manoterror

Well, I run the mini into a Mitsubishi 65" DLP, and even though the TV is 1080, the Mac screen at that resolution is beyond the physical limits of the screen, and unusable. I am forced to set the resolution at 720, and then 'zoom' on the TV. This leaves me with several inches of dead space all around the edges, but at least it works. In the winter, the TV I have in AZ is a 61" RCA (?) projection, that is 480 max resolution. Can't even come close to getting the mini to work on that. I use the Apple TV so I can watch movies, and stream music to my Dac from my laptop. Not perfect, but my mini isn't the HDMI version, so it's what I'm left with. Any thoughts or advice on getting it to work better would be welcome. Mot

For a variety of reasons...most dealing with screen resolution and the Mac Mini video output, I need both devices. Plus this wasn't really about my personal setup, but rather an option for people that don't have a Mac Mini, and want a cheaper alternative. :-) Mot

Bottlerocket, Yeah, that is another good option. I didn't want to mod the OS, as I find a lot of those hacks can be pretty flaky...so I'm going with just hardware mods. Have you done this yourself? What kind of luck have you had with it? Mot

So I just wanted to share some info I found on the Apple TV 1st Gen. Once the second generation came out, the 1st gen went on sale right quick. I got 2 of the 160GB version for $130 each...brand new. As a music server, it works great for me, as I only use apple loss-less files ripped from CD, and don't need higher bit rates. I run: Apple TV >Toslink> DacMagic >RCA> Tube Buffer >RCA> Marantz Receiver > Mirage OMD-28, and it sounds great. Of course there is ALWAYS the need for more storage. So there are two great options I've found. Option 1: The internal drive can be upgraded to a 320GB drive (faster, more cache, quieter) for $179 or more (door-to-door). This is the maximum internal drive size as Apple TV utilizes a PATA drive (not SATA). An adapter would not fit inside, so that is that. http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/APLTV320UPGOWC/ http://www.techrestore.com/xcart/product.php?productid=17964&cat=0&page=1 Option 2: An adapter is put inside the Apple TV where the hard drive used to be, and a cable is run to an external hard drive in either 1TB ($400) or 2TB($600) sizes. This would make a massive media server for not a lot of money. http://www.weaknees.com/appletv/apple-tv-upgrade.php I'm going to try Option 1 first, and then likely the 2TB option 2 after that. I might use the 320GB for my movies, and then the 2TB just for music. Note: My Mac Mini, with 2TB external drive cost me $1,500, and this would be half that for a 2TB music server. Hope this helps. Mot

What a huge help this has been. I will be trying this over the winter, here in AZ and on the beach in CA. I will let you know how it turns out, and likely have many questions for ya. :-) Thanks again, Mot

So, I just got the Zoom H2 with the intent of recording in nature. Ocean waves, babbling brook, etc. I am a total newby at this, so please bear with me. So Here are my questions for ya: 1. Is it better to use the H2 independant of a laptop, or connected to the laptop? 2. When using the H2, what is the best way to physically position the mic to get the best stereo recoding? 3. Do I need special software to do this? I don't want to spend a bunch on this project, if I can. :-) Thanks for your help man. Mot

Last night my buddy Bill and I used a drill to make twisted pairs of speaker wire, using the teflon coated, silver-plated, military specification 12-awg wires. We used a decible meter to measure the before and after results. We got a 3db gain....3db! Amazing. I can't turn the amp past a quarter or third, as it's just too damn loud. With the old cables, it was at almost half to get an 80db rating. Now it's less than 1/4 for that same thing. Amazing. Mot

I'm excited for some new travel speakers, and new wires. You guys rock! (pun intended) :-) Mot

Okay...i am so going to make those Cat 5e wires. That is awesome! I'm also gonna pick up some of the A2 speakers. For $200, how could I not. Thanks for the heads up on those man...they look wonderful! Mot

I will definitely try the cat 5e as well. Sounds intriguing. :-) When I say portable...I mean that I can easily fit it in my car. I live in Phoenix in the winter, so I use the Model 12 as the amp and sub, then Mirage OMD-5s for the satelites. I haven't heard those speakers yet. I will definitely give them a listen. How do you run the setup? For actual business travel, I use the Foxl with my laptop and a usb DAC from Cretive Soundworks. Not too shabby really, for a couple hundred bucks. Mot

Definitely gonna download that album. Thanks mam. mot

Military spec wires it is.

Okay, if this has been hashed to death, I apologize. I did a search and found nothing. I spend half the year away from my main system, so I have a transportable one that I use. I am trying to squeeze as much quality out of it as possible, and I'm working on the optimal speaker wire. It is a Cambridge Soundworks Model 12, with Mirage OMD-5s for the satellites. (toying with a pair of Gallo A'Diva Mini Ti's or Magnapan MMG's :-D ) I was originally going to use Dayton 10-awg wires with Belkin pin terminators. The subwoofer and amp have the push style connctor, so I'm stuck with 12-awg raw, or pins. My friend Bill said you should always go with the raw cable and then just trim it back every 6 months. So I also picked up some Miliatry spec 12-awg silver coated copper wire. It consists of 19 25-awg copper strands, each coated in silver. Another choice is the Belkin Silver Series pre-teminated cables (16-awg, but really nice). Seems to me that the larger 10-awg cable would give more throughput, but I wasn't aware that the terminators would degrade the signal. Any thoughts on this setup, and what would likely be the best for my little portable system? Much thanks, in advance. Mot

Omaha, Nebraska in the summer. Tempe, Arizona in the winter. The perfect excuse to have two systems. :-) Mot

Nomadic IT Consultant in the Healthcare arena. Lucador wrestler: El Blanco Explosivo Caliente Gigante Mot