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FYI AAPLs high today was an exact 50% retrace of the drop from 87 to 58, the 62% retrace is at 75.4, I'm hoping for a pullback as I sold April 62.5s at 69.5... Was planning to roll up to 70s but that irritating thing called work got in the way.
TA Note : AAPL closed JUST above it's 50DMA, which is nice. Should hopefully mean a couple of days of consolidation here.
I'm really with Lango here - dual boot isn't that big a deal.
BUT, as I'm holding April 62.5 calls I have to say this is the biggest thing in tech since Mrs Big bought Mr Big an even bigger computer and told him about that nice young Mr Gates and something called Windows ....or not.
All we need now is for Apple to tell us it was an April fool.
OT : So, what was going on that you dumped your external DAC solution?
Just couldn't get on with the sound - found it tiring. Could well have been the DAC, it wasn't exactly high end. I still think DVD player with decent DAC is the way to go. Not interested in home cinema sound, I'll just feed front L+R to the HiFi + centre to the TV.
For years my main music source was a Linn LP12 turntable, when I 1st got a CD I found I couldn't listen comfortably to a CD after the Linn. My current (ancient) Micromega CD I suspect is slightly 'softer' sounding as I have no problem with that & the Linn, hence my dislike of a more modern DAC.
Re jitter, certainly never thought it introduced bit errors, just timing errors - with a good enough DAC (I guess this is the crux) this shouldn't be a problem.
V interesting stuff from M Paquette, I should obviously stay well away from any digital audio tech discussions from now on...
OT : Jitter
Good post on the effect of jitter and cables here.
http://www.soundonsound.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=MRT&Number=256321&Searchpage=1...
This is the important bit:
...However, most D-A converters rely on extracting the embedded clock of the input signal to perform the D-A conversion, and jitter here will significantly degrade the converter performance unless the converter is designed to circumvent such unwanted jitter effects. The same is true of A-Ds clocked from an external reference source...
Thr writer is, as well as being technical editor of 'Sound on Sound', an ex BBC engineer - so he knows of what he speaks...
I certainly think it's possible the effects are audible as the sidebands will be generated in the audio band. I don't think jitter is snakeoil, $300 'low jitter' cables certainly are though.
Reminds me, I must get a set of those ceramic speaker cable stands, my stereo doesn't sound 'holistic' enough
OT : Jitter
Good post on the effect of jitter and cables here.
http://www.soundonsound.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=MRT&Number=256321&Searchpage=1...
This is the important bit:
...However, most D-A converters rely on extracting the embedded clock of the input signal to perform the D-A conversion, and jitter here will significantly degrade the converter performance unless the converter is designed to circumvent such unwanted jitter effects. The same is true of A-Ds clocked from an external reference source...
Thr writer is, as well as being technical editor of 'Sound on Sound' is an ex BBC engineer, so he knows of what he speaks...
I certainly think it's possible the effects are audible as the sidebands will be generated in the audio band. I don't think jitter is snakeoil, $300 'low jitter' cables certainly are though.
Reminds me, I must get a set of those ceramic speaker cable stands, my stereo doesn't sound 'holistic' enough
Hi Fi
Couple of things, I'm sure you're aware that all current Macs come with digital outs (I believe 24 bit too) making them quite handy as 'transports'. AFAIK iPods don't offer digital out, I suspect they never will.
You are right, all the player is doing is serving 'bits' to the DAC. Main thing a transport should do is ensure a low jitter bitstream.
I'd like to use a DVD player as a universal player, but using an external DAC for 'proper' (music) listening. Seems like an obvious way to go to me but I've never seen tests of DVD players used with external DACs. Did try it with my cheapy Pioneer DVD and an M-Audio DAC, but went back to my CD player after 3 days.
Formats. I fully expect SACD and DVD-A to join that list of defunct formats. Sadly far far too niche.
Maybe Shawn Wu could be characterised as 'the last bull to cry "Uncle!"' V V slightly long here, we'll see.
Oh I'm sure the ROTW can see the World Cup in HD, but god forbid the inventors of the game can...
Hmmm... World Cup in HD? I'll believe it when I see it. The BBC muttered something about an HD 'trial' for the World Cup, but that's all. No HD here I'm afraid - no HD broadcast infrastructure.
