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Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

naughtycomputer.uk

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Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#101
post #94
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its not an issue on Android devices as well, I've no idea whats broken on OP's setup.

It's a well documented issue. Maybe your headphones and/or ears just aren't sensitive enough to notice the issue. Plenty of people don't see the difference between flac and 240p youtube uploads, after all.

Hmm, did you make the 240p vs FLAC strawman deliberately? Or is the bug (as you're able to reproduce it) really that bad? I know OP was using high-end headphones but I expected at least a slight hissle.

(My attempts to reproduce were with a PX80, S2PGFY-003, JBL Pulse and Bose Companion 50. I included the speakers because I couldn't get the headphones to do the trick)

Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#102
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disclaimer: not trying to convince you, just sharing an anecdote like you did. - I agree Apple pricing has gone out of control. I should not have to shell out 1500 EUR for a 256GB phone with a bigger display no matter what (XS Max). I mean okay, it's probably the best phone out there but come on. It's a mobile computing device, not a life's insurance bill. - I fully agree MacBooks and desktop Macs haven't had good ye…

>But I still don't trust Google's binary blobs and the general baseband processor stuff so I stay away from Android. Why do you trust the Apple ones then? At least on android you can get rid of most Google code with Lineage + microg

> At least on android you can get rid of most Google code with Lineage + microg

...as far as we know. What about the baseband processor that has access to everything at any time?

> Why do you trust the Apple ones then?

Becase they took a stand and refused to introduce a security backdoor in the FBI San Bernardino case. And because iPhone hacks cost more on the net compared to Android ones. This to me indicates that iPhones are harder to crack -- so the demand is higher, suppy is lower and thus the prices are higher.

All circumstantial evidence of course, but it's what we have to go on.

Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#103
Pro tip: There are enough PCB shops now that small designs like this can just be done in free EDA software in minutes, 10 boards in your hand with a stencil 9 real days later for less than $50 shipped. The stencil lets you paste the board all at once, you place parts and hit it with a heat gun until everything sets. For audio stuff you get the advantage of keeping everything nice and tight with lower noise. I barely bread/proto board anymore since it is so cheap and easy to get boards made now.

Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#104
post #5
post #2

> Right now I'm absolutely astonished at how difficult it appears to be to just listen to music with a good pair of headphones. Is it not 2018? The media is full of talk about preposterously ambitious ideas such as AI and self-driving cars and yet I can't even listen to a fuck-damn music track? O_o I enjoyed reading this. The whole time I thought however: that’s not an issue on my Apple devices. Then I read: > If any…

Makes me wonder if the guy wants (subconsciously or not) to have more problems with technology he’s using just to have an opportunity to tinker with it to make it better. Certainly seems like the type. Not necessarily a bad thing, though, but in such case he might as well drop the complaining tone.

Probably, I have spent 100s of hours to make my iPhones better when in reality they would have worked just as well without the modifications. I frequently see people complaining and finding issues just so they can try to fix it, rinse and repeat.

This also leads into his statement. I own an iPhone and I kinda know what's going on beneath the surface. I can open up disassembled binaries and anyone can look at the headers from google within seconds.

That in turn would lead into that 99.9% of Android users have no knowledge of how Android works, so his whole statement is kind of odd.

Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#105
post #63

Could’ve spent $199 on an iPod, have high quality audio, load your own music, no “apple tax”. Coincidentally I was looking for something like an ipod shuffle this week and it’s become almost impossible to find, beyond some cheap thrift-store MP3 players.

> I was looking for something like an ipod shuffle this week and it’s become almost impossible to find, What's wrong with the Sandisk products? EG Clip Jam: https://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-Clip-Jam-MP3-Player/dp/B00V...

I was getting tired of replacing batteries in another device and after some searching located the SanDisk Clip Sport. It was also only around $40. USB rechargeable, FM radio, and a micro SD card for my music. I've been very happy with it.

Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#106
post #91
post #64

I’ll happily pay the “apple tax” so I can live my life and not have to deal with all the bullshit you did just to listen to some music. Good lord. I’d rather experience the world then mess around with the tech that’s supposed to be helping me live better.

