OWI AMP602-2 outdoor speaker system By John Virata
OWI, Inc. has introduced a self-amplified surface mount speaker system that is built for those in-between places such as in garages or enclosed sun rooms, and other hidden away places where sound is needed. The AMP602-2 speaker system outputs very good quality sound at an inexpensive price point of $199.
...Read More »
Shure SE 115m+ headset By Joshua Virata
Shure has had a reputation of having superior headsets, headphones, and microphones, and they continue this reputation with the SE115+ sound isolating headset. This new headset is a modification to the SE115 headset line wherein the m+ designation adds a microphone and a three-button remote to the right earbud line.
...Read More »
Tritton AX 180 universal gaming headset By John Virata
The Tritton AX 180 universal gaming headset is designed to work with the three major gaming platforms (Wii, xBox 360, and Sony PlayStation 3, via analog inputs), but also with both Macintosh and Windows based computers.
...Read More »
Lenovo D20 media workstation By John Virata
Lenovo's D20 is the company's top of the line ThinkStation workstation. This particular model shipped with dual Intel E5540 2.53GHz Xeon processors (four processor cores), 12GB RAM, and Windows 7 Professional. Graphics was powered by an NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800 graphics card. This is your classic media workstation, configured to run the latest creative applications from Adobe Systems, Autodesk, Sony Creative Software, as well as CAD tools such as AutoCAD, Pro Engineer, and others.
...Read More »
Ci Design's iStorage Pro iT8MIS 8 bay Mini SAS JBOD System By Kevin McAuliffe
As a tech writer, I am lucky to have companies approach me to look at their products, and after looking at a competitor's product, I was approached by Ci Design to look at their iStorage Pro Mini SAS JBOD hard drive array. Since I'm always on the lookout for the best product for what I need to get done, I jumped at the chance. Here's how it turned out.
...Read More »
3.06 GHz 17-inch MacBook Pro By Heath McKnight
I recently had a chance to review the latest, top-of-the-line unibody MacBook Pro from Apple; with a 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 8GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, and many other great features, this is the fastest Apple laptop I've ever used.
...Read More »
Reaper DAW By Mike Jones
Much like video editing systems, the tools for crafting, mixing, and multi-tracking digital audio projects - be they music, audio or sound for video endeavours - have reached a very mature stage in their development and evolution as technologies. The Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) market has grounded itself in all-digital workflows and common production practices whilst, at the same time, diversified into an array of major players.
...Read More »
VIZIO VF550XVT1A 55-inch LCD HDTV By Heath McKnight
I'm a big fan of "America's number 1" LCD HDTV provider, VIZIO, and its wide range of home entertainment products. I've reviewed two previous LCD HDTV models (a 42-inch and a 47-inch), but I wanted to review something bigger and better. And I got the opportunity with the monster 55-inch XVT LCD HDTV, which has an incredible picture and sound.
...Read More »
Tritton Technologies AX 720 Gaming headphones By John Virata
Time to upgrade your old gaming headphone? Then put your ears on the new Tritton AX 720s from Tritton Technologies. This headphone features Dolby Digital and Dolby headphone technology to ensure high quality two channel surround sound.
...Read More »
iZotope RX Noise Reduction Tips By Jeffrey P. Fisher
As an audio-post-production professional, I'm often called upon to clean up the dialogue from the documentary, corporate, and narrative videos that come my way. The work requires a lot of patience and access to both basic and advanced audio tools. For me, the one must-have gizmo for audio cleanup is iZotope RX. This tutorial looks at ways this indispensable tool solves typical noisy problems that conspire to ruin your video soundtracks.
...Read More »
Sony Sound Forge 10 By Jeffrey P. Fisher
Sony Creative Software has reached a major milestone with its September 2009 release of Sound Forge 10. Few applications survive all the way to high version numbers. But not only has the latest version of Sony's audio recording and editing program survived, it continues to thrive with a bevy of new features that keep you wondering how you ever worked without them.
