Noiseless USB Karaoke Mic For iPhone, iPad, and iPod

Here’s a very wacky gadget that recently caught my attention. It’s a noiseless USB Karaoke Mic for the iPod, iPhone, and iPad from Japan.

Here’s how it works. You connect the mic, which comes with a sound proof cup that you’re supposed to sing into, to your iPhone’s audio jack. You can plug headphones into the audio jack to listen to while you sing. The songs can come from any karaoke app out in the app store or simply from your own music library.

While I find the idea pretty fascinating, I’m not sure if this would work out well for karaoke lovers, as a big part of the fun is the social experience. Karaoke is widely loved across Asia though, so this solo solution just might be something people are willing to pay for.

The set costs $80. And that’s cheap compared to a home karaoke set which costs at least above $100. The noiseless mic is a little ironic, I thought. People sing so others can listen, and this app defeats that purpose. But I guess for shy folks out there, this gadget would be perfect.

The idea of having a “mobile karaoke system” isn’t exactly new, as our Japan editor, Rick Martin pointed out. He wrote a column at The Japan Times reporting on a similar idea but with a karaoke box with songs preloaded. There are a number of karaoke apps on Apple’s app store as well that you might experiment with if you’re in a musical mood.

[Via Weird Asia News]