Coconut Monkey Cornerclub

[Colif]

When I build my next PC in about a month or so - need to wait for parts - I won't be able to attach speakers that I have used for so long that when I start thinking of new ways to arrange room without them in it, I had positioned two speaker stands without thinking... they aren't needed anymore. After 25 years they are part of my furniture. Some pieces of furniture only exist because I needed somewhere to put a speaker.

Not sure what I am going to do with them. The satellites aren't useful as they get their sound via PC, but I can use the sub woofer by attaching it with a pair of RCA inputs on back of my Wiim Ultra, I just need a pair of active speakers then as a sub not much use by itself. I mean, some people might like only bass but I feel songs would be missing details.
It is a thought though, as without speakers I will have to rely on headphones and that will feel strange for a while. The speakers I want will take a while to buy anyway so I see if I can cope.

I personally like how quiet it is here.

Shhh! you wake them up

Quiet forums where its not going 100 mph on front page are nice until you realise you only person posting in some threads (looks around) and go away until some other peoples avatar shows on front page.

Without getting too sentimental, I do believe forums are incredibly important for archiving purposes. The amount of human interaction, the decades and decades of posts, all formatted in an easily digestible fashion, needs to be preserved for future generations to see. Future generations will never use a traditional forum site, so in a way it will be like how we study the first written works, first recorded historical moments, all of that. Forums are historical artifacts that deserve to be archived and preserved.

that relies on the search function of the website to work. I know of a website that has 20+ years worth of records but that has forgotten entire years worth of posts, and in some cases it was better to use Google search to find posts from them. Now I rarely see posts from them in Google results which makes me wonder what went wrong. They fell into a black hole.

Most of the forums I have used in the last 26 years since I had a PC have gone now. Many different reasons, mostly drama. People being people, mainly.

 

[neogunhero]

I've never really considered looking into my family history. I know my mom's side can be traced to Prussia and there's a family tree for my dad's side, but I don't really know much about my grandparents, let alone anything before that.

I've been so bad about learning about my family my entire life. I grew up as a military kid so we moved around a lot and I never lived nearby any other family besides my immediate family. As kids, whenever we went to see our grandparents or cousins, it was so awkward and strange. My dad grew up in Minnesota as a country boy, and that's how pretty much his entire side of the family is like, but growing up in the military made me not relate to that sort of lifestyle/personality type. I never thought I was better than anyone, but I knew I would not fit in if I had to live the way they did. They weren't trashy or anything, but they grew up on cattle farms and rode ATVs and snowmobiles for fun, that was never something I grew up doing.

My mom's side is a lot more interesting. My grandmother survived the bombing in Hiroshima, was there during the reconstruction period in Japan, and met a man who then left after giving her three children. My mom grew up somewhat poor in Japan, but then met my dad who was stationed in Japan at the time. My grandmother is still around, I believe she is 91? I mentioned to my mom once that we should make a short documentary on my grandmas life, and she just goes "why? I have to hear her yap all day long, that's already enough for me". I think if I stressed the importance of knowing my grandma's story and having it preserved in video format that it could be passed down generations, but I still don't think she would agree. But then again, my grandma would agree, I may just do it.

 

[Pifanjr]

I never could solve those things. I liked making the patterns but I never understood how to solve them.
WE didn't have tutorial videos showing how to do it back in the dark ages. I might have worked it out then.

My brother taught me three tricks and when to use them, which is all you need to fix a regular Rubik's cube. It took some time for me to remember them and figure out when to use them, but now I even kind of understand what they do.

We still get a tiny bit of spam here and there, but it's taken down fairly quickly. We are all keen to spot spam, so our reporting helps a lot I assume.

I personally like how quiet it is here. We have the same handful of people posting regularly here and I really appreciate that. Part of me does wish to relive the bustling days when forums were a lot more popular, but younger generations don't use forums anymore these days. I'm perhaps the youngest person posting here, apart of the same generation that doesn't use forums anymore, but I grew up using forums and the like my entire life pretty much. I have dropped in and out of them, most recently not posting here for about 3 years before I picked it back up.

