There's a lot of words to describe tone, some are easy to explain the dynamics that create that response and some already have several videos on the YOUTUBEZ devoted to explaining them, such as compression, distortion, gain, by our friend CSGuitar and others.

Obviously dark tends to be associated with certain scooped mid frequencies. Muddy is missing top ends. Bright is lacking lows/mids. Wet generally refers to having some kind of softening effect such as reverb, delay, or chorusy effect in the chain, dry is lacking those.

But there are other terms that get thrown around a lot which I would like to understand what exactly causes them sonically / responsively in the system.

I.e. a "chewy" sound - what parts of the sound / frequencies are behaving in such a way that this is created? What exactly is a "chewy" sound and what are common things that would be associated with it (amp brands, genres, bands, pickups/guitars, pedals).

"Punchy" - I've heard amps that are punchy dark, punchy bright, punchy middy, so I know it's not solely the result of the general EQ. For example I love the Orange Crush amps because they're dark and extremely punchy even at low volume.

"Brittle." - for most guitarists undesirable, I'm curious what's happening to the frequency response that's causing you to sound what we describe as "brittle?" Is it ultra low compression of certain frequencies that drop out sooner?

"Ice picky" - is this just a ton of top end treble or is there more to it that causes this?

I just got Fabfilter Pro-Q set up with Logic. It was a drunken impulse buy around the holidays. I’m fairly new to recording and side chain order is something I definitely need to learn more about. Should Pro-Q be the first plug-in in the chain?

Just got my tonal installed a few days ago and have a quick question! Wanted to test out a few different coach’s/programs by doing one workout from each, before committing to the program . For example, an upper body with Jackson, lower body with Nicolette, etc.

Am I able to do this without joining the program? I have been book marking some workouts, but when it brings up one’s in the program I can’t book mark them. I am not sure why i wouldn’t be able to but I can’t seem to figure it out.

Any thoughts? Thank you!

I've always tended to put single band compression after multiband compression and my reasoning is this: multiband compression will glue together frequencies in a given band but that can lead to less cohesion over the entire spectrum since gain reduction is being applied differently in different bands. Compressing after using a single band compressor will then glue the entire spectrum together since every frequency contributes to the gain reduction.

However recently I saw in an interview of one of my favourite producers that he does single band compression before multiband compression and I can't think of any reasoning for when this would be used instead of the reverse. If you single band compress first you're gluing all the frequencies together, but multiband compressing after means you will throw off that dynamic balance that the single band compressor achieved.

What are your guys' thoughts on this? In what situations do you do either of these?

About to order a Flux FA10 for my Susvara - wondering, maybe its time to try something new.

Would love to know what competitors there are to the Susvara - i think it could be these ones? But not sure

1. LCD 5
2. Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC
3. Meze Elite
4. Focal Utopia

Atm the LCD and AB1266 seem interesting to me. I do like Planars, but the PhiTC has a bit of a cult following that i want to see what the fuss is about lol

Thanks!

https://preview.redd.it/9l2zg82tlbt71.png?width=1263&format=png&auto=webp&s=e56516a7c8ac5638673525bb228d8d56660a6876

(Edit: for those who want to hear them at their absolute best ... episode 219. Once they get to the case at the 30min mark, they are fricking hilarious)

Gosh I have mixed feelings on this one.

In its favour are the unusual and interesting cases and the fact that, although hosted by comedians, the victims and their families are never the butt of jokes.

Each episode is exhaustingly long (always over two hours), but that means they spend as much time discussing the trial process as anything.

Tonally, though, sometimes it jars. The details of the deaths are often gruesomely recounted and the level of preparation into each episode varies a bit. Plus the opening thirty minutes of formulaic introductions and an almost forensic examination of the small town's dynamics and demographics are an acquired taste.

I give it kudos, though; for a show ostensibly meant to mix tragedy with farce, it is one of the most detailed shows out there.

When the Tripowin Mele (the HBB collaboration) came out I declared it the new bargain king. It fixed the issues with the BLON BL03 tuning and was a complete package. I tend to buy IEM's for people as gifts and it was hard to hand someone a BL03 and then also give them a new cable, eartips, and case. It makes for a weird gift. The Mele is actually less expensive than the BL03 once you take into account that it comes with a very nice cable, good set of tips, and a large, branded case. Add in the aluminum body and acrylic faceplates and you get a taste of the premium world along with a very pleasant tuning and reasonable detail.

The only problem - $50 means I can only give it to my good friends. I need a new bargain king. Enter the new lineup from KZ and their sub-brand CCA. This is an audition to find the new choice for gifts. I looked at the Zex, Zex Pro, and DQ6 from KZ and the NRA and CRA from CCA. All tracks were streamed through Qobuz lossless (high-res if available) through a SMSL Sanskrit 10th Mk2 DAC. Amplification was a Drop+THX AAA-789. I know it's a silly setup to use to compare IEM's ranging from $13 to $35, but I wanted to make sure I was hearing them at their best.

Quick note about the included accessories - The BL03 is uniquely bad in this regard. There is a very low chance the included tips will give a good seal, and because of the short nozzles and the curve of the cable at the ear it is very likely that they will be uncomfortable. Now, I realize that not every cable works for everyone. For example, the very nice cable that comes with the 7hz Timeless was uncomfortable for me, but it will likely be comfortable for most people. But the BL03 basically NEEDS to given with a replacement cable and tips (and case). The Mele will almost certainly work for anyone. Even if you want to replace the cable and tips for something more comfortable (or stylish) you don't HAVE to do that to get a functioning (and nice) set to use. The KZ/CCA accessories fall somewhere in the middle. You get reasonable (though not amazing) tips and a reasonable (though not luxurious) cable and no case. So, add $5 or so for each of these for a zippered soft case.

