JinZ's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[[NGMC 2025] X3ll3n - Midnight Freeway (w/ Snikio)]

This sounds like a copy/remake of that one synthwave song, not a bad thing, just pointing out

The melody is nice, choice of synths are fitting too.
There are some parts (like 01:51 where too many things are played at the same velocity) that are pretty clustering, you should leave room for focus
The track could benefit a lot with less sidechaining (about 85-90% sidechain mix is fine) as this isn't a heavy EDM genre.

Quality: 6/10
Race: 8/10
Theme: 9/10

X3LL3N responds:

Which synthwave song ?

[GTGP2]

Idk what you rap but it sounds funny
This works as racing music, surprisingly lol
The low end should be cleaned a lot more, and the drums should have more punch

Quality: 6/10
Race: 9/10
Theme: 4/10

CasualBreather responds:

Thanks a lot for the detailed feedback!

[Burning City]

Great composition, an unexpected but considerable mixture of the two genres . The guitars are clean, and the orchestration is realistic. The chiptune melody on top is ear candy.
Tho I'd say the track is a lot too intense for a city theme

Quality: 8/10
Race: 8/10
Theme: 3/10

[Chocnoon x TheStacked - Traffic Traversing (DCLXXVI) [NGMC2025 Round 4]]

The melody is very nice as it gives off a vibe of running at night.
I like it when there's also a melody played below a melody sequence; it makes the track feel more fast-paced.
The transitions could've been better; the lack of FX hinders good transitions.

The intro was slow, and it had unnecessarily long breaks, which doesn't fit racing music. I recommend having more percussion or melodic movement.

Quality: 6/10
Race: 4/10
Theme: 6/10

[TheBroox2000 & Itz_Gamepoint - Red City (NGMC 2025 Entry)]

The drums stand out a lot which is good. The arrangement and melodies are creative, especially 01:00
Some background elements should sound quieter like the phaser sfx in the drop
Also I'd like the piano sound more realistic, not having all notes played at the same velocity

Quality: 4/10
Race: 5/10
Theme: 4/10

[Chrome Frost (ft. 3manon)]

In case it isn't obvious, the car-to-screeching noise is the most creative thing in GP1. The bass designs are like candy to my ears—sweet and addicting. There is good transitioning (especially at 02:08) and punchy kicks. The orchestral nature of the track is very nice, especially the outro. Surprisingly, the sounds work well together composition-wise. The synth leads are quieter in the first drop when combined with the basses. On a macro level, this becomes an issue as well. That is the volume differential between the 1st and the 2nd/3rd drops. I am aware that this is a co-op issue. It's okay that the music has a variety of snares. However, the first drop snare can be more forceful. From personal experience, when making screeching basses, dubstep producers tend to have it as a secondary element, with rhythmic (4th-note) basses serving as the dominant element.s. And I agree with them. Without those pulsing and rhythmic basses, the drop can sound empty and even weak. I haven't been able to make out what the outro was about. Was it a victory theme? It doesn't sound like one to me. Overall, the track works in a race and has some arctic elements such as the bells and LDnB genre.

3manonMusic responds:

The outtro was in fact a victory theme yes! Thanks for the kind feedback!

[In My Mind]

the drums should be louder, and for this track I think the snare should have a longer tail
overall, not bad sound designs

[Skimusic - I miss you, please come back]

you should learn the anatomy of drums (what is the kick, what is the snare, etc)

[DubstepLover - Palace At Night]

sweet tom fills, it sets up the theme of the track
but sometimes, you should let it go cuz if there are too many things played at once, it can become a mess (00:55)
nice sound designs

[Where Did The Clouds Go?]

nice vibe
i recommend not compressing so much that it clips