That's such a straw-man it hurts. You're concluding, from the fact that a user has found one obscure bug, that android is a broken mess that only Arch Linux types should dare mess with, while Apple products are bastions of stability. The reality is that Apple products are (it appears) no more bug-free than the rest. Have you tried testing this very same thing on an iPhone? Maybe it even has the same bug!

Is it really "such a straw man"? Serious question, I'm trying to figure it out. The part about "just to listen to some music" is definitely exaggerating, since OP wants to listen to music and relax. Also, GP doesn't recognize that the tech that's supposed to be helping them live better may not be doing that by OPs standards. Is that what you're talking about? I did think what OP went through could be considered a lot of bullshit though.

Also, by the way, aren't you doing something similar? Exaggerating about GP's regard for android/apple; GP simply said they would rather pay a tax than go through what OP did. Am I mistaken? Though yes, in this case the apple tax may not even have helped.

Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#107

I'll allow myself some generalization here. I know several very smart and creative hardware technicians and system administrators. I admire them. I truly do. They are more independently thinking than most other programmers I know, are much more resistant to trends and fashion in technology, and rarely complain about the tech they must use. Throw Python, Perl, PHP, bash and what not at them, they can and will curse bu…

Perhaps that level of obsession is what makes them good at their jobs. You can't really fault people for wanting greater control over the tech they own. Repairability of hardware and true control over what we can install on our phones might not seem important in the name of convenience but I'm grateful for these people fighting the good fight and drawing attention to these issues.

Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#108

Interesting point buried in here: since Android is open source, you could go in and fix the bug, but then because you're not running an official Android version you'd lose access to the Play Store and other services. Something's not really free if there's a penalty for doing it. Since freedom to run a modified version of software yourself is one of the four freedoms of free software, this highlights the difference be…

there is open source and open source thru google's gates.

on the later you submit patches, they will be included in the next 2 to 3 versions of public release (if they dont't add any feature that impacts google's ad bottom line, for example, adding any sort of referrer control to chrome), then you have to hope that in those 2-3 version cycle your device is still supported, now you just have to wait for the convenient over the ait update provided by your telco or phone manufacturer (in most cases you actually need both entities to take part)

Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#109

I'll allow myself some generalization here. I know several very smart and creative hardware technicians and system administrators. I admire them. I truly do. They are more independently thinking than most other programmers I know, are much more resistant to trends and fashion in technology, and rarely complain about the tech they must use. Throw Python, Perl, PHP, bash and what not at them, they can and will curse bu…

Hate doesn't work, I'll give you that. I'm hopeful that OP takes your feedback :)

But you're very mistaken about the "disregard for convenience". Almost every human strives for convenience, even the folks you are talking about, they spend a lot of time writing automation scripts to make their work convenient. Just like you advice, please be open-minded to the idea that for some people convenience is just one checkbox on the list (unlike others, maybe including you, where convenience is of prime importance). For some people, real convenience comes from both functional convenience and tinkerability - having the confidence that they can make the product what they want to do - without feeling limited by the manufacturer's decisions. At the end its about tradeoffs, and when it comes to personal choice, people simply have different priorities.

To give you an objective example, when I buy a router, I always first go for an Asus. Why? Their UI is super easy to use - and at the same time, if you want, you can get it do to more powerful stuff. Just like Apple (as folks claim), their support is great (I've got replacements, no questions asked) but, unlike Apple, they actually encourage you to tinker around. So in this case, hell yeah, I do pay the extra premium for convenience.

Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you really just call apples products interoperable? maybe among their other crap, but sure as hell not among other devices. Which are all interoperable among themselves btw.

And yet every time I go to a presentation or a lecture people ask to borrow my MacBook for it because their Windows or Linux laptops can never even connect to their projectors or Bluetooth speakers on the first try. Often they cannot at all connect. Yet the MacBook connects to everything on the first go with zero fuss. So yeah, I am calling part of Apple's functions and devices interoperable. Why aren't you? These ar…

This.
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