Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with audio and resolved

What kind of hardware jack does my Sleek Audio SA1 headphones use?

SamuelF — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 05:44:21 -0800

Help me identify this audio jack. I purchased a pair of Sleek Audio SA1 headphones recently, partially because they come with a replaceable cord. Problem is, the tiny plug it uses seems to be some kind of secret, and me no likey proprietary hardware. I figure it must be some kind of common connector, but don't know enough to identify it on sight or know what to search for. You can see examples here and here. It's very small, much smaller than a normal headphone plug. The male plug has a hole in the middle (hee hee), and the female jack (in the earbud) has a smooth metal prong that fits in the middle of the male jack (hee hee). It's not just a plug-in-a-hole like a normal headphone jack.

Any ideas? And, thanks!

My stubby amplifier...

rleamon — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:12:01 -0800

Home amp filter: Shallow cabinet, 5.1-channel, three-input-HDMI, two-zone, good-quality amplifier-receiver -- does it exist? The missus and I just moved into our remodeled house -- the custom bookshelves are only 12" deep, so my 16" deep Denon amp that does most of what I want juts out unacceptably.

Is there such thing as a 13" (or less) deep, 5.1 or better surround, three-input-HDMI amp/receiver, that can play to two or more zones (i.e., 5.1 in the living room and 2 only in the kitchen?).

What's My Name Again?

ericc — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:55:33 -0800

I cannot, for the life of me, figure out this person's name. She says it, right there in plain language, but I just can't catch it. Does the name sound familiar? I kinda think the last name is Gomez, but even that I'm not so sure of.

Help me help her

any portmanteau in a storm — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 08:29:08 -0800

What mp3 player should my wife get? My wife has wanted an ipod for a while and will probably be buying one in the next week or so. At the moment she's thinking of the 32GB ipod touch over the 16GB nano. The standout feature of the touch over the nano being the ability to surf the net.

The last time I knew anything about portable mp3 players was in 2003 when I bought my 3rd gen ipod (which I still use) so I have no idea if any of the "ipod killers" out there offer compelling alternatives. Archos, Zune, Zen?

Also, being able to use the device in linux would be nice. Not a deal breaker, but nice.

Suite in F Major, with Garrison Keillor

opsin — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:52:07 -0800

Does anyone happen to have, or know where I can get a recording of a very old Prairie Home Companion featuring (well it's what I'm after it for) a piece about a couple leaving a dinner party with friends, set to Handel's Water Music? My google fu fails me, and I'm not even sure it's out there to find anymore...
I had it on cassette for years, and it must have been the very late eighties it was recorded.

I've been looking for it for years, and the other thing I've been looking for for about as long just showed up, so figured I should see if anyone here might have it hidden away.

How to fix an mp3 file that doesn't burn to CD in its entirety?

darwesh — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 16:57:31 -0800

One of my mp3 files does not get burned to CD in its entirety (using Windows Media Player). The actual duration is roughly 53 minutes, and the mp3 plays flawlessly all the way through in WMP, but only around 48 minutes gets burned to the CD. I don't get any errors from WMP when it's burning, but when I play the track on the CD it stops after about 48 minutes and goes on to the next track. I have tried the CD burning three times, so it's unlikely to be a problem with the CDs I used.

Any ideas what could be wrong or how I might go about figuring it out or correcting it? Here's a link to the file. Thanks!

How to delay Mac sound output?

i_cola — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 06:53:45 -0800

I want to delay the sound output from my Mac Mini so I can get it to sync with video from a different source. I've got a radio commentary (available via Safari or iTunes on the MacMini) that is up to a minute ahead of the TV feed I'm watching on my laptop. I want to watch the TV feed with the radio commentary roughly in sync.

Is there a software solution out there that will allow me to adjustably delay the entire audio out from the MacMini?

Even better would be the ability to delay the audio from a particular application & I'd like the option to be able to sync both feeds on a single Mac.

Help me connect my iPod to my stereo!

Citrus — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:32:27 -0800

I have a JVC stereo, which boasts of the ability to accept my iPod as input. The problem is that I don't have the right wire for it! Can I buy one of these things anywhere? The socket that accepts the cable looks like this. (And, yes, I know that I can just use an aux jack. I'd still like to have this iPod-specific cable.)