You might ask - why not the Moondrop Quarks? The simple answer - no removable cable. Though I do have a set on order - if they blow me away I'll revise the list.

First - we need to cut the group down. The first two to drop away are the Zex and the NRA. I know Crinacle said they were identical, but to my ears they

I've just finished reading Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio by Mike Senior and it was an incredible read. Highly recommended for everyone. I know that not everybody's going to read it though, and I have made notes while reading it (though I highly recommend it, if only for the amusing prose if not for the huge amount of info that this guide omits), so I thought I'd share the wisdom. This is a bit long, but it might be valuable to some of you.

So here are 270 mixing "secrets" from the book:

How to listen

* Mix at low volume. Listen at different volumes.

* Cut low ends on everything except bass and kick.

* Use spectrum analysis to evaluate the low end.

* Take plenty of rest.

* Switch monitors frequently.

* Compare to good mixes. ALL THE TIME.

* Compare to good mixes - plural. You should have a reference for each aspect of your mix.

* Edit snippets out of the reference tracks, so you can switch quickly to the correct spot.

* Build a reference library, labeled by mix aspect.

How to prepare

* Before mixing, export stems, including midi. Mix in a separate project.

* When possible, do sub-mixes.

* Tracks should have meaningful names and colors.

* Use markers to mark different sections.

* Color sections and ranges of interest if your DAW allows for that.

* Before starting, listen to each track solo. Mark points of interest (problems to hide, gems to bring forward).

* For each track, define the frequency ranges that it would live in.

* Break vocal tracks, lead guitars, bass guitar etc. to different tracks by section as needed. (Multing)

Timing/pitch fixes

* Find the most rythmically tight track, straighten it out as much as possible, make it groove, then use it as a reference for all the other instruments, introducing them one by one, starting with the most rhythmically important, with a focus on maintaining groovitude.

* To judge if an attack is in time, you have to start listening two bars before it hits.

* Double-tracked instruments need their timing adjusted each track soloed at a time.

* Pay special attention to when notes (especially bass notes) end.

* To avoid obvious timing edits, make them:

- On silence.

- On noise.

- Pre-masked.

- Masked by another track (e.g. snare hit).

- In-phase.

* Once timing corrections are done on each track separately, re-listen to the whole arrangement, and move tracks slightly back or forwards to get the exact groove feel you're looking for.

On comping

I asked this today in the FFA, but was recommended to make it a post.

If you had exclusive interview access to one screenwriter and could ask them a question about their drama - who would you want to interview, what drama, and what would your question be? (it can also of course be more than one screenwriter/ drama/ and question!)

I have, for the foreseeable next 2 centuries and 5 decades and most likely beyond or until the impending apocalypse happens if before that, taken up the unwanted never asked for totally unnecessary position as eternal spewing obsessor of the drama Time (2018) (apologies for being that kid on the subreddit. But hey, you love what you love and you feel profoundly affected by what you are profoundly affected by. And I can't keep it in.) So I have many questions for writer-nim Choi Ho Chul.

Screenwriter: Choi Ho Chul

Drama: Time (2018)

Question:

Out of the million building up in my google doc, one is of course: What's the detailed play by play of what you intended the ending of the drama to be vs. the rewrite you had to quickly make when Kim Jung Hyun pulled out? I really love the rewrite and am nearly tempted to think I'd prefer the rewrite over anything originally planned. But I will never know unless I get this exclusive interview and finally learn what was originally planned!! :) And I MUST KNOW.

Edit: Haha- I should have realized that it would be common to ask for further thoughts about the ending of a drama!

So- to add some variety-

other q's I would love to sit and talk for hours with writer-nim Choi about:

1. Just ... dude... tell me your worldview. How did you weave in so many major world philosophies and religions - pull a theme from one and then challenge it directly or incorporate and fuse it with another so beautifully and seemingly effortlessly into this seamless complete whole exploration of humanity, life, existence, happiness, society etc etc etc. What texts were you in specific drawing from?
2. Please - let's talk about the various ways you use water in your drama - did I catch all the ways you use it as a symbol or metaphor - what is different in the meaning of each type of visual?
3. Was the >!dream sequence !<supposed to feel so tonally different - was it supposed to be a stand alone event? Or originally was there a bit of a tie in later in the drama?
4. WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THE STAR METAPHOR.
5. Let's explore your use of the food in the drama.
6. "here's my book

https://imgur.com/a/Cz9DGWv

I've recently grabbed a pair of ER2SE from Adorama for $49 (deal link: https://www.adorama.com/etyer2se.html?sdtid=15180271&emailprice=t&sterm=RFnVgOVl2xyLT0swUx0Mo37nUkBUUb0FsSc30g0&utm_source=rflaid62905&fbclid=IwAR0j1j_Ith9xT6xUIOpbFUObhsnzKr_oiDUIpf8jbTL1HFx9DcgKz8J4Ivo) and I was amazed by these little things. I know they're good from reading the review but I didn't expect them to rival my Focal Elex in most aspects except bass quantity, imaging, soundstage and dynamics, which makes them an absolute steal considering the price difference.

The bass quantity on the ER2SE is a little bit less than what I'd considered "just right". However, what is there is well-extended and textured. It's enough to support other elements in non-bass-heavy tracks and there's still quite a bit of bass in the bass-heavy ones. I demoed the Moondrop Kato recently and thought it has too much bass so I guess I prefer a brighter tonal balance on IEMs and the ER2XR would have too much bass for my liking.

