Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by VagueConcerns

Extend laptop display to multiple monitors

VagueConcerns — Thu, 14 Apr 2022 10:50:35 +0800

Hi, so I have a 2 part question:

Part 1:
I would like for a laptop (which only has an HDMI output as far as I'm informed) to be able to display to 6 monitors. Not duplicate a single signal, but to extend the display so that each monitor displays different things. It's for a Human-Machine Interface and video monitoring.

I'm not sure of the best and most reliable way of doing this. I know there are external graphic extenders that uses USB, the laptop might not have only 2 USB ports and 6 monitors would use up both. Then there's a question of reliability. We need the system to be running solid 24/7 for at least a month.

A small desktop with a pair of GT710 is the easiest and most reliable way I believe, but I wouldn't know how to make the laptop connect to the desktop in such a way that it treats it as a graphics extender. Transferring the HMI to the desktop may not be possible for the time being. It's proprietary to our supplier and it's likely locked to the machine.

Part 2:
Now one of our engineers want to be able to scroll through what these monitors are displaying from a tablet. What sort of hardware and software available to make this possible, if any? This is not a crucial requirement, but the machine we're monitoring requires very close monitoring and this would make it much easier in case major personnel need to step away for a bit.

Philips Fidelio X1S

VagueConcerns — Tue, 21 Sep 2021 06:57:59 +0800

Beautiful, isn't she?

I've had a bit of a writer's block for this freelance job I've been doing, so I plugged this into my phone (Vivo V5S) to listen to some music and then realized while I was searching for a new headphone and came across these there is practically no extensive article for them. I'm bored, so here we are.

Why I bought it
I don't own a lot of headphones and I've quit head-fi a long time ago to focus my resources on speaker building. My recent head-fi gear are focused on functionality rather than sound quality. A Fiio F3 for portable use, casual music, and communication; then a Razer Kraken X for gaming and movies. The only "artefact" I have of my head-fi days is the Grado SR60i. No portable DAC, no headphone amp, for my head-fi it's just whatever thing that has a 3.5mm port and volume control.

The baby Grado has served me well for 10 years. It has survived multiple cable replacements and underwent the bass mod "surgery" within the first year of ownership. It was my first proper music headphone. For RM300 it was amazing...was. My range of genre grew over the years and the SR60i with its lack of stage width, aggressive treble, and minimal bass presentation began to show its limitations when faced with music genres other than rock. I'm streaming movies quite a lot recently as well. While you do miss out a lot with movies using ANY headphone, no part of the classic Grado sound offers any consolation.

Feeling nostalgic, and to be honest a little bored during the MCO, I decided to look into some budget "Chi-fi" IEM brands. TRN, KZ, QKZ. Economy is so ingrained into their nature that they're not even naming their brands with more than 3 letters. To my surprise there's a 6-driver BA/Dynamic hybrid for about RM160 on AliExpress, called the ZSX. It had removable cables, diecast zinc-alloy faceplates, aluminium nozzle, and a compound crossover. An electrical low-pass for the single 10mm dynamic, and acoustical/mechanical filtering for the BA mids and highs. It works. Incredible resolution with more than enough bass to make it really fun. Then I looked at my Grado and decided it too would need to be replaced.

But, I had a greater ambition for the headphone. I set aside about RM800 for my new "crown" but I didn't discriminate. I looked up the most recommended budget ranges too. It's a dense battlefield in the RM200-800 range, but long story short I decided on a Philips Fidelio X2HR.

Wait...what?
One of the best decisions I've ever made. The X1S was a bit of a gamble, but it paid off handsomely. My top 2 choices were the X2HR and Marshall Major III, and the X1S came out the winner.

...What?
Let me explain. For head-fi I wasn't looking for anything serious. Priority #1 they need to look good. Not that sound and comfort aren't important, but they are only criteria for which I would then use to shorten the list further. Bass is a major priority when I move on to select the sound, and the X2HR and Marhall - but especially the Marshall - have generous amounts for what they are (small-ish on-ear Marshall, open-back Philips). In the end the little KZ reminded me that "I'm great with the Grado, and I liked the ZSX resolution, so the Philips would be fun". So I waited for the upcoming sale the next month to buy the X2HR. While I waited I looked at the X1S again. Before, I came across a local reviewer on Youtube who made a first-impression video of the X1S. While it was under consideration it didn't take long for me to say "might as well go for its replacement (X2HR) since I have the budget for it anyway".

