MAKE IT • STREAM IT SPECIAL WEAR IT • SING IT ISSUE RIP IT • PLAY IT ULTIMATE

GET MORE FROM TECHNOLOGY DIGITAL 48 COOL PRODUCTS MUSIC COMPARED MP3 PLAYERS GUIDE HEADPHONES SERVICES SIRIUS VS. XM DJ GEAR

HOME STUDIO HOW TO USB GUITAR SIMPLE STREAMING TIPS KARAOKE EASY WAYS ...AND MORE! TO TAKE IT ANYWHERE ROCK STAR SECRETS FROM FLAMING LIPS, DEVO, AND MORE! Master Your Music Play it. Share it. Rip It. Stream it. Sing it. Scratch it. Take it with you. Our 15-page guide shows you every way to enjoy digital music. BY MIKE KOBRIN

WHAT’S INSIDE PERHAPS YOU SUFFER FROM THE SAME 64 MP3 players serious addiction that has gripped me for much of my 66 Subscription Services life: I have to have music with me at just about every 66 Devo’s Mark step of my day. I wake up with John Coltrane on my Mothersbaugh JBL On Time clock radio, sip my morning coffee while 67 Brian “BT” Transeau listening to NPR streaming from a Sonos ZonePlayer 68 Wireless Streaming Devices 80, and catch a morning train with my iPod nano and 70 Front Row versus Ultimate Ears super.fi 5 Pro earphones. Media Center At work, I dock my iPod and switch to the Sennheiser 70 Convert Your CDs PX100 headphones. Lucky for me, my job involves testing 71 The Flaming Lips 74 Music Clothes and audio gear, so I get to use a variety of software (iTunes, Headphones WMP, Musicmatch) and services (Rhapsody, Napster, 74 Satellite Radio Audible, Vongo) nearly every day while I’m at my desk. Compared On the following pages, we offer some tips and buy- 75 DJ How-To 77 Home Studio Tips ing advice for music lovers. And if you’re also a musi- 78 Recording Live Music cian like me, don’t miss our lowdown on setting up your 79 Fun Music Gear home studio or being your own DJ.

62 PC MAGAZINE AUGUST 22, 2006 Illustration by Joe Zeff AUGUST 22, 2006 PC MAGAZINE 63 Find an MP3 Player To Suit Your Lifestyle

OU’RE PROBABLY WONDERING IF include FM tuners, voice/FM/line-in recording, port able music players will go the and photo viewing. A few players—both fl ash and way of the audio cassette, thanks hard drive—also have media card slots, giving you to increasingly music-capable cell potentially unlimited storage. Y phones. Not quite. Dedicated au- Which sounds better? Two important factors dio players are far from obsolete. are frequency response and output power. In test- MP3 players fall into two main categories: hard ing, I generally fi nd that both fl ash and hard drive drive and fl ash memory. Hard drive players range players have fl at frequency responses except in the from 3GB to 100GB, though most fall in the 8GB to bass, where they both usually have some weakness. 30GB range. Some newer fl ash players—one exam- Headphones, however, signifi cantly infl uence how ple is the SanDisk Sansa e270, which takes a swipe a player sounds. The earbuds bundled with most at the iPod with SanDisk’s iSheep campaign (www players are terrible, and I almost always recommend JUGGLE playlists and .idont.com)—currently top out at 6GB. But most upgrading (for suggestions, see page 68). swords simultaneously. players fall in the 512MB to 4GB range. Today’s MP3 players include a bewildering Chipsets are also evolving, especially in the fl ash variety of displays. OLED screens are now fairly player space. Though today’s fl ash players now play common, but while they save battery life and have back video, they currently max out at 15 frames per perfect viewing angles, they aren’t nearly as high- second. Manufacturers may try to beef up their resolution as LCDs. chipsets to handle 30-fps video, which would help Screen size seems to have settled down to smooth the jerkiness of video at 15 fps, but watching roughly 1.5 inches for fl ash players and 2.5 inches video on a tiny 1.5-inch screen is still not ideal. for hard drive players. Photos and very short video Hard drive players used to have better features clips are fine on the smallest screens, but longer (and more of them) than fl ash players, but that’s no clips and TV shows are defi nitely more watchable longer the case. Even the tiniest fl ash players now on 2.5 inches.

HARD DRIVE MP3 PLAYERS Although bigger and heavier than fl ash players, hard drive players are ideal for storing all (or a good chunk) of your music collection, as well as for viewing photos and video.

Apple iPod 30GB Archos AV 500 Cowon iAudio X5 Creative Zen Toshiba gigabeat S (with video) With a very sharp, About the same size MicroPhoto The gigabeat S has a We awarded this next- widescreen 4-inch LCD, and weight as the 20GB The MicroPhoto’s color sharp 2.4-inch LCD, a gen iPod with video our a sleek brushed-alumi- iPod, the X5 has great OLED screen, good slim profi le, a nifty cross- highest rating because num casing, and a slim sound quality, broad fi le sound quality, feature shaped button array, it is stylish, easy to use, profi le, the AV 500 of- support, a handy USB set, and choice of good sound quality, and and the best at playing fers video recording and 2.0 port, 3.5mm line-in ten colors make it runs Windows Mobile. music and video. playback features that and line-out jacks, and a standout. Reviewed on page 30. 30GB, $299 direct are unparalleled. a DC power jack. 8GB, $199.99 direct 30GB, $299.99 direct go.pcmag.com/ipod- 30GB, $499.95 direct 20GB, $299 direct go.pcmag.com/ go.pcmag.com/ video go.pcmag.com/av500 go.pcmag.com/iaudiox5 microphoto gigabeats lllll llllh lllhm llllh llllm

64 PC MAGAZINE AUGUST 22, 2006 COOL MUSIC LINKS GARAGEBAND.COM This site is the “it ” destination if you want to discover new music or launch your yet-unsigned carport supergroup. You register, pick a genre, and review a song at random. Your review is scored and you earn points to redeem else- where on the site. The review is also sent to the band, which may ask you for specifi c feedback.

