This summer, I bought yet more Schiit. I added a new phono preamp and turntable and a new DAC to the Dismal Hi-Fi. No, my stereo is not 4-way. Just 2-way. But it is fully meshed and forked now. Both new devices are ForkBeard equipped. As usual Schiit and ForkBeard double entendres are required. Sorry.
In this post, I talk about the changes to the rig here at Dismal Manor. As I was writing this post, Schiit released Byggy, its delta-sigma version of Yggdrasil. This is the first DAC by any audio manufacturer that uses no purchased conversion technology or reconstruction technology. Schiit built Byggy straight out of scratch. [6] Schiit calls its new delta-sigma modulator plus custom reconstruction filter “Mesh architecture”. Singular is Schiit’s home-brew delta-sigma modulator design.
High clouds taken with iPhone 11 Halide Camera and rendered by Pixelmator
I prefer to shoot raw rather than JPEG and recently discovered that regular iPhones (the not Pro kind) can shoot raw using 3rd party camera apps. Today we will take a look at a couple of these apps, Halide Camera [6] and Obscura Camera [7] and compare these to Apple Camera.
Here I’ll highlight the strengths and weaknesses of Apple Camera, Halide Camera, and Obscura Camera that I have experienced in use.
To shoot raw, you need to develop the latent image using a rendering app such as Skylum Luminar Neo [9] or PixelMator Pro or Photomator from the Pixelmator Folks [8].
Several years ago, a Schiit Audio Modi DAC and Magni head-amp came to grace the Dismal Wizard’s desk. Some time later, he bought a pair of Audeze LCD-1 headphones. While shopping for these he also found the HiFiMan Sundara open backs, also a planar magnetic design. Having some spare coin lying about, he ordered a pair and has been listening to them. After five hours or so of listening with Sundara Open Back, I’m really impressed by Sundara. My first impressions follow.
Checking on the Dismal Manor EVSE at my.wallbox.com
Driving Electric is a joy… except when it is not. On Tuesday evening Dave put the car on to charge. All went well. No harder than charing a phone if you stay out of the car’s charging menus. For some reason, he dragged out the WallBox app to check on the charge and discovered that there was an update to apply to the EVSE. And …
We just had a major hurricane landfall in Florida and a category one hurricane landfall in South Carolina with tropical storm conditions in North Carolina and Virginia. When should you evacuate? Current emergency management thinking is to hide from wind (shelter in place) and run from water (evacuate). Water, the storm surge and inland flooding, cause most hurricane-related deaths during the storm. After the storm, recovery mishaps are a significant cause of death. Most involving chain saws or generators.
Rocky performs Zombie inspection of the fallen limb
Dismal Manor has a fallen limb to remove and a fence to patch so Rocky won’t go runner. Rest assured, loppers and a pruning saw will do the work. If we have a big piece, I’ll drag it up front for the city to collect with the clam shell truck.
This post comes out of a discussion with the folks at Take Control Books who write a line of topic and capability oriented Apple product guides like Taking Control of Your Digital Storage. This is a big topic that Jeff Carlson capably explores. NAS (network attached storage) is among the topics he considers. There are 3 sorts of systems available in this market space,
Those targeted to small office and home offered by Synology and QNAP (the two best know) and some others.
Professional products offered by the global IT vendors at departmental scale. EMC, NetApp, DELL, HP, IBM, the usual suspects.
Cluster computing products like those offered by IBM Red Hat and various Linux distributions. These systems provide a single file system view to numerous computers formed into a capacity or reliability cluster. 45Drives, ix Systems, and others are in this space with hardware, drivers, CephFS scale-out file system, etc.
In this article we will consider the essential capabilities a small NAS should have. The intent is to prepare my readers to venture into the world of marketing slicks, spec sheets, and white papers.
I’m going to go out on a bit of a limb here and recommend a piece of kit that I don’t actually own or use but that is a close cousin to kit in use here at Dismal Manor.
When Jason Stoddard, co-founder of Schiit Audio, has one of his periodic ask me anything interviews, a viewer invariably asks if Schiit will make an inexpensive streamer. Jason invariably answers, “no, that’s not our thing”. Jason has wisely chosen to avoid all the pain of what works with what in Linux Land.
But the question comes up sufficiently often that folks might like an answer. Back when I was looking for a streamer to replace AirPort Express and ChromeCast bits, I happened to discover John Darko’s Darko Audio YouTube channel. One evening, John reviewed the Allo Digital DigiOne Signature streamer and gave it marks that placed it firmly in high end sonic company with the Bluesound Node. After a bit, I ordered the boards and enclosure and put one together that I use in my lounge as my main stream receiver. I have a secondary HiFiBerry stream receiver that I use with the TV and video players.
In this article, I’ll tell you about a newer Allo Digital product that takes a bit different tack that will work nicely with today’s kit. That product is Allo Digital’s USBRIDGE Signature [2]. We’ll also look at what the more commercial products offer that is not part of the DIY streamers.
Summer is here
and the livin' is easy
fish are jumpin'
and the flowers is high
From George Gershwin’s Summertime with a twist. Images, author original
Summer temperature shear appears to be a month early with 90F temperatures (33 C) happening in late May rather than in late June. The dew point is low so conditions are very drying, enough so that frequent watering of our newly established ornamental plants is needed.
Last year’s heat found us watering daily using a flower watering wand and shower head. Many plants developed brown spot or powdery mildew. Neither is good.
Brown spot struck in 2020
Brown spot is a fungus disease that affects turf and low ornamental plants during the humid summer months when dew points rise into the 20’s C or 70’s F. The moist humid air hugs the ground creating conditions that promote growth of the fungus. Watering culture is a known factor with evening watering by spray being a risk multiplier.
Much to my surprise, the root stock survived and plants began poking up again in January and most have robust growth. Be sure to remove the mulch before giving up on a location as I found 2 hostas that had not yet emerged hiding in the mulch. These are now exposed and growing nicely.
What started as a quick note about soaker hose has grown into a full-fledged post including the following.
A bit of horticulture, specifically mixed-humid fungal disease avoidance
An introduction to soaker hoses and their use
An introduction to water timers
An introduction to the HozeLock connector system
A bit about pipe thread hand hose fitting materials incompatibility. Never mix metal colors as brass or bronze and aluminum or zinc love each other way too much.
And of course, references.
In this article, I mention several brands and products. I’ve used some of them and others look interesting. I was pleased to note that the HozeLock company that invented the garden hose quick coupling system is alive and well on the Isle of Dogs (UK). Gardena in Germany is also a strong manufacture of lawn and garden care products with international sales.
Note that there are at least 3 hose and fitting standards in use, US ASME, British Standard Pipe, and more ISO standards than you can shake a stick at. When ordering product be careful that it is from the universe in which you live.
It’s October and as sure as frost, Apple has announced new iPhones that start selling in a week or two. Dismal Wizard gives his thoughts on iPhone 12 and 5G. But more important to DW, Tucows sold his Mobile Virtual Network Operator, Ting, to Dish Network. Change is coming whether DW wants it or not.
I’ve been trying to find things that help Nick with his 13.5 year old mobility. Nick had been eating less than maintenance for some months loosing a good bit of hip and shoulder muscle. The muscle loss has impaired his stance and gait. Most commonly, his feet slip outward causing an unplanned split. What might help?
Dismal Manor Dispatches 
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