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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?

#321

Post by blattimwind »

edoo wrote: post #250
blattimwind wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 10 boards in your hand with a stencil 9 real days later for less than $50 shipped Or I take my perfboard or solid copper base material and be done with it in one afternoon, without waiting 10 days and spending less than $50 shipped. > For audio stuff you get the advantage of keeping everything nice and tight with lower noise. IME it is way easier to do low noise / high bandwidth circuits on base material compared t…

I hate to admit I only got into this after the EDA software and PCB fab services and Youtube soldering demos really hit the scene. I am a long time software engineer and it took the current ease of things to surpass my laziness barrier. I wouldn't be doing this at all if I was etching myself. Typical PCB prices are $5 per 10 two layer boards and an extra $15 per stencil. Most the price is shipping so if you order mul…

Oh with base material I don't necessarily mean etching yourself. I rarely do that, I mostly use it as-is constructing my circuitry floating above it, suspended by its ground connections. It's somewhat similar to the Manhattan Style. It's also very easy to built custom shielding enclosures this way (all you need is a somewhat powerful soldering iron).

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

#322

Post by mrob »

sneak wrote: post #239
wilsonnb3 wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except you’re leaving out all the positives and only focusing on the negatives. Sure, Google can revoke my access to a movie at any time but I can watch on any of my devices and I dont have to worry about finding it in stock at the local store. I can carry literally thousands of books with me in a device smaller than a paperback. I can’t stream lossless music from Spotify but I can stream high enough quality that mos…

Not “most people” - pros on high end equipment cannot pass an ABX on 256kbps MP3. Spotify’s “extreme” quality setting is 320kbps. This isn’t some “normies”/“audiophiles” thing. 256kbps mp3 is acoustically transparent to human beings in ideal listening situations. The bad rap mp3 got was from 128kbps that was more common pre-broadband. Also, using lossy compressed sources (even 256-320kbps) in derivative works (eg dj…

256kbps MP3 is transparent in most cases, but there are some sounds that MP3 is bad at encoding (notably the sound of maracas and similar rattle type sounds), and you can train yourself to get better at identifying MP3 artifacts. People have reported successful ABX of maracas sound at 256kbps, e.g.:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/when-is-mp3-transparent-an-a...

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

#323

Post by nathan_f77 »

nathan_f77 wrote: post #318
mlindner wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think some of it is whether you're used to listening to the type of music. All those samples are types of music I don't normally listen to and thus scored 0%. They're also mostly low-information songs that are vocal-heavy. Vocal-heavy music is very easy to compress compared to say something like electronic or EDM type music which will easily create distortion with lower bitrates.

I got 4 / 6 with some old Apple EarPods plugged into my laptop. I think it was probably just luck, because I picked the 128kbps MP3 for both of the ones that I got wrong. It's fun to think that I might be able to distinguish between uncompressed audio and 320kbps MP3. I didn't think it was possible. I had a hearing test recently, and they did say that I have better than average hearing. But yeah it was probably just…

Whoa I just put on a nicer pair of headphones (Plantronics BackBeat Pro), and I think I might be able to tell the difference between uncompressed audio and 320kbps MP3.

I just did this test and got the first two right: https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/5/15168340/lossless-audio-mu...

The third one was really tricky so I had to guess. But the first two were a really clear difference. Uncompressed kind of sounds "fuller" and sharper, and MP3 is a bit flatter. It's a tiny difference but I think I can hear it.

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

#324

Post by dextersgenius »

amelius wrote: post #95
ikeboy wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can run the play store just fine on lineageos, which has modifications and isn't official. https://www.google.com/android/uncertified/ just need to register here as of earlier this year apparently

Yes, but for how long?

Does it matter? There are alternative stores (F-Droid, Amazon, Yalp) and microG for Google login/push notifications.

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

#325

Post by iOSGuy »

The tirade against Apple in the middle article is pretty silly. Android OS has a terrible bug that means you can’t listen to your preferred music on your device. iOS does not have this bug. As someone who uses and develops for both OS, this seems like a no-brainer to me.

