Nice Things

[Talan]

1 hour ago, CSL said:

I agree re the macbook air. Very decent.

The pro I had before that was awful. Buzzy & distorted.

I agree. My old pro and previous air sounded worse. Something happened in the last couple of years, I guess Apple managed to get a sound designer or a designing team with golden ears 🙂.

[Duke Mantee]

On 9/16/2024 at 7:21 AM, Double 0 Soul said:

I might do at some point.. i'm not using any editing software at the mo so i'm not recording anything.

The inbuilt speakers are shite but they sound incredible through headphones so i've been programming them, sat in the chair, sequencer on my knee with the headphones plugged in (+ i'm not sure the family really want to be listening to repeating drum patterns for hours on end) i've programmed patterns into lets say 8 of the steps (some i've made up, some i've copied like VooDoo Ray) and i leave another 8 steps open to fk around with..

I've since synced the TR08 and TR09 together with a midi cable which opens up a whole new world of sounds.. mainly using the TR-09 for the heavy baseline and TR-08 for everything else.. then i've connected them together with a 3.5mm jack from the phono socket to the 'mix in' so no sound comes out of the units.. then i've connected the master unit to my amp via RCA into the output so all the sounds come out of my main speakers..  then i can plug my headphones into the amp and all the sounds come through the headphones which is just mindblowing..

I got a ‘job’ in a school band because I figured out how to use a Korg MS-10 the group had bought … well it was the drummer bought it because his dad was loaded; we used to practice in the loft of his dad’s garage. My family didn’t have a car, never mind a garage, so it was quite something to see a garage that had a loft big enough for the band gear and still have plenty room to play table tennis. Anyway the Roland TB-303 came along a few years later and we convinced him to buy that too - loved it. Eventually I got to try out quite a few synths and drum machines.

I just noodle on my iPad with those sounds now.

Edited September 21 by Duke Mantee

[reallypeacedoff]

What software did everyone use to create music back in the day? Reason, I think it was called? You could "plug in" different synths and whatnot. I remember notating (for drums) all my favorite songs in Notepad. Isolate the drums and then mix them with my drums. Was a good way to learn and find any mistakes in your drum tablature. Good times!

[Double 0 Soul]

I was more of a turntable kid, bitd

[UkeNo]

Technics 1200mk2
Vestax PMC 05 Pro mk2
Akai MPC2000xl
Yamaha CS2 / Juno 106
Yamaha NS10’s
Mackie mixer
tape deck. 
That’s all you need(ed) 

Edited September 24 by UkeNo

[smoothsailor]

^ and some records

[Duke Mantee]

19 hours ago, reallypeacedoff said:

What software did everyone use to create music back in the day? Reason, I think it was called? You could "plug in" different synths and whatnot. I remember notating (for drums) all my favorite songs in Notepad. Isolate the drums and then mix them with my drums. Was a good way to learn and find any mistakes in your drum tablature. Good times!

There was no software 

[Broark]

Got a new car almost three weeks ago now, very happy with it so far.
Had to get something a little larger with the growing family. Also enjoying driving something electric, was getting tired of filling up every week.

[indigoeagle]

9 minutes ago, Broark said:

Got a new car almost three weeks ago now, very happy with it so far.
Had to get something a little larger with the growing family. Also enjoying driving something electric, was getting tired of filling up every week.



 

It looks really nice.
But how often do you have to charge this one? And how long does charge take?
Do you have cold climate? You're in Texas, no? So probably not ;D

[Broark]

3 minutes ago, indigoeagle said:

It looks really nice.
But how often do you have to charge this one? And how long does charge take?
Do you have cold climate? You're in Texas, no? So probably not ;D

I get about ~370 miles on a full charge, but I've been charging to 85% to keep the battery health in line.
That equates to about 300 miles, so I'm only charging once or maybe twice a week depending on how much driving I'm doing.
I'm charging in my garage at home via my dryer outlet, and generally it takes about 10 hours. So I'll plug in overnight and it's good to go by the morning.
Don't have to worry too much about the cold weather impact, but will keep an eye on it this winter whenever we do get the few weeks of "winter".
 

[AlientoyWorkmachine]

^ Hell yea. We've got an EV too - though my wife mainly drives it. Once our other car bites the dust, which is probably a good ways off, I'm never putting money in an ICE vehicle again, not that I enjoy driving all that much anyways but it's just better in every way - and ours is one that has comparatively crappy range (210 miles). For most lifestyles if you've got a home, it's a convenience not an inconvenience. When we do take longer trips, none of the charging FUD has come to pass (for us).

