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Shrink Ray Wielder
Bronze Supporter
Nov 1, 2015
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I got my first 3D printer- Ender 3 with a glass bed.



Soon to follow with hours of building and setting up, like watching a 30 minute installation video that takes 2 hours to finish. Gonna stop by Microcenter to buy PLA+ filament too.
 

Phuncz

Lord of the Boards
Original poster
SFFn Staff
May 9, 2015
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This week I treated myself to a new set of in-ears, as my previous set needed replacing.

I went from the Brainwavz M2 (link) to the KZ ZS10 Pro (link). Both are/were around 50€/$ as I tend not to be able to hear the difference with my mainly electronic music and the compressed nature it is available these days. The Fiio µBTR (link) makes them Bluetooth connected and enables some extra amplification if needed.


My photo


Not my photo

For me they are more than sufficient in audio quality, comfort and outside isolation.
 

ignsvn

By Toutatis!
SFFn Staff
Gold Supporter
Bronze Supporter
Apr 4, 2016
1,729
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This week I treated myself to a new set of in-ears, as my previous set needed replacing.

I went from the Brainwavz M2 (link) to the KZ ZS10 Pro (link). Both are/were around 50€/$ as I tend not to be able to hear the difference with my mainly electronic music and the compressed nature it is available these days. The Fiio µBTR (link) makes them Bluetooth connected and enables some extra amplification if needed.

For me they are more than sufficient in audio quality, comfort and outside isolation.

KZ ZS10 is in my wishlist, but I assume they're quite big for my small-ish ears.

Also, does the sound leak? IIRC they have some port holes or something like that.
 

thelaughingman

SFF Guru
Jul 14, 2018
1,413
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This week I treated myself to a new set of in-ears, as my previous set needed replacing.

I went from the Brainwavz M2 (link) to the KZ ZS10 Pro (link). Both are/were around 50€/$ as I tend not to be able to hear the difference with my mainly electronic music and the compressed nature it is available these days. The Fiio µBTR (link) makes them Bluetooth connected and enables some extra amplification if needed.


My photo


Not my photo

For me they are more than sufficient in audio quality, comfort and outside isolation.

KZ ZS10 is in my wishlist, but I assume they're quite big for my small-ish ears.

Also, does the sound leak? IIRC they have some port holes or something like that.
Nice to see some IEMs in here 👍

Since uni days I've always went with IEMs - Bose can't quite remember the model, Ultimate Ears (3 pairs - SuperFi 5, 700, TripleFi 10), Drop x Noble, JH Audio Angie (yeah I'm a Jerry Harvey fanboy-ish). Then I travel so much for work that I went TWS with Noble Falcon. But now I'm off the IEM track with the Drop Panda - bonus is supporting a fellow audio enthusiast (Will, co-founder of Drop is a long-time Head-Fi member and the Panda is his pet project).
 
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Phuncz

Lord of the Boards
Original poster
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May 9, 2015
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KZ ZS10 is in my wishlist, but I assume they're quite big for my small-ish ears.

Also, does the sound leak? IIRC they have some port holes or something like that.
If you look at the Brainwavz M2 I have look a lot like traditional in-ears but the casing presses against my ear and hurts a lot after a while unless I place it in an untraditional way. The KZ lightly touches my ear but hasn't caused pain yet. A photo from Amazon:

 
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Skripka

Cat-Dog Perch Manager
May 18, 2020
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If you look at the Brainwavz M2 I have look a lot like traditional in-ears but the casing presses against my ear and hurts a lot after a while unless I place it in an untraditional way. The KZ lightly touches my ear but hasn't caused pain yet. A photo from Amazon:


Nice. My (new workplace's) Boss's boss's boss has declared all work-from-home is over....so I splurged on a set of Sony XM4s, the isolation and ANC is amazing--sound isn't as good as a pair of cans but no IEM is.