Without getting too sentimental, I do believe forums are incredibly important for archiving purposes. The amount of human interaction, the decades and decades of posts, all formatted in an easily digestible fashion, needs to be preserved for future generations to see. Future generations will never use a traditional forum site, so in a way it will be like how we study the first written works, first recorded historical moments, all of that. Forums are historical artifacts that deserve to be archived and preserved.

I also like how quiet it is here. I've only been active on one other forum which was more active, but I stayed in one little subforum where I could recognise every active member most of the time.

At this forum I also ignore the hardware part almost entirely.

I've been so bad about learning about my family my entire life. I grew up as a military kid so we moved around a lot and I never lived nearby any other family besides my immediate family. As kids, whenever we went to see our grandparents or cousins, it was so awkward and strange. My dad grew up in Minnesota as a country boy, and that's how pretty much his entire side of the family is like, but growing up in the military made me not relate to that sort of lifestyle/personality type. I never thought I was better than anyone, but I knew I would not fit in if I had to live the way they did. They weren't trashy or anything, but they grew up on cattle farms and rode ATVs and snowmobiles for fun, that was never something I grew up doing.

My mom's side is a lot more interesting. My grandmother survived the bombing in Hiroshima, was there during the reconstruction period in Japan, and met a man who then left after giving her three children. My mom grew up somewhat poor in Japan, but then met my dad who was stationed in Japan at the time. My grandmother is still around, I believe she is 91? I mentioned to my mom once that we should make a short documentary on my grandmas life, and she just goes "why? I have to hear her yap all day long, that's already enough for me". I think if I stressed the importance of knowing my grandma's story and having it preserved in video format that it could be passed down generations, but I still don't think she would agree. But then again, my grandma would agree, I may just do it.

I have one grandma left, I think she's about 93 now. I know very little about her life, but from what I understand it wasn't a very good one.

 

[Frag Maniac]

One of the DTC mtb bike brands I was considering called Ari (formerly Fezzari) just suffered an Ocean's 11 type loss. Apparently 100s of their bikes were stolen out of a delivery truck that was on it's way to their Provo Utah HQ from LA. There were 337 bikes taken, averaging just over $5000 each, for a total loss of 1.7 million. Ari makes high quality aluminum and carbon bikes.

I kept thinking it was odd that while reading the Pinkbike article about it, nothing was mentioned as far as whether the truck was parked or hijacked. So I figured it was an inside job where just the driver of the truck was guilty. I say this because Fezzari/Ari have been around about 20 yrs, and are well known and do a fair bit of business. They no doubt use a well established trucking service.

Watching this video confirmed there were a lot of atypical delay excuses reported by the driver, and that the trucking company was one they'd worked with a long time and trusted. Nothing in the article or video mentioned anything of serial numbers being recorded, but Ari plans to place tracking chips in all of their bikes, which I think is a great idea, perhaps even for customers.

I think it would be best if the tracking chips are placed inside the frame in such a way the bike would be unrideable if they were cut out. And better yet if the use of these chips could be transferable to the bike purchaser with any cell phone OS. I'm not sure if such chips couldn't just be located with a scanner and somehow disabled though, thieves are very clever these days unfortunately.

BTW, half of these bikes have already been preordered/purchased by customers, so Ari's main priority, since they have insurance to cover large scale losses, is to get them refunded or bikes of equal model, depending what the customer chooses. They expect the bikes to be fully assembled and sold at used bike shops for suspiciously low prices in or near LA or online, so keep a lookout!

I ended up calling Ari and spoke to one of their sales staff. I wanted to give them my condolences and commend them for prioritizing their customer's needs who had purchased half of the bikes stolen. I also conveyed my suggestion to him of making the tracking chips usable by the bike purchaser. He talked about how great their customers are and thanked me for the suggestion.

 

[neogunhero]

Update on my Nothing Ear A earbuds. I've solved one issue, and halfway solved the other. The first issue was that the music would just randomly stop, especially if I moved my body in a specific way like stretched or bend down to grab something. I found that in the app, there was a setting on that is supposed to detect when it's in or out of your ears. Turning that off solved the random pausing issue, but also slightly confirmed my strange ear shape. If only my ears were shaped normally, then I wouldn't have that issue.

