Panda_bear

If you can, get a Condenser mic. They're better for vocals than a dynamic. Although some dynamic mics like the SM7 work great on vocals too. But that's a $300 mic. A dynamic mic like SM7b could work great too. Either way you will need an audio interface though. You can get a cheap one to record vocals and guitars for around $100. Check out the scarlet series. If that's not in the budget, you can buy a USB mic, however there are downsides to those. Like you can't really control volume, and the quality is not the same as a non USB mic via an interface. I would recommend something like the At2020 Condenser USB mic. It's probably the best usb mic around and goes for around $100. The quality is also miles ahead of other usb mics you might encounter. Another option is to buy a mixer. Like the behringer one. It goes around for $50 and you can connect a mic/guitar to it and connect the mixer to your computer's 1/8 audio input jack. The quality won't be the best but.It should still be usable though. Just be aware you might get some noise/hum because of the way you'll be connecting to the computer. I should also mention balanced and unbalanced have more to do with the cables and methods of connections you use. There is gear that delivers unbalanced/balance signals, but what's usually more important is how you handle the connection. Some cables by default are unbalanced by nature, like a 1/4, a cable you would use for guitars. When you make a connection like this, you would say it's an unbalanced connection. Something like a an XLR mic cable from a mic to an audio interference is a balanced, and thus the connection would be a balanced connection. All balanced and unbalanced really means is certain cables/connections are vulnerable to picking up interference from outside sources, while the other is not. Balanced is protected, unbalanced is not. For a recording space, if you have access to a closet, use it. Pad the walls, stick a microphone in, and you'll be able to get good takes. Otherwise try to make a space with little to no reverb. For a Digital Audio Workstation, use REAPER. No need to pirate stuff. You can use it for unlimited amount of time and it's superior to FL studios, IMO. It's just as good as DAWs like pro tools or cubase. Although if you do stick to using it, I would highly recommend buying it. The dev's are amazing and it only cost $60. It's amazing for editing and mixing and comes with everything you need to do so. I would also recommend looking up tutorials for it on youtube.

Same here. I'm more of a rock and metal guy, but appreciate some good hip-hop and rap, and his style instantly made me a fan of his. His music definitely pulls you in even if your not a rap fan. Definitely blast worthy with some emo but catchy vocal hooks. His lyrics are also very relateable and a part of why I think he attracted a lot of fans.

Any fans of his music? I only recently discovered him and I've been binging through his discography. I really enjoyed Call Me When you're sober and appreciate all the other genres of music he combined with the rap/trap style. His passing was very unfortunate and sad on a number of levels.

Super late on this, but I thought the Deluxe version of California was miles better than the standard version. I loved the 2nd disc more than I did the official version and I thought it was a stronger album as well. I agree last train home is probably one of the highlights of the deluxe version. I actually really loved Misery, Hey I'm sorry, Don't mean Anything, Last Train Home Wildfire, 6/8 and Bottom of the Ocean. To me the deluxe version sounds more Blink 182. A good mix of punk-rock/ alt rock, creativity and a variety of moods. Hadn't heard this dark Blink since their self titled. With regular California there was way too much feldman influence. The songs are trying way too hard to be catchy, and commercial. They lose that special blink soul. Too many nana's shoved in almost every song, no real memorable guitar riffs, and kinda weak verses and choruses. Another thing I didn't like was the way feldman pushed the band to write songs fast, which unfortunately shows way too much on the regular version because they don't sound worked out. I did enjoy some songs , like Bored To death, Sober, rabbit hole, and the only thing that matters. The only good thing that stands out about the regular version was the production, which is probably the best the band has ever had. It's shame the band couldn't have taken the best out of both discs and put out an actually strong album. I really wish the band had done more songs like this on the regular version. All i can say about another future blink album is please no more feldman.

^ That would be quite cool. Would also be cool to see what the other member's end up doing. I know they said the band is coming to an end, but I wonder if that means they'll stop putting out music outside of the band or not.

The pickle Rick episode is one of my fav episodes so far of the season. The evil rock goo one is another. Show is on a 2 week break. But i have my hopes up for a strong season end.

Has anyone heard their new album? It's another masterpiece. Easy contender for rock album of the year. It's like a mix of all their material in a way that make sense and works. You can hear everything from Your Favorite Weapon, Deja, to Devil and God, and Daisy. I'm going to miss this band so much. But this is how to properly go out as band, with a really strong release.

' Legit one of my favorite bands of all time, and one of the best rock bands of modern times in my opinion. I got into them from Deja Etendu, which is masterpiece, and followed them since. It's crazy to see how they evolved from a emo punk rock band sound on their first album and continually changed and matured on every subsequent record. They got everything from catchy, but meaningful emo punk rock, to sophisticated dark and mature songs, intimate and beautiful acoustic numbers to stuff that sounds like radiohead. And Jesse is one of the best lyricst around. Always wanted to see then live, but they're concerts are notoriously hard to get tickets to. It's sad to see them coming to an end with their last album.