...production of tar sands product produces roughly 3x-4x the greenhouse gas loads as does conventional crude
Phew, that's a relief... For a minute there I thought we might have to think about reducing oil consumption....
TBH I'm not sure what's available, I don't really follow the consumer market. When it comes to buying stuff for home use I tend to avoid the bleeding edge. I much prefer buying established technologies - just bought my 1st widescreen TV and it's a CRT.
You guys are ahead us us when it comes to HD, I understand 720 line HD is regularly broadcast there.
Resolution for full HD is 1920 x 1080, anything that claims to be 'HD ready' with a lower resolution - ain't. I'm not a fan of either LCD or Plasma. There supposed to be another technology coming along called SED, but who knows when.
I'll be interested to see how these HD formats take off. I can't see the driver myself, DVD took over tape mainly due to convenience, the same for CD vs LP/cassette. Standard Def DVDs look pretty damn good to me and with all the DRM being built into HD (including the connectivity) I'm in no rush to change.
LCDs
When I've seen LCDs driven at non-native resolutions, I've always just seen them leave the extra pixels black, not stretch the picture to fit the screen ...... Is it normal for monitors to "stretch" signals across the monitor when receiving at non-native resolutions?
Really? I've only ever seen LCDs leave pixels black when the screen resolution and LCD screen were different aspect ratios. Otherwise I've always seen the image anti-aliased. One of my colleagues insists on using her 1600 x 1200 20" monitor at 1280 x 960, looks soft all the time and drives me nuts.
And here I thought the point of digital signals was to put the computer in the driver's seat, eliminate on-monitor adjustment needs (after calibration), and so on.
Don't be silly ...
Re : Do monitors now contain anti-aliasing logic?
Yes, LCDs always have. Whenever you run the LCD at a non-native resolution, it has to anti-alias.
Re : Do monitors now contain anti-aliasing logic?
Yes, LCDs always have. Whenever you run the LCD at a non-native resolution, it has to anti-alias.
Logic is already available Universal, some moaning about having to pay an upgrade cost ...
The current G5s aren't selling to some musicians as they have 3rd party PCI DSP cards that run non-native plug-ins. These PCI cards don't work in the PCI Express slots in current G5s. Most audio IO/DSP card developers are very small shops, apparently developing for PCI Express is much harder than PCI, so these cards aren't likely to be replaced with PCI Express versions any time soon.
3rd party software plugins are heavily used in music production, so the fact that Logic is now UB by itself isn't the issue, only when a sufficient no. of plugins are ported will people start looking at MacIntels.
There do seem to be people switching from PC that are going for them - presumably they don't have the s/ware investments. Interest too in the Mini for use as a Logic Node (running Logic plugins on a 2nd machine to give more horespower).
BTW - Mid range tower, PCI slots please, just a couple. Like Tomm's idea, though it'd need to be a bit larger to accomodate those 2 PCI cards.
The iMac isn't a solution though, as has been discussed here. If you already own a display, you may not want another, harder to upgrade etc etc.
Customization was always a key variable for Apple Hmm... not sure that's the case with Jobs around. All of Apple's landmark products of the last few years have been notable for their lack of the to customisability.
Re displays: If I put Dell, Apple, Sony, Samsung displays behind a screen such that you couldn't see the surround I reckon you'd be very hard pushed to spot which was 'best'. In fact I reckon you'd pick the Dell....
Video Apps etc.
Ever try them? Ghastly. I assume the people who rave about their usefulness are really making a statement about how bad the AVID systems they used to use.
I presume you're not a Pro Video Editor The requirements are totally different. Most reviews I've seen of Final Cut have praised it's useability. AVID was a complete revelation compared to what went before. (If you'd ever edited on videotape you'd know what I mean). AVID/Final Cut's working metaphor is based on videotape editing, hence it may seem a pretty odd way of working but it makes sense to editors. Now whether Apple should now look at moving editing onto 'a new paradigm' I'll leave to another time.
