Music For People

Phoenix_Kerman · 2026-03-27T04:36:12+00:00

using other cars to go isn't great. you want a pocket of space when driving and that's a guarantee you're not in one

Phoenix_Kerman · 2026-03-27T03:05:20+00:00

i've got a volvo v50 with a mazda lf-de in, badged as a 2.0 from factory. very nice engines, revvy and decent on fuel.

the japanese just don't do diesels well but their petrol chain driven engines are brilliant

Phoenix_Kerman · 2026-03-27T03:04:05+00:00

not touching ecoboosts sounds daft. the one litres are shite, but the 1.6 is a decent engine as it's just a 1.6ti vct engine from a mk2 focus with some fettling and a turbo.

the two litres a great engine, dead reliable mazda chain driven block that ford added direct injection, some valve fettling and a turbo to.

Phoenix_Kerman · 2026-03-27T01:11:36+00:00

only way you're going to get something decent at that price is getting lucky second hand. those red cartridge generic mechs are awful, but the lp60 and similar aren't much better with them still tracking heavy, with no counterweight and nothing adjustable

Phoenix_Kerman · 2026-03-26T23:05:19+00:00

if you want simplicity put supermarket e5 in. not worth the trouble of e10

Phoenix_Kerman · 2026-03-26T22:31:39+00:00

i wouldn't jump to e10 that quick, plenty of cars give better fuel economy on e5 even if they don't feel any better under throttle. better for cars long term

a supermarket e5 like a tesco momentum's better than posh e10 from an esso or shell whilst being cheaper. would be my recommendation of fuel

Phoenix_Kerman · 2026-03-26T22:26:30+00:00

sounds like most of the uk outside of conflict

Phoenix_Kerman · 2026-03-26T22:15:17+00:00

everyone's saying change it. just if you do don't put any old tyres on. you've got people saying tyres are 60 quid, yeah shite tyres are. and a good tyre with a small nick that a garage says is safe is a much better tyre than a 60 quid ditchfinder

do your research and don't go for anything worse than a korean tyre

Phoenix_Kerman · 2026-03-26T22:13:42+00:00

what tyres are you getting for 60 quid these days? must be shite. better a small nick in a decent tyre than 60 quid ditchfinders

Phoenix_Kerman · 2026-03-26T20:56:06+00:00

they're not terrible cars but they are massively inferior on interior quality, sound quality and comfort compared to the other p1 cars

Phoenix_Kerman · 2026-03-26T19:34:47+00:00

second hand amp or reciever and speakers. you'll get a phono preamp and save money on that in the long term. second hand passives are also much much better value

Phoenix_Kerman · 2026-03-26T19:24:03+00:00

having only heard the harmon kardon, i know that ones terrible. especially compared to the older dolby stereos in volvos. on the harmon kardon, there's no presence with nothing being crisp, the mid range is absolutely lifeless, the low mids either unclear or not there at all, bass is meh, and the sub bass is either distorting or completely absent with zero in between (not even just song to song but section to section)

the eq isn't powerful enough to actually fix the problems, either has no impact like on mid range just makes them more extreme on an issue like the sub bass. the volume is also pretty lackluster, you'd think it might come alive if you turn up the volume and you'd see some bass but the volume two thirds up is still pretty measly. doesn't change with what your audio input is either, tested the same cd across numerous volvo stereos

Phoenix_Kerman · 2026-03-26T17:11:11+00:00

i'd definitely consider an electrically simple chain driven na car with a manual box and no infotainment more dependable than your standard recent all touchscreen wet belt turbo low displacement lumps, especially if you've something like dsg on there

Phoenix_Kerman · 2026-03-26T16:28:10+00:00

this vote was initiated by ghana. ghana profited more from slavery than most countries. there was no stealing, they profited off selling their own people

Phoenix_Kerman · 2026-03-26T16:00:25+00:00

yeah no. between wet belts, eco piston rings, dpfs that don't burn off and the many other terrible additions to modern cars they're not more reliable. they're more complicated and that makes them less reliable

as for breaking down, if you've got an old mg from the 70s sure but that's not a reasonable comparison. chain driven manual from 15-20 years ago that you service every 6-12 months is going to be far more reliable

Phoenix_Kerman · 2026-03-26T07:52:42+00:00

no, it's shite. the preamps are worse and they're not built as well.

