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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?

#171

Post by Jaruzel »

temp0876456 wrote: post #14

Boy does this person need to look at the ‘good headphone’ market. I paid (a very reasonable) $2k for a set of reference headphones and a suitable amp/DAC to drive them. I could have spent a lot more. It is hard to drive a set of headphones with enough SQ to make them worthwhile. You cannot plug a set of headphones into an Android phone and expect anything good to happen. And lots of DAPs suffer from software problems…

PLEASE tell me you don't listen to low-bit streaming audio on those things, and have lots of high-res audio ?

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

#172

Post by vikingcaffiene »

flocial wrote: post #121

I'm a bit flabbergasted by all the "wow this person just wasted all his free time fixing a nonexistent problem instead of just getting an iPhone" on Hacker News of all places. Yes there's an ideological bent to the whole exercise but that's precisely the kind of passion you need to deep dive into creating your own audio device over a minor annoyance. Yes it's clunky and expensive to maintain but you have to admire th…

Its not that he spent the time and effort to do it. I personally took exception the sentiment that iPhone owners are somehow less competent or capable simply because they would rather spend their time solving problems other than listening to music on headphones.

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

#173

Post by dctoedt »

mikeash wrote: post #99
notacoward wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently Play Store is unaffected, but some other apps - banking, streaming, even Pokemon Go - will break. And your warranty (including hardware) is voided. So I stand corrected, and thank you, but I don't think the correction affects the main point.

It’s not legal to void your warranty because you changed some software, unless the software change actually caused the problem you’re trying to get fixed under warranty.

> It’s not legal to void your warranty because you changed some software, unless the software change actually caused the problem you’re trying to get fixed under warranty.

Citation, please?

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

#174

Post by lightedman »

rayrrr wrote: post #144

Everyone seems to be seeing this as an Android vs. iOS debate, but I see it as a smartphone vs. dedicated device debate. If you're serious enough about photography, you don't complain about your smartphone camera's limitations, you get yourself a DSLR and multiple lenses. So if you're this serious about music, why not get a dedicated device? Look at what companies like HiBy and Hidizs are doing. I have, and my ears h…

I'm guessing you missed where the guy took a dedicated music playing device (CD player of decent quality) and obtained other issues.

The fact of the matter is that most small devices have audio packages that simply are not up to the task, and that includes dedicated music players.

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

#175

Post by bascule »

One possible solution: get Bluetooth headphones instead, such as the equivalent Bluetooth Audio-Technica headphones to what's pictured in the post, the ATH-DSR9BT:

https://www.audio-technica.com/cms/headphones/6117c014c965cd...

"The ATH-DSR9BT over-ear wireless headphones employ Audio-Technica’s new Pure Digital Drive system, which allows the headphones to operate without a sound-degrading D/A converter that conventional wireless headphones rely upon. Instead, the ATH-DSR9BT utilizes Trigence Semiconductor’s Dnote chipset to receive the digital audio signal from a Bluetooth wireless transmission, process and transfer it to the driver where the digital pulses of the chipset move the voice coil and diaphragm forward and backward to create the sound waves heard by the listener."

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

#176

Post by bcl »

GuiA wrote: post #126
edoo wrote: post #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…

Any recommendations for the US? All the circuits I’ve ever made were breadboarded, this could be a fun direction to take.

In the past I've used AP Circuits (https://www.apcircuits.com/home.aspx) and E-Teknet (https://e-teknet.com/) with good results from Eagle CAD pcb files. It has been a few years though, so YMMV.

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

#178

Post by DanBC »

jaifraic wrote: post #149
DanBC wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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...

Ah, I miss my good ol' Sandisk Sansa Clip+. This device with rockbox firmware and a MicroSD-Card had an amazing interface, enough storage for lots of music, supporting FLAC and other lossless formats, all while being small, lightweight and providing high audio quality. For about 40 bucks.

Sadly, I think some of the newer devices can't take Rockbox. I think the Clip Jam can't.

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

#179

Post by Jaruzel »

Trombone12 wrote: post #62
g5095 wrote: post #30

Buy a DAC

Were would that go? The author doesn't seem too keen on actually soldering on the inside of the devices, and they all give analogue out. Maybe you meant an amp?

A USB DAC connected to the old-laptop maybe? I have one on a Mini-PC that's the player for my music library - totally moved the digital-to-analogue conversion out of the noisy PC, and results in really clean audio. Obviously you get what you pay for - a £20 DAC wont do a very good job, but a £100 one will be good enough for most people.

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

#180

Post by icebraining »

thanatropism wrote: post #51
kgwxd wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many people perfer to own instead of lease, even in 2018.

This is fine if you're "stuck in your ways" (I want to use a less loaded term but can't come up with one) and have a collection of music you enjoy and have stopped keeping up. It's not even keeping up with current music; as I go from my early to my late 30s, the pop landscape has gone from parseable to alien. But there's still good music coming out and older good music you didn't know about. Hell, I only discovered t…

From what I can tell, the streaming catalog is still a small subset of the CD catalog, so if you're into discovering new music, you're restricting yourself by only using the former.
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