The midrange is the star of the show. It's natural, crystal clear and have good timbre. The timbre is not as good as the HD6XX's magical midrange, but it beats the Focal Elex in midrange tonality and timbre in my opinion even after applying oratory1990's EQ preset to the Elex.

I don't have much to say about the treble. It's there and it's neither sibilant nor muted so I'm very satisfied considering what I paid for it.

The elephant in the room is comfort. With both the stock triple flange and double flange tips it irritates the skin in my ears, so I can't wear them for long even if they sound awesome. The stock foam tips are more comfortable and sound even better than the silicon ones. They somehow makes it sound more open and has more bass at the same time. However, they still irritate my ears slightly and I accidentally break them by separate the tube from the foam when pushing them without compressing them first. The Comply T100 is the most comfortable ones I've tried, they don't irritate my ears and are extremely soft. When put on normally they reduce the treble too much and makes the ER2SE sound veiled, but when I put them on in reverse as shown in the pic it gets much better

If you’ve ever wanted to play Chopin on the piano or need some advice for his more difficult works, this article is for you. The first 5 points cover some of the techniques you need to master to play Chopin on the piano, and the second 5 points focus on expression, how to take your playing from being just note correct to a piece of beauty.

Chopin’s work is beloved for its depth of expression that is just built in to the music itself. These five points will help you tap into that and show you how you can begin to interpret the music in your own unique way.

1. Choose Pieces Around the Right Level for You

This might seem like a obvious one, but the tricky part comes with knowing what level you are as a pianist and what level a piece is.
The goal should be to work on a few pieces at a time: one that you can nail in a couple of weeks, one that will take a month, and one that will likely take longer. You can use level numbers to help you figure that out, but it’s also important to pay attention to the specific skills that you struggle with the most, as that will add learning time onto pieces that have those skills (at least until you get comfortable with them!).

Examples of skills would be fast arpeggios, chromatic scales, homophonic (chordal) playing, large leaps, things like that.

While you can use the many level numbering systems out there to serve as a sort of guide, you do need to also look through a piece and pay attention to the skills you’ll need to play it.

If you haven’t played any scales at all ever, it’s probably not a great idea to play the Etude in A Minor, Op. 25 No. 11, “Winter Wind,” for example. It’s full of fast arpeggios and scales that go up and down the entire length of the piano.

Etude in A Minor, Op. 25 No. 11, “Winter Wind”

If you’re new to Chopin, Alfred’s has a great book of his easier pieces: Chopin: An Introduction to His Piano Works.

Additionally, you can visit IMSLP.org (free, public domain sheet music—just don’t click on the ads…I’ve had people do that and given their credit card info away…you won’t need to enter any payment info on IMSLP). They have a handy sort by instrument and difficulty level, so here’s [that page for piano](https://imslp.org/wiki/Special:Diff

Hi guys im new to producing and I made my first song and someone asked me if i was to master it or hire an engineer... can someone explain mastering to me..... like what is it and how do i do it? or link a youtube video tutorial? thanks :)

You see a lot of reviews on youtube and gear websites by publications and influencers who have messed around with a piece of gear for a couple nights tops. Sometimes they literally unbox it in the video. So I think it might be useful to offer a perspective from a consumer who's been using something for a while.

If you are not familiar with the Fender Tone Master series, look it up or my review may not make much sense.

My personal background:

I bought the Fender Tone Master Deluxe reverb early January 2021 and It has been my main amplifier for a year.

I've been playing guitar for 13 years. I mostly play at home or open mics. But I've also jammed with full bands and gigged on numerous occasions. I also record in my bedroom studio. I'm a bit of a gear head and have tried a lot of stuff and do way too much research.

I've played a bit of everything but my favorite thing by far is blues. My own style is influenced by Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker, Jack White, John Mayer, and Dan Auerbach... so you can see why I'm drawn to fender amps.

Here are my thoughts. I'll be thorough...

Why I bought the Tonemaster over the tube counterpart.

I used to like strictly analog gear. Vintage style tones are my preference. I'm one of those guys.
but I'm also young and quite tech savvy.

So I try to find a balance of the classic analog sound and modern practicality. The Fender '65 tube reissues are dream amps. But In practice, I have a Vox AC15 that I have NEVER brought to a gig or an open mic because..

1. It is heavy and bulky
2. More susceptible to noise issues than say a digital solid state amp.
3. More susceptible to problems that may not be quicky diagnosed or fixed in a live setting.
4. Requires occasional tube replacements which can be costly if music isn't a source of income.
5. It's too loud in many situations, and it's too quiet and many situations.

The tube counterparts to the Tone Master amps have all these same problems.

Even if I got a smaller, low-wattage fender amp, the problem is a lack of headroom when I want to use my reverbs, delays and a looper.

So the way I have been solving these problems recently have been the Boss Katana Artist, Vox MV50 amp heads, playing live with the Boss ME80 or GT1000 directly to a PA system, and recording using plugins like Amplitube.

I felt the features on the katana were overkill - As is the case with every digital modelling amp.

The ton

#The following post contains spoilers for Star Wars: Visions, proceed at your own risk.

##Introduction Welcome to the fourth of six /r/anime Awards 2021 Jury Discusses threads! This week we have Shorts discussing Star Wars: Visions! If you want to look back at previous weeks, here are those discussion threads: Slice of Life, Main Dramatic, Cinematography

This post was collectively written by the Shorts Jury of the 2021 /r/anime Awards. It was also organized, edited, and put together by their category host, /u/ArcaneGarbageman, and another host, /u/Animestuck . The jury chose Star Wars: Visions for this discussion thread, but its nomination and final ranking are still undecided, and each juror’s individual perspective is also subject to change. Similar perspectives of individual jury members are grouped together for clarity.