However, the thought came to mind days after that the X1S and the X2HR are not "night and day" headphones. If only for the fact that it also has removable earpads I wouldn't have given the X1S a second look.

How does it stack up?
Supposedly the X1 have comparable if not slightly louder and deeper bass than the X2HR. Due to a complete lack of independent frequency measurement of the X1S I just have to believe what I'm hearing and say it seems to agree with the frequency measurements of the X1. The X1S has a satisfying rumble, and is practical down to the high 20's (25-30Hz). Does the midbass leak into the mids? If the music or movie is mixed that way then yes. The X2HR supposedly has a slightly more controlled bass at higher volumes but the volume that that occurs in music for either headphone would be unhealthy and uncomfortable. With a 30 Hz tone the X1S sounds clean at the max volumes I dare listen to everyday. It doesn't take much more turn on the volume knob for things other than the tone to start being audible, but the distortion is not offensive. The drivers just chuff like an undersized bass port. With bass tones, the list of headphones that are clean at unbearably loud levels is very short. It's a great technical marvel, but with music and movies it's an advantage that is hardly ever put to use. Boz Scaggs - Thanks To You, Chris Jones - No Sanctuary Here, Rage Against the Machines - Take the Power Back, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones - Flight of the Cosmic Hippo; these are my go to for bass tests and the X1S can play them all at enjoyable SPL levels cleanly. I talk about the bass a lot because it's a thing I like and an impressive feat for an open back headphone. I remember being just as impressed with a Grado PS500 but I can't objectively compare the bass loudness of something from several years ago.

For movies the X1S presents the vocals pretty much perfectly. It sounds like they applied an EQ that cuts and boosts all the right places. Philips supposedly tuned it by hand and you can see their effort. In the picture where the earpad is removed notice that there are only 6 openings that don't make up a full circle. Usually the idea would be to expose as much of the driver as possible to the ear, but here they chose to cover it up partially. Another example is with the open-back grille. Like Grado and many other open backs you can see the driver units rather easily through the grille, but not so with the X1S. There seems to be a sort of fabric covering up from the inside. Interestingly, this makes the sound leaking from the back quite pleasant to hear up close.

But, more impressive is the soundstage. It's probably because I've had the Grado for so long but the width of the X1S is legit. I knew the hype surrounding it and it lives up to that reputation. The Kraken X provided some relief to the narrowness of the Grado and the KZ ZSX, but the X1S is showing them how it's done. It doesn't happen all the time, that's not how it works. If the material was mixed to sound large it will sound large, and as you might suspect movies and concert hall recordings sound properly large. No inappropriate reflections and echoes to mess up spatial cues, and the slightly recessed mids, good treble, and angled drivers take care of the rest. It's not HD800 wide I think, but it makes me go "oooh" at times.

How does it resolve detail? Oh same old, same old. The "hidden" synths in Linkin Park songs can be heard quite effortlessly for example. Oh, and bass distortion in Muscle Museum can be hard to hear with anything less, and as with the Grado the X1S reveals it easily. I don't think I need to go any further. Treble is tuned to what I can describe as right on the edge. It's more comfortable than the Grado but it can be piercing. If you find cymbals to be irritating in real life then this won't be for you.

Looks was the primary reason why the X2HR, Major III, and X1S made the shortlist (the X1S sort of crashed into the party but it counts). The X1S is GORGEOUS. The brown calf skin leather is a nice departure from the more conventional black which adorns the X2HR. A lot of people prefer the X1's silver/brown colour scheme. Subjectively I think both look just as beautiful as I was more in love with the form and shape.
Oh, and speaking of which the headphone is BIG, and heavy. The Razer Kraken X cups has an economy class fit. My ears fill them up snuggly. The X1S is business class. My ears barely touch anything in there. The clamping force is just right for an average head, the hammock provides the right tension to support the weight and is adequately padded (but with a crackly airy type of foam which I don't mind but could be better). And the velour pads have slow rebound foam that are supple enough to accommodate my glasses comfortably. If I have to give a score for the comfort and fit this gets an 8/10.