...Read More »
Altec Lansing inMotion Classic iM620 iPhone/iPod speaker system By Joshua Virata
Altec Lansing has brought back the "boom-box" style stereo system in a new modern age design. The inMotion Classic portable stereo not only serves as an iPhone and iPod dock, it also has a built in FM tuner, and an adjustable handle. Now, by "boom-box" style stereo I mean the big boxes seen in the 70s and 80s being carried around on shoulders or their handles, by people listening to the loud music and going with the beat in the street.
...Read More »
Apple's Soundtrack Pro 3 By Kevin McAuliffe
Soundtrack Pro 2 was a great application. You could harness its power for not only Final Cut Pro timelines, but for any editing application that could export an OMF file. What Apple had essentially given us was a professional, production-ready application to take any audio project to the next level. But, I had one concern. Where would it go from there?
...Read More »
Building a Better Mouse: Contour Design RollerMouse Free By Jeffrey P. Fisher
Like me, you've probably been mousing around for some time. You may have even tried some mouse alternatives, such as tablets, trackballs, and their ilk. But, eventually you found yourself back with the mouse in hand. I know, it's not an easy habit to break. But now there is an alternative that is well worth considering: the Contour Design RollerMouse Free.
...Read More »
Round-up of USB mics By Jeffrey P. Fisher
For many people, connecting and recording mics is too complicated. They have a simple question: "Why can't I just plug a microphone right into my computer like a mouse?" Well, the industry listened and responded with a bevy of USB-based mics that are, for the most part, plug and play.
...Read More »
Lenovo ThinkStation S20 workstation By John Virata
The Lenovo ThinkStation S20 is the company's mid range workstation that works well in a variety of creative environments, be it video and special effects creation to CAD and animation. Configured with the right graphics card, the unit will fit well in any creative environment. The S20 is larger than most mid-tower cases, and sports ample room inside for user upgrades.
...Read More »
Use Dropbox to store and share your files online By Heath McKnight
I came across Dropbox because I am always looking for an online solution to upload and share video files, music, documents--any type of file that I would want to access remotely. Dropbox is a free program you can download to your Mac, Windows PC, or Linux system, and use it to upload and share all sorts of files with multiple computers you use, or people whom you'd like to share those files with.
...Read More »
Altec Lansing Expressionist Plus speaker system By Joshua Virata
Altec Lansing has just released its new 2.1 channel/subwoofer music system, the Expressionist PLUS, FX3021. Different from run of the mill computer speakers, the FX3021features dramatic piano black cone-shaped drivers and subwoofer. The system's subwoofer utilizes a floor facing 5.25-inch, long-throw driver that produces powerful rich bass. When coupled with the the pair of 2-inch speaker drivers, the system delivers clear, distinct sound.
...Read More »
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5.1 By Ko Maruyama
I had previously used an earlier version of MacSpeech's software on my laptop with great success, and found many interesting features within software, including the ability to customize recognized libraries of words, and shortcuts in order to make the software run more smoothly on the existing hardware. On a Mac Pro, the new version runs more quickly than you can possibly imagine.
...Read More »
13-inch MacBook Pro By John Virata
Over the years, I've had always had access to a Macintosh computer, starting way back with the PowerBook 140, to the dual 450 G4, to a 15-inch MacBook Pro with illuminated keyboard. I used the systems for testing the latest software from Adobe, Apple and others. I've never really became a Mac user, because I have been using Windows computers since 1994 and became used to that OS. But the new MacBooks piqued my interest in part because of their use of aluminum.
...Read More »
NO...Doesn't have a thing to do with "that" smartphone...or "that" store...or "that" tablet. It's the next generation. Kids and we mean little kids. That's what today's products are being designed for/targeted at. You happen to buy one...fine. Watch a little, little kid pick up a smartphone. He/she just uses it. They've come pre-wired and we're still trying to figure out how to IM. It's the IGen. They want it instantly. They want to use it instantly. They expect their photos, their video, their music, their stuff immediately when/where/how they want it.