Jury Members: /u/AdiMG , /u/aytin , /u/KoalaNugget , /u/mcadylons , /u/NimitzH , /u/Ruhrgebietheld , /u/TheYummyBagel , /u/Zelosis , /u/Zypker125

##Do you think Visions succeeds as an introduction to anime for Star Wars fans and/or as an introduction to Star Wars for anime fans?

Does well in introducing Star Wars to anime fans and Star Wars fans to anime

Visions with a few exceptions fits right into the modality of Star Wars’s binary moral ethos and self-reverent delivery. In that sense it is an accurate intro to what Star Wars is like to anime fans, just delivered in bite-sized chunks.

On the other hand the variety of the shorts, especially in highlights like the bombastic pastiche “The Twins” and elegiac tragedy “Akakiri”, is a good intro to the sheer aesthetic and narrative breath present in anime as a medium to a wider mainstream audience of Star Wars fans.

/u/AdiMG

Does well in introducing Star Wars to anime fans, doesn’t do well introducing Star Wars fans to anime

Visions is couched in a lot of Japanese culture, which allows for a much smoother introduction, as anime fans will most likely be familiar with a decent amount of the iconography and mannerisms in this anthology. Some of its core motifs and themes, such as constantly present parallels between samurais and jedi

Overview

More than any other movie in the James Bond series, For Your Eyes Only merits the distinction of "the forgotten Bond". Whereas every other installment has something that sticks in the public consciousness, For Your Eyes Only is largely unknown to people outside the fanbase. That's a shame, because, in my opinion, it's Roger Moore's best Bond.

Point-By-Point

• I have mixed feelings about the pre-titles sequence. On the one hand, it's a good bit of fun, and quite a shot of adrenaline with which to open the movie. The nod to Tracy at the beginning is good. On the other hand, the sequence is kind of goofy, and the complete tonal opposite of the rest of the film, and it was done mainly as a giant middle finger to Kevin McClory. Audiences must have been surprised to see Blofeld pop up out of nowhere after ten years. (His being in a wheelchair and neck brace makes sense if we assume he was crippled by Bond smashing his Bathosub all over the place at the end of Diamonds Are Forever.) Blofeld's pathetic begging and pleading seems out of character, and then of course there's the oft maligned line about buying Bond a "delicatessen in stainless steel". I guess that's an expression that Italian gangsters used to use, but nobody knows that, so it just comes off as stupidly random.
• The title sequence is beautiful, and I think it just might be the best-looking one so far. It's a perfection of everything Maurice Binder has shown us before, with water effects, the most graceful silhouettes yet, and Sheena Easton visible as she sings the theme song.
• Lois Maxwell is officially too old here to play Moneypenny. That's not a slight against her talent. It's just that if you're going to keep up the same flirtatious dynamic between her and Bond, the role needs to be played by someone who doesn't look like an Auntie. Maxwell is fifty-four here, and her playful banter with Bond seems a bit sad and desperate. (And yes, I know that Roger Moore was the same age, but James Bond isn't. I don't believe that Moore is meant to be playing a fifty-three-year-old Bond.)
• The chase sequence after Melina's killing of Gonzales is a great one, both exciting and humorous. Blowing up the Lotus at the start of the sequence is a very in-your-face way of telling the audience that you're dialing back the gadgets. The subsequent race down the mountain and through the olive grove in Melina's Citroen proves we can have just as much fun without oil slicks and rocket launchers.

Full video here: https://youtu.be/lcQm3j9jpM4

If you are still single, unlucky with women, or relying on your right hand a little too much… these ten mistakes might be the reasons why and you might not even know you are making them.

A big part of being successful with women is knowing what NOT to do. You might be talking with a girl, and things are going perfectly well, yet one of these mistakes, a simple five words, could change everything and create an awful perception of yourself. Especially mistake number ten, most guys do this with good intention, but it will instantly kill attraction!

I have made most of these mistakes at some point and have also seen them in my students. But the real reason I know they are mistakes is that I have gotten feedback from thousands of women. I got the truth, the kind of thing they might not admit to their friends or a nice guy they are seeing. They might tell you, “Oh, I’m just not looking to date right now,” “I’m working on myself,” “I just met someone,” “You’re really nice, it’s not you, it’s me. But in this video, I’m about to reveal the real reasons she went cold or became uninterested.

Insecure / Needy

The first mistake is that guys are too needy or insecure.

Women are incredibly sensitive to any guy that is needy and clingy. They often describe it as gross and suffocating. And it’s not what you think. Obviously, constantly blowing up her phone and asking her to meet up all the time will push any girl away. But it’s also the subtle things that you might be doing. Instead of thinking about it in terms of not being needy, let’s think about it as giving her room to chase. It’s important to allow her room to ask to meet up, escalate on you, and give her space to message first.
Another sign of insecurity is wanting an innocent girl that hasn’t been with any other guys or explored her sexuality. If you tell her that you want a “good girl” who hasn’t been with other guys; you are essentially shaming her and making it hard for her to explore those same sexual desires with you.

Being the relationship guy

There’s nothing wrong with wanting a relationship. There is certainly something wrong with reeking desperation. You want the girl to think that she has earned a place in your life. You want to start a relationship from a healthy and emotionally grounded place. You should not even entertain the idea of a relationship until you have properly gotten to know a girl. The on

As a (former?) newcomer to Big Finish, I have been listening to every audio story in order. I'm currently in mid-2002, having listened to 57 serials (all Doctor Who and Bernice). I have no idea what's coming so I could be far off, but Big Finish has shocked me recently with just the amazing uptick in quality and I wanted to share my thoughts with the only other people that could care.