Second issue halfway solved was the earbuds becoming loose over time. The earbuds shipped with the smallest ear tips on, which is a bit strange because from all the rubber ear tip headphones I've ever bought, medium is always the standard size put on. I switched between large and medium and found medium to work best for me. Still comes loose after a while, even if I clear my ears very well, so I think it just comes down to the type of rubber used being a bit slick. I'll have to look up some replacement ear tips since these ones have a slightly unusual oval shaped end instead of the standard circular.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Turning that off solved the random pausing issue, but also slightly confirmed my strange ear shape. If only my ears were shaped normally, then I wouldn't have that issue.

Guy walks into an audio store and says, do you have any earbuds for abnormally shaped ears. Employee says, your ears don't look abnormally shaped to me sir. Customer replies, yeah, but it's what's INSIDE that counts!

I feel your pain, it sounds a bit like what I go through when sizing glasses or helmets, as I have a pretty small head for my size. It sounds like you've got the cutting out solved though. As far as earbud tips go though, it's a very personal preference thing. If you can fit round ones though, I'm not sure your ears are all that abnormal in shape. Amazon has a ton of various types of earbud tips though, in all different durometers, shapes, and sizes.

When you put your buds in, do you pull down on your earlobe to open up the canal a bit, then push them in until you feel them seal? Any residual earwax can also make them slip out. This is the recommended way if you have a problem with them slipping out. Don't forget to let go of your earlobe. You might look funny listening to music that way!

 

[neogunhero]

Amazon has a ton of various types of earbud tips though, in all different durometers, shapes, and sizes.

I've found a couple on Amazon that say they specifically work for the Nothing Ear A's, but without showing what the coupling hole looks like, I'm not entire sure if they are or aren't. Those ear tips have oval shaped coupling holes, which is pretty abnormal for most ear tip using buds, so I'm not sure if they are really making them specifically for this one pair of earbuds or just reusing circular ones and claiming they are compatible.

A quick search online confirms that the ear tips shipped are just low quality slippery silicone, a bit sad given these are $100 buds. I've bought cheap Bob Marley branded earbuds in the bargain bin that came with much thicker and sturdier ear tips than these. I believe if I can get some nice foam ones that they will not slip out anymore. A Reddit commentor said they use a pair from ComplyFoam, which they claim on the product page work for my specific headphones, so I may dish out the $25 + shipping just for some bits of foam that fit in my ear, or I might play roulette and hope the Amazon ones work well.

When you put your buds in, do you pull down on your earlobe to open up the canal a bit, then push them in until you feel them seal? Any residual earwax can also make them slip out. This is the recommended way if you have a problem with them slipping out.

Haven't tried that specifically, I usually just mush them into my ear and twist slightly until I find a good fit. The app has a nice fitting feature, but I haven't tried it yet. Apparently it helps you move the earbud in your ear to find the best position. As far as earwax goes, the black rubber really makes it stand out, so after my first time using them, I make sure to wipe my ears before putting them in. I'm generally good at keeping my ears clean, but daily oil builds up over time. The silicone rubber can't stick to your ear skin if there is oil/wax, which is the main issue why they keep sliding out. Even with a clean, dry ear, they still slip out.

You might look funny listening to music that way!

I just imagined myself banging my elbow onto every surface in my house if I were to do this

 

[Frag Maniac]

The only problem with foam tips is they compress over time, so likely don't last as long.

 

[neogunhero]

The only problem with foam tips is they compress over time, so likely don't last as long.

Yeah, a lot of the stuff I read online about them say they need to be replaced every month or so with heavy usage. It’s a shame because I feel they would help a lot with my slippage issue but I’d rather not spend $100 a year on tiny pieces of foam.

 

[Pifanjr]

I've never had a good experience with earbuds. It's always such a bother getting them to stay inside of my ears and they get uncomfortable really quickly.

 

[Frag Maniac]

I've never had a good experience with earbuds. It's always such a bother getting them to stay inside of my ears and they get uncomfortable really quickly.