I need to transcribe some stuff, get some audio from A to B

booknerd — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:00:25 -0800

My library is doing oral histories with a Canon HD video camera, then migrating them into iMovie to eventually edit and burn to DVDs to store. I've been tasked with the tech-side of this, a job I'm woefully unqualified for. I need help converting iMovie files into some sort of audio format to transcribe them! Right now, the priority is to transcribe the audio from the iMovie files to print out and bind into books. I found this free software that looks perfect, and bought a USB transcribing foot pedal. Since I'm doing this on a new MacBook, I downloaded the OSX version of the software, although I suppose if I have to I can run the Windows version in Parallels. The audio formats I can use are wav, mp3, aiff and dct files. What's the best way to do this? I can export from iMovie to a 3gp Quicktime video, but as far as I can tell, there's no way to export the audio to any of those formats from either iMovie or Quicktime. Please help, so I can spend the next several months of my job listening to kooky zoo stories!

Archaic Philips equipment birthday gift halp?

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 08:52:33 -0800

Can you help me figure out exactly what these potential gifts are for an audiophile/electronophile friend? "Philips CDI player, preferably with a mpeg video cartridge" and/or "Philips DCC unit or deck, whichever it is called." I have to ask anonymously because birthday boy is a MeFite!

Friend's birthday is coming up, and his girlfriend is trying to figure out what to get him. He mentioned to her that he was interested in these two pieces of equipment. She has no idea what they actually are, and neither do I. Googling shows that both the DCC and CDI machines were discontinued 10 years ago...I'm not sure why he'd want something like that, but he's a strange dude. Can the hive mind help?

Looking for exact models, pros/cons if there are multiple models, best places to buy...also insight as to why these would be interesting to someone in 2009!

Know a comedy group called "Heavy Guns"?

Kalthare — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 01:26:52 -0800

Do you know anything about a (somewhat) Firesign Theatre-style comedy group called (possibly) Heavy Guns, who made a recording called (possibly) The Dope on Dope and Dope Dupes? Something like ten to fifteen years ago, I found a box of audio cassettes. Among them, unlabeled, was a fascinating spoken-word satire (I assume) of anti-drug enforcement and propaganda, with a bit of organized religion thrown in, and probably a lot of other things I'm just too young to recognize. I lost the tape a few years after I found it, so this is all to the best of my recollection. Unfortunately, any amount of this might be stuff I'm misremembering that's actually from something else entirely.

It was presented primarily as a series of faux-informative radio spots on the dangers of recreational drugs. I remember three direct anti-drug ads from the government (always, even in conversation, referred to as "Your Government"), which presented transparently faulty reasoning. In order (as I recall), you shouldn't do drugs because: 1) we told you not to, 2) it's an intense, amazing, life-changing experience, and life is Serious Business, and 3) overzealous drug law enforcement destroys families. The radio station also sends a reporter to find out what he can about drug user culture.

Two governmental organizations are presented: The Bureau of Investigational Investigations ("where they have a dossier on everybody"), and the Department of Psychadelic Euphoria (who conducts official research on the effects of mind-altering drugs — apparently by taking them and seeing what happens).

There's a religion called Xtianism (pronounced "ecks tea anism", really I've no way to know how they would have spelled it). It's referred to frequently, implied to be culturally ubiquitous, and I don't recall anything else about it.

There's also a radio show about a private investigator (or something) who gets sent to investigate drug users. He's firmly established as a fictional character, but nonetheless winds up gatecrashing the same party as the reporter mentioned above, and the two of them interview each other. Their attempts to fit in to the crowd, according to their own expectations, serves only to reinforce the other's misconceptions.

I also vaguely remember a horrifying abortion scene.

The rest of the audio cassettes were just popular music of the 60s and early 70s, so no strong hints there. I haven't managed to find out anything about the group or this recording online. If Google knows about them, I'm using it wrong.

What I'd like to know: Who were these guys? Was this a commercial release, an underground samizdat kind of deal, or did I somehow manage to find and lose the only copy of this thing? Was it even a finished product? Did they make anything else?

