I’m sure by now that all of you who have visited this domain in the past have noticed the new look for The Mind of Game. Well, this has been a long time coming, but I’ve moved off of Wordpress.com and on to my own server, hosted by BlueHost.com and I am proud to present the new and improved The Mind of Game homepage. I hope you all like the new look but keep in mind that this site is still in its infancy and there are still many more changes to be made to the front end as I delve further into the multitude of customization options offered by the full version of Wordpress.org software (notice the .org there) and the many options I’m afforded by my web host. It’s a bit overwhelming but I have some great literature that will help a great deal in learning the ins and outs of being the administrator of my very own website (thanks to Lafigueroa for that).

With the move from Wordpress.com to BlueHost, this site is entirely mine (as long as I’m paying the web host of course) and I have free reign to make massive changes to the backend to improve the layout of the site and how it operates. I’m contemplating creating a few subdomains and maybe even a forum for everyone to chat and give me feedback. We’ll see. On the subject of subdomains, I was thinking about creating separate blogs for gaming, audio gear (headphones, amps, etc.) but I was worried about spreading myself to thin. I am the only content provider for this site and even I have my limits when it comes to writing, especially with school and such taking up some of my free time. I guess time will tell where I go from here in that respect.

I’ve also got a new e-mail address that you can find over on my “Contact Me” page and, of course, right here as well. It is jmcbride@themindofgame.com. I will certainly be checking that e-mail address constantly so if you need to get in touch with me, that’s probably the best way to do it.

Well, that’s it. I hope you enjoy the new site and check back often. The site is still in its infancy and there are still a few kinks to be worked out but I should have everything up and running smooth as silk within a week or so. I’m not the best programmer/web designer out there but I’m competent enough to handle myself when dealing with minor bugs and the like and I’m a very swift learner so I imagine I’ll be fine if any major problems come up. In terms of content, I have a ton of ideas in mind for new articles in order to further cement The Mind of Game as a premier source for news, previews, reviews and editorials related to gaming, music, audio gear, consumer technology, movies and much, much more. So, with those words I must depart. Keep checking back regularly!

Before I get into this editorial/rant, let me set the record straight. I absolutely, positively do not hate Sony itself or the PlayStation brand. I do not blame Sony for the actions of the people who have chosen to stand behind them. I have nothing against the PlayStation brand and I honestly believe that Sony is doing great things with their stable of consoles and handhelds.

Their fanboys on the other hand? They are among the most illogical, irrational, arrogant and all around idiotic group of people I have ever come across. In the past five years of going to various forums and just being in tune with the internet in general as it relates to gaming, I’ve come across just about every type of fanboy you can think of. Microsoft fanboys, Nintendo fanboys, Apple fanboys, even Sega fanboys and none of them, without exception, can compare to Sony fanboys in terms of sheer annoyance.

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Introduction

Altec Lansing has a long history of making a wide range of audio equipment and has built something of a reputation for themselves as a manufacturer. In the audiophile community, particularly with the IEM subsection, they’re relatively unknown and unnoticed. Their “upgrader” line of IEMs seek to change that, offering people a number of options when looking to upgrade from the cheap stock earbuds that shipped with whatever MP3 player they may be carrying.

The Backbeat Pros are among their top-tier offerings, offering single balanced armature speakers as opposed to the traditional dynamic drivers and pledging to offer “reference quality” sonic reproduction of your favorite music. Do the Altec Lansing Backbeat Pros live up to that highly ambitious claim or do they come up short? Read on to find out.

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When does a game become more than just a game? When can a game invoke the same emotional response from a player that cinema can from viewers or a piece of music can from its listeners? In this humble reviewer’s opinion, it takes a great deal of effort to create a truly transcendent experience in a game that plays with your emotions and keeps you hooked from the moment you power the game on until you’ve reached its conclusion. Mass Effect 2 is one of those games. It combines some of the best third person shooting and RPG mechanics with a fantastically dark narrative, a remarkable cast of characters, sharp writing, well-directed cutscenes and an epic soundtrack to create an experience that is more than just a game. It’s an amazing cinematic event, and one that’s among the best of its kind.

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Introduction

Shortly after I received my RE0s, I happened to be browsing eBay for a new pair of Bass-Freq earbuds because as much as I liked my RE0s, I wanted to replace my outgoing Bass-Freq earbuds because I liked their bass response when listening to certain music. During that time, I came across an auction for a pair of V-Moda Vibe IEMs for $30 (open-box) and I jokingly asked my father if he’d like to split the price with me. To my surprise, he said yes and I went ahead and ordered them. Having prior experience with V-Moda’s products, I was curious to see how the big brothers to the inexpensive Bass-Freq earbuds sounded in comparison.

