Snake oil

[Specmaster]

Of course it is. But it's better presented than half of the snake oil products are.

I wonder how many people have tried to order one? Some people are so gullible that they will be asking for it, especially as it mentions RSGB members get a discount 🤣🤣🤣

[CJay]

Of course it is. But it's better presented than half of the snake oil products are.

I wonder how many people have tried to order one? Some people are so gullible that they will be asking for it, especially as it mentions RSGB members get a discount 🤣🤣🤣

I'm hoping that anyone who tries to order it gets their licence revoked.

It's a very old joke though, Pama Communications had a load of aerosol tins printed up with SWR Spray as an April fools back in the late 80s and gave them away.

[Cyberdragon]

I would like to add to that "Alignment/Tuning Spray" and "Anti-DX Spray".

[djos]

From Radcom this month

  That was extremely funny!

[Ice-Tea]

From Radcom this month

That's a joke, right?

Somebody please tell me this is a joke?

[Specmaster]

From Radcom this month

That's a joke, right?

Somebody please tell me this is a joke?

Yes it's a joke

[coppice]

From Radcom this month

Its a pity they didn't actually produce tins of that stuff. I think its something every lab should have a tin of, just so you can watch who tries applying a little of it to their problems. 

[Don Hills]

That looks a lot like a can of paste flux.

[SeanB]

Looks more like a can of dielectric grease, actually very useful in outdoor applications to keep the plugs and sockets from corroding into a mess, though of course for best results you apply it, tighten up the plug and socket then wrap it with a layer of PVC tape and overwrap with self amalgamating tape for full weather protection.

Got the cans, got the grease........

[kjr18]

When I connect my headphones to front panel of my pc i can hear some strange noises, even when I scroll pages or do anything. You think this can help me??? Something like this can actually work in some cases or it's total pure chinesium snake oil?

[Richard Crowley]

I suspect that plug-in capacitor filter board actually has a chance of reducing (or removing) that kind of noise, especially if you can some how locate it close to the audio circuits.  But 50USD seems like a opportunistic price for a simple concept.

OTOH, any audio circuit built on the computer motherboard (or anywhere inside the box, for that matter) is operating in "hostile territory".  Most people who are serious about audio use external audio interfaces.  There are likely several effective choices that cost less than that board full of cheap capacitors.

[bd139]

That's quite funny actually. I wish I'd thought of it.

It's going to be no help whatsoever. Most of the noise from the headphone port on cheap PCs is due to poor design on the analogue circuits and proximity to the switching regulators resulting in pick up from the bus, power lines etc.

As a contrast, I used to have an M-Audio 2496 card inside my PC, right in the thick of the noisy problems. Nada, nothing, not a sausage. No fancy shit or capacitors here:



External DAC doesn't save you from the noise; it merely allows you to not use the lowest cost design for audio output the mobo manufacturer could get away with.

[Specmaster]

I've always used soundblaster cards made by Creative as the heart of my computer sound system and I must say that it works pretty well though expensive. I currently have a Asus with built in Realtek HD 7.1 sound system and the sound from that via my Altec Lansing ADA995 Lucas Film THX certified 5.1 speaker system with 5 channels @21w (woofer and tweeter in each) and the sub woofer 94w with 2 subs in the cabinet and the power amps weighing in at 17kg alone.

The sound from that setup is awesome and I often chuckle while listening to it because it was being offered for free on the local freecycle site a few years ago and I was the lucky sod who got it, never before heard sound like it from a computer. I know have fitted a bluray drive to the computer and often watch films on it in my workshop 

Still struggle to understand how anyone could give it away, I've had it many years now and its never been any problem whatsoever, love it. 

[kjr18]

OTOH, any audio circuit built on the computer motherboard (or anywhere inside the box, for that matter) is operating in "hostile territory".  Most people who are serious about audio use external audio interfaces.  There are likely several effective choices that cost less than that board full of cheap capacitors.

Problem disappears when I connect headphones to the "back" (not really back as I have another audio port on top of my desk, connected with cheap cable). This card would not work, probably because the problem is flimsy cheap cables connecting hdaudio connector and front panel. So many things to go wrong in these, it's crazy.

[bd139]

Probably not even shielded cable.

[Specmaster]

Probably not even shielded cable.

I agree, by plugging the headphones in the back port, not only are plugging directly into the audio card but the PC case itself effectively becomes a screen so the headphone cable is less prone to picking up spurious signals.

[SeanB]

My first Sound blaster card, ISA 16 bit, I made a copper plate shield for, and put it at the far end of the ISA card slots, so the shield was only on the component side, the case itself making up the rest of the shield. Lost the ISA slot next to it though, as I used the blank to mount the copper foil, with a cardboard layer each side for isolation, and used a copper braid to attach it to the case. Dropped the audible RF noise a lot on the card though.

