SAMSUNG SOUNDCAMP UPGRADE SYNAPSE CIRCUIT

SYNAPSE CIRCUIT
SAMSUNG SOUNDCAMP UPGRADE
GALAXY NOTE 4 &
GALAXY S6 / S6 EDGE

Goodhour, Synapse Circuit Readers! How are you? It’s great to see you as always! I hope that you are tip-top and getting on well with your tech! You have to start doing some tech projects and stretch your knowledge! Challenge yourself! Check this article out on the advantages of building your own website: Vital WYSIWYG Web Design & HTML5 Animation & Multimedia

Did you get a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 or Galaxy S6 / S6 Edge? Have you dipped into the art of music making? You should!

#Samsung #Soundcamp

SOUNDCAMP 5.3.2.5
The last time I played around with Samsung’s Soundcamp that came preinstalled on my Galaxy Note 4 I thought it was really promising... True to form Samsung has updated it twice this month alone! It looks and feels better! But I think that there is still room for improvement!

But I have to say that it’s a great pleasure to play around with Soundcamp as it stands... Here’s where I think it can be improved:-

DOUBLE TAP
Recording MIDI input in real time can be daunting for non-musicians so it would be useful to double tap on a track and you get the MIDI editor so that you can enter notes in what is known as “step time” (for all you non-musicians out there).

DRUM KIT
The drum kit features traditional and electronic percussion which sound great; I just would like to be able to create more drum kits through using high quality samples in the WAV format and to graphically configure the look of my custom made kit with supplied graphics or my own!

ADDING NOTES
It would have been advantageous to add notes during playback; this would increase creativity thus productivity.

Another useful aspect would be to keep the note length the same as the last note entered; occasionally I would input a longer note than intended and would have to erase and re-enter.

GENERAL INTERFACE
I would like to add a magnifying glass – so to speak – to zoom in on the interface. I would also like to be able to scroll more efficiently on the tracks and MIDI editor in general. There were times when I found it a little cumbersome to go directly where I wanted to go to do some fine editing.

MORE INSTRUMENTS
I think that more instruments are needed and I am sure that they will come as Samsung appear to be very serious about this baby! I would like a sample player that allows me to reshape the sound beyond the original by various sound shaping parameters that include effects such as distortion, delay, resonance and more besides!

CONCLUSION
Despite my list of improvements I think that Soundcamp is very usable! It’s great for beginners and seasoned pros! In fact season pros will take to it like a duck to water!

Another small thing... I would love for Samsung to create a handset for musicians that features some air shifting front-facing speakers! The Galaxy SoundWave... Hmmmm... In any event I will be using Soundcamp!

Thank you so much for reading Synapse Circuit!

Expect more reviews, news, opinions, competitions and more from Synapse Circuit! 

SYNAPSE CIRCUIT EXPLAINS THE DECLINE IN TABLETS

The rare sighting of an iPad in the wild as it were.
It's an iPad mini by the looks of it. 

SYNAPSE CIRCUIT
EXPLAINS THE DECLINE IN TABLETS
ANDROID iOS WINDOWS

Goodhour, Synapse Circuit Readers! It’s so wonderful to see you as always! I hope that all is well with you! I also hope that you are taking on some tech projects and challenging yourselves! Don’t worry... ...the iClone 6 Pro review is coming very soon... Oooh, yeah!

You may or may not have heard or read that tablet sales are sliding across the board iOS, Android and Windows. Here’s an insight into why this is happening...

#Tablets #AndroidTablets #iPad #iPadMini #WindowsRT #WindowsSurface

iPAD

Above: The state of the iPad... Filling up CEX shops with no buyers.

The iPad is no doubt a wonderfully crafted tablet and therefore it is really outstanding in the field of tablets. Not only is the iPad and mini great to the look and touch the applications are to be reckoned with! Let’s recap as to why the iPad and mini sales are on the decline:-

1. Too expensive; if the iPad was an expenditure that would last at least 3 to 5 years it wouldn’t be so bad but it is renewed every year and twice in 2013 if I am not mistaken. So, Apple users are better off with a Macbook Air.

2. The Lightning connection to my mind came as another nail in the iPad coffin. Overnight many iPad peripherals were made obsolete. Charming!

3. The advent of the iPad mini meant that the standard 10” model was compromised somewhat.

4. Finally, the iPhone 6 Plus rendered the both iPad models dead in the water!


Above: Another computer exchange store in Central London unable to shift second hand iPads.

Still, if I were an Apple user I would want to pick up an iPad second hand! But even in second hand / computer exchange stores the iPad is still priced uncompetitive. Maybe – just maybe the cost of the second hand iPad will come down greatly when the computer exchange shops can’t shift them.

WINDOWS RT / SURFACE
Yes, Microsoft botched up the first wave of Windows tablets with the Titanic-like Windows RT operating system that hit a few icebergs... However, Microsoft did pick up the slack and came back with the Surface! The Surface is truly outstanding and very desirable since it uses the full Windows operating system which means no silly apps but fully functioning software! I want one! Yeah, I know... Who would have thought that I would find myself taking a fancy to the Surface, eh? But here’s a recap as to why Windows tablets are tanking:-

1. Yes, the price is the main killer! As a result many Windows folk would prefer to invest the money into a decent desk or lap top!

2. As mentioned in the first point; the Windows laptop is very compelling as you get a decent processor for the money.

3. The Windows desktop PC is very persuasive still as one can swap out the graphics card or add cards such as a professional soundcard for music making for example. I would rather invest the cost of the Surface into a full on desktop PC for graphic design, video editing and music making!