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Headphone amps are pretty much standard equipment in the setups of audiophiles everywhere. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been doing a lot of research on headphone amps and come across a number of different amps in all shapes and sizes but the one type of amp that piqued my interest was the “CMoy” amp. This type of amp, designed years ago by Chu Moy is an unconventional but powerful amp design that can be made by anyone with the right parts and a soldering iron. Well, I don’t consider myself one of the handiest of guys with a soldering iron at the moment so, instead of taking a chance and trying to build one myself, I decided to buy one that had been pre-made from a company called JDS Labs. After a few hours of listening, I’m impressed.

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Since I got my RE0s and I started going to Head-Fi, I’ve been…experimenting with a number of different headphones/earphones and listening to the various sound signatures these devices create. In the short time since I received my RE0s, I’ve heard (of course) the RE0s the V-Moda Vibes, MEElectronics M9Ps, Koss KSC75s (with some light modifications) and one of the only things I haven’t yet heard is an IEM with a balanced armature speaker. Well, a few nights ago, I happened to be browsing eBay for some reason and in that time, I came across the Altec Lansing Backbeat Pro IEMs.

The auction I happened upon was open-box and on sale for about $16. I did some research on them and saw that the MSRP was about $100 but they were retailing at most online retailers I saw for about $30. Apparently, Altec Lansing has a number of IEMs on the market and many of them are simply rebranded versions of IEMs from Ultimate Ears with the Backbeat Pros being Altec Lansing’s version of the Super.fi 4 IEMs from Ultimate Ears. After doing a little more research into the sound quality, I said “what the heck” and ordered them. Shipping was strangely fast for USPS and I received them early Saturday and went about putting them through their paces after watching a movie (The Hurt Locker, great film by the way).

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Introduction

The M9P IEMs hail from a small California-based company by the name of MEElectronics. They produce a wide range of IEMs that cater to different users with various sound signatures. The M9 and M9P IEMs are among the most inexpensive products available and are currently selling for $20 and $23 respectively. I decided to buy the M9P IEMs because they not only function as earphones but will also have use as a headset for my cell phone and iPod Touch. After breaking them in and listening to them with a variety of music in my collection, these are my favorite IEMs in the sub $30 price range. So without further delay, read on for my thoughts on the MEElectronics M9P IEMs.

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Early last week as I was browsing the forums at Head-Fi, I was alerted to a discount special by MEElectronics, a small California-based manufacturer of various gadgets such as DAPs and IEMs. Having read a few reviews on their more popular IEMs, the $40 M6 and the M9, which apparently uses the same dynamic driver and retails for about $20, I looked over their product lineup and settled on the slightly more expensive M9P, which comes with a built-in inline microphone which I figured I could use for making Skype calls with my iPod Touch. Yesterday (after a few shipping gaffes by USPS), I received my M9Ps and immediately gave them a listen straight out of the box.

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When I received my Sennheiser HD280 Pro headphones back in June of 2008 and started to listen to them, I was immediately impressed with the overall sound signature. These were my first “good” headphones and easily blew everything else I’d ever owned out of the water.

But…something was missing. Something I deem very important to my listening experience. That something was bass. Considering I listen to a great deal of Hip-Hop music, this was admittedly a very glaring omission from the Sennheiser HD280 Pros. Everything else about these headphones was great to my ears but without a well pronounced low end, the sound signature was lacking. I was able to boost the bass artificially by using a number of bass boosting EQ settings in many of my music playing devices. While this technique worked in the short term, I began turning to other sources to get my bass fix, such as my Bass-Freq earbuds, which, as I’ve already reported, were lacking in other areas and couldn’t compare to the overall sound quality of the Sennheisers.

Recently, while doing some research, I came across the Blu-Tack mod which was apparently an easy way to add some body to the HD280 Pro’s bass. I found a couple of tutorials on how to do it which involves opening the ear cups of the headphones and spreading the tack about liberally. Since I already have experience opening the headphones to replace a broken cable (don’t ask), opening them up again was a pretty easy task. So, I bought some Blu-Tack from Amazon and got to work when it arrived.

The mod itself is incredibly simple to perform and is easily reversed if the end result is a bit too heavy on the bass for your liking and I’m going to show you how it’s done below.

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