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Support terrible software, buy this game.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 64 / 72
Date: November 14, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I made the mistake of purchasing the XBox Music Mixer. It's terrible. First, let me get the good points out of the way:

-Jpeg Decode is quite fast and the transitions are pretty good.

-Karaoke would be ok if the Mic didn't suck.

-When you do manage to view a visualization full-screen, they look pretty good. I suspect that they are just a port of some WMP vizualizers.

Now, the bad points, of which there are many:

* The Microphone doesn't work properly. You have to cup your hand around it and nearly kiss the thing to get it to pick anything up.

* When it does pick up your voice, there's a distracting delay.

I didn't buy it for the karaoke, so if these were the only problems, then I could deal with it. but:

* In order to transfer music or photos, you have to have a passport account to download the transfer tool. This is annoying and unnecessary.

* When you transfer music, it doesn't allow you to recursivley transfer directories.

* If you transfer mp3's, it takes forever to "prepare" the files for transfer, I suspect that it's transcoding them to WMA -- lossy on top of lossy != good sound. This is also the only reason they require WM9 installed on the PC.

* There's no reason they shouldn't allow you to just play files off of windows shares, over the network.

* The back of the box plainly states HDTV output, but it does no such thing. It puts out 4x3 480p which is definitely NOT HD. (Neither is anamorphic 480p which Microsoft also touts as HD -- liars). This is inexcusable. They really missed the boat by leaving this out and misleading the customer.

* Photos look like... garbage on this thing.

* The UI is non-intuitive and poorly designed. For instance, in order to copy files from the PC, you first have to prepare the files on the PC. Once that's done, you have 5 minutes to start the transfer to the XBox. On XBox you go to the import menu, where the only option is "PC". In order to rip songs from a CD, the natural place to do it would also be from this "Import" screen where there should be another entry, "CD". But there's not. You have to go to the music playback screen, somehow find your way to the "CD" and click the hidden-in-plain-sight record button.

* The "Rave" mode is interesting for about 30 seconds then it's just dumb.

* The Visualizers for the music are ok (probably just ported from WMP), but after you select one, it takes you back to the tracklist, which you have to dismiss with two button presses to get the visualizer full screen. If you don't like it, you have to start over.

* There's no way to browse the photos that you've uploaded on the box, only view slideshows. When you change settings during the slideshow, it restarts the slideshow.

* If you log on the Live to check for downloads, it has to reboot the XBox before you can resume using the XBMM.

So please, don't buy this thing. I'd rather not encourage the developers to keep making fourth-rate software.

Flawed

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 12 / 13
Date: December 13, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Yet again the Xbox's great hardware is underutilized because of shoddy software. But unlike the spotty lineup of games now its the Music Mixer which had the potential to be a useful utility for the Xbox.

The main problem seems to be that the people who designed this spent more time making "hip" visualizations of raves, then they did on the main reason people bought this: the ability to take your MP3 collection and put it on your Xbox.

The software that you download to your PC is not well thought out at all. First, you cannot select whole folders of songs (also known as Albums). So one spends a ridiculous amount of time trying to select each song. Then to add insult to injury not only do you have to select the files individually but the default folder keeps shifting back to one of those Operating System folders that Microsoft assumes you put your music in but noone does. The result ends up being neverending repetitive tasks.
Also the total amount you can transfer at one time is 100 songs, which isnt really a big deal because the software dumps the whole mess of songs into a giant master folder in the Xbox which you must sort ALL of your files again or send them in little batches. Either way prepare to spend something like a day of muttered curses if you plan to transfer your music.

Id save your money until they fix up this flashy but not really useful addition to the Xbox.

Xbox Music Mixer does so many cool things for so few dollars

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 18 / 25
Date: November 01, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This is probably the best holiday value you can find for any game console. Plus, it's fun for the WHOLE FAMILY, not just the "hardcore gamers" in the house. With a digital music player, Karaoke, 35000 downloadable songs, 2D and 3D lightshows, ability to record YOUR performances, and - best of all - technology to connect to your PC to get at your library of music and DIGITAL PHOTOS, it seems like this has hit all. My family has had a blast with it already. Hope yours does too.

This thing will bust the house down!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 13
Date: October 25, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This music processor has it all! It has 2D and 3D interactive and sound-sensing visualations, a function called rave mode, which consists of moving slides of real-world objects, a karaoke mode which utilizes CDs and actually strips out the vocals, and downloadable content from Xbox LIVE, Microsoft's national gaming arena. Only two things I do not like: besides content, there is not much to do on LIVE (no sharing songs, no voice communication), and secondly, the karaoke only supports lyrics for the premade songs, and there is no way of typing them in. Other than that, crank up the music and bring down the house...YOUR HOUSE!!!

