Simply random stuff

Find deals on ebay
Amazon
Advertise with us
QuadraphonicQuad

Help Support QuadraphonicQuad:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
One of the nicer upscale retail areas in Kansas City is simply called The Plaza. Like others it dresses up for various significant holidays. This being Easter it has been invaded by giant rabbits:
1681061494041.png


These things scared the crap out of me when I was a kid. Back then they had red eyes like albino rabbits.

1681061579666.png


Oh sure in the pic they look kinda cute. But really they look like robot android bunnies ready to attack. The best proof of this I have is all of them gathered in their android robot warren getting ready to march out:
1681061723491.png


Creepy creepy.
 
Allright you pc geeks er, I mean enthusiasts. If you're not then no sense reading further, it will just bore you to tears.

I've made no bones about the fact my pc is my music playback machine and I hardly use my Oppo's anymore.
But this is not really about that.

I have my entire surround collection on a bunch of HDD's on my main pc which means for me I've been using Pcie SATA add in boards so I can hook up many additional hard drives.
With me?

Now I've been building pc's for decades, got a bunch of certs years ago, stuff I don't even remember now. A+, Cisco, so on. Those and a few bucks will net you a cup of coffee, maybe.
So, I know my around pretty good. Didn't just fall off the turnip truck,.

Ok back up to these Pcie SATA boards I've been buying off the Amazon, Chinese made, usually last a few months then go in the trash. 8 port, 10 port, whatever, junk.

But something I never knew a whole lot about, and never tried, was a SAS board. In a bind and needing to do something I did a crash course and decided this is the direction I needed to go.
Briefly, one cable on a SAS port splits off in to 4 SATA cables. Higher throughput usually.
But man are they expensive. The 16 port LSI card I was looking at new is about $400. The LSI SAS9300 16i. This is really cheap as SAS cards go, which is to the moon, Alice.

So I went looking on EvilBay. I found a seller with a good rep selling refurbished cards for about $150. (for those that don't know, "refurbished" usually means tested and found working)
Anyway so I ordered it then went on the Amazon and bought the appropriate cables.

Anyone with experience with SAS cards care to chime in and tell me, Boonie, no sweat, this is gonna be plug and play, no worries. Or, Boonie, you dumbass, you're in for a world of hurt?

​

 
I went to go watch the Mario movie recently. Was good. That's not what I want to talk about.

I really don't know if its just the area I live in or what, but every single film I've gone to post-lockdown has had SHOCKINGLY poor sound, no matter which theater! Lack of direction, absence of rears, poor calibration and poor sonics. What the hell happened?

I remember going to Avatar 2 and there were this big honking huge overheads all in the ceiling, bigger than any speaker I'd see at anyone's home...and I felt they weren't being used at all.

Now at home I have a blasphemously poor 5.1 rig. But I'm getting a better experience with manual EQ on every dinky bookshelf speaker at home than going to a theater that's audio equipment alone frankly probably costs more than my house. Did we replace all the audio calibration experts with robots or what? Or do I just critically listen better now? To be frank, I really didn't pay attention to audio until the whole lockdown thing happened.
 
boondocks said:
Allright you pc geeks er, I mean enthusiasts. If you're not then no sense reading further, it will just bore you to tears.

I've made no bones about the fact my pc is my music playback machine and I hardly use my Oppo's anymore.
But this is not really about that.

I have my entire surround collection on a bunch of HDD's on my main pc which means for me I've been using Pcie SATA add in boards so I can hook up many additional hard drives.
With me?

Now I've been building pc's for decades, got a bunch of certs years ago, stuff I don't even remember now. A+, Cisco, so on. Those and a few bucks will net you a cup of coffee, maybe.
So, I know my around pretty good. Didn't just fall off the turnip truck,.

Ok back up to these Pcie SATA boards I've been buying off the Amazon, Chinese made, usually last a few months then go in the trash. 8 port, 10 port, whatever, junk.

But something I never knew a whole lot about, and never tried, was a SAS board. In a bind and needing to do something I did a crash course and decided this is the direction I needed to go.
Briefly, one cable on a SAS port splits off in to 4 SATA cables. Higher throughput usually.
But man are they expensive. The 16 port LSI card I was looking at new is about $400. The LSI SAS9300 16i. This is really cheap as SAS cards go, which is to the moon, Alice.

So I went looking on EvilBay. I found a seller with a good rep selling refurbished cards for about $150. (for those that don't know, "refurbished" usually means tested and found working)
Anyway so I ordered it then went on the Amazon and bought the appropriate cables.

