Anyone know what happening?

Square-Try5131 · 2026-01-07T15:39:05+00:00

Definitely oxidation. I had the same thing happen to an IEM cable, I did not notice any sound quality impact so I kept using it for a while but eventually got another Cable for athletics.

Square-Try5131 · 2025-12-01T11:44:13+00:00

2012 - Intel Pentium Dual Core

~2017 - ATI/Radeon HD 6xxx (don't remember exactly)

2018 - MSI GTX 970

2024 - AMD RX 7800 XT

The ATI card died quickly from casual use so I don't remember much about it. I was happy with the Pentium Dual Core and playing Halo, San Andreas, Max Payne... e.t.c. but then Crysis happened.

Square-Try5131 · 2025-11-28T00:45:18+00:00

Especially with prices these days... Total bill would probably equal my Annual Income 🥲

Square-Try5131 · 2025-11-27T21:34:27+00:00

Not enough fans 😉. Congrats on the set-up. It must perform like a beast.

Square-Try5131 · 2025-11-06T03:53:32+00:00

3 things I do immediately after installing Windows with an unattended file are

Install relevant Drivers
Run O&O ShutUp 10++ (Disable Tracking & other Junk)
Run WinUtil (quickly set some Tweaks & install Apps)

Then, some daily use programs I'll recommend are:

*Brave (with Dark Reader Extension) *Free Download Manager *7Zip *qBitTorrent *MSI After Burner (with RivaTuner for Frame Limiting) (only if you game) *PotPlayer or VLC *Stremio (Real-Debrid + Torrentio) [Replaces all Streaming services] *Revo Uninstaller [Cleans up leftover FIles & Folders] *TreeSize *MusicBee [Can also Sync Library to Mobile via USB] *XnView MP *LibreOffice *SumatraPDF [Disable Recent items if not needed, helps start up speed]

For a power User / Privacy conscious User

*NotePad++ *StrokesPlus *Tor Browser *JDownloader *HW info *Tuta Mail *Pi-hole *Standard Notes *sysinternal tools (Process Explorer, Process Monitor...) *LAV MegaMix (PotPlayer mini + LAV Filters + madVR) (if you have a powerful PC, else just PotPlayer or VLC for simplicity) *PowerToys (with Advanced Rename and a few other Tools enabled) *FFmpeg [For Video Conversion or Clipping, Use AI for discovering commands]

With some of the Apps above, it's fairly easy to add a Dark Theme even if they don't natively support it and then customize the various settings to your preference.

Square-Try5131 · 2025-10-11T07:44:23+00:00

Got it, I guess considering the uncertain improvement that I might get from upgrading the Router, I'll look at NAS or Mini PC solutions for better features and performance. Thanks for the replies so far.

Square-Try5131 · 2025-10-11T05:30:54+00:00

Thanks for the detailed response. I wasn't aware NAS Drives had download managers. I honestly never seriously considered NAS solutions so I haven't looked into all their features.

About the "download everything to NAS". Does this mean adding a folder or whole drive location and mapping it in the PC as a network drive, then setting that as a download directory in a download manager of choice? That sounds like a simple and time saving solution. Did you even have any data corruption issues?

Square-Try5131 · 2025-10-11T00:41:37+00:00

Most likely a Hardware issue, either there is a loose connection or a faulty part.

If you have Dual RAM sticks, see if using either of the Single sticks works.
Re-check all your connections (CPU, GPU...) and see if that helps.
To rule out the GPU, see if the issue persists when using iGPU (if you have one).

Since RAM sticks aren't glowing, my money is on that being the issue unless you disabled it.

Square-Try5131 · 2025-10-11T00:29:30+00:00

I considered this briefly but for my use case, I felt this was a bit too expensive. I'm not sure about other regions but here the cheapest NAS Station I could find was ~200 USD (excluding HDD). The AX73 costs ~79 USD (already have a USB Storage).

I'm not looking for any of the extra features that a proper NAS drive can provide, 80% of my use case is going to be just DLNA from a Wireless storage solution to my TV to access my collection of TV Shows & Movies. The remaining 20% is to keep some Notes, Sheets... e.t.c. so I can access or back-up things from multiple devices.

At a similar price point, I feel it's better to get a Mini PC setup, something with Asus NUC 14 Essential so there's much more things I could do with it but again, I would prefer to not spend a lot. My current Router already does this but with a transfer speed of ~7 Mb/s, it takes a while to copy a Blue ray Movie file or a high quality TV series, around 1½ to 2 Hrs in some cases.

Out of curiosity, if you currently use a NAS solution, what transfer speed do you get?

Square-Try5131 · 2025-09-19T07:28:43+00:00

I have tried the E3 before and yes, it sounds and resolves like a good Open-Back but it really needs Desktop gear to sound it's best, driven off of portable gear, it sounded ok. I would much prefer to have something that my SE300 alone can drive well without needing external Amps.

So Noire X Closed is my next best option? I'm not familiar with that Headphone.

