I’ve noticed that audio doesn’t get as much attention as other parts of a PC system, which is unfortunate since sound makes up a significant portion of multimedia experiences. Because of this, I’ve decided to write down my thoughts on the subject based on my decades of experimentation.
This series will be split into multiple parts. In this first entry, I’ll talk about my PC audio journey starting from my first PC.
I’ve noticed that audio doesn’t get as much attention as other parts of a PC system, which is unfortunate since sound makes up a significant portion of multimedia experiences. In contrast, the other more popular topics offer either less significant benefits (e.g. mechanical keyboards) or worse, mostly appearance oriented “improvements” (e.g. water cooling). So I’ve decided to write down my thoughts on the subject based on my decades of experimentation.
This series will be split into multiple parts: first, I’ll talk about my PC audio journey starting from my first PC. Then we’ll go into a buyer’s guide where I give part recommendations based on usage and price range. And finally, I’ll discuss my current audio setup.
Above is a video of me fixing my PS4’s DualShock controller. It’s 28 minutes long so here’s a write-up:
So I bought a second hand PS4 Slim last year just in time for Persona 5. Worked great in my first run through, but eventually the circle button of the controller stopped responding.
As with any DIYer out there, I applied the first aid for unresponsive electronics: opening the thing and liberally applying contact cleaner to everything. This would clean out the gunk and hopefully make the connections work again.
This worked, but only for a few days. The circle button stopped working even after multiple applications of contact cleaner. I spent about an hour tracing leads with my multi-tester before I found out that the connection for the button in membrane film was broken, probably corroded from a combination of heat and humidity.
After shelving it for a couple of months, I finally went to Ali Express and bought some spare parts: membrane film, and new ribbon cable to replace the cable I accidentally broke during the multiple teardowns. While I was at it, I also got other cheapdoodads for my PS4.
Replacement was straightforward. The only reason it took me about half an hour was my narration and relative inexperience in tinkering with controllers.
End result: I fully repaired the controller for about $30. It’s probably cheaper if I got it repaired in some random repair stall, but the extra spare parts and the experience more than made up for it.
And yes, the controller is still working. So far I’ve played over 60 hours on it while working on a 100% playthrough of Persona 5.
Riding on the bandwagon of people going out of retirement for Hatsune Miku‘s 10th birthday, I’m breaking my 2 year writing hiatus to write a review of the only Vocaloid merchandise I own – the Yamaha AG03-MIKU 3 channel audio mixing console.
Before we go into the review, a quick background on how I got to buy the device in the first place.
With the more stable income from my new job, I went on to upgrade the stuff I use everyday. Of course, upgrading my gaming rig was the first on the list, but a year on, there wasn’t really any new stuff I need to upgrade.
My setup then wasn’t bad – I’ve still got a decent Samson Go Mic USB condenser mic that I used way back for voice overs and other recording stuff. But it was getting close to Christmas and I had to spend a part of my bonus on something that I would actually use rather than spend on some other, more impractical impulse buy.
Mic was no problem – Audiophile sells legit Shure SM58s. The problem was USB audio interfaces.
Dedicated audio interfaces like those from PreSonus were too unitask-y for me, not to mention their huge markups from local sellers. For a couple of months, I had resigned myself to getting an the only “cheap” device I could find locally online: okay-ish Behringer mixers with USB out which go for ₱5-₱12K.
Then I remembered Game Grumps once made a video about their setup and revealed they were using a Yamaha mixer/USB interface, specifically the Yamaha MG12XU. This got me looking into locally sold Yamaha mixers, and in the process found out that they were selling hobbyist versions of their mixers – the AG Series.