ANDROID
The Android tablet was supposed to be the saviour of the tablet phenomenon. What happened to the promise? Google and Android OEMs did their best to undercut Apple and Windows but at what cost?

1. Google seemed to let manufacturers run wild with the tablet; there were no standards as one could pick up a £50 Android tablet made by an unheard of manufacturer from China.

I think too many consumers thought, as with the budget handset, that these cheap Android tablets were on par with the iPad. Windows RT wasn’t an issue as it was the wrong product and wrongly priced. And, again, like the budget Android handset of yesteryear (you don’t see much of them these days), the Android tablet can be made obsolete with app updates. Once the usual app suspects get updated (Facebook, G Plus, WhatsApp, etc) the underpowered cheap or otherwise Android tablet may not be able to cope with the demands on the processor.

2. Unrealistic... It appears as though Google and manufacturers did not invest a lot of forethought into the Android tablet. By this I mean that Google didn’t, as far as I know, invest into a chip processing plant and design powerful CPUs that could have been mass produced and therefore bring the costs down. If you look at what Samsung has done with creating its own Exynos SoC for Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge it goes to show how important it is to mass produce powerful chips and place them in worthwhile products... It goes back to standardization. Google seemed to rely on the hardware of manufacturers. Although Google gives its manufacturers a chance to shine I reckon they should have worked more closely with Samsung to produce powerful cost effective tablets that had a bit of longevity in them. Asus had some pretty interesting tablets on the market but were priced too high...

3. The apps weren’t there. The iPad was streets ahead and when the Android tablet threw down the gauntlet to Apple it was clear that it wasn’t really ready. The hardware was not up to par and, again, the apps were nothing to write home about. 

4. As an amalgamation of all the points above today’s Android tablet is still quite iffy in build – as much as I appreciate plastic builds I don’t think that the Android tablet should pop so to speak when handling it. Yes, the Android tablet body can be very flimsy compared to the iPad. Some Android tablets are like DVD covers in that it can yield to the touch. Not good!

“Intel inside...” Once upon a time the Intel chip meant and still means something in the PC world but when it comes to the Android tablet (and phone) I have yet to be convinced! Whenever I see “Intel inside” I cringe. Last year I got the Asus Fonepad 7 LTE to replace a defunct Motorola RAZRi (also with an Intel CPU inside) and today I may as well use the hybrid tablet and phone as a rather expensive coaster for my coffee table. The Asus Fonepad 7 LTE struggles with Facebook, Messenger and just about every worthwhile application... It is crap! I am now planning to replace the device that is crap as a phone and even worse as a tablet! I don’t know what Asus was thinking with the Fonepad 7 LTE but it doesn’t live up to the promotional material. I can reel off a bunch of other complaints against the Fonepad 7 LTE but I shan’t bother...

So, from my experience with the Fonepad 7 LTE I can say that my expectations may have been unrealistic as a consumer... OK, I fell for the promotional blurb but I should have known better as someone who tests hardware and software. If I want a decent tablet I have to pay for it and as much as Google might want to undercut the competition the fact is that a powerful Android tablet will cost handsomely!

The future of Android tablets lies in better everything: internal hardware, build quality and applications. I can see that Samsung are up for taking on the iPad with the Galaxy Tab S models and HTC did put out the 64-bit Nexus 9. The 64-bit CPU should revolutionize the Android tablet as it has the handset. I would like to see Android manufacturers move away from these underpowered novelty tablets once and for all this year because good products are a calling card.

I am looking to get a serious tablet this year and it is going to last a lot longer than 6 months!

UPRISING
The Android tablet could rise as could the Windows Surface. With Android it is just a matter of getting the power and quality right! Motorola has shown what can be possible with budget handsets, Moto E and G, and although there are no known plans for Motorola to do the same for the tablet there has got to be a few manufacturers that will do it for the tablet. I am quite sure that it’ll be Samsung that will release a serious 64-bit tablet this year but what other manufacturer or manufacturers will produce a serious pro Android tablet? HTC? LG? Asus? Could the Chinese manufacturers such as Huawei and Lenovo take the market by surprise?

And with Windows it’s getting the price down a fair bit and it is getting there!

There’s life in the tablet yet! We’ll just have to see how the rest of the year plays out! The forthcoming Google i / O in 7 days could reveal the powerhouse tablet we’ve been waiting for along with a better version of Android that is leaner, faster and easier on the battery consumption. Lollipop is by far the best and most ambitious version (as it should be) but I feel that it could be a lot better still! I feel for the Android developers as they’ve got their work cut out for them! But the fact that 5 of my Android handsets have Lollipop shows me that Google is on the ball – albeit a tad behind with what was set out at last year’s i / O! I can see that there is scope!

As for the Android tablet apps I can see that the quality it getting better all the time. According to the news Google Play Store has surpassed the Apple App Store for profits going to developers and this will certainly mean that iOS developers will release keep releasing more Android versions that will almost certainly see an increase of Android tablet sales. Many of us Androids have been waiting for the 64-bit chip before making a serious tablet purchase and now that it is here we’ll see...

Thank you so much for reading Synapse Circuit!

Expect more reviews, news, opinions, competitions and more from Synapse Circuit!