A Decent Attempt

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: February 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I bought this primarily for karaoke and playing music, and based on these two aspects alone, I felt was worthy of my 30 bucks. The software comes packed with 15 songs, and you can buy additional karaoke tracks online for $2 per song - which is a bit pricy, but they have a decent library of songs. Plus, you can strip the vocals of CDs and any mp3/wma's and sing along. The voice stripping technology is not perfect, you can still hear a little bit of the vocal, but it seems to do a very good job with most CDs I tried, though it does do a better job with cds than with mp3/wmas. The only thing is, the mic supplied with the software is of poor quality and you'll find your own voice barely audible when you record your performance. However, you can swap the mic out w/ either the xbox live headset or any mic w/ an quarter-inch jack. I have yet to try this myself and I imagine this could dramitically improve with a good mic - but again this adds cost to the whole package. The software supports two mic's and you can sing with a friend. I do agree with the other reviewers that the file transfer inferface is a bit clunky. However, if you are technologically up to date the win xp and windows media player requirement shouldn't be a problem. And as opposed to one of the previous reviewer, if your music files are tagged properly, when transfered to the xbox they are automatically sorted by artist, album, or genres. Plus, you can rip an audio cd directly onto the xbox harddrive. The thing that bothers me is the only file types supported are mp3 and wmas - which means none of the other formats nor any songs purchased from musicmatch or I-tones. Plus, you have to have the xbox on and music mixer loaded when transferring files from PC - so you have to have a crossover cable long enough to stretch from your computer to near your TV. If you can get pass that, the rest is very simple.

The xbox music mixer is the only software on the market that allows you to transfer music files from your PC onto the xbox - this is great for games that support custom soundtracks. Plus, the karaoke really is a blast, and you can program music or your own karaoke performace with RAVE visuals, and it also comes with a image viewer. It does have some flaws with its user interface and the included mic is low quality. But overall, for $30 or $35, this software really is worth the money.

Not what you would think

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 12 / 16
Date: January 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

All the negative reviews...shame too...this is a great product to have FUN with. It might not be a great microphone or have a lot of songs but it has everything you need and more to have a good time.

Let me explain...

The microphone is not that great but it is good considering the price. Your not buying it for the microphone. Good Microphones don't come cheap but for the price this one is good.

The software itself is pretty freaking cool. It doesn't have a lot of songs for karaoke but you can strip the background off of the cd's you do have...and you can run this program without the disc so you can change CD's randomly without having to reload the program.

You can always buy Karaoke CD's from Wal-Mart or here at Amazon.com and use with it...it is cheap to do it that way and you can build an AWESOME collection of Karaoke CD's to use with this or on another CD player.

I paid 19.99 for mine and let me say for the price you can't beat it. I love it. I have used it more in the last few days than most of my games for X-Box.

Don't listen to those negative reviews, I am a musician (singer) and have been for most of my life. I tell you this product is worth it!

Kareokee at its best

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: April 27, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I bought this software, an extra microphone, and $300 worth of songs off the internet (to be used with the kareokee feature). I have given it three stars because the $300 is a necessity if you want to make the kareokee feature worth using. There are over 35,000 songs to choose from off the internet and the songs represent a good cross section from rock classics to pop songs to rap. There are songs for everyone. Unfortunately, each song costs $2.00. This is very expensive considering most games cost at most $60. Transfereing the songs from your computer to your X-box can be a real pain if you do not have X-box live(note that whether you have a laptop or a desk top you will need a special data transfer wire that must be bought at extra cost if you do not use X-box live).

All in all, I find the kareokee to be great fun and I am glad that I bought this game. However, I can not recommend it for everyone since the game is extremely expensive to make it enjoyable to play with.

my GOD! I should have listened to you Amazon reviewers...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: December 28, 2003
Author: Amazon User

When I first read some of the negative reviews on Amazon, I figured I'd buy it anyway and try it out before succombing to the overall negativity of this product. My wife had been wanting the XBOX Music Mixer for as long as I could remember... and so I finally decided I'd get it for her for Christmas. When it arrived... LOW AND BEHOLD! It is the worst XBOX purchase I've ever made, besides Microsoft's Michael Jackson game (that's a joke, guys...). The MIC volume is barely audible, even with the volume jacked all the way up, and the "voice-ripping" technology they claim is a crock of pungent coo poo---it doesn't rip worth... The rave and display modes are interesting for the first 30 seconds... then it's like watching Mr. Rogers re-runs. All in all, YOU WILL HAVE SEVERE BUYER'S REMORSE IF YOU BUY THIS P.O.S.!!! You have been warned!!! Don't make the same mistake I made...

NOT EVEN WORTH IT AT A FOURTH OF THE COST!!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 17
Date: January 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

(Which it will likely be reduced to in the near future due to bad word of mouth.) Here's why: There are only fifteen songs (not very good ones) immediately available on the disc for karaoke. Additional songs cost around ten dollars for five measly tracks and must be purchased online, downloaded and then transferred to your Xbox via the software included. NOTE: YOU MUST HAVE WINDOWS XP AND MEDIAPLAYER 9 TO USE THIS SOFTWARE!!!!!! Same thing applies for transferring MP3s and digital photos. This restriction alone makes this thing pretty useless to a lot of Xbox owners right from the start. Based on other reviews, the process is a nightmare even if you can use the software! The 2D/3D visualizers are alright, but should come standard with the Xbox at this point and certainly aren't worth the purchase price alone. Hopefully Microsoft is taking notes and incorporates all of this pretty basic stuff into the next incarnation of Xbox and in a much more user friendly package.

Avoid; Pricey and Disapointing

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: January 09, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Terrible in almost every way. Not HD (as claimed), ugly UI, overpriced and poor quality karaoke tracks, difficult to use, and poorly integrated with existing Windows networks. This is a product that cries out for seamless integration with your home music library which the current Xbox deliberately avoids. The few karaoke tracks that are available are overpriced and not what anyone really wants to play with anyway.

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