The build quality alone qualifies this as a worthy upgrade. The earcups are neatly assembled on my unit and the steel grill looks just as good as they do in the pictures. The shell are made of plastic, while the mounting rings are cast zinc alloy I believe. Same material you may find on many safety razor handles. It's cheap to manufacture, cheap to fabricate, but fairly strong. You can tell where the metal has been ground, and there are some rusting on the lettering. I don't mind that little bit of rust. I half expected a bit of imperfections from these new old stock. Other buyers from different sellers reported receiving dusty units, but other than those specks of rust the unit I got was almost pristine.
The leather headband has exposed ends but they are cut cleanly. It would have looked more premium if stitched on but it's a fair compromise to reduce cost and sort of makes it look more sleek and modern. The headband design they went for wouldn't allow real stitching anyway. The leather is actually cladding a plastic band that binds the twin steel hoops together.

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

I scratched it a bit there with a paper clip to confirm it was plastic. The cups don't swivel but the headband has enough compliance to allow them to rotate so the pads can do their job of sealing. There is no play on the cups' hinges, and none as well for the earpads. So kudos to Philips for the tight tolerance. It seems that their tooling is carefully designed. On the mounting rings there are plastic inserts on the top and bottom which acts as stops. Those prevent the mounting rings from scratching the earcups as well as provide a softer engagement when the earcup hits the ring. That's a nice attention to detail. You can see it below marked in red.

The elastic hammock headband creaks when you stretch the headphone to put it on, but that is about the only creaky thing the headphone has. The port on the left earcup looks and feels sturdy enough but I wouldn't risk cable rolling with it. To be fair I don't do it with any removable cable headphones. I like the convenience but I am always wary of failures regardless of build quality. No matter how good it is it's still a weak point and can wear out.

This brings us on to its accessories, or lack thereof. The X1 came with a 3m woven cable with a beefy 6.3mm jack on one end (with Fidelio branding on it too), and a 1.6m cable for more portable use around the house. The X2HR has Fidelio branded cable organizer and an adaptor. None of that here for the X1S. All you get is a generic Philips branded woven 1.2m cable with straight plugs. I'd like a Fidelio branded cable, though it is a good strategy to minimize cost. Just use whatever you have in the parts bin that's the right colour. The stock cable is too stiff and microphonic so I have bought a replacement. It's nothing special. Again looks is priority. I decided on a braided brown/black cable from AliExpress, 2m long with one L-plug. I'm carrying over the KZ brown cable look to the X1S. Consistency!

What's next?
For headphones, this is probably it. Unless somehow I've become flooded with disposable income the X1S is - for now - my "end game". It has put me off upgrading to other headphones. I think this will serve me for at least as long as the Grado did. The Grado can now be stashed away. It has done well in 10 years but its usefulness has ended. I'm not saying Grados don't sound good, it's just that I have grown out of them. If you're wondering why I didn't just go for the X2HR when I could afford it, well 10 years ago I would have when I still have as strong of an interest in head-fi. But the X1S is all that I could have hoped for. The improvement the X2HR supposedly could give is too little to justify spending almost twice as much. Remember that despite its price now the X1 was a flagship costing $300 US. The only reasonable upgrade would be spending on headphones that usually require amps to run properly. But for that much money I would rather buy speaker components and build myself a nice pair for a truer-to-life sound reproduction. That's a proper upgrade.

OBSERVATION UPDATE: I've noticed something. The X1S has the prints on the silver mounting rings along the side that is directly facing you just like the X2. The X1 has the print along the top. Interesting. Also, the old X1 has a notably more round hoops compared to the X2's more egg-shaped contour. This is to accommodate taller heads (which was a complaint for the X1). I can't find promotional images from Philips of the actual X1S, they just used images of the X1. But my X1S clearly has more oval hoops. You can compare X1 and X2 pictures and read reviews about the change. Even the band around the X1S' earcups are different to the X1. On the X1 it looks like brushed steel/silver. On the X1S it's black, like the X2.
My speculation is that as ever they are doing this to cut cost. The X1 is discontinued but the drivers are still around (the X2 uses a completely new driver). So parts of the X2/X2HR is shared with the X1S to clear them out. Different powder coat for the rings, different leather, change "X2" on the printer to "X1", done. This is just speculation but this makes most sense.