First: the 8th Doctor/Charlie work from "Storm Warning" to "Neverland" is likely the best arc storytelling in Doctor Who that had ever existed at that point. The slow build, especially from "Invaders from Mars" with all of the hints that things weren't quite right with Charlie was well-done. Each of the stories were among the best that Big Finish had done, McGann and Fisher were acting their asses off, and the time-wimey-ness of the plot feels like something more out of the Moffat era than the Classic era. The forgotten people of Neverland are some of my favorite ideas for villains. Daleks quoting Shakespeare! Admittedly, I'm a while away from listening to "Zangreus" so the whole thing could fall like a house of cards, but this is REALLY GOOD stuff. (I hav e a ways to get there. I have 13 more serials just to get out of 2002, let alone however many stories there are in 2003.) Maybe this was helped by releasing them all back-to-back in the monthlys? They all feel connected in ways that Big Finish struggled with.

By way of comparison, the Bernice Somerfield stories in this era are individually great but a mess. Because they were leveraging the novel series continuity, they made the choice to leave out ALL of the major life-changing moments in Benny's life so that all we are left with are good "status quo" stories but where the status quo keeps being different than what we expect. No audio documents her going to work for Brax, her conception, or the birth of Peter. Her whole relationship with Jason and Adrian (as delightfully seen in "Green-Eyed Monsters") is in a new place and we keep never seeing any of that development, only the results. I have expect Peter to be shoved into a time-vortex or aged up or something in the next audio with no explanation because that is the kind of crap Big Finish keeps pulling with her series. Still, I rather like the "family" dynamic of Bernice/Adrian/Jason and hope that they keep that around for a bit. I expect to be disappointed.

And I suppose I should round this out by saying that both of those are amazing compared to the "Excelis" series

I don't want to step on anybody's toes here, but the amount of non-dad jokes here in this subreddit really annoys me. First of all, dad jokes CAN be NSFW, it clearly says so in the sub rules. Secondly, it doesn't automatically make it a dad joke if it's from a conversation between you and your child. Most importantly, the jokes that your CHILDREN tell YOU are not dad jokes. The point of a dad joke is that it's so cheesy only a dad who's trying to be funny would make such a joke. That's it. They are stupid plays on words, lame puns and so on. There has to be a clever pun or wordplay for it to be considered a dad joke.

Again, to all the fellow dads, I apologise if I'm sounding too harsh. But I just needed to get it off my chest.

2021 was the year I got back into gaming after a generation of drifting away from the hobby. In the mid year I gave some backstory and reviewed the first 40 games so with this post i'll drive straight into the 30 games I completed over the past 3 months:

(note: I will omit the few 2021 games I played from this - of which there are 2. If someon is curious I can post them in the comments)

Spyro 2: Riptos Rage - 8/10

Does everything a sequel should do. Spyro 2 leaves the addictive collecting and tight platforming of the first game untouched and builds around it by expanding the level design in size, adding more NPC interactions and throwing in mini games and side quests to break up the platforming sections, but not so much that you get sick of them. Unlike year of the dragon it doesn't fall into the trap of constantly taking you out of the core gameplay, and as such is the most balanced of the spyro games.

Flower - 6/10

A really gorgeous game focused on non-verbal storytelling where you literally play as a petal flowing through open fields, slowly bringing life back to the landscape around you. I've seen people describe this as an "interactive wallpaper" and can't say I really disagree, but that doesn't mean it's not relaxing to play and pretty to look at. Overall it feels like a warmup for ThatGameCompany before they stuck the landing with Journey. Enjoyable but not special today in a sea of similar indie games, though in 2009 this was pretty special. There's a direct throughline between this game's release and the modern artsy indie game scene.

Sonic 3 & Knuckles - 9/10

Personal nostalgia aside, this is clearly the best of the classic sonic trilogy from the mega drive, and one of the greatest 16 bit era platformers ever made. Sonic 2 fixed up the obvious flaws in the original game, and kept momentum and nonlinearity at the forefront of the level design. With no obvious flaws to fix, sonic 3 has the harder task of taking everything good about it’s predecessor and turning it up to 11, and it does exactly that. All the hallmarks of good 2D sonic is here; sprawling labyrinth-like level design, an energetic soundtrack, vibrant colours and cool theme - and sonic 3 adds to that by making every zone seamlessly flow into the next with small cutscenes (sometimes even between acts) that give purpose to the main progression. Of co

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq-ki_wr9JY

> This focus on the Professional–managerial class, it's very relevant for shows like this because many of us watching, listening and participating are part of it in one way or another. And it's important because it reflects a certain type of politics that, even at it's most well-meaning, negates the fundamental project of solidarity and unity, which is driven by a real bottom-up class politics. Which is essential for the actual work of graduating from capitalism, moving to a post-capitalist world, which is the only way to fundamentally deal with the collapse of all Earth living systems that we are experiencing today as well as reconciling the contradictions between the limits of markets — overproduction, global debt cycles. How many more commons are there really left out there to move into the private market? Well, the ones we have left are extremely dangerous and disturbing. We have human genetic materials and we also have the Internet and the technologies of the future, which have already turned into tools of militarization and mass surveillance. So we need a politics that centers democracy and the commons and is built on true broad-based social bonds.

> And in order to understand some of the different sentiments in place, we need to talk about the difference between sympathy and solidarity. Having sympathy with working people is important, but it's not the same as people having solidarity with one another.

