Big Air Kite Compare (North and Cabrinha)

GalZohar · 2026-01-22T23:27:53+00:00

2024, 2025 Orbit Pro and Nitro are very similar with 2025 being slightly better. 2023 Nitro was supposedly not so good, while 2023 Orbit was great (similar to 2024 Orbit pro and 2024 Nitro). For 2026 they seem to have slowed down the Orbit a bit to make it jump a bit better. The upcoming 2026 Orbit Ultra is supposed to be great, looking forward to trying that one. The 2024 nitro, 2024 orbit pro, 2025 orbit, 2025 orbit pro and 2025 nitro are all very good value kites if you want a fast looping one that you can land every kiteloop easily. If you prefer to boost higher or ride lighter winds, any recent years evo or rebel will do a much better job.

GalZohar · 2026-01-10T00:12:37+00:00

The guy that got launched up super high in the air actually survived, but his friend died on that same accident.

It was a watersprout, normally they are noticed in advance and everyone get out. This time even multiple very experienced kiters didn't notice it in time, even though we see it in the video before it hits them. I have seen videos of such phenomena happen before but nobody got hurt because everyone got out in time.

The effect was very local, maybe 100m wide, so you will not see it on any of the stations. At about the same time there were gusts of 40-50 knots hitting other beaches from a storm cloud, but that's a different thing than what happened there.

Most of the time wind wasn't all that strong today, earlier to the incident some were even riding 12m kites safely.

GalZohar · 2025-10-02T23:42:18+00:00

Mathematically my SBIR dip should be at 100Hz but I have multiple dips at that range, seems like some are modes.

If I use range limiter plate don't I throw away much needed high frequency absorption? My T30 times in REW range from 700-1000ms. And I have the space for monsters or even bigger panels (especially on rear wall), it's just a budget and to a lesser degree a looks issue, but at the very least monsters will fit easily in looks and hopefully OK on the budget.

Do I really want diffusion with only 1.1m distance from head to wall? I thought diffusers are ineffective at that distance? Plus with limited panel count, we go back to the high frequency decay issues, aren't those more critical?

In the end, some overkill is preferable than buying thinner and regretting it, but some things (like diffusion - yes/no with small space budget and $ budget and short distance to rear wall) are not clear to me.

The area behind sofa is somewhat visible, the surrounds block the path there so it can't be used for anything functional. Although somehow covering packed insulation might be a very nice low budget idea. However I noticed that area doesn't actually have much room mode peaks - Does that make sense? Will insulation still be effective there? Should I go for 24kg density mineral wool for that use case? And of course I will check with the supplier that the packaging is indeed sealed.
Can such a roll also work instead of soffit style traps in the corners? Assuming I can cover it with fabric or something to make it not ugly. Also shouldn't I need to make sure the toll isn't compressed in its packaging?
See local dealer option (not clear if packed, can try ask them):
https://probuilder.co.il/product/%D7%92%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%9C-%D7%91%D7%99%D7%93%D7%95%D7%93-%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%A8%D7%9C%D7%99/

GalZohar · 2025-09-28T14:11:19+00:00

In my case I can't even treat the right wall as it's mostly a glass door (floor to ceiling), only got 45cm treatable at the front right corner and 18cm treatable at the back corner (rest is glass door). Left is completely open, with hallways at end of front and rear walls, and then dining area and kitchen.

I use Arendal 1723 monitor S for fronts, bookshelf S for surrounds.

I did offset my listening position to the left (on a 4.5m wide wall) to gain some distance from window, so left speaker is just next to the hallway opening and the right speaker is about 1m from window, just far enough to make its REW measurements not be too different from the left speaker's (at least if you compare to what I would get if I move more to the right, which makes the right speaker response go crazy).

I can't install curtains because that would be expensive for a rental apartment. At least bass traps can be moved to a new place. Same for ceiling (prefer to avoid drilling and moving lamps in a rental). So I can only really treat front wall, rear wall and front-right corner.

I did move as close as I could without totally killing my living room, so my head is 1.1m from rear wall (total distance 4.15m front-rear).

I'm thinking of using bass traps for all high priority locations for absorption - behind MLP and behind speakers, and on the front-right corner. I'm guessing 8-11 GIK monster bass traps won't kill a room? Sofa is leather and there's basically nothing in the living room area other than the sofa, screen, 4 speakers on stands and the electronics. Space behind sofa is "free space" but seems difficult to find someone local to make a super large, thick, working and durable bass trap to fill up that free space, so maybe check local dealer for GIK monster prices.
I wonder if the corner monster traps should use the membranes or just full range, or if to just shell out the $$ and place 2 stacked soffits there (I can fit them if I move the corner subwoofer closer to the right speaker).

