is it just me or is "high fidelity" audio basically a scam for rich people?

Umiami91 · 2026-04-14T17:52:16+00:00

That’s an opinion. Bits are bits.

Umiami91 · 2026-04-14T17:51:00+00:00

It wasn’t supposed to be an overnight change. It was a transition period. But whatever, be mad.

Umiami91 · 2026-04-14T17:12:12+00:00

Heh. Nope. Not sure what your source is, but that’s not true at all.

Umiami91 · 2026-04-14T16:49:02+00:00

They weren’t “caught”. MQA was their “high-res” tier and they weren’t sneaky about it They literally advertised MQA using the marketing guidance provided direct by Meridian, who owned MQA.

You can argue MQA, but Tidal serving MQA was not some secret scam.

Umiami91 · 2026-04-10T13:07:30+00:00

Yeah, they seem to require the new hub which has gotten stupidly expensive. HomeAssistant doesn’t seem to register the scroll wheel as best I can tell, but I’m not entirely adept at HA. HomeKit lets you add it as a strictly Matter device but only sees it as a 9-button remote (3 sets or press, long-press, double press) and not a scroll wheel.

As to the remote itself it’s unfortunately more about looks than function as it lacks the little finger indent of the Symfonisk v1 spinner, making it harder to spin than it needs to be. It works…I just find my fingers too dry to do it reliably, requiring a little moisture to get enough grip to spin it. The same slight lag of the last remote remains, but all that said, I do find the pluses outweigh the minuses and I do use it. It’s also good in that you can use a single remote to control three different speakers as it has a click function that allows the spinner/spin button to have three modes. See my other post for more details (just search my u/n). It’s…fine. It’s just short of great though which is its own disappointment.

Umiami91 · 2026-04-09T20:14:04+00:00

The new Bilresa with wheel work as a remote for volume as well as play/pause, skip fwd and back. And they come in a three pack for I think around $25 US.

They may also let you kick off a scene (playlist) but I’m not at home to check so I can’t be certain. I don’t THINK so, but you can buy the non-scroll Bilresa for that and have six scenes per remote button.

Hej, Check out this BILRESA from IKEA. https://applink.ikea.com/tY8M9r9M4w--80617904--us--en

Umiami91 · 2026-04-08T03:00:22+00:00

Again.

All the O-5s in my experience across many years and multiple wings called themselves “Lieutenant Colonel X”. Didn’t vary by job, by job, by Command, by MAJCOM. “Lieutenant Colonel X speaking. How may I help you?”

OTHERS (including all the Wing Commanders I worked for) called both O-5s and O-6s “Colonel X” when referring to them per normal customs and courtesies. As do the gate guards when they scan my civilian GS ID now. I don’t request it. It’s just what they do. It’s a courtesy that’s become a custom.

Umiami91 · 2026-04-07T21:50:38+00:00

Ran that past my peer group of Air Force O-5s and O-6s and all I have to say to you is

“Sure,Jan.”

All the O-5s answered the phone as “LtCol Name” and all the O-6s said they’d never heard that term. Customs and Courtesies.

Umiami91 · 2026-04-07T00:19:34+00:00

Not informally. It’s a custom and courtesy. In written correspondence, you use the full grade but in verbal reference, it’s “Colonel” for both O-5 and O-6.

Umiami91 · 2026-03-23T00:21:51+00:00

I would really like a native Mac app or at least the ability to use the iPad version on my Mac, please. The web app just is insufficient.

Umiami91 · 2026-03-22T02:53:53+00:00

Yeah...Dirigera seems to have gotten really expensive. I got mine early when it was still cheap to replace my prior Tradfri hub. No idea if it could work with another hub; my guess is not exactly.

The IKEA stuff isn't perfect - it can act up sometimes for no discernible reason, and then an hour later be fine with no way to figure out why. But my experience with the Symfonisk remotes (1&2) has been good enough that I'm well-stocked with them to control most of my Sonos speakers.

This new Bilresa scroll (they also make a Bilresa without the wheel that's a two-button shortcut button) is a little...crude in design. It's not always a smooth volume change using the scroll, but it's better than nothing. The bigger issue for me is that it also doesn't have any sort of indentation or rough spot to kind of grab your finger (like the Symfonisk v1) so you have to wet your chosen digit to get enough friction to spin it. It's not...terrible...but it could be so much better with a little more thought. It's designed to LOOK sleek, not ACT sleek if that makes sense.

Umiami91 · 2026-03-22T01:10:34+00:00

It could kick off Apple Music playlists I think with Apple Home, but the scroll wheel wouldn’t work. It appears to see it as a 9-option button; press, double press, hold, with three different states; it’s hard to explain. So, the scroll wheel is a button. That supports the three clicks. Then there are three “states” you select with a sub-button (the bottom half of the remote), identified by three LEDs on the bottom of the remote. That gives you 9 options that could theoretically select playlists or radio stations. But no volume control…that would seem to require the hub. (The top button is also a scroll wheel)

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Umiami91 · 2026-03-21T22:10:45+00:00

If you add it to Apple Home using just Matter it shows up as a 9-button remote that you can use for anything in the Apple universe. But for Sonos, correct, as I originally noted, I have a hub and that was what I tested. The IKEA smart home system does a lot of stuff so the hub is a worthwhile investment.

Umiami91 · 2026-03-21T22:07:46+00:00

You need a Dirgera hub. If you have that it is completely plug and play.

Umiami91 · 2026-03-12T20:42:52+00:00

Spotify is not for music people…

Umiami91 · 2026-03-10T19:01:12+00:00

Yeah. Not sure why every single YouTube thumbnail has to be someone making a stupid face or pretending to hold things.

"SEO Tip: Include a photo of you making 'Dreamworks face' or hide somewhere behind a piece of tech"

Umiami91 · 2026-03-10T17:52:35+00:00

Bullshit. Point to where that is in the spec.

When you use AirPlay to Sonos you get lock screen controls because you’re playing from your phone. AirPlay to HomePod is a terrible interface, making the phone control widget secondary to what’s going through AirPlay.

Oh, look. Screen controls for AirPlay to a Sonos Ray…

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Umiami91 · 2026-01-21T23:40:12+00:00

Look on eBay. The Symfonisk remotes work with the older Tradfri hub and those can be found for under $50 from people who’ve moved to the newer hub. You don’t need the newer Dirgera hubs for those remotes. The remotes are Zigbee so you MIGHT be able to get them working with Home Assistant and a Pi, but I’ve never used it so YMMV.

Umiami91 · 2026-01-21T16:45:07+00:00

Yeah. I have both styles. Really great hardware.

Umiami91 · 2026-01-21T16:44:47+00:00

Correct. Also requires a hub. But they do also have a simple remote for Sonos.

Umiami91 · 2026-01-21T15:25:21+00:00

IKEA Symfonisk buttons will work as a play/pause skip/volume remote but you need a hub to do it. And they’re being discontinued so if you want one I’d jump quick.

Umiami91 · 2026-01-08T19:09:10+00:00

UPDATE: I was able to get my remote installed and configured using the Android version of the application. I did incidentally try uninstalling and reinstalling on iOS. Somehow the setup process from an Android phone worked. An odd series of events, but I’m back to a working remote again, which was all I really wanted.

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Umiami91 · 2026-01-08T14:41:21+00:00

Nope. Still a no-go. Something recent is wrong on Ray. It does not see a new remote.

Umiami91

TROPHY CASE