Please check out the Synapse Circuit site here: Synapse Circuit.com

WEB DESIGN MULTIMEDIA WEBANIMATOR SYNAPSE CIRCUIT

The Deftones - probably the most original Metal / Alternative band to come out America.

Somehow I don't think she'll be remembered in 2 years let alone 10! R.I.P. B. B. King!
I don't want to hear her cover of the Bee Gees song 'How Deep Is Your Love'.

SYNAPSE CIRCUIT
WEB DESIGN
MULTIMEDIA WITH WEBANIMATOR PLUS,
SORENSON SQUEEZE & WYSIWYG WEB DESIGN PROGRAMS

Goodhour, Synapse Circuit Readers! It’s great to see you as always! I hope that all is well with you and that you are winning with your tech projects! What? You are not doing a tech project??? C’mon... What’s wrong with you??? You need a challenge! Come with me...

Technology is a funny old thing... Tech know how = Technology. The Internet has been responsible for many things – including causing business models to adapt and change where possible or they fall by the wayside. One of the things that technology has changed somewhat is a reliance on systems created by others... All too often we give our power away to the next new thing on the Web be it MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, iTunes and so on! Some of us have stopped being excited at the prospect of creating an online web presence. That’s right! I am waxing on about how many of us have turned away from the dizzy world of Web Design. Read on...

#Incomedia #WebAnimatorPlus #SorensonSqueeze #Multimedia

THE DEATH OF THE INDEPENDENT MUSIC SCENE... LONG LIVE THE NEW ALTERNATIVE ONLINE MUSIC SCENE...
I would like to use the world of music to illustrate just how bizarre the mentality of the artist / band has become... As a younger man I was searching for the equivalent of my Holy Grail, a recording contract! Suffice to say that I never got one! Hahahaha! I laugh but I am actually very relieved that I didn’t get one as I have had friends who thought themselves fortunate to have gotten a “record deal” only to be dropped unexpectedly.

Along came the Internet and then the advent of the CD-R... The CD-R writer when it was first launched was quite cost prohibitive and when the CD-R Plus & Minus writers became a PC standard we got some great software to enable us artists to make our own CDs. Some of us managed to make a living – not a fortune – selling our original music. Some of us came up with a great way to present a CD-R album i.e. many of us made custom album cases / packaging to sweeten the deal. But the euphoria that came with being truly independent was short lived as the MP3 format hit the scene and with Napster the masses didn’t want to buy music anymore. To be honest I can’t say that I blame people for not wanting to purchase music as a majority of chart music is forgettable. Without Googling Jennifer Lopez, name 3 of her tracks starting from now... See? You had to think about hard!

Apple’s iTunes, in my opinion, and I know that I go on about it a lot, snared the artist / band back into bondage. Jobs decided what a track was worth and I do believe that the iTunes business model doesn’t give a lot of scope to up and coming musicians in terms of royalties, etc. The artist still comes last when it comes to dividing up the costs to make and promote recordings. Further down the line there are outlets such as BandCamp that helps to get up and coming artists / bands music to an audience. So, artists / bands do not have an official website as they rely upon BandCamp, Zimbalam and an assortment of social network accounts. Artists / bands just squander their powers away when they could be selling CDs, CD-Rs, MP3 and merchandise from their very own official website.

DISCOURAGED?
It seems to me as though creative people in general are being discouraged from actively participating in their own web design. I think this is wrong! Yes, there are web hosting services that allow their customers to modify website templates but that are not what design is all about! Uh-uh! Me? I would rather see a badly designed website than a modified template as it such sites gives me an idea as to what the people behind them are about.

Once upon a time what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG) web design software had a buzz around it as so many people from a non-design background were willing to have a go at designing their own website. Those were the days! Of course there were those that insisted that hand coding a site was the only way to go! Now it seems that the average person on the street has no desire to create a website as Facebook, Twitter, G Plus, YouTube, etc has fulfilled a basic need... A Facebook presence can lead the targeted market to a BandCamp page and so on...

Personally I would love to get you to make your own website! Although I am appealing to musicians in this narrative I wish to appeal to anyone and everyone to get the credit card out and invest in some decent web design and multimedia software...

ENCOURAGEMENT
One of the most important reasons for you to have your own website is to have an outlet whereby you can’t be oppressed. God knows how irritating it is when the social network Mother Hen Brigade tells us:

1. “Stop making friends! You are making too many friends and if you don’t stop making friends we’ll delete your account.” Yeah, right! These people are bluffing as they WANT and NEED our data. And if they do decide to delete your account unceremoniously they know that the likelihood of you making another one is high – especially as you may have bonded with some great people as I have!

2. “You have been accused of SPAM... As a result you cannot post many more links... Blah, blah, blah...” You know how I feel about that if you read up on my Antisocial Networking articles. In a nutshell “spam” is an overused terminology that is malleable to suit the purpose of the people behind the social networks. Just messaging someone you don’t know on Facebook constitutes as “spam”. As far as I am concerned “spam” is when you get true junk email i.e. offers for Viagra, slimming pills, etc. In fact Facebook is the BIGGEST SPAMMER going as it constantly puts advertisements in our faces on a daily basis! And to a degree it is the same with Google’s Gmail! Of course when they SPAM us... No... When they constantly bombard us with SPAM they call it something else... Great! The two-faced so and so’s... As you should know by now the main reason for these attacks and threats is that the social networks don’t want you to use their tools for your marketing.

3. You have the power to create your own business online without giving a large portion to a second or third party. PayPal is enough!

