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Shawn7656

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  1. Sorry Ted, I'll clarify a bit more. My USB speakers are capable of playing FLAC, of course, but my iPod can't (because Apple won't let it), so if I just bought some small cables and hooked my iPod to my receiver I'd be leaving all of my FLAC behind on my computer. These little speakers are absolutely disgusting sounding. It's like listening to AM under water with tinfoil speakers... At least, compared to my other speakers, that is As for the reason I want my computer hooked up to my receiver, yes, it's because I have a surround sound system of JBL speakers and I don't want them going to waste; I only have some old game systems hooked up to it right now lol. Thanks for the links guys, I was looking and Amazon's cheapest was around $35 without shipping . I'm gonna try to measure it out with some speaker wire to see how long of a cable I'll need and buy the one that's got a little extra slack. Thanks again! I'll just have to deal with terrible quality for the shipping time!
  2. Before I moved to a new place, I had my computer using my TV as a monitor, therefore I had my receiver hooked up to my computer (this all happened because of limited space)so I could just use my computer as a DVD player and such. Now I have my TV and computer on opposite sides of the room. I have some little no-name speakers that are USB powered hooked to my computer now and the sound quality makes me cringe (320 mp3 sounds like it's around 60)! I had my receiver hooked up to my computer using an SPDIF cable recommended to me by a member of this forum, but it's only 1.5 feet long, and I probably need a minimum of 25 feet now. As I'm on a SUPER tight budget right now, my question is how can I remedy the situation cheaply, for the time being? I thought of just getting some eighth inch to RCA jacks and plugging my iPod into my receiver through an aux port, but then I have to leave all of my FLAC behind. My next thought was buying a 30' SPDIF cable or a 30' 1/8th to RCA cable so I can just connect it straight to my computer. I'm not really too sure how I want to go about it, but the cheapest route would be a HUGE plus. If there's some way to ghetto-rig some RCA output jacks onto some speaker wire that'd be cool. I have a surplus of that stuff! haahaha Shoot me some relatively inexpensive ideas, like less than $30, for a quick fix! Thank you in advance everyone!
  3. I was thinking of a way to explain to a friend the difference between an 128 bitrate MP3 and a ~900 bitrate FLAC file. The best I could come up with is that FLAC is to MP3 like 720p is to 1080p on a TV. MP3 is decent quality for those not paying much attention to quality. Some swear they can't tell the difference between the two (and in some cases there IS no difference), but if you have a good TV and a good quality DVD or BluRay then you'll be able to see the difference. This is the same you could expect if you're listening to FLAC through $1 headphones, as opposed to a few hundred/thousand dollar setup with quality speakers coupled with quality playback devices. Though the easiest way to show him was to have the same song in FLAC and 128 MP3 and turn up the volume a bit
  4. Well sadly I don't have a headphone jack. The closest i can get is the 3.5mm for sound input for the vga port. At the moment I only have one HDMI cable, and I'm using that for my PS3 as the games look much better with it, the computer was roughly the same. Would the best way to unplug the speakers he to just pop open the back?
  5. I hooked a 32" LCD TV that I just purchased up to my computer as a second monitor using a VGA cable. I am using my surround sound system as my audio output through my computer, so nothing is in that jack on the TV. However, I hear a constant buzzing from the TV speakers, even if the volume is at zero. When I mute the TV, the buzz disappears, but the way the TV was made, the mute icon (which is pretty big) never goes away. I tried plugging things into the audio out on the TV but the noise doesn't go away. I disabled all of my other audio devices on my computer except the one I'm using (SPDIF out, to the receiver). Looking through the TVs menus there isn't a way to turn the speakers off, so I was wondering if there's an easy way to either remedy the buzz, or disable/unplug the internal speakers. As a side note, the brand of TV is Apex, who went out of business a year or two ago. I got this TV new off of eBay though. So, there's no customer support other than the manual, and there's no warranty to worry about if I have to open the TV up. I'm not really too sure if this is the right forum to be asking this on, but I know there are a bunch of extremely intelligent people on here, and I don't want to join another forum just to ask one question, and then never visit it again
  6. I've noticed that, since I've been using an SPDIF connection and a digital coax cableto hook my computer to my receiver, the volume control on my computer doesn't actually change the volume of anything when I'm using JRiver media player (16.0.128). It doesn't matter what volume setting I use, whether it's "system volume" or "application volume". I can slide both the volume in the task bar and in the program down to 0, and it doesn't change volume levels at all. This is irritating as it means I can't control volume levels using a remote (Gizmo, or VNC) and I don't own the remote for my receiver. Does anyone know a way to fix this?
