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Headphone random conversation
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Colif
On a Journey
Technically I could use this for gaming - Fiio Portable Dac/Amp
My old mp3 player & S7 for scale. all the videos I saw of it made it look bigger than it is.
Only have an old pair of wired headphones until I get better IEM later. I wasn't even sure if they still worked. I swapped to wireless to avoid replacing phones because phone jack died. If I had the Fiio all those years ago, I wouldn't have swapped.
Turns out the old ones are 10 years old now - https://www.soundandvision.com/content/bowers-wilkins-c5-series-2-headphone-review
I now set phone to max volume and anything over 30 on the Fiio is too loud... and it goes to 60.
It can be attached to consoles or PC or phone via USB or Bluetooth.
I plan on using it in BT mode with my phone. I have had USB slots on my phones play up as well. Since its used for charging, I don't want to break it again. USB slot on S7 above is only just working as is.
I didn't want a physical connection to phone. Or I could have got a cheaper dongle.
It has a 3.5mm unbalanced and 4.4mm balanced connections. It can run some pretty demanding headphones if one setting is turned on to give it more power, but uses more power. I don't have headphones that need that much juice. No plans on getting any.
My old mp3 player & S7 for scale. all the videos I saw of it made it look bigger than it is.
Only have an old pair of wired headphones until I get better IEM later. I wasn't even sure if they still worked. I swapped to wireless to avoid replacing phones because phone jack died. If I had the Fiio all those years ago, I wouldn't have swapped.
Turns out the old ones are 10 years old now - https://www.soundandvision.com/content/bowers-wilkins-c5-series-2-headphone-review
I now set phone to max volume and anything over 30 on the Fiio is too loud... and it goes to 60.
It can be attached to consoles or PC or phone via USB or Bluetooth.
I plan on using it in BT mode with my phone. I have had USB slots on my phones play up as well. Since its used for charging, I don't want to break it again. USB slot on S7 above is only just working as is.
I didn't want a physical connection to phone. Or I could have got a cheaper dongle.
It has a 3.5mm unbalanced and 4.4mm balanced connections. It can run some pretty demanding headphones if one setting is turned on to give it more power, but uses more power. I don't have headphones that need that much juice. No plans on getting any.
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Colif
On a Journey
sound sig of old headphones
new ones
The same songs sound completely different. I swapped in one song and thought I had swapped songs. The top has boosted bass, made bathys seem hollow. think I like somewhere inbetween.
Edit: Spent 6 hours looking at reviews of every IEM I can buy within a certain price range in the 3 shops that exist in Australia that sell these things and still no closer to finding one I might get. Current option is: Unique Melody 3DT - my price range keeps going up. I won't go mad... buys a 6k AUD IEM... oops. 🙂 (I didn't, not that mad)
new ones
The same songs sound completely different. I swapped in one song and thought I had swapped songs. The top has boosted bass, made bathys seem hollow. think I like somewhere inbetween.
Edit: Spent 6 hours looking at reviews of every IEM I can buy within a certain price range in the 3 shops that exist in Australia that sell these things and still no closer to finding one I might get. Current option is: Unique Melody 3DT - my price range keeps going up. I won't go mad... buys a 6k AUD IEM... oops. 🙂 (I didn't, not that mad)
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Colif
On a Journey
I went looking for other shops, too many just have the normal brands you find everywhere, I don't want those any more. I am tired of using the same brands.
It doesn't help the ones I had decided on went up in price to be closer to better ones they don't compare well to... so my max price has increased to try to get best I can in that range.
I shouldn't say what I will get now as it changes every hour... windows shopping is all I can do for now. Lucky all the sales are over so I don't have to cope with changing prices on some of these... i hope.
These old headphones make some songs completely different to the others. Made me rethink what I want in headphones... doesn't make it any easier.
Bowers Wilkins boosted base was the other choice I had when picking Bathys... or would have been if the Bowers WIlkins wireless headphones were on special... they weren't. They cost $1100 making Bathys way easier choice since it was only $800. their clamping force was another reason to avoid them.
I think they call it a dark sound. Having two pairs that make music sound different reduces boredom.
