Portable Multimedia Suite III - GIMP

What is GIMP?

Okay, I'm going to get straight to it. GIMP is an open source image manipulation program (GNU Image Manipulation Program). It's a free alternative to Photoshop. I have recently been working on a project using nothing but free softwares, and naturally, GIMP is one of the first tools that I fired up. It's really good!

Who is it for?

• Artists who can't afford Photoshop
• Artists who have Photoshop, but can't access it
• Amateurs interested in getting into image editing

Why use GIMP:

• Cross-platform (Windows, Mac, and Linux)
• Easy to adapt to/from Photoshop
• Supports Layers, Layer Masks, custom patterns and many other useful features
• Supports reading PSD files
• Supports scripting in C, C++, C#, Python, Perl, and Ruby! Ironically, no JS, VBS, or AppleScript - the 3 languages that Photoshop supports :P 
• Does pretty much everything you'd expect from a professional image editing program
• Offers plenty of documentation, and there are loads of 3rd party learning resources
• It's free!

The Issues:

• Personally, I find the shortcuts to be crazy
• Cannot select multiple layers at a time. So, if you're grouping layers, you have to create a folder, and put one layer in at a time.
• When moving layers with your keyboard arrow keys, you need to select a layer, and click on the canvas before moving. Otherwise, the arrow keys are used to select different layers.
• Creating a layer mask opens up a menu asking you to select what to fill it with (full white, full black, use selection, use layer's alpha channel, etc). It would've been nice if they just applied a default, and provided a menu driven window to access those options. 

Closing Thoughts:

There are quite a few irritating quirks about GIMP that take a while to get used to (like the ones listed above). Personally, I feel that that's to be expected of any open source software. After all, these tools are not professionally built; they're created by a community. Keeping that in mind, I would have to say that GIMP is without a doubt the best open source multimedia application I have seen! (I haven't used blender, so don't throw that in my face). This is officially the first software I'd add to any portable multimedia suite that I make in future.

Bonus 1: It comes pre-installed in Ubuntu Studio!

Bonus 2: Click here for a free ebook on using GIMP. It covers everything from navigation to scripting!

Neutron Player

For the past few months, I've been on a hunt for the ideal music app for android. What I primarily look for is:

Out of the box sound quality
Gapless playback
Good Interface
Decent EQ
Battery life

The first app I tried (after some searching online) was Neutron Player. Aaaah, neutron player! I still get shivers thinking about it! Amazing sound quality!! Drastic improvement transitioning from Samsung's player! True gapless playback! According to their specs, it analyzes your audio files to find out the exact SAMPLE at which the music ends! There's literally no way to detect the transition unless you're staring directly at your phone!

Regarding it's interface, I've read many people complaining about it's unintuitive complexity. In fact, a friend of mine actually asked me how to get it to play your music! Personally, I just love it! Yes, it's different, but that doesn't mean it's bad. Different people have different tastes; this just so happens to be mine.

Neutrons equalizer comes with a built in preamp, which is always useful for those pesky songs with low volume. Bonus points for displaying the sound spectrum of the file! It's not just for looks-it'll help you eq your song. I read a review on Google play, complaining that there's no option to apply separate eqs to the left and right channels! Apparently it's needed by those with a hearing problem.....I can honestly say I never even imagined such a feature.

This app comes with quite a few effects, but I prefer listening to music the way the composer intended. In fact, that's the only reason I eq my songs in the first place. But where this app shines is with its ability to enable 64-bit processing and dithering for higher quality output. Apart from that, I don't use any feature, nor do I intend to. 

The lock screen widget is very handy! When I'm sitting at work with with my headphones plugged in, a lot of the time, I just need to change something in my music app. Most apps these days have a lock screen widget, but none this efficient.  You can access the ENTIRE app without unlocking! So you can go in, change the song, EQ and other settings, all while your phone is locked!

A very important thing to note-Neutron guzzles up battery like a dense neuron star after its supernova (a.k.a: a black hole). Perhaps that's where it gets its name from :D Jokes aside, if you plan to use this app full time, be prepared to carry a power bank, or some other charging source.

Sadly, the trial app had a usage time limit, after which it prevents you from playing anything. But then again,  no one would buy the full version of it didn't.  Mine timed out over a month ago, so everything I've written is from my recollection of using it. On the bright side, they didn't lock out any features just because you're using a trial version. You have access to the entire app, throughout the trial.

As of now, I have to say my search isn't really to find a ideal app, but rather an app that compares to neutron player. That's how much I enjoyed the experience! *sigh* ....Well, gotta keep lookin!

Get Neutron Player

Price as of May 2015:   Rs.379

Hunt for the Ideal Music App

Alright, let's get straight to the point. For the past couple of months, I've been looking for the ideal music app on android. So far, I've used Neutron, DeadBeef, Jet Audio, Noozy, and now trying out n7. For the longest time, I was sticking to Samsung's default music app, until one day, it suddenly hit me! OMG! Why have I not tried other apps???

Sure enough, changing players provided superior audio quality. Surprisingly, many people don't know this! So here's how it works. The quality of your audio is determined by the following:

• Source File
• Sound Circuit & Amp
• Media Player
• Speakers

They say that the net quality is tied to the weakest of these 4. In my case, I simply want to ensure that it's not the music app. Personally, I use my Samsung android phone (and the in-ear buds that it came with) for music all the time. However, being an audiophile, I store 90% of my music in FLAC format. I've reached a point where even a 320kbps MP3 feels audibly low in quality. Trust me, it's a curse! So for those of you affected with this same curse, stick around while I explore and provide my personal thoughts on the "top of the line" music apps, as stated by people on the web.

-NKM: Your Audio Consultant