Shure SM7B vs. Electro-Voice…
Jun 02, 2021
Production and Creative
The SM7B and RE20 microphones from Shure and Electro-Voice are the benchmark dynamic mics…
Lana Del Rey - F-It I Love You & The Greatest (Official Video)
downtempo, soul, surf indie
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- Category: Music Mix
You've Never Seen a Barn Conversion Like This
This is just awesome. Makes you want to live in the midwest. Imagine the kids using that bank for sledding in the winter.
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- Category: Fun and Entertaining Videos
SampleTank 4 Max Review
SampleTank 4 Max is packed with instruments and effects wrapped in a workflow that is simple to understand and inspiring at every turn. Reviewing SampleTank 4 Max was like a serendipitous journey of discovery versus a methodical approach of dissecting features. We simply wanted to know if SampleTank 4 would inspire us to make music and how easy it would be to drop into our creative flow. The more we tried to do the more SampleTank responded. This is simply a beautiful product that will give you an endless sonic palette.
We used SampleTank 4 Max by itself and with other VSTs but for our review we focused on making compositions where ST4 Max was the only instrument source. There are so many ways to get inspired with ST4 Max. Sometimes we'd start with drums and bass, build a foundation and lay some instruments over the top. Other times, we'd start with more exotic instruments and create some phrases to get started. We generally prefer to play and create riffs live but ST4 has some incredibly useful loops and phrases that are ready to be sequenced into a track. This was a great way to create something interesting quickly, especially with more exotic/ethnic/world sounds for example.
Discovering the Billy Cobham and the Neil Pert drums was an F-yeah moment, especially when assigned across multiple channels. The acoustic stuff is solid. The quality of the bases, keys, horns, strings and ethnic instruments just makes you want to keep exploring. We really enjoyed exploring the variety of basses. From vintage upright to fretless, gritty, clean and everything in between. We got lost in bassland for hours. Need something gritty from the 60s, you got it. Want it clean and chorused, easy. Fret noise, string vibration, intonations. It's clear a lot of love went into sampling these instruments and making them expressive even when triggered from the most basic of MIDI controllers. We banged out these sample tracks entirely with the MPK225 and we're happy with the dynamics and playability of the instruments.
MISSION DISCOVERY all SampleTank 4 instruments
MISSION CHASE all SampleTank 4 instruments
The ability to customize sounds using analog style controls and built-in effects and filters gives you exponential creative freedom to dial in a sound just the way you like it. It takes a little time to figure out how to do things in ST4 Max. At first we couldn't figure out how to get to the effects rack for each channel. But sans manual we were able to figure it out. That's kind of how it went for the entire review. We'd keep clicking around until we worked out the flow and the best way to navigate ST4. Most of the time that worked.
We still don't have a great feel for the strummer or apreggiator. We know how to use them but navigating in and out of that experience was less intuitive for us. Especially the strummer. We'd add a guitar to a channel and sort of stumble on the strummer but for some reason it's just not intuitive for us to get in and out of that experience. We managed to create some very realistic acoustic guitar phrases that would have been very time consuming to create on a keyboard. IK has an in-depth 165 page manual that goes into more details of the various capabilties ST4 and we'll need read up a bit more on the strummer.
ST4 Max also has a good variety of electronic and synth sounds and icons for all the instruments to help you recognize the kinds of timbre it's capable of. So you can quickly dial up a more digital or analog sound. There are plenty of parameters that can be tweaked for every sound in synth land. So if you have some experience with programming synths you'll appreciate the options.
There is plenty to work with from pads to dynamic leads but you won't be replacing your vintage synths anytime soon.
The ST4 Max UI is attractive. It's a bit dark, but we got used to it. Not sure if there are shades available for the UI but could be worth exploring options for a light, medium and dark setting. Overall, it took us a little time to get familiar with how to do things but mostly was easy to figure out. This is a deep instrument with lots of capabilities so it really requires a deep dive to appreciate all that it can do. Even though we've had it a couple of months, we feel we won't master it for quite some time.
After experimenting with the different ways to play instruments in SampleTank 4 we decided our favorite way was to simply create a multitrack project in our DAW and play instruments in real time versus building loops and phrases or using the strummer. In other words, we like to use it as an instrument or multitimbral instrument across MIDI channels. We could also see using ST4 for sound design in real time for animation or other post production projects.