As anort said, its variety. Which is funny as these are current things I am looking at: Moondrop Variations
The worst part about these ones is I can never tell if I have them in the right ears. Its only obvious when they fall out. My right ear is the tell tale
I decided on a pair just to notice right at end they were out of stock
These are new and look pretty good so far until I hear something that turns me off. There are no perfect sets, they all do some things well but not everything. Need to just find something I am happy with. these only a few months old now.
Planar magnetic
Don't need to wait forever for them either.
a few reviews later... they great for all the music I don't listen to.
It doesn't help the ones I had decided on went up in price to be closer to better ones they don't compare well to... so my max price has increased to try to get best I can in that range.
I shouldn't say what I will get now as it changes every hour... windows shopping is all I can do for now. Lucky all the sales are over so I don't have to cope with changing prices on some of these... i hope.
These old headphones make some songs completely different to the others. Made me rethink what I want in headphones... doesn't make it any easier.
Bowers Wilkins boosted base was the other choice I had when picking Bathys... or would have been if the Bowers WIlkins wireless headphones were on special... they weren't. They cost $1100 making Bathys way easier choice since it was only $800. their clamping force was another reason to avoid them.
I think they call it a dark sound. Having two pairs that make music sound different reduces boredom.
As anort said, its variety. Which is funny as these are current things I am looking at: Moondrop Variations
The worst part about these ones is I can never tell if I have them in the right ears. Its only obvious when they fall out. My right ear is the tell tale
I decided on a pair just to notice right at end they were out of stock
These are new and look pretty good so far until I hear something that turns me off. There are no perfect sets, they all do some things well but not everything. Need to just find something I am happy with. these only a few months old now.
Planar magnetic
a few reviews later... they great for all the music I don't listen to.
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Colif
On a Journey
Anort is lvl 100? That isn't a rabbit hole, its a trap
First 9 are bad enough. I had to laugh at number 10.
I think sometime later this year I might get one of these and stop carrying my phone completely which will just get me in trouble but really music is main use I have for it now. Had it almost a month, not made any calls yet.
Buying a dap just feels like continuing a habit. I haven't needed one in the last few years as I just listen to my speakers. Buying IEM is hardly new either.
Maybe I wait for Bday for the DAP. 11 months? Unlikely...
I missed the streaming thing as for a long time I had all my music on me, why look outside my collection? The idea of not owning all my music is still odd to me, but I am adjusting. I Was still going to continue doing that until I got the Bathys last month.
IEM search now split between
Variations is way better but also almost double the cost. One is easier to reach, in other words.
I could buy either/both now but I am controlling my spending. I don't want a another hole to dig my way out of.
I am tired of looking at IEM. The more reviews you watch, the longer you risk hearing something you don't want to know. It wasn't like this with headphones.
edit: I have had enough looking, ordered some of these tonight
I have heard them sort of, in a comparison with the Variations above and they sound better to my ears. Wave theory doesn't like their fit, I see how I go. Not a normal tuning but meant to be fun.
Now I just stop spending money I don't have and replace it...
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Just like the early iPhones. If I recall correctly, it was the 4S before iPhone could be reliably used as a comms device.
Colif
On a Journey
it wouldn't surprise me about Apple phones, they more a fashion accessory than a phone - same thing applies to their headphones and almost anything they sell. Status symbol... it actually working is an extra benefit and not related to why they bought it.
Common joke is that eventually they will remove the phone function and the screen and the people who buy them will still pay for a slab of plastic with Apple written on it. Mindless sheep.
Apple kills two devices off and this guy says, its fine, once you buy a new Apple phone you won't need them... so apple makes old **** redundant to force their customers to keep buying new crap and not be left too far behind that their stuff no longer works because they killed devices...
lost sheep
Common joke is that eventually they will remove the phone function and the screen and the people who buy them will still pay for a slab of plastic with Apple written on it. Mindless sheep.
