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Post by b1 on Mar 7, 2017 13:45:03 GMT -6
hehe... (((ahem))) I won't be posting car pics.
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Post by b1 on Mar 7, 2017 13:05:55 GMT -6
I'm shocked Svart... must be like mechanics driving vehicles that are in a constant state of repair...
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Post by b1 on Mar 7, 2017 12:54:49 GMT -6
I feel your pain... I said this a while back. Everybody needs to pull the plug on "the System" and build a new paradigm (United Federation of Musicians/Songwriters). Else-wise, you are their slave, legally. Make your own rules, which are fair to all... Apparently no one smart enough with enough clout will stand up to kick it off though.
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Post by b1 on Mar 6, 2017 18:05:18 GMT -6
Yeah... not taking anything away from Ed's mental/finger dexterity/agility, but I can only take so much of it; didn't watch the whole thing.
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Post by b1 on Mar 4, 2017 15:08:23 GMT -6
I understand your frustration. Same type of deal happened to me with a Walmart online order for a TV that I laboriously researched and found only that one at a great price. So waiting on my order that was reportedly shipped. Waiting... waiting... NADA! They never even had it in stock!
After that I found a better, larger, and cheaper price on another one... SOMEWHERE ELSE. Haven't bought anything from Walmart online since, after 2 years, and never will.
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Post by b1 on Feb 28, 2017 5:27:43 GMT -6
Reaper, Reaper, Reaper! Low Cost Small file size for humongous features Continual updates 64 outs on Kontakt
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Post by b1 on Feb 24, 2017 10:35:31 GMT -6
I think I'm one of those people that gets driven nuts easily and obsesses. I use a white noise machine at night. But even here typing with the computer on etc, I hear loud ringing... I have "stereo tinnitus". It was really troubling to me in my early years. I did everything to my ears that one should never do. I spent a few years as a Dyno operator for Cummins Engines and would have to go into a closed room with everything from 6 cylinder to 16 cylinder engines wide open and load them down and inspect them. I wore ear muffs but it would still rattle your teeth to walk in there... I always liked REALLY loud music and huge driven speakers. I still monitor with headphones pretty loud. As I said, I would put on 3 or 4 albums on the turntable to occupy my mind until I fell asleep. I'll still occasionally leave music, a vid, or TV on while falling asleep, not so much out of necessity any more, but there may be a comfort factor to it. Like you, I hear the ringing no matter what other noises I hear. I find myself forgetting about it for short periods of time; conversations, etc., while my mind is occupied. It's just a part of life now in my "older" age...
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Post by b1 on Feb 24, 2017 7:44:52 GMT -6
Now that I think about it, when I was younger, I used to have to turn the stereo on at bedtime to take my mind off of the ringing in my ears. Don't need to do that anymore since I'm so used to it.
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Post by b1 on Feb 24, 2017 7:40:25 GMT -6
I've had tinnitus most of my life, but don't feel I have any noticeable hearing loss; maybe technically, but I haven't been tested in decades and never felt the need to be. Sometimes I forget about the ringing in my ears if my mind is occupied.
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Post by b1 on Jan 10, 2017 13:14:41 GMT -6
I believe I'd wait for AMDs soon to be released Ryzen CPU and check into meeting and or exceeding the high end Intel i7 ($1k) platform at a fraction of the cost. It looks promising...
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Post by b1 on Jan 10, 2017 1:33:35 GMT -6
@ svart , I don't solder on a regular basis. As a 'puter tech I rarely run into a motherboard to fix these days.... I'll keep those brands in mind though. The Hakko has been setting here for a few days. I need to put 7 caps in one of my own PCs, but not feeling too pressed.
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Post by b1 on Jan 4, 2017 23:02:11 GMT -6
I use alcohol & a Q-tip as mentioned by others, but being irritated by the reside/film left over, I've been considering using Automotive MAF cleaner by CRC, or Electromotor cleaner by the same company. I'll have to download the data sheets to further consider though.
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Post by b1 on Jan 1, 2017 15:01:19 GMT -6
Many times and in many areas, "some" feel the need to break out of the box for fulfillment/enlightenment... only to find they're stepping into a larger box that needs to be recalculated, when the previous parameters do not align. That's where "religion" and science are in the closest proximity for the "scientist"... and that being the place where the child and the faithful dwells... The wise must become foolish to advance into wisdom and understanding.
