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THE BEST iTunes plugin EVAAAAH!
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Baninated
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For $20 bucks, it had better.
OK, just downloaded and am trying it out. And it does seem to work as advertised. Hmm, may be the next shareware some $$ is plunked down for.
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Last edited by Randman; Aug 17, 2004 at 01:29 PM.
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Baninated
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Right on, this rocks. My $20 is ready.
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Mac Elite
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It certainly takes a toll on CPU usage too.
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Mac Elite
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Originally posted by foobars:
It certainly takes a toll on CPU usage too.
It's remastering your music on the fly, which requires some oomph
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Posting Junkie
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The nagging on the demo is a turn off. Plus, it would be nice if it could actually be used on the iTunes window and not in a separate window.
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Mac Enthusiast
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Originally posted by Randman:
The nagging on the demo is a turn off. Plus, it would be nice if it could actually be used on the iTunes window and not in a separate window.
Well, see if you might be able to offer some feedback. The plug-in hasn't changed from v. 1.0 in the past 8 months.
Neo.cmg
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Mac Enthusiast
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<sarcasm>Makes you wonder why producers don't run their final mixdowns through it, just plug an output from your $20,000 mixing desk into an iBook and away you go!</sarcasm>
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Mac Elite
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its a very valid point. plus I swear that my songs sound worse since I installed it (when its not on). Think its all a bit dodgy... plus can't find the uninstaller. Which annoys me (as it specifically said to uninstall)
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Posting Junkie
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If you search for "Volume", you should see the uninstaller there.
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Baninated
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I am going to do some research on it.
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Mac Elite
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yeah did find it (about a couple of seconds after posting) but felt silly so ran away!
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Addicted to MacNN
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Originally posted by Mr Scruff:
<sarcasm>Makes you wonder why producers don't run their final mixdowns through it, just plug an output from your $20,000 mixing desk into an iBook and away you go!</sarcasm>
Actually, Octiv does sell tools for broadcast and pro audio: http://www.octiv.com/index.asp?conte...sandtechnology
Chris
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This is a utility in BIAS Peak: BIAS SqweezTM dynamic compressor/limiter VST plug-in
Just thought I'd share.
it should do what Volume Logic does, just not as convenient.
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Clinically Insane
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Originally posted by demograph68:
This is a utility in BIAS Peak: BIAS SqweezTM dynamic compressor/limiter VST plug-in
Just thought I'd share.
it should do what Volume Logic does, just not as convenient.
That's just a standard compressor, AFAICS.
Volume Logic ****s around with frequencies as well.
If I think there's a computer feature that knows what music is supposed to sound like better than the recording and mastering engineers that spent weeks of work and decades of experience on it, I think I'll opt to mangle it with iTunes' built-in Sound-****-upper^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^HEnhancer first.
-s*
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Baninated
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Eh, I have heard some pretty dead mixes that producers have came up with.
They are fallible.
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Clinically Insane
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Originally posted by Zimphire:
Eh, I have heard some pretty dead mixes that producers have came up with.
They are fallible.
This is true.
If you feel this helps, go for it, by all means.
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Dedicated MacNNer
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I have been using this plug-in for a year... it's awesome. It makes a huge difference to acoustic and classical music. Haven't noticed much difference in other genres..
I do not think it messes up the sound... but there's no pleasing some people
One thing airtunes by-passes the plug-in...so it will not work with your home cinema via airtunes.
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Senior User
Join Date: Oct 2000
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I'm a "highly trained" sound engineer (10 years) and I've been using this plug in ever since it came out. It's not about what it does, it's about how much better it sounds. mp3's have always sounded thin to me, yeah even Apple's AAC so this helps a lot. I was crushed when I realized that it doesn't work through airtunes. It's really just a multi band Compressor slash EQ and it gets my vote.
