Grados SR-80 DIY Repair

The left channel to my SR-80 started going bad a few months back, but I was able to jiggle the connection to make it work. I knew I probably shouldn't do that and should either send it in for repairs by Grados or do it myself since it seems like something trivial.

Well the left channel completely died about 2 months back, but I have been forgetful and lazy to fix it. I couldn't stand not using my pair of headphones to listen to music, so I tried to find a way to repair it. Read some threads from www.head-fi.org for tips about how to go about this. It didn't seem too bad.

I was able to clearly see where the connection went bad in the wiring on the left channel close to where the left earphone was. So to begin, I took off the left earphone ear pad. Then I took isolated the earphone by getting it off the clamp that holds it. I then used a hair dryer to heat around the casing of the earphone and made sure not to aim the hair dryer directly at the front or back of it. After a minute or so, the casing got hot enough and you could feel that the glue has been soften because you can easily twist and pull it apart. I used an ohmmeter to check the connection. The blue wiring didn't give any reading, the red did. Confirmed wiring problem.

Now to perform some operation on it. Stripped apart the rubber casing that holds the red and blue wires and removed the stopper. Cut some heat shrink and replaced it. I also stripped part of the lower part of the rubber casing to get some room to work with. Clipped the wires at the point where the connection seemed to be broken because of the 90 degrees bend. Stripped the wires to expose the copper. Used this little thing I'm not sure what to call it, but my dad suggested to use it. Stuck the wires of one end through the cylinder opening of one end, and the other wires through the other end and clamped together. Soldered the ends. Repeated for the other color wires. After the soldering, I used the ohmmeter to test the connection again and it gave readings. Perfect. I then plugged it into my laptop to give it a test driver and it worked. Beautiful :]

Now I just used a lighter to heat the heat shrink and then I put it all back together the way I took it apart and that was it.

Now back to music :]

FTPS

Setup FileZilla Server version 0.9.39 as my FTP server on Windows Server 2003 and configured it for FTPS using Explicit SSL/TLS. Proceeded to write some batch scripts to automate my FTP process. It worked fine when I was transferring small files that required less than 10 minutes, but I would receive a "Winsock send command fail" error in the command prompt exactly at 10 minutes if the transfer time took more than 10 minutes.

Oh man. That error stumped for a bit. I tried resetting winsock by using the command "netsh winsock reset" in the command prompt, but to no avail. I was pretty sure I configured everything correctly for the routers and firewalls, but went through and checked everything several more times to be sure. I tried to do some research on winsock to see what could be the problem, but was not finding out much. I even thought it could of been an ISP problem but there didn't seem to be anything wrong except for performance spikes during my FTP session. Great. I just wanted some way to keep the control connection from idling either by extending the idle timeout of TCP/IP or sending input to keep the control connection thinking it isn't idle.

The solution: hash

Thank goodness my good friend Chik, Network Guru, found this link:

http://kb.iu.edu/data/aasc.html

Using hash sends # as control input until the file transfer is complete.

Ahhhh.. Everything works and all is well again.

HTC Glacier / T-Mobile MyTouch 4G Gingerbread Update

It seems today marks the beginning of T-Mobile's Android Gingerbread update rollout for the T-Mobile MyTouch 4G. Apparently I'm the first few who got the update as T-Mobile works to push the update to everybody by the end of this year.

I got my Gingerbread OTA notification to update around 3:00AM PST today. It's about time for an update and I'm glad that I'm part of the first few. I haven't really gotten a chance to play with it, but here are some of the things I've noticed so far:

"Screen locked" screen is different now and feels easier to unlock.

Check marks are now red.

Calculator is slightly different.

The data connectivity status now displays nothing, G, 2G, 3G, or 4G depending on your connection.

Keyboard layout is slightly different now.

Swype functionality improvement is noticeable. Accuracy seems to be better when swyping. There's no longer a pop up box to select the word you intended to swype. Instead, there's real time intelligence as you type or swype and you can select possible choice words that appear in between the bottom of the text message box and the top of the keyboard.

The Notification screen now has "Notifications" and "Quick Settings" tabs at the bottom. The "Notifications" tab displays the usual notifications and "Quick Settings" allows you to quickly turn on and off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Hotspot, GPS, Mobile Network, and access "All Settings"

Stock icons are sleeker. Internet now looks like it has blue yarn wrapping around the globe. The Power Control Widget are the same except the icons look softer and smoother.

The Calendar widget seems to actually display the agenda I have for the current date now and not show me the next day's agenda instead.

In the Desk Clock, the Night Mode dims the current Desk Clock screen and removes the tabs at the bottom instead of just turning into a dimmer version of the Desk Mode next to it.