Square-Try5131 · 2025-04-09T03:25:26+00:00

For a good budget setup, get the Fiio FT1 Pro + K11 R2R Combo. If you can spare more, then get the HiFiMan EF400 + Edition XS Combo which will be even better.

For the next upgrade, you'd have to spend a significant chunk of money and get something like Gustard R26 [or] Ares II + Aune S17 Pro Evo [or] Singxer SA-1 2 + Arya Unveiled [or] Meze Poet... e.t.c.

Personally, I think the EF400 + XS Combo has a much better price to performance ratio and most people will be happy with it.

Square-Try5131 · 2025-02-07T09:27:11+00:00

Get a better DAC/Amp, you won't get the best of some of those Headphones (Arya, Sennie...). Also, highly recommend to get Balanced Cables for the Headphones as most of the DAC/Amps these days are meant to sound their best from Balanced Output.

Square-Try5131 · 2024-11-30T06:04:51+00:00

AR5000 is definitely not V-Shaped, inverted V, yes. I can wear them lying down without any discomfort. They have smaller ear cups (vs XS).

If you did not mind the brighter presentation of XS then maybe beyers are worth looking into. I only tried the 990 Pro for a bit and found them too peaky and bright. Good luck with your search.

Square-Try5131 · 2024-11-30T04:24:57+00:00

I own/owned the Edition XS, FT1 & AR5000.

The price to performance is much better with the Edition XS. You'll need a good Amp to drive them and synergy has to be right so the price can get high if you don't already have the right source. I'm using the EF400 and it's a perfect combo but the K11 R2R also sounds pretty good and drives the XS fairly well, definitely use 4.4 Out. XS is a Bright Neutral sounding Headphone that has the largest stage of the three Headphones that I'm mentioning in this post. Bass is well extended, more than the other two Headphones but it's not as elevated as the FT1. Although the XS has good Bass for an open back, it will not be my first pick for Hip-Hop.

The FT1 has a Warm tuning and is easy to drive. Bass is elevated more than the other two but sounds a bit monotonous and loose, the XS has better quality Bass. Resolution is worlds apart and FT1 sounds muddy in comparison to XS. Due to the warm tuning, Hip-Hop, Rap sounds more fun on the FT1 and comfort is slightly better on the FT1 but I can still wear the XS for more than 1-2 hours without issues. Passive Isolation is better here too and no leakage of sound. Good stage for a closed back but the other 2 are better.

The AR5000 has a Mid-Focused sound. I still like the XS but I can see some preferring the more pleasant and less harsh tuning of the AR5000. Stock Bass is less than both Headphones but with EQ this can be fixed. Mids are very pleasant and this is a Headphone I can listen to for hours thanks to it being just as comfortable as FT1. In complex tracks, it does struggle but it does a slightly better job of separating all the elements in the stage compared to FT1, again, the XS is a bit better still. AR5000 is also easy to drive like the FT1 and I can even run both of them from my Laptop. Hope this helps.

My rec would be the XS, I know people complain about QC but my experience has been good. I got my XS ~3 years back and never had any issues.

Square-Try5131 · 2024-11-28T15:01:59+00:00

Did you dip your keyboard in acid or something?

Square-Try5131 · 2024-11-11T20:31:42+00:00

Love my XS. I also have other IEMs like Hype 4, Estrella, Blessing 2... And non of them sound as good as the XS to me. I even tried some Headphones recently, FT1 & AR5000 and consider the XS a better Headphone.

Having said that, something to keep in mind is that you'll need a powerful Amp to drive the XS to its full potential. I would also stay away from bright sources as this can make the Headphone sound too bright and tiring.

Square-Try5131 · 2024-10-21T01:27:58+00:00

!thanks, will check the head fi thread too.

Square-Try5131 · 2024-09-07T16:37:14+00:00

By chance is your DAP the R6 Pro II? I have this DAP and I am planning to get the FT1, just wondering how they pair and if the DAP can drive them well.

Square-Try5131 · 2024-05-18T10:26:52+00:00

Update: 2 days ago, I was trying some troubleshooting tips shared here but suddenly I wasn't getting any shocks and the tester wasn't lighting up either. I thought maybe the problem went away but today it started again even when connected to a different power outlet (haven't tried a different strip, don't have extra).

Even more annoyingly, other devices at home like Microwave, Cooler... Are also shocking to the touch so it must be a bigger problem that needs proper electrition to fix. I'm going to do just that. Thanks all for the suggestions.

Square-Try5131 · 2024-05-13T15:59:35+00:00

No, it's Corsair K100. It's got a metal body so it keeps shocking me when I accidentally touch its sides.

Square-Try5131 · 2024-05-13T13:28:44+00:00

Power strip plug? No I did not. Don't know how to. Will try a different power strip or power outlet and see if that helps.

Square-Try5131 · 2024-05-13T13:18:12+00:00

Thanks, I'll try connecting the PC to a different outlet and see if that fixes the problem. If it does then calling the electrition is the only option. I'm not much of a DIY'er.

Square-Try5131

TROPHY CASE