In terms of overall value, we'd say we were most impressed by the sampled acoustic instruments. This would be our primary use for SampleTank 4 Max. The synths amd electronic instruments we were less impressed with and feel like we're already pretty well covered with our existing VSTs and standalone analog synths. Even if ST4 Max shipped without all the synths it would still be a good value for all that acoustic sampling love and tweakability.
In terms of performance and stability. It's been pretty solid. We've been primarily using SampleTank 4 as a plug in with our MPC Live DAW. The initial installation was crash city. But after subsequent updates it's been very solid and a joy to use.
For music, sound design and post, SampleTank 4 is a very powerful instrument to have in your arsenal and worth taking the time to learn how to use.
Visit IK Multimedia for more information.
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- Category: Production and Creative
KRK 8s V2 Subwoofer Review
The KRK 8S V2 subwoofer is a fairly compact powerhouse with myriad connectivity options at a reasonable price making it friendly to both professional and consumer environments. The 8S will compliment systems that are lacking in low frequency energy and is able to generate low end you can hear as well as feel. You could quickly overpower satellites with rumble if you aren't careful pairing this with the right speakers. The 8s could become a problem in too small of a space and you have to take the time to set it up correctly.
KRK makes that relatively easy to do with a wealth of settings on the backside of this little monster. Arguably the two most important knobs are the volume and crossover. This will allow to make sure there is minimal frequency overlap with your main monitors and ensure that the sound pressure levels are in the same ballpark. This way the KRK 8s will drop seamlessly into the sound stage. The idea is not to notice the subwoofer versus overall clarity and response in your mix. If the subwoofer is too present it can actually make it harder to get a good mix. There are lots of tutorials and technical documentation on how to set a subwoofer up properly and it begins with the crossover and volume controls. 
Next up is input sensitivity and polarity. For pro system levels nominal should work. For consumer levels set this to high. Polarity can help compensate for phase irregularities. Essentially toggle this back and forth until the bass sounds the cleanest and loudest.
Standby is a smart power control that can be toggled off it need be. When there is not signal present the 8s will go into a power saving mode. However, if you're in a long session you may wish to toggle this off. Very cool that KRK added this switch.
Ground lift can help eliminate noise. We didn't experience any with the 8s.
The fit and finish of the 8s it quite good. We love the industrial quality of the front grill and are glad we don't have to worry about kicking a cone in when kicking off our slippers in the edit suite. We really like the quality of the knobs and toggle switches. Overall the 8s exudes a quality build and very good value at $350. Where we start to get a little leery is the front vinyl surround. The finish around the edges where the vinyl meets the main box feels like an afterthought and it is strangely juxtaposed with the metal grill. So while we generally like the fit and finish and love the metal grill, the strange snap-on looking vinyl surround is a bummer.
The 8s sounds good, packs plenty of punch and will play well with lots of different studio monitors once you take the time to set it up properly. We're not sure there is a better value in the $350 price range for a studio subwoofer.
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- Category: Production and Creative
Mr. Roger's Neighborhood Trailer
Your feel good holiday movie
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- Category: Fun and Entertaining Videos
JBL 306P MkII Powered Monitor Review
The JBL 306P MkII Powered 6.5" Two-Way Studio Monitor is a bi-amplified reference monitor that packs good sound at a very low price point. We've seen these on special regularly under $250 for a pair, which is competitive for this level of sound.
It's like the JBL product managers were given a challenge to make a really good sounding monitor that looked and felt cheap. It's odd. The 306P MkII monitors have this glossy look and cheap feeling lightweight design. When you consider the price, the cheap looking design is not unexpected. However, when you connect them to a clean quality source they sound pretty darn good and fairly transparent. We wouldn't call the sound tight and we would not use these for critical mixing. So, yes it's a case of you get what you pay for.
We played a wide variety of music and instruments at all volume levels and could generally push these as hard as we needed to. There's enough low end and they get plenty loud, far exceeding what you would expect for their size and weight.
The 306p MkII include balanced XLR and 1/4" TRS inputs, a +4dBu/–10dBV input-sensitivity switch, and volume control. JBL uses class D amps for efficiency and also includes an auto off feature so the monitors will power down automatically after 20 minutes of no signal. This feature can be toggled on and off too.
The JBL 306p MkII monitors do generate an ever so slight hiss while powered on. You have to put your ear in the vicinity of the tweeter to hear it, but it's certainly there and louder than hissing we've heard form other powered monitors with class D amps. In a room with any kind of white noise or while mixing it's not noticeable. We still found this a bummer and it would likely irritate us into returning these just knowing it's there.
