EEVblog #856 - Mailbag

[EEVblog]

More Mailbag Monday



SPOILERS:
Qiktag Indiegogo
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/qiktag-it#/
Apple iMac Power Supply
Victorinox Minichamp Swiss Army Knife
Caran d'Ache pen
Kübrich Ingenieure Hose Clamp aren't the Dodgy Brothers
http://www.kuebrich.com/
HF Splitter Teardown from Bitshift Dynamics
http://www.bitshift-dynamics.de/
The finiest Audiophoolery from Nordost, the Odin reference speaker cable:
http://nordost.com/odin-supreme-reference/odin/speaker-cable.php
And a package for Sagan

[indole]

Looks like the SD audio board is similar to http://www.ebay.ca/itm/TF-card-U-disk-MP3-Format-decoder-board-module-amplifier-decoding-audio-Player-M-/291687925029

Cheapo MP3 player, maybe hack one together into a personalized FAIL button?

[muffenme]

The other one look like http://www.ebay.ca/itm/GPD2846A-TF-Card-MP3-Decoder-Board-2W-Amplifier-Module-for-Arduino-/381374686711?hash=item58cbb3e5f7:g:ttsAAOSwyQtVr3J3.   It's a GPD2846A TF Card MP3 Decoder Board 2W Amplifier Module.  Nothing to wright home about but for someone new to electronics then this could be cool.  This unit is a $2 USD item.
This bigger mp3 is a http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Audio-Player-Amplifier-MP3-Format-Decoder-module-3-7-5-5V-for-Arduino-/201467969361?hash=item2ee86d3f51:g:LMAAAOSwIwhWSYn9.  It's a Audio Player Amplifier MP3 Format Decoder module 3.7-5.5V. This unit a $3 item.

Great show.

[tpw_rules]

One interesting detail with the iMac power supply is actually how it fits in the computer's architecture. As opposed to a standard computer where the power supply takes mains in and outputs 5V, 3.3V, 12V, etc, that board only outputs 12V at 30 amps if I can read it right. There is another board with several DC-DC converters to generate all the system voltages, kind of like a laptop. This means a) if that board works, it's a fairly nasty 12V supply and b) you can run an iMac off a car battery. I had an older one with a failed mains board which ran fine like that. I'm not sure anything (except perhaps the hard drive) gets the input voltage so it was fine with any voltage from like 10 to 14 volts.

[Andy Watson]

Potter verb work, act in feeble, unsystematic way.

In the Old Dart, sheds are good places to potter.

[rrinker]

 So Down Under do you need to hook those fancy speaker cables up the opposite way so the nanobullshit particles don't all fall out?
 

[Don Hills]

That "orange peeler" thingy on the Minichamp is also useful for opening welded clamshell plastic bubble packs.

[SNGLinks]

Portion Down is a British government research establishment known for its controversial chemical and biological weapon research. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porton_Down

[Towger]

I though Daddy would have a laugh, even if most of it currently goes over Sagan's head. Many of the 'stories' are very British, even Yanks may not understand them.

From the days when engineers wore suits:

[LazyJack]

The pronunciation of Caran d'Ache is something like Caran-d-ash. It actually comes from the Russian word for pencil. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caran_d%27Ache_%28company%29

[rrinker]

 Those organized tins of hardware that Dave bought? That guy was clearly related to Roland.

[Fungus]

Am I the only one who imagined a mini Jacob's Ladder when I saw this?



All it needs is the right sort of transient... 


But come on: That thing has a backlight, a trimmer, a MOV, a proper shunt (trimmed with solder blobs) ... it's a luxury multimeter!

[kunzem]

on the cabletv amplifier the things are transformers for impedance matching and allow to injection the supply voltage into the signals.

[Groucho2005]

So Down Under do you need to hook those fancy speaker cables up the opposite way so the nanobullshit particles don't all fall out?
 

The cables do have to be hooked up the opposite way in Aussieland but the reason is another - The nanobullshit particles are constantly spinning within the wires but, just like water in a drain, they spin the other way in the southern hemisphere.

Also, these cables need a very long burn-in time until the molecules (and the nanobullshit particles of course) have aligned themselves for maximum listening pleasure. Before serious listening, burn them in with the amplifier at maximum power 24/7 for about 8 months.

[Zbig]

The cables do have to be hooked up the opposite way in Aussieland but the reason is another - The nanobullshit particles are constantly spinning within the wires but, just like water in a drain, they spin the other way in the southern hemisphere.

Also, these cables need a very long burn-in time until the molecules (and the nanobullshit particles of course) have aligned themselves for maximum listening pleasure. Before serious listening, burn them in with the amplifier at maximum power 24/7 for about 8 months.