But that was shut down when I found out that the this line wasn’t even on the local distributor’s radar. International shipping would also push the cost to > ₱10K. So back to Behringer again…
That is, until a random morning when I was searching for similar options to the AG series when I found out about the special edition AG03-MIKU – a Hatsune Miku themed AG03 promoted for webcasting. The cross promotion makes sense as Yamaha built the Vocaloid software, and without Crypton Future Media‘s Miku, Vocaloid wouldn’t have been as popular as it had been in the past decade. This tie-up also gives opportunities for aspiring producers and singers to make more Vocaloid material, benefiting both.
At first I dismissed it – the first page of search results for AG03-MIKU back then showed only Japanese stores (which are hard to navigate and probably don’t ship internationally) and Ebay listings with huge markups.
And they also offer international shipping. All in all, it only costs around ₱8K (₱6K for the item, ₱2K for the priority shipping), well under the ₱10K customs duty-free limit.
(Note: I still had to pay a deposit for the expected ~30% customs fee, but they refunded it later.)
And so I impulse bought yet another device that I may not use that often. I mean, it’s a well reviewed device (it’s essentially an AG03 with a Miku decal and a more vibrant Miku color scheme) and it ups my geek cred (Vocaloid is popular, but not quite poser-geek mainstream yet), but it’s got a limited use case i.e. to replace my old microphone with a setup that is 5 times more expensive in situations that only happen at most once a month.
Was it worth it?
Hell yeah.
Let’s start this review with the features that I bought it for: the mic input and the USB interface.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much to say about them. The mic input accepts both XLR and 1/4″ phone connectors in a combo socket, and supports phantom power for condenser mics in case I would like to upgrade/switch to AT2020. Without boring you about technical details, all the other knobs (like the gain/level) and buttons (like the PAD, COMP/EQ, EFFECT) all allow you to adjust the mic input to make you sound better, and they do their job fairly well.
The USB audio interface is just another (albeit very high quality) audio interface. Install the drivers and plug it in and it works. I can now use an XLR mic for Skype calls, game stream voice over, and karaoke sessions alone in my room.
An expensive, occasionally used setup. A perfect example of a self-Christmas gift.
At least until I noticed this thing:
When you plug in the mixer and install the drivers, your computer can also treat it as playback device. That audio interface goes both ways, and this knob controls the volume of the sound input from your computer, and output it to the monitor headphones and/or speakers.
In other words, I accidentally bought a DAC, something that was also on my wish list. And trying it with my other Christmas self-gift an HD 600, the headphone output is powerful enough to drive the mid-to-high range headphones. So it’s also an amp, giving me a budget DAC/Amp for free!
Headphones also lead us to the feature I use the most: the monitor knobs.
With these, I can adjust the volume of my speakers and my headphones independently. Having an analog knob for quick volume fine tuning is already a big thing, but that’s not the biggest use for me: it’s switching between speakers and headphones on the fly.
I have wide soft ears and I can’t wear headphones all the time. Even the lightweight HD 600 can become annoying after a while. So my default is lower quality speakers (I haven’t upgraded yet to studio monitors) when I’m just watching Youtube videos or quick games, and I used to switch to headphones when I’m listening to music or gaming seriously via the Windows audio settings. It’s a lot easier in Windows 10, but it doesn’t beat two quick flicks of knobs.
And finally, the last feature that I got to use extensively: the other 2 input channels.
Normally, a producer would use those two channels for musical instruments. I don’t know any instruments, but I found a good use for them: external audio input.
With 1/4″ to RCA adapters, I can connect the mixer to one of my karaoke machines. And with a 3.5mm TRS to RCA adapter, I can connect my PS4 (via the controller), my 3DS, and basically any device with audio to the mixer. Once connected, I can also adjust their volumes with the knob, saving myself the hassle of having to go to their respective volume settings and adjusting them.
—
Before we move on to the other features, let’s talk about the back connectors.
The USB type-B plug on the right is the main connector. It’s just USB 2.0 connection, but it’s more than enough to transfer audio at it’s maximum sample rate while at the same time powering the device.
A quick check shows the mixer draws 1.5W while playing music and picking up audio, lower the max draw in the specs (2.5W).
