Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by gsdev

HIFI Hard Disk Media Player

gsdev — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 12:34:11 +0800

Any of you guys using a hard disk media player for audio? I am planning to back up all my CD collection on hard disk and use it to play music at different locations. Like in my office etc. Any suggestions on available products?

Lazy Eyes

gsdev — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:10:49 +0800

My 6 years old Kid has been diagnosed with Lazy Eye on the Right Eye. The Vision is bad at present and based on the results this could have been developing since 4 years old. Right Eye power is at 450 probably as the eye has not been used much and left eye the good eye is at 150 both long sighted. It has gone unnoticed as there were no complaints and also my kid taught it was normal and looks like grew up with it. We have seen an eye specialist in USJ and are getting glasses and some eye exercises are also planned.

I am wondering if anyone of you parents has had a situation like this. How did you manage the exercises and what was the success rate?

Also anyone knows of any good kid’s eye therapy locations in K.L. / P.J. or nearby areas?

Any feedback is appriciated!

[addedon]February 23, 2012, 1:57 pm[/addedon]Any one has any recomendations on an Eye Hospital with good experience!

Insurance Maturity Bonus

gsdev — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:20:24 +0800

Hello All,

I need some advice regarding Insurance Maturity. One of my policies which is a 20 year term policy is Maturing next week. It’s a MAA policy taken since 1992. Annual premium was approx. ; I took this policy when I just started working. The revisionary total bonus looks okay its approx. but the Maturity Bonus is only approx. It’s about 40% of the revisionary bonus. I was expecting the maturity bonus to be higher and did some research and found out that the Maturity Bonus is dependent on MAA's performance. It is not based on any fixed formula or rules.

Anyone has had any experience regarding this Maturity Bonus issue? Is 40% of the Rev (cash) value fair? Any advice or info is appreciated!

Thanks!

House owner Insurance

gsdev — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:51:34 +0800

Need advise. Currently have a house ownerplocy with Uni Asia and I bought it for fire protection for the buillding (house). Read the policy and it is very confusing since they also have the house holders clause it there.

I had a break in to my house last week and am wondering if I can claim damage to my property via forced break in. They broke through my grill and sliding door. I dont think can claim any belongings lost but how about the damage to the house itself?

Any one can help shed some light. Thanks.

Home broken in

gsdev — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:04:32 +0800

Had a bad time last week , my house was broken in, lost small items and small electronic stuff. All in still lost around 10 - 15k of items. I was lucky that they did not touch all my hifi stuff. Thank God for that. I am looking into fixing an alarm system for my families safety first and then hopefuly it would deter a break in again. Need some recomendations from fellow hifiers on home security alarm systems. I was looking at ADT not sure how much it costs and if there are any other companies out there. Any one know any info on this?

An Open Letter to a Tweakaholic

gsdev — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:18:56 +0800

An interesting write up here

http://www.goodsound.com/editorial/200910.htm

October 1, 2009
An Open Letter to a Tweakaholic

This is an intervention. Coming from me, I know it’s pure hypocrisy, but it’s my earnest hope that you can learn from my experience. No, I’m not being paternalistic; I just want you to realize what you’re doing. I want you to see that there’s another way -- that you don’t have to keep living like this. All I ask is that you listen.

My obsession with tweaks began with my first "real" audio amp, an NAD C 325BEE. Its rear panel had Main Out and Pre In jacks, and it came with cheap nickel-plated jumpers to bridge the gap and make it an integrated amp. It took little time for me to go online and learn that the stock jumpers had to go -- they were pure audio poison. After much consideration, I decided to make my own jumpers, following a recipe I found through the aptly named Audio Asylum. That was my first fix. It wouldn’t be my last.

I began to read a lot about electrical noise and decided not only that my system had some, but that I had to be rid of it, else I’d never know how pure music was supposed to sound. Some people wrote that they’d had great success installing a certain brand of capacitor across the mains electrical input of their CD players, so despite the fact that I had no idea what I was doing, I opened up my player and installed some capacitors. Amazingly, I got it right. Nothing blew up.

While inside the player, I thought I might as well make sure that no stray resonances were affecting the sound. First, I used rope caulk -- on everything. Then I learned that Blu-Tack was way more audio-approved, so I got some of that. Sure, it was about ten times more expensive, but this was for audio, man. You’ve got to be willing to spend what it takes to achieve perfection.

What followed was an accelerating downward spiral of footers (rubber, mystery material, aluminum, brass, ceramic, a combination of some of these, etc.), capacitors, resistors, power cables, and filters. Then I started going for the hardcore stuff: cable lifters, dispersion rings, and highly technical "resonance control devices." In my heart, I knew the one inescapable truth in all of this: my system didn’t sound much better. But I couldn’t stop.

I blame myself for getting you started. Heaven forgive me, I even sold you your first pair of cables. I had no idea where things were headed, or the extremes you’d go to. There were warning signs, sure, but I was so out of my mind that I missed them, or just didn’t see anything wrong. Soon, you were having a rack custom built. You spent a king’s ransom on RCA plugs. And the power filters and cables! How many did you try? Soon, it was apparent to you that something was "wrong" with your system, but you didn’t know what it was or how to fix it. I saw what was happening but I was too weak to stop it.