PANDORA.COM Part of the Music Another important consideration is whether one Apple is rumored to be developing for the iPod. Genome Project, Pandora is a good way your player supports your music subscription ser- Wireless transfer is available via devices such as the to discover new music. vice. iPods work only with the iTunes Music Store, MusicGremlin MG1000 (go.pcmag.com/mg1000) but You create a station and players that carry the Microsoft PlaysForSure will be much more prevalent in 2007. And as fl ash by typing in a song or logo work (or should work) with download and memory prices drop, we’ll see greater capacities at artist you like. Then it subscription services like MTV’s Urge, Napster, lower prices, which will eventually spell the end of scans its music library and Yahoo! Music Unlimited (see page 66) low-capacity (8GB or less) hard drive players. for songs with similar attributes. As you lis- Sometime next year we’re going to see even Check out the players here to see if anything fi ts ten, just vote thumbs- more features integrated into MP3 players, such as your needs. And if you’re not sure what those needs up or thumbs-down Bluetooth headphone support, more sophisticated are, get some help from our online buying guide at to narrow down the recording capabilities, and new interfaces like the go.pcmag.com/mp3players.—MK results.

FLASH MP3 PLAYERS These little beauties are perfect for the gym or for tossing into a pocket for your commute. Storage capacities are going up, as are features, such as line-in recording and FM radio.

Apple iPod nano Cowon iAudio U3 Creative Zen V Plus Samsung Yepp YP-Z5 SanDisk Sansa e260 Apple wins again with The tiny U3 has good A good alternative to The YP-Z5 was the fi rst The e260’s style, per- the nano’s unsurpassed sound-enhancement op- the nano, the Zen V Plus 4GB fl ash player to sup- formance, and features interface, excellent tions and voice/line-in/ comes in several colors port PlaysForSure, but (such as a microSD slot, sound quality, and FM recording, and sup- and capacities (up to we’re more impressed PlaysForSure support, undeniable cool factor. ports many fi le types. 4GB). It also offers with its 30-hour battery and a user-replaceable 4GB, $249 direct Its screen can display features such as video life, large screen, and battery) make it the go.pcmag.com/nano photos and videos, but playback, FM radio, and good photo-viewing best non-Apple player llllh the quality is not stellar. voice/line-in recording. features. out there. 2GB, $219.99 list 2GB, $169.99 direct 4GB, $280 street 4GB, $229.99 direct go.pcmag.com/cowonu3 go.pcmag.com/zenvplus go.pcmag.com/ypz5 go.pcmag.com/e260 llllm llllm llllm llllh

AUGUST 22, 2006 PC MAGAZINE 65 Music Subscription Services Why buy the cow when you can rent the milk?

T’S BEEN 15 YEARS SINCE THE SOVIET MTV service called Urge all claim to have more Union fell and China started beating us than two million songs in the bank. Yahoo! current- at our own capitalist game. Now the all- ly offers two services, the venerable Musicmatch American love of ownership may be un- and Yahoo! Music Unlimited, each with about a mil- I der its gravest threat yet—at least when lion songs. Right now, Yahoo! plans to combine the it comes to digital music. The threat this two services into one “best of breed” media player time comes from the spread of inexpensive, high- later this year, and current customers will be able to quality online music subscription services that update seamlessly. leave one wondering why anyone would ever All of the services are essentially different purchase a song—much flavors of the same business model. You can lis- less an actual CD. ten to the same songs over and over again, creat- Of course, iTunes ing playlists and libraries, even downloading the (www.itunes.com) has be- songs to your computer. Pay a bit more and you can come famous as the home even transfer songs to a Microsoft PlaysForSure– of the 99-cent download, compatible MP3 player (although the songs expire which sounds like a fast- after about a month). None of the services currently food slogan. But still, work with the iPod, which is compatible only with the question is, why buy iTunes downloads. when you can subscribe? One variation on this business model, however, Online subscription is eMusic, which has a hybrid subscription plan: services give you instant The site charges a monthly fee for a certain number access to their libraries of of downloads (for example, $9.99 for 40 downloads, several lifetimes’ worth or about 25 cents per song). The songs are down- of songs—all for about loaded in DRM-free MP3 format, so they’re yours to ten bucks a month. do with as you wish. RHAPSODY’S COMPREHENSIVE interface in- Rhapsody To Go, Of course, if you really love a song and can’t cludes exclusive content and customized picks. Napster, and the new detach yourself from the concept of owning it, you

DIGITAL MUSIC INNOVATORS: MARK MOTHERSBAUGH OF DEVO

He is best known for whipping it good as a key- “It doesn’t feel untrue to me to pick up an ac- boardist in the seminal new-wave band Devo, cordion and maybe run it through a guitar amp but there’s more to the musicianship of Mark with a wah-wah pedal, and have that replace a Mothersbaugh than just “energy dome” hats and string section in a classical piece. It doesn’t al- chemical-protection suits. Ask him what he’s up ways work, but I’m always looking for interesting to and he doesn’t disappoint: “I’m a musi cal re- juxtapositions and positive mutations.” porter reporting the good news of Devolution Although he doesn’t use his iPod much (he to this day,” says Mothersbaugh, who’s return- typically lends it to his daughter, Margaret, so ing to the road for a fall Devo tour. she can catch up on episodes of Sesame Street), As the band’s cultural infl uence began to Mothersbaugh thinks that a musical watershed is wane in the mid-1980s, Mothersbaugh adapted approaching. He’s still an old-school afi cionado, by expanding his infl uence into TV and fi lm— but he admits that digitally released music is on with more than 70 projects to date. He started, MOTHERSBAUGH dons his a course to trump antiquated plastic media. And appropriately enough, with the soundtrack for energy dome again for Devo’s he thinks that an overall change in the musical Revenge of the Nerds 2: Nerds in Paradise. Since fall tour. landscape would be a step in the right direction. then, he’s applied his unique musical styling to everything from “When you look at the bigger history of music and per- The Royal Tenenbaums to the soundtrack for The Sims 2, including formed music, and what popular music was, it really involved a substantial body of work in children’s TV and movies. people sharing things more freely without charging each other With each project, he experiments with high-tech and low- for it,” Mothersbaugh says. “I think music will go back. It’ll get tech approaches. Mothersbaugh fi nds inspiration from “crazy taken away from the Paris Hiltons and the Britney Spears of techno geniuses” who rewire electronic toys—such as the Speak & the world. I’d love to be a part of that, on the side that still gets Spell—to output anything from musical notes to a “monster vom- to make music when the smoke clears.”—Dave Murphy, frequent iting,” suggests Mothersbaugh. contributor