  7. I'm not too sure if the direction of this thread has swayed back to positivity as I only read halfway down page 2 (50 posts a page) and got sick of reading it. I'm new here so maybe my opinion won't be taken with enthusiasm, but I think I have a quote that you guys need to think about<br /> <br /> "The artist is never rong"<br /> <br /> Yes, it's purposefully spelled without a W, that's the point. <br /> <br /> I clicked on this thread to learn about the compression that's apparent in the new RHCP album but instead learned about their producers ability, or lack thereof, to produce quality recordings. Within the first 30 posts or so Chris said that his comment was based off of the single release that <i><u>wasn't full quality</u></i> so the original reason for this thread doesn't even really hold ground anymore. Let's not attack each other for our opinions. You would never tell someone to throw their speakers away because they're too bass-y, when that's what that person likes. It's the same thing. You can't defend the way you perceive sound, so leave it at a personal opinion and move on. Flame wars will not get anywhere online, even with consistently logical backing for the arguments.<br /> <br /> <br /> I thank you, Chris, for supplying us with the information, and for giving me a new phrase to learn about ("mastered for iTunes).
  8. Instead of making multiple threads I figured I'd make a thread with a lot of the bands I've been listening to, from a varied amount of genres. I'm going to go in alphabetical order so I don't accidentally forget someone. I'm only really listing bands that aren't known by many people (at least as far as I'm aware). Layout = "Band name - genre. small description." • A Perfect Circle - Alternative/Rock. Singer of Tool created this band. They've got a lot of good slower stuff • Basshunter - Techno (in Swedish and English). Very interesting lyrics, a lot of which pertain to gamers or people who spend a lot of time on computers • Brasstronaut - Indie? I'm not really sure what genre they fit in, but damn are they good. Main instruments are usually piano and trumpet, drums and guitar less often. Very slow music with very hard-hitting lyrics. Quite unknown as far as I'm aware, but you can find their music for sale online (Amazon I think, and their website). • City and Colour - Acoustic/Indie. Dallas Green (his name is where the band name came from.. Get it?) is the guitarist, pianist, and I believe back-up vocalist of Alexisonfire. He is an amazing singer, and is amazing with a guitar. Very strong, often sad, lyrics. • Cold - Rock. A lesser known but very talented rock band. I think they had a few hits, but weren't ever too popular. Great lyrics, some range in genre from heavier to very slow. • From Autumn To Ashes - Heavy rock, some acoustic. Mixes clean vocals and screaming in a way that I can actually enjoy (it's difficult to find a screamer I can tolerate). Has some amazing slow songs as well as faster songs. • Gogol Bordello - Pirate/Gypsy Punk. Very strange band. I've yet to hear an amazing quality recording from them, but if you want some different music that'll make you want to dance around, this is it. • Iron and Wine - Acoustic/Indie. Similar in ways to City and Colour. Great singer, great guitar, great lyrics. He uses similes and metaphors in almost all his songs, and the result can be a little hard to fully grasp sometimes. • Mad Caddies - Ska, Punk. A really fun ska band that's lesser-known with entertaining lyrics. • MGMT - Psychedelic Rock, Indie. A VERY different band. Mixes 60's and 70's sounds with new age stuff. Their music is usually accompanied with some trippy music videos and lyrics that tell some good stories. • Mumford and Sons - Uhhh...? I have no idea what genre they are. They have a twangy sound on top of a melodic rock. Wikipedia call them "British Folk Rock". Great lyrics, great sound. Definitely try them out. Songs like "The Cave" and "Little Lion Man" got sort of popular, but I like "White Blank Page" and other lesser known songs. • Muse - Alt, progressive, space, indie rock. I assume many people have heard of Muse already, but for those of you that haven't I'd definitely suggest you try them out if you're into their type of music. Great lyrics coupled with