4. Avoiding censorship! I tell you... <shakes head and smiles wryly> ...the people who take it upon themselves to police the Internet end up being the very thing that they detest: A TROLL! Lately I have seen “ATTACHMENT UNAVAILABLE” on Facebook. Gee, I wonder that that is all about... You can bet it is someone posting up a conspiracy theory that touches upon the untouchables... Ooooh... People should have their say! On the one hand some people claim “freedom of speech” and in the next breath or click of a mouse all of a sudden we aren’t entitled to freedom of speech. Somebody somewhere would like to take things a step further and have you locked up with a criminal record for having and expressing an opinion these days. Let’s get away from conspiracy theories and freedom of speech...

You are an artist and your work features nudity / sexuality as you are using that medium or mediums to express something of artistic value... Sadly, very sadly, the self-appointed Internet Police try to make you out to be some kind of pervert or something. Often the self-appointed Internet Police are not intelligent enough to reason with and they troll you. They try to shut you down because they believe that they are the voice of reason when the irony is that you can’t reason with such folk! As an artist you might find that your own website is vital.

Still on the subject of censorship... I have a female friend on Facebook who has just hit her fifties and looking great – if I do say so myself – who likes to take glamour photos of herself and share them with her Facebook admirers. I think her photographs are tasteful and bear in mind that Facebook (and many other social networks) do not allow nudity on its platform. Even if Facebook were to revoke the policy on nudity my friend’s photos would be still tasteful! However, she gets trolled by people that keep claiming that her photos are indecent only to be proven wrong by the bods behind Facebook! I do feel for her as I believe that she should be able to express herself without people being a nuisance. If you don’t like it do not look and then launch into an insincere tirade against. My friend has her audience and she’s happy so why rain on her parade? The self-appointed Internet Police are nothing but simple minded trolls.

Again, my last point on censorship is that if you are a music artist and your video contains nudity / sexuality you can’t show it on YouTube. Do not misunderstand me; I don’t particularly like gratuity be it of a sexual, violent or any other nature but if there is context behind it that’s down to the originator. If you or I don’t like it then we can’t do squat about it as it is already out there. Do I want to take the time to have artistic expressions removed? Hell-to-the-no! The way I see it is this: as long as there is a warning that the material may be offensive then the expression is what it is. An artistic expression is a lot different to having some genuinely disturbing picture or video suddenly appear from performing an innocent Google search...

5. The last reason is that building a website enables you to learn more about the Internet and things like ecommerce (PayPal), web and graphic design and so on! These things are good to know and it will empower you!

FLASH IS DEAD! LONG LIVE HTML5!
When I was employed as a web and graphic designer many moons ago (gosh I am getting old) one the most exciting things around was (then) Macromedia Flash. Flash, in its early stages, just allowed for simple to complex animations that included sound and interactions that often became a part of the website navigation... Adobe bought out Macromedia and Flash eventually gained the ability to stream video and this video technology is prevalent in YouTube today! However, Flash has had its run and now one can create animations that include sound, video and interaction with relative ease! Certainly HTML5 based animation / interaction is far easier to achieve than with using Adobe Flash! For a start the Incomedia WebAnimator Plus costs a mere £64.99 compared to the cost of the Adobe Flash CS 6 software! Seriously! C’mon... Why on Earth would you want to pay £400 just to make animation / interactive content that can be seen on the PC, Mac and mobile devices when you can pay just £64.99???

Honestly, Adobe does not have the stranglehold on web media as it once did. Adobe is one of those business models that have had to adapt with the changes in technology and it is currently offering a monthly payment scheme for its collection of software. Personally I think that some of these monthly costs are too high! Adobe tries to keep up this elitist sensibility when they have been surpassed by Incomedia and Magix when it comes to web design, video editing / production and DTP. Once upon a time people would pay good money to do a two day course on Dreamweaver and today we would just spend the money on the following web design programs:-

Incomedia WebSite X5 Standard & Professional

Magix / Xara Web Designer Standard & Premium

Coffee Cup Visual Site Designer

And you will still have money left over to other stuff when you skip doing these two day courses. What £250 for a two day course??? Are you nuts??? Bear in mind that there are some free web design software out there! I will do an article on them in due course!

You can easily use WebAnimator with the web design programs listed above.

INCOMEDIA WEBANIMATOR PLUS
I don’t want to bore you with an extensive tutorial on WebAnimator Plus. No! What I want to do is give you a taste of what can be done with it! Below I did a very simple PowerPoint-like presentation based on one of my favourite Rock groups of all time, The Deftones, to illustrate just how quick one can create such presentations that can be viewed on a PC, Mac and mobile devices without you wanting to pull your hair out! 


1. I decided to create a full HD screen presentation, 1920 x 1080.


2. I created a menu screen quite easily by using an image (of the band) and adding a button. The image fades in and once complete the button flies in from the left to the centre of the presentation.


3. I then added a second scene that holds a full HD video so once the button is clicked on the first scene it jumps to scene two (with the video).

As you can imagine I could have created a more sophisticated presentation that has many screens / pages (scenes) and with intricate animations and interactions. But the purpose is to show you that within minutes a simple presentation can be completely outputted to an HTML file with the resources folder (containing the video and graphics) that can be placed online straightaway or can be a part of a website. Easy!

The last two screenshots above show the presentation playing within the Chrome browser using F11 to go full screen.