66 PC MAGAZINE AUGUST 22, 2006 NAPSTER lets you browse artists and songs by indie record label. can still download it from the service (usually at slightly less than the 99 cents that iTunes and oth- ers typically charge). URGE’S SLICK INTERFACE is integrated with the new Windows Media Each service also has its unique selling points. Player 11 (beta). Napster offers a member-created music encyclo- pedia called Narchive and browsing by album label or Billboard chart. Rhapsody boasts 100 radio sta- SITE INFO tions, customizable stations, and playlist sharing. Urge, which lives inside a sleek Windows Media EMUSIC Monthly fee varies based on number Player 11 (beta) interface, lets you sort songs by of downloads popularity among fellow members. Musicmatch’s AutoDJ assembles custom playlists based on user- MUSICMATCH/ YAHOO! MUSIC selected criteria and has robust tagging features. UNLIMITED $6.99 per For all their status as young rebels in the mu- month; portable, $11.99 sic business, though, the subscription services per month may be getting lapped by an unlikely stealth con- MYSPACE Free tender: MySpace. You just surf to the site and click NAPSTER $9.95 per on a band, and it connects to their MySpace profi le, month; portable, $14.95 where you can listen to select tracks. The MySpace per month music service may be far from comprehensive, but RHAPSODY $9.99 per it’s a good place to fi nd underground and unsigned month; portable, $14.99 acts you won’t fi nd on the big services. Also, you can per month listen to entire songs for free, even if you haven’t URGE $9.95 per month; registered for a MySpace account, so the cost-to- portable, $14.95 per month value ratio is pretty sweet.—Aaron Dalton, freelance MUSICMATCH JUKEBOX has strong smart- tagging writer for such publications as Wired and Dwell. features and comprehensive recommen dations.

DIGITAL MUSIC INNOVATORS: BRIAN “BT” TRANSEAU Ask one pioneer of electronica how he likes to lay down his new- At his home studio and audio rendering farm in Los Angeles, est amalgamations of sound, and Brian Transeau—or BT—will tell BT envelops himself in a music technosphere. With a few Apple you that it’s all about the basics. That doesn’t mean writing out PowerMac G5 computers and eight AMD dual-core Opteron 64- songs or tablature; BT’s process is forever infl uenced by his new- bit desktop computers, BT uses programs he designed (avail- found love for the CSound programming language. able through his company, Sonik Architects) to achieve his musi- “It’s not like somebody gives you a blank canvas and fresh cal mixes. These help create the acoustical fundamentals for his paint,” BT says. “You have to structure your own canvas and go upcoming album, The Binary Universe, in which he is recording out into the environment and fi nd all these fl owers and in 5.1 surround-sound format. berries to make your paint. That’s what CSound is like. “For me, sound represents a complete, immer- Every time you do something with it, you’re literally sive sonic environment,” BT says. “So when you’re thinking at ground zero.” working in surround, to not write to nanospecifi c lo- With four albums, countless singles and remixes, calizations of sounds and trajectories and patterns and 18 fi lm scores (including Monster, The Fast and and movement totally defeats the purpose of having the Furious, and Go) under his belt, the 34-year-old such a gift of working in an immersive sound fi eld.” virtuoso, who mixed Fortran with Debussy in his teen- As a tech consumer, BT confesses that he’s ad- age years, has come a long way since mowing lawns dicted to his video iPod, BlackBerry, and Sony PSP, to earn enough money to buy his fi rst 16KB-memory though he still appreciates simple pleasures. “Dispos- computer. Since then, BT has explored the vast reaches TECHNO MUSIC able electric toothbrushes,” says BT. “That is the rad- of music technology. And now he has found yet another impresario and dest thing ever. They’re ten bucks, and you can re- new idea to play with: surround sound. soundtrack king BT. cycle them when you’re done with them.”—DM

AUGUST 22, 2006 PC MAGAZINE 67 Wear Your Music Nike plus SOUNDING OFF ON HEADPHONES With the help of a receiver in When it comes to choosing a pair of headphones, the shoes and an adapter plug- there’s no one-size-fi ts-all. PC Magazine staffers in for the iPod nano, the Nike weigh in on their favorites. Plus shoes communicate with the nano, giving you a voice report of time, distance, calo- ries burned, and pace. You can upload the data to Nike’s Web site to track progress. Kit, $29; shoes, $85 to $110 www.nikeplus.com

Koyono BlackCoat Bose QuietComfort2 Etymotic ER6i The BlackCoat uses an iPod connec- Comfortable enough to The Etymotic ER6i canal- tor and sewn-in washable fabric wear coast-to-coast and phones deliver amazing controls to allow iPod access sporting the best noise sound. They come with without actually touching the reduction, the Bose Quiet- three-fl ange rubber tips iPod. The controls, placed by Comfort 2 headphones that reduce ambient noise. the inside chest pocket, are deliver an oasis of calm. $149 direct only 0.6-mm thick and are $299 direct www.etymotic.com touch-sensitive. There are four www.bose.com —Dan Costa versions of the coat, ranging —Jim Louderback from casual (BlackCoat Surf) to professional (BlackCoat Work). $199 to $275 list www.koyono.com

iPopMyBaby Click-Wheel One-Pieces Subject your baby to your tech Ultimate Ears super.fi 5 Pro Sennheiser PX 100 nerdiness with this adorable I like the Ultimate Ears The Sennheiser PX 100 American Apparel–made one- super.fi 5 Pro because they earbuds have amazing piece with an iPod jog wheel on fi t comfortably, they sound sound quality for a really the front. This item comes in a great, and the cables are low price. (I got mine on variety of colors and sizes for replaceable. sale for less than $30!) babies 6 to 18 months. $249.99 direct $40 street $15.95 list www.ultimateears.com www.sennheiserusa.com ipopmybaby.com —Mike Kobrin —Whitney Reynolds

SIRIUS VS. XM SATELLITE RADIO If you’re thinking of jumping into the satellite radio wave pool but can’t make up your mind between XM and Sirius, we’ve boiled down their strengths and weaknesses in programming, price, and available devices. Sirius XM The Winner

Subscription $12.95 per month $12.95 per month (family and XM’s subscription plans are clearly more price business plans available) fl exible.

