1x RCA Composite Video Subwoofer Digital Coax S/PDIF Patch Cable 6 feet 6ft

Don't buy. I purchased this to use as a subwoofer connection from my home theater system. After installing, I pushed the subwoofer back in place, maybe a few inches and very lightly and the prong on the inside of this cord broke off in my subwoofer. It looks like the prong was made of plastic with a layer of "gold" over top.

Works as needed. No issue. Had to replace the subwoofer cable ona radio I just bought. Fit perfectly and is currently playing. Still haven't turned the volume to max, don't want to disturb the downstairs neighbor.

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Vulkano Flow Mobile Device for Viewing TV on the Go

When I saw that Vine was offering me a product with a suggested retail value of nearly $200, I sort of leaped before I looked. On further review I saw a technical description that was a bit over my head. Eventually, with the help of people who know a bit more about these things than I do, I figured I was getting a device which would allow me to watch TV on my computer or phone by streaming it over the ethernet in my house and over the Internet when I was elsewhere, and to record shows to one of those devices. Not quite, but close enough.

PROS:

* Installation was a breeze, with one minor exception, and it was really minor. I was a bit worried at how bare bones the installation instructions were, and the fact that they kept saying "Put this and this together and the computer will do the rest." But would you believe? It did. With two minor exceptions, which I'll address in the Cons section; but neither affects performance in any meaningful way.

* The software to play this thing on my PC can be downloaded for free.

* It does a fine job of allowing me to watch TV on my computer when I'm at home. Since my PC is a netbook that means I can carry the "TV" all over the house with me. I'm also in the market for a tablet, and if Vulkano works as well on that as it does on my computer, it will be more convenient still.

* It does a pretty good job of allowing me to watch TV on my computer when I'm elsewhere.

* Controlling the cable box from afar, whether over the ethernet or the Internet, is quick and easy.

* Live TV can be paused--which allows me to take snack and bathroom breaks on my own schedule, not built around commercial breaks or, in the case of premium channels, doing without altogether.

* If I pause a live streaming program, when I resume it I can either continue to watch it lagging behind the broadcast, or I can fast forward to catch up. Used judiciously, the latter option allows me to breeze through commercial breaks. There's also a rewind feature.

* It takes up very little room.

CONS:

Only some of these cons are the fault of Monsoon (the company that makes this product). Others are not, but detract from my enjoyment of the device nonetheless.

* The Record feature: This is my biggest problem. I was given to understand that I could set the Vulkano player to record shows to my device in advance. I cannot set it to start recording at a later time. I can set it to start recording right away, and can set the time for it to stop, so I can record a show if I'm around when it starts but won't be when it finishes. But if I'm not going to be able to use my computer when the show starts, my only option is to start recording before I leave and let it record everything that the channel is showing between the time I leave and the time my show comes on. I'll be able to fast forward, of course, but if I want to set it to record something that's hours away we're talking about a huge file.

* On further review, the ads for this product do not promise to allow me to set recordings ahead of time. Other, more expensive Vulkano players do include this feature. The PC Player uses a one-size-fits-all interface that keeps teasing me with commands that would allow me to set such recordings, and every time I try to use them it says "Not available on Flow."

* Even this limited record feature is only available if I'm close enough to home to use my ethernet. I can't record over the Internet because the otherwise-smooth automatic installation couldn't open some port or other. This is one of the two minor criticisms of the installation I mentioned above.

* The other is even less of an issue: The product includes most of the cords and wires and so on needed to make the player work, but not to connect the player to the TV set. Connecting it to the TV is described in the instructions as an optional step. It just means I can't use the Vulkano player to turn on the TV; and if I wanted to watch the TV I wouldn't be using the player anyway.

* A minor problem for me, but no doubt a much larger problem for many other people, is that it just won't work on my phone. Since I have a highly portable netbook and am in the market for a tablet, I don't anticipate using the phone to watch anyway. But if I wanted to, I couldn't, because the BlackBerry app doesn't run on my Curve. And even if it did I wouldn't pay the $13 to download it. Monsoon Multimedia puts out a free Vulkano Player app for all their other devices, but they made the Flow so that it specifically requires an app that costs top dollar. For shame!

* For some stupid reason, the episode guide, which gives me each channel's schedule and is the fastest and easiest way to change channels, doesn't go past Channel 99. Now it's not hard to enter a three-digit channel; I need only call up the remote control feature. And there are work arounds to get the schedules of other channels, too, though they tend to involve Googling the channel's site rather than working within the Vulkano Player. It's still irritating.

* I can't access On Demand. I'm not sure whether that's the Flow's fault or my cable provider's, but either way, this just compounds the problem of the Record feature's limited usefulness.

* Over an Internet connection it will take up to several minutes to make contact with the player. That's probably a problem with Internet service providers. Once contact is made the streaming video is usually, but not always, flawless: Obviously the slower the Internet, the more trouble you'll have streaming, but it seems to be able to work with some pretty low bandwidths.

* The Flow is limited by the cable box to which it's connected, meaning that, if I change the channel, and someone else is watching TV, I've changed the channel for that person. If you're looking for a way to let multiple people watch different shows at the same time, you'll need to keep looking.

* Every time I click on the PC Player, the User Access Controls block it until I approve it; and after I approve it, it still won't necessarily open. I've had to click at least two times every single time I've used it, and often three, with the UAC box coming up every time. The fault for this lies with Windows, and it's a pretty minor problem, certainly.

* The power cord's plug is one of thosebig honking plugs that partly blocks the outlet next to or below it. Really, why are electronics companies still designing power cords that way in this day and age?

I made the Cons list as extensive as possible for the sake of prospective customers who might have preconceptions about what the Flow does and how it works and would get hung up on the lack of whatever features they were counting on. But most of that list, other than the Record feature and the outrageously priced BlackBerry app, feels like nitpicking even to me. This is, in the end a quality product that does everything it promises to do and most of what I'd like it to do, is easy to use and easier still to install, and has left me very satisfied. I'm not certain I'd pay the $189 list price, but Amazon's now offering it for a Prime-eligible $109.95, and that strikes me as a very good value, even taking into account the need to purchase some other device to allow you to record shows.

The product works great. I have been using it for over a month. I had it setup in about 20 minutes although I was not using Wifi since I had an ethernet jack in my equipment closet. My router is a little bit older so the intial setup software failed to automatically make the router changes to allow streaming from outside of my home network. I just followed the advanced setup and manually setup the port forwarding. I also gave my Vulkano a static IP address but my guess is these steps wouldn't be required for most users.

I am using the PC app (wifi), Ipad app (wifi or wifi tethered to my phone using 3G) and the Android app (Samsung galaxy phone using 3G) without any issues. It is actually much faster than I expected and the video quality is what I expected. We recently took a 6 hour road trip and the kids were able to watch TV/DVR/On Demand using the ipad tethered to my cell phone for most all of the trip. Obviously this was dependent on cell phone coverage.

It was exactly what I was looking for. All of the features of a slingbox at about half the price.

Buy Vulkano Flow Mobile Device for Viewing TV on the Go Now

The Vulkano Flow is an easy way to stream TV to your PC. There are several things to like about the player:

* The low price point

* The virtual remote is an exact onscreen copy of the set top box remote for my U-verse TV

* Once set up, streams wired or wirelessly

But there are several things that could make this inexpensive player better:

* Component and composite are the only connection choices

* It takes 4 sets of cables to hook everything up to a TV 2 of which are included

* Installation and configuration of the box could only be done wirelessly on my Windows 7 laptop

* There is no application for Windows Phone 7 to access content via the player

* The top of the box is very textured and will be very difficult to keep clean

* The top of the box is slightly arched so nothing can rest on top of it

* Stays quite warm so it must use a bit of electricity

Although the Flow does not have internal storage, the fact that I can control my home DVR via the interface makes that a moot point. Also, it will pause video or record what is currently watched by using the PC hard drive.