Anyone with experience with SAS cards care to chime in and tell me, Boonie, no sweat, this is gonna be plug and play, no worries. Or, Boonie, you dumbass, you're in for a world of hurt?

​

Click to expand...
Hmmm. I tried a couple of RAID setups myself, including a dedicated Linux machine, and the only one that ever worked out is a Drobo 5N, and that crapped out when I put a shingled drive in it. I have no idea what “shingled” means, but there was a class action suit against the manufacturer (I could look it up, but not right now), so apparently it was a scheme that had high density but was incompatible with some RAID systems.

Not that this has squat to do with your question other than something else to try, and spend your money on. I’m not familiar with SAS, so I can’t warn you or guide you down that particular rabbit hole. FWIW, I’ve built most of my PCs, too, and picked up MCSE certification at one of my employers’ expense in 1999. Party on!
 
Mr. Afternoon said:
I went to go watch the Mario movie recently. Was good. That's not what I want to talk about.

I really don't know if its just the area I live in or what, but every single film I've gone to post-lockdown has had SHOCKINGLY poor sound, no matter which theater! Lack of direction, absence of rears, poor calibration and poor sonics. What the hell happened?

I remember going to Avatar 2 and there were this big honking huge overheads all in the ceiling, bigger than any speaker I'd see at anyone's home...and I felt they weren't being used at all.

Now at home I have a blasphemously poor 5.1 rig. But I'm getting a better experience with manual EQ on every dinky bookshelf speaker at home than going to a theater that's audio equipment alone frankly probably costs more than my house. Did we replace all the audio calibration experts with robots or what? Or do I just critically listen better now? To be frank, I really didn't pay attention to audio until the whole lockdown thing happened.
Click to expand...

I think you answered your own question. The sound systems haven't changed, YOU have. :p
 
barfle said:
Hmmm. I tried a couple of RAID setups myself, including a dedicated Linux machine, and the only one that ever worked out is a Drobo 5N, and that crapped out when I put a shingled drive in it. I have no idea what “shingled” means, but there was a class action suit against the manufacturer (I could look it up, but not right now), so apparently it was a scheme that had high density but was incompatible with some RAID systems.

Not that this has squat to do with your question other than something else to try, and spend your money on. I’m not familiar with SAS, so I can’t warn you or guide you down that particular rabbit hole. FWIW, I’ve built most of my PCs, too, and picked up MCSE certification at one of my employers’ expense in 1999. Party on!
Click to expand...
lol. I guess I don't know much because I don't know what "shingled" drives are. I could cheat and google it of course.
When I was in my early 50's I got laid off from my job, and having nothing better to do, decided just for yucks to take any and all pc/network related courses I could since they were free. In one class I knew more than the teacher, but it was fun to sort of help out. In one class the teacher knew almost nothing except how to turn on the tests on the server. Self study. Weird I thought but I hashed through it.

The A+ certification is of course, a joke, good for a lifetime, at least mine is. I think I got it during Windows 2000? I just missed DOS by a few weeks, that would have been a total breeze. Cisco was interesting, programming routers and switches and learning how it all (internet) works but not something I wanted to do. Honestly don't remember much of it. I was going for higher certs but a rapidly emptying wallet made returning to work a must.
I got a job at a Doctors large practice because I was good with VB Excel (and other stuff) and supervised a couple of guys that kept the Doc's Medicare software going.

Just got word from EvilBay the SAS board shipped. Guess in a few days we'll see what's what. Amazon shipped the breakout cables as well.
 
Mr. Afternoon said:
I went to go watch the Mario movie recently. Was good. That's not what I want to talk about.

I really don't know if its just the area I live in or what, but every single film I've gone to post-lockdown has had SHOCKINGLY poor sound, no matter which theater! Lack of direction, absence of rears, poor calibration and poor sonics. What the hell happened?

I remember going to Avatar 2 and there were this big honking huge overheads all in the ceiling, bigger than any speaker I'd see at anyone's home...and I felt they weren't being used at all.

Now at home I have a blasphemously poor 5.1 rig. But I'm getting a better experience with manual EQ on every dinky bookshelf speaker at home than going to a theater that's audio equipment alone frankly probably costs more than my house. Did we replace all the audio calibration experts with robots or what? Or do I just critically listen better now? To be frank, I really didn't pay attention to audio until the whole lockdown thing happened.
Click to expand...
I did not go to a movie recently so have no idea on any theater sound.
That's not what I want to talk about.