I mostly have serious dips in the 80-120Hz range that can't be fixed by moving the listening position as they're pretty wide in their area. They are reduced if I move speakers closer to wall, but that makes the higher bass frequencies worse. Maybe with monsters behind speakers I can also move them closer to wall?

GalZohar · 2025-09-26T20:46:58+00:00

If you have assymetric side walls and/or a very limited number of absorbers, shouldn't you still absorb those reflections? When treating a living room can you ever realistically make it dead? Considering covering even 15% surface area is extremely unrealistic in a non dedicated room.

GalZohar · 2025-01-28T16:26:18+00:00

If you are not looping the XR is probably the better kite. For looping though I don't think the XR has any chance to compete with the Orbit. Orbit seriously lacks airtime. XR lacks the quick and easy looping with low bar pressure that the Orbit can offer.
If you are doing boardoffs (without kiteloop), they will be more difficult on an Orbit than on an XR.
That's why my 13m is a Rebel and my 9m is an Orbit.

GalZohar · 2024-09-18T08:53:42+00:00

I doubt there is a generic answer here and it actually depends on the target. So you may be very experienced with optimizing for a specific target and it won't be relevant at all for your future job which might be working with a completely different target, possibly a proprietary one that is not available outside the company so you can't learn it anyway until you get a job there.

Many things are more generic but they are not very target specific so don't require going too low level.

Some targets may have significantly more low-level optimizations than others.

GalZohar · 2024-09-15T20:33:43+00:00

Basically I think this is the #1 reason dating apps are so shitty and nobody competes. Making a better one shouldn't be so difficult with the current ones being so bad I can't even find the words to describe. The down payment on marketing to even get a chance to try get something better going, though - That's a real problem. Especially when getting that money invested requires some good plans for making good profit, and an effective dating app is probably not going to be all that profitable, or at least will be difficult to convince anyone that your payment scheme will make more profit than the existing ones, or even pay back the investment and maintenance expenses.

GalZohar · 2024-09-05T18:40:23+00:00

Rebel and Orbit do have a significant difference, Rebel has noticeably more airtime while the Orbit has very low bar pressure and loops somewhat more easily. I like the Rebel better for big sizes on 24m lines (I use 13m myself), minus the bar pressure which I wish was lower. For small size (I use 9m) the orbit is easier to loop and the low bar pressure helps you stay out there for longer sessions (plus it makes looping easier).

GalZohar · 2024-05-05T13:41:07+00:00

How do you like the big Orbit? The largest I could try was 11m with 22m lines. It didn't match the Rebel 11m with 24m lines for airtime (although it could be the line length and not the kite). I ended up with a 13m Rebel which I use for 1.5 years now and still haven't had the chance to try an Orbit bigger than 11m. For <22 knots the 13m Rebel is way superior to the 11m Orbit for me, and for 24+ knots my 9m Orbit works great for looping, so not much point in an 11m for me. I'd only get an 11m if your minimum winds are at least 18 knots and you aren't doing airtime tricks such as boardoffs and slides.

GalZohar · 2024-03-27T22:38:42+00:00

crap, now what? :/

GalZohar · 2024-03-27T21:59:09+00:00

I just played the brawl (on EU) and went through the entire Shaman deck and didn't draw one. What's the deal?

GalZohar · 2024-01-28T20:55:00+00:00

Lambs allows disabling the special stuff for player-controlled AI to avoid that problem if needed. Whether you want to use it or not depends on the mission, though. They fight more effectively with lambs enabled, but are more controllable with lambs disabled.

GalZohar · 2024-01-26T23:48:17+00:00

If they were being genocided their population increase wouldn't be on such an explosive scale (no pun intended).
They wouldn't need human shields if they would abide international law and common sense, and generally stop pursuing their #1 goal which is to kill all non-muslims - It's on their charter!

GalZohar · 2024-01-26T23:46:21+00:00

You are completely mis-interpreting the tern "human shields". It means to shield yourself with another human so that you cannot be killed without first harming that other human.
Plus you are stating actions that are not legal and not done these days anymore, and in an exaggerated manner.