Anybody into Shadow of Intent? I can't believe i only recently discovered them this year. Guys are the best thing to happen to deathcore in a while. Reclaimer has to be the best deathcore albums of 2017, and is one of my favorite metal albums of the year so far. They're just all out brutality, with technical ability and epic compositions. Love their use of orchestrations, i.e, choirs, pianos and strings. The vocalist has some of the sickest vocals I've heard in a while too. Have also been jamming the new Interring. Thought these guys were dead, but so glad they're not. Love their brand of Gothenburg metal. Denmark bands always know how to bring it. And I've had Oceans Ate Alaska new album, Hikari, on repeat since it's release. Just a sick metalcore release with crazy rhythms, and meditative Japanese sections just because. Also glad to see Rings of Saturn back with a new album. The music is still sick, and I love the new orchestral elements, but the production was a letdown. It sounds so muddy, it took away from the brutality. Literally ruined the album for me. The new mastodon was great as always, and now I'm eagerly awaiting the new Thy Art is Murder. i still need to give the new Wage War album a spin. And they might not be super heavy, but I love Afterlife. Apparently they take influence from Linkin Park and it's somewhat apparent. I love their weird blend of modern metal and numetal. They really bring back that cool and fun numetal sound from the 2000's. I'd recommend their EP, Vicious Cylce, for a fun time.

So who's been watching season 3? I thought the season premiere was excellent. It resolved the season 2 cliff hanger incredibly well. The recent 2nd episode however was a bit lukewarm. Still I'm excited for the rest of the episodes. Seriously can't wait for pickle rick.

I guess I might be in the minority here as I enjoyed their newest material. And contrary to what has been stated here by others I think it would be a loss for the scene. Granted they haven't been as active in recent years, but they're pretty much J-rock legends at this point. Maybe not the biggest or most loved, but they definitely have an important legacy and have left their mark. It would be sad to see that journey come to an end for them. As far as disbanding due to label issues, that sounds extremely strange to me. I have never heard of a band doing that before. I've heard of bands leavings labels, and suing labels for a number of reasons, but never of a band disbanding because they were conned by a label. What does that accomplish? Nothing. Seems like it would be a win for the label in that situation. And because of that reason I find it highly skeptical the band would disband over it. If anything I think they might just leave or sue the label. And If they do disband, I doubt this would be the reason, it might become a factor, but definitely not be the main cause.

Guys are crushing it with their new material.

reminiscing2004 is correct on the technical aspects of what he's pointed out. Don't know where all the rest of the drama came from though. - Of course Hi-Res sounds better than a 256kbps mp3. A 320kbps mp3 will sound better too, and a 44.1/16 file will too - a 256 kbps mp3 (variable bit depth as inherent to mp3 codec) and an actual 16 bit 44.1khz CD rip: two very different things - The whole point of 24 bit audio as a superior tool in the studio is you have a wider signal to noise ratio (144 db vs 96 db of a 16 bit file). X2 Also x2 Would also like to point out that though theoretically DAC's shouldn't matter and therefore sound different, but they do. And the reason you don't see the wide use of 24bit/16bit releases is simply because I don't think lossless compression/uncompressed audio was ever meant for your average casual listener so no efforts were made to make that available. There was obviously a very small base of people who actually knew what lossless compression/uncompressed audio was or had the equipment to take advantage of it when you compare it to the general population. Simply think of the hard drive space limitations as well. All of this has been changing over almost 2-3 decades now, which is why you do see bands and artists now giving the option to purchase higher quality files such as wav 44.1/24 bit or whatever the original recording/master was at. Then of course whether you hear a difference or not comes down to how well developed and trained your ears are, the files your comparing, the equipment you're using, and the room you are in. The first 2 are the most important in most cases IMO. Really do doubt most self proclaimed audiophiles or avid listeners online have spent years training their ears to listen for changes in depth, width, compression, frequency curves and small changes in db, among other things. Doesn't help if your knowledge on audio is inaccurate in the first place and you're making assumptions on what you're hearing based on that incorrect information. But back to the original post, yes I do I hear a difference. Would the difference be big enough for me to buy the Hi res version over the itunes? Yes it would, but under these 2 conditions; the "hi res" is at a higher rate then one I could get from a cd rip, and I would have to truly enjoy the mix and master on the release. Otherwise it doesn't make sense for me to buy an amazing ultra sounding turd, if the mix/master is bad, or if I could simply obtain the same quality from a 16bit cd rip. And since I rarely buy digital, and almost always buy CD's, this isn't really an issue for me. On sidenote, I had no idea this release was a re-recording and had a different mix and master. Went back to the original recordings and unfortunately I'm not liking some of the mix decisions on this new release. I.e, what's with up with the dark and weighty snare on most of the songs? Sound boxy and disjointed from the rest of the kit and doesn't fit in tone with the rest of the songs. Too much room mic or verb on it too.

Hopefully this won't be their last tour and they'll hit up other cities on another tour. Was really hoping for a New York date. Their most recent stuff is kinda bland, but the majority of their work was pop gold. Still one of favorite J-pop groups of all time.

Carcer City - Sovereign. I finally get the mass effect reference in this song.

Working my way through the mass effect series. Finished the 1st one and I'm on to the 2nd installment.