Apple kills two devices off and this guy says, its fine, once you buy a new Apple phone you won't need them... so apple makes old **** redundant to force their customers to keep buying new crap and not be left too far behind that their stuff no longer works because they killed devices...
lost sheep
Colif
On a Journey
My new portable set together (excluding phone but something had to take the photo - so far no phone camera tricky enough to take a timed photo from one location and then move into the frame to be included - without mirrors anyway), need to let iem burn in for a few days... hence won't describe what they sound like now as it might change.
They don't seem to need as much power as the Bowers & Wilkins did.. or at least, they get louder way sooner. DAC seems to use more power in balanced mode, will watch it and maybe swap to the other connection if it is too much of a difference. Swapped to 3.5mm unbalanced, charge seemed to drop too fast
My first iem, learning how to wear them is fun. My hair near my ears gets in the way and it might help to take my glasses off before putting them on. You wrap the cable around back of ears, secures iem, I just need to get used to it. My last ones weren't obvious to use either. Its nice to have a cable that doesn't auto tangle. I can't blame old ones, its how they were stored and that sort of cable isn't great.
The nozzle on the IEM is thicker than others and it was not easy to get the ear tips on. Luckily it came with a selection of 18 tips and I managed to get one type on but I think there is meant to be a sound difference between them. Advice is to try various types, easy if you have others... probably need to buy some different ones. I know the names of a few brands I need to try.
Shame advice is to get them off Ali Express and well, I just look at their selection of fake USB drives and wonder if I should trust the site.
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Be more careful than you would be with its Western counterpart, eBay. I wouldn't buy anything expensive there unless I was very sure of the seller.
Btw it's the SELLER you need to be wary of, not the site—as far as I know the site functions well, but doesn't seem to screen sellers.
Colif
On a Journey
Same applies to Amazon as well.
I think the things I am buying only cost a few dollars. Still risk of not getting right things. I can get some of them locally if I just wait for shops to restock after Xmas.
DUNU VULKAN - Reviews
www.head-fi.org
ask me in two weeks. It doesn't sound terrible now. Very wide.
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Colif
On a Journey
USB Audio Player Pro is software on Android that lets you use USB DAC on the phone. When I looked at it a few weeks ago I am sure it had the option to logon to Qobuz and stream audio to your DAC and play Hi Res audio... but its not there now. I looked through settings a few times and thought I was mistaken.
Google search seemed to indicate Qobuz is integrated into the program, their own website says it is - https://help.qobuz.com/en/articles/10206-how-do-i-experience-hi-res-on-android
I even watched a video that showed menu how I remember it... but its not there now.
Doesn't matter, USB Audio Player Pro has an option that allows it to give access to any program that wants to use a USB attached DAC so I just load it to enable DAC & then run Qobuz app and get PCM audio at 32bit/48k which is a format I don't know? Not sure if I need to change anything in options? I get what PCM is but not why its not 24bit... nvm, could have been the source. Pink Floyd now playing at 32bit/192k - can't get much better really. I mean, there are 512k files but need to be sane here. seems they all 32bit.
Four days using service, already used 30gb of wifi...
Google search seemed to indicate Qobuz is integrated into the program, their own website says it is - https://help.qobuz.com/en/articles/10206-how-do-i-experience-hi-res-on-android
I even watched a video that showed menu how I remember it... but its not there now.
Doesn't matter, USB Audio Player Pro has an option that allows it to give access to any program that wants to use a USB attached DAC so I just load it to enable DAC & then run Qobuz app and get PCM audio at 32bit/48k which is a format I don't know? Not sure if I need to change anything in options? I get what PCM is but not why its not 24bit... nvm, could have been the source. Pink Floyd now playing at 32bit/192k - can't get much better really. I mean, there are 512k files but need to be sane here. seems they all 32bit.
Four days using service, already used 30gb of wifi...
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Colif
On a Journey
It doesn't always work though. Its picky... it can decide not to share. just swapping back to it can stop the entire process.
So instead I just attached the dac to my PC and can use it as an output device
much simpler. Had to look into what Wasapi was. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/coreaudio/wasapi
I thought the music was reason Imgur was slow to load, so I stopped it and then also ran speedtest to check it wasn't me. Nope. How come everytime I want to use imgur its down.