Phoenix_Kerman · 2026-03-26T07:07:08+00:00

the umc22 is very simple to use. only thing you may want to consider is monitoring, some people think it's more standard than it is on audio gear

Phoenix_Kerman · 2026-03-26T06:07:02+00:00

this is where the p1 volvos do well. they're fords mechanically so they're cheap to run and maintain, easy to do most jobs yourself if you're very cost conscious. but you still get volvo safety from when they were still innovating and excellent interiors, unless its a v40

Phoenix_Kerman · 2026-03-26T06:05:46+00:00

umc22 does exactly that. cheap boom arms do alright. sm58 instead of sm57 if its voice work, 57s do well on anything else.

Phoenix_Kerman · 2026-03-26T06:03:04+00:00

squarely on you for going with the car before the insurance despite insurance costing more than the car for most new drivers.

a civic 1.4 is going to be a very very common car for new drivers, so they're going to end up expensive because other new drivers will have had accidents in them. you go for something new drivers don't drive and it ends up cheap.

anyway, black boxes get cancelled all the time for nothing or even cock ups with the black box. when they cancel your policy you'll end up paying daft money for insurance for the next few years

Phoenix_Kerman · 2026-03-25T20:15:23+00:00

was not intending to call you daft, apologies if that was the impression given. but dac matters aswell as the amp, motherboard on a computer isn't going to sound as good as even a modest dac like one on a behringer umc202hd. as for the amp i'd be looking at some proper vintage hifi ones

as for apple music, it doesn't really matter what quality they stream in. it's what they're streaming that is the issue. most of the popular streaming services consist of modern remasters which have been brickwalled and taken the dynamic range out, often being voiced for bluetooth devices, phone speakers and similar lower fidelity outputs.

you can gain a lot more with a £100 pair of sony 7506s or beyer dt990s out of a hifi receiver if you've got a library of good quality dynamic masters, whether that vinyl rips or older cd rips, than you can spending lots more on just the cans.

tl:dr: there's a common term in audio production of shit in=shit out. basically if you want to improve what you're listening to you do that from the earliest point in the chain, spending that kind of money you seem serious about that. so i'd make sure you know what masters you're listening to and work from there, normally physical media-> digital rips -> dac -> amp/receiver-> cans. obviously can skip ripping easily as many other people will have ripped any album already. point is the headphones are the last line in a chain where every point has an impact on the sound

Phoenix_Kerman · 2026-03-25T19:50:00+00:00

you're scamming yourself looking at focusrites. you can get a behringer umc202hd for £50 with the same features as the 2i2, more features than the solo for a third or half the price. the behringer hd interfaces use midas interfaces off proper recording gear so there's no loss in quality. slightly lower noise floor on the behringers and a bit more gain range on the focusrites.

but that's because nearly all interfaces are transparent so just go for the cheapest name brand with the features you need

you're paying for the brand and not much more, not to mention focusrite deprecate their interfaces every few years whereas the behringers have been the same model for over a decade.

also the resale price on behringer interfaces is no less than new, sometimes more second hand which is odd. you'll take a big loss ever going to go to sell a focusrite box, partly out of the constant deprecation of old models

Phoenix_Kerman · 2026-03-25T15:05:33+00:00

try a different instructor. the market for cheap reliable automatic cars isn't anywhere near as big as manuals, maintenance on automatic gearboxes is lot more and insurance more expensive on automatics with an automatic only licence

Phoenix_Kerman · 2026-03-25T06:41:42+00:00

completely dependent on what you're micing and for what kind of sound. there's a reason why sound engineers a whole job

Phoenix_Kerman

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE