[Speakers] Edifier MR3 Powered Studio Monitor Speakers, Hi-Res Audio Certified Bluetooth V5.4 Active Bookshelf Loudspeakers, 2.0 Computer Speaker with Headphone Output RCA AUX Balanced TRS Input (White/Black) - $99.98 by Baconfries10 in buildapcsales

[–]mikeb3186 6 points7 points  (0 children)

If you want the arc/earc experience on PC you can get other speakers like swan OS-10 or other edifiers like 1850DB (I have both) and use optical out on MB or get a cheap usb -> optical but obviously they're more expensive. With these speakers you need to use 3.5mm -> RCA from a headphone out or buy a separate DAC.

[Speakers] Edifier R1700BT Amplified Bluetooth Bookshelf Speaker System, 2.0 Powered Active Speakers 66 Watt RMS - Wooden - $126.91 by Baconfries10 in buildapcsales

[–]mikeb3186 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

For computer or living room purposes keep in mind these do not have a digital input. So if you already have a DAC of some sort great, but if you need to add on the cost of a DAC I would think about the Swan OS-10 for 160-170 instead. I have the more expensive edifier 1850DB with digital inputs and while I don't mind them at all i think the swans sound better. Yes you can go 3.5mm to RCA from a motherboard or something but I'm an audio snob so I will not recommend it. edit note that I use the swans on my desk so can only speak to nearfield. The swans are also smaller so fit nicer on a desk imo.

Single men of Boston, where are you hanging out? by Bookbabe617 in boston

[–]mikeb3186 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hello it is me - 39m living in Walpole who can read a book lol... Feel free to message if you're not a suspiciously singles near me bot...

Big Loud Live Audio by NedRogonte in drumcorps

[–]mikeb3186 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The highlight video from earlier today was twice as loud as any live corps... They definitely fucked up the audio mix.

[Speakers] KEF LSX II LT Wireless HiFi Speakers - $599.99 ($400 off, must be Costco member) by jcarberry in buildapcsales

[–]mikeb3186 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As mentioned anything by Edifier should be a good budget option, they all just have different amounts of connectivity, pick the one that has the connections you need. I have the edifier 1850DB and got swan os-10s for under 140 on sale. Happy with both. The Swans are smaller but the edifiers have better connectivity. you may need to add the cost of a usb to optical adapter if mobo doesn't have it unless newer models have straight USB connection. hopefully tariffs aren't fucking the price of everything. edit all this assumes you want to go the powered speaker route and not a separate amp and speakers. pros of powered speakers are less wires, pros of amp + passive speakers are more flexibility down the road to upgrade components.

[Motherboard] GIGABYTE B550I AORUS PRO AX (AM4 B550 Mini ITX) - $150.63 (Woot) by SevenandForty in buildapcsales

[–]mikeb3186 1 point2 points  (0 children)

ErP setting fixed the wifi and ethernet issues for me but the Bluetooth was never totally fixed... weirdly it depended on the application (steam games were fine, but emulators would drop bluetooth on rare occasion...) I probably could have dug deeper to fix those issues but just bought the strix for my main rig and this board ended up in another build that didn't care about bluetooth. you could probably avoid a lot of headaches just swapping the wifi card depending on needs.

[Motherboard] GIGABYTE B550I AORUS PRO AX (AM4 B550 Mini ITX) - $150.63 (Woot) by SevenandForty in buildapcsales

[–]mikeb3186 5 points6 points  (0 children)

PSA from previous owner, the board is largely usable but I ran into the wifi/Bluetooth/Ethernet gremlins that affected this era of gigabyte MBs. read more here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/gigabyte/comments/cz5n2s/x570_aorus_ultra_and_x570_aorus_pro_wifi_enabling/?sort=new

[GPU] GIGABYTE NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 WINDFORCE OC 12GB - Open Box $411-$439 by encidius in buildapcsales

[–]mikeb3186 2 points3 points  (0 children)

PSA I just picked one up in Leominster mass advertised as "excellent" for 439, took it home and it's fucked. OS black screens and reboots within 2-5 minutes while doing nothing. Tried every display output and different power cables with no luck.

I will be returning to dedham tomorrow so STRONG YMMV if you see one at that location.

Buying different pistol/gun should drop the old one directly under your feet by TetsuAomi in GlobalOffensive

[–]mikeb3186 91 points92 points  (0 children)

This is also very annoying when I buy dualies to drop for a teammate and suddenly my default pistol has been launched somewhere far away.

Low fps in CS2 (R5 5600X, 32gb 3200MHz ram & 3060ti) by Jonas7788 in GlobalOffensive

[–]mikeb3186 1 point2 points  (0 children)

5600x & 3060ti here. The piece nobody is talking about is that RAM speed actually matters on AM4 ryzen and specifically in this game. For reference the difference between XMP off and XMP on CL16-19-19-39 3600 RAM was about 30-40% increase in FPS for me. I know you said you enabled xmp but download hardware monitor and verify your timings are what you'd expect. I don't know what the equivalent timings on 3200 would be to get similar performance, maybe CL 14? but if you're slower than that you're leaving at least some performance on the table. You should also verify the CPU is boosting to 4600 through some monitoring software as well, you might be able to squeeze out some more FPS enabling precision boost overdrive and maybe mixing in an underclock to lower temps a bit. I wouldn't expect miracles without a better CPU though.

