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Post by Boomzilla on Nov 11, 2024 2:21:52 GMT -5
AirPods update:
My AirPods do not like my generic USB-C wall wart & cable. When used together, either they incompletely charge or won’t charge at all. I put them on an Apple that & cable and I quickly get 100% charge.
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ttocs
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I always have a wonderful time, wherever I am, whomever I'm with. (Elwood P Dowd)
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Post by ttocs on Nov 11, 2024 8:03:51 GMT -5
Not all USB-C cables do the same thing, nor are they built the same.
Apple's cables and power adapters are built to a higher standard. Here's a video showing what's inside of an Apple 2M USB-C/Thunderbolt cable.
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Post by monkumonku on Nov 11, 2024 10:44:17 GMT -5
AirPods update: My AirPods do not like my generic USB-C wall wart & cable. When used together, either they incompletely charge or won’t charge at all. I put them on an Apple that & cable and I quickly get 100% charge. I have the same problem! Well, not totally. I bought a wireless charger and the pods charge to 100% but the case doesn't charge at all. I guess I will order the Apple charger. |
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Post by Boomzilla on Nov 11, 2024 10:45:52 GMT -5
...I guess I will order the Apple charger. be prepared for sticker shock... And, as an aside, I'm still trying out all the earbud cushion sizes. So far, the ones that came on the AirPods are better than the smaller ones. I haven't tried the bigger ones yet. |
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Post by monkumonku on Nov 11, 2024 10:50:54 GMT -5
...I guess I will order the Apple charger. be prepared for sticker shock... And, as an aside, I'm still trying out all the earbud cushion sizes. So far, the ones that came on the AirPods are better than the smaller ones. I haven't tried the bigger ones yet. Just ordered it. It's cheaper from Amazon ($25 versus $39 on the Apple site) and has same-day delivery. Same thing with the AirPods Pro 2 - it was a lot cheaper on Amazon than Apple's site ($190 vs. $250). |
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Post by Boomzilla on Nov 11, 2024 13:16:04 GMT -5
Thanks - good to know!
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KeithL
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Post by KeithL on Nov 11, 2024 15:10:58 GMT -5
I never cease to be impressed by Apple's engineering... It takes real talent and dedication to ensure that your products ONLY work well when connected to YOUR expensive chargers and cables.  In this case, to be fair to Apple, there are a lot of variations of "generic"... (And this is especially true when it comes to "USB charging cables".) AirPods update: My AirPods do not like my generic USB-C wall wart & cable. When used together, either they incompletely charge or won’t charge at all. I put them on an Apple that & cable and I quickly get 100% charge. |
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KeithL
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Post by KeithL on Nov 11, 2024 15:35:17 GMT -5
That answer is not nearly as simple as it seems at first... The short answer seems to be that, while your brain won't somehow still "perceive" 14 kHz, it will still HEAR "a cymbal". The literal answer to the question is no... if you can't hear 14 kHz then you won't hear 14 khz... However, what we "hear" is actually NOT "what our ears detect", but "how our brains interpret what our ears detect"... And some of that is based on memory and our brain's internal model of what we're hearing. So, for example, when you listen to a good recording of a cymbal, you hear a whole bunch of sound, covering a wide range of frequencies. (Technically, with a cymbal, they aren't harmonics, but actually a sort of burst of decorrelated noise over a certain frequency range.) And, if you heard live cymbals back when you could still hear 14 kHz, the model you had in your head of "what a cymbal sounds like" includes that entire range. And, if, back then, you heard a recording that was limited to 10 kHz, it would not sound like "a real cymbal"... But, over time, the models in your brain "adjust and adapt"... Specifically, after gradually losing those high frequencies from your hearing, they also sort of "faded from the model"... And, according to the current model, you no longer expect to hear 14 kHz when you hear "a cymbal"... So, now, if you hear a sound that "meets all the other requirements for the way a cymbal sounds", it sounds just fine... Because your BRAIN still identifies it as "a cymbal"... (Feel free to argue whether your brain "imagines hearing the 14 kHz" or "just doesn't miss it".) However, the situation is actually a bit more complicated, because most of us don't "absolutely lose all hearing above one specific frequency"... It's more like gradually turning down the treble control so we hear less of higher frequencies... And, above some arbitrary point, they disappear entirely... The situation with hearing loss is also more complex for other reasons. For example, hearing loss due to occupational exposure may only affect specific narrow ranges of frequencies. And some of the effects concerning things like "intelligibility" are even more complex. For example, some hearing aids, and some public address gear, ADD second harmonic distortion, because that seems to IMPROVE intelligibility of voice. (The extra harmonics seem to make voice more intelligible... presumably by emphasizing something beneficial.) (I've always suspected tat this is why some folks insist that "tube gear sounds exceptionally clear"... because it adds audible second harmonic distortion.) Here's an interesting side question... If you can no longer hear 14 KHz then does that mean that poor quality recordings that stop at 10 kHz will now sound better? The answer is: "presumably yes" - since you will no longer be able to notice the lack of what you cannot hear anyway. In the below video, Paul McGowan of PS Audio answers a viewers question. The question is, if we suffer high frequency hearing loss as we age, should be get brighter speakers to compensate? He says no, because our brain makes the adjustments for us. Now what I am wondering - let's say in our younger days we could hear a 14Khz tone and, having perfect pitch, remembered what it sounded like. Now in our older days, our high frequency ability has declined and we can't hear anything over 10Khz. Will our memory and brain still be able to "hear" (recall) what a 14Khz tone sounds like, even though we aren't physically capable of perceiving it anymore? |
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ttocs
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I always have a wonderful time, wherever I am, whomever I'm with. (Elwood P Dowd)
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Post by ttocs on Nov 11, 2024 15:36:39 GMT -5
I never cease to be impressed by Apple's engineering... It takes real talent and dedication to ensure that your products ONLY work well when connected to YOUR expensive chargers and cables. 8D AirPods update: My AirPods do not like my generic USB-C wall wart & cable. When used together, either they incompletely charge or won’t charge at all. I put them on an Apple that & cable and I quickly get 100% charge. C'mon Keith, you know better. It's not the power adapter, it's the cable, and cables do matter. There are several levels of USB-C operation, and yes, some cables won't work with some devices, and it's not just Apple devices. I've got other brands of "USB-C" devices that need a particular style "USB-C" cable. I've not taken any time to discover the "WHY" a different cable won't work, but just know that some devices want the cable it came with, or one designed to do what it expects. I recently bought some extra Apple USB-C cables just because they seem to work with everything I've tried them with. The reverse isn't true. |
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Post by Boomzilla on Nov 11, 2024 15:55:49 GMT -5
KeithL noted that the brain adapts based on earlier memories - I suppose that is why I still remember some girls I knew in college, almost a half-century ago more as how they looked then rather than how they look now? If only they saw me the same way… 🥰
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Post by Boomzilla on Nov 11, 2024 16:00:12 GMT -5
Hi ttocs - Thanks for that info - I’d considered buying a couple of extra Apple USB-C cables in hopes that they’d be more universally compatible, but your experience is the catalyst for me to implement that plan. Thanks again! |
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KeithL
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Post by KeithL on Nov 11, 2024 16:47:25 GMT -5
Yes... wouldn't THAT be nice. KeithL noted that the brain adapts based on earlier memories - I suppose that is why I still remember some girls I knew in college, almost a half-century ago more as how they looked then rather than how they look now? If only they saw me the same way… 🥰 |
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Post by Zombie on Nov 11, 2024 17:12:06 GMT -5
I know I’ve suffered some hearing loss. While I’ve never really enjoyed overly loud music, I went to a lot of rock concerts in my past and usually sat (mostly stood) up close to the amps/speakers. And, I’ve played drums for a very long time and between the crack of the snare and cymbal crashes, it’s taken its toll. I’m actually surprised it’s not worse. I’ve always worn good protection when shooting guns though. While I don’t think it’s problematic, my hearing loss usually only becomes apparent when the wife is talking to me. Weird.