Number of 125 Over 170 XM carries more channels, but you’re better channels off choosing based on the type content than the quantity of it.

Music Standard genres plus decades Standard genres plus decades There’s enough musical variety on each and special interest and special interest service for most listeners.

Talk/Sports NPR, PRI, FOX, NFL, ESPN, Air America, WLW, CNBC, Sirius wins for straight news, while XM is bet- NBA NASCAR, NHL, FIFA ter for partisan politics. For sports, either is good, depending on your tastes.

Celeb hosts Howard Stern, Martha Stewart, Oprah Winfrey, Opie & Anthony, Both have impressive arrays of celeb hosts, Tony Hawk, Richard Simmons, Bob Dylan, Dale Earnhardt Jr., though Sirius’s odd combo of Howard Stern Lance Armstrong, and more. and more and Martha Stewart packs quite a punch.

Device options Sirius Streamer Replay Radio Pioneer Inno ($399), Samsung No contest here: XM is the clear winner with ($129.99 direct), Sirius One Nexus 25 ($219), Delphi MyFi its XM2go devices. Radio ($49.99 direct) ($199), Tao XM2GO

68 PC MAGAZINE AUGUST 22, 2006 Media-Streaming Migraine PC Mag Editors Erik Rhey and Sarah Pike blow a weekend at home to see which streaming devices and media hubs are worth the headache.

UCH LIKE THE MYSTERIOUS gi- installation software said I needed to update to ant squid of the ocean deep, OS X 10.4, in contradiction of Apple’s Web site, wireless streaming media de- which says it can run on 10.3 or later. After upgrad- vices tend to be an elusive prey. ing to 10.4, I reinstalled the AirPort utility and got M We found out why when we it up and running. For what it is designed for, the AUDIO PORTS tried to install music-stream- AirPort Express works well. If you’re in a Mac-only ing devices (to play music from a PC on a home ste- household or will use the AirPort Express as a travel reo) and media hubs (to stream videos router, this device is a bargain. You can and photos from a PC to a TV). Here even get multiple devices and play dif- are our stories; they aren’t pretty, but ferent tracks in each room. But because we refused to give up the fight until it has no LCD, doesn’t support any mu- we’d explored all our options. sic subscription services, and was less than ideal in a mixed environment, I COAXIAL DIGITAL ERIK’S STORY: concluded that it was not for me. An RCA-type connector MUSIC-STREAMING DEVICES I’m glad I didn’t set up the Sonos for digital audio signals. My home setup presents a particular ZonePlayer 80 ($999 direct, www set of challenges. I live in a two-sto- .sonos.com) before the others, because ry duplex apartment (first floor and it would have spoiled me for them. basement) in a large building. I have Simply put, the ZP 80 is awesome. It a mixed wireless network (Mac and requires no software installation, sets PC), and there are eight to ten other up in a snap, and includes a stylish re- wireless networks in my building, THE SONOS Zone- mote. It will even display album art, not to mention the signals from other Player 80 is pricey but and it supports Rhapsody. It met my JACK PLUGS tenants’ cordless phones, baby moni- impressive. every criterion save one: price. Unfortu- A common analog head- tors, and micro wave ovens. I’ve even nately, I don’t have $1,000 burning a hole phone and line-input caught scraps of CB radio transmissions through in my pocket. But if you have the long green, Sonos connector in 6.35mm (or my TV when cabs drive by. is the way to go. 1/4-inch), 3.5mm (1/8-inch or mini), and 2.5mm I was looking for a device to stream the music I After an exhaustive two days of testing, I (or 3/32-inch or submini). have stored on the iMac in my basement home offi ce reached the final two devices in my roundup, to the fi rst-fl oor stereo. The ideal device should play the Roku SoundBridge M1000 ($199.99 list, www my music fi les on the iMac and support Rhapsody .rokulabs.com) and the Oregon Scientific Music streaming from my ThinkPad (and maybe even have an LCD and remote control). So I embarked ERIK’S HOME SETUP on a weekend odyssey to test fi ve music-streaming Laptop devices in two days at my home. I hope my experi- Living room ences will save you some buying remorse. stereo The first device I tested was the D-Link Media- OPTICAL DIGITAL Lounge DSM-120 ($179.99 direct, www.dlink.com). I A connector for a fi ber- must admit that after unpacking it, I had high hopes. optic cable transmitting It has a bright LCD, a cool form factor, a USB port, digital audio signals. Also known as Toslink. and a 100GB storage drive to play music directly from the device. Setup is tricky, and because you add it to your wireless network you must know the ins and outs of networking (such as whether your net- work is ad hoc or infrastructure, and the key index of your WEP password). You must also install a client app. When I fi nally got it set up, the DSM-120 worked for a while but kept dropping the connection, and streaming of protected WMA tracks was spotty. RCA Many of my Mac-centric friends have been rav- iMac A very common analog audio interface, usually a ing about the Apple AirPort Express ($129 direct, pair (red for right, white www.apple.com), so I thought I’d give it a try. My for left). first mistake was not reading the fine print. The Router