WebAnimator Plus: Present the way you want to! A well deserved Synapse Circuit Platinum Award as WebAnimator Plus allows you to create sophisticated animations, presentations and interactions with ease using image, sound and video files. There's also basic shapes and buttons! 



SORENSON SQUEEZE

If you read my review on Magix Video X7 Pro you should be familiar with the Sorenson Squeeze video format converter and compressor. No? OK... In a nutshell... Sorenson Squeeze can take video files and convert them into different file formats for different purposes i.e. the web, DVD, Bluray and so on. Even though we have fast broadband speeds and 4G data connections for our mobile devices it is still a good idea to make large video files as small as possible while maintaining the integrity of the video. If you are a recording artist and you want to showcase your videos without hindrances then you might just want to invest in Sorenson Squeeze. There are three different versions of Sorenson Squeeze:

Desktop Lite, $199

Desktop Standard, $549

&

Desktop Pro, $749

You will find that the Lite version should give you all that you need to start compression your files and / or formatting for different mediums i.e. DVD and Bluray. The professional version is for people / institutions that make their living from streaming video and create daily broadcasts independent of YouTube and similar online video outlets.

Sorenson Squeeze is a reliable and fast video / audio converter and compressor! It gets a Synapse Circuit Platinum! 

There are some free video compressors and I will have to take a look and make comparisons with the commercially available software such as Sorenson Squeeze. The reason why I recommend Sorenson Squeeze is because of its track record. Several years ago when I was part of a team creating a CD ROM for an up and coming Pop music act we discovered that the video was causing a major problem with some test systems that we had access to. I found Sorenson Squeeze through a web search – before Google had begun – and when it arrived we were able to have different formats on the CD ROM: MPEG-1 and QuickTime. Back in those days formatting video was a real pain mainly because PCs were used primarily for word processing and not much else. One couldn’t guarantee that a video would be able to play smoothly from one system to another.

In any event no matter what software you use to compress a video file into MP4 and OGG when combined with Incomedia WebAnimator Plus the results will be brilliant! The only thing missing from WebAnimator is a packager for Android and iOS apps! But that said who wants to be constantly downloading apps when presentations / animations can be viewed online? Even the news aggregator apps rely on taking content from the web.

And do not forget that if you get Incomedia WebSite X5 Standard or Professional it will be even easier to add an animation / presentation to the website you are creating whether it is for the desktop or mobile device such as a smartphone and / or tablet!

Do checkout these links for WebAnimator, Sorenson Squeeze and WebSite X5:-

WebAnimator

Sorenson Squeeze

WebSite X5

Dive in and make your website! Once it’s online give me a shout and I will link it!

Thank you so much for reading Synapse Circuit!

Expect more reviews, news, opinions, competitions and more from Synapse Circuit! 

MAGIX VIDEO X7 PRO REVIEW FOLLOW UP SYNAPSE CIRCUIT

Video X7 mixing audio mixing desk with mastering and the 5.1 surround sound.
Yes, for surround sound you will need surround sound speakers.

SYNAPSE CIRCUIT
MAGIX VIDEO X7 PRO
REVIEW FOLLOW-UP
£349

Goodhour, Synapse Circuit Readers! It is a blessing to see you as always! On a beautiful day such as this is I appreciate life all the more! I hope that the Sun is shining on you too!

I am so glad that you enjoyed the Magix Video X7 Pro review! Here’s a follow-up!

#MAGIX #VideoX7Pro #VideoEditing


SYSTEM: PC? MAC?
Many people ask me, “What would you recommend for a video editing system: PC or MAC?” Or they tell me outright, “You ought to be using a MAC...” “You just need a decent PC...” Let me address these issues...

I personally will always recommend going PC! Why? The simple fact is that for what you’d pay for a top notch MAC Pro you’d get almost twice as much value in a PC! As always it’s a question of buying the best you can afford, the fastest and most powerful CPU, the fastest and the most RAM you can fit on a motherboard, the fastest and largest hard drives and so on!

MAC’s are good and the Final Cut video editing program is very good – from what little experience I had with it! However, I remain PC because there are a handful of computer software houses such as Magix that are coming up with great titles and Video X7 Pro is one of them! The PC has these great cost effective software that makes having one (a PC) a no brainer. The bigger the better!


THE INDUSTRY STANDARD
If you went and / or are still attending media studies you will no doubt come to understand what are the “industry standard” software. Usually Adobe holds most of the industry standard software in the media business, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and, of course, Premiere! I have observed that the “industry standard” software happens to be priced out of reach of the average person. A lot of people in the industry, as it were, that are starting out tend to use pirated software. It has been said that pirate software is quietly encouraged by the likes of Adobe in the hope that once you’ve made it to the big time you’ll want to own your own copy! So, I have been told by a super-secretive hacker / programmer... Anyhoo, it is down to Magix and a handful of software houses that have made it possible for creative people to explore their creativity with cost effective software. I’ve been using Magix software for years and people cannot tell the difference – the resulting medium could have been produced with software costing two to three times as much. The resulting medium, professional looking videos in this instance, is what is most important. Magix is one of the software houses that caused Adobe to release consumer oriented software cut from their main titles suffixed with “elements” i.e. Premiere Elements.

Yes, although Video X7 Pro is a little more expensive than its prosumer Movie Edit Pro (Standard & Premium) it is still cost effective and it does do what you expect it to do which is to produce professional video with audio to match.

If you want to own your own software and you wish to produce professional videos then Magix Video X7 Pro is certainly one way to go! I think it is the only way to go as an alternative to Adobe Premiere!