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KeithL
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Post by KeithL on Nov 11, 2024 17:14:27 GMT -5
Yes it is the cable... but there IS more to it than that. USB cables actually do come in several flavors... especially when it comes to data cables. (And some "charging cables" actually don't include the data lines and so are only charging cables.) When it comes to only the charging part of the deal... Many USB data cables have relatively thin power conductors, and so relatively high resistance, especially at longer lengths. And, as a result, they may not work with all chargers, or with all devices, or may limit the charging speed with some devices. (My Samsung phone will complain, and charge more slowly, with certain cables.) But, in order to avoid this, you can simply buy cables that are specified to support the higher charging rates... And THOSE will work with EVERYTHING... and they only cost a few dollars extra. I'm afraid that, considering Apple's history of deliberately making their devices "anti-compatible"... many of us just assume the worst from them. And, in the past, they have a well documented history of deliberately preventing their devices from working with third party cables and adapters. And, since they no longer include a cable, it would be nice if they actually told you how to choose one that would work, other than buying one from them. (I'm guessing that nobody would be happy if we were to say that "we can't promise that our amplifiers will work with anybody else's ordinary old cables".) [ I took a quick look around and it looks like Apple's USB cables aren't especially expensive... so maybe I owe them an apology... this time... ] I never cease to be impressed by Apple's engineering... It takes real talent and dedication to ensure that your products ONLY work well when connected to YOUR expensive chargers and cables. C'mon Keith, you know better. It's not the power adapter, it's the cable, and cables do matter. There are several levels of USB-C operation, and yes, some cables won't work with some devices, and it's not just Apple devices. I've got other brands of "USB-C" devices that need a particular style "USB-C" cable. I've not taken any time to discover the "WHY" a different cable won't work, but just know that some devices want the cable it came with, or one designed to do what it expects. I recently bought some extra Apple USB-C cables just because they seem to work with everything I've tried them with. The reverse isn't true. |
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Post by AudioHTIT on Nov 11, 2024 20:54:38 GMT -5
I don’t know what you guys are using, but I can charge my AirPods Pro 2 with a generic charger and generic USB-C cable. That does not mean the cheapest charger and cable I could find doing an Amazon search, but ones that are inexpensive, though well rated. I can also charge my AirPods case ‘wirelessly’ using a generic 3 in 1 (iPhone, Watch, AirPod) wireless charger. So go ahead and buy expensive Apple accessories, they are made very well, but you don’t need them (though I know Keith likes having poor information to repeat so he can continue grinding his axe against Apple).
Now I hope everyone is familiar with a setting on most current Apple devices (using a recent OS), ‘Optimized Charging’, which is designed to help you improve battery life. It studies your normal usage and charges the device to 80%, until just before it expects you to take it off the charger. So, if you normally get up at 7am, at 5am your device will only be at 80% charge, but it will be at 100% by 7am. If you don’t have a regular schedule, or don’t care about battery life, you can turn this off. On the newest devices (iPads / iPhones), you have a sliding scale and can tell your device never to charge beyond a specified percentage (80% is the typical default).
In my opinion Apple chargers and cables are very good, but too expensive, I use the cables that they include with their devices, but buy generics beyond that. I also have a large collection of their chargers from when they used to include them, and use them occasionally.
TL;DR Buy well rated, inexpensive, generic cables and chargers.
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Post by marcl on Nov 12, 2024 9:44:41 GMT -5
That answer is not nearly as simple as it seems at first... In the below video, Paul McGowan of PS Audio answers a viewers question. The question is, if we suffer high frequency hearing loss as we age, should be get brighter speakers to compensate? As I started reading this I thought about how our brains will hear a musical note even if you remove the fundamental and only hear the harmonics. So does it care about high harmonics above 4KHz? That's the limit for a violin or piano fundamental ... piccolo can go to 5KHz. If our hearing rolls off smoothly above that - which is the case for most of us, unless there was loss due to specific noise or trauma - then we shouldn't notice too much. I have some recordings with sparkly bells and things that I can hear, though probably not at full amplitude. I have experimented with lifting the high end of my LCR and surrounds JUST a little ... like a 2-3db ramp above 4KHz. This is kind of the opposite of the downward ramp that Harman found preferred by most people. So maybe what I hear with a slight rise, is actually similar to what Harman found to be the preferred ramp. And since learning of the online app, I've tested myself every month or so and results are pretty consistent ... this is to 8KHz. Playing a sine wave I can actually hear to 12KHz.  |
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