Photos Latest Purchases Thread: v2.0

I got it on eBay for £50&p&p. Twas a relative bargain as that model is £120 at Screwfix. As it's a private second hand sale returning it may be a faff. I would like a double bevel one and there's a few reasonably cheap on eBay. Might see what the bank balance says and work something out to sell the one I've bought and get a different one.

Already have hacksaw and angle grinder and dremel, so am currently sat at n+3

 

My beloved Labtec 2.1 speaker system, owned from new since the 90s, appears to have died the final death: nothing coming out of the left-hand speaker any more.

So...



Edifier R1280DB speakers w' Bluetooth for the phone and analogue for the desktop. They'll take up a *lot* more desk room, and I'm not too sure I haven't made a mistake in not going for a 2.1 set with a sub-woofer - but I've a cloth ear and mostly just listen to background music while I'm working, so fingers crossed they'll be good enough.

Might have a crack at fixing the Labtecs still, though, but I'm not sure it's actually possible to take the plastic housing of the left speaker apart without destroying it...

 

Yeah, I'll let you know how I get on!

 

This arrived earlier today. Should really have kept it boxed until I'd had a chance to put it under the camera, but I wanna try it and there's no way I'm running the studio lights until the temperature drops.

First impressions: turns out a keyboard housed in an all-metal body is heavy. Like, who knew? Weighs more than my Model F, if my guesswork's any judge. Layout's easy to get used to, but is forcing me out of my bad habit of hitting the space bar with my index finger. That's a good thing, I shouldn't be doing that. RGB backlight is just a bunch of rainbow-vomit patterns plus stable red . Turned it off; the keycaps are solid so there's little point anyway.

I went for Gateron Blue tactile clicky switches, but the keyboard is *really* quiet. The plate and PCB are cushioned so there's basically zero bottoming-out noise. Would have preferred a louder clack m'self, but it'd be great for a shared office. The bigger keys - particularly right-space, the biggest key on the board - are quite a bit louder.

Lovely anodised finish to the aluminium, the keycaps are attractive and I quite like the old-fashioned shape. No adjustable feet, though, but I could add them myself. All in all, happy typer.

EDIT:
Turns out you can set the solid-colour backlight to any colour you like, either adjusting at the keyboard or using VIA's colour-picker. Makes a lot more sense than just offering one fixed colour from RGB LEDs!

EDIT EDIT:
For @MadGinga, a brief review of the speakers wot just also tipped up. Not as big as I'd feared, but naturally bigger than my old 2.1 stereo pair. Very nearly almost avoids the problem of captive cables by having everything replaceable at both sides... except a built-in power lead. Boo-urns.

Two RCA inputs (so I've used a 3.5mm female to RCA adapter on the desktop, saves untangling the cable I used on the old speakers) plus digital via optical or co-ax and, of course, the Bluetooth I haven't tried yet. Physical power switch to the rear (yay!), three knobs to the side: treble, bass, volume. Treble and bass have stops plus a nice solid detent at the 0dB mark; volume is one of those annoying infinitely-spinning things with no start or finish. Boo-urns.

Sound quality is, as far as I can tell, great - noticeably better than my old Labtecs, which in their defence were built in the 1990s for hanging off the side of your 17" CRT monitor. Bass is, however, weaker - because, y'know, I've literally gone from a massive downfiring subwoofer to four-inch speakers on the desk. Interestingly, the bass sounds beefier if I sit up so the speakers are off-axis - might look into desktop speaker stands, raise 'em up and see if that does owt.

Should I have gone for something with a subwoofer? Probably. If my Labtecs hadn't died, would I feel like it was worth £130 to upgrade? No. Do I keep trying to rest my feet on the subwoofer that isn't there any more? Very much so, yes.

Oh, and the remote's crap - one of those cheapy ones you get with two-quid RGB LED light strings. Works, tho'.

EDIT EDIT EDIT:
...and the speaker's broken. Amaze. Bad luck and replace with same, or quality issues and refund to buy something else?