UPDATE July 2012: I have really got to like the Vulkano Flow more and more. Whatever you install the software on becomes a DVR for the device (if it has the memory of course). This means you can record your favorite shows onto your phone, laptop etc. while on your home network and then play them back later without the need for a data connection (great for traveling).

The best is the app for the Kindle Fire. It works very well streaming over Wi-Fi or recording to the device. The application also works really well with my AT&T U-verse receivers for tuning channels etc. The picture quality is very good even on the medium setting.

Finally, You do not need to hook the Flow up to your TV to set it up if you have a wireless network so the two sets of cables included should do the job.

Read Best Reviews of Vulkano Flow Mobile Device for Viewing TV on the Go Here

In less than a week, the price of the Flow has risen on Amazon Prime from $99 to $189. Apparently the word is getting around that the Flow is a real Slingbox killer.

I used a Slingbox for six years and replaced it with the Flow. I was ready for HD remote viewing (which my first-model Slingbox did not do) and I wanted to be able to record shows with the device, which no Slingbox will do. So here is my review:

Summary:

Very versatile and useful device with easy installation, great picture, recording capability and comprehensive software suite. Needs to be a little more user friendly, though, for computer viewing.

Installation:

The Flow installed simply and easily on my Win7 machine. Follow the steps in the little book and you can't go wrong. Would be nice if the Flow had HDMI input from the cable settop box, but it doesn't. It has only Composite and Component. I first used the component cables from Comcast that came with the STB, but got a very poor picture. Switched to the cables included with the Flow and it was great. No separate component audio cable is included, just use the included composite cable's audio leads.

No CD is included. You must download a 113MB instillation file from their web site (direct address in documentation) and install from it. Not a problem. You use the same download to install the player on other computers.

You will need your STB's manufacturer name and device name to set up the Flow. Once I entered this information into the setup dialogs, everything, well, Flowed without a hitch. I set the Flow up originally for wireless connection. It found my N-speed network effortlessly and that was done. Word of advice: once the setup is complete and you open the player software, go to settings to make sure that it did set up like you directed. I had specified component video in the setup, but what took was composite, so I switched it back and suddenly the people in the picture weren't green anymore.

After the original installation was complete, I then connected it to my router with ethernet cable. Wireless mode stayed on and I was then getting 1GB connection through the 10/100/1000 ethernet port.

Installing on my notebook and away-office computer was a snap. Just understand that when it asks you whether you want to set up or install the player, player is the right answer because you have already set up with the original installation.

You connect all remote viewing stations to the device simply by entering your logon and password, which you select at setup.

I also downloaded the $12.99 Android Vulkano Flow app; the free Vulkano Player app will not work. Using an HTV Incredible, 3G only, on Verizon I got a some jerkiness on the HD channels but all was smooth and clear on the non-HD channels. But as you may imagine, watching HDTV on a smartphone drains your battery like pouring water from a bucket.

Viewing Experience:

The only place I get true HD is on my ethernet-connected computer. Via N-wifi or cable internet remotely, I get widescreen in SD quality. (On wifi it is actually halfway between SD and HD, I think.) Android resolution appears HD, probably only because the picture is so small. But on the phone it is a distinction without a meaningful difference.

There are only three screen sizes: 1X, 2X and full screen. The viewing box is not user resizable, a significant shortcoming in my view. The picture is also surrounded by icon borders and controls that cannot be made to disappear. All this means that the Flow viewer takes up a LOT of real estate on your computer screen and there is nothing you can do about it. In full screen mode all non-picture elements go away and the screen is filled only with picture. But then you can't use your computer as, well, a computer.

The user interface is the same across all viewing devices.

Recording:

A huge, glaring weakness in an other wise excellent product. You can record from any computer, but the recording will deposit onto that computer, not on the "base" computer. It records to MP4 and is space efficient on the hard drive. When I tried to edit an MP4 recording using Avidemux, it caused the video and audio to de-synchronize on the edited version. Bummer.

Another flaw: You must keep the same player open the entire time the program is being recorded, meaning that you can't start recording on your notebook and continue watching on your desktop. The Flow allows only one player to be open at a time.

The major problem is that you cannot set the recording to begin later. If you want to record, say, a show on the EPG that starts in two hours, you highlight the show on the EPG, press the red record button, and select "record this show." And it will, but the recording begins immediately, not when the selected show begins. You can also manually set when recording should end, but not when it is to begin. Recordings always begin immediately. This is a MAJOR flaw in the Flow and is one reason I gave the Flow three stars in ease of use and design.

Electronic Programming Guide:

You can use this not only to see what is playing but also to change channels. Just double click.

Overall, glad I got it, glad to keep it. I only hope the design flaws and user interface will be addressed in software updates.

Update: Price has dropped to $106 again. Definitely worth that price. I also paid another $12.99 to download the software onto my Toshiba Thrive tablet. Works fine but it is not software made for Android 3.1 or a 10.1-inch display. Impossible to get HD on the Thrive. Presumably this will be updated but right now the picture is not very good. (Update: "When in doubt, read the directions." The problem was that the Thrive-side player was not set to HD quality. Fixed that and now get true HD on the Thrive.

Fantastic picture!)

I am also now getting HD via my home wifi when I did not before. However, the software has a habit of randomly crashing on my notebook, mainly by freezing. Sometimes it just drops out of HD and plays SD. Closing and restarting after a short wait corrects this but it is highly aggravating when it happens.

----------------

Update, a few weeks later: Today the IR Blaster physically broke on the inside of the base unit and so I cannot change channels remotely any more. The broken part rattles inside the units when I tilt it. Also, the Vulknao has developed the highly aggravating habit of simply powering off and random and will not come back on unless I physically unplug it from the wall and reconnect. I am barely within the return period so back it goes. However, I still like the device enough to request replace it rather than refund. So here's hoping the quality is higher on the replacement device.

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I purachased this vulkano flow in order to reaplace my Sling Media Slingbox PRO-HD SB300-100. I have been an avid sling box user for about 5 years and had finally got fed up with there over priced hardware and software. So i decided to switch to the Vulkano, so far so good for a device that cost 1/3 that of the sling box. For me the features that you lose from the sling box ie. multiple inputs, and a tuner where features I never took advantage of. I use the iphone and ipad app the is available is the app store for $12.99, and they both work great. I have noticed that streaming live tv over 3g works considerably better on the vulkano when the data speeds are a little slower. The sling box used to cut out and skip when data speeds slow down, the vulkano just lowers the resolution for a few seconds never losing audio or video.

Pros:

-Price $99

-Cheap app for mobile viewing

-HD on OSX software

Cons:

-Not flat so would be hard to stack other components on top

-Runs a little warm when viewing for a long time.

Sony SLVD560P DVD / VCR Combo

• 4-Head Hi-Fi Stereo
• 19 Micron Heads for Optimized EP Recording
• Flash Rewind for rewinding a T-120 Tape in 60 seconds
• Quickset Timer Dial for easy timer recording
• Progressive Scan Output (480p)

This product was a complete disappointment. I have had it less than a year & have had problems with the dvd player from the beginning. Now it doesn't register dvds in the machine at all. Sony's website gives you the option to return the item & get someone else's refurbished machine aka someone else's problem {$33} or to have your machine fixed {$90} return shipping also to be paid for by the consumer & this is if your machine is under warranty. Not satisfactory options from a company like Sony. I have found countless other complaints about this machine on other "review" sites online, naturally after I had already purchased and was having problems with it. I have found that Sony is no longer the "leader" in electronics there are other companies, Panasonic, Samsung, etc. that have products comparable & in many instances better than Sony there is no reason to pay more for a Sony when their quality seems to be going downhill. Save yourself the hassle and buy from another company.

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The unit itself does technically work, but I am not very impressed. The user interface is horrific due to its complexity, which is unusual for Sony products. You have to push the buttons on the remote control too hard to get them to actually respond, which is half of the problem. The manual is a little too concise, leaving out pages for setups that are probably fairly common, which means that you have to guess instead.

Worst of all, when I plugged it in using Sony's recommended setup, the unit noticably degraded picture quality on my Sony WEGA 24" television. (I bought this unit to match the TV.) Sony's technical support was less than helpful, acknowledging that they understood that my picture quality was being negatively affected by their product, but refusing to admit that such a problem constituted a "failure" on their part. Eventually, I narrowed the problem down to the cheap coaxial cable that Sony supplied, but I had no composite cable to replace it with, because Sony decided not to supply one--even though it does with its other VCRs.

Maybe if there's a SLVD570P, it'll be better. If not, I wouldn't bother wasting your time.

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Record quality is very good. DVD progresive is also very good. Remote control is non responsive. No TIME back-up when power failure... IT WILL NOT RECORD your programs if any power failure happends. You will have to set the time before it will record again. For some illogical reason, your programs will remain in memory, but the time will not!??!?!? Cant understand this, first VCR i know does not have this simple feature and it is frustrating when you record every day. Imagine if you leave home for a weekend and set to record a final match of your favorite football game, unluckly power failure occurs and your miles away... you simply will not be able to see it or record it.... That is the biggest complaint. Remote control es really bad too. Bottons have to be pressed harder then normal, and is not responsive. Be advised, time will not be permanent and control is unresponsive. DVD quility is very good. Recording VCR is also very good. No component nor digital cables supplied, nor AV. Only coaxial cheap cable. I am disapointed. Very bad SONY....

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What else to say :-). I put in a pre-recorded tape, it made a clunk sort of noise and wouldn't play tapes after that. 2/3 of the screen was all snowy. I tried several different tapes before returning it to the store. Aside from that, I found it clunky to use. I should have come here for the reviews first.

I was expecting a quality Sony product when I bought this. I have another sony DVD player that I have been using for about 3 years without any problems. This unit is another story.

After 4 months of use, the player stopped working with DVD/RW disks. A few days later, manufactured disks stopped working, now a few days later, no DVDs will play on the unit.

I am so glad I got an extended warranty, because I am going to go and pick up my third new unit today for another 4 months of usage before the inevitable failure.

DTVpal DVR

I bought an HDTV about one year ago. At that time, they were being sold with an SD tuner installed as well, so I could still record broadcast TV shows on my old VCR. I only watch broadcast TV; I live in a rural area that has poor cable service and I didn't want to pay for satellite since I don't watch that much. At the same time, I'm not home when a lot of the shows I like are on the air, so I need a recorder. I thought I could get by with a converter box hooked up to my old VCR, but that only works when you're there to control it. Since the VCR is no longer tuning the channels, you have to be there to change channels on the converter box. Not a great solution, although it has limited use.

For a long time the only option available was TiVo. But TiVo charges you $13 a month for the "privilege" of owning a TiVo. I have friends who love TiVo, and if you're a real TV/cable junkie, I can see where it might be worth the monthly fee. But I already know what I want to record; I already know when the shows are on. Why should I pay TiVo a monthly fee to tell me what I already know?

This DVR is about $100 more expensive than the comparable TiVo DVR. But not having to pay the $13/month fee, you break even in about seven months.

Overall I'm very satisfied with it. I needed a digital, HD replacement for my old VCR, and this product fits the bill. And more. Here are my "Pros":

The advertisments state it has 20 hours of HD storage, but actually it has 35 hours HD storage, not the as-advertised 20.

Excellent picture quality. I see no difference between the broadcast show and the recorded show.

Very easy to set up recording. If you want to record a show one-time, you can just select it when you're in the programming guide, and press the record button. If you want to set it up to do a repeat recording (daily, weekly, etc.) it's only a few easy additional steps.

The programming guide is far superior to the on-air guide my HDTV provides. This DVR gets its program information from the on-air broadcasts just like the TV, but the presentation and ease of browsing is much better.

I love the ability to pause, rewind, fast-forward. Even watching live TV. My TiVo friends were all extolling the virtues of TiVo because it offers these features. Well, this DVR does it all for no monthly fee, and they are great.

OK. It's not perfect. Here's my list of "Cons" so far:

If you buy one, it will be delivered with an obsolete operating system. The very first thing you should do after the initial set-up is complete is go out to the web page and download the latest version of the DVR's operating system. Mine had several annoying issues that were resolved by updating the software, but when you do that you loose all the channel and programming information (though not any recorded shows) and it all has to be reconfigured. Update the software right after you plug it in. I will give 'em this it is very easy to update.

The Guide supposedly stores a week's worth of programming info, but in reality it only goes forward about 12 hours. Most everything else displays as "unavailable".

Part of the set-up is selecting a time for the DVR to update its programming info. You don't want to do this at a time when you would be watching or recording, because it interrupts everything, so I set it to 2 am. BUT, it also attempts to find new "services" (channels). 100% of the time, it finds poor signals that are probably out there but I can never watch, so I have to manually delete them. It's annoying. The software should give me the option of disabling that, but as far as I can tell, I can't.

It started up one evening with time set to 12 noon. The next day it was back to being correct, and it DID NOT mess up the scheduled recordings, but still that indicates an instability in the operating system.

This next one is particularly annoying, but requires some explanation. There are two HD tuners in the DVR so that you can record two shows simultaneously. This really is great, I love it. That's not the annoying part. You can also set a system default to start all recordings a few minutes early and end a few minutes late (you can select the number of minutes). This is also a great feature. The broadcaster's clocks don't always coincide with mine. However, when recording two back-to-back programs on the same channel, it temporarily uses both tuners for the 1-2 minutes of overlap most users set. It is recording the same show on both tuners. If you have another show on a different channel set to start recording at the same time as the second show on the first channel, one of them will not record because there are only two tuners. And it doesn't just not record the first few minutes because of the overlap. Once it detects that there are effectively three shows set to record at the same time, it cancels one of them and never starts it back up. The fix for this is to set a "timer" to record the two back-to-back shows as a single event instead of two events. Now that I have figured this out, I can live with it, but the software should be sophisticated enough to do this for me.

I keep getting an annoying onscreen pop-up message that the ethernet connection has been lost, and it can't check for updates. This happens once per night.

There is no off-switch (no kidding). The only way to turn it off is to unplug it. If your entertainment center is like mine, the outlets are all hidden behind the furniture. No problem when your amplifier or tuner, etc., has an on/off button. But a big problem for this DVR if you ever need to turn it off. Yes, you can hit the power button on the remote, but the hard drive runs continuously and the unit is always putting out a noticeable amount of heat. Also, twice (before I updated the O.S.) it has frozen up. If you read the user's manual, it tells you that the only way to reset it is to unplug it for 30 seconds, then plug it back in. FORTUNATELY, that is apparently not true. It behaves like a locked up PC. If you hold down the power button on the remote for about five seconds, it will reboot itself without having to unplug it.

Here are some "nice to haves", in case anyone from Dish NW reads this:

I would like to be able to delete segments (for example, commercials) from stored recordings.

