Tag Archives: Reviews

Reviews

Jazz Side Of The Moon

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Here are the ingredients of a great album and recording:
1. Great songs….Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon…..check
2. Good arrangements of said songs…..check
3. Great players…..check
4. Record everything live, with a single microphone and no digital “wizardary” (not Pro Tools *gasp*)…..check

The sound of the album is great (seriously, no Pro Tools). Tunes are great. Just……..great! When is a “Jazz Side Of The Wall” coming out? I think a jazzed version of Comfortably Numb would be rather cool.

moz-screenshot-93

Check out the album Jazz Side Of The Moon by Sam Yahel, Mike Moreno, Ari Hoenig, Seamu Blake on iTunes or CD via Amazon.

9.5/10

Reviews

M-Audio BX8a Studio Reference Monitors

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Part of the stuff I won in the SOS Competition were a pair of M-Audio BX8a Studio Reference Monitors. They came the other day, and they are an amazing set of speakers. Comparing them to the KRKv4 isn’t fair. They are in a far higher class. I really liked the KRKs, but these really are way, way better. The bass is great on them. The stereo image is great. The detail is great. But don’t take my word for it, read some other people’s views of them.

One little thing I don’t like, which I like on the KRKs, is that there is no auto power off. The KRKs power themselves off if they are not getting a signal after a while. It’s a minor thing, but its nice to have in a speaker.

Lets just say, I’m in a happy place right now with these 😉

Articles, Reviews

EM Reviews Field Recorders

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Electronic Musician reviewed a bunch of field recorders, including the the Marantz 671, Marantz 660 and the Edirol R1 among others.

Basically, they panned the Marantz 671 (successor to the 670, which I love) for having firmware issues causing the mic preamps to be noisy. The Edirol R1 came out on top of the two Marantz units. Though I would really call the article a “introduction” to field recording. They do not list exactly what they tried to record, and with what. We all know that the microphone is key to getting a good recording.

I would totally recommend the Marantz 670. I used it this weekend and got some great recordings putting it about 6 feet infront and 7 feet above the band. Of course using my Rode NT4 mic (awesome piece that it is).

I imagine the issues with the 671 have been fixed. I would take the EM article with some grains of salt. The reviewer used these units to record a snare drum (why??), the “ambience in a suburban neighborhood” (um, ok), and dialog. Ok, great tests there. NOT.

Oh, and EM was reporting, like it was news, that Sony introduced a new format called MiHD. Um, guys, these things have been out for OVER A YEAR. Get with the program!