The "New Toys" Thread

[leviathan]

My latest hobbies are fighting for shelf space. So far it's enough for everyone, but this may not last...

 

[DanRoM]

Well, you could always get rid of the plant....

 

[GRtak]

View attachment 3564233

My latest hobbies are fighting for shelf space. So far it's enough for everyone, but this may not last...

Is that a Lego Viper?

 

[Blind_Io]

View attachment 3564233

My latest hobbies are fighting for shelf space. So far it's enough for everyone, but this may not last...

That's a really slick Viper MkII

 

[leviathan]

Is that a Lego Viper?

Almost, it's a BlueBrixx Specials 100993 Viper. After last year's Ringmeet I've visited the BlueBrixx store in Darmstadt with a few people on their way back home, and couldn't not get this one. It's not without downsides (very flimsy in some parts, pure display model), but pretty cool nonetheless imho.

 

[Matt2000]

I was wearing my Sony headband earphones last weekend while sticking my head under the dash of the Mazda and the Freelander (will write posts when I can be bothered) and was cursing the headband as it kept rotating and trying to strangle me. Time for a proper set of wireless earphones.

I considered the new Sony WF-1000XM4 but I think they look strange, so I accepted the crap colour and got a set of Airpods Pro. Wish they were black but hopefully the performance will make up for the visuals.

They arrived a little while ago, medium bud size is the best fit but I still need to get used to them as the buds are shallower than the ones I'm used to.

I didn't wait for the 2nd generation Pros as nobody knows when they'll come out, they probably won't be available in black, they'll be more expensive, harder to get and there are rumours that they're changing the design to be more like the Sony.

 

[Perc]

My ears are a bit silly and most buds don't fit at all. I use AirPods Pro with third party memory foam tips, they work but look disgusting after a little bit of use. You can see why Apple chose to go with silicone.

 

[Matt2000]

Yeah I tried memory foam tips with other earphones for a while but aside from having to squeeze them to fit them in my ears, I didn't like the way they showed me everything that was inside my ears. Not looking forward to the white tips doing that either, if they do. I'll maybe try some third party tips for a more familiar fit.

 

[NecroJoe]

I tried foam tips on my Mifo O5 (gen 2)earbuds, but with them installed, the earbuds wouldn't fit in the charger case. So you'd have to remove the tips every time you wanted to charge them.

 

[Matt2000]

Impressions from first uses:

• Sound quality is very good, I chose to set an equaliser curve in Spotify but once I did that it was perfect.
• Noise cancelling is better than my Sony WI-1000X and doesn't have the low-level hiss that the Sonys have. Almost completely cancelled out my Makita 18V charger with its loud fan.
• They achieve the above despite not having a tight fit in my ears, no ear wax so far! They don't feel loose or if they're 'leaking' sound though.
• Controls work fine, they aren't as easy as the buttons on the neckband but that's no surprise. No volume control hasn't been an issue yet.
• Being able to lie back without the neckband is great.

 

[Perc]

Side note: you know your 18V Makita charger can play a couple of tunes, right? Try taking the battery off and putting it back on immediately. Then do it a couple more times. It's a fun prank to play on someone else's charger. Too bad that it goes back to the default setting if you unplug it.

 

[NecroJoe]

Side note: you know your 18V Makita charger can play a couple of tunes, right? Try taking the battery off and putting it back on immediately. Then do it a couple more times. It's a fun prank to play on someone else's charger. Too bad that it goes back to the default setting if you unplug it.

How very Japanese.

 

[Matt2000]

You can change the sound it makes when it finishes charging, the tunes are all very annoying.

You can't just have it beep when it's done charging, that would actually be useful.

 

[NecroJoe]

I wish you could upload a midi file to it.

 

[Matt2000]

I wish you could upload a midi file to it.

Wouldn't be that hard to have an Arduino track the indicator lights and then play a tune through a small speaker. The red charge LED illuminates when charging, then the green LED also joins it when it's almost complete and finally just the green LED. Pretty easy logic for a microcontroller to follow, could use opto-isolators and I don't doubt there are plenty of places in the circuit you can pick up power for the controller board.

 

[NecroJoe]

Wouldn't be that hard to have an Arduino track the indicator lights and then play a tune through a small speaker. The red charge LED illuminates when charging, then the green LED also joins it when it's almost complete and finally just the green LED. Pretty easy logic for a microcontroller to follow, could use opto-isolators and I don't doubt there are plenty of places in the circuit you can pick up power for the controller board.

Would love to see someone tackle it. So many memes... Especially if it could be somehow polyphonic.

 

[gaasc]

Wouldn't be that hard to have an Arduino track the indicator lights and then play a tune through a small speaker. The red charge LED illuminates when charging, then the green LED also joins it when it's almost complete and finally just the green LED. Pretty easy logic for a microcontroller to follow, could use opto-isolators and I don't doubt there are plenty of places in the circuit you can pick up power for the controller board.

see, you started that with

Wouldn't be that hard

And then went to opto-isolators.

 

[Matt2000]

And then went to opto-isolators.

I have a box full of them, they’re great fun. It’s just an LED on one side and a sensor on the other, all hidden. A tiny, silent relay, if you prefer.

I might just do this, I already have most of the things I need. It’s just the sort of dumb project I enjoy.

 

[NecroJoe]

ISome song suggestions:
"All-Star" Smashmouth
"Never Gonna Give You Up" Rick Astley
"Thunderstruck" AC/DC, just because it sounds fun with simple "chip tune" style tones
Mega Man 2 opening theme

 

[Blind_Io]

Decided to class up my cigar game. Zippo now makes torch lighter inserts; it comes with the standard insert and you can buy the cigar style to swap in when you need it.