Why does the DVR wipe out my live TV recording just because I change the channel? It's just a signal. I'm watching what I'm watching. Keep recording whatever I'm watching. I may want to go back to what I was watching (isn't that the point of recording it?).

This DVR is not attractive. Hire someone to design a decent-looking case.

I am disgusted. We bought the unit less than 1 year ago and it's worked fine, more or less, until yesterday. The box has suddenly stopped working and the warranty only 90 days is out. It's not a cheap unit and there's little that can be done to fix it when on the fritz. "We suggest you buy another unit," from customer service is, needless to say, less than satisfactory.

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Just dumped Dish Network with my 722 high def dual DVR. The rates were slowly increasing and it was no longer worth $60/month as most of what we were recording/watching was on local primetime channels. Plus we replaced our 2nd TV with a HD one so the dual tuner was producing a non-clear picture on the 2nd TV as the dual part only showed one in HD, the other in SD.

First we hooked back up our old TV antenna in the attic. This is NOT a HD antenna, just the old normal kind from Radio Shack. We were impressed with the reception since TV signals went digital. Picture was crystal clear.

We ordered this DPal DVR from amazon.com. Because it only comes with a 90 day warranty, we added a 3 year service agreement with Squaretrade Warranty for $33. This was also purchased through amazon.com.

Setup was relatively easy. There is a setup wizard which guides you through setup. I had trouble initially with trying to move through the setup wizard (so called the 888 number on the screen for help). The help number is basically to Dish Network (who originally sold this product). They were most unhelpful and kept asking if I wanted to re-activate my Dish account. I hung up. Turned out the batteries in the remote were not clicked in fully and once I did this, everything worked great. Upon installation it said it updated the software (not sure how as I didn't have it hooked to any internet). The software was the latest version (or at least the firmware).

I agree, there is no on/off button which would be nice to have. You have to unplug if you want to reset it.

Also, when recording, there is an option to choose ONCE, WEEKLY, WEEKDAYS. I'm assuming this means a repeat timer for weekly shows will be active. Will find out.

If you've used Dish Network's DVRs before, the remote is identical and will be easy to use.

I had to sync the remote with my Sony TV which was easy with their directions. I tried to sync my DVD player and VCR but no luck so far. Too many codes to wade through, so I gave up on that.

So far I've recorded 3 shows, 2 of them simultaneously, with no problem.

One annoying feature is that when you go to the TV guide, it stops playing the current show. With Dish Network's receiver/DVR I had previously, the show kept playing in the corner so you didn't miss anything while checking the guide. The volume goes off and you do not see the picture when checking the guide. I suppose though, you could just hit the back button and see what you missed. So it's really a non-issue, but different from the DVR I had before.

The DVR is quite user friendly, and it's nice to see everything in easy to read/understand format.

Yes, I recommend this product. But I recommend an extended warranty just based on some comments/reviews here. Worth the extra $ if I need to use it.

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Finally fed up with paying over $100 a month to watch tv, I recently ditched cable television. I bought an outside antenna and an internet connected Blu-Ray player with a subscription to Netflix. The only thing we missed was the convenience of the DVR we had through Verizon. The DTVPal is a wonderful replacement! True it might not be as fancy as the Verizon box but after being without a DVR for a month, the DTVPal sure fills the gap. Set-up was easy. A few cables to the tv and a few setup screens once the DVR was powered on and I was up and running in no time, recording our shows, pausing and rewinding live tv, etc. Somehow the box updated itself to the latest firmware after it was powered up so I didn't even have to bother with that! The HD picture on my 37 inch LCD looks great! The programming guide is impressive (even though it only goes about 24 hours into the future) and setting up events for recording our favorite shows is a snap. The remote is similar to most cable company remotes so it's easy to get use to. If you're like me and are making the transition to OTA television, the DTVPal is a great way to re-create the cable television experience.

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I love it. it updated itself in the first five minutes of being connected to the router. The video quality , in my opinion is great. The guide is really sweet. It goes to sleep on its own and handles DVR recording like a VCR only better. I was late recording the Mentalist the other night because I was wrapped up in a movie and it recorded the whole show, in spite of me being late by about ten minutes. You can zoom in your view to fill the whole screen on older tv's and the picture quality is still excellent. The HDTV picture quality on tvs fed by HDMI is unreal! The sound is incredible when you use it this way also. I am not sure about durability yet but I will comment later if anything changes. I covered this with a extended SQUARE TRADE warranty, which I feel was a good idea considering the technology used on this thing. All the features are well thought out, even without PIP you still get a great viewing experience. My old DISH 301 remote also controls this thing. I have a UNIVERSAL remote that controls it as well, only the POWERBLASTER does not resend the signal for some reason. I am looking into this right now and will report back if I get it working with this DVR. I am very pleased with this DVR and may even cancel my sattelite subscription if it proves to be consistent in delivering...

Jensen 3-Speed Stereo Turntable with MP3 Encoding and AM/FM Stereo - JTA-450 (Black)

• Concert Vinyl to MP3
• MP3 & WMA Compatible
• AM/FM Receiver with Digital Frequencey Display
• Belt Driven 3-Speed Stereo Turntable - 33/45/78 RPM
• Direct MP3 Encoding to a USB or SD/MMC Card

Despite other reviews that claim this products works marginally, I heartily disagree. I ordered a JTA-450 from Amazon.com and it was very easy to setup. I was then very excited to play a brand new record that came with the same delivery, and the product simply did not work. The player constantly skipped, so after ensuring that the player was on a level surface and I was not placing any shock on the unit, I tried a different record. This played worse than the first one did and I noticed that the needle would simply pull toward the the center of the record without sitting in a groove on the vinyl. It turns out the needle was scraping vinyl off of the record as it did this, and it all happened very quickly.

I contacted Jensen in hopes that they would send me a new unit, as this one was obviously defective. They said they would be happy to fix or replace it if I would send the unit in and pay for the shipping. This simply was not acceptable, making me pay to send a unit in that came to me defective. I then contacted Amazon.com and they were happy to send a new unit for free and also pay for the return shipping. The second unit had the same problem as the first but scratched my records even more. I then sent the second player back for a full refund from Amazon.com.

In all, I wasted 3 weeks dealing with this issue and ruined 3 brand new records by merely testing the players for a matter of seconds. I now have a unit by a different maker (Ion) that works well and plays my records fine, save for the large scratches caused by the Jensen product. I have been in contact with Jensen about a reimbursement for the 3 records ruined. I am not expecting them to work well with me, as they did not in the past.

In short, I recommend that you skip over this item. Yes, I know the price looks great for the features, but there are comparable items that actually work. I'm glad that some customers have had good experiences with this unit, but I don't think it is worth the risk to undergo what I've gone through to get a working record player.

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I purchased this product at Menards on black friday for 50% off the retail price of $99. After reading the bad reviews of this product, I decided I better test it out right away, so I could bring it back if it didn't work. I grabbed an old 1962 vinyl album for my test. Everything went okay. The arm did not skate across the album and it seems to play okay. I then tested the recording feature using a jump drive stick using the remote and I did not encounter any problems. I was so happy that I grabbed another album that was dated 1977 and did some more recording and again I had no problems. The product is very simple to use and doesn't require much reading to get started. Hint: If you are going to record a whole side of an album you must stop and start recording between songs, so you don't end up with one long MP3. I played backed my songs on the jump drive on the Jensen JTA 450 and on my computer and they both worked. I listen to the radio feature and that worked just fine. The radio has a digital readout which is nice. I haved played three records and recorded songs with no issues. I plan to order another needle because they are only $5 just in case they wear out quickly. NOTE: What you hear playing on your turntable (hiss and pops) will be on the recording. My albums were pretty dirty and some cleaning might be in order to quiet the pops. Overall, I am excited to have such a simple device to record my old lp's and I hope it will last for awhile. HINT: You should rename your songs with the actual information after you have completed your recordings.

