zircon

Oh Karthus. Just did a bot game where I was like 15-5-30 or something. I ended up with literally every item slot full with the best stuff I could find. 671 ability power and near-constant Defiling (I also got blue buff every chance I could.) He's just absurd once you get to that point, though it still took us 55 minutes to win (they ALL had Banshee's, and they had 3 tank characters - Shen, Taric and Trundle.)

By the way, if you AREN'T playing and would like to, don't just sign up - let one of us refer you! We get bonuses etc.

Man, now that I have the collector's edition I realize how hard it's going to be to get more heroes with shelling out dough. All the champions left are 6300IP, and I've probably only accumulated a total of 4000IP. Are there any tips or techniques to getting new champions more quickly?

I've heard good things about those, though I did just get The Glue and I'm really happy with it. I've been using FL's EQ for so long though. Does it really make that much of a difference? I can never tell when I A/B that stuff, but I think it's because it's hard to really match two EQs. We should probably take this to Gchat, IRC, AIM (zirconmusic) or something

Sound good, though I suppose it's the kind of thing I would need to try myself - I have no idea what kind of other EQ and processing you had in both cases.

Looks interesting. Bass compression does seem like the key - especially when you have ANY detuning in the bass synths, the dynamics created by phasing are just a huge pain. Got any examples of this in action?

Kog is awesome, can't wait to play him more. Also after playing against Karthus yesterday, this is all I can think of:

I still don't see why it's so good. Because every hero has multiple actives (3-4 being very common), it seems incredibly easy to pop someone's veil, after which it won't be an issue again for another 45 seconds (even then, how many heroes have abilities on 3sec cooldowns...?) The only argument I see for it is that the stats are pretty good, but that's all.

Still, LoL has a ton of active abilities, and Veil only blocks one per 45 seconds. How is that good? I would think that there are far better items that add way more armor/MR (% reduction) and would thus block more dmg over the course of a fight, not to mention adding more HP, mana, passive/aura effects and so forth. But what do I know.

Nope, I don't do that. Occasionally I'll listen to stuff on my computer speakers + sub, which aren't professional by any stretch of the imagination ($100 Tascams.) I don't think I've ever changed anything as a result of that though, as it's more just for fun. I'll state my advice again, strictly speaking from my own experience. The defining feature of your monitoring setup should be its ability to evenly reproduce the full range of frequencies. If your speakers don't go below 60hz, for example, they're not useful for monitoring. If your headphones overly emphasize the bass, they're not useful for monitoring. So step 1 is to find something that's as even as possible. The problem with monitors is that there are a million factors which influence this. You can affect the frequency balance drastically just by moving your head around, whereas headphones will sound the same 100% of the time. Next, you need to listen at a consistent level. Stop turning your volume up and down. If you listen to all music at ONE level you will internalize 'quiet' and 'loud' music, properly mastered vs. improperly mastered music, etc. That level should also be fairly quiet in and of itself. Listening at a full, loud volume should be, at most, a treat, not what you normally do. If you listen very consistently to ONE reference, and that reference meets the criteria above, you will eventually learn it inside and out. You'll be able to listen to your own music and immediately hear how it differs (or doesn't differ) from a track with excellent production.

Yes, only headphones, same pair since early 2007 (before that, was still headphones-only, just a different pair.) No other tools, plugins etc to help out. Not saying I don't have more to learn though, there's always tons of room for improvement. I'm still working on how to get really tight, powerful low-end without getting muddy and without cutting too much at ~50-60hz like I often do as a cop-out. Probably has something to do with me using pretty poor compressors until recently and very basic EQ (Parametric EQ2).

Veil seems pretty bad. It only blocks one effect per 45 secs, plus the stats aren't that good. It's way worse than Newerth's Nullstone, and even that isn't godly OP.

I don't think PK is balanced in HoN. It's a sort of stupid item in that there are heroes who are basically useless (or a lot worse) without it, which is not good hero design.

In the future, a link to what you're talking about is helpful... http://audiomidi.com/Composer-s-Bundle-P16261.aspx Anyway, it all depends on what kind of sound(s) you're looking for. These seem pretty specific to me, and oriented more toward ambience, soundscapes, etc. Not having used them, I can't say for sure. But I think if you don't have much of a sound library, you should start with something much more general, and establish your bread & butter synths/samples first.

Like I said, I think $350 for headphones is excessive, and you certainly can't get monitors of any decent quality for that (high as it is.) For a hobbyist with a bit of money: http://www.amazon.com/AKG-Acoustics-K-240-Studio-Headphones/dp/B0001ARCFA $79, very good quality semi-open cans. They used to be higher IIRC but they're absolutely great.