AVID upgrade cycle? We've a couple of AVIDs here running on PowerMac 9600/300s
No idea of market share, but FCP is certainly being used in TV productions here. Quite often FCP is being set up on laptops for journalists/directors to work in directly (much to the annoyance of editing colleagues of mine - they'll have to fix all the duff edits)Apple have also completed a couple of big projects here - in one a Polish TV station has equipped their entire newsroom/editing/graphics areas with G5s and Xraids. Our graphics area should be all G5/Xraid soon. BTW I expect we'll still be using these G5s in 5 years time.
Which leads me on to...
Adobe Rosetta performance : Dual Core 2Ghz MacBook Pro = 1Ghz G4 on a couple of After Effects projects we've tried.
The fact that you are posting here signifies aapl is near bottom...
Given that the 200dma is only 3 points away I expect aapl will have an appointment with it before any chance of a trend change.
I dropped and cracked the screen of my Handspring Visor twice, once out of warranty. They knew the crack was my fault, but in both cases they sent me a replacement Visor, and I returned my Visor to them.
I just paid for the replacement screen cost (about $100). If I didn't return the Visor they'd have just charged me full replacement cost. they paid all postage costs, and it was all done within a week (their European office was in Holland!)
No messing, no worry about finding parts or fitting them. That's the way it should be done IMO.
Triple bottom? No such thing... EOM
Half the time I open up Mail it seems to make no attempt to download any mail, until I ask it to. Additionally when I do this it gives me no indication that it's doing anything. Ain't Tiger great?
As Lango says, pretty uninspiring generally, but the interactive chart is very nice, and fast. Easy to check historical prices just by moving a cursor. Now if we an just add our own indicators too...
Searched all our newspapers, agency feeds etc. Nothing, nada. EOM
The sound of an overdriven (not 'clipped') guitar amp is totally different to the sound of your hi-fi clipping. The former is 'soft' clipping usually provided by an overdriven class A valve amp, not like you're hi-fi amp at all.
The loudest peaks on mixed recordings tend to be the drums, so if anything overloads your stereo it'll be them, not the guitars. It's very easy to spot the difference, even w/o golden ears.
Hmm... Well I've babelfished the page, can find no reference to VAT anywhere. You got a link to your translation?
VAT exclusive prices are rarely (if ever) nice round numbers like 999, that's much more likely to be a VAT inclusive price. Admittedly VAT is 20% (!) in Italy which would give a €1199 inclusive price.
Additionally consumer ads/offers in Europe are almost always quoted VAT inclusive, ex VAT is trade only.
Anyway it's all a bit academic right now, the price rise in the Mini set a bad precedent and I just hope it doesn't continue.
That €999 'price' may well be VAT inclusive (headline price is always VAT inclusive on european websites). Current 12" iBook is €1049 vs $999, Macbook Pro is €2159 vs $1999. I guess that implies $999 or slightly less.
Another pointless Macbook benchmark (We've just got one here at work).
After Effects composition : 6 mins on a G4 867, 4 mins on the MacBook - Rosetta emulation of course.
I thought there was some discussion here a while ago that NAND can't be used as a straight HD replacement for computer usage as it has a limited write lifecycle. No doubt this problem may well be sorted, but it's not just a case of when the price has dropped sufficiently.
Agree that it's nice to see Apple has delivered early on the Intel transition.
But surely this transition is the time for them to think different, about their market segmention. They haven't really been able to have a midrange tower recently partly as the engineering for the G5 makes it difficult to put in a smaller tower AND have room for multiple drives.
How big of a market is it .... 1 percent of Apple's business at the most ?
You seriously think this would be only 1 percent of their business? All us G4 tower owners might finally decide to upgrade...
For 1st time computer users any upsell will most likely be from a Mini + monitor to the iMac, but for switchers who already have peripherals surely it'd be easier to upsell from a Mini to a tower/pizza box, especially as that format is something they're used to.
ran out of edit time...
Apple wants to sell cutting edge technology not some dead end P4 architecture that Mikey McDell will milk the masses for.
The only thing cutting edge about Apple's current range are the case designs, and perhaps some of the work needed in order to get current technology to work with them.
I'm NOT suggesting that Apple stops differentiating it's products. My current G4 tower looks good, has 4 drive bays and 2 optical drive bays. Also very practical - built in handles, and when I've shown PC users how easy it is to access the innards they've been amazed.