As for me, well, I've been riding the same aluminum fixie/single speed for almost 20 years. Just got back from picking up my first new bike since college. Pretty excited for this one. It's a Wilde Supertramp stock build for those who are into bikes. 

Edited October 16 by AlientoyWorkmachine

[Double 0 Soul]

Love the front.. not sure about the rest of it though!?  like a friday afternoon styled car.. the designer spent all week meticulously working on the front end.. dudes from the office shout "you coming to the pub" yeah fk it.. draw a box on wheels and it's done..

What's all this with the growing family, is there a baby-broark on the way?

[Double 0 Soul]

Only thing i can offer this week is an Anna Soba handmade cat mug

Charmingly wonky.. all her cats have bumholes

Edited October 16 by Double 0 Soul

[Broark]

17 minutes ago, Double 0 Soul said:

Love the front.. not sure about the rest of it though!?  like a friday afternoon styled car.. the designer spent all week meticulously working on the front end.. dudes from the office shout "you coming to the pub" yeah fk it.. draw a box on wheels and it's done..

What's all this with the growing family, is there a baby-broark on the way?

That's fair, I personally like the box-on-wheels look! And compared to most EVs that look like blobs on wheels I'll take the boxy look.
I considered the new redesigned Land Cruiser for a bit, but it didn't do much for me when I test drove it.
And yup, due here in the next couple of months. I've already been told I need to find somewhere else to store my jeans.

[Maynard Friedman]

There’s plenty of storage room in your new monster truck, I mean, car! 

[Double 0 Soul]

Oh wow! congratulations.. that's great news

2 minutes ago, Broark said:

That's fair, I personally like the box-on-wheels look! And compared to most EVs that look like blobs on wheels I'll take the boxy look.

I like a box on wheels too.. (i drove a 240 wagon around for years) but it's only the side view^^ which looks like a box on wheels, the front looks like something from the future.. the headlights remind me of a Dyson fan heater

[julian-wolf]

Neat choice @Broark, I have trouble getting behind those from an aesthetic perspective but they seem like the pragmatic choice in a lot ways, and of the models they make yours is by far the least bad looking

I’ve been looking at EVs recently, too, and if the plan was to make it our only car that one ^ would definitely be in the running. As is, I’m most likely to land on either a Polestar II or one of the new Volvos, but it’s still pretty up in the air…all I know is my new(ish) job has me commuting 25 miles each way and the parking lot has free electric charging, so I’d be a fool not to take advantage

[Broark]

2 minutes ago, julian-wolf said:

all I know is my new(ish) job has me commuting 25 miles each way and the parking lot has free electric charging, so I’d be a fool not to take advantage

This was part of my consideration as well, my new-ish commute is about 40 miles round trip and the office has very cheap charging available.
Definitely beats the ~$70 a week I was paying in fuel filling up my old car.

[AlientoyWorkmachine]

@julian-wolfwe drive a 2023 c40 and would totally vouch for it. I’d get it again 10 times out of 10. Xc40 too, but we got a deal on the c and the shape didn’t matter much for us, no practical difference. 

[tooth]

My wife’s parents have a Volvo c40 and love it. I’ve driven it a few times and it’s great - very zippy and fun to drive.

This is my electric, which I love… although, I still have range anxiety when driving up in the mountains especially in the winter (I’m in Colorado). I’ve had it a bit over a year and the range is pretty drastic between summer and winter. During the winter I also have a ski box on top so that doesn’t help at all.

Audi Q8-Etron

I like the Rivian @Broark. At first I wasn’t sold on it, but the more I see that model around the more I’ve grown to like it.

[julian-wolf]

The modern gas Volvos do seem like a lot of fun. My absolute dream car, in a lot of ways, has always been the V70R (or, really, the 850 T-5R, if I lived somewhere where they'd been available w/ standard transmissions…but the V70R is a close second)—the Outback 2.5XT that I've been driving for the last 4+ years is great, and probably more reliable than the Volvo, but it still sort of feels like a facsimile.

I never thought I'd consider buying an electric car, but I guess lots of "car guys" would probably say that. A buddy of mine (& a definite "car guy") got a Polestar II when they came out and he loves it. The interfaces are weird and all that, but fuck they're fast. That said, even if I could swing it at MSRP, I don't think I'd see it as a great value proposition—but these days enough of them are showing up on the used market for more or less half price that it's hard not to consider them, especially with how expensive used gas cars are right now.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Double 0 Soul]

Y'all need to start driving tiny micro-cars or what us Europeans would refer to as 'cars'

Our roads are just not suitable for these types of vehicles, but while you're driving the market forward it ain't going to change for the rest of us and i'll have to share the cycle lanes with these monstrosities.. i appreciate, they shouldn't be driving in the cycle lanes but our roads are way too narrow for two of these monster trucks to pass on either side of the road unless they do, so it comes down to.. are SUV drivers in the UK incredibly selfish?.. yes! indeed they are. 