(Also: yeah, it's about drugs and religion, and involves some blatant value judgments. Please avoid the obvious derails...)

Help my Frankenstein spin

csmason — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:42:02 -0800

What every day (or not so every day) inexpensive (<$75) item, (or part of said item) would make a good turntable spindle bearing? I'm attempting a DIY turntable build out of repurposed items. For example, the platter = an automotive disc rotor, driven by = floppy disc motor. Tonearm pivots out of hard drive actuators and bearings...

I'm familiar with the 'Altmann' intake valve and sleeve bearing, but for some irrational reason I'd like to try something different. I've read many stories of hobby millwrights carving out beautiful bearings, and I won't be joining them.

Using something for its not so intended purpose is part of the journey on this project. Maybe another automotive bit? (There must be a lot of bits in there, right?) Maybe a home appliance? Maybe something more... industrial? Might anyone think of an item that would allow that disc rotor to spin effortlessly, and silently?

Open Back Headphones On A Budget.

nam3d — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:54:35 -0800

Could someone please reccomend me some comfortable open back headphones with decent enough sound for under £40? Prefebly they should have a short cable (as I keep triping over my Sennheiser's). I'll be using them in conjunction with my mac, mostly listening to a lot of spoken word audio (tv shows, etc) and for light music listening.

Here's hoping you can help.

DIY audiobooks

glider — Sun, 31 May 2009 18:37:47 -0800

I do lengthy reading to my daughter (6) every evening, and it's a valuable part of our day. Later this summer, she's going to be visiting her mother for a few weeks, which means no reading. I'd like to send her on this trip with some CDs or a memory stick full of pre-recorded stories, so I have a couple quick questions as to how to best accomplish this. I'm looking for the best SIMPLE software that can record long passages from the mic, with some sort of on-screen feedback so I know it's working. I realize there are a zillion audio tools, so from my point of view, the easier and more single-purpose the better.

In addition, since I will surely make numerous "vocal typos", I'd like to have a solution that either let's me "tag" the clip by pressing a key so I can go back and fix it later without having to search (or remember) for the problem... Alternately perhaps I'm complicating things -- I suppose software that lets me easily stop and start a new clip and then I can patch them together later, knowing that there's a problem at the very end of all clips.

Oh, and I'm using Windows.

Is there a radio to receive DTV audio?

ThyroidBob — Thu, 28 May 2009 15:49:45 -0800

Posting for a friend:

"I own a Sony ICF-C113V bedside clock-radio that receives television signals from the soon to be obsolete VHF channels (2-13). Does anyone know if there is a clock-radio solution on the market yet that receives the audio portion of the DTV television signals in a clock-radio footprint? I have an iHome which I use as my primary clock-radio for alarms and music (iPod), but would still like the option to listen to television periodically."

How do I convert flac to mp3 in Windows?

Pope Guilty — Tue, 19 May 2009 01:24:41 -0800

How can I convert flac files to mp3 in Windows? I'm open to going through some of the more arcane procedures that I've seen around the web that involve multiple programs, but is there a single-step solution for converting from flac to mp3 under Windows?

Name that tune

activities not in keeping with my status — Sat, 16 May 2009 06:32:42 -0800

What's a good freeware tool to capture tiny bits of videos (avi, divx, etc.) on my Vista PC? I want to be able to upload these fragments to, say, YouTube so that I could, hypothetically, post a question here about the music or dialog in certain scenes.

How can I make a book that sings?

gwpcasey — Fri, 15 May 2009 06:42:23 -0800

How can I make a book with sounds for a baby? I would like to make a book for a baby that plays a different sound on each page. It would have to be a sound that I can record. I have found very limited resources on the web but suspect it's because I'm not searching effectively.

What would be the best way to do this? Are they existing solutions out there already? Should I just build it myself from the ground up? I want to be able to have 8-12 sounds/clips per book (one per double-page spread) and be able to illustrate and write on the pages as well.

I have a number of different books that I want to make so I won't bore you with the details (animals, music, voices of distant family members etc) but I need to be able to record the sound and/or load it onto something.