That's about all for now. I hope there's an official log of changes released. Otherwise I'd have to play with the phone a bit more and see what other users have to say. So generic..."Various software and stability improvements". Anyhow, have fun and go explore those updates described below.

• New features:
  • 2010 Exchange compatibility
  • New version of Swype
  • Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) OS
• Improved issues:
• Bluetooth® audio works better when answering a call from phone and Bluetooth is paired
• Display is more stable and responsive during boot up or use
• Domestic roaming data connection is more stable
• Message inbox saves
• Various software and stability improvements

EDIT: Lame. There doesn't appear to be Gtalk with voice and video chat pushed through this firmware update. I thought Android 2.3.4 was expected to have this. No love.

Blizzcon09

Came home from San Diego to Irvine at 2 am.

Hung out with John, Wilson, Sam, Chik, and Zoe till 4am.

Showered and lagged till 6am.

I awoke 3 hours later at 9am.

$10 parking for the convention for one day.

Day two today. Another $10.

Met up with Kenneth and Austin + Crew and got inside.

Awestrucked by Blizzcon. First timer.

Saw a girl. Didn't know how to approach her.

Briefly met her before opening ceremony commenced.

Her name was Alex. She was a cute.

Didn't get to properly introduce myself.

Didn't get to hang out with her. :|.

Perhaps I'll bump into her again today.

"Good luck."

My walk from the parking lot directly across the Convention.

Arrived.

Fresh Breath of Blizzard.

Diablo 3 Demo. Several of 1400 High Performance PCs.

The gathering for opening ceremony.

Opening Ceremony.

Random pics of art.

Blizzcon has been great.

New found faith for the future.

Glad I was able to go.

Thanks Kenneth.

Still owe you.

ベガス・２

午前十時二十分ごろに起きた。まだ元気になった。しかたがない。僕のせいだ。僕たちはラス・ベガスが楽しみたかった。そして、二時間ごろにビュッフェへ行って食べた。全ての食べ物はとてもおいしかった。そのあと、ホテルにかえた。ともだちとレカーズのしあいを見た。レカーズをかったのでみんなはうれしかった。

ベガス！FUN FUN FUN OK!

今朝は一時間がねただけだのでつかれた。日本語のクラスのクイズがあった。こんどはだめだ。自分にがっかりした。えりんちゃんをまった見ないのでかなしくになった。クラスが終わった時は家にかえった。それから、ともだちとラス・ベガスにいった。酒を飲みすぎましたのであたまがいたかった。元気じゃないだからねむりに行く。明日はまったあたらしい日だ。色々なところにいくつもりだ。おやすみ。

まったく

今日はいい日だった。ながい先生は僕がながい先生としゃっしんをとられると言った。カメラをとちない。だから、けいたい電話をとってきってを使う。ともだちにしゃっしんを見せてまてない。日本語のクラスが終わる時は家にかえてねた。起きた時、UCIの中はあやしい男がいたのでアンデの家に行った。それで、食べて、ギターをひいて。今はつかれたになった。まった家にかえてねた。

せんせいとぼく

Sun God Festival '09

Sun God Festival '09.  May 15th, 2009.

Saw various performances at the three different tent/stages that were set up.

Motion City Soundtrack was all right.  Stopped a few times to get the crowd to move back from the front which kinda killed it.

Didn't have much sleep from studying all night before.  Drank an energy drink Albert got. 

Feel the boost!

N.E.R.D. performed.  Pharrell is straight out pimp.  The bassist doing a slide up made such an awesome sound.  I need more!

Met up with many friends.  Helen was able to skillfully slip the wristband off my wrist without breaking it.  W00t.  It's been a while since I've seen Tiffany.  I've missed her.  She seems to be doing well.  I asked Albert to take a picture and he screwed it up by moving the camera before it was captured.  It's all right though.  I'll try and sharpen the image someday by deconvolving it.

Me and Tiffany.

Fun weekend :]

やってみよう！

カンバセーションパートナーをもったのはおもしろくて、楽しかったと思った。いいチャンスは日本語を話すのをれんしゅうした。クラスではじめましたので鎌田絵里奈をえばった。電子メールをするではフードコールトに会うをさんせいした。あの日の時はどきどきした。ぶんを作るのはとてもむずかしいだったよ。鎌田さんはがまんずよかった。鎌田さんに会ったはよかった。カンバセーションでいろいろことをなられた。英語だけ少し話したでもつぎの時にはもっと話そう。

ぼくとかまたえりな。

Mario Kart, IRL.

Fake Item Box = Luggage.

Kart = Car.

