The 'Spire' portable recording studio is all about spontaneity
Inspiration hits you at weird times -- usually when you're in the shower or about to fall asleep. Basically, moments when you have very little chance of putting it down on paper or recording it. The $350 portable Spire Studio from iZotope probably won't help much in those situations (unless you keep it next to your bed with a guitar or keyboard). But, for folks who write music, it's a surprisingly simple to use 8-track recorder that hooks up to almost all your gear. While computers have democratized music recording, they can be cumbersome when you just want to get an idea down. You have to deal with cable adaptors, varying sound levels and complex software. The Spire speeds things up by shoving the necessary audio ports and hardware into a... well, a stubby "spire" and connecting it to a robust but easy-to-use companion app (over WiFi). It all starts with industry-standard audio inputs. Connecting my synth , guitar, bass or drum machine to the Spire via one o...