CONVERT
No! I am not trying to convert you! But you should give Video X7 Pro a try!

Video can still be an intensive resource hungry medium to manipulate on a PC – especially when using camcorders that output to AVCHD video format! I found that even my PC struggled with the AVCHD video format and it has a i7 2.8GHz CPU and 8GB RAM!!!

The MP4 format is more malleable and this format is synonymous with smartphones, digital cameras and cost effective camcorders. MP4 isn’t a strain on a system similar to my own. When faced with resource intensive formats such as AVCHD the best thing to do is convert it from within Video X7 to MP4 or use Sorenson Squeeze to convert video files very, very quickly!

THE 10 MINUTE TEST
Ideally software should be easy to use without consulting a manual or YouTube tutorial. Video X7 Pro has to be one of the most straightforward programs I have used. The interface speaks to me and is very intuitive. There again, I have used other Magix software such as Music Maker... And come to think of it that was very straightforward to use too!

Whenever I review software I try to produce something within 10 minutes. This idea was inspired by these industry tradeshow competitions whereby you had a 10 minute time limit to produce something outstanding in Photoshop, for example. What I have done is to take it a step further and produce something from software that has never been used before. OK, I have used earlier versions of Video X and Movie Edit Pro but Video X7 gained an interface overhaul to be fair! I have version X2!

The resulting video took less than 10 minutes to put together (it probably shows) but the idea was to knock something watchable out at breakneck speed which was a little difficult as I didn’t convert the AVCHD video files to MP4! The resulting video took under 10 minutes to put together, I used a bit of noise filtering on the interviews – not too much as to make the sound come across as unnatural – and I mastered the whole audio using the Mastering Suite. It took around 20 minutes to export to the MP4 format and it took around 97 minutes to upload it to YouTube (I went to bed and left it running).

Don’t Stop The Carnival


I shot some footage of the carnival a couple of years ago for a documentary that never materialized (hee hee) and I thought that I’d have a laugh by producing a little something to show for the effort I made! I reckon if I spent a couple of days on it I’d have a fairly interesting documentary on the (in)famous Notting Hill Carnival!

Get your copy of Magix Video X7 Pro today!

The Synapse Circuit Video X7 Pro Review

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MAGIX VIDEO X7 PRO REVIEW SYNAPSE CIRCUIT

Essentially the Magix Video X7 Pro is as easy as pie to use with great cost effective features. It gives the competition a good run for the money! Is it for you? Read on!

SYNAPSE CIRCUIT

MAGIX VIDEO X7 PRO
REVIEW
£349

Goodhour, Synapse Circuit Readers! It is so wonderful to see you as ever! I hope that all is well with you and that the weather is treating you just fine! I also hope that your tech is behaving as it should!

If you are looking to up your video editing game then this professional video editing suite from Magix could be for you! Here's what I think...

#MAGIX #VideoX7Pro #VideoEditing

ASSEMBLY
Yes, video has come a long, long way... Who would have thought that it would be possible to capture 4K video let alone 1080p? And who would have thought that some of these super-smartphones would produce results of dedicated devices. These days I combine video (and photos) from various sources: Samsung Galaxy S4, S6 Edge, Note 2 and Note 4, Canon PowerShot SX220 HS and my JVC semi-pro camcorder... I can’t even remember the model as I hardly find use for it. No, I wasn’t trying to show off but to give you an idea as to the way I find myself working these days... I rarely find the use for my dedicated JVC semi-pro as the Canon handles itself pretty well and I can augment video shoots with material coming from the smartphones.

When it comes to editing I have to say that I have a preference to the Magix video software for a multitude of reasons:-

1. Although I started out using Adobe Premier I found that Magix software offers great value for money multimedia software. Many people tend to pirate Adobe software or make use of the free outdated ones but I prefer ownership and therefore I invested in Magix software. In fact I started doing some video editing through the Music Maker software! Then eventually I invested into the editing software to what it is today on the prosumer front, Movie Edit Pro and now I have been fortunate to test the professional version, Video X7 Pro.

2. Simplicity; my style is to just shoot what I want and assemble it in the Movie Edit Pro or Music Maker – depending on the nature of the video i.e. for fun or for work (I sometimes get called out to do a shoot every once in a while). Movie Edit Pro gives me what I want and, again, at a reasonable cost when compared to Adobe. For the most part I find Magix software very intuitive and I only need to consult a manual or tutorial video if I want to achieve something more complex.

3. Audio; because Magix has, in my opinion, perfected the art of audio composition, editing and mastering and the sound quality has to be heard to be believed. Yes, indeed, I do appreciate the audio side of the Magix multimedia software equation. It’s just amazing how audio can enhance visuals. These days it is so easy, effortless to get good looking video from various devices but sometimes it isn’t always easy to get a great sound. Video footage shot with a smartphone can be spoiled by wind and ambient noises and Magix audio cleaning software (Video Sound Cleaning Lab) can rescue the audio.

There you have it, my 3 reasons for choosing Magix Movie Edit Pro and let’s see if the spell has worked with the Video X7 Pro!

PRO BONO?
Above: This is the awesome virtual mixing desk and the Mastering Suite.

What attracted me to Video X7 Pro is the word / abbreviation “pro”. I already found that I could put my videos together fairly easily with Movie Edit Pro which retails at £89.99. What would I be able to do with a video editor that costs almost x4 as much? I am expecting great possibilities with Video X7 Pro!

