Thursday, December 24, 2015

season 2


23-12-2015: headphone testing

tracks worked on in this vlog:
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj-2

i need to come online quickly post a reassessment of these phones.

when i first put them on, i realized they fit a little oddly but figured i'd get used to it. i walked around and did groceries and thought they sounded great - although they had an exaggerated bottom. when i took them home, that bottom got very muddy. i was sitting upwards the whole time i was testing them. i noticed that they seemed to fit my ears better if i twisted them forward, so the headband was on my forehead, or if i flipped the stereo around. i kind of concluded it was probably a factory defect, and they were meant to have the l and r on opposite sides - although they were wired correctly relative to the labels. i was getting a little remorse.

see, i got a $150 pair of headphones because i was hoping i could use them as a back up studio monitor. the testing i was doing suggested to me that this was a bad decision, and, worse, i'd have to flip the stereo to use them as walking phones. yuck, right.

i eventually got the idea tonight to lie down as i was listening to my 2001 record and everything immediately snapped into place. see, when you're lying down, you want to push the phones forward a little - the headband comes up on your forehead. so, the cups on the phones snapped in and the exaggerated bass disappeared.

so, it's almost like these phones have two settings. as walking phones, the bass is really pretty crazy. as lying down phones, they really balance out and actually sound very nice - not as nice as my very flat 440-IIs, but certainly an upgrade over my last pair of walking phones.

that's something that might be useful to point out about this model. these are sennheiser hd-449s. if you want them reasonably flat, you really have to listen to them lying down.

i'm going to try and mix with them tomorrow to see what happens. if i can use these as stereo backups, i will probably keep them solely for stereo backups and get a pair of $60 phones for walking that don't have these oval, noise isolation pads.

reacting to a review of the new sennheisers

you mentioned something about the ears.

i got a pair of these the other day, and was initially blown away not by the lack of mids but by the exaggerated bass. it was just way too much. what i eventually realized is that you have to push the phones forwards on your head to get them around your ears properly, and if you don't then the improper isolation can really make it sound like you're listening in a hollow cavern. the only way pushing your phones on your head like that makes any sense is if you're lying down.

if you really like an absurdly exaggerated bass, i guess they can work for you as walking phones. but, i'd really suggest that these phones are really only going to sound right if you listen to them on your back, and that applications are planned around that fact accordingly.

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

i've fast-forwarded the vlog until saturday night and will be offline until then, or until i finish the project.
i picked up some new walking phones yesterday. i can't mix with these phones - they are too heavy in their bass. i am getting interference from them that is easily blocked with a blanket, but it's different - it's on the low end.

i think the interference is environmental, but that it's probably a short, too. fixing the short will probably fix the interference.

i'm going to finish the record with the tinfoil and get some new cables in the new year - nothing to lose from trying. no clear conclusion yet.

22-12-2015: new headphones

tracks worked on in this vlog:
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inriclaimed

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

21-12-2015: the predictable quarterly stomach ache

tracks worked on in this vlog:
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/im-sure-your-mom-is-probably-a-very-nice-person

i spent the last two days double-verifying everything and do not plan to make any further changes. but, i need a day or two more to finish it, and then probably a week to finish the peripherals.

new phones are likely tomorrow.

but, we have a holiday in canada called "boxing day" where everything is on sale. it might be worth waiting.

that's the day after christmas.

Saturday, December 19, 2015

19-12-2015: further exploring the lyrical concepts attached to the instrumental mixes on inriclaimed

tracks worked on in this vlog:
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inriclaimed

finalizing i’m sure your mom is probably a very nice person

this track is now closed. i've also stuck with the mix from last july.

the remaining tracks have yet to be uploaded.

https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/im-sure-your-mom-is-probably-a-very-nice-person

https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/omm

finalizing no longer confused

i'm closing this one as well. no changes since july...

there will be a few more mixes of this track coming. if i do any singles, this track will get a single.

https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/no-longer-confused

https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/cnusodef

finalizing yup. i still fuck the dead.

i'm closing this, as well. no alteration since july.

the pattern is clearly that the mixes were stable all along, and it was the playback that altered. that's now clear, although it wasn't for quite some time.

https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/yup-i-still-fuck-the-dead

finalizing just say no to mood altering prescription drugs

i had remixed this track in september, but i was confused about what the natural conditions of the output should have been. i double compressed it, which squished the fuck out of the drums.

i have replaced the september version with the initial july version and closed the track.

https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/just-say-no-to-mood-altering-prescription-drugs

https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/open

splitting the ry30 mixes off from inrimixed

i had decided to add an extra component to inrimixed of ry30 mixes. i've decided to split this off into it's own idea, and include ry30 material that was created after period 1.2. so, this will now be inri05x and positioned at the end of period 2.

that opens up some more spaced on inrimixed for loose ends that i think ought to be released.

https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/ry30-remixes

18-12-2015: the lyrical concepts originally attached to the instrumental remixes on inriclaimed

tracks worked on in this vlog:
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inriclaimed

Friday, December 18, 2015

i'm extremely confident that i've worked the driver issue i've been having down to an issue of radio interference. i also believe that there is magnetic interference in the neighbourhood, likely emanating from the power lines. i believe that the issue is as follows:

1) there is a short in my headphones. this was one of the first things i checked, and rejected, because i got the same issue out of two sets of headphones. but, i believe now that there are actually shorts in both phones, against the odds.

2) the magnetic field in the neighbourhood is interacting with the short, which is charging the phones.

3) this is turning the phones into a radio antenna, which is picking up radio frequency interference from local broadcasters (and perhaps other random sources, as well).

i will need to purchase new headphones next week, because my walking phones shorted out entirely. i will be able to better understand the nature of the problem then, and likely confirm the above hypothesis.

in the mean time, i have been able to block the radio waves by shielding my phones with tin foil. as such, i expect to finally finalize this remix record by the end of the weekend. this will allow me to complete a large amount of filing over the next few weeks, and be ready to move into period 3 by the beginning of the new year.

https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inriclaimed

finalizing i still don't fully understand this

this track is also closed. not altered.

even with the tinfoil, i'm picking up a little bit of signal right now. i'm going to tentatively suggest it's because it's friday night and the magnetic field is stronger due to the lines being at peak electrical use, do something else for a few hours and reapproach a little after midnight.

https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/i-still-dont-fully-understand-this

finalizing in some neighbourhoods, the boogeyman is slightly more than an imaginary monster

this track is closed. not altered.

https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/in-some-neighbourhoods-the-boogeyman-is-slightly-more-than-an-imaginary-monster

https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/ogyanemob