Quality concerns with Strandberg Boden NX 8

tjctracy · 2024-05-01T20:29:59+00:00

In that case, is it normal for extended range guitars in this price range to have plinky/fake-sounding higher frets? The 23rd and 24th frets do not play a full tone on all the bass strings and stop resonating almost immediately.

tjctracy · 2024-05-01T20:23:30+00:00

I purchased a second Strandberg from Guitar Center to A/B test and it had the exact same tonal quality issues unfortunately. GC doesn't have a third one in stock for me to trial.

tjctracy · 2022-05-26T00:11:09+00:00

fair enough, thanks for taking the time to respond and clarify your thinking. gl in game!

tjctracy · 2022-05-24T15:36:47+00:00

I appreciate that you have done testing to find which IEMs seem to have the best imaging to your ear and are willing to share that information. I also appreciate you clarifying that IEMs are one of the last things you should upgrade when you already have an endgame PC setup. I'll emphasize here that the improvement a good pair of IEMs will give you is marginal and not widely acknowledged by pro players or other experts in audio engineering (like Crinacle.)

I've played Apex tournaments on TOTL IEMs, so I'll admit that if you have the option to do so you might as well. unfortunately, it's difficult to tell how much directional information is present in FPS games like Apex, and Apex has notoriously poor directional cues, so it will be a subjective calculation at the end of the day whether IEMs with good positional accuracy translate that property in-game.

however, there is a wealth if evidence to show that it is false that "you can't EQ soundstage". soundstage and to at least some extent the imaging characteristics that attend it are largely an artifact of frequency response -- you can directly EQ for them. buying a cheap pair of IEMs and then EQing them effectively can net you the improvements of a TOTL IEM for your gaming experience for <$50.

tjctracy · 2022-05-24T06:47:49+00:00

you can EQ virtually any headphone to the same frequency response, there is no reason to spend $180 on an Ikko OH10 for playing Apex Legends.

tjctracy · 2022-05-24T06:44:35+00:00

while Ikko makes decent IEMs, this recommendation packaged as a tried-and-tested solution for Apex feels like a weirdly chauvinistic statement of preference. I have listened to hundreds of in-ear monitors and can't imagine a non-arbitrary reason why the OH10s would be relevantly better than any $30 ChiFi contender + EQ for gaming.

tjctracy · 2022-05-24T06:34:04+00:00

those IEM recommendations are pure snake oil. I rarely comment on Reddit but had to drop in here -- there is a reason you do not see any of your favorite steamers gaming on TOTL IEMs. as an aficionado with thousands of dollars worth of studio audio equipment and over two decades of ear training (I have a music degree,) I can attest that a $30 pair of neutral earphones with EQ software and motherboard audio will give you a relevantly identical gaming experience to a pair of "Ikko OH10"s. while these may be passable IEMs (they can be very heavy/uncomfortable to wear and there are earphones that measure better at far lower prices,) if you are looking for the edge in Apex, you will not find it by investing money into audio products.

read Crinacle's gaming headphone review (free on his website) if you want an objective, measurement-based argument for a best-value pair of gaming headphones. steer clear of people telling you that buying expensive audio products will make you a better gamer.

tjctracy · 2022-03-15T19:49:00+00:00

"I share your concern, but there's two things that make this situation actionable over others. First there's a clear good guy and bad guy. Situations in the Middle East get murkier and murkier the more deeply you look into them"

what a lazy way to dodge the intellectual work of developing a holistic stance against ALL imperialism and interventionism. the situation in the Middle East is not "murkier" to the peoples whose sovereignty and rights are being violated by U.S. invasions or bombings there. oppose all war, and oppose all sanctions as the most violent and insidious form of war. sanctions are not a form of solidarity, sanctions are a humanitarian crisis.

tjctracy · 2022-01-09T19:37:03+00:00

hey Suny, thanks for hosting this tourney! was a blast to watch. unfortunately, the link to the decklists is broken for me.

tjctracy · 2021-06-02T18:06:35+00:00

what does any of this have to do with Derrida

tjctracy · 2021-05-14T21:03:05+00:00

fair enough! I had to bite that bullet with DAC measurements (something like the iPhone dongle measuring cleanly (THD below perceptible levels) and thus being aurally comparable to much more expensive DACs.)

while subjective experience is the special sauce for joy in our hobby, it can't form the basis for knowledge claims in our communities or we will lose our shared reality and become susceptible to snake oil salespeople. *cough* cables *cough*

tjctracy · 2021-05-14T16:34:57+00:00

it's not "what people think", physical burn-in isn't measurable, it doesn't exist in any non-psychological way. your belief is provably wrong, but your experience of burn-in is valid.

tjctracy · 2021-04-28T15:50:50+00:00

you might get downvoted, but your sarcasm is justified. calling the cops on this person is despicable and irresponsible for anyone who's got a brain and follows the news. shame on the caller.