Paul wardingham is quite dope Sithu Aye- His material ranges from metal inspired rock pieces to shreddy rock type stuff. Can never go wrong with paul gilbert. One of the original shredders. Guy has some sick skills and inspired a ton of modern metal players for a reason Might be cheating since not all of their album is instrumental, but nonetheless it's some great, epic and modern sounding metal. Might also be cheating but both of Shokrans albums have instrumental versions and they are just as amazing without vocals. Djenty, technical, Egyptian prog metal.

Pro tip #1 Don't get someone pregnant, or be the one that gets preganant Pro tip #2 Don't get married Pro tip #3 Get some sort of education, be it formal, technical or vocational ( if this isn't possible skip to the next tip) Pro tip #4 Get a job and aim to be the best at it. Pro tip #5 Self educate. Read a ton of books, attend lectures or classes on a variety of subjects from health, to fiances, to social interaction, or anything that will help you with your current job. Profit You'll move from being a poor weeb who can barely afford your vk indie rarez, to a financially stable, possibly wealthy adult with built up confidence/self esteem and a good well of knowledge to get the best out of life and the know how on how to deal with all the bullshit people or crappy situations life will throw at you. From there you can snatch a waifu/husbando of your liking or choose whatever direction you want to go in life. Kinda hard to fuck up at that point.

Currently Watching: Masamune's Revenge - The plot is pretty intriguing. Boy is overweight, bullied and ostracized as a young child, goes away, and comes back as a super athletic, intelligent and attractive school student, with the aim of taking revenge on a former crush/bully, who has no idea who they originally where. This started off quite good. It was very interesting to see the main characters backstory and all the turmoil he went through that made him better himself. Yet he still retains obvious flaws in his personality. I feel like the main plot device, although obviously exaggerated, is something most people can relate to. However the series unfortunately goes downhill midway. There were so much potential, and instead of exploring that potential, a forced and out of nowhere turn was thrown in there. It's so jarring and out of place it's stupid. It was barely able to recover and just when it is on the verge of recovering, another out of field and jarring twist is thrown in there. There are 2 episodes left and I have no idea on how this series is going to end, but so far I've got mixed feelings. On the plus side, I am enjoying the actual animation and music selection.

All that matters is the music. I don’t care whether it came from a band or a solo artist. I’m not go to be rocking out to a song and then discover it came from a solo artist and all of sudden decide it sucks because of that reason, or vice versa. I’ve loved the work of bands and then discovered one of the members goes and does a solo project, only to be disappointed upon listening to it. Likewise I’ve discovered great material by solo artists, not knowing they were “solo artists”, then and I go check out their work with their proper band and it’s mediocre or plain out sucks. Honestly this is the first time I’m hearing of anyone viewing one as inferior or greater than the other solely based on the merit of whether it came from a band or solo artist. The funny thing in music is solo artists aren’t technically solo. They usually gather other musicians to fill out the other roles needed, Ie, vocals, bass, drums, keys etc. They also seek help writing lyrics, composing, or producing. However, solo artists do call the big shots and have the final say on decisions since it is their project, and name on the line. How much outside help the solo artist gets really depends on the artist themselves, and whether they are talented or comfortable enough to step up to all of the roles needed.

I listen to a ton of instrumental music, not just metal. But a good portion of it is instrumental metal. As guitarist I'm usually attracted to a lot of technical and guitar shred type material. Really recommended Angle Vivaldi for technical, yet very emotional and melodic material. Another of my favorites is Polyphia, They're recent material has toned down the metal for a more rock vibe but they're still incredibly amazing. Another great release was the recent solo album by Jason Richardson. The guy is an absolute monster on guitar. Gotta love early intervals for their djenty prog metal. And of course anything by Keith marrow, or Jeff Loomis Be back for round 2.

Sponge - Plowed

Doctor Strange. The special effects were pretty cool, but I think I enjoyed more of how they were presented as trippy mental puzzles. And the character development of Dr strange as a bad ass surgeon into practitioner of mysticism was also really great.

^ That documentary was great. Literally can't wait for their new album to drop this year. Never thought I'd hear new slowdive material. And they have a new tour which kicks off at the end of march. Already bought my tix. Upcoming Shows: Mar 27 -- Glasgow, UK -- Art School Mar 28 -- Liverpool, UK -- Liverpool Arts Club Mar 30 -- Bristol, UK -- The Fleece Mar 31 -- The Hague, AN -- Rewire Festival Apr 02 -- Paris, FR -- Trabendo Apr 03 -- Berlin, DE -- Festsaal Apr 30 -- Fort Worth, TX -- Fortress Festival May 02 -- St. Paul, MN -- Palace Theatre. May 03 -- Chicago, IL -- The Vic May 05 -- Toronto, ON -- Danforth Music Hall May 07 -- Washington, DC -- 9:30 Club May 08-- Brooklyn, NY -- Brooklyn Steel May 09 -- Brooklyn, NY -- Brooklyn Steel May 10 -- Carrboro, NC -- Cat's Cradle Jun 03 -- London, UK -- Field Day Jun 07 -- Madrid, ES -- Mad Cool Festival