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I bought the player with the intention of converting my childhood records to digital files so my kids could enjoy them. There was a lot of hiss from the player and when it got toward the end of the record, the turntable would slow to a halt. This happened on every record I tried to play on it.

When I got the chance to try the records on a friend's player, they played all the way through. Unfortunately the hissing was still there until it got to the point where the Jensen stopped playing. After that point, the hissing went away. It was this way with all of the records I had tried on the Jensen which leads me to believe that the player actually damaged the original records when it was playing them.

Maybe I got the one defective player out of the batch, but I won't buy a Jensen again.

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I was simply looking forward to something I'm able to play my records on. A turntable that actually works. And, that's what I got...sort of.

The table itself doesn't turn on a perfect flat surface; it wobbles a little bit, which i initially thought was the cause of the problem. The problem was that the needle kept quickly jumping tracks. I didn't think the slight wobble would give the needle this reaction, so I turned to the needle. I had a spare from an older record player so i swapped them, and the unit worked great, with the exception of one little problem: The volume was extremely quiet.

I wanted the louder sound without the jumping needle, so i bought a new needle identical to the needle that came with the unit (thinking that the original needle may have been faulty). Well, it didn't work. The needle still jumped. So, I put the quiet sounding needle on the unit, sacrificing sound for a flawless playing experience.

What it comes down too is that the needle and cartridge on this bad-boy really sucks. I don't know enough about record players to diagnose this problem. I tried stabilizing a penny and dime on the cartridge as the record spun, but the thing continued to jump tracks. I'm not sure why one needle will sound perfect, but quiet, while another needle will be loud, but skip all over the place.

As my research and search for a new compatible needle continues, I'm content with plugging the unit into my surround sound and pumping the volume a little in that way...but, it's still too quiet.

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Long story short: Ordered this player from Amazon. Mp3 function works. But needle shaved off powder from my records! To top it off, could not find ANY way to buy replacement needles in instructions or Jensen website! Packed up unit same day and sent it back. Purchased a primitive (but new) Califone player. Yes, it's mono and has no mp3,bells or whistles, and weighs 19 pounds...but it plays records safely. And five stars to Amazon for the trouble free refund!

VideoSecu 4 Pack of Outdoor Color CCD CCTV Pinhole Hidden Covert Bullet Security Cameras 3.7mm Lens

This camera is 420tvl. Daylight picture is adequate. At night picture is grainy even in black & white. IR's do as advertised and work well. In retrospect I wouldn't buy this camera again. Look for 540tvl or better for the same or better price.

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Samsung SHR-1041K 4CH DVR Surveillance System

We needed some kind of security system installed as we have some problem neighbors doing juvenile stuff on our property. So far, so good on this unit. We bought it from a "big box store" so we'd be able to return it easily if it wasn't quite what we wanted. This week, we set up all four cameras at the front of our house. I had no problems getting everything to work straight out of the box. I like the long cables but I think I'd like to see higher quality cameras provided. They're fine and they're in focus and everything is recognizable, but I doubt I'd be able to do any facial recognition from across the street. The "quick guide "wasn't really much help in trying to find the main administrator menu on the machine. "Virtual keyboard"?? Found it by accident by madly clicking on the screen. Once I got into the system, it became easier of course and I already feel safer just knowing that my property is being "watched". I'll write an update on how the system is working after I've had it up and running for a couple of weeks.

Update April 2010: I've now had this unit for about 5 months and it still does exactly what I wanted. It sits there quietly doing its thing; it's nice being able to review the recordings and discover which of our neighbors left the HUGE tire marks on the driveway or which local drunk peeled off at 100mph on Friday night at 2am. Nice to have the proof especially when they vehemently deny it! We've also been asked by our HOA to provide evidence of underage driving on our streets. Their Momma denied it (no not our little angels!) I provided the video evidence to the HOA. No more problems since then. Glad to help! Archiving scenes is pretty easy once you've done it a couple of times. I use a generic USB drive. No problems.

Any criticisms? Yes, but minor ones really. I don't like the "FF" or "REW" features. You'll be revewing footage at, say, 5x speed, see the scene you want to review and it flies by while you're trying to press the 1x button or PAUSE or REVERSE button on screen. Very confusing. I'd also still prefer to have higher definition cameras, so I could make out licence plates/faces but even so, just having the cameras there acts as a great deterrent. Don't get me wrong, I don't sit there scrutinizing every second of footage. Most weeks I never even go near it. But it sure makes me feel safer and a little bit more informed about the goings on our crazy street.

To set this up you need to hook up a monitor, keyboard, and mouse directly to the DVR. Once setup, then you can remove all and hook up to router on network. Trying to get it setup for first run through router is next to impossible.

This works great with XP or with a monitor directly connected to the DVR.

The DVR has a problem with IE8 and Win7. Can get picture and sound, however, the picture keeps blinking off and on. We recently converted all computers in house to Win7. All show the same problem (where all worked perfectly before). I will be looking for a firmware update for the DVR which should be the fix.

The balance between color and night vision is fantastic. The ability to search recorded history works great. I have a more expensive system, and its quality just can't live up to this product.

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This is a pretty good system for the price, but the night vision is just horrible. It is all fuzzy and you cannot see anything at all. I haven't been able to get my remote to work either.

I do like how they give you very long chords for the cameras.

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For the price I paid, this system is perfect. In my particular situation, I wanted a DVR compatible with my older cameras and cabling since they're still in working condition. What was obsolete was my old VHS recorder, which only recorded one frame at a time and had to be changed daily. If you are looking to keep your older rj11 cameras, for home use, this system is ideal.

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Would recommend for a great starter surveillance system. I have it installed under carport and porch, so they have been out in the weather (TN) but don't take direct hits from it. The night vision is ok but works better with outside lights. You will need to by a monitor. Frr starters it works great and for the price I paid it works great.

VideoSecu DVD DVR VCR Wall Mount Bracket DSS Receiver Cable Box Wall Holder with Adjustable Arm - W

The base is rock solid. The arms. . . not so much.

The arms move in tandem, which is nice, but I could not line up the gears to have both arms to come straight out. The extensions are loose. The plastic linings don't fit nicely. Over all, not exactly precision built.

The strap is just long enough to go around my VCR, then I set the DVD player on top. They both weight nothing. Seems to be fine, but I wouldn't dream of putting an A/V receiver or an old Betamax VCR on it. The rated 20lb is optimistic.

Having said all this, I may still buy another. 3 1/2 stars.

The electric and cable outlet for the flat screen TV I mounted on my patio were five feet high by design. I needed a small shelf to put the cable box on under the TV and this item met that need perfectly. It was easy to install and very versatile making it easy to adjustment to the size of the cable box. It also comes with a strap that secures the cable box to the shelf. I was very satisfied for the price which was considerably less than most of the shelving I looked at.

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It's a clever idea but I had trouble fastening my cable box in a secure fashion to the apparatus. A better system of either straps or clamps would be helpful.

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very sleek and simple design keeps everything neat looking. I had my carpenter install it, though I could have done it myself. I would recommend, especially for the price.

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Its sturdy and strong. I bought 2 one holds a very heavy and large DVD cable box, the other a blu ray DVD player. Very well built and secure. Arms are great at handling the weight if the box. Only recommendation I would have is to make the arms so they don't move as easily as they do. But, you don't even need the straps that come with the shelves.