Yeah I'd love to have good quality ear buds, if nothing else to resist the arms of my glasses causing pressure on my temples from prolonged use of around the ear type headphones. However with earbuds I would worry about ear canal irritation, which can potentially be more painful and even lead to ear infections. Not to mention having to clean them and your ear canals a lot. I DO clean my ears daily, just not way down inside the canals. Your ear canals produce wax for a reason.

I say take a chance on the Amazon ones, if they aren't a good fit and feel just return them.

 

[Pifanjr]

Yeah I'd love to have good quality ear buds, if nothing else to resist the arms of my glasses causing pressure on my temples from prolonged around the ear type headphones. However with earbuds I would worry about ear canal irritation, which can potentially be more painful and even lead to ear infections. Not to mention having to clean them and your ear canals a lot. I DO clean my ears daily, just not way down inside the canals. Your ear canals produce wax for a reason.

I say take a chance on the Amazon ones, if they aren't a good fit and feel just return them.

Nowadays I just use the on-ear headphones my work gave me if I can't use my speakers for whatever reason, which works well enough.

 

[Zed Clampet]

To make a seamless tile in Photoshop requires a bunch of steps and relying on generative fill. Takes forever and is a pain.

Meanwhile, in Corel Paintshop Pro, there is a one click seamless tile feature.

----

As for audio, the overwhelming majority of the time I use earbuds. Occasionally I use headphones, and never on the speakers.

 

[Colif]

Turning that off solved the random pausing issue, but also slightly confirmed my strange ear shape. If only my ears were shaped normally, then I wouldn't have that issue.

No such thing as a normal ear shape. Everyone is different.

Second issue halfway solved was the earbuds becoming loose over time. The earbuds shipped with the smallest ear tips on, which is a bit strange because from all the rubber ear tip headphones I've ever bought, medium is always the standard size put on. I switched between large and medium and found medium to work best for me. Still comes loose after a while, even if I clear my ears very well, so I think it just comes down to the type of rubber used being a bit slick. I'll have to look up some replacement ear tips since these ones have a slightly unusual oval shaped end instead of the standard circular.

Both IEM I have bought came with no eartips pre installed... they did come with them but you had to install them yourself. On the IEM its always fun getting them on the first time. Earbuds generally come with one installed from memory? Its been a while since I bought a normal pair of earbuds. My last ones weren't normal lol.

They are a little dirty now but not sure they still work. I have better alternatives now.

There are plenty of choices for eartips, later in year I might even buy some as its never a guarantee the ones you get with the set will fit your ears. I need some spares, and some brands are better than others. Should get some spinfits.

Eartips: Best Rubber, Silicone, Foam EarTips for IEMs and Earphones

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I find foam eartips best fit as they can remember your shape, but can change how the music sounds. Different materials can change the outcomes. Seems I am wrong, I have silicon ones on at moment, I am sure I had foams on? Maybe thats the other pair

 

[Zed Clampet]

Maybe my all-time favorite show. Thanks, AI.

 

[neogunhero]

I've never had a good experience with earbuds. It's always such a bother getting them to stay inside of my ears and they get uncomfortable really quickly.

I think the main issue with the ones I bought is the shape of the entire bud itself. I have used cheaper wired earbuds with similar silicone tips that never gave me this same issue. The body of the earbud itself is a bit large, and I think that causes it to push against my ear, resulting in them slipping out every now and then.

However with earbuds I would worry about ear canal irritation, which can potentially be more painful and even lead to ear infections. Not to mention having to clean them and your ear canals a lot. I DO clean my ears daily, just not way down inside the canals. Your ear canals produce wax for a reason.

That is the downside to these types of earbuds, being that you stick them inside your ear canals. They at least make a good indicator of when you need to clean your ears if you don't do so regularly.

As for audio, the overwhelming majority of the time I use earbuds. Occasionally I use headphones, and never on the speakers.

