Halo 4 Review

Inspiration by Monster Review

Score: 9.2/10-Near Perfect

Pros: Great vibrant sound, look and feel, solid construction, detachable aux cables, works without batteries.
Cons: Costly and a bit on the heavy side.

Monster Inspiration Unboxing

The new Monster headphone featuring active noise cancellation.  They are a high performance and high style headphone.  Featuring interchangeable headbands which can be purchased separately.  Coming in at $300 these are on the higher end market.

Sonos Playbar

Overview: The people at Sonos have officially moved into your living room.  They have created what they have dubbed the "PLAYBAR".  9 speakers, wireless connectivity, Bluetooth and high fidelity sound.  You can complete;y manage the Playbar through your phone and stream music as well.  Coming in at $700 can the device deliver quality at such a fee?  We will find out on its release 03/05/12.

Big Jambox by Jawbone Review

Overview:

Portable audio that replaces your boom box and maybe even your stereo shelf unit.  Jawbone first released the Jambox a wireless speaker with built-in rechargeable battery.  It connected to your device via auxiliary cable or wirelessly through Bluetooth connection.  The Big Jambox is just that it is a bigger version of the Jambox about 2x the size and about C-note more costly.

Sound:

This unit pumps out the volume.  Many people would be surprised to find this was a portable audio device and not a full fledged stereo unit based on volume alone.  The quality of this sound is great considering the small form factor.  It does leave a bit desired on the low end.  Bass is present but not thumping.  The mids and highs however come across clear and pronounced on nearly everything I played through the unit.  Also works a speaker phone when paired with you phone.  Voice comes across loud and clear and is great for speakerphone situations.  Also you have to option of LiveAudio  which gives you a simulated surround sound effect .  It works well only if you are direct in front of the unit providing 3d sound-shapes   For most situations you will want to keep this feature off.  As it takes some of the overall punch away from the sound.

Design:

The unit is amazingly portable weighing in about as heavy as a ultrabook 2.7 lbs.  Its has metal mesh over the unit minus the sides and 8 feet on the bottom of the unit for stability which are made of a rubberized soft material.  Located on the top you have Play/pause, skip and volume buttons.  It comes in three colors and designs; Graphite Hex, White Wave, and Red Dot.  You have on one side of the unit the power and pairing buttons.  Also located on the same side you have a mini usb for firmware  updates and a DC charging port.  This unit is unable to charge via USB like its predecessor (maybe due to the larger battery).  The battery will last up to 15 hours when connected through a auxiliary cable and around 9 to 12 when connected via blue tooth.  Overall it’s a rugged and durable feeling design while still maintaining a sleek and modern look.

Conclusion:

The unit with is incredible battery and loudness is the ultimate portable speaker system.  At $300 the unit is definitely pricey but is the best in the $300 and under category.  The sound could use some more rounded fullness.  Considering the small form factor I don’t believe more speaker could have been packed in.  

Score:  9/10 Amazing

Pros:  Amazing battery life, easy connectivity, Cool design/form factor, Clear undistorted sound at incredibly high volumes.

Cons:  Lack of bass, Costly($300).

Astro A50 Review

Overview:

The Astro A50s come packaged in a nice urban stylized box.  Inside the box you receive the wireless headset, mix amp, head phone and mix amp stand.  Also included is the power cable, charging cable, Xbox 360 chat cable and a digital audio cable.  Featuring a built in rechargeable battery.  The headset is very solid feeling.  It is a cross of metal and plastic with the hinges being metal and the headband of plastic.  The ear pads have a felt material covering a memory foam type of material.  On the head set you have built in mix amp controls.  The left ear cup has a no removable microphone that mutes when pushed into the upright position.  Also it has the mini USB used for charging and a auxiliary port for Xbox chat.  The right ear cup has a 3 way switch for eq settings, a master volume, and a game volume and chat volume mixer.