After installing Video X7 Pro I noticed straightaway that the interface had been clean up somewhat; the interface is very inviting and conducive to the task of video editing. Yes, the interface is familiar if you have ever used Magix multimedia products such as Music Maker Premium and Movie Edit Pro but visually the Video X7 Pro looks the part of a professional editing set-up.

I then installed some of the plug-ins such as the MP4 compatibility that enables - you’ve guessed it - the importation of MP4 files. Then I got into the business of importing my video files that I had shot with the JVC camcorder. What surprised me straight away upon playing the footage back was how the sound was optimized – clean and clear! I also loved the mixing desk of the Video X7 Pro interface; it is just like a recording studio and what’s more is that it is compatible with VST effects! Whoohoo! But I didn’t need to use the effects as the audio came out nice! I quickly put some bits and pieces of the pre-recorded footage together and exported it as an MP4 file and the audio was great on playback! Hopefully, I will be able to let you watch some footage assembled in Video X7 Pro.

At that point, for me, the extra expense is most definitely worth it for the audio features alone. One of the things I found slightly disappointing was that I didn’t find the removal of unwanted noise immediate like I have done with the Audio Cleaning Lab (I’ve yet to use the Video Cleaning Lab).

TWEAKING
As for the video footage itself there are facilities to correct colours / exposure – it’s like what Photoshop is to photographers! I did experiment with adjusting these colour correction parameters and was quite taken aback with the results! That’s something you ought to try out for yourselves when you get it (Video X7 Pro). There’s also a great slow motion effect to bring out a sense of dynamics in your projects i.e. sports, dance and artistic film styles. There are some very usable transition effects to boot! Usually many of the transition effects are unusable because they are cheesy for serious productions. Me? I prefer simple fades in my productions. I can see myself using some of those blur transitions for more artistic productions – they also lend themselves to action i.e. sports!

The professional will be glad to know that parts of footage can be pixelated or have a black “censor” bar placed on faces and to disguise number plates for example.

ODDS & GLITCHES
Above: The wonderful Jennifer Saunders being interviewed at the Carnival. Moreover, what I wanted to show you is the brilliant Sorenson Squeeze program that can act as not only a master video compressor to create video compressions for various usage i.e. web, Bluray, mobile devices, etc. Sorenson Squeeze can also act as a file converter. 
Note: When copying video files from one source to another the process can create corrupt files. As I transfered some video files the Windows (crap) operating system shut down on me as the file (as seen above - after conversion) was being copied. When I imported into Magix Video X7 Pro it just wouldn't play. It took some head scratching to realize that the file became corrupt. However, Sorenson Squeeze (version 9) managed to rescue the footage! So, let that be a lesson to you: to ensure the integrity of your video files be sure to have no programs running in the background that can disturb the process as simple as it may appear!

For the most part the interface is really, really efficient and allows for projects to be put together rapidly there were times when I got confused... At one time I had 3 different versions of a project opened and when I closed them all and went back to edit the one project that I was satisfied with and all three projects opened at once. I threw a bit of a wobbly as I thought that I had lost the vital version of a project. I then realized that the project was there amongst the other two. At that point I wished that I had the option to just bring in the one project instead of multiples.

I noticed some little glitches when zooming in and out of the workspace... Sometimes I would lose my place in the edit and had to scramble to look for where I was. And sometimes scrolling would behave like an elastic band with moving faster than my motion to scrub through the tracks. These glitches will no doubt be fixed in updates and they aren’t too bad. I mean... When working fast with the objectivity to meet a deadline the last thing you need are these glitches. Still, I the interfaced allowed me to work very quickly!

GAME CHANGING
Above: The virtual mixing desk that you will be familiar with if you have other Magix software such as Music Maker! Here I managed to filter out some of the noise on the audio. 

Without a doubt Video X7 Pro is an editing suite aimed at the professional. However, the price tag is just within reach of the ambitious amateur / semi-pro. It takes footage from just about every video camera going! There’s support for 3D (not that many people are using it as it didn’t turn out to be the revolution it was hyped to be) and 4K video!

I can see Video X7 Pro being used by a wide range of industry professionals:-

Music Video Production.

TV Drama / Entertainment.

Video Filmmakers – including documentaries.

Vloggers – it might seem overkill when other cheaper editors will do but the extras are great and well worth the money spent. With today’s smartphone cameras and inexpensive hanycams / camcorders it’s easy to bring in footage from multiple sources and stitch the whole thing together! I personally like mixing footage taken from different sources as the resulting qualities gives the video multi-dimensions like when you watch a TV show, for example, and edit shows the viewpoint of a domestic camcorder from the high quality professional camera used to record the show. I find footage from different sources can add something to a video. But I digress...

If you happen to be a part of a video production team and have access to different cameras Video X7 Pro can give you multiple camera inputs on 9 tracks in real time depending on your system! This is great if you are planning on creating shows for YouTube that look like proper TV shows! As a onetime member of a video production crew I can tell you just how easier getting footage from multiple cameras has gotten. Again, you can use just about any digital camera, smartphone and a slew of prosumer cameras right up to the hardcore pro camera!

Sticking with being a part of a small production team you can edit on the fly using a combination of Movie Edit Touch for Android and Windows mobile and transfer to the PC to finish the project. I do so love these smartphones that can take high quality full HD video up to 4K!