Thanks to its low power draw, you have a portable mixing setup by powering it using a power bank and a micro-USB cable connected to the socket on the left.
(I actually did this in a Christmas party where they had a “bring your musical instrument for the jamming session”. As a vocalist, a mic with a preamp + mixer is my “instrument”. The end result was much better than I expected.)
With the correct cable and software, you can also use the type-B socket to plug in your iPad and record a jamming session. But I don’t have the proper cable and I’d rather use a laptop for it anyway.
—
Now on to the features I don’t use.
This toggles how the device mixes the audio. The Dry sends the audio from the channels dry (ie. not mixed and not affected by the volume level setting), Input Mix sends the mixed audio that you hear in the monitors sans the computer sound, while Loopback also mixes in the computer sound (everything you hear in the monitors is looped back so it’s more accurate, but may cause feedback in some software/setups). I generally just leave this in Input Mix or Loopback.
You can use the first 2 sockets you have a headset with mic that have split connectors, and you can use the last socket for input from any audio device. I don’t use these sockets because the other sockets can do the same and are better – the headset sockets are inferior to XLR in and monitor outputs, and the you have no knob to control the AUX volume and it is just line level.
I also don’t use the bundled and downloadable software. Sure there’s the Cubase AI audio software license and the 39 day license (a Miku pun for the uninitiated) for Vocaloid and Miku, but my audio software is enough for my needs right now. Then there’s the software to setup COMP/EQ and sound effects which I just set to presets (COMP/EQ for male vocalists, hall echo effect).
The only software I had to tweak was the USB driver to lower the sample rate (192kHz is overkill) which also reduces the latency (it’s impossible to sing when latency is too high, but that’s for another article).
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Final verdict:
It is what it is, a webcasting starter kit. Pair it with decent mics, instruments, and musical talent and you’re now ready for YouTube / NND. Pair it with OBS and a console or gaming rig, and you’re set to be a Twitch streamer. And if you don’t have a DAC yet and want clean sound, it can easily fill in for one.
That said, it’s a jack of all trades, and it carries the usual drawbacks. For example, if you’re just in it for voice over work, it would be better to find a cheap audio interface or a decent second-hand interface. You can also get mixers with > 6 channels for far less than ₱8K if you just want a mixer. And if you want really good DAC/Amps, you can get much better ones for a few thousand Pesos more.
Overall, I’d recommend this product. Just go with the plain AG06 if you don’t want to look like a weeaboo.
I just finished the months long processing of the RubyConf Philippines 2015 videos so I guess it’s a good time to do an article on covering tech events as an amateur.
As far as I know, I’m the only amateur videographer in the local tech/developer scene. All other videos of events are either taken by camera phones or are done by paid professionals. Compare this with photography: there are still camera phone pictures, but many events have amateur photographers with decent gear. Why is this so?
It’s not because videography is expensive. Yes, if we look at the equivalent video cameras for DSLRs, you’ll get into the P50k+ range. But you can get somewhat decent cameras for much less like the point-and-shoot equivalent that I use. Overall, my current gear is cheaper than a typical hobbyist photographer’s gear; even the “pro-level” device, the RØDE VideoMic Pro, just hovers around the price of typical lenses.
If amateur videography isn’t expensive, why aren’t we seeing more people taking videos of events?
It’s simply not fashionable.
No, this isn’t a dig at camera owners who use their devices as status symbols. It’s just the blunt truth: videography takes way too much effort compared to photography.
Let’s look at what happens when you cover a meetup talk – the most basic thing a tech event videographer will record.
First you’ll need to deal with the hassle of having to bring a tripod to the venue as the crappy ones that fit in your bag won’t be stable enough for taking videos.
Then you’ll have to sit in a corner for the entire talk… if only that was that easy. You can’t just sit there playing with your phone or move away and chat with the people in the back. You have to focus the whole time, sometimes you’ll have to pan towards the speaker, other times you’ll have to zoom to the projected code. The worst part is that you can’t even speak or comment or heckle because it’s going to be obvious in the audio (watch the RubyConf lightning talks for some examples where I stopped caring about it).