You know how it is:

Kart + Fake Item Box = Q.Q

Media Players

VideoLAN VLC media player

VLC media player 0.9.9.

decided to try it out.  looks to have a lot of potential, but still a little buggy for me use.  it has crashed multiple times while playing music from my connected ipod.  playing with the equalizer also crashes the program.  i also couldn't exit properly, without it just crashing.

the first thing that stuck out was "wow, i don't just go up to 100% for volume level?  it's 200%!  THAT'S TWICE AS LOUD!"

foobar2000

foobar2000 v0.9.6 4

Standard installation install foobar2000 for all users of this machine

OR

Portable installation

In portable mode all configuration data is stored in the application folder.  Nothing is written to the registry, no icons are created and no uninstaller is created.

No preset equalizer settings that come with the installation.  You'll need to find plug-ins.  The equalizer range goes from -20db to +20db, while winamp is -12db to +12db.

Still using winamp for now.

Best April Fool's Evar

Blizzard's April Fool's joke was awesome.  Terra-Tron.  Archivist.  Lots of luls :]

I've heard of the movie, The Room, but I don't remember from where.  I just remember it was suppose to be comical only because it was such a terrible movie.  Apparently, it was written and directed by Tommy Wiseau, who also self-cast himself the lead role.  

In any case, I caught the movie playing on Cartoon Network and found it rather strange, but intriguing.  It was during one of the cuts to commercial when it advertised to buy the movie on DVD from amazon.com that I realize what it was and started laughing.  My roommates wanted to turn it off, but I told them to give it a chance because of what I heard about the film.  It turned out to be awful as expected, but amazingly hilarious.  My stomach was aching by the end of the movie.  I really liked how Adult Swim censored the film because it made those soft-core porn scenes entertaining and amusing.

J!nx's EXXXXXTREME GAMING PRODUCTS.  Uber stuff.  Nuff said.

ThinkGeek's Tauntaun Sleeping Bag (only for children or small adults).  Wtf!  Friggin’ Luke Skywalker gets to fit inside the Tauntaun in Episode V and only children/small adults fit into the sleeping bag form of the Tauntaun?!

Weekend Quest 2 and Resident Evil 5

Early this morning intended for Yesterday.

I tried to take pictures with strangers over the course of the weekend, but I failed. . many times.  But I did manage to write www.mydamnchannel.com on my apartment's big calendar of activities, even though I just realized there aren't that many activities planned for the month.

I ran out of black ink... and purple was the next pen I grabbed out of my backpack.

I wrote that while standing on my skateboard with people walking by awkwardly looking at me with the "wtf is he doing?" face.  /whispers "for Grace ;)"

Yesterday. 

Beat Resident Evil 5 (RE5) on Normal mode.  Haven't beaten any Resident Evil games before, but have tried them out.  RE5 made me want to go play the previous titles.. or just read up on the series.  

It was mung's game.  Got him interested because I had told him I tried it out last week and it was pretty fun.  He contemplated between RE5 or Star Ocean: The Last Hope.

The game was entertaining.  There were many cut scenes, but I didn't mind too much because the cinematics were beautifully done.  I also enjoyed the in-game graphics and details as well; bloodstains, rusted metals, and all.  The music was decent.  The sound effects were superb.  

Gameplay was fun, although a little frustrating and annoying at times because I couldn't push the right buttons.  I haven't had much experience with X-box controllers and this was the first time I've beaten a game on an X-box.  B-button was X-button to me and X-button was B-button to me.  I grew up with Nintendo and the instinct of pressing the button to the left for the B-button and right for X-button kills us at times.  But even with me having to get use to the controller scheme and not being able to do things that I expect, like shoot while moving, the game wasn't too difficult.  The game was short, so we might replay on Veteran mode.  Let's see how crazy things can really get!

Aiwow

It's 7.41 in the morning right now.  My sleeping pattern is just ..well, I don't really have a sleeping pattern I guess.  It's a work in progress.

I'm still currently in the process of just exploring the SR80.  I've fallen even more in love with them.  As I was saying from the last post, I was wondering how an amplifier would aid to the listening pleasure.  Although I didn't ask to borrow mung's FiiO E5, I am drawing more power from another source-- my Aiwa CX-NA555.

Dusting off the old system from its years of neglection, plugging it in, and powering it on; it now serves once again.  I popped in some old cds that have also been gathering some dust as well, mainly the pillows / My Foot album.  Using the 1/4 in. adapter that was included with the purchase of the headphones, I connected the phones to the system.  Everything's ready.

I was sucked in from the very first track and am on my second round of listening again to the album.  The Super T-bass, cranked to the max, has made the bass ever so delicious that I can't get myself away from listening and go to sleep.  Damn endorphins.

Blogged 2 days straight.  Achievement unlocked.

Off I go then.

MUsic

Oh boy.  Blogging consistently is proving to be even more difficult than I had initially imagined.

In any case.

So I've decided to get myself a pair of headphones on February 18th.  I know the economy isn't doing so well and a lot of us are low on cash, but I wanted to invest in some decent entry-level headphones for casual listening and when I'm studying.