With on motherboard you are SOL though, as they typically either did not worry about any noise induced into the audio, or costed out the decent RF filtering during manufacture, replacing the RF chokes and the bulk capacitors with zero ohm links and nominal chip ceramic capacitors. Some boards you probably could reinstate the capacitors and chokes and improve things, but the best is to use an external DAc of sorts. Preferablu one that has a Toslink connection , as that provides really good RF isolation as the signal goes via a non copper path, though there you are also going to have design issues if the power supply for the DAC there is noisy.

[Buriedcode]

OTOH, any audio circuit built on the computer motherboard (or anywhere inside the box, for that matter) is operating in "hostile territory".  Most people who are serious about audio use external audio interfaces.  There are likely several effective choices that cost less than that board full of cheap capacitors.

Problem disappears when I connect headphones to the "back" (not really back as I have another audio port on top of my desk, connected with cheap cable). This card would not work, probably because the problem is flimsy cheap cables connecting hdaudio connector and front panel. So many things to go wrong in these, it's crazy.

Don't blame the motherboard, blame the case.  The front panel TRS sockets (for headphones and mic) are part of the case, and are not seen as a critical component, so the small PCB's and connectors they use, as well as the cables, are often very cheap with no shielding.  They are also often long, giving you a good 50cm of unshielded cable to pick up lots of EMI inside the PC case.

The rear connector however, is mounted directly on the motherboard (or on the soundcard if you have one).  This is seen as a critical component of the board, so the mobo manufacturers don't use cheap connectors as they dont' want customers throwing away the whole board because of one crappy connector. 

I'm not suggesting you should buy "expensive" PC cases - even the $400 ones use the same cheap connectors.  Ultimately, the front penal sockets are for convenience, and if it really bothers you, you could replace the cheap sockets and the cable with a shielded one (shield connected to chasis at one end).

[kjr18]

I have a Acer Veriton M670G case and Asus F1A75-M Pro motherboard. As this board has some fancy 90 degrees sata connections I tend to not do anything inside my PC unless it's really important. Just connecting hard drives was hard enough to take some time. Audio quality doesn't bother me much, as I rarely have silent headphones on my head Also in many cases front USB ports sockets are crap too.

I suspect that plug-in capacitor filter board actually has a chance of reducing (or removing) that kind of noise, especially if you can some how locate it close to the audio circuits.  But 50USD seems like a opportunistic price for a simple concept.

OTOH, any audio circuit built on the computer motherboard (or anywhere inside the box, for that matter) is operating in "hostile territory".  Most people who are serious about audio use external audio interfaces.  There are likely several effective choices that cost less than that board full of cheap capacitors.

Inside that case I also have small high gain microphone amp, and I can't hear any more than normal noise from it. So it's really more of a cable issue and cards like these are good only if you have too much cash. Like most of things in this thread. By the way, anyone heard about Virtual Fuses?

[Canis Dirus Leidy]

Did you know that from two LEDs, microphone and one switch you can make a homeopathic duplicator (with English manual on third photo)?
https://pikabu.ru/story/vyisokie_tekhnologii_alkhimikov_5803444

[bd139]

 

I think a lot of people seem to think that merely believing something looks like it might work is science or engineering. Much as when I was about 5 years old I made my own spacecraft out of bog roll and cake cases, I genuinely believed that it would work in space. That was until my father gave that important life lesson of "looks really cool but it's art, not science or engineering" and told me what the latter were and how it all worked. This was rather exciting and whet my appetite for building real things that worked. I think some people don't get that life lesson.

[Cyberdragon]

Did you know that from two LEDs, microphone and one switch you can make a homeopathic duplicator (with English manual on third photo)?
https://pikabu.ru/story/vyisokie_tekhnologii_alkhimikov_5803444

My personal favorite was the comment telling him to write to the SCP foundation.

[BillB]

A homeopathic duplicator?  That's brilliant!  I've been looking for a product idea...

I think a lot of people seem to think that merely believing something looks like it might work is science or engineering. Much as when I was about 5 years old I made my own spacecraft out of bog roll and cake cases, I genuinely believed that it would work in space. That was until my father gave that important life lesson of "looks really cool but it's art, not science or engineering" and told me what the latter were and how it all worked. This was rather exciting and whet my appetite for building real things that worked. I think some people don't get that life lesson.

Was that after he told you there is no Santa Claus?

[McBryce]

A homeopathic duplicator?  That's brilliant!  I've been looking for a product idea...

I think a lot of people seem to think that merely believing something looks like it might work is science or engineering. Much as when I was about 5 years old I made my own spacecraft out of bog roll and cake cases, I genuinely believed that it would work in space. That was until my father gave that important life lesson of "looks really cool but it's art, not science or engineering" and told me what the latter were and how it all worked. This was rather exciting and whet my appetite for building real things that worked. I think some people don't get that life lesson.

Was that after he told you there is no Santa Claus?

What?? What do you mean, there's no Santa Claus??

McBryce.

Gesendet von meinem Motorola DynaTAC 8000x mit Tapatalk

[coppice]

Was that after he told you there is no Santa Claus?

What?? What do you mean, there's no Santa Claus??
[/quote]
I've seen Santa Claus.... or was that Santa Clara?