[WTS] Adidas running shoes

VagueConcerns — Wed, 21 Aug 2019 08:05:53 +0800

Item(s): Adidas Element Refresh M (art no. BA7910). Size UK10/US10.5

Package includes: The shoes in their box

Price: RM120 (Original price RM199) incl. postage, no discount for COD

Warranty: None

Dealing method: COD or postage to anywhere within Malaysia

Location: Kota Kinabalu

Contact method/details: PM
---

Item(s) conditions: New, unused

Picture:

Reason for sale: It was given to the employees at my brother's office, however this one was too small for him. He never tried them on, but he knew it obviously wouldn't fit because he is a size 12.

[WTS] Fishman Loudbox Mini (Used)

VagueConcerns — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 06:27:27 +0800

Item(s):Fishman Loudbox Mini (Used)

Package includes:Amplifier and all its original accessories.

Price: RM1250

Warranty:None

Dealing method: COD only

Location: Kota Kinabalu

Contact method/details: PM
---

Item(s) conditions: Less than 1 year old, rarely used, one scrape at the rear-left of amp (see left picture).

Picture:

Reason for sale: Rarely used.

Any electricians?

VagueConcerns — Sat, 31 Mar 2018 00:07:42 +0800

Hi.

My dad bought a T8 LED tube, came packaged with the lampholder (by the store, not the manufacturer). It's a retrofit type but does have a driver for use to bypass ballasts, but since it came with the lampholder I guess why not replace the rotting old lampholder with a new one without a ballast. Saves electricity. The instruction was clear, and my understanding of it (which could be the problem here) is that it's quite straightforward. I mean, I followed the diagram and all. Wired it, Earth and everything, snap the bulb in, and had a momentary flash and then it goes dead. Plugged it in to another fluorescent fixture just to be sure, and it is dead.

It has got non-shunted tombstones, double ended. It's the same as old fluorescent installation, only without the ballast, and with only one wire running through the tombstones. What went wrong?

Any electricians?

VagueConcerns — Sat, 31 Mar 2018 00:06:37 +0800

Cant sleep

VagueConcerns — Tue, 06 Mar 2018 03:03:00 +0800

So I got a new mic and decided to try it out. Speakers in question are my DIY set. 5-inch full range. I am now in the late stages of designing a 2-way, with a 6-inch woofer and 3 inch full range, that I can hopefully sell. I will be publishing that after it has been completed (in a few months probably). In the meantime here are my crude attempts at measuring my current very humble setup. These speakers are hooked up to a 30W amp, and the amp goes to my laptop through the headphone jack. No fuss, not very scientific, not at all high-end, but revealing nonetheless, and resembles everyday use. My mic is a UMIK-1 from MiniDSP. Cheap, but very good and very easy to use. All measurements are taken at 65dB, which satisfies the minimum required for accuracy in recrding measurement sweeps according to REW (the software I use). Obviously this isn't a very good level to measure THD but it is 2 a.m and measuring at 90+dB regardless of how close the mic is can be quite loud.

First up, a close-up of one of them at around 30cm away from the phase plug. It actually resembles the manufacturer published frequency response quite closely. I included both 1/3rd smoothing and 1/12th smoothing. The former is what many use to market their speakers as it looks the smoothest, and more closely resemble the resolution of the human hearing. I like the look of 1/12th smoothing for analysis. My baffles have no round-overs whatsoever and quite narrow, so the dips and peaks at the bass may be due to edge diffraction.

Next up is at the listening position, speakers toed-in to the mic, equilateral triangle of about 2m. BTW I used a solid wood stool/extendable step ladder thing to prop up my mic to the listening height. I don't have a mic boom/stand. Has good weight, stable footing, probably not as good a substitute as a real mic stand as I had to get rid of the sofa to do the test so it it takes away some realism from the test condition. As you can see, my speakers are quite capable in the bass range, and some dips and peaks are to be expected as a result of room reflections, and baffle diffraction. One peculiar bit is that 30Hz spike. In simulations, response should have dropped starting from 40Hz, but as you can see the SPL shoots back up as a result of that spike. More on that in a bit.

Now that 30Hz spike. There is already a 30Hz bump in the closeup. However, I measured the room in silence, and that 30Hz spike is still present. It's whisper quiet at about 50dB so I suspect it must be one of the appliances in the house, or maybe even the mic itself. The fan and aircond wasn't on, so I turned off the amp, refrigerator, and took out the clock from the room. Did not fix it. I didn't want to turn off the Astro decoder, the only electronic left other than my laptop, so I decided to take measurements in the front room. Lo and behold, the spike was gone.

