A Geek Goes Flying

After stripping everything down to minimalism to comfortably host Thanksgiving this year, I’ve decided to redo my reading/listening station . Getting rid of the IKEA side table, the clusterfuck of cables, etc., and getting down to basics. Moving the Schiit stack to the built-in bookshelves, which aren’t deep enough to comfortably host the Mac Mini, let alone the shelf I built . Also ditching the iPhone 12 setup, since I just never really used it. But I still do want streaming capability. (I tried, I really tried, to use / like the Logitech Media Server setup on the mini, but, alas.) Wiim Pro Enter the streamer After too much research, and considering the Arylic S10+ and LP10, and the Eve Play, and some other devices, I settled on the WiiM Pro , especially once Amazon dropped it from $150 to $125, a pretty good price . If I ever use Spotify, it integrates (though I probably won’t ), and apparently it works with the Pandora and SiriusXM I do  have ... But mostly I anticipate using it...

Decluttering, I found an old HD 8  (mine’s actually an 8th generation, one year newer than that SKU, but they’re both obsolete and discontinued, so whatever) that I’d apparently never even setup (or if I did, I’d factory reset it). It’s like 7 years old but the screen is immaculate and it seems to have a working battery, albeit not the strongest - as you’d expect. Anyway. It’s running Fire OS 7.3.2.9 with a build date of Decemer 5, 2023, 1:59 p.m., so I guess I did have it online at some point, long enough to update the system software. I’m told this software is a fork of Android Pie (a/k/a Android 9.0), which is getting fairly long in the tooth, but I have apps that will work on the much older Android 5 (Lollipop) (from my Nexus 7 restoration project ), so ...  The hardware isn’t anything to write home about either: 8-inch IPS LCD (1280x800); quad-core MediaTek MT8163B CPU; 1.5 GB RAM; 16GB internal storage (~12GB usable after factory reset); VGA front camera, 2MP rear ...

I’ve had issues in the past with cheap Bluetooth devices not negotiating the AAC codec with my Apple devices, instead falling back to the dreadful default SBC codec, which sounds like ass. I wanted to add Bluetooth to an old Onkyo receiver I’m using in a “secondary” A/V system and gambled on this  $25 1Mii B06 Plus  Bluetooth receiver ,  after learning from the seller ( 1MiiDirect-US ) that the “B06+ uses the  Qualcomm QCC3040 chip.”   I’m seeing AAC negotiated , and (on a trial basis), patched into the unbalanced (RCA) inputs on a Schiit Jotunheim through a pair of Sennheiser HD 660S2 headphones , it sounds pretty damned good. Connected to my Sony Walkman  (mine’s a long discontinued NW-ZX300 unit, which supports SBC, LDAC, aptX, and aptX HD), it negotiates aptX HD: I would rate this unit a solid “good enough,” even “great” for the price point.  The physical build quality isn’t amazing, and the 3.5 mm to RCA cable it comes with is on the cheaper end...

Following up on a previous post , I can now confirm that, in addition to the reliable Qualcomm QCC5125 and CSR8675 chipsets (and unlike the QCC3034 , apparently), the “Flagship QCC518x”[ 1 ] chipset in the ifi Zen Blue v3 also connects via AAC to Mac  computers. Huzzah. I have one patched into an original Schiit Jotunheim (with the AK4490 Balanced DAC card installed ) via a 4.4 mm to dual XLR cable , and it sounds incredible . iFi Zen Blue v3 circuit board ifi Zen Blue v3 Bluetooth transmitter/receiver/DAC

Shelf over the Schiit Jotunheim amplifier Bedside. I got a great price on an older Jotunheim (not the Jotunheim 2) with the AK4490 DAC card installed, that I couldn’t pass up. This is for more casual listening; music while reading before bed, maybe the occasional TV show or online lecture series or whatever before bed. (I know I maybe shouldn’t , but, here we are.) But my bedside table is getting a little crowded. At first I put this shelf over the amp, but that put my Belkin charger a bit too high for my iPhone in ___ mode to be effective, so I returned to the well and picked up another 10" square aluminum plate to build another small aluminum shelf to put over the amp. This time I used 4" legs for air flow ( 2/7 x 4 inch Sign Standoff Screws ), since the Schiit is passively cooled and the vents are on the top (the mac mini has a fan and vents out the back, so I wasn’t as worried about leaving space above it). Drill bits to poke holes in the aluminum. It’s a little wobb...

