Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by March05

[WTB] Synology DS112 NAS

March05 — Fri, 04 Dec 2015 17:25:06 +0800

I'm looking for a Synology DS112. Used or new doesn't matter, as long as it's in working condition.

Reply here or PM me if you have a unit to sell.

Star Gazing Event at Putrajaya

March05 — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:07:42 +0800

Calling Telescope Owners and Astronomy enthusiasts!

Try to make it for this event:
http://www.largeststarparty.com/

Registration is free (check out the link above). Participants will get a Certificate of Attendance, a free T-Shirt and some refreshments will be served.
Hoping to set a new Malaysian Record for a local meeting of telescope owners.

Open to the public, so anyone who has questions about getting a telescope and astronomy can probably come and get some free advice......

Venue is the open ground behind the Palace of Justice (Istana Kehakiman) Putrajaya. 8-10pm.

Any Recommended Printer in Subang Jaya?

March05 — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 17:04:17 +0800

I'm looking for a reliable bunting/banner printer in Subang Jaya area, please advise. I need to quickly run a small quantity of promotional display materials for a public event soon. Original artwork in pdf format already provided by my principals.

Philips SHE9850 IEM

March05 — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:14:57 +0800

Some time ago, I promised DAViS a brutally honest review of this IEM, and I guess it's time to put up or shut up for good.

Very brief background. This product is Knoninklijke Philips Electronics N.V's attempt to create their top of the line IEM (In Ear Monitor). It was launched sometime early this year, but it only seems to have reached the consumer market in June. For its intended price range, international consumer reviews have generally given it a thumbs up, but it's been quite ignored by head-fi fans, and I wonder why. Perhaps because Philips, being a consumer manufacturer, has no snob audiophile value to their name?

OUT OF THE BOX.
The Philips SHE9850 is really a beautifully built IEM. Everything about it, from the tip of the gold plated mini jack to the black rubber nozzles which go into your ear are extremely well finished. This is a consumer product par excellence to the beholder's eye.

Provided in the package is the IEM and cable itself, 3 pairs of black rubber ear nozzles (called caps by Philips), 1 pair off-white Comply foam ear nozzle (this is called a sleeve instead, I wonder why), a cable clip, an ear wax cleaner, and a nicely crafted deep bronze-brown metal (steel? it feels very strong) sliding travel case. And the multilanguage instruction manual/book comes in a silver carded presentation envelope. None of that cheap photostated prints like in some self proclaimed `audiophile' products. OMG, sometimes I just love the pampering you get from consumer giants. All these from a product that costs only some RM300 plus?

The transducers (or drivers, speakers, pick your preference of terms) are hidden inside a clear glass-like acrylic outer cylindrical container and the cables attached via a black hard rubber cable protector in an almost right angled bend. The fine exterior contour line just continuously melts into the tapered rubber ends at which the cables emerge. Truly, no crude mix and match stuff here. Peer inside the hard transparent outer skin, and you'll see another nicely chromed cylindrical container with coils...except this are not true coils, but perfectly machined/molded to look like them. The attention to details, whew!

You get the words PHILIPS printed on both of the rubber cable protectors, and also the letters L & R to indicate which ear each transducer is supposed to go into. And I must say, a simple but brilliant move to make it easy to id which is left, and which is right....the left rubber is embossed with three tiny raised knobs so you can just feel whether you've got it right, even without looking at them, or removing them from your ears.

The actual acoustic pipes (on which you fit the nozzles) are `uniquely' angled to obtain a good seal for each ear. I've commonly seen these on other IEMs, so they're not quite `unique' as Philips puts it. But whatever, they work like a charm, and therefore; no complaints about it.

Now I'll take a break before I continue to the audio qualities of the IEM itself.

[addedon]October 3, 2008, 1:23 pm[/addedon]First things first, a qualifier. I don't profess to be an audiophile, simply because I can't afford to be one. I do enjoy listening to various types of music (depending on mood, about the only thing I will probably not listen to is Chinese Opera), and I have, over the years, developed a nonchalant interest in audio equipment unless they're really, really atrocious. Of course if the hardware is good, I will, just like Mr. Joe Average, stop to listen and enjoy it while I can. I happily want to believe that if the quality of the musicians' performance is good, it will shine through somehow (well, at least parts of it should) in spite of bad recordings or playback equipment. I am someone who grew up on cheap AM radios, and in comparison, today's run-of-the-mill mp3 player would have been audiophile stuff then.

This is not my first SHE9850. The first unit I got was suspiciously and audibly out of norm even after burning in for over a 100 hours...which is not to say it sounded bad (in fact, it was actually great fun on some music), but I had the nagging feeling something was out of whack in its presentation. I conveyed this vague feeling to DAViS, and he arranged for a replacement without any hassle. The new SHE9850 checked out just fine, and I have used it for more than 50 hours now to get a fresh and fair impression of its capabilities.