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Technical Pro DVB80 Professional DVD Player

• Specifications -
• DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW, CD-R, CD-RW, VCD, MP3, Kodak CD & CD-G compatible
• Auto region playback & Pal / NTSC Switchable
• Dual Karaoke / DJ mic inputs
• Audio outputs - 2 RCA (main) + 5.1 RCA

finally.... technical pro came out with this new unit... the dvb80... much better quality than the older version/dvd 70... with the dvb80, about the same design, but built with much better quality parts.. sleek design, easy to use, removable rack ears, and a good quality picture... for a non blu ray player, it is well worth the money...

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The product was slim and fit into my portable system well. It had plenty of options for audio hook ups and seems to be a great product for the price. I need more time to fully disclose the quality of all the functions, but I give it 4 out of 5 stars. The company did a great job geting the product to me in a timely and well packaged fashion.

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This has a few really useful featured for me, such as vga out. That's not common on dvd players, and is the standard I use for all my live video performances. So far it's held up for me and done what it's needed to. It's in a case that hits the road regularly, and this coming summer will really be put through the ringer. I really only use it as a backup video source if computers crash though, so it hasn't been run very much. I'll update after I abuse it.

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I purchased 2 of these units 3 months ago. One unit no longer works, and the other has to be reprogrammed on a regular basis. The units are in conference rooms and get moderate use.

This unit worked perfect for a replacement piece. I was in the market to replace an older DVD, and this fit the need

Zmodo 16 Channel H.264 DVR + 8 x 480TVL CMOS 6mm Weatherproof Camera + 1TB HDD Surveillance Kit KDF

Not Impressed by any means, keeps rebooting every other day after six months of operation. Purchased this item to keep an "eye" on things when I'm away. Worked great at first but does not help much now. Save your money and look for another brand. The color displayed from the cameras are way off and cannot be adjusted to anything close to the right color. Have used two different monitors and a HD T.V. to view and adjust color to no avail. It was a simple set up on the positive side.

Mine keeps saying "no hdd" only after 6 months of use. I hope everyone else has better luck.

excelent product, good quality and is really aLL the specifications, i recomended this product, i love it and is to usefull, is excelent

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The Web interface software crashes constantly and is not secure at all. You setup users and passwords and any user name or password permits direct access to the cameras on line. I called tech support and they offered programs I could download and install. The 1st one crashed within 20 minutes. The 2nd one looses contact with the DVD on my Lan every day. The Infrared Cameras they supply work great Indoors at night. Outdoors, they are worthless after dark.

I Highly recommend you spend a couple hundred more dollars and purchase something you will be happy with. I'm stuck with it (For Now)

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If quality matters, avoid these. Menu's are a pain to work with, software installed on the PC constantly has problems and glitches.

Bought several and already having units failing after 3 months. If you try to RMA the unit to Zmodo, make sure you have 100% of what came with the units including the original packaging / CD / cables or they won't accept the unit back.

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I've given this product a week after doing an install

there are no in depth instructions or manual, just a quick guide to get you going. Also if I wasn't already very familiar with Cameras, Networking, port Forwarding etc, this would have probably caused a heart attack for anyone else.

the Color of the cameras are a bit off because of no IR cut filter (it pretty much accepts IR light all day long too, distorting blacks and greens) I got over that, it seemed to get better after 2 days. Also, the cameras come with 6mm lenses which isn't exactly wide angle, I ordered 2.8mm lenses for them today. with 6mm lenes, I get a picture about 20 wide 60 feet away. Not suitable for indoor use.

The interface of the DVR is difficult to navigate on the Playback side.

As for the remote viewing, it works well with the Web interface on a computer, but you can only view 4 cameras at a time, and playback searching is terrible. if you're looking for a client to install directly to the computer you'll have to find another one for another Zmodo brand, the CD that came with my package was blank.

on the Mobile phone I can get up to 4 cameras at once, but it often freezes the DVR and requires a reboot. that's no good if you're not at home to reboot it.

If you're looking for a system that will just record and view cameras this will do it, but now that I got this, I'm going to start upgrading each camera and eventually the DVR and switch the whole system over..

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Sony Portable Stereo Sound System with Digital AM/FM Tuner, Mega Bass, CD Player, Synchronized Dubb

• Combining old & new technology, this is the perfect portable sound system. Whether you're playing CD CD-R CD-RW discs, listening to cassettes, enjoying your favorite stations on the digital AM/FM stereo tuner, dubbing music on blank cassettes, this compact sound system does it all. Plus it features large, easy-to-use buttons, large easy to read LCD display and a Mega Bass sound enhancer.
• Just The Right Size = Compact design fits in to any room. The correct output power and the unique wide convex speakers design allows the sound to be dispersed over a wider area for a fuller sound stage, therefore filling any room with a perfect sound level combined with the Mega Bass enhancer which produces full rich, deep, bass tones, this sound system will satisfy any music lover. Portability = Lightweight & Battery power option with a large carry handle lets you take this system anywhere.
• Sleep Timer puts you to sleep peacefully while playing your favorite tunes from the radio, CD player or tape cassette. 6 different lengths of play time are 120, 90, 60, 30, 20 or 10 minutes of listening pleasure to relax you to sleep. Sleep Timer is an excellent feature for children to listen to a bedtime story or for babies listening to lullabies. Sleep like never before when you fall asleep to the sounds you love.
• Remote Control lets you control the programming and music from the Radio, CD Player or Tape Cassette; all from the comfort of your couch, bed, dinner table, your favorite chair or anywhere in the room that is convenient for you. Recommended for elderly or handicapped (Great for lazy people).
• Features: Digital AM/FM Stereo Tuner / Mega Bass sound enhancer / CD-R/RW Playback Compatibility / Stereo Record/Playback Cassette Deck / Synchronized CD/Cassette Dubbing / Large Control Buttons and LCD Digital Display / 30 Programmable Preset Stations / Sleep Timer / CD Play Modes: Program, Shuffle, Repeat, 20 Track RMS Programming / Battery power option for portability / 4" wide dispersion angled speakers / Higher watts output than most portable units / Remote control / Headphone jack

Remote works great and speakers are great! nice for a small spot in your living area without spending a bunch of your life energy (MONEY!) We are glad we found it on amazon

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Sony is a high end product that gives many years of quality listening, which is why I purchased this product. It has all the componets that I wanted in a player/radio. I have been able to record from my CD's to tape so that I can enjoy my music while walking. It's very convenient to have a remote so that I can manuever settings while it's out of arm distance. The sound quality is excellent with the built in speakers but yet it takes up very little space.

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This Sony "boombox" is quite nice for the price. It's hard to find any in stores these days, and what is available usually costs half as much and therefore has a terrible sound and poor radio reception.

This player has a good sound to it for its size, and where we live, at a high altitude and in an extremely hilly area, the radio reception is normally poor, but this Sony picks up all kinds of stations, AM and FM.

I really like the CD player positioned on the top of the unit; it makes it easy to get the CD in and out, along with the way the CD player holds the CD: no wrestling with the CD--you just set the CD in and lift it out--no plastic thingamajig in the center gripping onto the CD!--just a smooth type.

Additionally, the operation of the CD player and tape deck openings is smooth. They open slowly and without catching or jerking. And, all the buttons are on the top of the player, which makes operation easy as well.

The remote works great, too--one little tip that's in the instruction booklet: the remote will not turn the player on in battery mode, but it does turn it off.

So, for its price range, I think this Sony is a nice one and has a pretty good sound. I definitely recommend it.