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Dual 1 Gig DDR & 15' Powerbook 867 MHz, Sony Ericsson T637 phone
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Mac Enthusiast
Join Date: Feb 2001
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Originally posted by chezpaul:
I'm a "highly trained" sound engineer (10 years) and I've been using this plug in ever since it came out. It's not about what it does, it's about how much better it sounds. mp3's have always sounded thin to me, yeah even Apple's AAC so this helps a lot. I was crushed when I realized that it doesn't work through airtunes. It's really just a multi band Compressor slash EQ and it gets my vote.
'How much better it sounds'. Well if you like all of your music to be uniformly compressed and slightly clipped then perhaps it does make everything sounds better.
Although, to be honest if you're just playing the music back through laptop speakers or crappy computer speakers then it wouldn't matter either way.
If you're talking about applying this stuff prior to playing back through proper hifi then I have to question the logic...
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Baninated
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Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
This is true.
If you feel this helps, go for it, by all means.
But you are right. Some songs just don't sound as good with it on.
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Junior Member
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Originally posted by Neo.cmg:
Well, see if you might be able to offer some feedback. The plug-in hasn't changed from v. 1.0 in the past 8 months.
Neo.cmg
It's acutally at version 1.01 and it's been that way for awhile.
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Last edited by G-Force; Sep 26, 2004 at 02:54 PM.
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Baninated
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I am going to email them asking what new features are going to be added.
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Professional Poster
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hampton Roads, VA
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Originally posted by chezpaul:
I'm a "highly trained" sound engineer (10 years) and I've been using this plug in ever since it came out. It's not about what it does, it's about how much better it sounds. mp3's have always sounded thin to me, yeah even Apple's AAC so this helps a lot. I was crushed when I realized that it doesn't work through airtunes. It's really just a multi band Compressor slash EQ and it gets my vote.
This line of thinking is why current albums have absolutely ZERO dynamic range. Multiband compressors are so completely over used...
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All glory to the hypnotoad.
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Baninated
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I don't care what it is. It just sounds good.
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Mac Elite
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It's not working when I try to download it. It just times out...?
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Clinically Insane
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I dunno about all the engineering mumbo-jumbo, but I thinks I like this. Apple should license this technology for the next version of iTunes, Airtunes and the iPod. That would rock. I think I'm going to throw $20 down for this.
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Baninated
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Same here. They should imbed something like this into the iPod.
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2003
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I put it on a Pink Floyd tune and wanted to puke when I heard what it did to it.
Guess I could see how it could be good if you like that over-compressed, no dynamics, muddied bass sound... to each his own.
Originally posted by chezpaul:
I'm a "highly trained" sound engineer (10 years) and I've been using this plug in ever since it came out. It's not about what it does, it's about how much better it sounds. mp3's have always sounded thin to me, yeah even Apple's AAC so this helps a lot. I was crushed when I realized that it doesn't work through airtunes. It's really just a multi band Compressor slash EQ and it gets my vote.
remind me to never hire you for an audio project.
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The only thing necessary for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing
- Edmund Burke
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Addicted to MacNN
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Originally posted by Zimphire:
Same here. They should imbed something like this into the iPod.
Absolutely not. If this rocks your boat, by install it by all means. For me, it ruins my music.
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Nov 2000
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I've tested this "plug-in" for about a week now. I think the result depends a lot on music genre. I find "Bj�rk" and Ambient-like music to sound amazingly applying this plug-in. How-ever my punk-rock collection sounds like trash with it enabled. I can see this plug-in is not for everyone.
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Sniffer gone old-school sig
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Baninated
Join Date: Jul 2002
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Yeah it's good for some songs, and not for others. You can easily turn it off.
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Posting Junkie
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Originally posted by Zimphire:
Yeah it's good for some songs, and not for others. You can easily turn it off.
But for $20, I personally expect more. It's an interesting app and I hope the developers continue to work on it.
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Addicted to MacNN
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Paco De Lucia, John McLaughlin and Al Di Meola sound pretty good using this plug-in. Thanks for the info.
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Clinically Insane
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Originally posted by Randman:
But for $20, I personally expect more.
