At the Bottom of the Food Chain » Audio

Review; A4Tech MK-510 Headphones

jem — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:47:02 +0000

Yesterday, I went to the mall to look for a new pair of headphones to replace my old pair that served me well for almost 4 months, and I got this yesterday for my iPod Classic for just around $10. I must say, the included pouch and extra cushions is a nice touch and something that I have yet to see from other manufacturers. Audio-wise, it has superb high and low end response, but it falls short on the mid range which isn’t a problem that can’t be fixed with a quick tweak on EQ. I found mine to sound incredible with the R&B preset since it exaggerates the mids thereby compensating for the loss of it. Overall it is a great product and I have no regrets purchasing it. Worth every buck!

The dB Arms Race

jem — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:56:01 +0000

The so-called “Loudness War” is a persisting issue in the Recording Industry since the late 1980’s when Compact Discs (CDs) were first introduced. It involves the practice of digitally mastering albums with high levels of loudness and a significant reduction in dynamic range. Which means, there is less difference between the loud peaks and the quiet sections producing a sound that is uniformly loud from the beginning to the end. I’d rather not get too technical with it as I don’t want to bore you guys to death. I’d like to share a video on it just to show you the basics behind it instead.

My Top-10 Christmas Wishlist

jem — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 14:19:36 +0000

I’m not really a fan of having a Christmas wish-list (heck I never even wrote to Santa Claus when I was a kid and I hate to break it to you boys and girls, but he ain’t real!!!), but since everyone seems to be doing it, I should join the bandwagon and make one myself.

But I don’t wanna look like a snobbish selfish prick so I believe I should be careful with what I say here.
First of all, I like getting gifts. No doubt about that. And as much as I would like to give back, I don’t have the money nor the resources to do so. Neither do I have the talent/skill/inspiration to make artsy/crafty crap that people make in lieu of something with market value.

Every Christmas, I’ve been asked by people what I want. But social protocol dictates that you let the giver choose the gift, while you cross your fingers that he/she will get you something that you will really really like or really really need. Unfortunately it doesn’t always work that way.

So without further ado, here is my top-10 wish list for C-Mas ‘09.

A new pair of Sony headphones – my current one’s has been broken and patched up which i don’t think will last much longer.
CDs – I know most people nowadays are getting songs from iTunes and other online music stores, or erm… the dark side, I still prefer it if I had a tangible copy of every music I own which I like to collect. I’m currently eying either Daughtry’s new album (just because it was mixed by my fave mixing engineer; Chris Lord Alge), Paramore’s new album or Flyleaf’s Memento Mori (same mixer).
New 3G USB Modem - I know it sucks having to pay for internet on the go when I can get wifi for free, but wifi coverage around here is spotty. Plus, you can’t really automatically switch from hot spot to hot spot as you would normally do with cellular networks, so wifi ain’t an option in a speeding car.
30 Rock Seasons 1 & 2 box set DVDs - I just love that show. It’s probably the best comedy show that doesn’t have a laugh track like sitcoms.
A Turntable – VINYL ROCKS!!! ’nuff said.
Vinyls – something I can use with my turntable. preferably by Coldplay or Anberlin.
Useless knick knacks that I can use as bedroom ornaments – or better called as Novelty items.
Books – Novels worth reading. like Dan Brown’s new “The Lost Symbol” or some other best sellers. I like thriller and mystery books. Don’t even dare to get me Twilight crap or I KEEL U!!
Cargo Shorts - gotta have the extra pockets!
Cash – to save you the trouble of falling in line doing christmas shopping and it’s also something I can feed my piggy bank with.

All Time Low hits all time high

jem — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:55:32 +0000

Where do I start? Pop punk has always been my all time favorite genre since I began to have my “musical taste reasoning” as what I like to call it. It’s bright, upbeat, airy, and it just keeps you going. The late 90s to ’00s were the days when pop punk and alternative rock really flourished into mainstream from being underground for so long. Unfortunately, pop punk has slowly lost popularity in the later years while emo music took over the rock charts -I’m not talking in proper music genre terms as these are based on my own opinions so.. yeah- . I personally hate emo music because they tend to be cliche and doesn’t have that upbeat vibe that I always loved with music.

Another reason that made me love pop punk are the good memories I had listening to them back when I was in grade school until early in high school. I remember the times when I would sit on the porch in school just having a good time listening to music on my then 128MB mp3 player. Those were the carefree days, good days .

Album Artwork

Now to get on topic; I found out about “Nothing Personal” by All Time Low yesterday and decided to download it. All I can say is, it has satisfied my pop punk cravings that even Hit the Lights can’t do. Every track reminds me of the good days I had and the catchy tunes made me want to sing along to it -or at least lip-dub to it -

Now moving on to the individual tracks; there are 12 songs packed in this album. But only three songs caught my attention;

A Party Song (The Walk Of Shame) – I love the upbeat mood, good vocals, and good backup vox reverb
Damned If I Do Ya (Damned If I Don’t) – Good intro, Good chorus
Keep The Change, You Filthy Animal – Good chorus rhythm

Now just to be clear, I judge (and I tend to get technical into stuff) songs mix wise, by the intro, rhythm, and on how catchy it is. I don’t care about the lyrics unless I can really relate to it or I dunno. It’s just me.

With a list of producers (Matt Squire, Butch Walker, David Bendeth, S*A*M & Sluggo, and The-Dream) who have been in the industry for years, No wonder every track has been laid out smoothly, crisp sounds, and overall, good mixes.

The album is due to be released on July 7 but I got a digital copy of it beforehand and I hope I get to grab a copy once they hit the record store shelves. Definitely worth my $10.

My Audio Archive

jem — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:07:36 +0000

Since I’m into audio production (I mix music and sound effects occasionally), I just created a new subdomain to store, archive, and share my works as well as store some of my favorite songs, which unfortunately, i am not able to share with everyone for legal purposes. My self produced materials however, are free to download. do whatever you want with them but be sure give me back some credit for it in one way or another. I haven’t uploaded some of my works yet, but rest assured they will be ASAP.

My archive can be found here.

Want an analog VU meter on your PC?

jem — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:30:23 +0000

I was looking at the iPhone with the voice recorder screenshot the other day, it had an “analog” VU meter at the bottom for monitoring audio levels and thought to myself; “what if I had a VU meter for my PC it would be cool”.

VUMeter

So i looked for one on the internet and found the app called “VUMeter”. I know they’re not that creative in naming their software, but who the hell cares anyway?

VUMeter with iTunes

VUMeter is a standalone application for monitoring sound levels on the selected audio device. The app works right out of the zip file which means, there’s no need for installation and setup. It mimics the appearance of an actual VU meter, and not to mention the way how the needles deflect and retract. A right click on the app takes you to options like choosing the sound devices or choosing a VU-dBFS scale.

VUMeter with a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)

Usefulness varies depending on what you intend to do with it. For the average user, it can be used as an alternative over that boring old graph and visualizations Windows Media Player has, or whatever media player you use. It can also be used for recording and mixing in the box to measure master outputs. Bottomline is; you can use it for actual sound monitoring, or just for the hell of it.

If you like the app, you can download it here.