70 PC MAGAZINE AUGUST 22, 2006 Sphere ($199 list, www.oregonscientifi c.com). The SoundBridge is a sleek, cylindrical device with a remote and a crisp VFD screen, and the Music Sphere is a portable, high-design globe receiver with a built-in speaker, separate transmitter unit, and a neat round display. It uses the 2.4-GHz wire- less spectrum to play back and control up to three different audio sources (MP3 player, stereo system, or TV audio) up to 100 feet away from the source. With the SoundBridge you do not need to install a client app: It simply plugs into your stereo via the standard rear RCA connectors, like a CD player. The SoundBridge recognizes your music servers, such as Rhapsody or iTunes library, and it can play Internet radio stations. When I set it up, it worked ERIK’S HOME STEREO, laden with wireless music- amazingly well, recognizing all my music (Rhapso- streaming devices and the Logitech remote. dy, iTunes, and so on), right away. I was even able to TIPS ON integrate the Music Sphere using an available RCA CONVERTING port on my stereo. Basically, I could stream music direct, www.dlink.com) and the Buffalo LinkTheater YOUR MUSIC from the iMac to the SoundBridge, which would ($250 street, www.buffalotech.com). COLLECTION then stream it to the Music Sphere in the bedroom. I The first test was on the D-Link device. I in- CDs didn’t kill my cas- used the supercool Logitech Harmony 880 Universal stalled the software, which automatically checked sette collection—MP3s Remote with a color display ($249.99 direct, www. for updates, then crashed. After three reboots and did. In the process of logitech.com) to control everything. If you want three attempts at updates, the app remained on converting my music music all over the house, the SoundBridge and Mu- and allowed me to select the folders and fi le types I collection meticulously sic Sphere are the poor man’s answer to Sonos. If wanted to share with the hub. So far, so good. to digital, I’ve learned a few things. you have wireless speakers in other rooms, get the I hooked up the hub using the component audio/ SoundBridge. video cables (an S-Video cable is included as well), Decide what format plugged it in, and powered everything up. I spent you want your fi les in. SARAH’S STORY: MEDIA HUBS the next few hours trying to get the D-Link to join Most software lets you I have a fairly Spartan entertainment setup: a 5-year- my network, one excruciating router confi g and PC choose your format. old shelf stereo, a 13-inch TV hooked up to cable, and reboot at a time. First I had to enter the new MAC MP3 is the most versa- tile, but uncompressed a VCR. Yes, a VCR. Since the time I assembled my address into my router confi g, then r eboot. Then it or lossless formats give modest entertainment hub, much of my entertain- was power off the hub, search for the network, fail, you the highest sound ment has moved to my Dell Dimension 4400 in my power off hub, reboot PC. Tired and sore-eyed, I quality. bedroom. It holds hundreds of songs, photos, and a fi nally was able to sit back to watch a video, browse few videos. I set out to bring all that media content my photos, and listen to some music. The novelty Remember to set the out into the living room by testing two media hubs: of it was actually kind of thrilling, but the experi- player’s options to rip at the bit rate you The D-Link DSM-520 Wireless Media Hub ($249.99 ence was slow and imperfect. Some actions were want. We recommend at least 192 Kbps, but weigh sound quality FRONT ROW OR MEDIA CENTER: WHICH IS BEST FOR YOU? Apple’s Front Row and against your available Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE) have brought the PC into the living room. Mac OS X and storage. Before you Windows XP both use “10-foot” interfaces to let you access your digital photos, videos, and music from your opt for a low bit rate, couch. Although you’ve probably already chosen sides by buying a Mac or Windows PC, here’s how the multi- remember that storage media interfaces compare for music lovers. today is cheap, and getting cheaper. APPLE FRONT ROW Front Row, which comes on new Intel-based Macs, is the easier choice, in some ways. It dovetails nicely If time is limited, use a with iTunes—a boon for iPod users everywhere. The menu system is simpler than Media Center Edition’s, conversion service. If with only four choices on the main menu: Videos, Music, DVD playback, and Photos. The remote is also you have more money minimalist: a fi ve-way controller and Menu/Back button are all that are there. Internet radio is limited to than time, there are an almost hidden area in iTunes, as well as the small (but growing) number of iRadio stations that you can services—Riptopia, Rip- access through Safari or Firefox. Last but not least, sharing music on your home LAN is easy with iTunes: If Digital, and MusicRip, any of your friends are sharing their iTunes music, iTunes and Front Row will automatically fi nd them. to name a few—that will rip your collection WINDOWS XP MEDIA CENTER EDITION and store it on a hard Windows MCE also lets you play your photos, videos, MP3s, and WMA fi les in the 10-foot interface, but drive you provide.—SP there are other online features that merit mention. MTV and VH1 have portals to show promotions and music videos. XM and AOL Internet radio, Napster, Live365, and Musicmatch also have entries. Last but not least, you can play back all the MP3s and WMAs in your My Music folder ripped from CDs or bought through Windows Media–supported services. The Microsoft MCE remote, while powerful, has a lot of but- tons on it (thanks to MCE’s video/TV orientation), leading to maybe another remote taking up space. If you crave multimedia choices more than simplicity, an MCE PC is the way to go.—Joel Santo Domingo

AUGUST 22, 2006 PC MAGAZINE 71 SARAH’S HOME SETUP

Bedroom TV Bedroom PC remarkably simple, but others required a trip to the with wireless D-Link FAQ. I was able to play both PC-based mu- router sic playlists and a playlist I created on the fl y. But there was a noticeable delay between my pressing a button on the remote and the ac- tion’s beginning. And when I fired it up again the next day, it wouldn’t connect to the server till I rebooted a few more times. THE BUFFALO LINK- By comparison, the THEATER’S interface is Buffalo LinkTheater was a clear and smart. breeze. The software didn’t crash; it found my media fi les without having to ask. Living room TV Stereo When I powered on the LinkTheater, it waited for me to log on through the PC (which required just (but there’s no mechanism for creating new play- one reboot), and then let me step quickly through lists). The LinkTheater doesn’t recognize existing setting up the wireless network. And the second I playlists by default, or read metadata, but these restarted the LinkTheater, my laptop reconnected are simple checkboxes in the clear, well-presented to the network. Preferences dialog in the PC app. With a few exceptions, the LinkTheater’s soft- I’d be willing to pay the roughly $250 for a unit ware was much more comprehensive and easier to that combined the best features of the LinkTheater use. Refreshingly, the interface for selecting music and D-Link device but had better response time and recognizes user-designated folders immediately didn’t hose my network.

