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I cannot even begin to tell you how utterly disappointed I am with the judging to this competition. I wish I could pull that advertisement back up that was originally on the main page that blatantly spoke of being extremely imaginative and the like, to win this competition. I drug my feet and thought to myself that it would take some serious mental creativity (not mad mixing skills) to win that laptop. I wrote my garbage rhyme up in ten minutes. Had I tried and put some of my mixing skills into it, I could have easily won with the idea I really wanted to do with myself, my dragon, and eminem blasting one out on stage (Joe Louis Arena maybe?). I mean seriously, the *imaginative idea* that won this competition was taking the flipping dragon to play rock band? I was actually angry and dejected all at the same time when I found this out. I'm not trying to take away from the guy's mixing skills.. I mean that was beyond professional and I was impressed. I was just under the impression that creativity of what one would ACTUALLY DO with a pet dragon would win. All due respect to the judges of this competition and to the moderators of such an awesome tech site... but this is one pathetic joke. *shrug*

yes, it's all that and I'm also angry with myself. I could have easily won that laptop, had I tried. God Bless and God Speed.

So... to summarise... you're annoyed that you didn't enter, hmm? dirtstyle, feel free to contact me via PM to continue this if you feel it necessary, but not here in public. Thanks.

Let's keep things light, ladies and gentlemen, and congratulate the winners who genuinely showed creativity, imagination and superb skills. I'm hugely pleased with how this competition has gone, and I thank everyone for taking part. Let's not let the inevitable couple of moaners spoil it ;)

Nah, I won't say which were in the shortlist, given that some members couldn't even accept the winners graciously let alone cope if theirs weren't in the shortlist.

That's my final line on this, sorry to disappoint, but I'm not posting anything that could raise trouble.

Nah, I won't say which were in the shortlist, given that some members couldn't even accept the winners graciously let alone cope if theirs weren't in the shortlist.

That's my final line on this, sorry to disappoint, but I'm not posting anything that could raise trouble.

admittedly, that is disappointing news, i am sure the overwhelming majority of entrants, like i, would love to know how they did. but of course the only thing worse than being last, in a contest like this, is being second ;)

to the jerk offs who could not accept the results,

it was a freaking laptop, not the cure for cancer, not anti-venom for a poisonous snake bite, a laptop. it would not have made you better looking or improved your societal standing. winning it would not have made you a better person; accepting that you did not win it does. let disappointment motivate you and push you do better in the future. its not easy to be judged, but by entering the contest, you agreed to allow it. take solace in the fact that you feared not trying to win more than you feared losing. we all wanted to win, but there could only be one.

and uncle rico (aka the guy who could have easily won if he had only entered) sorry the coach didnt put you in during the fourth quarter; you may have won state! seriously, slamming the winning entry when you didnt even submit one is out of line. by not entering the contest you sort of forfeit you entitlement to complain about the results, at least publicly. all of us who entered legitimately had a shot, unlike those who did not enter. keep your criticisms to yourself or at least confine them to PM's.

this contest was rigged he paid off the judges

Ummm.... If he was going to do that, wouldn't he just go and get a laptop himself?

Anywho..... I had a crazy Idea, What if the top 14 people get a month paid subscription for neowin. Sort of a consolidation prize. I know its just an idea, but yeah, it would be a bit cool though :)

Neztea

I want to voice my option for just a second. I'm not trying to upset anyone. I just want to reflect upon the views I had well before I placed 3rd. The one thing that surprised me when listening to a lot of the entries is the amount of popping sounds that where left in. I’m referring to the pop that happens when you make too big of a P or a B or just blow too much air into the microphone . Even someone who has no mixing skills could still just rerecord and strive for a better sounding recording with less pops. The person might have had a fantastic idea, but the amount of popping on the audio track was so distracting it made it almost hard to listen too.

Edited by warwagon
I want to voice my option for just a second. Don?t want to upset anyone. I just want to reflect upon the views I had well before I placed 3rd or before I even created my first entry. The one thing that surprised me when listing to a lot of the entries is the amount of popping sounds that where present. I?m referring to the pop that happens when you make too big of a P or a B or just blow too much air into the microphone . Even someone who has no mixing skills could still just rerecord and strive for a better sounding recording with less pops. The person might have had a fantastic idea, but the amount of popping on the audio track was so distracting it made it almost hard to listen too.

i would very much be interested in the software and hardware that other people used to create their submissions. some were so polished that they sounded professionally put together. i would like to know how to put that power in my hands!!

i would very much be interested in the software and hardware that other people used to create their submissions. some were so polished that they sounded professionally put together. i would like to know how to put that power in my hands!!

adobe audition and yes, i have a pop screen in front of my mic, but if you don't have a pop screen, just slightly back off when pronouncing P's and B's or turn your head slightly to the side and it drastically reduces the pops, OR in adobe there is a feature called "repair transient" that will also fix your pops

adobe audition and yes, i have a pop screen in front of my mic, but if you don't have a pop screen, just slightly back off when pronouncing P's and B's or turn your head slightly to the side and it drastically reduces the pops, OR in adobe there is a feature called "repair transient" that will also fix your pops

I’ve used a stick microphone for most of my life, particularly one that was bought at Wal-Mart for about $15. I’ve sense upgraded to a Samson C01u USB microphone. Not because I’m a professional audio editor by any stretch of the imagination, but just because i've always liked to do voice work just for fun. I also thought I might want to go into podcasting some day, so I thought I’d get a usb mic just in case. USB microphones are prone to pops just like any other microphone. Of course when I bought it I also bought a pop filter, but every once and a while a pop still sneaks through. If you use the suggestions of dustino71 you can make a recording that sounds good on even a cheap microphone (I’ve done it for years) and it has nothing to do with audio mixing. I’d also like to point people to the sample mp3 that was submitted by one of the neowin staff SkyyPunk on page 2 of the entry thread. That is an example of an mp3 with no sound mixing. It was creative, funny,had no pops and just sounded good.

Edited by warwagon

I was gonna say this last night but didn't get a chance - good old Fridays, I can surf forums at work :)

Anyways, congrats to the top three!!

i would very much be interested in the software and hardware that other people used to create their submissions. some were so polished that they sounded professionally put together. i would like to know how to put that power in my hands!!

I used vista sound recorder, but it didn't want to cooperate.. so I used a piece of software I got of a cover disc called Magix Music Creator (I think), similar to Acid Pro (My favorite, and also the one I could never afford).

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