Edirol FA-66 Firewire audio capture
The full title of this little box of awesomeness is the: -
“Edirol FireWire Audio Capture FA-66 6 in 6 out 24 bit 192 KHz”
As a musician; I’ve found the FA-66 is one of the best portable FireWire audio interface devises, that I have come across.
If its high quality digital home recording that you’re looking for, then you should seriously consider the FA-66.
It gives results which can only be beaten by the likes of studio recording equipment. Plus, if any budding bands or artists out there are looking to produce a professional sounding record in their own bedroom, this will certainly do the job. Comparing the cost of the FA-66 against the costs of booking studio time, its definitely seems a worthy investment!
Taking into account, you can spend your hard earned cash on studio and production time and then the end result can sometimes not turn out as planned. Leaving you out of pocket and disappointed.
The FA-66 works seemlessly with Garage Band and I’ve heard Logic studio on a Apple Mac can get a lot more out of it’s capabilities.
I will admit I haven’t quite used the FA-66 to it’s full potential. More often than not, I only use it to record one guitar or vocal track at a time using Garage Band.
From the few times that I recorded live with band mates and friends alike, it has worked great for duel vocals/guitar, guitar/guitar and bass/guitar. Realistically with normal guitar 1/4″ stereo jack ended audio cables and 3 pin XLR sockets for microphones you can get 2 simultaneouse recordings.
(With garage band I don’t think you can split the recording for seperate editing, but I maybe wrong)
•As a word of caution, there can be problems using lower Amounts of RAM.
I found using 512mb of RAM memory for example, can cause a delay in the time sync between the instrument and the FA-66. Loosing sync is not the only problem I found; a major problem with lower RAM and audio recording (at a higher Sample rate) is that suddenly you will realise that your recording has just stopped.
I believe the reason for breaks in recording is due to the lower RAM’s inability to process all the data, so it times out and stops recording.
To use the FA-66 at the best sample rate (192kbps) I recommend 4gb of RAM. I haven’t tested it with 2gb of RAM but I’m sure it should work.
The port specifications are:
On the back:
Midi in
Midi out
Digital in
Digital out
4 1/4″ stereo jack outputs
Power switch – bus, mains & off
DC in
Mini FireWire port
Sample rate switch – 192,96,48 & 44.1
Limiter on/off switch
PHANTOM +48 V on/off switch
left & right with mini sense knob
On the front:
2 1/4″/XLR lead (3 pin socket) Inputs both with sense knobs
Hi-Z peak/limit button + LED indicator
Digital In sync button + LED indicator
Mono button
Soft CTRL button
Mix Direct Mount knob
Output know
1/4″ stereo jack output for “Phones”
PWR and OUT LED indicator
The cheapest iPhone 3G dock ever
Talk about cool finds in pound shops!!
I found a pretty old iPod docking station in a pound shop in Bolton. I think it was for the original ipod mini dock so possibly only USB 1.1
With a quick go over with a junior hack saw, electrical tape and a pair of pliers, I easily turned it into an iPhone 3G docking station.
It’s not the prettiest solution but with price of electrical tape included the total cost was around £1.11
*Please be advised to always use caution when messing with and or modifying any type of electrical equipment.
A simple error in judgment can possibly lead to injury or death
Apple mini DVI to video adapter
Great little gizmo for plugging the MacBook into a normal CRT of LCD tv. Connects via a normal video cable (3 cable 2 audio 1 video) and then into either compatible tv or compatible scart block/adapter and then into either your hi-fi via an audio AUX cable or into the TV via the original the normal video cable.
Wesc Bongo and Oboe Headphones
I found that when mooching from place to place you want high quality and style from your headphones.
What I look for when buying headphones:-
- crisp, heavy bass (to appreciate high tempo double bass drum kicks)
- clarity of tone (for tight guitar riffs)
- a clear and clean sound (for no distortion or a loss of quality)
- a good level of volume (to drown out background noise)
- modern unique design (to look cool and stand out)
- comfort (for prolonged use)
Personally I have found ‘Wesc’ produce a beautifully unique and stylish range of headphones. I have tried and tested the Bongo Premium headphones in Ocean and the Oboe Street headphones in Cypress.
The first to be tried and tested are the lower priced,
Oboe Street headphones (priced £39.99)
Unfortunately these are a little tight on the ears so can’t be worn for too long a period of time. Other than that, they are a great pair of headphones!
The sound quality is clear, delivering a rich deep bass from the 30mm power drivers and are apparently tuned with a preference toward heavy/alternative music genres.
In regards to the usability of the Oboe Street; they are fairly lightweight, making them ideal for some sports (for me it’s the BMX) and are reasonably comfortable (except if you have lots of piercing. i.e. a scaffold or large tunnel’s). Also included for extra safety and convenience the cable comes in 2 parts; short- if your mp3 player is in your top pocket and the longer added extension cable – for when its in your jeans pocket or bag.
The second set I tried and tested are the higher priced,
Bongo Premium headphones (£59.99)
These headphones aren’t as tight around the ears unlike the Oboe Street. Admittedly their usability isn’t quite as convenient on a BMX or bike as they are mildly heavier and bulkier, therefore more suited for less sporting activities. None the less, I use them daily on a BMX and have had no issues.
