Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

naughtycomputer.uk

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

161–170 of 429 posts

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

#161

Post by lern_too_spel »

yaseer wrote: post #112
bhj wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s amusing to still hear “Apple tax” in 2018, as if there is no additional value in better hardware, software and support for many people’s use cases.

If anything, the 'Apple tax' is greater in 2018 than it has ever been. I say this as having owned 3 Macs for the last 10 years. 4-8 years ago, the gap between Apple and the rest was so stark, it seemed paying for a premium Apple product was a no-brainer. Even Linus got a Macbook air because the hardware was such a leap ahead. Not only has the gap closed, Apple have been left behind, with inferior build quality in key…

Linus hasn't used a MacBook Air for several years now. Apple's devices are now inferior in every category.

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

#162

Post by icebraining »

notacoward wrote: post #160
icebraining wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So if I make a proprietary application that only runs on, say, Ubuntu, does that mean GNU/Linux is no longer really free, since you can't replace your distro with Arch without losing access to my application?

> does that mean GNU/Linux is no longer really free I'd say it's a bit of a different situation, since the two are not being designed to work together and aren't even being developed by the same people. If the Ubuntu developers made your proprietary app key to the useful running of the system, which is the more exact analogy, then I'd say yeah, they would have made it non-free.

What app is key to the useful running of Android and that refuses to run on a modified system?

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

#163

Post by HocusLocus »

013a wrote: post #156

I have a pair of powered studio monitors (Mackie MR5), and I completely relate to this problem. Many PCs and phones will emit an audible hissing noise while plugged in. I've tested on a dozen different devices, with integrated and external DACs, five hundred dollar sound cards, massively shielded cables, practically every modern OS you can name, tweaking every audio setting exposed to me. The only devices that work p…

Wow I can sympathize. Sounds like you're discerning a S/N ratio problem that would have disqualified the designs from 'high fidelity' in the late 70s and through the 80s. And you have to wonder if in your TV/Apple the hiss is there but is being noise gated. I too believe there has been regression. All it takes is one generation to 'interrupt' consumer expectations of ever increasing quality.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18569013

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

#164

Post by projektfu »

jjoonathan wrote: post #132
projektfu wrote: post #127

Is this actually a bug in Android (confirmed by someone else on a different phone) or is it a bug in the implementation by this OEM? I haven't experienced it but I also do not use this writer's particular sound files. I think the underlying point is very important. It does seem like quality has been sacrificed in many products to shave a few pennies off the BOM. Why should today's portable CD players be substantially…

They are not shaving BOM pennies, they are shaving NRE pennies. The components to produce good audio are dirt cheap, even for a consumer product, even in quantity. Keeping digital noise out of analog circuits, however, takes effort. Getting the software to not drop step functions at inopportune moments takes even more effort. They won't do these things unless they feel they have to.

True enough. But to my non-EE brain, when you remove parts like output stages from well known designs, you're just being gratuitously cheap.

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

#165

Post by icebraining »

gcb0 wrote: post #108
notacoward wrote: post #29

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…

That's not Google's gates, that's the OEM's and the ISP's. Google can only control that for their own devices, and the Nexuses have always been some of the most modded ones.

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

#166

Post by amelius »

shittyadmin wrote: post #100
dextersgenius wrote: post #35

> _It turns out that all music players on Android actually play music using the Android-media-player-service._ This is inaccurate. Neutron music player bypasses Android's Media Player APIs and talks directly to your DAC and plays music without resampling (if the DAC supports it). Never had any audio popping or explosions using Neutron, and I've tried it on 6 different devices so far without any issues (LG G3, Nexus 6…

I've never had any problems with "explosions" using standard media players, even when plugged into my HD650s - anyone else have that happen? HN is mostly engineering types, the poster clearly has that mindset, we should be filing or looking for a proper bug report for this instead of crafting hacks or talking about alternative products altogether right off the bat.

> we should be filing or looking for a proper bug report for this instead of crafting hacks or talking about alternative products altogether right off the bat

As if Google even considers reading any bug reports ... :(

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

#167

Post by mirkules »

zanny wrote: post #151
mirkules wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I chuckled when I read: > Although Android is Free Software, meaning I can modify the code, it would probably take me months to learn enough about music decoding and the Android-media-player-service to write a fix. Followed by: > APPLE IS A SYMBOL OF PRETENTIOUSNESS AND IGNORANCE - YOU DO NOT EVEN KNOW HOW YOUR PHONE WORKS So iPhone users don’t know how their phone works, but Android is awesome because it’s open sour…

Yes okay, its about having the choice and the option. Its rooted in the fundamental instinct to cling to freedom and seek it out. Even if you don't make a choice, having the option to is still empowering, because the absence of a choice tells you someone else made it for you. For many, that could be the same choice they would have made. That doesn't give any condolence to those who would have made a different one, bu…

I understand the need for people to feel like they have a choice by using free software (the choice to modify it if they want to), but at this point it is just an illusion unless you are prepared to dedicate a huge amount of time. If you practically couldn’t do it even if you wanted to, does it still mean you have a choice?

It’s a different time today than it was 40 years ago when RMS modified printer drivers, and software is much more complicsted than it used to be.

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

#168

Post by dylan604 »

013a wrote: post #156

I have a pair of powered studio monitors (Mackie MR5), and I completely relate to this problem. Many PCs and phones will emit an audible hissing noise while plugged in. I've tested on a dozen different devices, with integrated and external DACs, five hundred dollar sound cards, massively shielded cables, practically every modern OS you can name, tweaking every audio setting exposed to me. The only devices that work p…

> Its more than just audio. Watching movies sucks; you now pay full price to effectively indefinitely rent movies, and have them taken away at any time.

This has always been the case, even when you "owned" the physical media. Owning a CD, DVD or even vinyl copy of audio/video did not mean you owned the content. It was always just a delivery mechanism. It always came with legal wording to state you didn't own the content, and were only allowed to listen/view in a private setting. You were not allowed to take the music and play it in public, you were not allowed to show the video to large groups of people (including in your own home).

Your OS is the same way. You don't own the software. You only pay for a license granting use of it on one computer.

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

#169

Post by creeble »

hunta2097 wrote: post #47

Have had 8 android phones. Literally never heard anything like this.

Me either.

My last three Android phones (two Motorola and an HTC) have excellent sound from their headphone jacks. I use my phone and two iPads on a regular basis with headphones, and I've never heard pops between tracks or noticeable hiss with any of them.I

I write audio software on embedded Linux devices for a living. I know what clicks and pops between tracks sound like, and usually why they happen. But I don't think this guy's two-op-amo buffer is doing what he thinks it's doing.

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

#170

Post by soccerdave »

dylan604 wrote: post #168
013a wrote: post #156

I have a pair of powered studio monitors (Mackie MR5), and I completely relate to this problem. Many PCs and phones will emit an audible hissing noise while plugged in. I've tested on a dozen different devices, with integrated and external DACs, five hundred dollar sound cards, massively shielded cables, practically every modern OS you can name, tweaking every audio setting exposed to me. The only devices that work p…

> Its more than just audio. Watching movies sucks; you now pay full price to effectively indefinitely rent movies, and have them taken away at any time. This has always been the case, even when you "owned" the physical media. Owning a CD, DVD or even vinyl copy of audio/video did not mean you owned the content. It was always just a delivery mechanism. It always came with legal wording to state you didn't own the cont…

I disagree with you. When you “owned” a physical cd, you had to ability to sell it. When you own the digital version it is not possible to resell it.
Post reply on HN