EXTRAS
There is so much going for Video X7 Pro that I didn’t have time to go into but you can create DVD / Bluray discs (as one was able to do with Movie Edit Pro) and it is compatible with plug-ins from proDAD, NewBlueFX and Red Giant; it comes with proDAD Mercalli V4 to remove camera shakes! So, if you have Movie Edit Premium that came with these plug-ins you should, in theory, be able to use them with Video X7 Pro! Plus HDR effects too!

CONCLUSION
Once again, I am not going to use all those extras such as these transition and similar visual effects as it is not my style. But the audio capabilities and the possibility to adjust colours are truly outstanding for me. I did find myself using the secondary preview screen a lot to line up the next part of a scene.

I would definitely recommend Magix Video X7 Pro to the serious video filmmaker – including YouTube vloggers. In fact I have been thinking about presenting on video instead of doing all this writing! Who knows? Watch this space!

The system I used to test Video X7 has the following specs:-

Intel i7 CPU 2.80 GHz
8 GB RAM
& 1TB hard drive

The video playback was very smooth and pleasing. I did notice that exporting video to the MP4 format took ages for a 20-odd minute project! I think it took about 1hr and 20 mins to export. Here’s a tip: Before exporting a video you should save the project and reboot the system so that you free up all that RAM that has been used up. Doing so will have you avoid errors that I experienced with exporting.

As always, the bigger and faster the system the better a program of this nature will perform!

SCORE
Despite the minor glitches I do think that Video X7 Pro deserves a Synapse Circuit Platinum as I was able to use it intuitively without referring to any manual video tutorial. The interface is menu driven which could be a pain for some but I am used to the Magix interface and I knew straightaway how to put together a little 20-odd minute video in a few hours.

Over the years I have used many video editors and Video X7 Pro is the best thus so far! The price is just about right for a one-person army and practically a giveaway to a small production team – just don’t fallout as there is bound to be a bloody fight for the ownership of this video editing marvel!

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EDIFIER STUDIO R1280T STUDIO R1280T NEWS

SYNAPSE CIRCUIT
EDIFIER LAUNCHES STUDIO R1280T
NEWS

Goodhour, Synapse Circuit Readers! It’s great to see you as always! I hope that all is well and that your tech projects are happening – yielding in great results!

Are you in the market for a set of quality speakers? Check this bit of news out!

#Edifier # Studio R1280T #Speakers

COMPACT 2.0 STUDIO AUDIO ACTIVE SPEAKER SYSTEM FEATURING DUAL RCA INPUT FOR CRISP CLEAR SOUND

UK, May 7th 2015, Edifier, one of the leading innovators of audio electronics, announces the release of Studio R1280T, the latest edition to the Edifier Studio range. Edifier’s Studio range is a collection of high performance studio speakers for personal and professional use designed to provide end users with the best audio experience possible through inspired design and elegance.  

Edifier has been developing new technologies to perfect personal audio through innovative solutions and as testament has won numerous awards, such as the CES Innovations Design and Engineering Award in 2008 and 2010, the Red Dot Design Award 2009 and 2010, as well as iF Design Award 2008, 2011 and 2014. All of which underline Edifier’s position as a leading provider of breathtaking home and personal sound systems.

The R1280T features a classic design within 100% MDF wooden enclosure. The two speakers are each protected by a removable cover. Equipped with Dual RCA inputs the R1280T can produce up to 42W RMA of audio output. The 4-inch Bass driver and front facing bass reflex port ensures the bass notes are robust and rich in sound. Connect to multiple devices and personalize your listening experiences with the bass and treble adjustment dials located on the active speaker. A remote control also can be used to control the volume. Weighing less than 5 kg, the Studio R1280T is a compact 2.0 speaker system that offers pitch perfect output at a very competitive price.

Main Features:-

* Universal power supply (100-240V)

* Calibrated flared bass reflex port, in front of the speaker cabinet

* Dual RCA inputs for connectivity to multiple audio sources

* 100% MDF wooden enclosure

* Active bookshelf speaker system with 42W total power output

* Bass, treble and master volume dials located on the side panel

* Wireless remote control for volume adjustment and mute

Specifications:-

* Total power output: RMS 21W x 2

* Signal to noise ratio ≥85dBA

* Input sensitivity: PC: 750mV ± 50mV | Aux: 550mV ± 50mV

* Distortion: ≤0.05%

* Audio input Dual RCA input (RCA - RCA and RCA to AUX)

* Adjustment: Volume, bass and treble adjustment, remote control

* Subwoofer / bass unit: 4 inch (106mm) Magnetically shielded, 6Ω

* Tweeter unit: Φ13mm silk domed tweeter, Magnetically shielded, 4Ω

* Weight: 4.9Kg Net | 5.65Kg Gross

* Dimension: 146mm x 234mm x 196mm (WxHxD)

Price and Availability:-

The Studio R1280T is available today at £79.99 inc. major retailers including Tesco Direct, Amazon and so on.

For more information: http://www.edifier.com/int/en/speakers/studio-1280t-2.0-powered-bookshelf

ABOUT EDIFIER® INTERNATIONAL:
Edifier® International is a global leader in the production of innovative speaker systems that are solely manufactured by Edifier Technologies Ltd. Edifier International is a internationally recognized for the high quality sound, design and the easy to use, affordable products. Edifier International has been awarded by several internationally recognized awards for a range of products for both engineering and design excellence.

For more information please visit: http://www.edifier-international.com

Thank you so much for reading Synapse Circuit!

Expect more reviews, news, opinions, competitions and more from Synapse Circuit!