You mean something that can analyze the music for instrumentation and musicality and your stereo for quality, and then change settings accordingly, the way highly-trained mastering engineers get paid to do for each song individually BEFORE you choose to "improve" on them with one-size-fits-all bogus effects?
If they do go magic, then they should at least implement a "taste protection" function, where the plug-in automatically registers that a person with even absolutely minimal audio sense has entered the room and gracefully just switches itself off.
-s*
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Professional Poster
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Alot of stuff that I have were never remastered when they were put onto CD's. For example, early stuff from the The Cure, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Siouxsie & the Banshees, etc. They have sounded rather quiet and dull until now. I am more than impressed!
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Clinically Insane
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Originally posted by demograph68:
Alot of stuff that I have were never remastered when they were put onto CD's. For example, early stuff from the The Cure, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Siouxsie & the Banshees, etc. They have sounded rather quiet and dull until now. I am more than impressed!
"Quiet" is generally a GOOD thing.
It means that you actually have dynamic range.
On those LOUD RECORDS YOU GET THESE DAYS, THE DYNAMIC RANGE IS SOMEWHERE AROUND 0.5-1 DB, WHICH IS THE EQUIVALENT OF SOMEBODY SHOUTING AND SHOUTING AND SHOUTING THE ENTIRE TIME, AND WHICH HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH ANY KIND OF MUSICAL SENSE. PROPERLY MASTERED MATERIAL WILL naturally sound quiet when listened to against stuff that has been totally ****ed up in accordance with radio-trained listening habits. (Read the links I provided above for a little background info from a mastering engineer who's fed up with having to willfully destroy the music he's supposed to be enhancing.)
It will also sound "dull" if it has not been treated with those terrible stereo enhancers and exciters that MaKe the SoUnD sO iNtErEsTiNg AnD lIvElY. And destroy any semblance of stereo imaging or audio fidelity. (That said, there were an AWFUL lot of back-catalogue CD releases in the '80s and '90s that sounded atrocious due to careless mastering from inferior - i.e. fourth- or fifth-generation - master tapes.)
You may find it interesting to know that most commercial radio stations no longer meet the minimal standards of audio fidelity set by the Hi-Fi norms committees of the 1960s.
If that is the sound you want and need, buy this plug-in.
-s*
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Posting Junkie
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Originally posted by demograph68:
I am more than impressed!
Enough to pay for it?
(BTW, I'm not against the software nor the price. Trust me, I have tons of shareware paid for and registered, it's just that it seems to be a hit or miss app).
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Mac Elite
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Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
If they do go magic, then they should at least implement a "taste protection" function, where the plug-in automatically registers that a person with even absolutely minimal audio sense has entered the room and gracefully just switches itself off.
Lol
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Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
"Quiet" is generally a GOOD thing.
It means that you actually have dynamic range.
On those LOUD RECORDS YOU GET THESE DAYS, THE DYNAMIC RANGE IS SOMEWHERE AROUND 0.5-1 DB, WHICH IS THE EQUIVALENT OF SOMEBODY SHOUTING AND SHOUTING AND SHOUTING THE ENTIRE TIME, AND WHICH HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH ANY KIND OF MUSICAL SENSE. PROPERLY MASTERED MATERIAL WILL naturally sound quiet when listened to against stuff that has been totally ****ed up in accordance with radio-trained listening habits. (Read the links I provided above for a little background info from a mastering engineer who's fed up with having to willfully destroy the music he's supposed to be enhancing.)
It will also sound "dull" if it has not been treated with those terrible stereo enhancers and exciters that MaKe the SoUnD sO iNtErEsTiNg AnD lIvElY. And destroy any semblance of stereo imaging or audio fidelity. (That said, there were an AWFUL lot of back-catalogue CD releases in the '80s and '90s that sounded atrocious due to careless mastering from inferior - i.e. fourth- or fifth-generation - master tapes.)
You may find it interesting to know that most commercial radio stations no longer meet the minimal standards of audio fidelity set by the Hi-Fi norms committees of the 1960s.
If that is the sound you want and need, buy this plug-in.