Do you use earbuds when gaming? More specifically, do you play games that require a good ear (i.e. directional audio ques in FPS games) while using earbuds? I have seen lots of gaming-marketed earbuds around before, but I never knew how good they could be for high quality surround sound audio. I guess the way I look at it is on-the-ear or over-the-ear style headphones have larger drivers so therefore they can offer better surround sound, but of course that is just over-simplifying the technical details.

 

[Colif]

You can get better isolation using IEM I find. Most gaming headsets wouldn't have noise cancellation (I know some do).
They also cheaper. Provided you don't just pay $15 or less for them, they might actually sound better than the headsets.

Soundstage or how wide apart the noises are might be better on over ear, that is about only place they can beat IEM.

I haven't played a game using headphones enough to have an opinion. I probably won't use either IEM or headset at first, but only as I have Hifiman Arya which were $1600 USD headphones when first released... so not really in same league.

 

[neogunhero]

I haven't played a game using headphones enough to have an opinion. I probably won't use either IEM or headset at first, but only as I have Hifiman Arya which were $1600 USD headphones when first released... so not really in same league.

I think your personal audio experience plays a lot into how you perceive sounds. What I mean by that is I’ve always had to use headphones while gaming, whether it be living with family or roommates, I’ve rarely been able to game using a pair of good speakers. On the occasion that I have, I still preferred my headset. Perhaps it was because it wasn’t a true surround sound speaker set up, but I still preferred my headset. Then there are things like Windows Sonic Audio, or on my HyperX headset it comes with a cheap USB DAC box with a button to turn on “virtual 7.1 surround”. I’ve have another headset in the past with a similar virtual surround sound button located right in the ear cup. Using these features can affect the way you perceive sound especially in games.

Having used earbuds a lot of my life, I think I could enjoy them or IEMs for gaming if they could do the surround correctly. For someone who primarily uses speakers, that could be torture to them.

I have Hifiman Arya which were $1600 USD headphones when first released... so not really in same league.

I wonder how high end headphones like that would perform in gaming. Gaming headsets are usually tuned and EQ’d specifically for games, so punchier bass and sharper treble to give more impact to game sounds. I know a lot of high end headphones are actually very neutral, with no added bass or treble to keep the audio as natural as possible, so I would assume they wouldn’t be great for gaming. When gaming we aren’t looking for the best audio like we do in music, we want what gives the best effect to the player. If an explosion sounds flat with no real thud in it, it feels boring to the player, that’s why gaming audio tends to EQ those noises to achieve a stronger perceived effect.

 

[Zed Clampet]

Do you use earbuds when gaming? More specifically, do you play games that require a good ear (i.e. directional audio ques in FPS games) while using earbuds? I have seen lots of gaming-marketed earbuds around before, but I never knew how good they could be for high quality surround sound audio. I guess the way I look at it is on-the-ear or over-the-ear style headphones have larger drivers so therefore they can offer better surround sound, but of course that is just over-simplifying the technical details.

I do use them while gaming, and occasionally I do have a problem identifying what direction a sound is coming from, but I'm just using the stereo sound to identify direction as opposed to surround sound. I don't really have any experience with surround sound to know how much better it is. My guess would be that headphones might be better than earbuds, but I don't know for sure. I do have Dolby spatial sound going at all times, so maybe that is making my setup better than just my stereo IEM earbuds would be by themselves.

 

[Colif]

Surround sound through speakers hasn't worked properly on windows since before windows 10, so I have mostly had dual stereo the last 10 or so years. Only in movies which I never watched.

As such, all I have had is more sound sources, they haven't been directional.

Ask @anort3 what he thinks about playing games with his Arya Stealths

Are There IEMs With Surround Sound?

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Dolby spatial sound

that is surround sound.

they can simulate it but they can't equal open backed headphones.

They beat open backs by keeping most of their sound inside the earcups - less likely to have other people ask you why you have to listen to music on headphones and speakers at same time... it can sound like that.

 

[BeardyHat]

Most of the forums I have used in the last 26 years since I had a PC have gone now. Many different reasons, mostly drama. People being people, mainly.

I left a forum I'd been on since I was a teenager due to a confluence of those issues. It started out as a Planet-(Network) style forum and then when they switched over from the Lith style forum (basically three frames on the page) to this style, a member there created his own forum in that same Lith style and many of us migrated over there.

