Audacity Forum

Ah, yes. I begin to see the problem. The Koss Pro4AA are terrific headphones, but it's like wearing an all-terrain vehicle on each ear. Not for the long haul, although I know people who mix on them. I think they hire someone to hold their head up.

Koss makes a Pro3AA and those are a little easier on the head. They tend to have a touch more "disco" bass boost, but it's not extreme and it's OK as long as you know they're going to do that.

I would kill to have my Sennheiser HD414 back in operation. They're a little weak in the bass, but they're just terrific sounding and they're very light. Watch the movie with the laptop on your tummy light. They also have tiny electrical connections inside the muff that break after decades of use. Ask me how I know that.

We decommissioned a production room at work and one of the do-bees tossed a set of Sennheiser eH150s on the trash. I dug them back out and partially repaired the wiring problems (do you see a pattern here?). I put music into them and they're stunning. Perfect sound balance. Then I found they're also $230 on Amazon. No wonder.

There is a Sony model that's the darling of the movie industry. I wrote it down last time I met with the officials and I can get that number as soon as I remember where I put it.

I bought super cheap Sony MDR-V150 from a bookstore on Hawaii and thought they were OK until I got back to the mainland and compared them with The Good Stuff. They bass boost really badly and it's a good thing I didn't need to mix anything on them.

Earbuds tend to have no bass. At all. They're all mids and highs, good for running on the beach and meditation music during your yoga class. Ommmmmmmmmmm.

I also found I had a pile of popular headphones available and I jammed them all through quick tests and made notes. Any minute I'm going to remember where I left those notes. I do remember there were really very few with a good balance for proper mixing. That's where I found out about the Pro3AA.
Headphones are going to be a problem for you because the Blue Icicle has no provision for headphones. That means you'll be plugged into your sound card for recording and that usually means an echo in your 'phones.

As we go.

Koz

Sony MDR-7506.

I can't personally recommend them because I've never heard them in operation, but they are the unquestioned darlings of movie-making. Before you get all excited, it's entirely possible that they have the best sound isolation or are the most comfortable and have nothing to do with the actual sound.

At one time I was going to get one of the Sound Practitioners to bring theirs in so I can listen. Any minute now.

Koz

steve wrote:

greghall00 wrote:And I STILL don't know what "2 in 1 sound" means!

Neither do I

greghall00 wrote:I see a blue, green and pink set of what looks like 3.5mm jack/recepticles but I don't know what they are or if they are fuctional.

That sounds like it's a sound card.

greghall00 wrote:The ONLY thing I've heard from the computer since Narinder Singh got me online is the melodic chime when Windows starts.

Where is that sound coming from? Do you have speakers plugged in somewhere?

The ebay page describing my Sixty Dollar Dell has that line, I think. "2 in 1 sound."

Thanx for that color code explanation.

The chime comes from within the SDD's (Sixty Dollar Dell = SDD = Sadie) innard somewhere. Then, after reading your question I tried it with my budget (yet top rated!) earbuds and I could hear the chime in my ears.

Now, I discover I can't get 'Sadie' back to working like Mr. Singh had it working yesterday. It's like they give you a little taste of what their service can offer you. Then, if you don't subscribe, to the tune of $168/yr, then, once they know you are helpless they put the computer back into an unworking condition and leave you to your own devices.

So, in addition to the sound card question, I must also find some way of getting Sadie to work the way she did yesterday.

I do recall Narinder saying he did everything with Sadie in what he called, Safe Mode. And to get past the opening black screen he had me hit F-8 repeatedly while booting up.

Help.

Greg

Shaky wrote:

greghall00 wrote:I. . .only after buying a VGA cable could I even hook it up to my 720p 20" Hi-def TV set I'm using for a monitor.

. . . The ONLY thing I've heard from the computer since Narinder Singh got me online is the melodic chime when Windows starts.

Hmmmm. If the only connection from your new computer - aside from keyboard and mouse - is a VGA cable to your TV monitor and you envisage using that for sound, the problem is likely that there is no sound flowing.

The HDMI monitor cable standard supports sound, but most like VGA do not, and you may well have a system speaker internally that is only intended to convey operating system beeps, etc, that produced the Windows audio greeting you heard; alas it is not suited for much else.

You could probably get a relatively cheap cable to connect a jack on your soundcard to the TV, but the key question then is will you be able to view the computer at the same time, which seems somewhat doubtful.