In as far as this review is concerned, I will not compare it to other transducers that I have, nor those I have auditioned previously. Any audio equipment must stand on its own feet in a neutral, unbiased review, so to say. In fact, I have gone out of my way to avoid listening to any other transducers for nearly a week in order to do this review.

Let's begin with wearing comfort. In my opinion, all head gear must get this right. Even the best sounding hardware is quite worthless if you feel like adjusting and tearing it off your head all the time. So it is my pleasure to declare that these IEMs turned out quite comfortable. You have a choice of three nozzle sizes, one of which should fit unless you are an alien. When you insert the nozzles in, you will feel a slight persistent pressure in your ears, which gives you confidence that the buggers are not going to fall out at the slightest twitch of your head. The sound isolation is not total, of course, as you can still hear ppl talking around you, but the muting is quite sufficient for you to feel you are in your own world. I will not say anything about using the Comply foam sleeves...as these will not last past a couple of months and most likely are put in to help advertise Comply foamies.

As with all IEMs, you will suddenly encounter some sounds you are not normally aware of. The pounding of your heart, your jaw movements, the rustling of the cable brushing against your shirt, your pounding footsteps, etc, all become very apparent. So to use this, you will need to sit or lie down and cease all unnecessary activities. Time to practise some Zen.

The SHE9850 gives a light, fun-kind of sound, when you first start put them on. It's almost bass unemphasised, and may sound slightly bright to the uninitiated. One thing is certain, clarity is its best feature, irrespective of your source in terms of hardware, and software. I have tried plugging this into el-cheapo mp3 players, handphones, a portable digital recorder, my notebook, my low cost portable headamps, and my Hi-Fi with digital and analog sources in various combinations. It obviously presented differently according to the source, but it never ever sounded veiled.

It is also seemingly not too bothered by the quantity of the amplification. Here, I found that, as predicted by DAViS, it is very forgiving of low output hardware. I never felt to require the need for the aid of an extra headamp with even the cheapest mp3 player I tested. It is infernally easy to drive, and seems to like to highlight the positive qualities of whatever you feed it. If the rubbish is there, well, you hear it as well, but the strong point being, the bad doesn't bash away the good stuff.

The overall sound is almost always light and bright initially, and then as your ears and brain adjusts itself to the intruder, you'll start to realise all the bass info is there as well. The bass is somewhat put on the backline, incognito but still present in force when the occasion arises. This is good, as it never will kill the all important mid range. A slight boost in the lower end with the eq controls (if it is available) will easily give you the bass you might think you want without affecting the higher tones.

Now I know, when I use the term clarity, some of you will start to think `detailed'. No, I use this term in the sense that you don't feel anything is missing from the sound...as in filtered, or muted. Now, I don't believe in concentrating to capture all the details present when I listen to music. I just want to enjoy the whole packaged presentation as relaxed as possible. Well, the SHE9850 sounds just clear enough so that you can just sit back and enjoy the music. It's not so crispy clear or brittle clear that your ears hurt from hearing too much. If you want to, it is quite easy, on this IEM, to follow each and every instrument and its placement in the soundstage if it is properly recorded by the engineers and if your playback stuff doesn't muff it. But I really prefer to enjoy music than to critically analyse it to death, so I try to listen to the big picture above everything else. To put it another way, I don't particularly feel the need to pin point the picolo in the centre left, next to the bassoon seated on the right, when I'm listening to a 50 piece orchestra playing their hearts out.

Okay, I mention soundstage, so I'll elaborate on it here. The soundstage is not as wide as I would love, but it does extend a good way beyond the ears, and isn't as 3D as I'd hope. Sure, you can sense the depth in the recording if it is present, but this is certainly not its strong point. Imaging is not very pin point and most of it is flat, simply stretched between your ears. However, to qualify, I find it is a little silly to want to have precise imaging on headgear, with less than 12 inches (I assume average 8" for most ppl) from ear drum to ear drum. By way of comparison, stereo speakers are usually placed about 5 feet apart in front of you, so it is much easier to `virtualize' the placement of sound sources on them. Having said all that, I don't have any problem (with the SHE9850), hearing and following any objects moving continuously from left to right, and vice versa. Definitely no wavering holes or blank spots in the soundstage.

Treble. I like this one. The SHE9850 has a delightful zing to the treble....listen to triangles, bells, harps...they sound like angels pinging (I really don't know how to describe it). Steel stringed guitars can really do the metallic twang.... It comes out clean and tidy. Good points here for the SHE9850. Yes, there's plenty of treble, without going cutting edge painful.