-s*
SH, I've got to agree with you.
While I don't claim to be the most golden-eared hifi snob, I do have high standards. Most current albums/recordings sound like crap. Highly compressed engineering designed for FM radio and $50 boom boxes.
Unfortunately, a lot of the music I like is recorded this way, so basically I'm screwed. But at least some artists (Sarah McLachlan and U2 in particular) make sure their music is mastered well. The difference between well mastered and radio-centric mastering is like night and day.
And it doesn't take a high-dollar stereo to hear the difference. I have a not terribly expensive, but carefully-chosen, rig: Adcom amp, Rotel preamp, Marantz CD player, Phase Tech speakers and Audioquest cabling.
iTunes music store files sound fine in my car and on my iPod earbuds, but very thin on my home rig.
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Baninated
Join Date: Jul 2002
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If it makes me enjoy music more, that's all that matters.
I try not to be too big of a snob. After all, music is just entertainment.
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: 888500128, C3, 2nd soft.
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Originally posted by Zimphire:
If it makes me enjoy music more, that's all that matters.
I try not to be too big of a snob. After all, music is just entertainment.
In the end, THAT is what matters.
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Professional Poster
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hampton Roads, VA
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Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
"Quiet" is generally a GOOD thing.
It means that you actually have dynamic range.
On those LOUD RECORDS YOU GET THESE DAYS, THE DYNAMIC RANGE IS SOMEWHERE AROUND 0.5-1 DB, WHICH IS THE EQUIVALENT OF SOMEBODY SHOUTING AND SHOUTING AND SHOUTING THE ENTIRE TIME, AND WHICH HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH ANY KIND OF MUSICAL SENSE. PROPERLY MASTERED MATERIAL WILL naturally sound quiet when listened to against stuff that has been totally ****ed up in accordance with radio-trained listening habits. (Read the links I provided above for a little background info from a mastering engineer who's fed up with having to willfully destroy the music he's supposed to be enhancing.)
It will also sound "dull" if it has not been treated with those terrible stereo enhancers and exciters that MaKe the SoUnD sO iNtErEsTiNg AnD lIvElY. And destroy any semblance of stereo imaging or audio fidelity. (That said, there were an AWFUL lot of back-catalogue CD releases in the '80s and '90s that sounded atrocious due to careless mastering from inferior - i.e. fourth- or fifth-generation - master tapes.)
You may find it interesting to know that most commercial radio stations no longer meet the minimal standards of audio fidelity set by the Hi-Fi norms committees of the 1960s.
If that is the sound you want and need, buy this plug-in.
-s*
You're my new favorite MacNN user. Exactly what needed to be said.
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All glory to the hypnotoad.
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Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Montreal, Canada
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Is there any mp3 player on the market with something remotely similar to Volume Logic built-in?
I'm not looking to sell my iPod mini Just curious.
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jul 2003
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Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
"Quiet" is generally a GOOD thing.
Perhaps not the right word though I tested it with a song from The Cure called "A Forest". The original released version from the album Seventeen Seconds sounds very dull compared to the remastered version from the later album Staring At The Sea- The Singles.I don't consider the latter to be "loud". I think it sounds better because it has more contrast with it's "lights and shades", as it was put in the Stereophile article. [Of Topic] Is it possible for me to correct the "range" of those sort of songs without having it sound like sh1t? (aka, not over-compressed, clipped, etc.) Should I try it with the BIAS Squeez� plugin mentioned above?[/Of Topic]
(
Last edited by demograph68; Sep 19, 2004 at 01:41 AM.
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Sydney, Australia
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I find it makes my 12" PowerBook speakers substantially more tolerable, but when connected to an actual hifi, it makes most music sound disgusting.
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You can't eat all those hamburgers, you hear me you ridiculous man?
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Baninated
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: The Moon
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Originally posted by qnxde:
I find it makes my 12" PowerBook speakers substantially more tolerable, but when connected to an actual hifi, it makes most music sound disgusting.
Yes.. that is it's purpose. To make smaller speakers sound better.
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