Sound:

The A50s have a 3 position switch for eq settings; Flat, Media, and Astro.  For gaming and most of my use I used the Astro setting.  The sound coming through this headset is massive.  Bass response is great and booms with every explosion and engine roar.  The passive noise isolation works great for making the world around you disappear into the audio bliss.  Also sound leakage is kept at a minimal, so you are not disturbing those around you.  Footsteps are clearly heard and the 5.1 audio does a great job of letting you know where they are coming from.  Overall sound quality is excellent and works for any genre of game.  The roar of the engines in Forza Horizion sounded life like and powerful.  The firefights and explosions in Halo 4 were pulse pounding.   The Mixer works well for balancing game audio and voice audio.  You can adjust this on the fly via the right ear cup.  The A50s are great for listening to music also.  The flat eq setting is great for providing clear warm audio with ample bass without distorting the music.   It’s worth noting that the Turtle Beach xp500 have better positional audio Technology even though it makes everything else sound artificial (in case you are comparing.)   Outside of that this is the supreme sounding headset for gaming and is also great for media also.

Comfort:

This headset is the most comfortable gaming headset I have even used.  I owned the Trittion 720, Turtle Beach PX3, Sony Pulse and the Turtle Beach xp500.  The A50s blow the competition away in comfort in my opinion.  In my opinion the Sony Pulse was a very comfy set and the T.B.s  have never passed average for me.  The only hindrance to comfort is the A50s are on the heavy side and after about 3 hours cause some slight fatigue.  The ear cups are large and cushy providing ours of comfort.

Conclusion:

Coming in at $300, this is a pricey headset.  In return for the price you get the BEST gaming headset on the market (or at least that I have used).  Comfort is a step beyond the competition providing hours on end of sublime gaming comfort.  Sound quality overall is best in class (outside of positional audio.)

Score:  9.7/10 Phenomenal

Pros:  Excellent sound quality, Solid build design, Extremely comfortable, Rechargeable battery with 8 hr + life.

Cons:  They are a little heavy, Firmware update needed for audio quality, Short recharge cable, Costly.

N-Pulse by Monster Review

• Pros: Great mids with tight bass response,  Balanced sound overall.  Solid build quality,  Great passive noise isolation. 
• Cons: Fatigue caused from clasping of the ear cups,  sometimes the highs come across harsh

Score: 8/10 

Best value in the Monster line up

PlayStation Event Predictions

PlayStation 4 event predictions

1.  The new PlayStation will drop the number all together. In favor of a subtitle or just the PlayStation name.  

2.  Contrary to the leaked reports.  The new system will feature a new chipset from AMD.  It will have a minimum 500gb hard drive with a 750gb model also available at launch.

3.  The PlayStation Store remains mostly unchanged outside of just featuring the PS4 content.

4.  Entry price point will be a minimum of $500.

5.  New controllers will feature NFC tech built in and will again offer Bluetooth connectivity.

6.  PlayStation Plus subscription becomes mandatory for those wishing to access online content.

7.  Watch Dogs and a new Unreal Tournament are timed exclusives.

DMC: devil may cry Review

DMC:devil may cry Review

Overview:​​​​​

Dante is back in a prequel/reboot of the infamous DMC series. He is a wholly new Dante with a new developer Ninja Theory(Heavenly Sword and Enslaved) built from the ground up on the Unreal Engine 3. Dante is now a Nephilim a half angel and demon creature instead of half human and demon. Concerns have been raised with the new look and style of the game. We will get into all the details and see if we have a new hack n slash king or another dissapointment like DMC 2...