The Chair Back in May, in the middle of an organization kick, I had a KIA Nero EV rental for a few days, and used it to pick up some closet organization stuff at IKEA ( KALLAX shelving units ; DRÖNA inserts ). I’d been thinking about getting a reading chair that would be more conducive to reading and some work, vs. the IKEA FRIHETEN that provides all my living room seating. Somewhere in my reading, I stumbled across someone raving about the POÄNG chair, which has a bit of a cult following and a strong pedigree: No Shame in the Poäng Chair Architectural Digest Poäng: The Little-Known History Of Ikea’s Most Famous Chair Fast Company The Goddamn POÄNG Chair (“[T]he famously frugal IKEA founder and billionaire Ingvar Kamprad, who died in 2018, owned the same POÄNG chair since 1978.”) I wasn’t sure if it would fit my weird, lengthy proportions, so I decided to try one out during my IKEA visit. And, yep, it fits more or less perfectly. So I picked it up with the matching ottoma...

Just a few notes about some gadgets I found to pair with my MiniBook X : JLab JBuds Mini True Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds ($30). Not the greatest but tiny . Fits on the “ tablet Cocoon .” Ultra Small Bluetooth Wireless Mouse, Dual Mode - $25 for this generic piece of kit. It works. Hold the middle mouse button (wheel) and the right mouse button for a couple of seconds until the buried LEDs flash blue and Bluetooth pair it. Charges with USB C (comes with a small USB A to C cable). It definitely takes a bit of getting used to; it's tiny ! Literally about the size of my thumb: Size comparison, BT Mouse181 and Verbatim 70744 travel mouse But it works well enough, once you get used to it, for the sort of "whip out the Chuwi (or a tablet) and get something done real quick" use case I envision for it. For anything more substantial I'll probably have a laptop and at least a Pebble mouse with me, but for the MiniBook X or tablets, this thing is a welcome alternative to conto...

Qualcomm QCC5125 Package I got the BLT-2 (which apparently uses a Qualcomm QCC3034 chipset) in the mail today, and hooked it up. The manual I found online says it can work between two phones, but the manual for the device I got says it will remember up to 8 devices. Since I want it to work with both whatever laptop I might be cranking on, or at other times my phone, that’s perfect. So I set up my phone and my work MacBook Pro M1 Pro 14". A quick look at Console.app and it appears it’s still using the SBC codec - WTF? Digging into that. (Seems to be a common complaint, and the how to fix guides are all outdated .)  https://gist.github.com/dvf/3771e58085568559c429d05ccc339219?permalink_comment_id=4078721 Update: My Macs connect to many devices using AAC, including: A Loxjie A40 ( log ) (Qualcomm QCC5125) A FiiO BTR5-2021 ( log ) (Qualcomm CSR8675) EarStudio ES100 ( log ) (Qualcomm CSR8675) I’ve ordered a Blafili B3 (which apparently uses the QCC5125), fingers crossed. Blafili sup...

HIEbee Bluetooth receiver So I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve never really given Bluetooth codecs much thought. I guess I just figured, reasonably modern devices would have complementary capabilities and would negotiate the best possible stream, and away we go. Turns out, maybe not so much. I picked up the cheap! ($10) HIEbee 5.2 Bluetooth Audio Receiver (which identifies itself as YET-R30 via Bluetooth), along with a cheap ($8) short 75 Ω coaxial cable for S/PDIF, to patch into the last remaining digital input on the back of my Modius . For the very low price, I thought it might be nice to be able to listen to my iPhone over Bluetooth as a convenience, vs. patching it in through the Apple Lightning to USB3 Camera Adapter (which I’m finding finnicky to get charging, and so try to leave it connected to the surplus iPhone 12 Pro I’ve dedicated to my listening station). The device comes with a 3.5 mm male to male cable and a cheap feeling optical TOSlink cable, and has bright blue status...