Do you have some headphones you can use? If so I suggest your try those, and if not it is probably the best investment you can make. You can get pretty good ones for very little money, but it is worth considering that you may well be wearing them for extended periods so comfort is moderately important -- try before you buy if possible.

Shaky, I'm going to say your diagnosis about the internal sounds being the ony sounds it will make, sounds possible here. But the ebay description of the computer does say, "Sound 2in/1out"...whatever that means.

And Sadie doesn't have an HDMI jack.

Come daylight I'll see if I can rustle up a picture or two to post here like Koz suggests. And, I had planned on Behringer HPS 1000-2000 or 3000 headphones to use for mixing. I chose them as being in line with my budget desires (less than $20/pr) as well as them having been positively reviewed online.

Greg

I think that the "2in1" refers to the automatic recognition if head phones are connected (or alternatively, on the In side microphone/line-in).
That's at least the case on my Dell.
However, I have a desktop computer and a creative sound card.
The settings for the automatic/manual choice are - as usual - placed on a expanded tab, somewhere in the sound control panel.

greghall00 wrote:Then, after reading your question I tried it with my budget (yet top rated!) earbuds and I could hear the chime in my ears.

Cool
I presume that you plugged your ear-buds into the green jack socket? That will be your sound card - probably a cheap and nasty one but probably good enough to get started. Even cheap and nasty sound cards are usually ok for playback, and that is what you want it for. Cheap sound cards are usually rubbish for recording, but you have your icicle so you won't be using the computer's sound card for recording.

One limitation that you will have with this set-up is that you will not hear yourself in the headphones while you are recording. That's not a big deal and some people prefer it that way.

If the computer was sold to you as "working" then the seller has some responsibility that it is actually working,

greghall00 wrote:the ebay description of the computer does say, "Sound 2in/1out"...whatever that means.

It probably means 2 inputs (1x mic + 1x Line in) and 1 output (headphones/speakers). I wouldn't get too hung up on it.

I had planned on Behringer HPS 1000-2000 or 3000 headphones to use for mixing. I chose them as being in line with my budget desires (less than $20/pr) as well as them having been positively reviewed online.

I don't know anything about those, but if I were you I would go out of my way to find a store where you can try them personally, since for your purposes I would imagine finding a comfortable pair is the most important factor above sound quality.

That said I have a pair of the Sony MDR 7506 headphones that Koz mentions and I love them; the sound quality is great, they are well built and I find them very comfortable to wear for extended periods, so I have largely ditched my much more expensive Sennheiser HD 25s. (Also in a drawer amongst others are a pair of Sennheiser HD 202s that sound great, are in your price range, but hold my head in a vice-like grip that causes searing pain after 30min or so)

According to Amazon the Sonys are approximately 3x the price of the Beheringer you mention, but I would seriously consider stretching the extra distance, since I as well as many reviewers consider them on par with much more expensive headphones in the $200-300 range.

as well as them having been positively reviewed online.

You don't look for the positive reviews, you look for the negative ones.

"I think this product is the best thing since sliced bread and canned beer and I should know because I'm a good friend of the people who built it and are selling it. Moses received his on the mount and that specific one has been running perfectly ever since."

More like:

"The product failed the third time I tried to use it. Googling it seems to confirm that the product just does that and it's difficult to find one that behaves."

The Google term is "Frammistat Complaints." Replace Frammistat with your product.

Koz

Shaky wrote: ... I have largely ditched my much more expensive Sennheiser HD 25s. (Also in a drawer amongst others are a pair of Sennheiser HD 202s that sound great, are in your price range, but hold my head in a vice-like grip that causes searing pain after 30min or so)

I love my HD 25s for home use - but when I'm travelling I use a set of folding Sennheiser PX100s - about a tenth the price of the HD 25s but still surprisingly good - and light on the head.

WC

Well, my Le Pan II Android tablet's charging cable has been a problem the last few days, preventing my doing nothing but trying to resolve this matter of Sadie (My sixty dollar Dell).

I could spend an hour writing up everything that's happened since my last post, but the bottom line is that I've chosen the seller's offer to send me a fuctional unit.

So, until I know otherwise, I'll assume this problem is as good as solved.

Anyone wanting the details let me know and I'll try to comply.

Greg