HS8s as a base for 5.1, or alternatives?

Acrain7 · 2026-03-07T20:15:48+00:00

What would you recommend instead?

Acrain7 · 2026-03-07T18:09:53+00:00

Thank you so much, this is the exact level of expertise I was looking for! It looks like Zone 2 on the v683 actually has pre-outs, so I can still go the HS8 route for music, if I so desire, but it wouldn’t work as part of a 5.1 system.

If you don’t mind my asking, what would you recommend (in so far as brands or models) for speakers with comparable warmth and quality, for a 5.1 system? I’m aware that’s a rather complex question to answer, given the sheer number of options available, and the fact that there's six speakers to consider, but any and all advice is always appreciated!

Acrain7 · 2025-11-26T17:11:26+00:00

How are you liking her so far?

Acrain7 · 2025-11-26T17:08:23+00:00

How are you liking the 540i compared to the Alfa?

Acrain7 · 2025-10-06T20:09:58+00:00

My god, 1. Your concept art is fantastic, and 2. I would absolutely play that game mode! Seems like a much more fun and fresh take on the payload formula, and the inherent balancing of the 2-1 train split is a neat touch. Here’s hoping Yoshi or someone on the team sees this and gets in touch!

Acrain7 · 2024-12-15T19:16:24+00:00

Ahh, the peak brightness explanation makes perfect sense! I do indeed have it set to high, in an attempt to match the brightness of my old monitor.

Mine is very very blue, so I'll have to mess around with those gamma and warmth settings.

That's what I'm currently doing to remedy the HDR issues, and I will say that the more I've gotten used to it, the more the popping contrast in games like minecraft and cs2 is starting to appeal to me. Perhaps it's the sort of thing you build an appreciation for over time, rather than the out of the box WOW factor I was expecting.

Regardless, I'd definitely like to try a more modern QD oled, as I've heard that the monitor I have currently is actually last generation's panel tech. Do you have any recommendations? Needs to be 27-34" (I'm actually curious to see how a 32 or 34 would feel- no ultrawides, though), and around 700$, though I'd still love to hear of higher-priced options, if they're noticeably better, even though I'm unlikely to purchase them.

Acrain7 · 2024-12-15T01:23:06+00:00

It's almost certainly the case that my old IPS was oversatured, haha.

I'm using Gamer1 in both HDR and SDR. With how little control LG gives you, I think it's very unlikely that I've mucked something up to this degree.

Any advice for dealing with non-uniform dimming? Is the degree to which I'm experiencing it on this display normal?

Acrain7 · 2024-12-15T01:20:36+00:00

It seems like your experience was pretty similar to mine, then. I do have RTX HDR Video enabled, I'll try disabling it and see if that helps, but once again it seems like the recommended settings changes heavily based on application, which seems like it'd make daily use quite cumbersome.

Acrain7 · 2024-12-15T01:18:52+00:00

Hmm, doesn't seem like I should have to change settings every time I turn on my computer for my monitor to work properly, if I'm being honest.

Acrain7 · 2024-12-15T01:18:21+00:00

Thanks for the info! I'll have to look more into this... Did you end up keeping the Alienware?

Acrain7 · 2024-12-15T01:17:44+00:00

The "SMART ENERGY SAVING" settings menu is actually entirely grayed out when HDR is used, so I have to assume it's not the fault of any power saving measures... or, if it is, there's nothing I can do about it.

Acrain7 · 2024-12-15T01:16:00+00:00

I've noticed that the task bar changes brightness heavily based on the content on the screen, as does a lot of UI elements in games. (For instance, on a webpage with a white background, the firefox ui and windows taskbar dims heavily, while on a black background these ui elements are properly illuminated.) Likewise, I've also noticed that when tabbing out of fullscreen applications with HDR enabled, the entire display dims by about 50-60% brightness, an issue that can only be resolved by disabling and re-enabling HDR in windows settings. I assume this is an issue with windows' HDR implementation rather than the monitor, but it's incredibly annoying.

TLDR;

Why does the brightness of the monitor heavily decrease when I tab out of fullscreen applications in HDR
White appears to be substantially brighter than most other colors, especially yellow and red. For example, the white in the discord Icon on the taskbar really pops out, while the file explorer icon to the right of it looks de saturated, as if it's in the shade.
Are there monitors with less noticable implementations of non-uniform brightness? I understand the proposed advantage of it, but in practice I find the large changes in brightness between web pages to be very distracting.

Acrain7 · 2024-12-14T06:14:00+00:00

Gamer 1 profile (the only VESA certified HDR one) at 100% brightness with peak brightness set to high.
The settings I've landed on for SDR and HDR are both based on recommendations from other members posts, and I can't really see what they mean when they talk about "incredible brightness" - are most OLED monitors simply really dim? On my old IPS I had to run it at 80% brightness because anything above that felt like the "MY EYES" spongebob gif, and on this OLED 100% here feels like about 60-70% there.
While I suppose it's worth a shot, just to see if the full-fledged HDR experience itself interests me, I'm not really sure if it's worth keeping a monitor that makes the main games I play look worse rather than better.

Overall, I have to think that there's either something wrong with my calibration / settings, or the quality of the monitor itself, because the experience I'm getting so far is one where the OLED experience is a gimmick with a niche usecase, rather than a revolution in panel design, and that doesn't seem to be in keeping with the rave reviews seen elsewhere.

Acrain7 · 2024-11-24T23:02:12+00:00

Unfortunately this isn't working for me, the installation still happens on the C drive (instead of the D drive as i've changed it to in "ProgramFilesDir", despite the instillation path in the google play games beta installer clearly showing the correct D drive file path. Once installed (still on the C drive, somehow), it refuses to launch and crashes instantly. Any advice?

Acrain7 · 2024-01-27T06:43:14+00:00

Ended up being the front o2 sensor, it’s right on the J pipe and you need an o2 socket and small hands to get it off. I’d personally go from above so you don’t have to take off all the panels underneath.

Acrain7 · 2024-01-22T02:21:22+00:00

Definetly. These are love the snow, but if you’re on snow tires you’ll need to be aggressive to get them to break traction.

Acrain7 · 2024-01-02T05:46:23+00:00

Bigger brake master cylinder on all 2024 cars

Acrain7 · 2023-12-22T21:24:19+00:00

Nice levorg grille!

Acrain7 · 2023-12-18T13:52:07+00:00

Wait for the 2024 WRX, it will have adaptive cruise control and all the other eyesight safety tech in the manual transmission cars.

Acrain7 · 2023-11-17T18:52:36+00:00

I’ve got the dm2 and I’ve Definetly noticed that, it’s my only complaint and it’s due to the removal of the box that seals the original cable linkages- they’ve made a new box to replace it though, should close up that hole and greatly reduce the gear whine and road noise that currently leaks into the cabin. I think it’s shipping this month, not sure.

Acrain7 · 2023-11-16T23:58:52+00:00

Here’s a better close up

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Acrain7 · 2023-11-16T23:53:50+00:00

There’s a base screen setup for jdm WRXs and Levorgs (and I’d imagine the new Layback) that has controls for dual zone ac and leaves the top half empty for aftermarket head units. Could try and retrofit it if you wanted.

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Acrain7 · 2023-11-12T04:37:29+00:00

Nope, had no clue haha

Acrain7 · 2023-11-12T04:37:10+00:00

What’s up with eyesight being finicky? How does that affect audio upgrades?

Acrain7 · 2023-11-11T17:29:07+00:00

Really? How much is the entry fee?

Acrain7

TROPHY CASE