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Post by b1 on Dec 31, 2016 20:44:36 GMT -6
Thanks mdmitch2 . I was looking at the Hakko 888-D-23BY. Maybe you have an analog version? From what Ive read, The diff between the 888-D & 888-D-23BY is the color... not sure. The Hakko 808 is discontinued, but it's good to see you can still get some parts for it. Plenty of good reviews for the 888-D. I have the digital version -- the only thing you have to watch out for is the fact that changing the temperature and calibrating the temperature are done in almost the same way, so it's easy to accidentally mix them up. Make sure you read the manual! Regarding the 808, it's been replaced by a new model, the FR300, which is more expensive than the 808 used to be. On the plus side, they use the same tips, so the 808 should be good for a while longer. Yeah, I studied up on the 888-D & watched a lot of videos... downloaded & read all the info. You def have to know what you're adjusting and the parameter you're in. I saw a guy on a YouTube vid that unboxed, turned it on and got it all out of wack out of the gate. I bet he had to dig to find the doc which explained the factory reset. For a desolderer, I was considering getting one of the eBay ~$60.00 Chinese 3-in-one jobs which had hot air rework, desolderer, and iron; to just use the desolder pump. If it broke, surely I would have enough parts left over to refashion my own. I could make an external pump as long as the electrics were decent enough... it's got me wondering anyway...
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Post by b1 on Dec 31, 2016 16:40:20 GMT -6
Hakko for me. Variable temp. It's been rock solid. Oh dear... two satisfied Hakko users... I just ordered the 888-D. Thanks guys
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Post by b1 on Dec 31, 2016 15:18:07 GMT -6
I use a hakko 888 and 808 desoldering tool. They've been reliable and replacement parts are readily available. I can't really compare them to other brands, but I think they're good for the money. Thanks mdmitch2. I was looking at the Hakko 888-D-23BY. Maybe you have an analog version? From what Ive read, The diff between the 888-D & 888-D-23BY is the color... not sure. The Hakko 808 is discontinued, but it's good to see you can still get some parts for it. Plenty of good reviews for the 888-D.
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Post by b1 on Dec 31, 2016 11:12:12 GMT -6
I searched the threads for a bit and didn't see any threads dedicated to DIY tools, per se. I wondered what soldering station the pro/experienced solderers here, use at home (or even at work). I'm getting tired of cheap iron & tips and ready for a step up for dealing with de-soldering no-lead joints. I know Weller used to make reliable stations, but I see a few complaints on them after they moved to Mexico. I would like to keep the cost to around ~$100. What do you guys think I should be looking at in the way of reliability, availability of quality replacement parts, and low cost of those parts?
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Post by b1 on Nov 23, 2016 13:18:08 GMT -6
Oh yeah, you definitely want a healthy dose of verb & delay, or something on there...
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Post by b1 on Nov 23, 2016 11:47:47 GMT -6
Sorry to resurrect this thread, but I was literally writing a post about this and decided to make sure there wasn't already a thread right before posting. A friend of mine who is a Broadway actor with an big, old school voice came to me about recording an album of Broadway songs. After discussing pricing and planning the album, we settled on a cabaret style album with just him, a piano, and his guest artists. I do not have a nice piano in my home studio. I have a spinet in my living room that I could mic up, but for the style we're going for, I knew it wasn't the right choice. We decided to use my Korg Triton as a controller and use a sampled piano for the project. I have a few piano samples in my limited library which have worked on projects in the past, but were used in the context of a full orchestration, so I decided to look into some new piano libraries. While looking over the East West & Native Instruments libraries I came across Ivy Audio's Piano 162. It's really fantastic for the style I'm working with and definitely worth checking out. And did I mention it's free? If you have a full version Kontact player it will play as a library and allow you to modify the balance between the close mics and the ambient mics. If you do not have the full version, the free version of Kontact will tell you the demo has expired and stop working every 15 mins or so. You can use Sforzando Player instead of Kontact, but can only open one sample at a time. So, you'll need two separate midi tracks to run each sample off of. Either way, this sample set is worth checking out. They have a few others as well, but I haven't tried them yet. www.ivyaudio.comI basically did the same thing as you, but before I had the full version of Kontakt, I loaded Sforzando on two diff tracks; one with close mic samples and the other with the ambience samples, then blended to taste. Based on the style of music you're going for the Ivy Piano 162 works out great, especially for freeware.
