MyVolts' Taps Offer Clever Audio Routing and Control in a Compact Package
Designed to split, shuffle, combine, and adjust analog audio outputs, the Taps range launches with two distinct models.
MyVolts' Luke Brennan has launched a crowdfunding campaign for a family of devices designed to ease the routing of analog audio to and from a variety of devices: Taps.
"Taps is a family of Audio Flow controlling devices. It allows you to route audio channels as you wish as well as adjusting volume and panoramics," Brennan explains of the devices, which launch in two varieties: Beat Splitter and Pots&Pans, each made with a specific purpose in mind.
The Taps Beat Splitter connects to a 3.5mm stereo audio jack and duplicates it to two outputs. Beyond a simple splitter, through, the gadget includes switches on the side allowing the two outputs to provide a monaural signal from the input's left or right channel respectively, a duplicated left-left or right-right signal, or the full original stereo signal.
The Taps Pots&Pans, meanwhile, has only a single output — alongside, as the name implies, a potentiometer located at the top of the board. Depending on the position of a switch at the side, this provides control over the audio signal's volume or allows the user to pan the signal from full-left to full-right and back again.
Brennan is positioning the Taps range as ideal for use with synths and sequencers, showcasing how it allows multiple Teenage Engineering Pocket Operators to operate in multi-track mode with full synchronization, or for a Korg Volca to sync with a Pocket Operator — the curved design of the Taps boards being designed specifically to match myVolts' Pocket Operator case design and the company's five-way mickXer mixer, though other input including laptops and MP3 players are also compatible.
The Taps aren't myVolts' first crowdfunding campaign: In 2014 the company launched a USB charging accessory for use in the bedroom, followed by a USB charger dubbed Ripcord in 2016. Its ReVolt range of USB power converters for battery-powered devices were released last year. The company has also released the aforementioned mickXer and Pocket Operator cases and the Candycords family of audio cables.
The Taps are crowdfunding on Kickstarter now, with physical rewards starting at €9 for a single Beat Splitter or Pots&Pans; shipping is expected to begin in May this year.