Graphics/Presentation:​

DMC is a georgeous game throughout. The only shortcomings presented by DMC is the inability to maintain the over the top graphical flair shown in the first 30 min of game play. You have oversaturated colors and lens flare running rampant. Levels like Virility and The Plan have bland passages. At the same time you have levels like Breaking News which are visionary stand outs. It is a mixed bag in art direction but the draw backs can't hold back to sheer graphic awe this title sheds with every move. Devil trigger unleashes a over the top inky black and White filter(similiar to the Street Fighter IV trailers)all in all a sinfully beautiful package. It has lost a bit of its gothic roots but in return we a highly stylized world to compliment Dante's style driven move set. The impact of the world being converted to limbo as Dante is dragged into limbo is awesome. The world breaks apart, shifts and the lens filters change. It is impactful and distinguished when things are turning for the worse.

Gameplay:

I think it is important to note that this devil runs at 30fps.(unfortunately unreal 3 games seem to be stuck here). This may be a concern to longtime fans worried about precise movement and animations. I can officially say this is the smoothest 30fps I have ever encountered (although Halo 4 is a honorable mention). Never in my play through was the frame rate a hindrance to the on screen action. Dante moves with near twitch like perfection as he slays the horde of demons before you. That being said however the new control scheme is cumbersome to begin with(It took most of my first play through to get it right). You have the two triggers dedicated to angelic or demon weapons(angel=quick/light, Demon=heavy) and their grapple hooks(angel and demon hook) one pulls you to enemies the other pulls enemies to you. You also have three different evades available your standard evade, demon and angelic. The angelic evade sends you through "Limbo" when timed correctly. This sounds cool but the result is you move a great distance from your attacker. Not the most ideal scenario for attacking after the evade. The Demon evade is where it is at! When timed correctly this gives a tremendous boost to style and damage for several seconds. If you want to achieve SSS on stylish points, this is in my opinion is the only evade worth perfecting. You have a jump, attack and launch buttons. Clicking in both thumbsticks engages Devil Trigger. This is the most accessible DMC ever made in terms of story, combos and difficulty. They new style system does not punish you for not being overly aggressive and gives you the freedom to try new moves and combos without the risk of losing your style ranking. Which only resets during battle if you are hit by a enemy. Also woth noting about it being accessible it is the easiest DMC since DMC2 for a number of reasons. Enemies are less aggressive and do less damage than in past games. Enemies give and visual and audible que when attacking. This makes evading attacks simple and prevents cheap attacks. Boss battles are strictly pattern based(spoiler alert except for Virgil) and predictable. The Boss battles are dissapointing overall and dont really test your combat skills as a whole just your evade abilities. This is in stark contrast to DMC1,3,4 and a step backwards for the series. The game provides you with multiple check points throughout most levels. Also making it easier is the best camera of the series and possibly the genre. The entire game is definitely easier than DMC 1&3. I really think it feels more refined, balanced and fair in the same breath. Training mode is new and a great addition. Its needed in a game where you can infinitely chain together your combos and have a move set as large as a fighting game. I hope to see this as a staple throughout the hack n slash genre in the future. For the first time in the series you cannot lock on to enemies. Not as big of a deal as one would think. The game does a wonderful job filling in the blanks 99% of the time, but you will still find issue when fighting a mix of air and ground enemies. I would have liked to see the lock on system replace the useless angel evade on the control set. Dmc swordplay has never been smoother or more over the top. Dantes multiple weapons and aerial combat stream together effortlessly. You can switch through all of your weapons mid combo via the D-Pad(this is a better system on the PS3. 360's mushy d-pad causes swapping errors at times.) It makes the combat feel organic and natural. However the same cannot be said for the gunplay(the awesome Trickster Mode from DMC3 this is not). I rarely used anything other than the shotgun in battle. The need of the guns is only driven by the airborne enemies. To mix up things in combat you have fire and ice styled enemies which only respond to your Angelic and/or Demon weapons. It seems the developers intent was to mix up combat but really all they did was make you feel constrained in combat. It became more of a nusance than a thought provoking strategy element. Even on its hardest levels you will find yourself chopping down demons with out much problem with your demon evades and generous check points. I would have liked to have seen more challenge on the hardest difficulties. Also you have more collectables this time around. You have the staple secret missions, however these are now behind locked doors that you must find keys for throughout the levels. This requires you play the game atleast twice before you can unlock them all. In addition to the secret missions you have Lost Souls hidden throughout the level that you free via melee attacks. You are looking at a first playthrough of about 10hrs not including the secret missions and lost souls hidden in nearly every level.