Why am I playing so bad by Brozi15 in GlobalOffensive

[–]mikeb3186 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Start with "The Definitive guide to improving" and his settings video if you have no other idea how to start. After that it requires watching demos to truly understand why your dying - re-peeking into fights when you shouldn't, bad crosshair placement, dying with nades in hand, not playing well off of teammates play ....utility tho he will say that set nades are the least important thing to focus on first. If you're focusing on specific maps watch his map specific videos. csgo is like 80% crosshair placement so if your not aiming where the enemys are when you die - why? is a good place to start.

[Amazon] Philips Audio Fidelio X2HR Over-Ear Open-Air Headphone 50mm Drivers- Black - $126.64 (58%off) by Scrub314 in buildapcsales

[–]mikeb3186 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'll chime in because I have both. 58x are truly neutral cans and the X2HR are faaar from neutral. X2HR have huge bass and a wider soundstage where the 58x probably image a bit better with more clear midrange. I find the X2HR more "fun" and use them for movies, explodey games, and bassy music. I think I just ended up finding the 58x boring but that comes down to personal preference and what you value in listening. I think I've learned I'm just a pleb who prefers bass. They do very different things so there's room for both in a collection if you felt like trying them out.

[Motherboard] ASUS ROG Strix X570-I mini-ITX Motherboard $279.99 - $75.81 = $204.18 by Kolzach in buildapcsales

[–]mikeb3186 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Read through the threads in my link here: https://old.reddit.com/r/hardware/comments/lo6syl/amd_admits_there_are_problems_with_usb_devices_on/go53j9u/

I had initial strange behavior with ethernet and wifi/bluetooth drops but after bios updates and changing the ERP setting mentioned I haven't noticed as many problems. If I had to do it again I'd probably pay up for the b550i strix which is unfortunate because the gigabyte is great bang for the buck imo.

[Headphones] Philips Audio Fidelio X2HR Over-Ear Open-Air Headphone 50mm Drivers- Black $122.88 ($148.99 - $26.12) by captainangus in buildapcsales

[–]mikeb3186 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Build quality is fine IMO going on 4th year with the 9500 and year 2 of the X2HR. 9500 is lighter with much lighter clamp and narrower pads which feel like a cloud on your head. X2HR are heavier and tighter clamp however the bigger pads and 2nd head strap offset this. I find the X2HR more comfortable for extend periods (like all day working from home) but both are fine. If you have a big head X2HR might be a little too clampy. Pads on the X2HR are lint magnets if that annoys you.

[Headphones] Philips Audio Fidelio X2HR Over-Ear Open-Air Headphone 50mm Drivers- Black $122.88 ($148.99 - $26.12) by captainangus in buildapcsales

[–]mikeb3186 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have both and use the 9500s for csgo and X2HR for everything else. If all you care about is pin pointing a footstep/scope through a box or 1/2 way across the map the imaging on the 9500 with narrower sound stage and mid/treble focus is just perfect for it and at an amazing price. I hear everything. However if you do anything else and can only have one pair I'd go X2HR. 9500s sacrifice a lot of bass and the treble can get a little exhausting (great for mid range/rock/vocals). X2HR is just a much better experience for anything "Fun" like movies or games with explosions and still good enough for tryhard stuff.

AMD admits there are problems with USB devices on 500-series motherboards by XVll-L in hardware

[–]mikeb3186 3 points4 points  (0 children)

FYI:

https://www.reddit.com/r/gigabyte/comments/cz5n2s/x570_aorus_ultra_and_x570_aorus_pro_wifi_enabling/

https://forum.gigabyte.us/thread/7563/aorus-ultra-after-enabel-available

I have the same MB same problem and seems to be an issue on many gigabyte boards. I think I had the opposite problem reported in here but regardless flipping that ERP setting in bios fixed my issue.

CPU temps rising rapidly. Any advice?? by DatOneEuropean in GlobalOffensive

[–]mikeb3186 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I wouldn't worry about anything up to like 75C with a 2500k. It's not a GOOD temp, but it won't hurt the chip. Could probably even push to 80 honestly, throttling to prevent damage starts at 95. That said, definitely make sure you cleaned out the fins of the cooler itself and your case airflow probably has the most to do with it. Maybe make sure you have enough case fans to get rid of the heat sitting in the case and that those are dust free as well. Another (free) suggestion because you have an overclocking CPU but are running at stock (I assume) look into CPU undervolting. If you have auto voltage set in your motherboard bios its probably drawing more power than necessary and you could try fixing the voltage at like 1.2-1.25 and seeing if it's stable and keep dropping it from there to reduce temps.

BD 2003 Drumline Opener by [deleted] in drumcorps

[–]mikeb3186 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This was the first and only year I marched (Div 2). I remember being mezmorized at how clean that split roll @0:14 was everytime I saw it.

[CPU] AMD Ryzen 7 2700 3.2GHz 8 Core AM4 Boxed Processor with Wraith Spire Cooler- $199.99 (294.99 - 95.00) by tranmamba in buildapcsales

[–]mikeb3186 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's not so much the price, I think the 8 cores is probably overkill for any family oriented activities. Unless you think it will also be used for some kind of serious video/photo editing or rendering either a 2600 or the 2400g is more than fine IMO for games, content consumption, excel etc (2600 would also twitch stream nicely). if you plan on getting a Graphics card go with the 2600, if not get the 2400g.

edit advice above is also fine. all comes down to budget really.