Read More
In this clip, lynda.com host Mark Abdelnour takes a look at proxy bidding. He discusses the strategy and how it works. He also discusses the maximum bid, and when to use Proxy bidding.
Read More
The blood, gore, adrenalin challenges that were unveiled at E3 and enjoyed at ComicCon are fun to look at, easy to hold but are they really the games people want to plunk down their credit cards to own or rent time with? Seems as though the investors, the players who control the controllers have a different idea of a "good" game than the kids who develop them. While mobs of people play educational, informational, stimulating games our kid huddles in his room and mumbles "The Few, The Proud, The Gamers."
Read More
OWI AMP602-2 outdoor speaker system
OWI, Inc. has introduced a self-amplified surface mount speaker system that is built for those in-between places such as in garages or enclosed sun rooms, and other hidden away places where sound is needed. The AMP602-2 speaker system outputs very good quality sound at an inexpensive price point of $199.
...Read More »
Shure SE 115m+ headset
Shure has had a reputation of having superior headsets, headphones, and microphones, and they continue this reputation with the SE115+ sound isolating headset. This new headset is a modification to the SE115 headset line wherein the m+ designation adds a microphone and a three-button remote to the right earbud line.
...Read More »
Tritton AX 180 universal gaming headset
The Tritton AX 180 universal gaming headset is designed to work with the three major gaming platforms (Wii, xBox 360, and Sony PlayStation 3, via analog inputs), but also with both Macintosh and Windows based computers.
...Read More »
Lenovo D20 media workstation
Lenovo's D20 is the company's top of the line ThinkStation workstation. This particular model shipped with dual Intel E5540 2.53GHz Xeon processors (four processor cores), 12GB RAM, and Windows 7 Professional. Graphics was powered by an NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800 graphics card. This is your classic media workstation, configured to run the latest creative applications from Adobe Systems, Autodesk, Sony Creative Software, as well as CAD tools such as AutoCAD, Pro Engineer, and others.
...Read More »
Ci Design's iStorage Pro iT8MIS 8 bay Mini SAS JBOD System
As a tech writer, I am lucky to have companies approach me to look at their products, and after looking at a competitor's product, I was approached by Ci Design to look at their iStorage Pro Mini SAS JBOD hard drive array. Since I'm always on the lookout for the best product for what I need to get done, I jumped at the chance. Here's how it turned out.
...Read More »
3.06 GHz 17-inch MacBook Pro
I recently had a chance to review the latest, top-of-the-line unibody MacBook Pro from Apple; with a 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 8GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, and many other great features, this is the fastest Apple laptop I've ever used.
...Read More »
Reaper DAW
Much like video editing systems, the tools for crafting, mixing, and multi-tracking digital audio projects - be they music, audio or sound for video endeavours - have reached a very mature stage in their development and evolution as technologies. The Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) market has grounded itself in all-digital workflows and common production practices whilst, at the same time, diversified into an array of major players.
...Read More »
VIZIO VF550XVT1A 55-inch LCD HDTV
I'm a big fan of "America's number 1" LCD HDTV provider, VIZIO, and its wide range of home entertainment products. I've reviewed two previous LCD HDTV models (a 42-inch and a 47-inch), but I wanted to review something bigger and better. And I got the opportunity with the monster 55-inch XVT LCD HDTV, which has an incredible picture and sound.
...Read More »
Tritton Technologies AX 720 Gaming headphones
Time to upgrade your old gaming headphone? Then put your ears on the new Tritton AX 720s from Tritton Technologies. This headphone features Dolby Digital and Dolby headphone technology to ensure high quality two channel surround sound.