Now look at you. It used to be about the music, man, but now it’s about . . . what? Clarity? Microscopic detail? Do you even hear the notes anymore, or just the way they decay in a vast expanse of blackness?

I care about you and I want you to stop. It became shockingly clear to me that you’d gone over the edge when you told me about the Teflon tape. "You’ve got to try it -- it’s an amazing tweak!" you told me. "Just wrap a 3" length around each prong of your power cables. Sound tightens up, and even plasma TV pictures get better!"

"But how could that be? Teflon is an insulator, and would greatly reduce the connector’s contact area if it’s wrapped up."

You told me that, when plugged in, the Teflon moves to the base of the prongs.

"What possible effect could that have?"

"I dunno, maybe it’s killing vibrations or something."

Oh no no no no no. What have I done to you?

You’re sick, my friend, but you’re going to get better. I know that somewhere, deep inside, you still love the music, and you know it doesn’t matter if you can count Pavarotti’s nose hairs when he exhales. You know that there’s such a thing as too much clarity, too much detail -- that it’s not about the recording space, but the music that was made there.

You can beat this. You’ve proven that you can put together a great system -- now, prove that it can stand on its own, without all the "help" you’re giving it. Walk away from the hocus-pocus, man. Trust the engineers who designed your gear to sound great as is, without bells, whistles, magic alarm clocks, and antigravity boots.

It’s all about faith, and just saying "no."

. . . Colin Smith
editor@goodsound.com

AMP Pop sound when power off

gsdev — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:27:34 +0800

Need some advice. Having this issue for very long now not sure if it is really a problem.

My integrated Amp when ever switched off will produce a pop kind of sound only on the Right speaker. This pop sound is not loud and is only for a very short while. The Amp is NAD 320, its like 8 years old now. Again this is confirmed to happen on the right channel only, the left stays silent. Nothing when you switch On cause there is a relay that cuts in after a while. When you switch off then you get this issue. Is this normal or do you think something's the matter?

Need price advice

gsdev — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:43:05 +0800

Hi All, Need some advise on what could be the possible price for the below stuff. All of them I can easily say cosmetic wise is above 8/10. All in good working order. Planning to let go.

NAD 310 amplifier (black) http://www.nadelectronics.com/img/datasheets/NAD_310.pdf

NAD 521 CDP (black) with remote http://www.nadelectronics.com/img/datasheets/NAD_C521.pdf

Whaferdale WH 208 Sub Woofer (black) http://www.e-cms.biz/temp_1.asp?categoryx=29&ProductID=199

Bose acoustimass 5 series III (black) http://reviews.cnet.com/surround-speaker-s...7-21174470.html

PSB Alpha B http://stereophile.com/loudspeakerreviews/580/

Your feed back is very much appreciated, Thanks.

Need cash for upgrade plan's

Stereo Monitors for 1.3k max

gsdev — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 11:06:01 +0800

I am planning to upgrade my current Stereo Monitors. Using NAD amp with NAD CDP. Budget around 1.3k max. Currently looking at PSB B25, since in the price range but need some suggestions for other brands within the budget. Any suggestions guys, all comments welcomed.

[addedon]June 7, 2009, 6:00 pm[/addedon]wow no one has any recomendations...

V-KOOL warranty Issue

gsdev — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 18:19:26 +0800

Hi All,

I need advise regarding my V-Kool tint issue. My back windscreen V-Kool elite 70 is having corrosion issue. It is confirm a warranty issue from V-Kool HQ, P.J. I was in the morning, but they mentioned that they cannot warranty the demister lining getting damaged when removing the old tint. They want we to sign that i accept this risk.

I called Honda, and asked my service center about this and they said it is up to V-Kool but if it was personaly his car he would not sign this document. V-Kool should be responsile about this. When i bought the car it was pre-installed with V-Kool.

What to do now, do i go ahead and take the risk or not. The back tint discolour is slowly spreading.

Hardware not recognized Help !

gsdev — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:53:14 +0800

Guys need help, just bought 2 x webcams from lowyat forumer but according to him the driver would auto install. Did windows update and install search drivers via internet but it could not find the driver. My webcam looks like OEM logitech, round ball type, silver. The hardware details are as below, taken via Sandra...

Root Hub: USB Port 1
Status : Device Connected
Device Connected to Port
OEM Device Name : Z-Star Microelectronics Corp. ZC0301 WebCam
Device Version : 1.00
Device ID : VEN_0AC8, DEV_301B, PRT_00
USB Version : 1.10
Speed : Full (12Mbps)
Configuration Settings : 1
Data Packet Size : 8bytes

Anyone has a driver or know where to get it...thanks in advance.

Do you place items on your speakers

gsdev — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 10:41:24 +0800

Was wondering if any of you HI-FI buffs place items on your front Monitors. I read some where than it was recomended to place a"brick" on the Speakers, CD players etc...