That said, let's get back to price. If your budget is tight and your sound requirements are large, and you favor output level versus accuracy, the JBL 306p MkIIs offer a reasonable value if you find them on sale under $250/pair. They're a decent starter set of monitors for aspiring musicians and video editors on a tight budget. The trick with these monitors will be learning how they translate to playback on other systems. Once you do that you've got yourself a true bargain in studio monitors.
See all the specs and learn more here.
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Best Hard Drives for your NAS or DAS and Video Editing
Yes the world is moving to SSD but when it comes digital content creation and video editing you're going to need network attached storage or direct attached storage in the form of servers and RAID arrays to store and edit terabytes and terabytes of projects. So the hard drive is as important as ever and still the most cost efficient way to online digital media.
So it's gotten simpler with only a few major players to consider. Hard drives are manufactured by Seagate, Western Digital/Hitachi and Toshiba. Each manufacturer has a variety of hard drive offerings for desktop and enterprise use. For your NAS or DAS setup we suggest using one of the enterprise offerings or a drive specifically designed for a multidrive enclosure.
QNAP, Synology, Areca, Drobo, Promise, Netgear are some of the leading suppliers of NAS and DAS products. We've done extensive tests with Synology NAS products and Areca DAS products. We also used multiple drives populating Supermicro workstations.
Over the years we've had excellent luck with Hitachi Ultrastar drives which are now sold under the Western Digital brand as Ultrastar. The Ultrastar was previosly sold as the Western Digtal Gold drive as well. Another drive to consider is the Western Digital Red Pro series. These drives are exactly like the original line of Hitachi Ultrastar drives as well such as the 7k3000, 7k4000 and 7k6000 drives which you can still find on Ebay at amazing prices.
We recommend buying new hard drives directly from Amazon or BH Photo. There are lots of third parties that sell drives however if you get something that is packaged funny or looks wonky Amazon and BH will handle it more rapidly.
We also are testing the Toshiba N300 series helium drives. They are fast and quiet and offer good performance. All manufacturers have gone to helium in higher capacities. Western Digital, Seagate and Toshiba have all been working on helium drives for several years. In general, helium allows more platters to be used for higher capacities. 16TB drives are rolling out. Helium drives also consume less power and make less noise and experience less internal turbulence. All of these factors make helium based drives ideal for multidrive systems. We like the 12TB capacities for tried and true PMR style drives.
In terms of speed and performance. All of these drives are really close. Once you put them in a RAID array there's not much difference.
So for NAS and DAS systems in video editing environments and multiuser high traffic scenarious we advise going with enterprise level drives such as the Western Digital Ultrastar, Seagate Exos or Toshiba MG series.
For less intensive, non-critical use we'd go with the Western Digital Red Pro, Seagate Ironwolf Pro or Toshiba N300 series. We advise going with larger capacity helium based drives for long term performance, less noise and power savings. If you opt for lower capacity we'd advise sticking with 6TB and higher capacities. If you opt for higher capacity target 12TB and higher.
So let's say you're an editor that works out of your home studio and you have an 8 bay RAID array. Any of these drives should provide the performance and reliability you need. We'd be comfortable with any of these drives in a RAID 10 working on 4K material running large renders. In a corporate setting with shared resources and 24/7 workload, multiple editors on same project...etc, we'd opt for the first tier line of drives. That's it. Stick with these major players and you should have a decent experience. Always use the same make and model in your RAID arrays. Currently we're running 12TB ultrastars/WD Gold, Red Pros and N300s with good performance, low noise and low heat.
The sweet spot for price/capacity/performance is 12TB as of early 2021. There has been a run on HDDs because of the crypto mining Chia. However you can still find the Toshiba N300 reasonably priced. Before making a purchase it's good to check the camel for pricing trends to see how the product price has been charting over time.
FIRST TIER
More on the Western Digital Ultrastar (previosly Gold) preferred. UPDATE: Looks like WD is bringing back the gold brand. "powered by Ultrastar". We like these drives in the 4TB, 6TB and 12TB capacities.
More on Seagate Exos
More on Toshiba MG series
SECOND TIER
More on Western Digital Red Pro preferred
More on Seagate Ironwolf Pro
More on Toshiba N300 we like the 6TB and 12TB capacities
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