...Read More »
iZotope RX Noise Reduction Tips
As an audio-post-production professional, I'm often called upon to clean up the dialogue from the documentary, corporate, and narrative videos that come my way. The work requires a lot of patience and access to both basic and advanced audio tools. For me, the one must-have gizmo for audio cleanup is iZotope RX. This tutorial looks at ways this indispensable tool solves typical noisy problems that conspire to ruin your video soundtracks.
...Read More »
Sony Sound Forge 10
Sony Creative Software has reached a major milestone with its September 2009 release of Sound Forge 10. Few applications survive all the way to high version numbers. But not only has the latest version of Sony's audio recording and editing program survived, it continues to thrive with a bevy of new features that keep you wondering how you ever worked without them.
...Read More »
Altec Lansing inMotion Classic iM620 iPhone/iPod speaker system
Altec Lansing has brought back the "boom-box" style stereo system in a new modern age design. The inMotion Classic portable stereo not only serves as an iPhone and iPod dock, it also has a built in FM tuner, and an adjustable handle. Now, by "boom-box" style stereo I mean the big boxes seen in the 70s and 80s being carried around on shoulders or their handles, by people listening to the loud music and going with the beat in the street.
...Read More »
Apple's Soundtrack Pro 3
Soundtrack Pro 2 was a great application. You could harness its power for not only Final Cut Pro timelines, but for any editing application that could export an OMF file. What Apple had essentially given us was a professional, production-ready application to take any audio project to the next level. But, I had one concern. Where would it go from there?
...Read More »
Building a Better Mouse: Contour Design RollerMouse Free
Like me, you've probably been mousing around for some time. You may have even tried some mouse alternatives, such as tablets, trackballs, and their ilk. But, eventually you found yourself back with the mouse in hand. I know, it's not an easy habit to break. But now there is an alternative that is well worth considering: the Contour Design RollerMouse Free.
...Read More »
Round-up of USB mics
For many people, connecting and recording mics is too complicated. They have a simple question: "Why can't I just plug a microphone right into my computer like a mouse?" Well, the industry listened and responded with a bevy of USB-based mics that are, for the most part, plug and play.
...Read More »
Lenovo ThinkStation S20 workstation
The Lenovo ThinkStation S20 is the company's mid range workstation that works well in a variety of creative environments, be it video and special effects creation to CAD and animation. Configured with the right graphics card, the unit will fit well in any creative environment. The S20 is larger than most mid-tower cases, and sports ample room inside for user upgrades.
...Read More »
Use Dropbox to store and share your files online
I came across Dropbox because I am always looking for an online solution to upload and share video files, music, documents--any type of file that I would want to access remotely. Dropbox is a free program you can download to your Mac, Windows PC, or Linux system, and use it to upload and share all sorts of files with multiple computers you use, or people whom you'd like to share those files with.
...Read More »
Altec Lansing Expressionist Plus speaker system
Altec Lansing has just released its new 2.1 channel/subwoofer music system, the Expressionist PLUS, FX3021. Different from run of the mill computer speakers, the FX3021features dramatic piano black cone-shaped drivers and subwoofer. The system's subwoofer utilizes a floor facing 5.25-inch, long-throw driver that produces powerful rich bass. When coupled with the the pair of 2-inch speaker drivers, the system delivers clear, distinct sound.
...Read More »
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5.1
I had previously used an earlier version of MacSpeech's software on my laptop with great success, and found many interesting features within software, including the ability to customize recognized libraries of words, and shortcuts in order to make the software run more smoothly on the existing hardware. On a Mac Pro, the new version runs more quickly than you can possibly imagine.
...Read More »
13-inch MacBook Pro
Over the years, I've had always had access to a Macintosh computer, starting way back with the PowerBook 140, to the dual 450 G4, to a 15-inch MacBook Pro with illuminated keyboard. I used the systems for testing the latest software from Adobe, Apple and others. I've never really became a Mac user, because I have been using Windows computers since 1994 and became used to that OS. But the new MacBooks piqued my interest in part because of their use of aluminum.
...Read More »
