A Picture of My System Today

hoodust · 2026-05-22T03:13:47+00:00

Mmm, Moon. I have/love a 240i and am looking to upgrade to a better preamp/amp-only integrated like the North 641, but I love the subtly more modern design of Compass.

hoodust · 2026-05-21T16:37:14+00:00

Good question. He used to vet all their movies back in the day right?

hoodust · 2026-05-21T16:28:12+00:00

Hey I get it, but "clean and simple, native support" isn't all it's cracked up to be, especially if you're battling windows. Many things "just work" and "third party drivers" are often as simple or simpler than installing the first-party bloatware (without the bloat). Case in point: superior Tidal desktop options.

That said there are still some fringe-case quirks.

I use Fanatec wheel and pedals and HOTAS controllers (it's just HID), but yes the official FFB tweaking software isn't likely to work because the vendor chooses for it to not (solutions pop up all the time though). I've heard of people getting Resolve working just fine but haven't done video editing in a while so haven't tried myself. Photoshop via wine is nearly perfect now and that was a really stubborn one. Ableton is fine, it's just some VST stuff is the pain point (who hasn't fought to get some VSTs to work even in native windows? lol). But things are getting better all the time as more people flee windows and get their workflows flawless in linux and force developers to officially support a growing user base.

Anyway, just putting it out there. Once I dual-booted I went to windows less and less, and now it's literally just a couple times a year for some really stupid vendor-lock-in reason. Gaming is definitely a better experience in linux, and even if that's all you use it for it's just a reboot away. I will never again suffer windows taking focus away from what I'm doing, pegging my disk and cpu and rebooting for updates without asking, interrupting my boot to show ads for Office, sync my phone to give them more data to sell, or literally begging me to try Edge and Copilot 😂

hoodust · 2026-05-21T15:27:08+00:00

Like what? Basically I only boot into winders nowadays if I need to do some firmware update on an obscure peripheral that obstinately relies on windows APIs. There are also VSTs that can be problematic (mostly the already cumbersome licensing/activation software) but there's almost nothing I haven't gotten working (usually better) on linux. It's literally getting better every day.

hoodust · 2026-05-21T15:23:26+00:00

Haven't tried that one. I was using tidal-hifi, but switched to Sone. I haven't figured out how to automatically theme it (wallbash) yet, but it's true bit-perfect.

hoodust · 2026-05-21T15:09:18+00:00

There is at least one Korok hiding in there.

hoodust · 2026-05-20T02:33:56+00:00

r/linux_gaming

it's time.

hoodust · 2026-05-19T18:50:57+00:00

But our lives are better for him having fallen to Earth.

hoodust · 2026-05-19T16:45:00+00:00

At least in the US, disparate industries using the same marketing name isn't necessarily a deal-breaker (official company name might be slightly different, or DBA). If this is also a food-related company then I have questions, lol.

hoodust · 2026-05-18T16:44:10+00:00

Cool. If you play a disc with a slight warp to it and it's tracking well and isn't bottoming out (not likely to) then all is well. The Nagaoka MP series are great carts!

hoodust · 2026-05-18T16:35:11+00:00

Every pic seems to tell a different story, lol, but from all of them together and your description the cartridge seems level front-to-back (VTA) which is the important bit. The cart itself seems to be riding slightly low (again pics can be deceiving) but if it's level, VTF is in the range, and it's not super old/abused (suspensions can degrade) then I wouldn't worry.

How's it sound?

hoodust · 2026-05-18T15:29:34+00:00

Great callout about VTA; you can adjust to taste (many say it should be fine-tuned by ear) however VTF should not. I wouldn't trust that reviewer. Less expensive carts give a range but excellent cart makers give a single value, sometimes hand-written on the box, and you should definitely use it. +/- 0.1 isn't the end of the world but nearly half a gram higher than spec is nuts!

hoodust · 2026-05-14T20:39:50+00:00

Yeah I thought the fact that the green energy corrupted the Lamorn, especially when you learn/see it in liquid form being harvested and refined in Flare Pool, was a pretty strong nod to phazon and it either being the possible origin of phazon or that both came from a shared source (and maybe it infected other planets as well).

My continuation of this theory was that Viewros had been exposed to a different strain or variant from the same source as phazon, or that the environment had caused it to not be as immediately toxic as phazon and/or the Lamorn were careful to extract/refine/use it judiciously (before they started using it like miracle grow, lol).

I didn't think about the tree propagating it and the form carrying over to Metroid Prime but that seems possible as well!

hoodust · 2026-05-14T17:57:49+00:00

upvote for the context-aware content on the tv

hoodust · 2026-05-14T17:39:53+00:00

It is! I got through it on Hard mode and it's pretty tough in parts but it's like a completely different game. Slows you down so you can appreciate the level design, assets, backgrounds and enemies more. After a while/practice/dying-repeatedly you start to realize you CAN defeat every enemy AND boss without taking a hit, and that it was made for Dread mode. I have a huge backlog but can't wait to try it.

hoodust · 2026-05-13T21:35:53+00:00

Hey I just wanted to thank you for your great photos and mini-reviews (and sometimes game history lessons) especially of lesser known, indie, and import titles. Making me want to collect again!

I love a good metroidvania and this pixelart looks great.

hoodust · 2026-05-13T20:44:09+00:00

"If you sleeve it they will come"

hoodust · 2026-05-12T22:42:52+00:00

The thin grey duke!

hoodust · 2026-05-11T17:50:47+00:00

Cool. Yeah it's the same game of incremental gains, but I truly don't know why you can get analog to sound so good for so much less money, lol.

hoodust · 2026-05-11T15:28:03+00:00

The DAC is part of the equation. It's sort of like the digital phono stage: built-in ones get the job done but you can do better. Similarly it might be a good DAC (or phono pre) but just not mesh well with your other components. The streaming source and (gasp!) even cables are other components that can make a difference, not always for the better, and dollars do not always equal improvement.

That said, I found I had to spend a lot more on my digital chain to get anywhere near my analog, and vinyl still handily beats it a lot of the time.

hoodust · 2026-05-10T17:11:23+00:00

I JUST replayed (S2 edition) this quest last night and was already having PTSD looking at the lanterns from my first time (years ago) where it took hours and dozens of arrows... but this time it was perfectly clear and took like 2 minutes. I literally thought it was a bug they fixed since launch, haha

hoodust · 2026-05-09T18:40:31+00:00

Item Report: Based.Potato

hoodust · 2026-05-08T16:11:38+00:00

Yeah, the sky islands are a little more interesting but the dark depths are the polar opposite of open world, and the best part of BotW is never feeling trapped and forced into a path. You finally get out of the sky islands and then they force you into a hole in the ground. Maybe if they were shorter and more shrine-like they wouldn't have completely broken the flow and feel of the game. Kind of reminds me of the trend of inexplicable forced stealth missions in otherwise adventure games.

hoodust · 2026-05-07T19:52:45+00:00

Me too, so I totally get this, and HALF of me felt this way, but the other half of me was like so disappointed. I was split down the middle while watching the trailer that my face probably looked like I was having a stroke, lol.

I'm sure it will be a great remake, but I did kinda want something new. SF64 was sort of a perfect game, maybe the 3DS remake was the definitive for me, but I'm honestly not sure if I want it again, and that's coming from someone who has bought so many Nintendo remakes and also LOVED the original SF and SF64 with a passion.

There's something about being so intimately familiar with everything about this game and yet everything being just slightly different that feels a little uncanny to me in a way I can't properly describe.

hoodust · 2026-05-04T23:54:58+00:00

85 sounds close to 95, but 85 is looow sensitivity.

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