
If you are like me – an audio gadget fanatic – then you’re going to be in love with the Buddha Machine. It’s a simple device that contains a bunch of audio loops, an amp and a speaker. The Buddha Machine is a project started by audio artists Christian Virant and Zhang Jian. They’ve put together a set of audio loops that represent the type of ambient sounds one might expect in a Buddhist temple.
Each loop is only about six seconds long, but you get the choice of choosing your tone from up to nine different ones enclosed in this beast. A switch on the side lets you flick through each loop randomly.
What makes the device irresistible is that audio is played through a cheap sounding amp and speaker. Adding to this, the cheap plastic casing is available in a variety of colours. The lo-fi quality also adds to the unique ambient feel you get when listening to it. It even has a volume control and headphone output. Now where are my Bose 901 Direct/Reflecting Speakers?
By Timothy Wong, July 2006