So what was it, and why did it elevate with the speaker's SPL? I don't know. Maybe it added up? The 30Hz spike could've been sourced from anywhere. Maybe it was my neighbours aircond? I did take it farther away when I took to the front room, and large one piece glass windows in the previous room weren't exactly great bass blockers. I need to investigate further.
And lastly for fun, here's a measurement of my phone's speaker, taken very close up.

Good night!

Insurance and repair inquiry

VagueConcerns — Mon, 04 Sep 2017 21:02:09 +0800

Hi!

Sorry if this has been asked recently and I've missed the post.
So friends of mine were hit at a junction. They were on the main road, and a lady at a junction probably had a lapse in concentration and accelerated ahead, and they both hit at the front corners of their cars. Not too bad, bumper fallen off, the car was still drivable, with only a minor alignment issue. The other car looked worse though. So the police report had been done, and they've already done the 3rd party insurance claim from the guilty.

The police have already informed of the appropriate workshop for repairs, and tomorrow they will send it in. So will my friends have to pay up first (my guess is they don't, I mean why should they?), and will there be some additional fees that workshops might charge them?

And a side question; how can you tell a Swift original component to a replica?

EDIT: Oh yeah forgot to add, this is not the driver's car. None of the occupants in the car owns it. It's borrowed. As far as I know the owner has yet been informed. So what would actually happen if the only claim done is from the other side's insurance company?

Repairing USB port on phone (Samsung)

VagueConcerns — Mon, 17 Oct 2016 23:02:22 +0800

I have a Samsung Galaxy Grand. I got it from my mum, and being 4 years old it's a pretty old phone by today's standard. The phone won't accept any charge and fiddling with the port doesn't help.

Anyway as a temporary fix until I find a new phone, I am wondering how much fixing the port would cost?

A place to find large selection of

VagueConcerns — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 14:25:50 +0800

Hello there folks.

I would like to know places where I can find a large selection of shock assemblies.
My uni will compete in a local Formula SAE competition this October. I am in the chassis department, and we're trying to find alternatives. We have a design from a 2008 car which never went past the design stage, but that car I believe was designed with a Suzuki Celerio suspension. My hunch is that not only the unit is oversized and overweight, it wasn't designed for high frequency low amplitude loading.

A long-ish stroke sportsbike damper with the proper springs is our best bet. I have thought about motocross dampers, but they may not be as suitable, but they would fare much better than a passenger car suspension, being lighter and more adjustable. Last resort probably. That's why we need to find a store that carries a lot of varieties. Preferably in Malaysia. Don't care where in Malaysia.

Thank you.

Want to confirm

VagueConcerns — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 18:09:20 +0800

Good day folks.

My friend just bought a Wira 1.6, automatic, second hand of course. The main problem it has is intermittent violent gear changes (from 2nd to 3rd), and it will not engage into overdrive, it'll just go into neutral and understandably the engine would get very noisy, and it will most of the time very violently engage back into 3rd gear and repeats over and over. It will not engage overdrive.

At first we suspected it was the lack of ATF fluid, because accoding to my friend the previous owner said he forgot to replace (or add, dunno, a little vague) one of the oils.

I checked just now that it's actually not the lack of it, but most probably too much of it. It's been 5 hours since the car has started, and I checked the ATF and it's past the Hot level, when it should be near the Cold level (right?).

I thought this could be a problem with older automatic transmission such as this one. Am I correct, or are there more serious underlying problems other than a mere excess oil?

P.S: And yes, the engine was on when the fluid level was checked.

P.P.S: Another thing I just noticed. It seems the level is only above the highest hot level when the transmission is at P. At N, the oil is within the 2 Hot lines.

My new DIY speakers.

VagueConcerns — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 19:54:02 +0800

Hello there!

These are my new speakers I made for the house. I made one last year from these drivers that sounded great but could look better. This year, rather than improve on the looks I thought I would improve on the design. I decided that they would be slimmer, more compact, and integrate with the new room better.

This new room is about 20x20 feet with a 10 foot ceiling. This new room is actually quite bass friendly. I therefore use that to my advantage as I can lower the bass SPL a bit in favour of bass extension as well as make the enclosure slightly smaller.