Speaking of audio, it’s a whole different beast compared to videos/images. You can’t fix it in post production, and if you don’t have external microphones like my shotgun mic, you’ll have to place your camera much closer to the speaker to lessen background noise.
Then there’s the post production. Fortunately for talks, it’s just trimming off excess video and possibly re-encoding to get a smaller sized video for a faster upload.
Finally the upload. Hope you’ve got good broadband like mine. If not, you may have to do what I did before PLDT fixed the line in my area and shove the videos into a netbook (to save electricity) and let it upload all day.
And that’s just a user group meetup talk. What about more complicated events like a developer conference?
First you’ll need more cameras: one for the projector, and another for the speaker. Panning between the two isn’t good enough. You might even need a third camera taking a wide shot for backup purposes.
The audio is also slightly more complicated here. Having a shotgun mic really improved the quality of the audio in my usual videos but it alone isn’t enough to get good audio – I ended up not using the shotgun mic audio in the RubyConf videos and instead used the backup camera audio because the latter was in a better position to pick up the speaker and audience audio.
RubyConf PH’s video post-production was much more complicated, though. I got over 150GB of video which, over the course of 3 months, I converted and stitched together to make 21GB of 720p video. I don’t have plans to purchase professional video editing software so I had to make do with Blender VSE, which unfortunately is single-threaded when rendering the final video. Hence the 3 month delay.
tl;dr:
Hand over a camera to a random person and ask them to take pictures of an event and many will be happy to do that for you.
Hand over a video camera and tell them to cover an entire talk (not just random B-rolls) and they’ll give up less than 5 minutes in.
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In case you’re wondering what a professional setup looks like, here’s what Confreaks uses when it records conferences:
1 – Manned HD camera (used for primary speaker(s) coverage)
1 – Wide shot HD camera (used for backup and synchronization with slides)
1 – Backup slide camera
1 – Hi-res slide recorder that goes in between the presenter’s laptop and the projector (records hi-resolution output of exactly what is seen during the presentation, including slides, videos, live coding, etc.)
1 – Audio recorder that takes an auxiliary out from the house sound system to provide a crisp, clean audio track
This brings up another requirement for video coverage: manpower. Not only does a professional setup require expensive equipment, it also needs at least 2 operators to work properly.
I’m still surprised that I was able to pull off RubyConf PH on my own with what little gear I had with only minimal problems.
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This article’s already a bit long but I still haven’t covered one common comment I hear in the local tech scene regarding videos:
“I hope someone streams this event.”
To which I just shut up instead of explaining why this makes me ಠ_ಠ internally.
First off, you need at least 2Mbps for good quality streaming. Most venues do not have those speeds.
Then there’s the camera. If you want decent video for your event, you’ll need a $200+ video capture device that you would connect to your video camera. Don’t have one? You’ll have to settle with webcams then.
Even if you skip both, being ok with crappy webcam video and occasional lag, you still have the real main problem:
Nobody is watching.
Try to watch streams of events and you’ll see that even the biggest local tech (i.e. non-mainstream) events get less than 50 viewers. Once you realize this, you shouldn’t be surprised that I don’t bother with all the effort to stream events.
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So to sum it up, videography is hard; everyone says they want video coverage, but in the end no one really watches videos.
I spent a decent amount of time last month playing around with scripts for setting up a Rails server from scratch. Turns out that the whole process is simpler than what I had to go through 7 years ago when I was learning how to install LAMP from scratch.