Interestingly, a rivalry between our forum and another survived and the other forum had also created its own Lith style forum. Over the years people from one or the other would pop over and give the other some crap then leave. But eventually both forums got so small that everyone just started posting on one. Unfortunately, the people from the rival forum were too toxic and obnoxious for me, so I ended-up leaving and haven't been back; I'd pop in periodically and post something, but at this point it's been 5 years since I last went.

I do kind of wonder how the people I liked are doing.

At this forum I also ignore the hardware part almost entirely.

I feel a little bad that I pretty much just stay in the General Discussion. I try to occasionally pop over to the other sections and post something, but don't usually feel like I have much to add in any given one, so tend to stick here.

I think it would be best if the tracking chips are placed inside the frame in such a way the bike would be unrideable if they were cut out. And better yet if the use of these chips could be transferable to the bike purchaser with any cell phone OS. I'm not sure if such chips couldn't just be located with a scanner and somehow disabled though, thieves are very clever these days unfortunately.

Honestly, sorry but I hate the idea. The less tracking of stuff, the better. From your story, it seems like no one is really out much, given the customers will still get their orders (albeit late) and the business has insurance and will be reimbursed.

No need to go off the deep end and add to the surveillance/own nothing state with tracking devices that may or may not be allowed to be transferred between owners.

 

[BeardyHat]

It's only Wednesday, but I'm finally back to posting. I had such a social weekend, I needed to hide for several extra days, even from here...

 

[Colif]

I know a lot of high end headphones are actually very neutral, with no added bass or treble to keep the audio as natural as possible, so I would assume they wouldn’t be great for gaming.

Yes and no. Only as people have different tastes and uses for headphones.
Neutral is great for recording music but it isn't what every listener wants to hear all the time.
There is a civil war in Audiophile space about what it should sound like, but once again... its all opinions and no one is right.

Professional headphones designed for making music should be neutral to allow listener to hear what is being played, and make any necessary corrections to the recordings, but more expensive headphones for people who are just listening aren't as restrictive. Instead, more expensive headphones are more likely to be really good at one thing but not the best at everything.

Some are better at bass, some have better treble extension. Some are specifically made for certain styles of music..
More you spend, the more specialised they become.

I guess the most expensive ones might be best at everything but I will never know so it would be speculation at this point.

I do kind of wonder how the people I liked are doing.

That is the downside to forums collapsing, you lose track of people. I kept in touch with one guy from the first one I joined in 2000 or so, we realised recently its over 25 years we known each other. I have another guy on Discord from a PS3 forum I was on. I lost track of everyone else. No other forums have gone away since then.

 

[Zed Clampet]

I left a forum I'd been on since I was a teenager due to a confluence of those issues. It started out as a Planet-(Network) style forum and then when they switched over from the Lith style forum (basically three frames on the page) to this style, a member there created his own forum in that same Lith style and many of us migrated over there.

Interestingly, a rivalry between our forum and another survived and the other forum had also created its own Lith style forum. Over the years people from one or the other would pop over and give the other some crap then leave. But eventually both forums got so small that everyone just started posting on one. Unfortunately, the people from the rival forum were too toxic and obnoxious for me, so I ended-up leaving and haven't been back; I'd pop in periodically and post something, but at this point it's been 5 years since I last went.

I do kind of wonder how the people I liked are doing.
.

Had a similar situation. Was a member of a small forum. They changed the format. Everyone got mad. Then someone started his own forum in the old format. This got him permanently banned from the other forum, but not enough of the 20 or so people from the original forum followed the guy to his new forum. I posted there, but couldn't really urge other people to because I didn't want to get banned. I eventually convinced him to join the other sports forum that we are still on today.

Running a forum is too much work. I had one on the political site I ran, and it was an absolute mess, and I regretted ever starting it. It was just one big fight.

 

[Zed Clampet]

that is surround sound.

Yeah, but does it work with just anything you plug in? I assumed you still needed headphones designed for surround sound. The reason I have it is for the improved sound quality and the equalizer.