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Post by b1 on Oct 25, 2016 11:18:34 GMT -6
Here is my opinion on the take. I saw a lot of cheap guitars by students and I bought myself one or two. Why? For example I have two cheapo Stratocaster, and a cheap P-Base by a well known cheap china brand. I bought them because the wood and the hardware, except the pick ups, where OK. I gave them my guitar tech for fret-jobs and setup replacing some of the PU. Is it as good as a real Fender Stratocaster - No. Does those guitars sound bad, with tons of resonances - not more than any other Stratocaster I own. The question is to me cost performance. I also had great sounding Epis under my fingers and I did ask myself why people buy very expensive guitars. One last thought. Have you seen the price politics of the last 20 years? The price for custom shop guitars? Even if I would win the lottery I would not buy a Stratocaster for 9k. Do the big brands still produce for musicians. I think no... for example the last nice Martin I did play on the store was 4,6k in Euro. I think some brands are overpriced... You nailed it Mr. Holmes. I agree on the "price to performance" benefit of well made cheaper guitars. I'm sure if I had an older Gibson 335 I'd like the feel better & be playing it more, but like you, I refuse to reward the manufacturers for over-pricing their gear. Epiphone has gained my trust on this axe. No way in God's green & blue world I'd pay 9k for a Strat. I mean between CNC guitars, who has the better tolerances on machine fit. They're all at better reproducible tolerances than hand-made guitars. Once you have the time tested formula punched in, let the wood chips fly. After that it's all superficial and easily upgrade-able hardware (if needed).
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Post by b1 on Oct 24, 2016 23:38:20 GMT -6
Hey guys & gals. Been a while since I've checked in. I just wanted to comment on the Epi 335 after owning it for a while... I love this guitar. It's the first one I grab. The tone & playibilty is great. It's a very inspirational player & stays in tune extremely well. All stock parts are still on it. The only thing I've done is leveled the frets after I bought it... it's ready to have the frets worked again since I play it all of the time, but it still rings out so I haven't done that yet. Since I'm sold on what Epiphone is doing quality wise, that I may pick up something with a Bigsby, since I'm a Whammy guy from way back.
I use a .010 D'Addario XL string set and add a .011 or .012 on the first string.
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Post by b1 on Nov 9, 2015 16:37:26 GMT -6
Welp, I listened to the vid the other day and shut it down half way through. I let everyone have their parade. So after all the hoopla, I gave it another chance and watched it all. I got zilch from all of the frontmen/persons.
Not denying the talent, but as far as I've always been concerned, Timber can jump in the lake. His vocals peels paint off the wall for me, and Stapleton's timbre is like some kind of etching solution to strip epoxy. Not my idea of vocals that can be listened to for any length of time. And the content was no-wheres-ville.
Since this is an award for the best, the only conclusion I reached was: "what does the CMA know". And all of the sheep on the front row would make my channel flipper finger twitch like a PWM; if I had a TV.
my 5 cents. I'm sure that people are pressed forward to meet, greet, and suction, which makes me glad I'm not anywhere near that scene. Ok, that's a dime...
So, I don't listen to Country Music from the last decade or two, so what do I know. I only know what I like. Cue the flower power emoticon.
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Post by b1 on Nov 9, 2015 5:36:38 GMT -6
This is the Country & Western that I remember. Keep it alive, Randy!
Thanks for posting Wiz!
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Post by b1 on Nov 8, 2015 17:26:37 GMT -6
You can download an independent codec pack for your OS platform that may cure the problem.
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Post by b1 on Nov 8, 2015 17:24:20 GMT -6
I don't use Apple stuff for the web either, but I don't experience Quicktime notifications in the Browser. I did find a bug with the 64 bit Pale Moon browser (Firefox clone) on some vids that John posted from his iPhone. It wouldn't play them, but Firefox played them fine. Maybe you have a browser bug or missing codecs?
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