 

ignsvn

By Toutatis!
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Apr 4, 2016
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Nice. My (new workplace's) Boss's boss's boss has declared all work-from-home is over....so I splurged on a set of Sony XM4s, the isolation and ANC is amazing--sound isn't as good as a pair of cans but no IEM is.


I'm kinda concerned when boss rushes their employees to get back to office (unless your job requires you to be on-site).

That aside, XM4 is definitely one of the better IEM around.
 

Skripka

Cat-Dog Perch Manager
May 18, 2020
461
567
I'm kinda concerned when boss rushes their employees to get back to office (unless your job requires you to be on-site).

That aside, XM4 is definitely one of the better IEM around.

Job in no way requires it, doing stats-analysis and publication. In many ways WFH is desirable for video conferences/seminars and such for privacy/quiet versus a cube farm...all the vet folks have been WFH for months. My supervisor didn't mind, his boss didn't mind. Only one person in my unit really had a drop in productivity--so they kept coming to the office because for them it worked better. I was coming because I was new.

I won't go into detail (there's lots, and it is juicy, and specific gossip)...because, you know, talking about bosses on the internet....I'll just leave this here:

"And for Twidt, there’s also the notion that some bosses, particularly those of a generation less familiar to remote work, are eager to regain tight control of their minions.

“They feel like we’re not working if they can’t see us,” she said. “It’s a boomer power-play.”"

 

Valantar

Shrink Ray Wielder
Jan 20, 2018
2,201
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Backed this on Kickstarter back in ... September? October? Something like that. Called the Torras Powercloud. Anyhow, got it in the mail the other day, so far I'm very pleased with it.

It's a combined power strip+ device charger, with three grounded EU sockets, two USB-C outputs (65W on one or 45+20W) and one USB-A output (18W). Looks nice enough to stay on the desk, is relatively compact, and has tons of utility. No more chargers on or around the desk! I particularly like the AC outlet power switch, which is a small clicky button that triggers what sounds like a chunky relay inside the unit, rather than the typical flip switch. Now I won't have to fiddle around below my desk whenever I need to connect something to AC power, like my Compucleaner. Was really handy when bleeding my loop yesterday too. And I could even run one of those USB-C soldering irons off of this. Excellent.
 

confusis

John Morrison. Founder and Team Leader of SFF.N
SFF Network
SFF Workshop
SFFn Staff
Jun 19, 2015
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Backed this on Kickstarter back in ... September? October? Something like that. Called the Torras Powercloud. Anyhow, got it in the mail the other day, so far I'm very pleased with it.

It's a combined power strip+ device charger, with three grounded EU sockets, two USB-C outputs (65W on one or 45+20W) and one USB-A output (18W). Looks nice enough to stay on the desk, is relatively compact, and has tons of utility. No more chargers on or around the desk! I particularly like the AC outlet power switch, which is a small clicky button that triggers what sounds like a chunky relay inside the unit, rather than the typical flip switch. Now I won't have to fiddle around below my desk whenever I need to connect something to AC power, like my Compucleaner. Was really handy when bleeding my loop yesterday too. And I could even run one of those USB-C soldering irons off of this. Excellent.
EU sockets are weeeeeeiiiirrrrdddd..

Also, that's a pretty good Kickstarter turnaround from what I've seen!
 

Valantar

Shrink Ray Wielder
Jan 20, 2018
2,201
2,225
EU sockets are weeeeeeiiiirrrrdddd..

Also, that's a pretty good Kickstarter turnaround from what I've seen!
You're in NZ, right? I mean, I'm sorry, but no, you're the ones with weird power plugs :p Also, the EU ones come with built-in anti-electrocution features, which is a feature I quite like. (The grounded sockets are recessed with contacts also recessed into the pin holes, so that you can't get a finger in to touch the pins when they're live. The non-grounded connectors don't need to be recessed (though they often are), but they have the upper half of the pins insulated for the same reason.) And, of course, they're bidirectional, so you never have to think about holding the plug the right way when connecting.