> In fact, the theorist, the father of capitalism himself, Adam Smith claimed that the tendency to admire rich people and despise the poor is the great and universal cause of corruption of our moral sentiments. He understood the moral difference here. He was actually quite persuasive in his moral condemnations of certain types of obscene wealth, even as he obviously was a promoter with massive blind spots around capitalism. In our society we often demonize poor & working class people, and then confuse a sympathy which might run counter to that demonization with actual solidarity. Our politics need to be built on solidarity.

> It's not about pity. In Buddhism, there's actually a brilliant teaching on what's called the "near enemies". And these are desirable states that are confused with undesirable states. So as an example, one is equanimity with indifference. Dealing with crisis and seeing things in life and in the world, and

Hello!

If this looks similar this is a hopefully more succinct rewrite of another post I wrote a day ago but this time I'm asking for open-back headphones, but I'm open to both closed-backs and IEMs as long as it fits what I want.

Budget:

As said in the title, I'm looking for open-back headphones or closed-back or IEMs for under 300 dollars, ideally 250 dollars, with a catch: I don't live in the U. S. so a lot of headphones that can be recommended like AKG headphones, Etymotic headphones, or Massdrop collab headphones I can't acquire, or I can but with significant expense because shipping costs.

Source/AMP:

I'm just using an Apple dongle and my iMac to drive my headphones. But I'm willing to adjust and ask for AMP/DAC recommendations if it still fits within budget.

How will the gear be used?:

The headphone in question doesn't have to be portable really because this will be home-use only.

I also would prefer good build quality. It doesn't have to have detachable cables but it does have to not be fragile like my Koss KSC75s because I fear that I'm too clumsy with my equipment.

Preferred tonal-balance:

I don't really know per se. But I do like the sound of the Koss KSC75s better than the Moondrop Arias which I have but I don't find as fun? As interesting? I like how open the headphones feel (or the soundstage) and the tuning, though I don't know exactly why. Though I vastly prefer the Aria for sub-bass because KSC75s don't have sub-bass.

Maybe I'd prefer more bass because according to Crinacle's video on gaming headphones, people looking for immersive headphones need bass-boosted headphones. But that should be secondary to great sound quality in music.

Past-gear experience:

Before my audiophile journey I'd used Bob Marley headphones which are closed-back, on-ear, and very uncomfortable. I started my journey with the KZ ZSTs and KZ ZSN but I no longer like either of their tunings.

I did try the BLON-BL03 and I did remember enjoying it, but when I got the Moondrop Aria I gave away my BLONs and now my Arias are my daily headphones in a sense.

But the best headphone I've used is the Koss KSC75. I prefer the KSC75s over the Arias because of the soundstage and how forgiving the headphones sound on bad mixes and masters, in a sense. With Moondrop Arias when I listen to stuff like John Lennon's Woman (Remastered 2010) or Bow

I've seen so many reviews on how great the machine is. How it is easy yo use and the workouts are hard, but no one seems to address my one question: do the work outs produce any better results than a traditional functional trainer/cable weight stack?

I have a functional trainer I've been lifting hard with for the last year. I lost 35 lbs of mid-section weight and have a lot more muscle definition, but overall still on the small side in terms of muscle mass. I've hit a plateau for the last 6 months, which is normal after newbie gains. I bought this hoping the variety, spotter mode, lift to failure, eccentric, and other modes might induce more muscle hypertrophy than what I can do on traditional cable weights. I'm hoping it will lead me to do more compound lifts.

Does any one with previous lifting experience think the modes that tonal offers gives them any better results than they could have achieved with the same amount of time spent on a functional trainer?

I like my cable weights I have now. Space isn't an issue and changing a pin weight is no big deal. 1 pound increments would be nice, but I can always add a little to the stack if I wanted. So the only thing that matters to me is getting more muscle mass than I can otherwise get with my own equipment. Is the tonal going to help me break the plateau? If not, I can't justify the price no matter how nice it is.

Note to new readers: Book 1, comprising Chapters 1 through 38, have been taken down and moved to Kindle Unlimited. If you're interested in reading the story from the beginning, you can find it here.

For the sake of HFY's Rule 7, here's a 350+ word description of Book 1 in pastebin form so this post doesn't get too cluttered.

--

<You mentioned cars before!> Diplomacy said, in a defensive tone.

Only to Elder Duran, and that was during one of our talks from a few months ago, Rob countered. Were you even ‘awake’ back then?

<Yes.> They paused. <I think. Look, it doesn’t matter. Focus on the Fiends. They’re almost here and you’re still nagging me about a turn of phrase!>

An *Earth* turn of phrase. Rob stifled a groan. Whatever. We’ll talk about this later. Bring out the honeyed words and get your bullshit detector ready, because I’m going to need you at your best.

<Of course,> Diplomacy grumbled. <I still can’t believe I missed the first ever diplomatic meeting between two races – and all because I was sulking.> They smirked. <At least I’ve rubbed off on you enough that you didn’t totally cock it up.>

Rob’s retort died in his mind as the Fiends came into view on the opposite end of the street. To make things fair, both sides represented in the negotiations had agreed upon a meeting location that was as neutral as possible. They’d picked a spot roughly halfway between their two territories that was out in the open road and with as little surrounding cover as possible for any sneaky assassin types to try and Archduke Franz Ferdinand someone. Agreeing to this seemingly obvious location had taken fucking forever to hash out, and the negotiations for the negotiations hadn’t ended there. The amount of people allowed to attend was just as important, as it established the exact kind of dick-waving contest that would be taking place.

