Miscellaneous

My mom is wanting to get a small laptop (bigger than a tablet) to use at home, primarily for Skype to be able to do video chats with her grandkids, downloading pics, Microsoft Office, and basic internet browsing. She wants a built-in camera, moderate budget maybe $500 to $600. She's computer literate, but not at all tech savvy (kind of runs in the family). She's thinking about a Macbook Air such that she can avoid the hassle of viruses and such but isn't cray about spending $1k when she can get the same for $500 or less for her basic needs. Any suggestions?

I am think of getting a small handheld camcorder but don't know what to look for. I assume a bigger sensor is better for low light and you want a decent mic, optical zoom, and decent battery life. That's about all I know. I have read that midrange ($300-$600) is the sweet spot for someone like me. I'm just going to use it for the usual recording friends, family, etc. I was thinking of something like http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00AW54Z4K/thewire06-20 or http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00AWZFJ22/thewire06-20 or http://www.amazon.com/Sony-HDR-CX380-Definition-Handycam-Camcorder/dp/B00AR95FRM/ref=dp_ob_title_ce or maybe something even cheaper http…

link My attitude on "less than an hour a day of listening" (which seems to be the takeaway on Facebook, although it should be "...less than an hour a day of too loud listening...") is this:

This thick cable has got all the strange looks, and is really very stiff, almost tipping my gear over. A bit of the (normal) lamp cable deep inside can be seen through the blue semi-transparent connector (Patrick does not apparently believe so much in effects of the actual conductor). It works, as the image shows.

Do you guys have any recommendations for spill proof travel mugs? I have a few spilltastic mugs but they don't perform to hot in my backpack while riding a motorcycle. Currently I'm using a Contigo. I love the thing except it's starting to lose it's seal after 4 months or so of off and on use. The mouth valve bit leaks sometimes as well as the threads for the cap itself.

Not for the newborn to take pictures:D, but for us to take pictures and video. My wife was thinking that we might want to get a dedicated video camera and I am on the fence. I have a Sony HX5V that does decent 1080p with okay image stabilization. The plus is that it's pocket-able and takes pictures. The minus is that it doesn't do video as well as a dedicated video cam. Oh what to do? I also want to get a new DSLR, hopefully the D400 it it ever comes out. How do you with DSLRs that do video feel about the video quality?

Folks, My apologies for using this public forum for a private request. I was wondering if someone here could ask NwAvGuy (creator of ODAC and O2) to contact me. I tried contacting him, but his blog contact-form is full. We have a project at MIT that may relate to his work. My private email is: tom [at] findthomas [dot] net. I would be so grateful if NwAvGuy could reach me. Thanks in advance. Tom Hardjono @findthomas

So my daughter is sitting in her bedroom in a rented house while away at college listening to music on a Apple Hi-Fi boombox. Suddenly there is a loud pop and sparks are flying from the power cable to the boombox while the room goes dark. She pours her water on the carpet which ignited from the sparks and called me. The boombox was plugged into a cheap multiple outlet surge protector along with a curling iron and hair straightener neither of which were turned on at the time. The incident caused the house panel circuit breaker for the outlet to trip. Any ideas what could have caused this? She wasn't touching or moving the boombox in any way when the incident happened a…

Since I had the camera out, I thought I'd take a few pics of the new guitar. Did I do good??

Was saddened by this news; http://powersource.post-gazette.com/powersource/companies/2017/04/11/Toshiba-unaudited-earnings-westinghouse-pittsburgh/stories/201704110113

Forcing Windows and Linux kernel redesign, which is expected to cause 5-30% Slowdown for all Intel chips made in last 10 years.. UNfreakingBelievable. If not fixed at OS software level, huge security risk looms. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/01/02/intel_cpu_design_flaw/

Well it was bound to happen but I am hoping there is an easy fix. We have a Windows XP laptop that just recently refuses to startup. The error message is " A disk read error occurred, press control+alt+delete to restart". well I did that multiple times. I even let the battery run down completely then recharged the battery, no luck. I have opened and closed the DVD drawer and checked all the other ports and there is nothing in or connected. Any suggestions?

Ok, in true Head Case fashion I have decided I need a higher end audio card for my office system. Currently I am running windows XP foobar and iTunes out via usb to my PS Audio balanced dac. The PS Audio dac will sample out to 192 but as you know usb will only go to 96K and I can't seem to get ASIO4all to load onto my computer so the better solution would seem to be to spend some moolah and just take a great leap forward. I am currently acquiring more and more 192K music files so I would like to experience the full extent of what my office system can offer while I am still alive. It seems that Lynx sound cards are highly regarded and can output 192K. There is the Lyn…