Wonder if this will change the sonic sound of Book Shelves. How about you guys, do you place anything on top of your monitors (decorative items etc...)? or just leave them be as they are.

APE files to CD, source was a XRCD

gsdev — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 22:54:43 +0800

Need help from you guys who have done this before.

I have with me a ape file + cue, what is the best way to get it on a cd, as in audio CD.

I tried using Burnn but it kept on saying wav file missing. So i had to de-compress the ape file using monkey audio and then burn the cd using Burnn. Is this method correct?, or is there a better way to do it.

Have to do this for a few more cd's. How do you guys do this with best quality in sound reproduction?

Subwoofer Connection Need Advise

gsdev — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 12:00:47 +0800

Guys need your opinion on this. I recently got a second hand Whaferdale powered sub and am wondering which would be the best way to connect it.

For starters my NAD amp only have speaker outputs (High Level) and no line level outputs. Currently i am wiring the amp speaker outputs to the sub inputs and the sub outputs to the front left and right speakers (PSB Alpha B's). Question is

1. what should i set the cross over fequency to?
The PSB's (left and right) speakers have a frequency range lowest upto 65Hz. The xover frequency on the sub is 70-170 Hz. At the moment i set it to lowest 70Hz

2. Can I Bi Wire the Amp speaker outputs? One set to the sub and the other directly to the PSB's. Will this present an additional load to the Amp, or will the powered Sub have almost no load to my NAD amp.?

3. Will i be sending the full range frequency to both. Reason for this, I find that there is some mid range detail missing or not the same if i had wired the Amp output directly to my front speakers. Could be my temp speaker cables but not sure...

Your feedback guys, need it...

[addedon]July 20, 2007, 12:35 am[/addedon]No responce, Aik, where are all the sifus...

Hardisk Crash

gsdev — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 21:33:14 +0800

Guys and Gals,

Need Help!!!

One of my disks crashed an i need some suggestions on how to retreive as much data i can. I need some files from this disk. The disk can be found within windows but when i try to read on one of the partitions it does not respond.

I have seen alot of softwares out there but please suggest which u recommend.

Extension Cords

gsdev — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 01:45:47 +0800

At first it did not hit me but eventually i could notice detail lost in the midrange and the sound was like some one had tuned down the 1khz on an equalizer. I had the past two days tried to figure out why do my speakers sound so different. They did not sound the same but why?, was my CDP giving problems or did the interconnects have problems or is it my amp ???

After listening to few of my fav CD's i new something needs to be done, i really did not get the energy like i used to hear. The only thing i changed was the darn extension cord. Was this the reason, i thought at first this was insane, AC was AC. So i used the old extnsion cord and wallah, there was the music with depth and much detail in the midrange which i was missing.

Could not beleive it but i switched between the two diffrent extension cords a couple of times and every time i could detect the differences. What did i do then, got hold of another different extension cord and the sound was similar but not the same with one of them which i did not like. 3 different extension cords and 3 different responces. To confirm this, i used my SHP895 and listened directly on my PSB Alpha B's.

Between the 3 different power cords, internal checks revealed that the one i liked best was with copper bars as the distrubution for L/N and was rated max load 13A. The ones that i did not like had silver thinner rods, had surge (lightning)protection wih a max load of 10A. All were different brands.

Conclusion, i removed the extension cord an now the result is even better. I had read alot about interconnects and have experimented with 3 branded cables and in all 3 i got different results. (I did not like the silver's as the music was too bright.) But now i firmly beleive that even power cords play a big role, Especially after my experience first hand.
To those who are forced to use extension cords, take heed of this factor.

P.C. time clock is always few hours back

gsdev — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 23:01:26 +0800

Hi need some help on this. My Win XP clock is always a few hours back. If i correct it, it still shows backwards time after a day.

I have run spy bot and adware to see if any malware is the issue. Problem still is there now for weeks.

Tried to use time server but the default used in Win Xp has no responce.

Any ideas?

Oops wrong area...movingo support

Sonic Design USA Audio Interconnect

gsdev — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 13:48:15 +0800

Hi Guys,

I have with me 3 pcs of "SONIC DESIGN USA SD-301 audio interconnect cable" label as silver plated copper which was purchased from Perfect-Hifi Puchong like 3 years ago. Cost me then RM 200++. Custom terminated with gold RCA's by Perfect-Hifi i think.

I had used it for progressive component out from DVD player to Projection T.V.

I'm trying to find some details from the Web but none seam to be available. (Will post a picture of it later).

Tried using it for my NAD combo and Alpha B, sounds not bad, different from the wire world Terra 5 (new) and Monster 200 (not i - about 8 years old).

Any one have an idea about this brand / product ?

NAD CD Players

gsdev — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 21:18:03 +0800

Guys my NAD C510 just gave up after serving me for 10 years. The model was made in 03 1996.

Any ideas where i can purchase the NAD C521BEE to pair with my C320 and the projected cost.