The enclosure is 100% real wood (other than the decorative acrylic), Light Red Meranti. No MDF, no plywood, and only 18mm thick compared to previous 36mm thick, and plywood at that! As of now the darker side panels are coated with 3 very thin coats, and I would probably ad 1 or 2 more, and the front and back have only 1 coat so far of clear satin varnish.

Imaging has improved greatly over the last speakers, which also had a chance to play in the new room. There is less baffle area around the driver which may play a part in that, but it is no longer flush mounted. About 3mm of the driver flange's depth is still exposed, which can be easily remedied by placing a 3mm thick something (MDF, another piece of acrylic, etc.) under the black piece of acrylic I put on, which will be done at a later date.

According to Hoffman's Iron Law, you can have a smaller enclosure with deeper bass (to some extent), but SPL will suffer accordingly. The new enclosure is about 3+ litres smaller than the previous TABAQ Large, but is tuned to 38Hz rather than 43Hz. I don't have a mic to measure it, but with test tones I determined that the cutoff (the F10 I think) is at 28Hz, and 32Hz is still pretty much audible. The bass is very surprising for the driver size. People have said to me, prior to listening to them that the bass won't be impressive with a 5-inch. These "small" drivers gave them quite the ear massage. They don't shake the room as the room is pretty solid and big, but movies are enjoyable. The intro of Lucy, the snarls of MUTOs in Godzilla, thuds of bodies falling to the ground, all not at all anaemic. They don't go subwoofer deep, but they will integrate with them easily because of how low they go.

I'm listening to Muse's Drones as I'm typing this. Dead Inside is the most bass heavy track and it is satisfying. Also, if the music somehow have the sounds at a higher height than the speaker drivers, they will show. With the orchestral music I have you can easily "see" the stage they're on. The Electric Version by The New Pornograhers have the most "graphic" sound of all. The vocalist can be heard above and slightly in front, as if you are in the studio with them only a few feet away from the mic stand. Stand up, and you'd be level with the vocalist. All of their songs sound like this so maybe that's intentional? I've never heard this imaging in any headphone (or ones that are affordable anyway, like the MSR7 or the SR60i) or multimedia speaker. Not everything sounds "heightened" though, so it's probably the recordings.

On a side note, the room is so hopelessly imperfect for sound that most of the time changes from speaker positioning just gets drowned out because I struggle to hear any changes, unless the position changes are drastic like a foot or so. Fortunately bass isn't affected very much at all. The centre image have crashed and diffused when I set the speakers pointed straight out, which did not occur as drastically with the previous enclosures. Need more study on that.

[attachmentid=5482438]

An accidental discovery!

VagueConcerns — Fri, 02 Oct 2015 03:29:11 +0800

I'm up late, I'm bored, and so I decided to design another enclosure. I removed one of speaker drivers to put them in the new enclosure I'd be making tomorrow.

I rested it on a tall basket with a rug on top, and naturally they pointed up. I had the TV hooked up to them, and it was as if the sound wasn't coming from the driver! Usually with many speakers I'd have to close my eyes to fool myself. If I look directly at a pair of stereo speakers, I can tell even with a strong centre audio playback as if the stereo speakers are two mono sources.

But in this case, I am 3 feet away and I couldn't tell that the driver is making the sound. I have to have my face right up to it to break the illusion. I moved about in the room, sitting and standing and it's still invisible. Without the enclosure it was plasticky and thin, but the illusion is fantastic! Tried it with the other one but it didn't work. I suspect he position was off, and the condition wasn't correct. So the effect I got from the other driver is a fluke. Still though, I would like to recreate it again, in a multi-way configuration, like Linkwitz's Pluto.

If I could get it to work in stereo I wonder how the soundscape will be portrayed?

SSD advice

VagueConcerns — Sat, 29 Aug 2015 13:35:44 +0800

Hi there.

I have an E1-572G, which I currently use for medium duty 3D work.
My concern isn't with the graphical performance, but the time that it takes to open up programs. They don't take minutes, in fact they only take around 20 seconds to open (the CAD program I'm using). But, since I don't use much of my 1TB hard disk space I'm guessing why not jut upgrade to an SSD? I think I'm going to use a 1TB external HDD for storage of "useless" stuff like movies, and use the laptop for important work.