Sound:

DMC is loaded with over-the-top sounds.  From the beat driven music of Combichrist to the hiss of the demons it delivers.  Each one of the demons has a distinct sound and you know what enemy is in the enviroment even if you don't see them in your line of sight.  While a far cry from the best voice acting..  DMC delivers the best in its series and genre.  Dante is fortunately more subdued and not contantly making quips and one liners during combat ala DMC3.  The guns sound like the originals the pistols and shotgun pack the same artificial punch as the original DMC1.  The swords each have a distinctive sounds. The angelic weapons have a very clean and precise kitana like sound.  The demon weapons are a very heavy sound like they are infused with the roar of thunder.  Each level seems tailored to bring a diffrent emotion through the soundtrack.  It is all edited nicely and ties in well with the story scenarios.

Story:

In its infancy it starts out strong building your new back story.  The pacing in the first few chapters feels great but drags a little around mission 5.  Helping is the fact that Dante is coming into his own and figuring out just what and who he is and what happened to his parents for the first time.  You have a story that is simple but engaging.  The demon king Mundus has infiltrated the earth and is poisoning humans minds with news, debt and a drink called virility.  If that wasn't enough he is planning a takeover and just so happened to have murder your mother and enslaved your father.  As you can see you have a story driven on freedom and revenge.  Even though Dante is now Nephilim (DEMON/ANGEL) he has never been more humanized and it helps the player relate.  It really helps pacing knowing why we are doing what we are doing.  Each mission has a clear directive before it starts helping you be more engaged in the story as it unfolds.  Engagement in a hack n slash story?  I know its strange but DMC has it along with all the other goods that have made it a premiere franchise.  People have accused the dialogue and story being immature.  I disagree completely and feel like a creature like Dante would come across arrogant and self absorbed with no mission in life.  However you see character development and a change in his demeanor towards the end when he has purpose(not life changing but a shift is notable).  In the end I am not sure the direction the series will head but I am more invigorated about the series than ever.

Score:  9.5/10 -Sensational

Pros:  Awesomely fluid gameplay and move set, Nice array of enemies, Best story since DMC1, Training Arena, Limbo effects.

Cons:  No lock-on, Lack of difficuly, Weak and few inbetween boss enounters.

?:  When are we getting the Bloody Palace DLC!

N-Pulse by Monster unboxing

N-Pulse by Monster Unboxing

By Mashma     2/9/2013

The N-Pulse by Monster unboxing!

Aiaiai TMA-1 Studio unboxing

AIAIAI TMA-1 Studio Unboxing

By Mashma     2/9/2013

Unboxing of the AIAIAI TMA-1 Studio

Aiaiai TMA-1 Studio Review

AIAIAI TMA-1 Studio Review

By Mashma 2/9/2013       Rating: 8/10

Video review on the AIAIAI TMA-1 Studio. A new and upcoming company, AIAIAI is based out of Denmark. At $250 the TMA-1 studios are up against a crowded and competitive market. I would say the Studios deliver the best Mids and Highs in their price range, but leave much to be desired in bass response. The PU earpads are made cheaply and leak a lot of sound, while the protein leather are much more comfy and help with better passive sound isolation. I would recommend these to anyone who doesn't listen to hip-hop or Dubstep.

PROS:  Crystal Clear Audio.  Great Sounding Mids and Highs.  Very balanced Audio.  Extras(ear pads, 1/4 inch Jack and storage bag).  Comfort and simple/durable design.

CONS:  Lack of Deep Bass.  Cheaply glued ear pads. sound leakage.