Are you in a rock band? No, not the PS3 kind of Rock Band -- we're talking an honest-to-goodness, bat-head-biting, hotel-room-trashing group of musical misfits.
If you fancy yourself as an Aussie Ozzy and don't mind twiddling a few knobs, Belkin reckons its TuneStudio is the product for you.
This AU$399.95, four channel audio mixer allows you to record audio from up to four sources directly to your iPod via a built-in dock. Sound is captured at 16-bit, 44kHz quality, and each channel has a 3-band equaliser as well as pan and level controls. A USB interface allows tracks to be streamed to and from a computer.
The TuneStudio landed on our desk yesterday, and so far we're impressed. It's lightweight and quirky-looking, but not toy-ish enough to get you beaten up on the tour bus. The one bad bit we've identified is that it won't work with your spankin' new iPod Touch or any other player that doesn't support voice memos.
Over the next few weeks we'll be breaking out the Fenders and assembling a set list involving Metallica in order to test the TuneStudio more thoroughly. Naturally, we'll need to compare the experience of rock band recording to the sheer anarchic joy of playing Rock Band. After locking ourselves in the garage in the name of science, we'll post our conclusions in the TuneStudio product review.