It's definitely not a bad KS turnaround, that's for sure. And this is including that they somehow fumbled my backer survey and had to contact me by email to get my shipping details, and then took about a month to respond after me sending them that. Very happy with this overall.
 

AlexTSG

Master of Cramming
Jun 17, 2018
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My "new" toy is quite old, but it's never been used.

Back in 2012 the company I work for bought about 8 of these WD Sentinel DX4000 NAS units. They were used as local storage and for backups at our branches across the country, and we retired them last year to replace them with larger capacity and more capable QNAPs.

This particular one was the spare we purchased, in case any of the branches units failed.

None of them ever did, so it sat untouched in it's box for 9 years.

So, it's now mine. I got it in exchange for a router that I gave to the company last year which was worth about $50.

I'm setting it up over the weekend with it's 2x 2TB drives, but I've already ordered 4x 6TB WD Red Plus drives from Amazon, and I'll be upgrading it's RAM from 2GB to 4GB (with a SODIMM from an old HP laptop). I'll also repaste the Intel Atom D525 CPU it runs, and pop in a new CMOS battery.

I'd love a shiny new QNAP, but I think if I can get this going with the upgrades it will be perfect for my needs.



UPDATE: 4 hours into the setup process and it's only 75% through the format of the 2x 2TB disks. This is going to take a while, especially when I redo the setup with the 4x 6TB drives (if they work).

Western Digital only released it with 4TB drives as the maximum, and has XML files that lists specific drive models it will work with, so I'll be attempting to edit those files to get the 6TB drives working.
 
Last edited:

rfarmer

Spatial Philosopher
Jul 7, 2017
2,668
2,792
My "new" toy is quite old, but it's never been used.

Back in 2012 the company I work for bought about 8 of these WD Sentinel DX4000 NAS units. They were used as local storage and for backups at our branches across the country, and we retired them last year to replace them with larger capacity and more capable QNAPs.

This particular one was the spare we purchased, in case any of the branches units failed.

None of them ever did, so it sat untouched in it's box for 9 years.

So, it's now mine. I got it in exchange for a router that I gave to the company last year which was worth about $50.

I'm setting it up over the weekend with it's 2x 2TB drives, but I've already ordered 4x 6TB WD Red Plus drives from Amazon, and I'll be upgrading it's RAM from 2GB to 4GB (with a SODIMM from an old HP laptop). I'll also repaste the Intel Atom D525 CPU it runs, and pop in a new CMOS battery.

I'd love a shiny new QNAP, but I think if I can get this going with the upgrades it will be perfect for my needs.

Nice and you know they are reliable.
 
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Phuncz

Lord of the Boards
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May 9, 2015
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I'd recommend blocking them in the firewall if possible to talk outside of your local network. Because of the above worries :)
Nice looking NAS !

I recently treated myself to a new case for my phone:



Razer Arctech Pro.
Good protection, good fit, it seems to do some cooling as it rarely feels as hot. A nice white case that feels like leather but isn't.
 

AlexTSG

Master of Cramming
Jun 17, 2018
599
590
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True, but when did that thing last get a security update? Hopefully it doesn't have any Internet-facing functionality.

It's only going to be used for local storage, so no Internet connectivity required. I'll probably use WSUS Offline to update it with whatever updates are available, for maximum stability. Surprisingly, I believe Server 2008 R2 did get an update for the recent PrintNightmare vulnerability.
 
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Valantar

Shrink Ray Wielder
Jan 20, 2018
2,201
2,225
It's only going to be used for local storage, so no Internet connectivity required. I'll probably use WSUS Offline to update it with whatever updates are available, for maximum stability. Surprisingly, I believe Server 2008 R2 did get an update for the recent PrintNightmare vulnerability.
Ah, I didn't spot that it ran Windows Server - that's probably far better supported than literally any proprietary OS for a network connected device/appliance. A quick DuckDuckGo search tells me that WS2k8's support period ended in January 2020, so that's not terrible. And I'm not surprised that they issue out-of-band updates for critical vulnerabilities like that. That will likely be the case for another five years.
 
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