I don't mind if we have to push something on the page to make the sound play rather than it playing automatically when we turn the page.

Thanks in advance.

Where can I buy DAT tapes in Chicago?

zadermatermorts — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:09:44 -0800

Anyone know where I can buy DAT tapes in Chicago on short notice? I find myself out of media, and I'm doing a recording session this weekend, so there's no time to order online. Apparently nobody uses DAT anymore, but we do for now and it works well for us.

I've tried Guitar Center, Decibel Audio, Promusica, and even Radio Shack.

Someone at Decibel told me he used to buy DAT tapes out of a vending machine at the School of the Art Institute but couldn't say exactly where it was.

Anyone have a source? Thanks.

How do I get my files from Point A to Point B?

reenum — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:10:14 -0800

I need to move several gigs of music files from one external hard drive to another. But, there are a few problems... I have a 250GB WD HD in an enclosure and recently bought a WD Elements 640GB drive. I now want to back up all my music files from the 250GB to the 640GB drive. They total about 33GB.

Problem is, my computers do not have USB 2.0 drives. Every time I begin the backup process, it goes for a while, and then terminates due to an error in writing from the 250GB drive.

Is there an easy way to do this backup?

The voices, make them stop!

chairface — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:06:35 -0800

Good noise isolating headphones for work? I'd like good noise isolating for my cubical work environment. I like ear canal buds but I can only wear them for about an hour before my ears hurt. Active noise cancellation is fine by me but in my experience it doesn't help reduce vocal chatter of my nearby coworkers. I'm not super picky (my current work cans are Sennheiser HD 201s). I've been looking at this page for ideas but I'm open to other ideas or anyone's experiences.

What would you recommend for nice, isolating sealed cans for work?

What'd this Brit just say?

hobbes — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 03:13:24 -0800

Having trouble making out a word in this narration: "An odious (?) collection of moves?" MP3 link (@ 0:10) And for those interested, the voice is John Redhead's from the recent climbing movie On-Sight.

Thanks MeFi.

Geez, is the example title really "How to get an iPod to work in my car?"

Overzealous — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:43:45 -0800

Looking for some audio whiz that can confirm that this particular iPod adapter and car stereo will work. Dazzle me with your knowledge and experience! I'm looking to figure out a way to hook my first gen iPod Touch directly into my factory installed car stereo. It is a 2003 Chrysler PT Cruiser with an RBQ radio (six disc changer, no cassette deck, and looks like this:) The end result doesn't need to look flashy, charge my iPod, or use the head unit to control the tracks. A simple aux jack tucked away somewhere would suit me fine. I am not interested in hearing about FM transmitters or modulators -- I've tried them with no real success, but thank you.

The PIE CHRY02-AUX Auxiliary input adapter for select 2002-06 Chrysler radios which seemed most promising boldly says "NOT COMPATIBLE with Chrysler's 6-disc in dash radio (i.e “RBQ”)." The one that is a Mopar product really only talks about model years 2006 and newer.

Is there a solution that will work for me? Does the Mopar OEM iPod Interface Kit work with a 2003 Chrysler RBQ 6-disc changer radio?

Name the video game with One-Two-ThreeEE!

Wild_Eep — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 12:06:27 -0800

Name-that-ancient-video-game-filter: Which game had a somewhat synthesized voice saying "One...Two...threeeEEEE!" It may or may not have been wrestling related, but I'm pretty sure it was a referee. The sound was heavily compressed (but not quite as bad as "Double Dribble's" splash screen.) Could have been any era from NES to present. It's not 'Pro Wrestling' for NES.

The voice pitched-up at the end of "ThreeeEE"... not like a question, but more like someone saying "Whee!" while excited.

Granular volume data from MP3 files?

joe vrrr — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 10:13:54 -0800

I'm looking for a command-line tool that can return a volume value for specific points of time in an MP3 file. Basically, I need an array of volume values for an MP3 file. Preferably, one value for every 1/30th of a second of audio. The data will be used for visualization, so the values don't have to be extremely accurate or in any particular unit of measurement.

In a perfect world, this would be an open source python-based tool.

Any ideas?