View Full Version : Hello everyone
I know I have already made a few post on the forum already, but though I would properly introduce myself here too. So here is a little about me...
My name is James
I've been into High Quality Hi-Fi for only a couple of years, but enjoying it (though my wallet certainly doesn't :()
Music wise I listen to a very wide range on genres, almost anything that takes my fancy in fact. Generally speaking though I am more into my Blues/Jazz, Chillout, Trance/Dance (might be the one on these forums that does :lol:) and Rock/Pop.
All of the music I listen to is digital, no LP's or CD's for me. (I was very much a child of the modern ages :)).
At present I have a collection of 18,000+ (approx 5000 FLAC, 13,000 192Kb or higher mp3's) songs stored on a windows server.
My system has evolved over the last couple of years to its current state:
Custom Built water cooled and dead quiet PC
QED Performance Optical
Beresford Caiman
QED Reference Audio Evolution
Arcam DIVA A70
QED XT Evolution & QED Performance Audio 1
Dali Concept 6 & BK Gemini 2
Everything from the Beresford DAC down is connected to the mains through a QED Qonduit Mains Conditioner (the 6 Gang one).
The Arcam & mains conditioner both use QED Qonduit Power cords.
I haven't posted and pictures of the system as I am a final year undergraduate, so living away from home. My system, therefore, is not currently in its tidiest of states and surrounded by university bits & bobs.
Since I am still at university, all be it not for much longer, does that make me one of, if not the youngest member on this forum?
Welcome Carson!
Music wise I listen to a very wide range on genres, almost anything that takes my fancy in fact. Generally speaking though I am more into my Blues/Jazz, Chillout, Trance/Dance (might be the one on these forums that does :lol:)
You'd be surprised - there's a lot of us old farts into most genres! :lol:
Since I am still at university, all be it not for much longer, does that make me one of, if not the youngest member on this forum?
Very probably, I'd guess - but don't worry, hi-fi addicts never grow up, our toys just get more expensive! :eyebrows:
The Grand Wazoo
20-11-2009, 20:58
Hi James
Alex doesn't look as young in real life as he does in his avatar - it's just that the camera is good to him!
The Vinyl Adventure
20-11-2009, 21:05
welcome james
im 26, so one of the younger members here!.. they are mostly old fuggys, stuck in their old fuggy ways.... nice enough though i suppose ...in thier own "special" way..... ;) :lolsign:
the member 'speakers-1989' is presumably 20.. but he only comes here when he is buying or selling something... which he does A LOT!!
sounds like you shall get on just fine in the digital club on here... although i suspect with time (if you hang around a while) you will end up with something that spins those wierd old black disks (well worth the trouble)
Hi James, welcome to AoS ! ;)
Very nice setup, especially for a student ! This is a true audiophile start. :)
Dalis are one of my favs, I can only agree.
No worries, we were all foolish being young. And we all remained young, as you will soon realize... :lol:
sounds like you shall get on just fine in the digital club on here... although i suspect with time (if you hang around a while) you will end up with something that spins those wierd old black disks (well worth the trouble)
We shall see how things go, though I think I may struggle with these weird old black disks you speak off, especially after using this digital malarkey for so long. :lol:
Very nice setup, especially for a student ! This is a true audiophile start. :)
Dalis are one of my favs, I can only agree.
I do try my best. Every time I buy something, new or old, I say to myself...If your going to do it, do it properly and spend a decent amount on whatever it might be, that way it wont (though probably would :lol:) just get upgraded within weeks when I might have more spare cash burning a hole in my pocket.
Initially I wasn't going to get the Dali's, but a nice reduction off their list price in a special tempted me otherwise. I must say, for the money they are fantastic speakers.
But as with everything in the audio industry....they could be just that little but better. :eyebrows:
Hi and welcome James,
Very nice set up up for a man of your young years, you make me feel a tad old as my eldist son is also called James and is only 4 years your Junior, he i hope is on his way to being a hifi nut, he has his first system made up of some of my old gear although its av based it has a good basis, he lets me borrow his ps3 for blue ray films and i let him borrow my old kit, sorted;)
Hi James
I like the idea of a water cooled PC - does it mean that it is very quiet in operation compared to air cooled?
Hi James
I like the idea of a water cooled PC - does it mean that it is very quiet in operation compared to air cooled?
Generally speaking yes. My one certainly is. You can just about hear it in a dead quiet room :)
The Vinyl Adventure
20-11-2009, 22:17
is it all glowing blue and other funky colours? i was very interested in making a water cooled htpc at one point but got a bit confuddled with dram's and quad core's and sata's and the like
Water-cooling was invented for game computers, if I'm not mistaken, gradually the price dropped and htpc builders found it was easier to build a w-c pc than a passive one... ;)
is it all glowing blue and other funky colours? i was very interested in making a water cooled htpc at one point but got a bit confuddled with dram's and quad core's and sata's and the like
Nope, its not all blue and funky. I like to keep things clean looking with a nice minimal look.