amazingly put together songs. "Muscle Museum" is one of my favorite songs by them that isn't well known. • MxPx - Punk, Pop Punk. Their name was originally "Maximum Plaid" but MxPx stuck after putting it on the cover of an album. Fun lyrics with some great bass riffs . Give them a listen. Their older stuff is more punk, while their newer stuff is more pop punk. • Oceansize - Space Rock, prog rock. Very interesting sound. I've heard they're more popular in Europe, but I have yet to meet more than three people in the US that listen to them so far haha. Their song "Music for a Nurse" is the most popular I believe. • Staind - Acoustic all the way to screamo. Most people know Staind for songs like "Outside", "It's Been awhile" and similar, but not many people know they have a heavy, dark side. Even if you've listened to a few of their popular songs, give them some more time. • The Arkhams - Rockabilly, Psychobilly. I found this band through a game (WET) and I really enjoy them. Fast paced and gets you moving with lyrics and a vocalist that remind me somewhat of Elvis. Definitely a band that deserves more light. • Thornley - Rock. Their song "Beautiful" is semi-popular but I don't think it was ever on the radio. As far as I'm aware they've only got one album out. They aren't too original sounding, but they're good. • Thrice - Rock, Acoustic, Space Rock, more... Thrice has an amazing array of music. Listen to at least 6 or 7 songs off different albums before you judge them. • Wintersun - Melodic Death Metal. One of the only metal bands I can say I like listening to. The writer, Jari Maenpaa, is a perfectionist. He's been working on his second album "Time" for over 10 years now, trying to get it perfect. Even if you're not a huge fan of metal, listen to this band. The melodic part shines through in most of their songs, and the average length is 8 minutes. The singer screams, but it's more of a growl, and you can understand every carefully chosen word he says. A little story about them: I did a project in my guitar class my junior year of high school about Jari. We were only allowed to play up to 1 minute of music so the class could hear what the band was like. My music teacher got so into it, the song played for 3 minutes while he had his eyes closed and was "conducting" the music with his hand. They're a VERY talented group of people, and this proves it. My teacher dislikes this genre usually, but he was entranced by Wintersun. That's it for now. Let me know what you guys think and who you've heard of. Thank you for taking the time to read through it all.
  9. @Amused: I think that's a good idea haha @Bleedink: I'll have to say that a lot of the more technical side of your post went over my head. Up until a few months ago I had never even listened to anything other than CD rips and MP3s, so I'm not entirely sure what "24/96" means. I know it's a type of recording or format but passed that my best guess has something to do with bit depth or something? I won't make a fool of myself guessing any further though haha And yeah, I assumed so with the torrenting and such. I'm all for supporting artists, big and small, and wouldn't try to talk anyone into using torrents Thank you for your reply, at least, what I understood of it haha. I'll have to do more research on the parts I didn't quite get though
  10. Well as the TOS says nothing about torrents I'm going to make an assumption that the mention of them isn't against site rules (though it may have just been forgotten, or posted somewhere else?). I have seen a FLAC discography for Tool on a torrenting website. As I'm not sure on the communities view on torrents themselves I won't post a link or say the name of the site. As for the surround sound recordings, well I'm not too sure either. I will say that I listened to the FLAC 10,000 Days (average bitrate around 800) and it sounded like it could be surround sound, though I'm not sure if I've ever actually heard true surround sound music on anything other than a DVD (that wasn't played on my set up) so don't take my word for it. Question that's off topic but something you touched on: how can you tell if a track has been up sampled? Are there certain characteristics in the quality? Or is it just an obvious lack of being better?
