OTHER TECH

3DX Banshee surround-sound listening station $129 bansheeaudio.com You'll want to give (or get) the Banshee just for the fun of it. As with all one-box simulated-surround speakers, the surround effect depends heavily on where you're sitting. But if you find yourself taking the Banshee that seriously, you might want to start getting out a little more often. You'll want to give (or get) the Banshee just for the fun of it.

As with all one-box simulated-surround speakers, the surround effect depends heavily on where you're sitting.

But if you find yourself taking the Banshee that seriously, you might want to start getting out a little more often.

Five 2.25-inch drivers, a side bass port, and a 50-watt amp in a small (12.5 x 4.8 x 4.4-inch) but substantial enclosure that looks like Darth Vader's speakerphone.

Even when you're not sitting exactly in the sweet spot getting the surround effect, there's surprisingly good stereo separation, thanks to the five-driver array. The sound quality is on par with good multimedia speaker systems - which means it's not audiophile-grade but not annoying either. This is for casual listening while you work at your PC, not for savoring the intricacies of Mahler's 8th.

Like everything electronic these days, the Banshee is aimed at iPod users, but you can jack just about any audio source into it. (The supplied holder snugly cradles most iPods.)

There's a low-frequency output for patching in a subwoofer - although you'll probably want to stick with a typical multimedia bass module to avoid too big of a frequency gap between the Banshee and the sub. - Michael Gaughn

Samsung YP-K5 music player $209 mpfreedom.com Ensconced in earbuds, iPod users are a generation apart from those who grew up listening, willingly or not, to boom boxes. Now, Samsung has introduced a clever public/private MP3 player with some cool features Pod people can get only by accessorizing.

A hidden two-channel speaker panel slides up from the player for when earphones won't do. For something so small, the panel's sound is surprisingly full.

The YP-K5 plays MP3 and WMA files, including licensed songs rented or bought from services such as Napster, Rhapsody, and Yahoo! Music.

You can view JPEG photos while listening to music.

The strong FM receiver auto-scans up to 30 station presets - but keep the earphones connected even if you're using the speaker, since they serve as the antenna.

The 2-GB model I reviewed held about 500 songs encoded at 128 kilobits per second. (There's a 4-GB version for $259.)

At 4 x 2 x 7 inches and 4 ounces, the YP-K5 is small and light.

The Samsung's intuitive interface and compelling design could challenge Apple's near-monopoly on digital music players. - Michael Antonoff