Computers can be pretty confusing, especially with so many new terms, phrases, etc it can be hard to keep up, but thankfully that is my area of expertise :)
Water cooling is not for the faint hearted as we all know water and electricity dont mix, more so when you are talking about hundreds of pound of electronics. That said, the results can be very good indeed.
James, you have time for playing video games ? :eyebrows:
James, you have time for playing video games ? :eyebrows:
Ha, Im not a big gamer, but do play some on my Xbox 360 or PC every once in a while. Haven't been able to for some time though due to my university work load. Who would have thought your final year at university would be the hardest....:scratch:
Ha, Im not a big gamer, but do play some on my Xbox 360 or PC every once in a while. Haven't been able to for some time though due to my university work load. Who would have thought your final year at university would be the hardest....:scratch:
You should have taken Philosophy like me instead of a proper subject that can earn you money in the real world!:lol:
You should have taken Philosophy like me instead of a proper subject that can earn you money in the real world!:lol:
I think I might loose my sanity if I did that, especially given i'd have to write essays which are not my strong point and I hate.
Making stuff is much more rewarding. :smoking:
Yep, a creative job is best rewarding. ;)
The Vinyl Adventure
20-11-2009, 22:48
Yep, a creative job is best rewarding. ;)
agreed!!
james, ifyou hang around, i might pick your brains about this pc stuff if i get round to building something again... i used to be quite good at it when i was in my late teens...
Yep, a creative job is best rewarding. ;)
Damn Straight!
agreed!!
james, ifyou hang around, i might pick your brains about this pc stuff if i get round to building something again... i used to be quite good at it when i was in my late teens...
Sure, feel free.
Ha, Im not a big gamer, but do play some on my Xbox 360 or PC every once in a while. Haven't been able to for some time though due to my university work load. Who would have thought your final year at university would be the hardest....:scratch:
Bloody hell, you're a rarity these days I would guess! It sounds computer related, but what are you studying? I would offer you a job, but as you're at Cambridge I doubt I could tempt (or afford!) you! ;)
Bloody hell, you're a rarity these days I would guess! It sounds computer related, but what are you studying? I would offer you a job, but as you're at Cambridge I doubt I could tempt (or afford!) you! ;)
My actual degree is Computer & Network Security, but with the company I work for out of term time and where I will be working once I graduate, I am an IT Developer. So I program database systems and provide IT support along with server/network management.
All very technical :lol:
Well if you ever want to link "All very technical" with "All very boring" give me a shout! :lol:
The Vinyl Adventure
20-11-2009, 23:57
james, what would you make of a sata hdd that allowed access but only very very slowly
james, what would you make of a sata hdd that allowed access but only very very slowly
Verify whether the transfer mode is "DMA when available" on the IDE controller ?
Spectral Morn
21-11-2009, 00:15
Hi James
Welcome to AOS...have fun.
Regards D S D L
The Vinyl Adventure
21-11-2009, 00:18
Verify whether the transfer mode is "DMA when available" on the IDE controller ?
pardon? it used to work fine...???
james, what would you make of a sata hdd that allowed access but only very very slowly
That could depend on a whole bunch of things.
It could be the disk at fault, hardware not up to scratch, software or hardware misconfiguration. Its quite to hard to tell with things like that.
If the disk is rather old then it could be on its way out. Also, how slow is very very slowly?
The Vinyl Adventure
21-11-2009, 00:31
... 30-40 seconds sometimes just to open a folder
... 30-40 seconds sometimes just to open a folder
Hmm, and you said it used to be fine....
How full is it? It could be that there is too much stuff on it and/or it needs to be de-fragmented.
I would suggest defragmenting your disk to see if it makes a difference. If the disk is heavily fragmented, it will be very slow.
Well if you ever want to link "All very technical" with "All very boring" give me a shout! :lol:
What's your definition of all very boring? You never know, it might not be that boring. :confused:
pardon? it used to work fine...???
Well, everything used to work fine before it breaks... :eyebrows:
Disks have three modes : PIO, DMA and UltraDMA. (slower,reliable to faster,less reliable). The mode is controlled by the HD controller (IDE controller).
When the system detects too many disks errors, it switches automatically the safer mode, to PIO mode. When it switches to PIO, everything becomes very slow as this mode uses processor instructions and memory to access the data.
So, actually, it means the disk had some errors.
Please check on your primary (or secondary) IDE channel the transfer mode used. If it's PIO, then your problem is there.
In any case, if the performance difference is very big, you need to check your HD for errors...
Hoping, of course, as James said that your disk is not ful at 98%... :lol:
What's your definition of all very boring? You never know, it might not be that boring. :confused:
Insurance! Excited yet!? :lol:
Insurance! Excited yet!? :lol:
To be fair, the company I work for is in the Civil Engineering sector (amongst others), so also not that interesting. I however, do not dig up roads, so its not quite as boring :lol:
But that's the great thing about the IT industry, you can work in pretty much any commercial sector and still do something interesting :lol:
In case you hadn't already noticed it yet, but I have taken some photos on my current system and posted them up in the gallery section.
Clicky Clicky (http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?p=81121#post81121) :eyebrows:
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