Yes, but a $350 pair of headphones is light years better than a pair of entry-level monitors, which are basically garbage for any professional purpose. I got my DT880s for about $240, and you can get stuff just as good for half that these days, like the AKG 240s. That assumes you have your monitors positioned properly to begin with, and that you haven't "learned" your headphones. If you reference everything on the same pair of headphones, at the same volume, then literally none of that is a problem. Headphones aren't "wrong" by default, they just have natural tendencies. On the other hand, you really can position monitors "wrong" or have monitors that simply don't produce all the frequencies, or move them by mistake and get drastic phasing, etc. OK but if you're recommending gear to someone who is totally new, then expecting them to know about proper acoustics and room treatment is just ridiculous. There are plenty of professional composers and producers that don't even know how to do room treatment and hire someone to do it for them. Learning headphones is much easier as there are no variables. Move your head or chair even 2 inches with monitors and you've just changed your stereo image, frequency balance, phase correctness, etc. Saying it's easier to learn monitors is factually incorrect for that reason. I'm not saying it's the case with every apartment, but some places have extremely thin walls. I lived in an apartment once where we could hear our neighbors talking quite clearly. You can believe that monitors, at any volume, would be very audible. And I'm telling you as a professional who has produced and mastered tracks for every major video game console, handheld device and network primetime TV ONLY on headphones that they can and do translate properly when used correctly, eg. when you have a good pair, reference on them regularly and listen at a constant, low-ish volume level. No hate at all, but I think "headphones suck, always use monitors" is one of those pieces of engineering 'wisdom' like "Pro Tools is the only professional DAW": something repeated so many times that people believe it's true without questioning why.

I guess it's just a preference thing. Sometimes it's nice to play a hero who tends to have a single purpose, but excels at it. You sacrifice flexibility (to an extent) for a little more specialization and power. Like Slither from HoN, who centers entirely around poison effects and slows, or Behemoth and his series of chain AOE stuns. I'm all for having some hybrid heroes, but it seems like nearly every hero in LoL is like that. I don't think having more items is helpful. Do you really need like 20 different AD items, or however many there are? Surely some of those could be consolidated? HoN has fewer items and even that I think is excessive. Just because you CAN put in that many items doesn't mean you should, for accessibility and balance reasons. As for graphics, HoN is also very playable on slower computers, but if you play both games I think it's pretty clear that HoN has an edge in that department, and it really helps the game as a result. When it comes to denying, setting aside the argument of whether tying it to last hitting is a good idea, it definitely adds variability. In HoN, you can choose to either actively deny, go for your own last hits, harass, or a mix. It's another tactical element. Laning in LoL is more boring to me (though still somewhat engaging) as a result. In HoN, leaving your lane IS a very negative action early on, but not because of denying: it's because you're missing out on gold/XP and potentially leaving your lanemate open to a gank, both of which are much bigger issues in HoN than in LoL.

This game is growing on me. Here are the pros/cons vs. Heroes of Newerth, IMO: + Matchmaking system is faster. + You can play against bots (great for practice.) + Masteries, runes and summoner spells add a nice layer of customization. + Heroes can't get fed so easily from deaths - eg. if you die, it doesn't seem like a huge deal overall. + Inhibitors respawn, allowing you to come back from a potential loss. + It seems like gold is easier to come by (maybe due to the death mechanisms.) + Respawn timers are shorter. + Shop interface is better. + Targeting skills is more intuitive (displaying range, AOE etc.) - No denying mechanic makes laning one-dimensional sometimes. - Some heroes and mechanics seem very unbalanced. - The vast array of items is even more staggering than in HoN. - Despite only having played a small % of heroes total, a number of them strike me as... incohesive. For example, why does a melee carry like Master Yi have a channeling self-heal? Why does Ezreal have a mix of ability power and attack damage abilities? Why does Kassadin have a passive that boosts his attack speed when he's an AP hero otherwise? etc. - The graphics are worse, to the point where it seems harder to last hit due to lack of visual feedback. - The game FEELS slower and less intense than HoN. Possibly because spells do less damage in general and heroes gain HP so much faster. This could be considered a pro, I guess.

I'm going to go ahead and dispute this. I've used headphones as my only reference for quite some time now. Reasoning: 1. Great headphones are much cheaper than great (or even decent) monitors. 2. Improper placement of monitors, or even chair positioning, can result in a severely colored sound. 3. Monitors are significantly affected by your listening space. Most spaces are not ideal for reference monitors due to a variety of factors. Correcting your space requires a time and possibly money investment, not to mention the requisite knowledge. 4. If you live in an apartment or dorm, or with any other people at all, noise from monitors can be a major issue.

Hey, that's what I started on! (Magix)

Nassus 1200 crits.

Yep. Incredibly broken. Just played a game with a Warden and he destroyed our entire team. He has insane harass early, solid nukes, the bird does quite a bit of damage, and of course his scaling is very good.

Definitely going to be awhile before I understand all the items... Also for those I was with last night, sorry for not realizing my mic was on. As I said in chat, long day of dreary work = cranky couple

Account name is "zirconst", summoner name is "cubic zirconium".

I just started playing. Did my first tutorial game. My thoughts: 1. WOW there are a lot of items. A WHOLE lot. Wow. 2. There are a lot of abilities. Also wow. Up to 6 actives to manage at any time. 3. The game *feels* slower and choppier than HoN. Not nearly as smooth or fluid. Reminds me of when I tried the original DotA. 4. I can see why it's addicting.