Would an SSD be advisable for the purpose of opening up programs faster and faster boot times? In other words, is the HDD currently the bottleneck that causes the delay of opening programs? I sometimes experience a slow transfer of files within the current HDD as well (not between partitions, as I only have a single partition).

If so, what would be a good SSD to put in my said laptop? I need at least 480GB and I absolutely cannot spend more than RM1200 on the SSD.

Another, just for my curiosity question, would it positively affect USB 3.0 transfer?

www.easybook.com

VagueConcerns — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 20:44:56 +0800

Hello.

I am trying to book the bus. I have the number for the bus company Sri Maju Enterprise in Ipoh Amanjaya, but isn't picking up.
I need to go tomorrow and it's urgent. It's from Ipoh Amanjaya to Penang (Sg. Nibong). So I was thinking of booking online.

Is easybook.com trustworthy, has anyone here used it?

Small solar panel, and fiber optic cables.

VagueConcerns — Fri, 29 May 2015 13:03:22 +0800

Hello there.

Me and my group are working on a uni project. I'm trying to find out where I can find small solar panels (measuring centimetre squares), and a fibre optic cable. The solar panel would only need to charge a small battery pack that would be powering 4-5 LED bulbs for about 8-10 hours. While the fibre optic cable would preferrably be able to channel as much light to come as close to the brightness of those 4-5 LEDs at the end with a light refractor of some sort (which would probably be constructed ourselves).

Thank you.

EDIT: Oh yeah, for both preferrably the budget shouldn't stretch beyond RM120-150 or so.

Unshielded speakers on airplane.

VagueConcerns — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 18:02:57 +0800

Hi there.

Thinking of making speakers for use in uni. Trouble is, I live in Sabah, I study in Perak. So before I start building one, I need to know if I can actually bring them on board an aircraft. Not as a carry-on, because they would be inconvenient (11 litre pair of wooden boxes). They will consist of a pair of unshielded 5.25 inch woofers, inside the box, and a pair of 2 inchers in an open baffle sticking on top of that box.

Will I have trouble, or do I have to shield those woofers?

[WTA] 4G13 carburettor

VagueConcerns — Sun, 15 Feb 2015 23:41:16 +0800

So I was fiddling with my friend's Saga LMST.

Before I delve any further, the problem is that the timing is low and unstable, but merely adjusting the idle screw gave only a temporary relief. It does go away after A LONG time but that's just not normal for it to take over 10 minutes to stabilize.
Is it AFR? But I don't see any black smoke or anything, although it does smell a bit too "thick" to be healthy, but I'm GUESSING that though the engine may be running a little rich that's not probably the cause. So what could it be?

For educational purposes though I would like to read from someone who knows how to adjust it. I remember being taught how to do so but forgot (but I know the entire procedure, just got stuck at the AFR adjustment). SOmething to do with using a spark plug as a make shift screwdriver, and just fiddle around at the back slotting it in. I forgot how to execute that move though.

Also when the lights are on the engine gets pulled down. So would the electrical fault be the cause of unstable idle? It's a used car and I see some things connected to the battery that shouldn't be there, like a relay, and some other wires that I'm not sure where it goes. It was dark and we only have our phone lights to go by.

Other things that can cause a carbed engine to have unstable idle?

Gutting out 2.1 multimedia speakers...

VagueConcerns — Wed, 14 Jan 2015 17:53:43 +0800

I have this nagging desire to buy a used 2.1 multimedia system, and then gutting it out, and use the amps and other bits to be hooked up to drivers of my choice, in new enclosures.

I have to put this idea to rest somehow, by either confirming that this can be done (or people have done this), or that it's generally not a good idea.

So, yay or nay?

I know that they don't have the best of components, but some of them sound rather acceptable. With better drivers in better enclosures (particularly the sub), maybe they can sound rather good. Maybe....that's what I'd like to find out.

EDIT: Just to be clear, I'm not gunning for all out Hi-fi or anything. But something that may be an improvement compared to stock specifications.

[WTA] AV receivers with "dual" sub output.

VagueConcerns — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 19:34:31 +0800

Hi there people of LYN.

As per title, I'd like to know whether there are true subwoofer outs with AV receivers. I see "dual" subwoofer outs, but are they stereo or simply 2 mono?