Here’s the basic set of commands to install Nginx + Passenger + Ruby 2.1 + PostgreSQL on an Ubuntu 14.04 Server:
There are a bunch of other stuff that you need to setup like ssh/sshd/firewall and mail/postfix settings but these commands pretty much covers all the software you need to install before you setup a production app. For example, here’s the rest of the commands for setting up Redmine:
# su -l deploy
$ wget http://www.redmine.org/releases/redmine-2.6.0.tar.gz
$ tar -xf redmine-2.6.0.tar.gz
$ cd redmine-2.6.0/
$ vim config/database.yml
$ createdb redmine
$ bundle install --binstubs bin --path bundle --without development test rmagick
$ bin/rake generate_secret_token
$ RAILS_ENV=production bin/rake db:migrate
$ RAILS_ENV=production bin/rake redmine:load_default_data
$ exit
# vim /etc/nginx/sites-available/default
# service nginx restart
Othertutorials already cover most of the commands above. Instead of repeating them, I’ll just be going through some quick notes about the process, explaining my approach and mentioning some gotchas.
Why install Passenger and Ruby from apt repositories?
It’s much faster than installing from source.
It’s also easier to update via apt-get upgrade.
Why Passenger instead of Nginx + Unicorn/Puma/etc?
Aside from the reasons above, it requires less configuration and it’s good enough for most cases.
The only way I’d consider other setups is if you need rolling restarts or more control over your memory usage.
Why use BrightBox’s repo instead of RVM/rbenv or install from source?
Most production servers only need one version of Ruby installed so I don’t see a reason for using version managers. They might make sense in staging servers for testing multiple versions, but not in prod.
Gem installation isn’t a problem since you’re going to use Bundler anyway i.e. after installing and having bundle available system-wide, you can have it install gems locally via --path like in the example above.
So that leaves us with manually installing from source. However, as mentioned above, installing via apt is just more convenient. The BrightBox packages may sometimes not be up-to-date (DevCon is running in preview 2.2 right now), but they tend to update a few weeks after a major release.
Bonus: Why are we using an older version of NodeJS?
There’s a gotcha related to this that we’ll talk about later.
Security: why allow root login via ssh?
Just like the “use rvm in prod” advice, it feels like a lot of people go by “PermitRootLogin no” when my script instead uses “PermitRootLogin without-password“.
For newbies, this makes sense: preventing people from logging in as root is a great way to prevent hacking attempts. In reality, we’re not totally preventing remote “root” log-ins – we’re prevent logging in as root because we want our SysAds to log in as a sudo user so all of their actions can be logged.
For simpler systems, it may be better to just allow remote root login as long as public keys are used, hence “PermitRootLogin without-password“.
Why is the deploy user not a sudo user?
It’s not really for security reasons. Yes, having a basic pasword-less user does make our apps secure, considering that Passenger automatically switches the user to the owner of the app, but my main reason for not making deploy a sudo user is because it doesn’t need it.
It doesn’t need sudo to install gems, bundle install --path installs to a local folder.
It doesn’t need sudo to restart the app server, touch tmp/restart.txt does that.
It’s just a simple constraint I added to make sure I’m isolating the deploy user to deployment tasks.
And besides, some of you might notice how insecure deploy is when it comes to…
Why is the deploy user a superuser for PostgreSQL? Why use Ident/Peer auth instead of a password?
Same reason as root login: personal server, no need for extra security than needed. If the attacker somehow logs in as deploy, the DB is screwed either way.
In other words superuser + peer auth is about as secure as the usual password approach while also easier to setup (by just a few commands LOL).
Config files
There’s nothing special about most of the config files edited via vim in the scripts above. The apt source and default nginx site config file would just contain the recommendedsettings. The database config can just contain three lines: the environment (production:), the adapter (adapter: postgresql), and the database name.
As for the main nginx config file, apart from being edited as recommended by the docs, there’s also one big gotcha that will prevent your app from running in Passenger:
execjs gotcha
If your app is using sprockets and you’re using an external JS runtime like NodeJS, your app may not run because Passenger can’t find a valid JS runtime via execjs.
Reason? Execjs looks for NodeJS with the PATH, and environment variables like PATH are not automatically used by Passenger.