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

#326

Post by sneak »

mrob wrote: post #322
sneak wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not “most people” - pros on high end equipment cannot pass an ABX on 256kbps MP3. Spotify’s “extreme” quality setting is 320kbps. This isn’t some “normies”/“audiophiles” thing. 256kbps mp3 is acoustically transparent to human beings in ideal listening situations. The bad rap mp3 got was from 128kbps that was more common pre-broadband. Also, using lossy compressed sources (even 256-320kbps) in derivative works (eg dj…

256kbps MP3 is transparent in most cases, but there are some sounds that MP3 is bad at encoding (notably the sound of maracas and similar rattle type sounds), and you can train yourself to get better at identifying MP3 artifacts. People have reported successful ABX of maracas sound at 256kbps, e.g.: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/when-is-mp3-transparent-an-a...

Excellent post! The author notes that 320kbps mp3 was transparent in his testing. 320kbps Vorbis (Spotify “Extreme” setting) is even better.

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

#327

Post by nine_k »

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…

Wat.

> we're puking web and electron everywhere ... literally only because developers are lazy

No. This is done because developers are slow and expensive. Reusing most of your web app as a desktop app, same for every platform, saves a lot of money to companies.

> you're consistently asked to pay a monthly fee to access this functionality literally only because companies are lazy

No. This is because companies want recurring revenue, not one-time sale. It's vastly easier to get you into ("only $3.99/mo" vs "only $199.95 for lifetime of use"), and it keeps dripping every month.

There's not a bit of laziness here, only business shrewdness.

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

#328

Post by dsego »

ikeboy wrote: post #293
dsego wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you try any more expensive ones? If not, how can you compare? I don't think you know what you're missing. From my experience, you realize how bad cheap ones are is when you try something better. For example, I thought AKG Y20 sounded pretty good before getting the chinese TFZ series 2, which are just so much 'more'. I am aware that those tfz are also lower range (~45$ on aliexpress). I also own a pair of Beyer DT…

If I'll enjoy my current ones less after trying more expensive ones, isn't that a reason not to try them? I do see a difference between the branded ones I've used (mostly Panasonic and the Samsung AKG one that comes with phones) and the cheaper generic ones I've tried out here and there

For example, I couldn't tell the difference between some ~100$ and "reference" ~1000$ headphones, so I am not the person to buy high end DACs, fancy shielded cables or whatnot. But I like some thumping bass and clarity in the top end. It's therapeutic for me to have an immersive experience where the sound just floats around you, sort of 3d vs flat.

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

#329

Post by jstarfish »

wilsonnb3 wrote: post #199
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…

Except you’re leaving out all the positives and only focusing on the negatives. Sure, Google can revoke my access to a movie at any time but I can watch on any of my devices and I dont have to worry about finding it in stock at the local store. I can carry literally thousands of books with me in a device smaller than a paperback. I can’t stream lossless music from Spotify but I can stream high enough quality that mos…

Those aren't positives.

It does nobody any good to have 1000 books on a single device if the whole thing is subject to revocation, especially when you paid full retail price for the privilege of being allowed to read it. This is regression.

Previously you paid your $10 and received a paper book. You could read it, re-read it, lend it, sell it, or burn it for warmth. You owned it for as long as you kept it dehydrated. The $15 you now pay per book gets you one of these rights, temporarily.

Whether most people can tell the difference between 320k and lossless is irrelevant-- the retail price is the same for a technically inferior product. This is a regression. And again, for your money, you own nothing.

And for apps, the cross-platform compatibility comes at the expense of consumers, who have to continuously purchase and maintain newer computer equipment to do the same damn word processing, email and shopping tasks that used to be possible on a 486. And of course, since everything is a subscription, it's a double punishment for the consumer-- they have to maintain hardware to run software they don't own.

The entire premise of modern technology has become a new vector to extract the most money from the consumer while delivering the least amount of value, power or control.

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

#330

Post by armitron »

013a wrote: post #315
admax88q wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

Mackie MR5s are studio monitors, not headphones. I can plug them into an analog output device and they work perfectly. I'm talking about digital, and the only digital devices that work are a Vizio TV (possibly others, didn't really test against TVs), iPhones, iPads, and Macs.

You should use an external DAC connected to your digital device via optical or spdif connection. Then connect your monitors to your DAC. I bet this solves all your problems.
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