The VRM Box is a measuring about 2.7 inches wide and deep and 1 inch tall. It connects to your Mac and is powered by USB 2.0. You can also connect it to the audio interface using its S/PDIF port. It has a ¼-inch TRS connector for headphones on the front and a circular volume knob. Focusrite recommends a pair of high quality headphones like the aforementioned KRKs. If your headphones have bass boosting controls, be sure to turn them off.

Once you share your songs with the world, you have no control over where, and on what kind of system, your listeners will hear them. They may listen to them on the small built-in speaker of a Mac Pro, a car stereo, an iPod, or an expensive home stereo system. This lack of control is exactly is why the VRM Box is so helpful.

To be able to hear your music in so many differnent environments without getting up from your chair may not offer any more control over where you music gets heard, but it can certainly help you prepare your mixes for a wide variety of listening scenarios. And for $100, it's hard to beat the price and the convenience.

These two new products offer some quick and easy ways to hear your compositions from the audience perspective, and provide musicians at home or on the road more opportunities to improve their sound.