In terms of numbers, each side was allowed to bring thirty people as an honor guard of sorts; fifteen Combat Class and fifteen Utility Class users. This left the Deserters in a bit of a dilemma, as they only had thirty Combat Class users to draw from, with seven of them being recently Class-Altered newbies. If they sent their fifteen best to make a good impression at the negotiations, it would leave nearly 1600 civilians in trouble if the Fiends attempted to ambush them while their leaders

We’re excited to announce the winners of our Comfort Zone challenge as well as our Best of 2021!

The event announcement is here: ITAP's End of 2021 Challenge. All challenge entries and winners are shown in our gallery site here: itap.gallery

Comfort Zone

All challenge winners will receive a framed print of their image from FrameItEasy. Winners will also receive a B&H Photo gift card, supplied with the help of Reddit's community funds project.

1st place, $1000 prize: (NSFW) ITAP of my friend trapped beneath glass [Comfort Zone] by u/cptnspaceboyfriend

2nd place, $500 prize: ITAP of a midnight chef [Comfort Zone] by u/tattooedyetiphotos

3rd place, $250 prize: ITAP of a train in the mountains [ComfortZone] by u/taytaylundin

Judges’ prize: $250 prize: ITAP of a hidden waterfall along the fairy tale coast of BC [Comfort Zone] by u/JKeith26

Mods’ prize: $200 prize: (NSFW) ITAP of my friend surrounded by headless mannequins. [COMFORT ZONE] by u/gibbler

Best of 2021

We were lucky to have an external judging panel of photographers and photography trainers this year. The panel chose their favourite images out of the most popular posts of 2021 and added them to 5 categories. Information about the judges and their comments alongside each winner is shown in our gallery (itap.gallery). Judges’ comments are shown in italics.

• 1st prize a category wins a $400 gift card.
• 2nd prize in a category wins a $200 gift card.

Animals and nature - 1st

[ITAP of my cat coming out of his hideout](https://www.reddit.com/r/itookapicture/co

What do you find most listenable?

I appreciate Schoenberg’s Sechs Kleine Pianostuck, which I believe are considered “free tonality” rather than the twelve-tone system he later invented.

Once I heard a Boulez composition whose aesthetic vision was clear to me, the same sense of… communication, vibrancy, order, dynamism, narrative of something like Mussorgsky or something.

Gruppen by Stockhausen I can get into under the right conditions; and I find Mantra definitely to be a profound, successful and evocative piece.

What are your top favourite, genuinely listenable 12-tone pieces?

(By contrast, I found Stravinsky’s Edward Lear twelve-tone song pointless, with no appealing character to it.)

NB: 100% opinionated and personalized list. Choices limited to my personal viewing history, and shows were chosen based on originality, creativity and uniqueness (as those are 3 main factors I look for in TV shows).

Top 25 TV Shows of 2021:

• 25. Reservation Dogs (FX on Hulu)

Reservation Dogs follows a group of 4 Indigenous teenagers living in rural Oklahoma, as they try to make and save money by almost any means necessary, to get away from their boring and despondent lives. It's easy-going, thoughtful, and quite realistic besides the occasional moments of surrealism. The dialogue feels very authentic, and it, along with its charming and slightly quirky characters, provides a lot of witty humor. It's also fun and youthful, especially for a series that aims to capture the mundane of living in a small town such as the one it portrays. But as if like a foreshadowing of what's to be revealed later on, you can sense the dark cloud hanging over the characters' heads from the very 1st episode.

• 24. Invincible (Amazon Prime Video)

Ironically with its old-school art style and visuals, the most attractive thing about Invincible are the bloody, gory and gruesome action sequences. But it has much to give in plot as well; intriguing mysteries, interesting conflicts, thoughtful commentaries on humanity etc., making it one of the better offerings from the comic-book catalog we've seen in a while.

• 23. Supervillain: The Making of Tekashi 6ix9ine (Showtime)

There seems to be a recent uptick in documentaries lately, but most of them don't come with the creative execution seen here in Supervillain: The Making of Tekashi 6ix9ine. Narrated by Giancarlo Esposito, and retracing the rise to fame of one Daniel Hernandez a.k.a Tekashi 6ix9ine, it may surprised you how much of a multifaceted story is told here. From corny fashions, to gangs, to domestic abuse etc., this isn't just a documentary about the controversial rapper, but also one about the attention craved social-media age we live in, where people are constantly exploiting it for fame and money.

• 22. Threesome (Viaplay)

Threesome is a relationship drama that sho

They were cooked in Greece.

Proof

Parting with my excellent condition pair of Focal Aria 936 3-way floor standing speakers in gloss piano black finish. I've used these for about 2 years where they've lived in a dedicated listening room (smoke/pet-free home). No noticeable blemishes to mention. Grilles are clean with no rips as they've been unused. All original speakers, grilles, cleaning cloths, carpet/floor spikes, shipping boxes, paperwork are included as if buying a new set.

If you're looking at these, you likely already know they punch well above their price point. Take some time to position these properly in your room and they really sing and disappear. The flax drivers have a very organic/natural sound, with excellent midrange attack and clarity. Bass is deep and smooth with great texture. The treble is fast and shimmers with nice tonality and precision. I listen to a wide range of music and have thoroughly been impressed with these. These throw a lovely, wide soundstage that fills the room. These speakers are efficient. I've used them with great success with Dennis Had 10-watt SEP tube amps to 150-watt+ solid state Threshold amps, and more. Always dynamic and sweet sounding.

Why am I selling? I just want to try something different in my space and need to free up funds to experiment.

Naturally, local pick-up around Chicagoland is preferred, but I am willing to ship in the continental U.S. via UPS insured. Each speaker ships in it's own box (70 lbs. each). Insured shipping is estimated to be $200 for the pair.

