Posts Tagged “Gear”

Mar 07 2009

Audio shootout: EeePC 900HA vs 6th gen iPod Classic

Posted by Ben Hughes in Audio, tags: , , ,

It’s true - I can’t help myself. Once I noticed that the headphone-out on my 900HA was much cleaner than I had expected, I decided I needed to do some testing. Nothing too serious, as I have no plans to actually use an eeepc as a music source, but enough to satisfy my curiosity.

The setup was as usual: both sources connected to my DIY switch box, then into the PA2V2 amp and the MS Pros. I level matched the sources by ear using a sine wave, ending up with the ipod on full volume  and the 900HA 4 steps below full volume (jack set to line out mode). The 900HA was booted into Windows, as the audio seems to be better quality. Both sources were playing WAV files.

The A/B testing was done fairly subjectively, without the usual rigour. Rather than having a certain number of guesses and recording the results, I just listened to a dozen tracks or so, switching back and forth, checking my guess, then re-randomising the input selection.

Suprisingly both were quite similar in sound, and it wasn’t until near the end of the listening session that I identified the different sound signatures. The ipod was noticably smoother, especially in the mids, whereas the  900HA had a more live/harsh sound. By the end of the session I could pick the source around 8/10 times.

Despite being still very impressed with 900HA, the ipod subjectively has a much nicer sound. But it’s impressive that a netbook that cost only slightly more than the ipod is so close sonically. Especially when every full-size laptop I’ve heard has utterly terrible audio.

As an aside, synching the tracks between sources was a bit of a challenge, as both had a slightly different delay from button-press to track start. I eventually got the swing of it, although never got it perfect. It’s much easier to test amps than sources.

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Jan 29 2009

eeePC 900HA mini-review

Posted by Ben Hughes in Other stuff, tags: ,

I’ve been eyeing off netbooks since the original 7 inch eeePC was released, but until now none of them really fitted my needs. Those needs are, roughly:

  • good battery life (4hrs+)
  • at least 1GB RAM
  • decent enough processor (but nothing spectacular)
  • good sized hard drive (80Gb+)
  • atleast 1024×600 resolution
  • very small form factor (around the 9″ mark)
  • under AU$600

That’s quite a list. Up until recently the HP mininote came in closest, but was too big and too expensive. However with the netbook market expanding there are some models now available that come very close.

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Oct 16 2008

New Toys

Posted by Ben Hughes in Other stuff, tags:

Lately I’ve been on a bit of a gear buying spree - both with audio and camera gear. Although I’m a little bit of a gear-head, it’s relatively rare for me to spend up big. Here’s a quick rundown of my recent exploits:
 
 
Sigma 14mm/2.8
I bought this second hand for $450. 14mm is nice an wide, f/2.8 is pretty fast, and as a bonus its full frame so I can use it on my K1000. Plus if that K1D ever materialises I won’t need to buy a UWA :)
 
Thanks to this lens I’m now shooting almost solely with primes - the sigma, SMC-FA 50mm/1.4 and a SMC-K 135mm/2.5. Before I needed to keep my ‘walkaround’ 17-70 with me to cover the wide end. Now I just need, say, a 31mm LTD and a 200mm or 300mm and I’ll be set for life ;)
 
 
Samsung GX-10
This is a re-badged Pentax K10D - the camera I’ve wanted to upgrade to since it came out. Again, second hand (and again, $450 :)). The step up from my entry level *istDS has been really nice. I honestly can’t say I’m taking better photos, but the ergonomics, usability and features sure are nice.
 
I was planning on waiting until Pentax brought out a full frame body, but that looks to be at least 18 months of, and for $450 it was just too hard to go past.  
 
 
Alessandro MS-Pros
I’m a bit of a headphone nut, mostly because I don’t have the money or space for a great stereo setup. What I have is actually pretty decent, but the bang for buck of headphones is hard to go past.
 
The MS-Pros are an upgrade from my Beyerdynamic DT880s, which have served me well for a couple of years. The Pros were about $300 over my inital budget, but I’m sure glad I talked myself into it. They really are stunning. Detail and separation is like nothing I’ve ever heard - they make the Beyers sound really dull! Then again, they are twice the price. 
 
 
Other stuff
There’s been some other bits and peices too - a light stand and a couple of brollies, knock-off gorillapod and camera + laptop backpack (Naneu Pro K3L - absolutely fantastic for the price). In the mail at the moment are a couple of ebay extra batteries for the GX10 ($9 each!), and a second hand PA2V2 for use at work with my ipod and LOD. 
 
 
Oh, and a new Inspiron 1525 from Dell, but that’s a family thing, so it hardly counts :)
 
 
It’s funny how spending goes. I’m not sure if it’s like it for others, but I usually go a long time without spending much at all, then all of a sudden out of nowhere enough money’s been saved (or turns up), right about the time that things need replacing. Fun while it lasts, but it’s a bit too easy to get into the habit. 
 
 
Not that I’ve gone particularly overboard - my wife’s planning a month long holiday in Fiji, so my spending spree looks positively tiny :D 
 
 
PS, for some reason text formatting doesn’t seem to be sticking. The headings were bold, I promise. 
 

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