 

Okay, let's try this again:



Another pair of Edifier speakers. I'd hoped to get a different brand this time around, given how quickly the last pair died... but there's basically an Edifier-filled canyon between £60 no-brand stuff and £500 high (by my standards) end stuff.

These are, annoyingly, £30 more expensive than the last pair *and* have fewer features - no co-axial or optical inputs. They have something the other pair lacked, however: a subwoofer output, which I'm hoping means my Labtecs can live on, at least partially. The main speakers might be shot, but the sub still works - and takes a 3.5mm input, so should (in theory) work with these.

Shouldn't have a problem with weak bass then! (Just a shame it's going to take up two plug sockets now...)

 

It is super hefty. Not one for the commute!

Fingers crossed this sorts me out, but I'll have a look if Edifier lets me down again. I was limited by the fact I wanted to buy from Amazon - partly because returning faulty stuff is so easy, but mostly 'cos the return of the first set of speakers was refunded to my Amazon account!

 

New speakers get... again.

So, won't know until I've used 'em for a while whether they're just going to die on me like the last lot... but so far they're making noises like you'd expect.

No wonder the last pair died, though: Edifier's build quality is atrocious. Both sets came with excess glue visible, these have a small scratch on the back, and the treble adjustment knob has been attached at a slight angle so the zero detent doesn't line up with the label nor the bass knob below. Weaksauce.

Compared to the last pair: more convincing wood effect vinyl finish to the MDF sides, with grain you can feel; much better remote control; visible power LED at the front, rather than the side; so far the left speaker hasn't died.

I connected 'em to my old Labtec subwoofer and played a track... nearly blew the windows out. Turns out the Labtec is maybe a little more sensitive or more strongly amplified than what Edifier was expecting. Sounds good with the bass knob turned down, though...

...which basically turns the Edifiers into glorified satellite tweeters. Stick your finger in the bass hole (oo-err missus) and there's no puffs of air; turn the subwoofer off and things get super anaemic. Like, zero bass at all.

So, partial success: with the subwoofer on, things sound great. However, I could probably have bought a cheaper Creative/Logitech/Trust (even) 2.1 set and had the same audio quality with less lost desk space. Ah, well, I'm done faffing around now: I'll stick with what I've got now - at least until the Labtec subwoofer dies, but hopefully now it's not also powering a pair of triple-speaker satellites it'll have an easy life.

EDIT:
Ah, the anaemic bass is by design: there's a note in the manual (which I didn't bother to read until I wanted to find out what the weird-symbol "ON" and "OFF" buttons did on the remote) saying that if it detects a sub connected it dials down the bass in the speakers themselves. Which is fair enough, I guess - and it clearly can't tell if the sub is powered or not, which is why it sounds so poor with it off.

Oh, and the buttons are for "sound field extension," which appears to be a binary version of the analogue "3D" knob my old Labtecs had.

 

Ooh, they look nice. I'm a big fan of having a switch so the passive speaker can be on the right *or* the left (though, thankfully, having it on the left as the Edifiers require works for me with my current desk layout.)

After some tweaking last night, though, these Edifiers seem to be doing a great job. I've got the bass knob turned down to the absolute minimum, literally, and yet the subwoofer's still spitting out meaty waves - proper feel-it-in-your-chest stuff if I crank the volume. And while they were more expensive than the Mackies, they were probably cheaper than the Mackies and their matching sub (and if they weren't, lie to me and tell me they were...)

No idea what the point of the 3D sound field extension thing is, though. Sounds like the band's performing in a cave...

 

11 sheets of OSB board 2440x1220x11

Vonhaus Pegboard & Shelf Tool Organiser


And a 44pc Storage Bin & Hook Set


And a cheapo cross laser level thingy.

 

casio g-shock SOLAR 2100 SERIES

I was going to wait and get the galaxy watch 5 but have decided on this and will wait until I've got the house to get something nicer