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Just what I wanted. Our old one (also a Sony), finally gave up after many years and very hard use. This is the updated similar product I had before, so I am looking for another long time friend to take to the beach and use by the pool. Great having the remote control too.

I think this is great for anything and the price was fair! Sound is good and the mega bass is nice to have!

Home Recording For Musicians For Dummies

For a long time i have been messing around with recording on a 4-track and my pc but getting bad results, but having no idea why, or what i need to do or buy to get some quality recordings. So i bought this book and it has opened up a whole world of home digital recording to me that i never had any way of accessing before. i now feel like i could confidently walk into a shop and buy the things i need and know exactly what im talking about, and know exactly what im looking for. If you want to get into home recording and dont know where to start, just buy this book, its all you need. I cant comment on whether more experienced musical technicians would find it insteresting as well, but im sure it would make a good reference book for them.

what are you waiting for?

When all else failed, I turned to this book. It is humorous, made me feel like I was not stupid, and was LOADED with information that was in a language I understood. Looking back on other books I had purchased before this one, I realized it had the same info. The author of this amazing book is no dummy. He knows how to communicate for the everyman. I have made some astounding projects thanks to Home Recording for Musicians for Dummies by Jeff Strong. With the deepest of gratitude.

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This book is great!!!! I have been messing around with home recording for about 2 years, So I say I am still new at this. This book has got me off on the right foot, and helped to set up the studio I have now. It has also shown what kinda of upgrades I can make in the future. I now have everything that I want to get in the future laid out in the order I want/need to get them. I highly recommend this book

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I have used dummies books for just about everything I need to learn about that I don't already know. They have always been found to be helpful and full of information that I would have otherwise either not understood or had no clue about.

I have been messing around with recording myself for quite some time. I recently purchased Cakewalk Sonar Producer edition for my laptop to do some home recording for a demo I am producing. I purchased the venerable Power Books on the subject, as well as used the online Help. All of which are fine for the program, but if you really want to learn what it takes to record a great sound, you need this book. It covers all the topics, in a simple, straight forward way, for an amateur musician to understand all the concepts, hardware and processes involved in getting that great sound out of your hard work. There is no frustration here trying to figure out what it all means. No lengthy babbling about what, how and why.

If your a pro, well, Dummies books certainly aren't for you unless you need a reference, however, if you just simply want to learn how to do it, this is the book for you.

With all that being said, I have already cut three songs that I previously recorded without using this book and the sound is light years ahead of my original recordings.

If you are going to school to study Sound or Sound reinforcement, then reading this book will give you a hedge in your classes.

Stop trying to do it yourself without learning the basics and get this book. It will save you a lot of frustration and time and have you produce that sound you've always been looking for!

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....at least until I read Jeff Strong's book. I needed a book that would explain the basic elements of recording, mixing, and mastering. This book provided that, and then some, and at the same time managed to explain everything in a very clear and concise manner. Jeff takes the reader through all the stages of music creation, from choosing the type of recording studio (DAW vs a studio-in-th-box), micing techniques, MIDI basics, to the mixing and mastering phases, as well as how to get your music out to the masses (via internet streaming, CD production, etc). I bought this solely for the purpose of learning some basics in mixing and mastering...I was pretty ignorant when it came to things like panning, EQ, compression and signal processing. Not anymore. I actually know how to use EQ and Compression parameters now! Thanks, Jeff.

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Gemini CD-1800X DJ CD Player

Overall this is a very good unit by Gemini and it's their best seller by far. For what you get it is extremely economical but that's been Gemini's calling card for years.

It is jammed packed with features as you can see and very versatile with its ability to perform at about a sub-par level as a Pioneer CDJ 1000. But don't get carried away. It's still a Gemini and they don't cater to the upscale DJ that demands more from their pro CD players.

I like the fact that it has the hot cue points and mater tempo control. These seem to get used plenty in pro CD players. The instant start is plausible and the fact that its slot loading tells me that they really wanted to put out a solid unit the Gemini CD1800X.

I would have like to see the anti skip feature longer than 10 seconds. They should have given it more memory to handle a longer time. I would have also like to see a cleaner design like their CDJ-02 but because there are so many features to this unit and it's so compact I guess it's the best they could do.

Good job on this one Gemini.

NU Slim USB External SuperMulti Drive DVD Burner ESW860

First of all a great advantage no extra AC power needed that is exactly what we understand as a super slim portable drive. An AC power supply is even not included in the box and it comes just with Y-USB cable. I have IBM X61s laptop, equipped with 3 x USB 2.0 and the NU drive works perfectly on it. They say it is compatible both to USB 1.1 and 2.0, I guess that is why they provided Y-USB cable for more power on older machines. The NU is cheaper than similar drives provided by TARGUS. About the software compatibility I can say it is plug and play, no problems. I burned few CDs and DVDs, everything was just fine. They were readable on other machines. It comes with NERO 8.0 some OEM version, but works great. The finish of this product is pretty good and the design is sleek. I think that is enough I love it.

I bought this DVD Burner for my ASUS Eee PC with Windows XP and it works great. It just plug and play as advertised. No need to load included driver. It's very slim and light and powers off from USB Y-cable which makes perfect for traveling. It comes with very simple instruction manual and Nero software. It burns and plays CDs and DVDs and the price is very cheap.

I also use the drive with my other computer, SONY VAIO occasionally, and it works great with it, too.

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I've purchased a different DVD Burner, NU ESW846PRO, from NUI Digital. The product works great and I had a great experiencing purchasing from NUI Digital. So, I bought this one for my friend's birthday gift and she also loves it. She's not a computer savvy, but she said it's very easy to use, just plug and go. She also travels a lot and said the driver is so small and compact, it is easy to carry. Great buy!

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External DVD burner doesn't work with windows media player, and Nero software demands me to buy a special plug in or pay for an upgrade for a full version Nero. It's an extortion.

It is not possible to use it without paying additional money and it doesn't work with iTunes or Windows media player, only with Nero. Partial version of Nero they supplied with DVD Burner crashes. Don't buy.

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Been using this for several months now with an Asus 1000he netbook. This drive works with USB power only & the unit is very light weight.

I've burned DVD's, CD's & backed up a lot of data using this drive with no problems.

Olympus DS-320 Digital Voice Recorder

Excellent voice quality on this digital recorder. Saving files onto your PC is a snap with the serial or USB cables. Use the software that comes with it to edit the recordings and then save them to WAV files that can be played on any system. The data compression is excellent -the sound files are small and can be emailed or put onto floppy disk.

Brickhouse HD Spy Hidden Camera DVR Pen and 8GB Recorder - 720i - 1280x720 30 FPS Video

• Battery for up to 75 Minutes of Continuous HD Video
• Record important moments in clear, color-realistic High-Definition 720/30p (1280 x 720 HD) Video with less grain
• Built-in USB plug and 8GB internal flash memory for up to 40 hours of storage.
• Built-in Rechargeable High Performance Lithium-Ion
• Ran out of ink? Not a problem. Your digital pen camera has a standard replaceable ink cartridge that you can find at your favorite office supply store.

Some of the reviews had complained that the pen was difficult to get the correct date and time. I thought it was easy enough and it only took a second to do. The pen works well but would like to have the option to stop the light from flashing on the pen. Other than that it works well. Audio is a little poor but from something like this pen, the audio is actually better than what one should expect.

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I purchased this after i saw it on TV.

1. The pen runs out of ink within a month.

2. The pen has trouble hooking to a usb.

3. It will not hold a charge.

4. Trying to view the information is no fun.

5. I ask for a refund or replace and I have been told it is out of warranty.

This is the kind of product Amazon needs to get off their site.