So instead I just attached the dac to my PC and can use it as an output device
much simpler. Had to look into what Wasapi was. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/coreaudio/wasapi
I thought the music was reason Imgur was slow to load, so I stopped it and then also ran speedtest to check it wasn't me. Nope. How come everytime I want to use imgur its down.
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Just snagged a new pair of [headphone brand/model], and the sound quality is blowing my mind! What's your go-to for epic tunes or podcasts? Let's swap headphone stories!
Colif
On a Journey
TIL that to be an audiophile all you need is a Dac/amp and a pair of IEM. Damn, I became one by accident.
Why didn't anyone warn me?
Good to see he isn't a complete Apple fan boy
It feels too easy. To me you need more expensive gear than what I have
An amp/dac and headphones set doesn't seem enough. Speakers and more expensive headphones are required.
If phone makers hadn't taken the earphone jack off, I would not need a dac/amp.
Should be a description for people who want good sound but aren't addicted to getting all the details. Between consumers and audiophile. Some of us just aren't happy with cheap stuff any more.
I have always wanted my music to sound better. Maybe I been one all along. Cost was barrier
Why didn't anyone warn me?
Good to see he isn't a complete Apple fan boy
An amp/dac and headphones set doesn't seem enough. Speakers and more expensive headphones are required.
If phone makers hadn't taken the earphone jack off, I would not need a dac/amp.
Should be a description for people who want good sound but aren't addicted to getting all the details. Between consumers and audiophile. Some of us just aren't happy with cheap stuff any more.
I have always wanted my music to sound better. Maybe I been one all along. Cost was barrier
Colif
On a Journey
I was looking through the menus in Qobuz and saw the import feature but it could have been better explained. It says "enjoy offline Listening" and lets you import any of your favorites. I thought, cool... I download an entire album and play offline.
It also lets you change the folder and since it was pointed at C, I changed it to my 4tb ssd thinking it has plenty of space. And made folder bigger.
Well, Imports purpose is meant to be for people with slow internet and lets them download the entire file before trying to listen. I also started getting an error at startup of app saying it couldn't access the folder I made... so I thought, okay... I reset it to defaults. Nice if that was an option... I remade the folder it shows in path but that doesn't work either. Only answer was to uninstall app, restart PC and reinstall app again. I see if that works on next start. Just ignore it otherwise as I won't be using Import, i deleted the albums I had imported.
Still not happy with renting music but then $20 is about what I spent in a few days on music in the past. I used to virtually live at a record store, always after something new. So Its somewhat easier to find on qobuz but you don't get anything physical for your money. You can buy music off them but its on top of the $20 per month.
I see now why most of the CD's I have bought in recent years are collectors editions, as really for most part that is all there was. Probably keep buying them as its nice to have them... servers don't last forever. Digital everything only works if we have power.
Meanwhile, be nice if there was a list of what the icons on my dac meant. I had a new one tonight and I couldn't find a list of them anywhere... I think its USB mode since I am attached to a PC now. Rest of the icons make sense:
Speaker: Number = Volume
circle inside another circle = Balanced Output
Chart with an arrow pointing upwards = High Gain (only know this from watching a video before I bought DAC)
New one just says 2.0 which has to be USB as device supports UAC 1 & 2
www.symmetryelectronics.com
I have seen DSD mentioned but so far not seen any files in that format.
It doesn't help to have dac attached to phone by BT when its in USB Dac mode in Windows as it doesn't know which device to listen to and just stops.
I just noticed a pair of IEM I thought were sold out a few weeks ago, weren't. The shop confused me (that isn't hard to do) and so I see I could have bought them a while ago. I might still get them in a few weeks, as they are Planar Magnetic, try something else. MP145 - not buying anything for remainder of this month. Recovery stage.
It also lets you change the folder and since it was pointed at C, I changed it to my 4tb ssd thinking it has plenty of space. And made folder bigger.