What's wrong with milking the masses BTW? Apple are doing it well enough with the iPod.
I give up... EOM
Don't know about duty but VAT (sales tax) is 17.5% here. Full price for the low-end Mini is £449 vs $599, doesn't look good does it?
Re Apple and Towers.
Because Mikey McDell has that covered ?
But Mikey McDell doesn't have OSX or iLife, or don't those count any more?
Mind you OSX on white boxes isn't far away, so Mikey will have that covered too.
Mikey McDell has Dual Core laptops covered too, maybe Apple shouldn't bother building those either?
Apple sells more laptops and AIO's than Mid-range towers
Apple doesn't sell 'mid-range' towers, their cheapest tower in the UK is £1400, that's top-end. Mid-range is at least 40% lower than that. The Quad tower is for those that need that power and are willing to pay the premium.
Release dual core Intels in the mid-range, and have only quad G5s at the high-end. No reason I can see that they couldn't do a quad 2Ghz right now.
I think some of the resistance to the idea of a mid-range tower is that towers are 'dull', Stevie can't unveil a tower and we all go 'wow!'
All of Apple's products (with the exception of the G5s) are regarded as design icons, hell, most of them are in our Design Museum right now.
The towers are there to keep the the Pros quiet, they'll buy them it they're what they need. A mid-range tower would be in Apple's 'mainstream' space, and by it's very nature is unlikely be regarded as 'cool', and that's a big part of Apple's brand.
...unless they are able to make a superior tower that equals the Quad Power Mac G5 what compelling reason exists to build one ?
Firsltly why do they have to be superior to the quad G5, it's a different price point. Compelling reason - So people buy them?
I was really excited when the Mini was released, I (foolishly) expected them to really push it agressively. Unfortuntely the perception is still that Macs cost double their PC equivalent. This Intel transition has real potential to increase market share, but only if they handle it right, the signs aren't promising so far. BTW AFAIAC they should be (quietly) doing their damnedest to ensure Winblows runs on these machines. That's the real way in I feel.
Err... Yofal, that article's about a year old. The Minis UK pricing is in fact worse now - UK price ex. sales tax = £389, US price equiv. £345, a £44 premium.
I don't expect parity pricing but I think the new Mini currently has the worse conversion pricing ($1.54=£1) of any of Apple's products in the UK. By comparison the iMac only has a £28 premium over the US price ($1.64=£1).
Tomm, shouldn't that be the RDF band... Hope you've permission to use that still
Apple's loss.
aapl has segmented their cpu line - So what? It's an artificial segmentation of the market. This segmentation may have made some sense when Jobs 1st returned and Apple had way too many products, but not now.
I'm not a 'pro' therefore I'm a 'consumer'? Nonsense, people don't fit into nice neat pigeonholes. There are a lot of us around who I'd refer to as 'prosumers', and while the iMac could be described as Apple's 'prosumer' model the AIO form-factor doesn't suit my (or many other peoples) needs. Is having 4 desktop form-factors rather than 3 really going to confuse people? I doubt it.
I already have a v nice TFT screen thanks, and though a 2nd one would be nice, I'd rather choose my own. As WLD said I don't want a bunch of external drives together with associated wallwarts, space for a couple of internal drives is far more use to me. The current G5 towers are just too much, while offering v poor expandability.
One thing I noticed on the Mini - 4 USB ports... Does this Intel move finally mean we'll get a decent no. of ports on our machines?
I don't see any 'design' there at all eom
Agreed. A tower with a couple of extra drive bays and maybe 1 or 2 slots would do well I think.
The current G5 'workstations' are a bit of a joke when it comes to storage. Officially only 1 additional drive can be added...
I suspect they expect people buying G5s to pony up for XRaids...
So, what does this mean to the Apple VS Apple court case this month. Italic
Nothing really, the recording software (&hardware) more than likely would have been Avids ProTools.
Industry standard digital recording s/ware, it is cross platform but in 99% of cases you'll find it running on a Mac
I'm sure as far as McCartney and his producer are concerned they're working on ProTools, not a Mac.