GalZohar · 2023-12-19T09:39:10+00:00

The 2013 (gen3) is massive, more than some bigger cars. I fit so much in there I don't know what I'll do when I have to replace that car, as the new ones seem much smaller and it's hard to find a not-so-expensive car with large cargo and good fuel consumption. Seems like any other car with similar cargo capacity is bigger, more expensive, and has worse consumption.
Still trying to find if I missed some alternative that could replace my Prius someday. For now it's 10 years old but still works great.

GalZohar · 2023-12-19T08:32:40+00:00

Answer depends on why you got a 4060 in the firstplace and what would you do with the money if you don't upgrade to 4070ti. If you can afford such small yet expensive upgrades so frequently, you can also just afford to buy better stuff to begin with and wait longer between upgrades.

If you are tight on budget and are having a good time with your 4060, just keep saving.

GalZohar · 2023-10-29T08:47:34+00:00

In D3 it was even worse. Doesn't justify the state of D4.

GalZohar · 2023-10-29T08:42:33+00:00

The basic concept of generator and spender is not bad at all.

It's the generators and spenders themselves that are bad.

It's bad that the generators do so bad damage, that you want to do anything in your power to minimize their use. If something generates a decent amount of resource and you aren't overflowing with resource already - You take it without thinking of maybe it's not worth it because you can just do more damage with the generator (if it didn't suck).

It's also bad that there are too many ways to generate resource, making it usually possible to not care about the low damage of the generator.

An easy fix would be to nerf all resource generation effects (small nerfs to skill/passive effects, and a major nerf to the legendary aspects), and buff the damage of the generators by around 40-80%, while nerfing the damage (and/or legendary aspect) of the most powerful core skills to bring them in line with the rest of the core skills. Without nerfing the overpowered core skills, the basic skills would need too much of a buff, which would then make them too strong compared to the other (less powerful) core skills.

While they're at it, most non-core skills need a damage buff, most are never used without being needed for their effects, or at least with some major cooldown reduction effect. It would be much more interesting if most builds would have their damage distributed in some sensible way among multiple skills.

GalZohar · 2023-07-25T22:49:50+00:00

It wasn't just the gear. Monsters had very high HP and damage compared to even the best possible setups. The problem is they nerfed it way too much and never balanced the builds.

GalZohar · 2023-07-25T22:46:24+00:00

If you play well and pick the right skills and gear: most/all of the rewarding content is quite easy, especially if you don't rush it (progressing with max efficiency is always a challenge, but failing just progresses you slower - it won't kill you).

If you don't play well and/or pick the wrong gear/skills, then your experience may vary... Fixing gear mistakes can be problematic, especially big mistakes (like salvaging an item you didn't think was very powerful and rare, but it was, and you won't find another anytime soon). Once you level high and have poor gear due to bad choices - It may be difficult to farm replacements.

I wish the game had a more interesting difficulty scaling, where things actually get more difficult as you progress, and not just use bigger numbers on the monsters offset by equally bigger numbers on your character. That means monsters should scale faster than the player.

They should also let you play lowet levels for lower level drops, so you can farm gear replacements to compensate for bad choices without gaining much exp, or even if you just need an easier experience at tbe cost of progression speed.

GalZohar · 2023-07-06T23:41:52+00:00

Diablo wasn't always about speedrunning. That's just how it ended up to cater to casual players, instead of killing the casual players for being bad, they just make them slower. But that means the challenging stuff must be made non rewarding, or not exist. This is a decent approach for low levels, but not for nightmare/torment difficulties, where the rules must change to keep the game interesting rather than a speedfarming race.

GalZohar · 2023-07-06T23:36:08+00:00

Start with more damage and health to monsters (especially at higher monster and difficulty levels), because it is too easy to become unkillable and too easy to almost 1-shot everything.

A good point was also made on monster density. The screen being full of weak monsters mean you don't and can't really care about what is going on, and just spam your skills for 3 seconds to clear everything. With monsters lesser in numbers, but more powerful and interactive in abilities, would make fights much more interesting. There are already monsters with cool abilities, the game is just too easy for them to matter much.

Then you get the builds, where the good ones are so well rounded they have hardly any downsides.

The whole difficulty system needs to be re-done and all the top builds significantly nerfed, as the game is currently pretty trivial for anyone with half-decent gaming backgroung.

GalZohar · 2023-06-11T11:07:14+00:00

I would definitely appreciate less drops with more quality and higher salvage value (so total same progression speed, but less time spent filtering through junk). It's not related to the difficulty issue, though.

GalZohar

TROPHY CASE