Well, Imports purpose is meant to be for people with slow internet and lets them download the entire file before trying to listen. I also started getting an error at startup of app saying it couldn't access the folder I made... so I thought, okay... I reset it to defaults. Nice if that was an option... I remade the folder it shows in path but that doesn't work either. Only answer was to uninstall app, restart PC and reinstall app again. I see if that works on next start. Just ignore it otherwise as I won't be using Import, i deleted the albums I had imported.
Still not happy with renting music but then $20 is about what I spent in a few days on music in the past. I used to virtually live at a record store, always after something new. So Its somewhat easier to find on qobuz but you don't get anything physical for your money. You can buy music off them but its on top of the $20 per month.
I see now why most of the CD's I have bought in recent years are collectors editions, as really for most part that is all there was. Probably keep buying them as its nice to have them... servers don't last forever. Digital everything only works if we have power.
Meanwhile, be nice if there was a list of what the icons on my dac meant. I had a new one tonight and I couldn't find a list of them anywhere... I think its USB mode since I am attached to a PC now. Rest of the icons make sense:
Speaker: Number = Volume
circle inside another circle = Balanced Output
Chart with an arrow pointing upwards = High Gain (only know this from watching a video before I bought DAC)
New one just says 2.0 which has to be USB as device supports UAC 1 & 2
Cmedia Audio-Visual Tech Q&A | Symmetry Blog
Symmetry Electronics offers a Q&A with our Applications Engineer to address frequently asked questions regarding the use of audio-visual technologies from Cmedia.
I have seen DSD mentioned but so far not seen any files in that format.
It doesn't help to have dac attached to phone by BT when its in USB Dac mode in Windows as it doesn't know which device to listen to and just stops.
I just noticed a pair of IEM I thought were sold out a few weeks ago, weren't. The shop confused me (that isn't hard to do) and so I see I could have bought them a while ago. I might still get them in a few weeks, as they are Planar Magnetic, try something else. MP145 - not buying anything for remainder of this month. Recovery stage.
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Can you play physical media without power?—assumption is battery would work for either format.
If you mean company could suddenly close them down, that's true.
If you mean digital files can corrupt, it's very unlikely with cloud. There will be multiples of every file held in CDNs around the country, continent or world, assuming company is fairly big.
For local digital, it's a good habit to annually copy all personal stuff from one location to another—the writing makes the file 'fresh' again.
For physical, beware of 'Disc rot'.
Colif
On a Journey
https://www.fastcompany.com/1669017/the-worlds-most-minimal-record-player-hand-powered-made-of-paper
I won't include solar as its same as batteries...
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Colif
On a Journey
Signed up to tidal, get 2 months free.
Took a week to get all my music on Qobuz, managed same thing in a few hours on tidal.
Artist discovery or suggesting is lacking on Qobuz whereas first page on tidal asks you to name 3 bands... and more you select more it suggests. I had about 20 bands before i got to library page. Filled in gaps by loading Qobuz on phone and looked at my music on PC. Within a day I was listening to most of the music I had before, and some extras.
Tidal has more music choices too, found bands I didn't expect to find anything from. Some still missing. I have one album none of them have... but it wasn't released by the band itself - reliving things
More hi res files. Almost all are in fact.
Have to remember to cancel Qobuz before my start date.
Tidal android app talks direct to USB Dac so no need to mess with other program. Spent last few days just listening to dac attached to phone. No real want to use PC. The PC app also takes control of dac but before I even start the program, so listening to music on PC locks me into one action with sound... I can pause and listen to videos.
DAP will answer that but not looking to buy one of those for a few months now. Get that before any new headphones.
Took a week to get all my music on Qobuz, managed same thing in a few hours on tidal.
Artist discovery or suggesting is lacking on Qobuz whereas first page on tidal asks you to name 3 bands... and more you select more it suggests. I had about 20 bands before i got to library page. Filled in gaps by loading Qobuz on phone and looked at my music on PC. Within a day I was listening to most of the music I had before, and some extras.
Tidal has more music choices too, found bands I didn't expect to find anything from. Some still missing. I have one album none of them have... but it wasn't released by the band itself - reliving things
More hi res files. Almost all are in fact.
Have to remember to cancel Qobuz before my start date.