  11. @Sik: 10,000 Days and Aenima are my two favorite albums by Tool, with Lateralus as number 3. I'd definitely recommend the whole album. Also, Aenima is one of my favorite songs by them I'm glad that others here have heard of Tool. I think I'm going to make another thread with a list of bands people should listen to instead of just one (multi-task and save from cluttering up the forum with lots of new threads). I was wondering, though, if the links to Youtube were useful or if you guys have a better method for previewing music?
  12. Well I appreciate the advice and I will definitely take it. However, I'll have to wait quite a long time, until I can afford to. For now I'm happy with my set-up, minus the surrounds (they're cheap pioneers, but they're better than any of the other speakers I have around for where I need them to be). I'm going to list the price I paid for the speakers I have so you know why I have them, because I think even though you have the speakers you like now, you would have jumped on them if you saw them too. • JBL Pro VIII - $30 for the pair • Klipsch KV-1 Center - $6 (tweeter was blown, $25 for the replacement, so $31) • Polk Audio 8" subwoofer - $25 • Pioneers - $3 • Sony receiver - $5 I'll link you guys to the pics I have on Facebook. I don't know the community well, but I assume anyone on here who wanted to find me easily could by looking up my "shawn7656" as I use it a lot, so I've got nothing to worry about. The condition of these speakers are phenomenal. (I have pictures of the first set of speakers I used for surrounds up instead of the current ones. Those didn't cut it though, they were too quiet and too bass-y) Things are MOSTLY in the same place as they are in the pictures. I live with my Dad, and I moved in with him around 3 years ago, so the rooms wallpaper and carpet color aren't my choices lol My center is where the receiver is shown to be, and the receiver is now situated behind my left monitor for space saving purposes and because the center was too high on top of the receiver and it didn't sound right EDIT: Also, as stated earlier in the thread, my JBLs live on top of the Akais at the moment, they're not on top of my desk anymore
  13. I've been listening to a lot of Tool lately. For anyone who has never listened to them, here is a link to a list of bands that are similar so you can get an idea of what they sound like http://www.mademan.com/mm/10-bands-sound-tool.html There are two songs in particular I'd like to share with you guys though and they're both off of the album "10,000 days". The songs are "Wings for Marie (pt.1) and "10,000 days" which is part 2 of Wings for Marie. Listen to the song and you get a real idea of the work put into making the music. The dynamics, the flow.. Everything fits so perfectly. I enjoyed the songs more than I ever had listening to them through surround sound but I know they sound amazing in stereo as well. Please let me know what you guys think of the songs. As I'm new here I'm not sure if it's customary to link to the songs or not. Youtube will almost surely not be able to provide the greatest quality but I'll put links to the songs anyways so you can preview them at least Wings for Marie 10,000 Days
  14. Well thank you for the suggestion. I guess I probably could have done a bit of research on it before asking Can you explain a bit more in-depth as to why you don't like using subwoofers? I know you said that good speakers can replicate their sound with ease, but does that mean I'll actually have a better sound without it?
  15. Thank you for all of your advice Bleedink. Once I get a job I'll probably look into getting matching speakers, but the only sets I've found for cheap around here are of terrible quality (like Panasonic 5.1 surround kits or something on Craigslist for $60). I am wondering how to force Jriver into playing 5.1 though. I've only been using this program since last night so I don't know my way around it too well. As a side question since we're talking about it - How do I get multiple albums to play in succession when in the "Artists" view? I'd rather use the "Files" view, but I don't like that when I type letters hoping to drop down to bands starting with those letters, it brings me to the nearest album starting with that letter (or so it seems). If the way I said that doesn't convey what I'm talking about properly, here's an example. Let's say I want to listen to Tool, I type "tool" on my keyboard, and it'll bring me to the album "Too Bad You're Beautiful" by From Autumn to Ashes. Also, is there a way to edit keyboard shortcuts? I'd like to use either the arrow keys for skipping tracks, or the layout winamp uses (Z is previous, C is pause, B is next track) EDIT: As a side note, I just ordered that cable. It should be here, according to Amazon, between the 2nd and the 8th. I wonder why it's going to take so long
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