I’ve been using a Handheld Scientific BT-400 for years, to let my wireless devices (iPad, etc) use my wired keyboards. It adapts PS/2 or USB keyboards to Bluetooth with a built-in battery. It’s a little clunky and the LEDs are obnoxiously bright, but still, it’s a unique product and I love it. Still works great. Except, it wasn’t passing through the media keys I layered into my D60Lite . BT-500 I contacted support and confirmed, to my chagrin, the BT-400 has been discontinued, and they’re not incredibly enthused to help troubleshoot obscure issues on obsolete products. Don’t really blame them. Instead, they offered to have me test-drive the new BT-500 , to see if my issues persisted.   Gone is the PS/2 port, though their compatibility list suggests most (all?) PS/2 to USB adapters should work. As for USB, it turns out the BT-500 is very particular about what cable it’s connected to. It worked perfectly with a GMMK full-sized keyboard and a Unicomp SpaceSaver M, both of which are...

The only time I’ve gotten the FiiO BTR5-2021 to work with a headset mic, it’s been the Sennheiser PC38X. I tried the mic that came with the Philips SPH9600RM, nothing. I just tried a V-Moda BoomPro (which has its own issues, like, the impedance I measure on the left and right channels is way higher than it should be, and if you don’t get the inline volume control just right, the left channel is significantly louder than the right), same thing. Reached out to V-Moda support. Really frustrated so far... Update: I picked up. another PC38X (now branded EPOS, after the Sennheiser spin-off) on sale for $129 (from $169), and picked up the Boom Mic for Drop + THX Panda Headphones ($9 instead of a purported list price of $49). Both work perfectly with the BTR5, and the boom mic fits the SPH9600 perfectly. Huzzah. Drop Boom Mic  I wish I knew why the BTR5 seems so finicky when it comes to which microphones it will work with. Also, the BTR3 is a less expensive module that will do what the...

It’s 2023. Why is Bluetooth such a huge PITA still? I got a JBL Flip 5 to use with my various standing solutions (all of which revolve around a laptop at the moment). It sounds okay, especially for the price, when it works. But it just doesn’t work, at least not reliably. Using the MacBook Pro 14" as a source, with the Flip 5 sitting about 12" below the laptop on the keyboard tray of the Tripodsy , it plays fine occasionally, but then it starts cutting out (especially, but not only, when I touch the Logitech M557 mouse I also have connected via Bluetooth. Constantly. It’s unlistenable. Switched it off and connected the laptop to a ~5 year old Bose Revolve+ SoundLink sitting in exactly the same spot and it's rock solid, never skips a note, no matter how much mouse (or NuPhy Halo 75 keyboard) Bluetooth activity there is. I downloaded the JBL Portable app and verified: “Software is up to date ... Current software: 0.5.6.0.” Reading some Amazon reviews, I’m not alone in ex...

This is an uncommon use case, since most people using Bluetooth headphones don’t want the audio leakage of an open back headphone, and most people using open back headphones want the audio quality of a wired connection ( Wireless tech can degrade audio quality , though many – most? – listeners won’t notice). But. For those looking for an open back Bluetooth headphone solution (like I do, on the balcony, when I’m hanging out with my dogs and want to be aware of what’s going on in the world around us), I’ve gathered the following... Grado GW100 Wireless Open Back Headphones Headphones There are a few options that incorporate a “native” Bluetooth option: Grado GW100 v2 (though these are apparently designed to leak 60% less noise than the wired version, so if you’re trying to keep situational awareness, might not be ideal; the microphone is also apparently not amazing ) HIFIMAN Deva (older Bluetooth dongle, and like the Deva Pro below, the microphone is suspect) HIFIMAN Deva-Pro (purpor...

My “mid-2010” iMac is getting flaky, and with its HD 4760 GPU, wasn’t a great contender for a Big Sur update, even with OpenCore Patcher. The 2012 Mac Mini occupies a sweet spot on eBay, selling for around $100-150 (depending on configuration), and can run Big Sur quite well, patched. The GPU in the iMac can be upgraded, but it’s still an old, underpowered machine witth splotches on the screen, etc. Newer iMacs aren’t that expensive by themselves, but once you factor in shipping, they’re spendy. Still, for dragging out onto the balcony to enjoy our reliably nice SoCal weather, you can’t beat the form factor. I decided to hack together a machine that met my specifications (including relatively low cost). I started with the highest spec inexpensive Mac Mini I could find, a late-2012 Core i7 2.3 GHz with 16GB RAM and a 500GB hard drive ($150). I swapped the hard drive for a Crucial MX500 1TB SSD ($90). I got a VESA mount ($15) so I could bolt it to the back of a monitor; for that I we...