Tidal android app talks direct to USB Dac so no need to mess with other program. Spent last few days just listening to dac attached to phone. No real want to use PC. The PC app also takes control of dac but before I even start the program, so listening to music on PC locks me into one action with sound... I can pause and listen to videos.
DAP will answer that but not looking to buy one of those for a few months now. Get that before any new headphones.
Colif
On a Journey
So the Bathys have Dac mode and I thought, instead of using new iem on phone, I would try it instead.
Connect cable to headphones, and to the phone and it asks to give permission to Tidal to use Bathys, I accept and get 2 results.
1. Tidal loads but if I try to play a song I get nothing.
2. Tidal freezes
After trying a few times I looked on Google to see its possibly caused by using a Samsung phone. Others have had the same problem.
So only way to hear hi res from Tidal on Bathys I have to plug them into pc. The Btr7 can get it off phone and pc.
Dap is looking better every day. Can link all my audio to one device and get better sound. Bathys can use its better codecs if nothing else. I can't connect it directly.
Have a few months to choose between M11s Plus Ltd or M11s Plus ess. Main difference is sound,same price
Connect cable to headphones, and to the phone and it asks to give permission to Tidal to use Bathys, I accept and get 2 results.
1. Tidal loads but if I try to play a song I get nothing.
2. Tidal freezes
After trying a few times I looked on Google to see its possibly caused by using a Samsung phone. Others have had the same problem.
So only way to hear hi res from Tidal on Bathys I have to plug them into pc. The Btr7 can get it off phone and pc.
Dap is looking better every day. Can link all my audio to one device and get better sound. Bathys can use its better codecs if nothing else. I can't connect it directly.
Have a few months to choose between M11s Plus Ltd or M11s Plus ess. Main difference is sound,same price
One has an ESS Sabre DAC and the other one has an AKM? People say things like the ESS sound leans bright and there's an ESS hump ( artificial frequency bump, which is fixed in most higher end offerings ) while the AKM is more warm and musical but in reality 95 people out of 100 couldn't tell the difference doing an A to B blind test. The AKM is more rare and I'm not even sure they're back up and running after a huge fire at their fab a few years ago.
My SMSL SU9 is an ESS.
www.audiosciencereview.com
My SMSL SU9 is an ESS.
SMSL SU-9 Balanced DAC Review
This is a review and detailed measurements of the brand new SMSL SU-9 Balanced USB DAC. It was kindly sent to me by one of their distributors, Shenzhenaudio. The SU-9 will be released September 30th and will cost US $439.99. The SU-9 has a simpler but in my opinion more elegant look than...
www.audiosciencereview.com
Colif
On a Journey
Bright is treble right? Warm is more bass. Current iem have enough bass now. Some i only feel. Bathys can only be attached via Bluetooth but will have more codecs to choose from.
Define musical?
LTD =limited number. 5000 units worldwide due to the fire. Had to swap makers.
Ess has slightly longer battery life and can supply more power as well. I have watched almost all of the videos and read reviews.
Other software changes but they could be in current software on LTD by now. Reviews never check on updates. Quick search shows that they both on same version now
Define musical?
LTD =limited number. 5000 units worldwide due to the fire. Had to swap makers.
Ess has slightly longer battery life and can supply more power as well. I have watched almost all of the videos and read reviews.
Other software changes but they could be in current software on LTD by now. Reviews never check on updates. Quick search shows that they both on same version now
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Yes. The treble being sharp or piercing in some cases. Bright leaning can be good. My HiFiMan Arya is a 'bright' leaning headphone and it's probably my favorite ever.
Warm is more a lack of sharpness and leaning towards more bass yes. My Focal Clear is considered to be a 'warm' leaning headphone. That doesn't make them have more or better bass than the Arya. It's just the tuning.
If you want to experience warm vs bright the best comparison I can think of is the Sennheiser HD650 vs the Beyerdynamic DT1990 Pro. Both very good headphones and even endgame for some people in the hobby. The HD650 sounds like someone poured syrup on the music while the 1990 pro can make your eardrums bleed on some tracks.
Heh ping me when you can figure that one out. It's a subjective term.
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