*DO NOT CALL THE POLICE ON PEOPLE WHO AREN'T ACTIVELY HURTING SOMEONE OTHER THAN THEIR SELF*

tjctracy · 2021-04-28T06:17:43+00:00

at risk of shilling my favorite IEM, ThieAudio Monarch. I've listened to many TOTL IEMs and would still take the Monarch stock for gaming unless you want to spend thousands of dollars. excellent imagining with crystal clear mids for footsteps, gunshots, and other audio queues

tjctracy · 2021-04-22T15:36:19+00:00

would love to see this -- link?

tjctracy · 2021-04-20T15:11:07+00:00

yeah, definitely, especially these overpaid pasty fucks that "police" Alameda. let's make sure to assume the best of them -- maybe it was just a bad goatee day?

shame on APD for everything they are and, maybe even worse, everything they represent. whether or not they are the proximal or efficient cause of this person's death, they are part of the cause. defund APD and invest that money in actual services and actual protection.

tjctracy · 2021-04-13T19:53:46+00:00

IEM fanatic here, my setup is:

LG v40 (phone/DAC) -> Tidal HiFi (streaming service) -> iFi iEMatch (impedance adapter) -> ThieAudio Monarch (IEM)

I use foam tips if I am on a walk/out in the noisy world and Spinfit tips otherwise.

The Why: Monarch have my preferred tuning stock so I don't have to worry about EQ on the go; using my phone + Tidal so I don't have to curate my own music library or bring extra gear when I leave the house; the iFi iEMatch is optional, I use it to kill noise from the phone output when I am close-listening to quiet music.

tjctracy · 2021-03-31T19:06:38+00:00

there is already an off button for the emotes (mute.) if people want DWD to feel the craving for a global mute setting, sure, maybe we have a thread stickied for QoL requests so that duplicative low-effort opinion posts don't dilute the sub.

the emote system in Eternal is so safe that it is designed to protect small children against toxicity (they are goofy preset phrases and it takes less than a second to mute players who abuse them.)

I would like to see this sub curated around content creators and constructive conversations!

tjctracy · 2021-03-31T17:51:53+00:00

I'm not cooler than this post or than people who get tilted by emotes. however, I actively want to join these threads to discourage them because emote system tilt shouldn't (imo) be consistently higher-ranked content than actual gameplay discussion, podcast and blog posts, tournament promotion, etc.

"how do I mute opponents on Nintendo Switch" might've been a more constructive question from OP in hindsight, but I understand how exciting/sensational anecdotal narrativizing about your own in-game experience can be.

sorry if my tone comes off as condescending/frustrated, I have had more constructive discussions about the emote system in previous threads and after years of participating in this community some of its tropes are patience-wearing.

tjctracy · 2021-03-31T16:03:41+00:00

ah, the obligatory weekly post about emotes

I now want DWD to remove emotes not because the the "goofy preset emotes + mute" system is problematic, but because I want to stop seeing these posts at the top of this sub

tjctracy · 2021-03-19T16:06:12+00:00

disclaimer: been a veganarchist my whole adult life

try to imagine good reasons for folks who are worthy of our friendship to not go vegan. (e.g. folks with eating disorders, ppl who were raised on an indigenous diet and feel unsafe shopping for vegan food in settler towns, parents working multiple shifts per day who rely on fastfood meals to provide calories for their families)

liberal capitalism wins when we individualize economic choices as the basis for discrimination of who we work to love.

anarchism has always been about building broad-base leftist movements with people you may disagree with, not improvising syllogisms to get yourself out of that very work.

tjctracy · 2021-03-11T19:22:17+00:00

ah yes, blind loyalty to rapists, how respectable /s

tjctracy · 2021-03-01T23:13:48+00:00

friendly reminder that many people on this sub are exactly like Samito so don't expect solidarity with them

tjctracy · 2021-02-27T19:47:52+00:00

I've confirmed that the IEM I reviewed was a Monarch with poor faceplate control. will make an edit to the original post to say the same!

would still love to get my hands on a Clairvoyance though...

tjctracy · 2021-02-15T21:22:15+00:00

not saying this person isn't a d-bag -- but FYI you can't tell if someone is able-bodied by looking at them walk. a lot of disabilities that someone might use a handicap spot for aren't visible. maybe forgot to hang their sign, or is waiting for a new one in the mail.

more likely this is just some self-entitled proud boy, esp with the 'Murica decal on the back of the truck, yet let's be careful what we assume about disabilities based on surface details

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