Bass. As I insinuated earlier, bass is not going to be a strong point of the SHE9850 for bass freaks. It doesn't go loud or deep (I don't think any IEM can go very deep anyway). However, I can say the info is there if you listen carefully. Some ppl have described this IEM as possessing a murky bass. I think it is simply a case of de-weighing of the bass notes. Listen to the tuba or bass trombones,...all played magnificently tight and clear...but just not sent right up to the forefront, as preferred by some. Listen to kick drums, you can really hear the low whoosh of the drum membranes getting hit. There's no arguing that the quality of bass reproduction is above average as I can follow the notes all the way up into the mids without hesitation.

Mid range. Since this is where the human hearing is centered, and most sensitive to, it is critical to get this right. Happily, the SHE9850 doesn't falter in this sector. Clarity is the order of the day. Solo voices and chorals are quite vividly reproduced. Body is not top class (as I will explain later), but nothing to cry over unless you are super fussy about detail, i.e. your favourite male singer may not sound as large lunged as you are used to hearing him. Breath tones are pleasantly rendered without unnecessary sibilance, and it is again easy to separate individually miked performers. However, I must say I do detect a smidgen of compression here - a feeling that the mid range is slightly narrow banded, not in dynamics (which is quite excellent, thank you, since I had no problems following Plácido Domingo blasting `Hossana' up and down without clipping), but in the range of frequencies available. It is as if there is a reduction of space given to the mid range. The effect is that if you listen to some instruments with a wide range of tones, for example, pianos, you will notice that the harmonics seems to have more bass and treble overtones, compared to the mids, and that causes a general sense of loss in the richness of harmonics. This has been also noticed by some other reviewers, so I'm not dreaming. Again, as I mentioned before, I'm not given to analysing too much, so I'll just skip it from here. Most ppl will not notice the compression anyway on 99% of what they play. I must also point out that I encountered a very slight bit of roughness (you can also look at it as a lack of smoothness) in the upper mids. It is not intrusive at all, and easily overlooked. On the bright side, this could actually add a nice bite to heavy metal music, where aggressive amp distortion is adored on those electric guitars.

So at the end of the day, what do we have? I will put my foot down and say this is extremely good for a mere RM300 plus. It will probably compete with anything up to even double or triple this price, remembering that a lot so called of high end stuff are not very tolerant of low end sources, whereas the Philips is quite at home everywhere.

I will not pretend that it is audiophile level. I'm more inclined to assert audiophilia is for the rich and famous, not for the likes of you and me.

If there's one short coming I would lay on the SHE9850 right now, it's that it lacks realism. It sounds very entertaining always, there're plenty of things it plays exceedingly well, the pace is wonderfully spot on, but nothing really comes out sounding natural. A bit like watching a modern day CGI movie as opposed to looking around you with your eyes. Ear glossed. I personally like it for the pure enjoyment value, but if you are looking for strict neutrality, you may not find it in the SHE9850.

I have not fully burned in this pair of IEM, and there's obviously room for it to improve in sq. And there're plenty more music varieties I have had not had the time to try them on. So this is a first impression, and there ought to be time in the future for reassessment.

In the meantime, I would love to hear reviews/comments from other SHE9850 owners, I understand there're quite a number here in LYN by now.

PFR-V1 Personal Field Speaker Headphones

March05 — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 20:46:02 +0800

I have been hunting for a new pair of headphones since don't know when, to replace my ancient, nearly 30 year old yammy. This new kinky pair from Sony just caught my eye.....comfort is always number one factor on my list and hey presto, the reviewer seems very impressed!

http://www.trustedreviews.com/mp3/review/2...r-Headphones/p1

Any comments from you headfiers?

Speakers - Biwire & Biamp

March05 — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 10:13:59 +0800

Hey guys, I've got this pair of B&W's which I'm running biwired at the moment. I was wondering if it can be biamped or would I need to do some mods?

Your suggestions very highly appreciated.

WTC: tkwfriend

March05 — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 12:34:32 +0800

This is a complaint about tkwfriend and his bulk under `Memory, Drives and Media" The actual thread has already been deleted. But other related threads by tkwfriend still exist.

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

This is gist of my complaint.
I purchased this ADDVA Card as a COD under tkwfriend's terms and conditions: 1 to 1 exchange. Lifetime Warranty. No doubts.
But his 1 to 1 exchange took more than 2 and a half months and it was replaced with another faulty item. Acceptable or not?
He also promised to refund, but did not, even after breaking his own deadline.
However, what gets me hot under my collar is that he thinks this matter is just a small one!

Dk Nicol David, DB - World No. 1!

March05 — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 01:45:39 +0800

Nicol David has won the Cathay Pacific Credit Suisse Privilege World Open Squash Championships!
She beat the World No 2, Rachael Grinham, in the Finals, after knocking off current World No 1, Vanessa Atkinson, in the semi finals.
This means that she will be the New World No 1 in January 2006! Syabas!

The `Must Visit' site for Nicol's Fans : http://www.nicoldavidonline.com/ [COLOR=red][SIZE=7]