Come on Americans.. it's up to you to save us all from this motoring hell! ..

[CSL]

On 9/21/2024 at 2:05 PM, reallypeacedoff said:

What software did everyone use to create music back in the day? Reason, I think it was called? You could "plug in" different synths and whatnot. I remember notating (for drums) all my favorite songs in Notepad. Isolate the drums and then mix them with my drums. Was a good way to learn and find any mistakes in your drum tablature. Good times!

Reviving the music recording discussion here, in my youth I had a Sony dual cassette player/recorder. You could record a track on one cassette, then bounce it over to the second cassette while adding another live track. After repeating this multiple times the initial track(s) would lose fidelity & get darker & murkier sounding, but it definitely had a vibe. 

[AlientoyWorkmachine]

@Double 0 Soul - we aren’t given many options for just cars here anymore, which is a real shame. A lot of people drive SUVs just so they feel safer/ don’t feel smaller on the road stuffed with them. Obviously some need the utility but in a town like where I’m at, it’s just not the norm. I’m mostly with you here - I am on my bike more than in a car, and I wish to go there were less of these on the road. 

@julian-wolf what i’d really love is an EV Volvo wagon. They have them in Europe I believe (I swear I saw one in Scotland this summer). But the polestar 2 is the closest thing to that for now in the US, since car makers again don’t give us as many “car” options, and the PHEV v70 they offer is crazy expensive. 

[Broark]

Large SUVs don't make sense for most places in the world, I get that.
But when you're dealing with highways like this and people are consistently going 80+ mph I'd prefer to be visible.

If I had it my way I'd live somewhere where I didn't have to rely on a car at all, but we're pigeonholed into it in the US unless you live in NYC.
Out of curiosity I looked up a place that I was headed to in town, about a 15-20 minute drive. To get there by bus it would've taken 2.5 hours.

[Double 0 Soul]

Where will it all end? to be visible / safe amongst the 2 tonne vehicles, you buy a 3t vehicle.. when everyone drives a 3t vehicle you buy 4.. the larger the cars get, the more dangerous roads become for other road users.. and crazy as it sounds, i’d like to be safe and visible too 

[indigoeagle]

The first time I was in the US, about ten years ago, in Miami, I had looked at the map and tried to walk. Like I'm used from Europe, at least when you're in the center of town.
I didn't have a mobile connection then. So checked before on the net and had a rough idea.
I quickly realized how big the distances were.
What I had anticipated as a walk of 20 minutes was more than an hour.

Also the people at the hotel were shocked, when I told them how I had walked back. Apparently I had walked through a very dangerous neighbourhood where you shouldn't walk through. I actually had a funny feeling but thought my mind was making it up. Luckily nothing happened.

So the next day I took the bus. It was a bit unusual.
So then I rented a car. I then realized, how much space there is. With many malls and restaurants just one floor and big parking spaces.

I NY and SF later walking and public transport was ok. But there I found a car very necessary. And also very easy and convenient to drive and park.

Edited October 17 by indigoeagle

[indigoeagle]

3 minutes ago, Double 0 Soul said:

Where will it all end? to be visible / safe amongst the 2 tonne vehicles, you buy a 3t vehicle.. when everyone drives a 3t vehicle you buy 4.. the larger the cars get, the more dangerous roads become for other road users.. and crazy as it sounds, i’d like to be safe and visible too 

I think the BEVs are often twice the weight of their ICE counterpart due to the battery.
So it's all a mixed bag.

[Broark]

I get what you're after, but the car size thing isn't exponential. I'd never drive a car larger than the one I have now.
In my city they're investing in and developing a lot of protected bike lanes and dedicated bike paths. I'm all for it.
We even voted for a massive public light rail project last year that's supposed to be completed over the next decade, but I have my doubts that it'll ever get completed.
If I didn't live on the opposite side of the city from where I work I'd consider biking. There just aren't many viable options.
I can guarantee that I'm never going to be the guy driving one of these. 🥴

[Maynard Friedman]

Not an especially nice thing but with all the car talk, it’s topical so I’ll throw it in…

Here’s our new (second hand) petrol Skoda Karoq we bought 2 weeks ago to replace the Mitsubishi Outlander (petrol hybrid) stolen from outside our house earlier this summer. It’s a bit of a relief not driving around with a 230kg battery in the back!

With no offstreet parking (for charging) for a house built in 1908, it’s not practical to have an electric vehicle where I live.