularly for someone who wants to make a style statement.

As we accumulate more and more gadgets, it seems like we have charging cords everywhere. With a family it’s even worse.

The PowerSlice from fuse is a universal charger that can help keep all of these gadgets organized and charged. With the PowerSlice you can charge up to four gadgets on one plug as the device uses individual slices with charging tips along with a built-in USB port on the charger base. Slices are purchased separately and slip into the unit, so you can charge a variety of devices from Samsung, LG, Apple products and Micro and Mini USB. You can have your iPhone charging while another has their Blackberry.

You can put the PowerSlice in a strategic spot in the kitchen or another spot in your home and make things easier for everyone while cutting down on the clutter.

The universal charger base unit costs $44.99 and additional slices are $9.99 each. There’s also a bundle with the PowerSlice base charger plus two iPhone/iPod compatible slices available for $49.99. It’s very practical and makes a nice stocking-stuffer for the holidays.