DIGITAL MUSIC INNOVATORS: THE FLAMING LIPS

The Flaming Lips have always been fear- lessly experimental. Formed in Okla- homa City in 1983, the band spent the fi rst decade of its career as a group of scrappy noise-rockers who favored lo-fi production and psychedelic noodling. Since then, the Lips have embraced new technologies to create a unique listening experience. The early years culminated with the band’s one and only Top 40 pop hit, the oddball anthem “She Don’t Use Jelly” from Transmissions from the Satellite Heart (1993). But the Flaming Lips have come a long way since then. Their most INCLUDED IN THE LINER NOTES of recent album, the fun, politically charged the seminal Flaming Lips album The At War with the Mystics (2006) has gar- Soft Bulletin is a diagram showing the ideal listening environment and nered them profi les on NPR and gigs on VOCALIST WAYNE COYNE, center, says the band tries to appeal to “music and sound freaks.” speaker location for the album’s David Letterman and Jay Leno. rerelease in 5.1 surround sound. The band loudly declared a new level of obsessive audiophile ambitions in 1997. That’s the year they Now that the Lips are vets of 5.1 technology, it’s infl uencing released the unwieldy Zaireeka, four separate discs intended to their studio process. Mystics was recorded and mixed for tradi- be played simultaneously on four stereos for maximum effect. tional two-channel stereo and surround sound simultaneously. The liner notes of the band’s latest 5.1 release, a deluxe edition Despite the effort put into audio perfection for Mystics, the of The Soft Bulletin (1999), give fans some advice on how to maxi- Lips also acknowledged that most listeners wouldn’t be hearing mize their surround-sound experience. With a diagram (shown at the album in the ideal setup. “Most people are listening to our right) and FAQ, they emphasize uniformly sized speakers at equal record on just a dumb iPod with those dumb little headphones,” height from the fl oor and recommend that the listener be “exactly Coyne says. centered in the middle of these equally separated left and right The Lips have several more digital projects on the horizon. As speakers.” Bassist Michael Ivins explains: “For our mixes, it’s very soon as they collect enough bonus material, the deluxe 5.1 edition important to have the speakers exactly the same because some- of Mystics will fi nd its way to stores. Their fi rst live DVD was just times the actual song might be coming out of the back and [we’d] shot and is guaranteed to have some technological surprises.— just have weird effects up in the front.” Dave Powers, freelance writer and former producer at MTV2.

72 PC MAGAZINE AUGUST 22, 2006 Fun Music Gear Dreaming of an American Idol appearance? Good luck. In the meantime, hone your skills with the following gear—or just have a bit of harmless fun.

Optek Fretlight This USB guitar looks like a typical Stratocaster- clone electric guitar, but it has more than 100 LEDs concealed in the fretboard to show you where to put your fi ngers for simple chords, progressions, arpeggios, and every kind of scale imaginable. Just make sure you don’t crash your computer trying to play the solo from “Stairway to Heaven.” $499.95 direct www.fretlight.com

Konami Karaoke Revolution Party Take a break from crashing cars and maiming people in the virtual world and have some good, clean fun on your Xbox, PlayStation II, or Nintendo GameCube with Konami’s Karaoke Revolution Party. KRP comes with 50 songs, multiplayer RedOctane Guitar Hero and party modes, and support for the Guitar Hero for the Sony EyeToy USB camera. You can custom- PlayStation 2 lets you live ize your character’s head, body shape, the dream of being a rock ’n’ clothes, and accessories. roll star. The set includes a For PlayStation 2 or Xbox, $29.99 direct; game guitar so you can play for Nintendo GameCube, $49.99.direct along with over 30 songs www.konamistyle.com from Boston, David Bowie, Ozzy Osbourne, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and more. There’s also a story mode in which you play different venues and work your way up to a giant stadium. And Guitar Hero 2 is due out this fall. $70 street www.redoctane.com

b2 mi Jam Stage Mic Want to sing along to your own tunes, in- stead of “Candle in the Wind”? Just plug this headset with mic (reminiscent of Britney Spears—the singer, not the klutzy mom) into your iPod, laptop, or any ex- ternal speaker and pick a song from your music collection. Now you’re singing with the band! The sound quality isn’t perfect, but for karaoke freaks, not being limited to the songs in the laminated book is quite a bonus. $19.99 list www.b2stuf.com

Memorex MKS2115 Portable Karaoke Player Take your rendition of “Piano Man” with you on this Memorex portable karaoke machine. ROCK ON...LINE! It has a CD player and dual mic inputs, Go to www.pcmag.com/music for full reviews of the MP3 players, and connects directly to your TV—all for a music subscription services, wireless streaming devices, and head- bargain price. phones discussed in this story. You’ll also fi nd exclusive, Web-only $25 street content, such as extended interviews with our profi led musicians, an www.memorex.com analysis of grassroots music distribution, and more.

AUGUST 22, 2006 PC MAGAZINE 73 Be Your Own DJ Make extra money on the weekends, or fi re that overpriced bozo you hired for your daughter’s wedding.

DJ EQUIPMENT CHECKLIST • Laptop, with power supply • Connecting cables • Spare connecting cables • Power strip • Extension cord T DOESN’T TAKE MUCH TO GET STARTED IN WHAT YOU NEED • Powered PA speakers the DJ biz. You can liven up a party with a You can do a DJ gig with nothing more than your playlist on your iPod and some powered laptop and a pair of speakers with built-in ampli- • Tripods speakers, or with a PC full of music and a fi cation. While a few titles dominate the software • Microphone streaming device. But that’s still a step or scene, there are at least 20 to choose from. PCDJ • Spare microphone I two from being a real DJ; a pro knows the is the dominant commercial title, with three ver- • Earphones audience and knows the music. If you intend to DJ sions increasing in sophistication and ranging in • iPod or MP3/CD an event such as a wedding or other large gathering, price from $50 to $430. PCDJ does an on-screen player with backup your job is to create a mood with music, adjusting simulation of two decks, where you cue up your playlist the tempo as the event goes on. Here are a few tips songs, typically from a playlist. You can search for • Folding cart on how to keep the crowd happy and groovin’. songs while a track is playing and can drop them into the list to handle requests. PCDJ also does au- THE BEAT GOES ON tomatic beat measurement and beat-matching for Disk jockeying evolves into a true art form when smooth transitions. you can get people dancing and keep them dancing. Several DJ packages that offer beat-matching For that, the usual song-to-song delay is unaccept- (and cross-fading) are freeware. KraMixer (www able. At the very least, you need two music sources, .kramware.com), the most notable, has an impressive such as CD players or iPods, and a cross-fader that array of features, including speed and pitch controls lets you move smoothly from one song to the next. for two virtual decks. You can also record your mix But the real art is beat-matching as you cross-fade, to MP3 if you need to create a canned show. so that the dancers are barely aware of song transi- A hardware control surface—such as the Visio- tions. This was originally (and still is) done with sonic PCDJ DAC2 ($349 direct, www.visiosonic vinyl on turntables, but technology always fi nds a .com) or the Hercules DJ Control ($195 street, www better way, especially when it means not having to .zzounds.com)—lets you control the speed of songs lug milk crates full of vinyl or CDs. as though they were on a turntable, so you can sync,