I know that just trying to apply any reason to the "directional speaker cable" BS is a mistake but is this bunch really so dense that none of them actually realizes that audio signal is f*%^!$g bipolar? Like, the current flowing in each direction more or less half the time?

[Fungus]

this bunch really so dense that none of them actually realizes that audio signal is f*%^!$g bipolar? Like, the current flowing in each direction more or less half the time?

But... one end of the cable is connected to ground, isn't it?

[Groucho2005]

this bunch really so dense that none of them actually realizes that audio signal is f*%^!$g bipolar? Like, the current flowing in each direction more or less half the time?

But... one end of the cable is connected to ground, isn't it?

Not necessarily.

[Brumby]

eg .... a bridged amplifier.

[Groucho2005]

eg .... a bridged amplifier.

Or simply a symmetrical amp.

[rrinker]

So Down Under do you need to hook those fancy speaker cables up the opposite way so the nanobullshit particles don't all fall out?
 

The cables do have to be hooked up the opposite way in Aussieland but the reason is another - The nanobullshit particles are constantly spinning within the wires but, just like water in a drain, they spin the other way in the southern hemisphere.

Also, these cables need a very long burn-in time until the molecules (and the nanobullshit particles of course) have aligned themselves for maximum listening pleasure. Before serious listening, burn them in with the amplifier at maximum power 24/7 for about 8 months.

 Yes, I realized my mistake after posting. Clearly it is rotationally influenced, not up/down.  Hmm, perhaps someone needs to sell a burn-in rig so people can optimize their cable performance. Think your $100K cable gives you the best listening experience? Think again. Your cable can be even better after it is properly burned in to align 100% of the nanobullshit particles. Make sure you optimize your ultimate cables with our new BullBurner cable optimizer.

 Of course then the company making the cables would simply change over their literature to indicate that the cables are 100% burned in at the factory and come ready to use.

 Was that here, or somewhere else, that I saw the multi-thousand dollar 1 meter long Ethernet cable which was also 'directional'? Designed to optimize your MP3 experience.... 

[Zbig]

Even in the implementations it actually is, what's the difference anyway? Isn't these guys' point that the current flows "better" in the "right" direction of the cable? What does the presence or the lack of the ground reference on either of the amp posts change in that respect?

EDIT:
What I mean is: regardless of the implementation, your speaker's diaphragm doesn't sit half-extended during the silent periods of the audio signal, right?

[Brumby]

 Was that here, or somewhere else, that I saw the multi-thousand dollar 1 meter long Ethernet cable which was also 'directional'? Designed to optimize your MP3 experience.... 

I think you might mean this.  It was here....

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/eevblog-2015-top-5-bullshit-products-award/msg822776/#msg822776

Audiophoolery unidirectional ethernet cable: http://www.audioquest.com/ethernet/diamond

USD$1195.00 for 1.5 metres of Cat 7 cable!?! Holy shit. Although not a bad business model; Invent some hocus-pocus that sounds kind of believable and morons will be throwing money at you.

I was going to think of something clever to go with a few excerpts from the site - but when I read this, the enthusiasm vanished...

DIRECTIONALITY: All audio cables are directional. The correct direction is determined by listening to every batch of metal conductors used in every AudioQuest audio cable. Arrows are clearly marked on the connectors to ensure superior sound quality. For best results have the arrow pointing in the direction of the flow of music. For example, NAS to Router, Router to Network Player.

   How the hell do they come up with this stuff?

[Groucho2005]

What does the presence or the lack of the ground reference on either of the amp posts change in that respect?

Nothing. 

[Groucho2005]

Also, these cables need a very long burn-in time until the molecules (and the nanobullshit particles of course) have aligned themselves for maximum listening pleasure. Before serious listening, burn them in with the amplifier at maximum power 24/7 for about 8 months.

I forgot to mention that the burn-in procedure cannot be done with just any signal or music material. For people who prefer a more relaxed and valve-like sound, use a mixture of Kenny G, Bananarama and Cole Porter. Make sure that the room temperature is between 22 and 24 degrees Celsius at all times.
For people who like a more analytical sounding system, use Sex Pistols, Kraftwerk and 50 Cent. Room temperature in this scenario should be between 18 and 20 degrees Celsius.

[FrankBuss]

What's wrong with these cheap Chinese multimeters? Of course, you shouldn't use it for measuring mains, the inside doesn't look very CAT II safe as printed on the top, and the cables don't have enough copper for 10 A, but otherwise it might be useful for reasonable accurate low voltage and resistor testing. Might even have a faster continuity tester than more expensive multimeters.