ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Land of Illusion]

Interesting effects going on with the pingpong delay in the beginning. I'm definitely tripping on the lead sounding like it's reversed and glitched at 0:40. Nice beep boops in the left channel

Definitely feeling like some sort of mystical iDnB I don't quite understand but do appreciate. It's both chill and driving in the same instance. I would like a more present, gritty bass and your pads on the sides down just a bit in the mix to compensate.

I also find myself wanting a crispier snare and boxier, digital clipped kick.

Nice liquid quality to the synths in the outro with the pitch drift and glitching.

Overall great work. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Far From Home]

Nicely done! Absolutely feels like an anime opening, lyrical composition and all.

I would appreciate pushing the vocals up by about 1 to 2 dB. The drums are nicely present, but they and the vocal should be about equally in your face, otherwise, it is difficult to separate the well thought and performed vocal lines from the "lead snare"

Fantastic work, however. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC! I can't wait to hear what you do next!

Zip-Zap-Official responds:

Thank you so much! Funny that you mention anime, because we have been working on a Japanese version :)

[Zoftle x Tokzick - Hellfire]

Getting some mad hype with that intro. Feeling very olskool trap there, lots of bass to go around.

Around 1 minute, that vocal sample could use a bit more push to the front, perhaps a bit less overall compression on the song itself, or back down some reverb in the 250 hz range.

In terms of arrangement, this is top tier ear destruction. Kudos to varied drops, tactful buildups, and thoughtful melody/counter melody. My complaints are very few barring aforementioned slight overcompression and a little mud from wet channels.

I think the snare around 3 min could be pushed a bit harder with clipping and widening, and very slight ducking of the bass volume down by .2 dB max. That is such nice formant manipulation. Well done.

Brass around 4 min could use stereo doubling with a different synth, slightly louder, and I was yearning for just one more drop.

Fantastic work overall. I look forward to hearing more from you!

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

edit: oops, wrong acronym, NGADM. LOL, but you should totally hit up NGUAC too if you haven't already!

Zoftle responds:

Thank you so much for the amazing feedback!!! This is the first time i've ever entered into a NGUAC and I'm so excited!

[Snowballs]

Interesting choice of chords for the intro. The slow arpeggios are sounding good. I feel the string pad could be doubled, chorused, or widened to good effect, and perhaps delayed rather than reverbed. Ping pong is lit.

I do like the languid feel of this piece a lot. However I feel it is a bit over compressed for the arrangement. Not bad at all. Wish it were longer! I was really enjoying the development of your drop.

At the very end chord, something is clipping in the right channel.

Either way, definitely something to be proud of. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Angry boy 4ever]

Interesting pitch shift vocals in the intro. I think the higher pitch in the right could come down some to match the lower pitch ones. Appreciating the modulations there as we gradually increase in pitch.

I also really enjoy your writing and fast paced drums. What I find lacking however, is the snare and kick are not cutting through the mix well. The drums should be the loudest in the mix, meaning snare and kick respectively. Manually ducking the volume of bass and other instruments (or sidechain) will help a lot in this regard!

The metal drum section at 1:40 is a vibe! I really like that.

Your melodies are quite interesting and hectic. Nice work there.

One detraction is that the sub bass is loud, but it is not necessarily audible. I recommend taking it down a notch and doubling with a more audible bass instrument. You may even find something like CS Bass One (free) to do the job there.

Arrangement wise, I really think you are onto something. This was an experience to listen to despite issues of mix, including a bit of muddy reverb.

One additional thing, mastering compression would really help the volume of this track out. There are several free online mastering services if you do not have the money for plugins or time to get that down. Personally I like to use emastered for those situations (not a paid advertisement, definitely costs money)

Overall, enjoyed the piece a lot. Keep at it!

Thanks for coming out to NGADM!

[Ascent to Clouds]

BRB gonna nut

This brings back memories I didn't know I had.

Really appreciating the 80s and 90s flavors on the percs and the leveling. Very nostalgic.

[Requiem For A Dream [ZdiZdiK RmX]]

Hey!

Don't have the mental capacity right now to write in Russian, HOWEVER:
very much appreciate the acid elements of the track.

I think leads could come down by 2 dB overall, bringing drums up, and not mix quite as loud. It sounds as if you have a brick wall limiter on the master. Bass also could come up in the mix a bit.

Other than that, very varied and interesting take on a classic song <3

I promise I will come say hi when I am more awake!

X-500 responds:

Hi! Wow, thanks for honest review! Really appreciate it!)

[Substance]

I can definitely feel your rock influences in this track. The main melody is straight NUT.

My only complaint is I'd like more saturation on the bass, or better yet digital clipping. Diablo plugin by Cymatics is a great quick and dirty fix I love abusing for this. Screw analog warmth. Give me digital filth.

Nice work dude!

[0i00 - Lobotomy]

I think I would put it as dance

My only complaint is that the song is mixed a bit loud and seems to just have brick wall limiter applied. Beyond that it doesn't sound bad at all, just the whole track is distorting at the limiter.

It has some phonk elements but overall, dance.

zeroizerozero responds:

Спасибо большое

Попробую пофиксить.


Так лучше?

[Are You Listening?]

I hear a great song hiding under what sounds like digital distortion on the bigger sections. Not sure what's causing it, but I definitely hear lots of reverb creating a wash, a 10k fuzz on the guitars it sounds like, and the drums aren't cutting through the mix as well as I'd like. I would pull down the cymbals and see how that sounds. Smaller sections sounds totally fine minus I can't tell if it's my tinnitus or recording noise that could be removed

Still I hear a coherent track and a nice style once it's a bit more cleaned up. Great work

ADarkerBreed responds:

Thanks for your comment, definitely stuff I'll keep in mind moving forward! I'm glad you enjoy the track despite its roughness.