In comparison, the sound quality of the Bongo Premium is slightly superior to that of the Oboe Street- which is to be expected. They produce a richer bass delivering a more serious kick, again are apparently tuned with a preference toward heavy/alternative music genres and to boot the volume levels are higher due to 40mm power drivers. Perfect for annoying fellow passenger on public transport journeys, more so than with the smaller power drivers in the Oboe Street. (If you enjoy doing that kind of thing!)
I find ‘Wesc’ headphones are the perfect adornment for listening to music on the iPhone; not only due to the high audio quality delivered but to their combination of modern yet seamlessly retro designs.
In brief, from at least 7 months of using both the Bongo Premium and the Oboe Street headphones; i found they are well built, durable and have stayed in the same condition as from when i bought them, with only moderate care taken.
**Plus rumor has it, ‘Wesc’ headphones are built by Seinheisser. I am unable to confirm this fact; but if Seinheisser do indeed manufacture Wesc’s headphones, then build quality is likely to be of their usual high standard.
Images courtesy of www.turntablelab.com
click on images to jump to their site.
[[Edited by OggDude & Faerie_b]]
Warfare Incorporated
Price £2.99
This game is the best RTS i have come across for the iPhone.
I think Command & conquer set the standard with RTS games for the PC, Warfare Incorporated achieves that standard on the iPhone.
The game play is pretty cool, i admit at times having a small screen can make it a little tricky, but other than that; the game has a fantastic feel to it. The graphics remind me of the RTS’s from when i was younger, and the missions are of the standard i remember, fun and enjoyable.
The game goes along the lines that you build up forces to defend and control a newly discovered planet called Icarus. You harvest minerals for money, build up your base and units ( soldiers and vehicles such as tanks ) and go to war with neighboring or intruding army’s and their bases.
Warfare incorporated is well worth the money and i give it a full 5 stars.
File size is 2.9 MB and as to my knowledge, unfortunately no notable updates.
APCORLite Review
APCORlite is a pretty sweet racing game, dirt tracks and trucks.
The games graphics are pretty cool, but I have to admit I have seen better!
And a for the user interface / game play is pretty poor! It’s so difficult to turn the car, would be much easier if the controls were improved.
Can’t complain much tho a it’s a lite version so it’s free, but I wouldn’t recommend buying the full version, just not that much fun to play.
Free twitter clients for iphone
Their are many twitter clients now available for the iPhone, some cost you money and some don’t.
Personally i don’t have a lot of expendable cash, so free iPhone apps’ sit much better with what i need.
To date i have downloaded 6 free iPhone twitter clients, some of them fantastic and some of them, not so good!
here’s the 6 free iPhone twitter clients, in order of what i think is best.
6) Twittervision – This app is pretty pointless for my needs, it’s just a global tweet finder, giving you random tweets from random geographic locations.
5) Twitteriffic – It’s pretty, but i don’t find it that easy to use, nor do i think its really that functional. Good attempt but their are just better free twitter clients.
4) Natsulion – Recently got hold of this one, very nice UI, just not as easy to use as some of the others. Might be low in the list, but it’s not a bad twitter client.
3) Twitterfon – Everyone seems to be rating this as the number one free twitter client. Their is no doubt that it is a good twitter client for the iPhone, but on the other hand its UI just isn’t as smooth as some of the others.
2) iTwitter – Not as smooth a UI as twitterfon, but it is pretty and has some push notification abilities, which for being free is pretty good!
1) Tweetdeck – This twitter client is by far my favorite! Such a smooth user interface, and such a pretty twitter client to use. Their is no push notification, but to get between DM’s, Favorites, and the home page is just a simple slide of the finger, and loads all your messages pretty quickly. Tweetdeck is in my opinion one of the most underrated iPhone twitter clients available for free!
Car jack streets
This is just a short and sweet review of my favourite game, car jack: streets.
To start of, this game is worth every penny!
In Car jack: streets, you play a dude who seems to have had a spot of bother with some gangster types. Then from a top down view, you go round shooting people and stealing cars to complete the goals and objectives. Theirs a turbo for In car mode, plenty of weapons and a GPS for locating missions.
The feel of the game is similar to that of the original Grand Theft Auto on the playstation one, I must emphasise tho; that this game is not a rip off! CJ:S is a worthy game for the iPhone platform in it’s own right, and as far as I know, on the iPhone, the only game of it’s kind (especially with a touch screen interface).
The graphics in the game are absolutely beautiful, and the game play and user interface are brilliant, such an easy and enjoyable game to play!
If you buy the game, I very much hope you enjoy it!
And thanks for taking the time to read my opinion.
Review of Radial 50 lite
Another game I’ve downloaded for free is Radial 50 lite, another sweet game with a very groovy and groovy interface. Great playability!
The way to play the game is, you use a slider on the right of the screen, to move what seems to be a spherical version of the arcade classic, blocks.
The aim is to chip away at the blocks to get to the centre, were you then have to get the central diamond. As the levels progress, more
Obstacles appear to get in your way of hitting the central diamond.
It’s a beautiful game, and very easy to pick up and get addicted to! another game worthy of a full version purchase.
Globall lite
Lite games are never that long, but globall lite in itself is a very worthy, very addictive game. I can go as far as saying, one of the few app’s I would consider buying the full version of.
Globall has a very addictive game play and very easy to use, no instructions needed.
Very sweet game, check it out!