FLASHBACK!

I had some Sony earphones that was used with my Sony Walkman.

Both just died one day.  

I was sad.

Then I got a Panasonic cd-player that was bundled with headphones.

Those headphones were just awfully uncomfortable to wear.  After about a month of enduring those headphones, I got myself some new Sony earphones that were similar to the dead earphones for the Walkman.  I missed those.

After many good hours put into them, the left side of the Sony earphones gave out and I was forced to purchase some new earphones.  I glanced over the specifications on the back of yet another pair of Sony earphones and some other models available in the section of my local electronics store.  In the end, I just purchased some generic earphones for $5.  Years have passed, but they're still with me now and working.

I lent Gordon my cd-player for a trip he was going to take one day, and he returned it to me years later broken.  There went my portable audio device.  But Gordon has always taken responsibility for his actions, and so he and Milton got me the 3rd generation iPod nano on my birthday.  I was quite ecstatic.  Thank you, cousins.

I was primarily using the earphones included with the iPod and the generic earphones occasionally.  They served me well, but I desired better.  Marlon, my roommate, got some headphones last year in September.  I was able to test out his Bose On-Ear headphones on some occasions he allowed or insisted.  Thanks Marlon.  They were a big improvement from what I've always been using.  The bass was booming and I was able to hear independence of instruments that would normally sound blended together and indistinguishable with my earphones.  It was official then that I was committed to getting a pair of headphones for myself.

For a little over a week, I spent some time researching different headphones, reading discussions and reviews on head-fi, and talking to Michael (mung) for some suggestions.  Out of the many headphones, the choices were narrowed down to the Audio-Technica ATH-M50 or Grado SR80.  After much deliberation, I went with the Grado SR80 and purchased them from Music Direct when it was on sale for $75 on February 28th.  Lucky.  Mung's Shure In-Ear Monitors were dying on him and he purchased the ATH-M50 from amazon and a FiiO E5 amplifier from dealextreme. 

My order was backordered and it took 3 weeks before I was able to get my headphones.  I was so excited when I got them yesterday morning.  Out of the box, they disappointed me.  The bass wasn't what I was expecting and just felt like an awkward balance with the mids and highs of songs.  But I kept listening for about two hours straight and it either grew on me, or the burn-in process is really doing wonders for the headphones because I can't seem to pry myself away from them.  I have also been playing with the equalizer and audio settings to try and bring the most out of my experience with the SR80 and I believe I have found a state where I am content with for now.

Before now, I didn't care much about audio formats up until now.  Lossless or not didn't matter, as long as I got the song.  But in preparation for the headphones, I began getting some lossless formats, such as flac and alac.  The difference is significant and astounding.  

I have yet to try the SR80 with an amplifier, but from what people have been saying, it doesn't make much of a difference.  I'll have to ask to borrow mung's amplifier for a little bit to test it.  On the other hand, mung's ATH-M50 with burn-in time together with the FiiO E5 amplifier sounded marvelous.  The bass-boost from the E5 really help bring out the beauty of the headphones.  I tried listening with the bass-boost off, but the music felt lacking.  Mung agreed.

I'm quite happy with the SR80 thus far.  I can hear details that I didn't necessarily hear in songs before, which is great since I like to figure songs out as close as possible.  Drums.  The headphones leak music more than I imagined though, even at minimal volume, but that's what I get for buying supra aural headphones.  Surprisingly, I've been wearing them for about 8 hours straight, with some 5 or 10 minute breaks in between, and didn't feel too much discomfort luckily.  All I do to relieve discomfort was take the headphones off for about 10 seconds to take the pressure off of the headphones pressing against my ears.

I will be looking forward to what the higher end models of headphones have to offer in the future.  But for now, I'm just going to sit back and listen.

Uhh...

I forgot why I made this blog already.  I was all revved up with a sense of purpose too.

Edit(6.30pm): 

I just showed my roommate "2 Girls 1 Cup"  Lulsicup.

It all started with him showing me the Virtual Barber Shop

The clip gave me some jitters because of the confusion that was brought to my senses.  Brain tingling.  

He then clicked on some related videos that showed people video taping their reactions to the clip.  It was at this point that I suddenly had a flashback to Thanksgiving of 2007, to the time that I had first watched some reaction video clips to 2 Girls 1 Cup and was curious as to what this shock video was.  Twas shocking indeed.

I said as one of the reaction video to Virtual Barber Shop concluded, "Ahh, these reaction videos remind me of all those 2 Girls 1 Cup reactions."

My roommate in confusion asks, "What?"

It was then that I knew it was my duty to illuminate his day. 

I chuckled sinisterly as I told him, "Ahh, you don't know what it is then.  I can't describe it to you, you're just going to have to watch it."