Dave Chick

Christmas time should be a time of joy and happiness for everyone – including the musician on your list. Let me tell you from experience, that coffee cup with musical symbols and that piano keyboard scarf are NOT what he or she will be happy to see on Christmas morning. Never fear, I’ve got some ideas from the Best Buy selection that will bring a smile to that muse’s face this December.

The musical instrument selection at Best Buy has grown yet again and this time, it’s expanded into the band instrument realm. A selection of entry-level brass and woodwind instruments have arrived for the budding musician in you or your family.    

The Bose QC25 (QC stands for Quiet Comfort) noise cancelling headphones offer a comfortable and well-rounded listening experience – something one would expect from Bose.  If you’re a public transit commuter or business traveller and need a set of headphones to help you immerse yourself in your music or podcasts, then I’d put the QC25’s on your list to try out.

The iLoud Studio Monitor Speaker is a small package that can pack a hefty little punch. It’s meant for listening to music like other wireless speakers, but it also has special features. If you’re a musician looking for a small keyboard amp or software-driven guitar amp, or if you need to check mixes on the go to make sure they’ll translate well to other systems, the iLoud has you covered.

I wouldn’t consider these headphones to have a flat frequency response, but they’re a lot closer to being that than a pair of Beats.  These headphones are tuned to enjoy listening to music. I wouldn’t use them to mix or critically listen to audio, but I did like what I heard from the AH-D600s.  The sound was full and rich – very pleasant to listen to at a wide variety of volume levels. 

The goal of a studio monitor is to represent audio in the most accurate, uncoloured form it can. That being said, all speakers colour sound to some degree. Monitor speakers are designed to be as flat as possible whereas it’s assumed that consumer or Hi-Fi speakers enhance aspects of the frequency spectrum.   A pair of monitor speakers are going to be your best friend. Regardless of whether you record, edit, mix or master audio, your studio monitors will determine how well your work translates to … well, pretty well everything else out there: car audio systems, TV’s, headphones and earbuds.  

The Sony MDR-HW300K Wireless Headphone System transmits uncompressed audio between the base station (TMR-HW300) and the headphones (MDR-HW300). These are not bluetooth headphones, so putting them up to products in that category is not an apples-to-apples comparison.   A nice little package that sets up seamlessly and will get you enjoying wireless audio quickly. Although I wouldn’t recommend these headphones for critical listening applications, they could be just the ticket when you need that home theater punch without bothering the neighbours.

I was both excited and skeptical when I heard that Roland was releasing the F-20. I was excited because of the sub-$1,000 price point for a weighted-action, 88-note digital piano. I was skeptical for the same reasons.   The appeal of a digital piano is unmistakable – especially for families who want to start piano lessons, but are hesitant to invest in an expensive instrument. The Roland F-20 seems to make the commitment to music a bit less painful.

Any meaningful discussion with an recording engineer will inevitably morph into a discussion about microphones. Just as a closet full of shoes is never enough for a lot of the women I’ve known, a closet full of microphones is rarely ever enough for most recording engineers. There are a lot of different types of microphones and there are a many, many brands, shapes and sizes to pick from. I hope to at least get you started with a road-map of what to look for in microphones and I apologize in advance for setting you on this path! If you’re set on recording as a hobby or career, there’s a very good chance that you’re going to get slightly obsessed with microphones.

It was really only a matter of time before Fender would introduce USB connectivity to their Stratocaster line.  Why would you want to have a USB port on your guitar?     It really comes down to convenience. By putting a small USB port (and an A/D converter) in your guitar, the guitar signal is digitized locally and then transmitted to your computer (or other device) over a USB cable.   The guitar retains all its standard analog capabilities BUT outputs to USB as well.