Normally the Sota TT/SDS/L3000 rig sounding like totally beyond awesome yall (IMO ), but something went a bit awry last night. It still sounded quite "good" but the magic was dimnished; I wasn't feeling the emotion and energy I would have expected from some newly acquired LPs (Judas Priest, Madonna, Opeth, Bryan Adams). The dynamics and separation weren't in full force and the balance/resolution was also a tad "off". Then today at lunch I noticed the shelf, and consequently my TT, were tilted by a significant amount to one side. Damn - I'd moved all my audio gear around the previous day and forgot to level the TT. Of course I'm somewhat miffed that apparently my floor …

I was pondering the idea of sound design when it comes to amplifier design. I am wondering if amp designers know what a circuit is going to sound like before they make it? So is it the case that they think about the sonic attributes they want to create and design an amp to suit or do they just build an amp with little concern for the sonic side of things and aim to keep the variables (such as THD) in an optimum range with an expectation that the amplifier will sound good at the end? In addition to this are there things a designer can do to deliberately change an aspect of the sound, such as increase the warmth, widen the soundstage or increase the detail? Sorry for …

I think it's time for me to finally pick up a RCM. I've been using a dry brush mostly because all the vinyl I buy is new, but I'm starting to buy more and more used. Any suggestions? A used VPI HW-16 looks like a decent option that can always be upgraded to the HW-16.5, but I have no idea if the older model had any problems. Any comments, suggestions, or other recommendations? Thanks.

This is an odd topic but I'm looking for quick answers. I am having some Ikea solid beech wood butcher block counter tops installed in the Mayberry kitchen. They suggest sanding, sealing and oiling but they do not really give a lot of specifics. They sell some linseed oil but not a sealer and I am not sure if a sealer is necessary or recommended for use on butcher block counter tops or what to use and still be safe for food handling on them. Anybody have ideas for specific products or general procedures to employ or avoid?

So I am in need of a decent component video cable. It has to be somewhere between 15 and 20 feet long. The closer to 20' the better. Unfortunately, MonoPrice has 15 foot and 20 foot. I'd really rather avoid a 25' cable if I can help it. I checked on Amazon and found a few results: Amazon.com: 6M PRO SERIES COMPONENT (87206): Electronics ($22) Amazon.com: Icarus Black Carbon Component Video Cable (19.6 Feet/6 Meters): Electronics ($26) Amazon.com: Monster THX Ultra 800 16ft Ultra-High Performance Component Video Cables: Electronics ($20) Yes, Monster FTMFL, as a company, but that price is excellent. In my experience, Monster video cables are not horrid, just…

I'm a moderate photography fan. I've had a couple of good reflex cameras for 35mm film, but since digital took over film, my only digital camera is a Canon Ixus 50 which makes OK pics. I've been considering to get a decent or maybe more than that digital camera, but there are so many options... All I know is that I'd like to avoid huge cameras (my favorite one was my Pentax A1) and now with digital LCDs maybe a reflex isn't that necessary. I started to look at some options and then the Leica M8.2 came out as a compact, versatile and probably great quality one, which would allow me to swap objectives. The problem is the price. At about USD6000 just the body and USD1300…

I'm finding I'm not getting enough headroom on my Melos pot since the Northstar DAC outputs higher than my previous DAC. (And the Melos might have a pretty high gain) I like have a lot of room to play with on the volume knob, but right now I can't take it past 9 o' clock. Is there something I can do that won't degrade sound quality? This is only a problem with my HP-2, using the Melos as a preamp works fine.

I've been using iPhone iterations for some years. I like the Apple ecosystem and all that, but I dislike their phones being larger and larger, those protruding camera lenses and their not having headphone jack. I think I could enjoy one of those foldable phones that fit into the front pocket of your jeans. Any experiences that you may share?

Hi Head-casers, I've been thinking a lot of time about speed (or perceived speed?) of the phones... How come that I could feel that one phone sounds faster than the other while both of them can produce or reach about the same frequency spectrum (eg. ES compared to dynamic)? Without comparing, it is difficult to hear that perceived speed, but switching from HD650 to STAX and vise versa that "speed" difference become very audible. What I mean by speed in this case is the "free flowing" or un-congested sense of the music through the phones.... Is this the right term to understand it as the "speed"? How come that a driver that can vibrate good at 10Khz or so (dyn…

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Some of you know stuff about car audio -- Samich? I forget who else. I'm going to be living with this car ('03 Lancer ES, non-Evo, non-wagon, non-anything really, completely entry-level) for a while, so want to upgrade the sound system, but don't want to spend thousands of dollars doing so, as it already has > 120K miles on it, and I'm about due for a car-totalling. So the current system sounds crap. Lots of distortion, doesn't go loud well at all. Replace the whole system (including the head unit)? Buy a new car? Or go piecemeal: sub first, head unit and speakers next. I'm not a complete dumb-bass-head when it comes to cars, but poprock just doesn't sound ri…

Folks, anyone use the above software for ripping cd to flac ? I've been using it for all these time. Is EAC a better alternative?