Are you out of the music business? Or maybe just taking a break? Your sig seems a little dismaying.
 
boondocks said:
I did not go to a movie recently so have no idea on any theater sound.
That's not what I want to talk about.

Are you out of the music business? Or maybe just taking a break? Your sig seems a little dismaying.
Click to expand...
Oh, my sig has been like that for a while.
Album #3's production got stalled midway and is currently on hold indefinitely until I get some good time to continue working on it, that's all. Sorry for worrying you.
 
Sonik Wiz said:
One of the nicer upscale retail areas in Kansas City is simply called The Plaza. Like others it dresses up for various significant holidays. This being Easter it has been invaded by giant rabbits:
View attachment 90413

These things scared the crap out of me when I was a kid. Back then they had red eyes like albino rabbits.

View attachment 90414

Oh sure in the pic they look kinda cute. But really they look like robot android bunnies ready to attack. The best proof of this I have is all of them gathered in their android robot warren getting ready to march out:
View attachment 90415

Creepy creepy.
Click to expand...
SW, when I was stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas, one of our favorite week end excursions was to visit the PLAZA in Kansas City, MO. We loved that place!

Many happy memories as opposed to the drab environs of Fort Riley ....that's for SURE!
 
Last edited:
Mr. Afternoon said:
Oh, my sig has been like that for a while.
Album #3's production got stalled midway and is currently on hold indefinitely until I get some good time to continue working on it, that's all. Sorry for worrying you.
Click to expand...
lol. OK. I guess I never noticed the "fine print " before. Good to know you're still in the game. Hey I've been with you from the start, don't wanna see you stop now.
 
Mr. Afternoon said:
I went to go watch the Mario movie recently. Was good. That's not what I want to talk about.

I really don't know if its just the area I live in or what, but every single film I've gone to post-lockdown has had SHOCKINGLY poor sound, no matter which theater! Lack of direction, absence of rears, poor calibration and poor sonics. What the hell happened?

I remember going to Avatar 2 and there were this big honking huge overheads all in the ceiling, bigger than any speaker I'd see at anyone's home...and I felt they weren't being used at all.

Now at home I have a blasphemously poor 5.1 rig. But I'm getting a better experience with manual EQ on every dinky bookshelf speaker at home than going to a theater that's audio equipment alone frankly probably costs more than my house. Did we replace all the audio calibration experts with robots or what? Or do I just critically listen better now? To be frank, I really didn't pay attention to audio until the whole lockdown thing happened.
Click to expand...

I don't doubt your experience but mine has been mostly the opposite, not just last movie but long term. I don't know where abouts you live (other than in my speakers, according to your profile) but some of this may be territorial or regional. That is, I'd expect the presentation to be far superior at Grauman's Chinese Theater in LA, compared to a single screener in Chanute, KS.

Lucky for me my area is hometown to AMC Theaters. Their HQ is just north of a shopping complex and a quick walk across the parking lot & there's their show case multiplex. Everything there is 1st class. They have another couple of locations around here I've visited & they do not disappoint either.

Another fave of mine is Cinemark, only one theater multi but closer to me than AMC. Another good one. Like AMC they have an IMAX screen and their own XD theater which the real plus is not picture but sound.

I saw Back to the Future 1st run in a theater and it certainly was... loud. Since then picture & sound quality just amazes me how far it's come. Last movie I saw was with g'kids, Puss and Boots: Final Frontier or something like that. Terrific picture, crisp clean dialogue, nicely balanced subwoofing. Before that it was John Wick the 3rd, James Bond, & farther back Guardians of the Galaxy. Randomly at AMC or Cinemark. Most delightful.

The only theater here that never fails to disappoint is B&B Theaters. Local chain of several. No complaints about pic/sound quality but everything else is terrible. I shan't bore you with that.

Oh, and the only Super Mario Bros movie we really need already came out in '93. Just sayin'.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

steelydave
DIGITAL The Alan Parsons Project - The Turn of a Friendly Card (2023 Blu-Ray 5.1 mix)
Replies
11
Views
2K
M-K
M-K
B
encoding for broadcast
2
Replies
28
Views
7K
chucky3042
chucky3042
B
The Legacy of Dr Bauer
7 8 9
Replies
172
Views
26K
par4ken
par4ken
steelydave
QUADRAPHONY IN THE U.K.! (A&M / CBS / EMI / Decca / RCA / WEA Releases and History)
2
Replies
27
Views
9K
jaybird100
jaybird100
JonUrban
Billboard Quad LP/Tape Reviews
2
Replies
26
Views
9K
Bruce00
B

Latest posts

Back
Top