74 PC MAGAZINE AUGUST 22, 2006 beat-match, and even scratch, but you can do a good crowd into a frenzy. gig with just software. A time-honored rule of thumb in sizing pub- lic-address systems is 1 watt for each person in the PUMP IT UP room. But wattage alone doesn’t determine how Amplification is an essential hardware element. much sound you can project—there’s also the num- Many modern public-address speakers have ampli- ber and size of the speakers in each enclosure. Most fi ers built in. They are typically a pair designed to PA enclosures have a 12- or 15-inch round speaker in be mounted on a tripod for good room coverage. each enclosure for the bass and lower midrange and Your system should include a microphone chan- a molded horn for mid to high frequencies. The best nel so you can make announcements and whip the are biamplifi ed, with a separate amplifi er for each speaker. A pair of 12-inch speakers is adequate for small to medium venues THE WEDDING (50 to 150 people), with costs ranging DJ SONG LIST from $500 to $1,500 per pair. For larger MOST REQUESTED venues, you’ll need a pair of 2-by-12s or SONGS AT WEDDINGS 2-by-15s. Popular brands such as JBL AND PARTIES IN 2005 and Mackie are rugged, reasonably 1 “Hey Ya,” Outkast light for their size, and powerful; they 2 “Dancing Queen,” are typically priced around $1,000 to ABBA $3,000. 3 “You Shook Me All Finally, backup is critical. You Night Long,” AC/DC should have a fallback system, even if it’s just a cheap MP3-capable CD BEST NON-CLICHÉ player and a couple of MP3 players WEDDING FIRST- with some appropriate playlists. Ca- DANCE SONGS 1 KRAMIXER IS DJ FREEWARE that lets you cross-fade and beat- bles break. Mics get dropped. Be pre- “All My Love,” match digital tracks. pared.—Bill Machrone Led Zeppelin 2 “Woman,” John Lennon 3 “Love Song,” The Cure

INAPPROPRIATE SONGS THAT ALWAYS SEEM TO BE PLAYED AT WEDDINGS THE DIGITAL DJ At the Wynn 1 “I Will Survive,” Gloria Hotel in Las Vegas is Tryst, a stunning Gaynor (It’s a breakup night club with indoor and outdoor song, people.) dance floors and some of the best 2 “Love the One You’re music mixes ever to make a rump With,” Stephen Stills shake. Up in the DJ booth, you’ll often (Not exactly sending see DJ Justin Hoffman at the controls, the right message to scratching records and working the the newlyweds.) fader. But if you look closely, you’ll see he’s also using his Apple laptop. 3 “Brick House,” The Thanks to a system called Serato Commodores (That’ll Scratch LIVE ($550 street, www.rane. boost the bride’s com), Hoffman can control, mix, and self-esteem.) scratch MP3s stored on his laptop us- 4 “Tainted Love,” ing vinyl turntables. Soft Cell/Gloria Jones Scratch LIVE contains two 12-inch (You’ve got to run vinyl records, each emitting a unique away, groom!) control tone that the software rec- ognizes and uses to track the motion DJ JUSTIN HOFFMAN USES SERATO Scratch LIVE to both work of the record (simulating the same the turntables and mix digital beats. movement with digital audio). The system’s interface receives and sends audio sig- readout of the song to help the DJ see (rather than nals to the turntables and mixer via traditional RCA hear) at what tempo the song will “elope” with the cables, and the Scratch LIVE software receives the other. Scratch LIVE can play and manipulate sound data via USB. fi les even if they are made up on the spot. And the Traditionally, DJs play one turntable through the microphone input allows the DJ to record himself club’s sound system while cueing up the next song speaking and play it back on his turntable to manip- on the other table. To ensure smooth transition, ulate it. Scratch LIVE can also import an iTunes li- the DJ listens to the upcoming song on his head- brary, so you don’t have to lug around your entire phones and adjusts the tempo so each song fl ows vinyl library. To view a video demo of Scratch LIVE, into the next. Serato’s interface creates a waveform go to www.scratchlive.net/forum.—P.J. Jacobowitz

AUGUST 22, 2006 PC MAGAZINE 75 Horsing Around in Your Home Studio Sparklehorse’s Mark Linkous shares some of his homegrown techniques for home recording.

OMBINING YOUR OLD ANALOG EQUIP- perimentation, and are easy enough for a novice to ment with digital recording and edit- try. One technique he employs involves a portable ing not only saves time and money, it digital recorder and an acoustic guitar. If you push LINKOUS LINK can also give your music a very cool the gain on the digital recorder past its intended For more about signature sound. Arguably the king limits, an acoustic guitar can sound like a distorted Sparklehorse, the C of the low-tech/high-tech sound is electric guitar while maintaining some of its acous- upcoming album, and Mark Linkous, the creative force behind Sparkle- tic characteristics. You can try the same thing by Mark Linkous’s other production credits, horse, a one-man carnival that has brought in overdriving the inputs on your Digidesign Mbox or point your browser to such musical talents as PJ Harvey and Tom Waits other digital input device. www.sparklehorse.com to create an eerie, dreamlike sound. Another innovative trick Linkous uses when re- Linkous records Sparklehorse al- cording calls for a mic and some duct tape. “Strip bums in a home studio he calls Static a cheap microphone down to its diaphragm, and King—an old ski chalet nestled in the literally tape it to the kick drum [the bass drum] or Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. the kick shell,” Linkous says. Then run those mics He records to analog tape for warmth, through inexpensive distortion pedals—Linkous then dumps the tracks over to his digital recommends the Boss MT-2 Metal Zone—and run recording station. the output of those through noise gates. Noise gates Linkous describes the forthcoming are devices that let audio through only when trig- album, slated for August release and ten- gered by a spike in sound. In this case, the spike tatively called Dreamt for Light Years in would be the impact of the drum hit, and the gate is the Belly of a Mountain, as “edit-heavy,” essential to keep the distortion pedal’s hiss muted so mixing on a digital platform was es- when the drum isn’t being hit. The end result is sential. Many of the bizarre sounds he a real drum kit that sounds trashy, a bit fake, and produces are the result of simple ex- pretty damn cool.