Asking $3,500

Trade feedback: Head-Fi - US Audio Mart - Reddit

Let me open by saying that I'm not terribly optimistic about my options here, as I think it's one of those "unbaking a cake" situations.

I'm mastering a few songs for a band, and one of them has a problem in the mix. It sounds to me like the mixing engineer kept the vocals up front by side-chaining them to the rest of the tonal instruments (piano, guitars, etc) and used either Trackspacer or some other dynamic EQ to make those instruments step out of the way for the vocals. Unfortunately, the mixer was a bit heavy-handed with this, and it's pretty obvious that the instruments lose a lot of presence and fullness during the vocals.

We're now onto the mastering stage, and the direction from the client (the artist) is that they don't want that tonal loss during the vocals. I explained that the best option is to have it changed in the mix, but apparently the mixing engineer was kind of a load for them to work with, and took forever to address changes. Regardless, the client has said that I won't be receiving an updated mix. I haven't had any direct contact with the mixing engineer.

I could always apply some wide EQ bump during the vocal segments to attempt to counteract the previous processing, but this will obviously impact the vocals also, and those are already pretty far forward. I could also apply a similarly wide EQ dip during the NON-vocal sections, but this specific mix is likely going to suffer from that. Besides, both of those solutions seem like ham-fisted ways to try to correct a process that likely had a bunch of detail involved.

My reddit post here is an attempt to generate some way to handle this besides telling the client, "it is what it is." If anyone has any suggestions and/or experience with similar situations, I'd love to hear about it. Thanks for your time!

##Introduction Welcome to the third of six /r/anime Awards 2021 Jury Discusses threads! Today, the lovely fellows of the Cinematography jury are discussing Sonny Boy.

This post was collectively written by the Cinematography Jury of the 2021 /r/anime Awards, organized, edited, and put together by /u/MisterJaguar. The jury chose Sonny Boy for this discussion thread, but its nomination and final ranking are still undecided, and each juror’s individual perspective is also subject to change. Similar perspectives of individual jury members are grouped together for clarity. Sometimes, a juror may be grouped in multiple perspectives if their opinions contribute to multiple stances or are difficult to classify.

This year, we are shifting away from production roles and embracing the ambiguity. As long as the aesthetic of a scene as a whole is examined, and no specific aspect is looked at for far too long before moving to other aspects, I allow jurors to bring up visual elements that may overlap with other categories. However, this category mainly focuses on the elements listed in the questions below.

Jury Members: /u/AdiMG, /u/BEOrophin, /u/Aztecopi, /u/hauntmeagain, /u/irvom, /u/jackachu100, /u/mcadylons, /u/Schinco, /u/tombeet

##The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for the entirety of Sonny Boy. Proceed at your own risk.

##1). At its core, cinematography has often been described as “painting with light”. How well did Sonny Boy manipulate light and shadow to achieve its goals?

It’s lighting is flat and not its most prominent aspect, contributing to an overall aesthetic rather than taking centre-stage often

Sonny Boy often uses minimalist lighting. While it looks clear and functional, it doesn’t do much in terms of deepening its themes. It almost never really uses digital lighting effects. It just relies on back-lit compositions or shots without clear light sources. Even when there is a clear light source, the shadows on characters could change between shots and there is no attempt to make them realistic. It varies from episode to episode but the show generally prefers to arrange entire characters in uniform light. It’s a tool in the show's arsenal and de

Two muffins are in an oven, one muffin looks at the other and says "is it just me, or is it hot in here?"

Then the other muffin says "AHH, TALKING MUFFIN!!!"

Don't you know a good pun is its own reword?

[Rotten tomatoes 61% as of 120 reviews ] (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/venom_let_there_be_carnage)
Critics concensus: >A sequel aimed squarely at fans of the original's odd couple chemistry, Venom: Let There Be Carnage eagerly embraces the franchise's sillier side.

Publication, score
Review

Tribune News 2.5/4 >Doesn't have that sense of joyful discovery and gleeful mischief that the first film did, because it's obviously now a comedy on purpose. But the Venom/Eddie dynamic remains the best buddy action comedy going these days.

Detroit News, D >It's short, cheap looking and maybe made for 8-year-olds. It's only fun if your idea of fun is being screamed at by a demon voice while staring at a mishmash of special effects for an hour and some change.

Chicago Sun Times 2/4 >The fine actors onscreen are mere accessories to the computerized puppets thrashing and slashing and stabbing and biting and roaring and breaking stuff all over the place before only one of them is left standing. Sigh.

NY Magazine Vulture, Rotten >Everyone's in on the joke in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and it's more of a bummer than I could have imagined.

SF Chronicle 0/4 >It's the worst movie Tom Hardy ever made. It's the worst movie Woody Harrelson ever made. And it's the worst movie Michelle Williams ever made.

Bleedingcool, 6.5 >Venom: Let There Be Carnage knows exactly what it wants to be, shows up, and then ends before it gets overly long. While not a great movie, it's much more tonally consistent than the first one and leans into the things that worked.

[Cinemablend 2/5](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/venom-let-there-be-carnage-review-the

For context I'm a Refuse Driver (Garbage man) & today I was on food waste. After I'd tipped I was checking the wagon for any defects when I spotted a lone pea balanced on the lifts.

I said "hey look, an escaPEA"

No one near me but it didn't half make me laugh for a good hour or so!

Edit: I can't believe how much this has blown up. Thank you everyone I've had a blast reading through the replies 😂

Do your worst!

I'm surprised it hasn't decade.

It really does, I swear!