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It works pretty good at times, but it's difficult to operate. The on/off button doesn't work smoothly if you have the cap screwed on too tight. Battery drains pretty fast, faster than it states. Instructions are not that clear.

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There are many different look a like versions of this Pencam; you'd be better off buying one directly from Brickhouse. I bought mine from MC Sales, and returned it 5 star service.

Pros:

-Unlike other Pencams, camera lens is high up on the Pen, so it can be tucked further down into your pocket, or wherever you choose to put it.

-8 gig memory card.

-Records at 30 frames per second which means no motion blur.

-Fast transfers of videos to your PC especially if you have a 3.0 USB port.

Cons:

-Video cam is zoomed in for some reason, and cannot be adjusted.

-At 5 feet away, the recording area of the Pencam is only 3 feet wide (and since the lens is zoomed in, the effective recording width is about 2 feet wide).

-EXTREMELY grainy video even in the best lighting.

-Dark areas of the recorded area are seen as big black splotches.

I couldn't return this cam fast enough. It is so bad it is laughable.

Zero stars.

You would be a lot happier with the Esky® Pencam.

Broken after 2 days of usage :( computer does not recognize pen as USB flash.

The picture from cam is really noisy.

Sescom LN2MIC-ZMH4-MON 3.5mm Line to Mic 25dB Attenuation Cable for Zoom H4N with Headphone Monitor

This product works like this. You want to record using your Zoom Recorder as a "shotgun" mic by mounting it on your camera. This cord allows you to monitor audio while recording in real time. Philip Bloom said himself that recording audio without monitoring is like recording video and not looking at the screen. this product does the job. used on a canon 60d

Got this to record reference audio to my 7D. Since the 7D still has auto gain control (AGC) it still makes this unusable for real audio needs. But, if you're a one man crew like I am this can be great if you're doing interviews with DSLR's or other situations where you want both a backup audio source and a good source to sync with. Makes like easier, that's for sure.

However, -25dB isn't really enough. That may just be the 7D's fault, but overall I still have to change levels in FCP to even out the sound or else the recording in the 7D is way too loud. Now, I could just lower the out from the H4n but that affects my headphones. But overall, it works.

Buy Sescom LN2MIC-ZMH4-MON 3.5mm Line to Mic 25dB Attenuation Cable for Zoom H4N with Headphone Monitor Now

The most painful part of DSLR filming is the anxiety in wondering just what sound you've recorded while on set or on location. With this little cable, you can banish that worry -provided you have an external sound recorder.

Combined with a Zoom H4n for example, you can now record high quality sound directly through your camera. Place the Zoom or other audio recorder on the hot shoe with a hot shoe adapter (uses the 4/20 screw mount on the back of your Zoom to connect it to the hot shoe.) plug this into the zoom and then the camera and then jack in some headphones. Pre-roll your sound to get the levels right and then go about recording as you normally would!

I've found that I'm more certain and confident in the sound I get which makes for better overall videos as well.

If you want even better sound security, use a second recorder with an XLR microphone and then just sync your audio in post!

Great little product!

Read Best Reviews of Sescom LN2MIC-ZMH4-MON 3.5mm Line to Mic 25dB Attenuation Cable for Zoom H4N with Headphone Monitor Here

buyers! pay attention and research. I bought this for my canon t3i and did not realize that the amplifier in the camera does not match the setting for a zoom h4n. Great product, but really read up on it if you are a dslr user.

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Got a cam with a mini jack for mic level input only? This is the fix for connecting a line level signal from a mic preamp, mixer, or in my case the Tascam DR40. I used it with a Kodak Zi8 camera, did a great job. I love these problem solving gadgets that let low budget videographers create great results! Here is a video I shot using this setup:

Sony ECMMS907 Digital Recording Microphone

I have used the ECMMS907 to fill about 150 mini discs since I bought it three years ago. It runs lovingly on one AA battery (unlike it's watch-battery-dependent predecessor) and allows for two polor patterns 180 and 90 degrees. The casing of the unit is rugged. It includes wind screen, travel pouch, stand clip, and four foot cloth encased cable. I have been able to record everything from street musicians to Dave Bruebeck concerts.

In pro audio it isn't considerd cool to like Sony gear as it often uses digital tricks to achieve a bogus sense of higher fidelity, but Sony electronics are bulletproof and work exactly as designed until you lose them or back them over with your car. That said...

Lots of people I have spoken with purchased this microphone thinking they could jack into the 1/8" input on thier laptop computer and get desirable results. This might work if your microphone is inches away from a blaring guitar amp, but won't do well with amient recordings or speaking as the output gain is far too low. Most people are not happy in this situation.

Overall, worth every penny. Perhaps there is a modification out there to improve the output gain.

(2008 HOLIDAY TEAM)The other reviewers wrote some great info about this Microphone. Some drawbacks are the relatively bulkyness of this unit as compared to others.

The sound quality is sufficiently clear when recording, but is not sensitive enough to satisfy the most demanding users such as musicians or professional reporters. As the other reviewers have said, you need a relatively loud source as there is no sensitivity switch or zoom feature. It does have the 90-120 degree switch, so you can toggle the range depending on what you are recording.

This microphone is very compatible with many different devices. MD is the best though.

Here's one MD player recorder that I know has the microphone jack and works great with this microphone:

'Sony MZ-NF810CK Net MD MiniDisc Recorder with Car Kit'

However, don't be fooled. Not every MD player has the appropriate Mic Jack. Double Check the technical documentation to make sure. Units that definitely do not have it are:

'Sony MZ-NE410 High Speed Net MD Walkman Recorder'

Notice the deceptive "Recorder" moniker in the product name. Don't be fooled! Very few MD "recorders" actually record with a microphone!

Not sure about these:

'Sony MZ-NF610 High Speed Net MD Walkman Recorder'

'Sony MZ-N510CK NetMD Walkman/Recorder with Car Kit'

'Sony MZ-N505 Net MD Walkman Player/Recorder'

Do your research before purchasing any MD player. All in all, this is a good value and pretty good quality for a digital microphone.

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I use the MS-MS907 microphone on a weekly basis. My main use of this microphone is to record lectures and it does a good job of it. Of course microphone placement is the key to a good recording but the MS907 provides a good pickup at this price point. It operates on a single AA battery and is highly efficient with energy consumption. Another feature I like about this microphone is that it provides two pickup pattern (90degrees for an individual speaker and 120degrees to accomodate a chorus).

I would recommend investing in either a minidisc recorder or a MP3 recorder.

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I purchased this microphone to record piano playing in my living room via the Griffin iMic to my Mac iBook using the software "WireTap Pro" version 1.11. I have mounted the Mike on the side of my grand piano, where the wall curves. I have made very good recordings, and I am happy with the unit and it's price. I didn't find the recordings to be as good when I attempted to record from some distance away from the piano. Recording from close up and adjusting the sensitivity in the software to avoid distortion seems to be the best way to accomplish my purpose. The unit seems to be a cost-effective solution for my kind of use. I have given it a 4/5 rating although I purchased it with little knowledge of the field overall, and I am not able to make any comparisons.

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This works well with a sony digital camcorder, and it is the same product as a similar looking mic marketed for camcorders specifically. This works poorly with a computer mic input. I Compared a cheap (cheaper than this mic) XLR vocal mic with this sony one. I connected both to a USB audio interface (mbox 2/protools le) and the vocal mic outperforms the sony mic by a significantly noticeable degree for instrumental recording. If you're not using this with a minidisc recorder, spring for a usb/firewire AD converter interface for a computer with an xlr mic instead of a minidisc with this mic.

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