DIGITAL MUSIC INNOVATORS: THOMAS DOLBY His name might induce a bad fl ashback of parachute pants and trate on their numbers, so all of that added up to this being a upturned collars on aqua polo shirts. The man behind the 1980s great time to get back to music.” hit “She Blinded Me with Science” may not have produced a slew Dolby still performs live shows, which always deliver a high- of subsequent chartbusters, but he has been far from dormant. If tech spectacle. Software synthesizers play a large role, and he he’s not on your iPod, chances are good you have him on your cell has been known to patch a video feed through his goggles, giv- phone and don’t even know it. ing the audience a chance to watch him build Finally growing sick of the music industry, his live, sonic creations across his keyboard. in 1996 Dolby founded Beatnik Inc., a compa- As a consumer, Dolby follows the latest ny that successfully indulged in the dot-com music crazes, technological or otherwise, boom through a licensing deal with Nokia. primarily to see how up-and-coming sounds Beatnik developed a software synthesizer that compare with already-established ones. He could pump out MIDI music over Nokia’s cell is particularly fascinated with the growing phones. Dolby suggests you’ll fi nd that syn- number of products available for music cre- thesizer on more than half the world’s cell ation and production. phones. “It’s getting easier and easier to become Success in hand, the 47-year-old Brit musi- your own publisher,” Dolby points out. “The cian is returning to his roots. “Beatnik is a ma- tools are so good, so affordable, and so ac- ture business, and, if anything, having a vision- cessible that I don’t really see the advan- ary come in and fl ap his arms saying, ‘Well, THOMAS DOLBY’S HIGH-TECH live tage of spending thousands of dollars more guys, what if we do this?’ is just a distraction shows include on-the-fl y compositions to get a professional version that might be for them,” he says. “They need to just concen- and a goggle cam. harder to use.”—DM

78 PC MAGAZINE AUGUST 22, 2006 THE BEST WAYS TO RECORD LIVE You’re at a concert—or even the coffee shop at the local book- store—and there’s a music moment that you just have to cap- ture. You can snag the audio with your cell phone, but, legalities aside, you think: There must be a better way. And there is. Many portable music players can record, too. Until recently, the iPod was about the worst choice for recording. But the new Belkin TuneTalk ($70 direct, www.belkin .com), records at CD- SPARKLEHORSE’S MARK LINKOUS jams in his home studio in North Carolina, which he calls Static King. quality 16 bits/44 kHz. The studio, an old ski chalet, incorporates both vintage analog equipment and high-tech digital recorders. And the XtremeMac MicroMemo ($50 street, Linkous also likes to mess with tape speed while Part of the signature Sparklehorse sound is www.xtrememac.com) he’s recording. Most home studios aren’t equipped vintage-sounding mics. “My favorite [microphone] is an external mic for with a nice analog tape machine like Static King’s, I actually found at a landfi ll in Virginia,” Linkous fi fth-gen iPods (record- ing at 22 or 44 kHz). but there are several lower-end four- and eight-track says. “It used to be attached to a reel-to-reel record- The Archos Gmini 402 cassette recorders with pitch control knobs, so you er from the forties . . . you can usually pick those ($299 direct, www can tweak the tape speed. After tracking, you can things up in thrift stores for a couple of dollars.” If .archos.com) and PMA take the output of the tape machine and record it in- dumpster diving and thrift-store shopping aren’t 400 ($499) can record to the computer to mimic Linkous’s process (though your forte, there are plug-ins out there—namely at a CD-quality 44 kHz. syncing an analog track with prerecorded digital the Antares AMM-1 Microphone Modeler for Pro At the top is the M-Audio Micro Track tracks can get complicated). And by using plug-in Tools—that mimic the sounds of several different ($499 list, www effects in Digidesign’s Pro Tools music recording old, popular (and expensive) microphones. .m-audio.com), which and editing suite, you can also change the pitch of a So to some extent, the tools do make the man, records at 44 or 96 kHz track or do what’s called time compression: keeping but who says those tools have to be expensive? and has full-size 1/4-inch the pitch the same but changing the track speed. —Tim Gideon, freelance writer and musician. jacks.—BM

TWO WAYS TO SET UP YOUR DIGITAL HOME STUDIO M-AUDIO PRO TOOLS/MBOX 2 The M-Audio Fast Track USB audio interface ($129.95 A good but more involved setup is the Digidesign Mbox 2 ($495 list), using list) and your computer can act as your studio’s nerve a USB connection and Digidesign Pro Tools Le software (included). A center. M-Audio has a complete line of consumer quality microphone for guitar amps and vocals is the Shure SM57 ($100 music-creation products including reference street). All plug into the Mbox 2 directly including the self-powered monitors and microphones (each under $100 street). monitors and headphones for recording.

Basic/midrange Midrange Studio-quality Front Powered PC running GT headphones headphones monitors Player Express

M-Audio Front 1/8-inch 1/8-inch or other Shure SM57 mic Fast Mbox 2 RCA USB Track USB High-end XLR PC Back XLR running Back Pro Tools Powered LE monitors Guitar Guitar USB

RCA 1/4-inch 1/4-inch

AUGUST 22, 2006 PC MAGAZINE 79