Buckapound said:
great idea, she loves picking colors. and i already incorporated a switch to go between dot mode, bar mode, and off. thinking of incorporating a dimmer pot for the led's as well.
Good grief my gf can spend hours trying do decide if she likes a pair of shoes/pants/top to wear on any given day. and thats when she gets to try it on and look in the mirror and get instant feedback. then she wants to tweak something else about her look. rinse and repeat. yet you expect her to know weather or not she likes the look of level indicators when in all probability she either has no idea what they are or how to make them look good.
hence my reason for asking for a woman's oppinion who IS experienced with them.
gain said:
It's been my experience that they are VERY quick to decide on like/dislike appearance wise when they do not see the value of what you want to do.
FWIW, my first big sub amp had such a VU meter and I came to hate it. It looked cool at first, plus it had the "I made it and it actually works!" appeal about it, but it was very distracting. The rebuild of the amp did not include the meter.
MJL21193 said:
thats why one of my design considerations is to make her see the value by making it as aesthetically pleasing as possible to her. which is something she holds in high value, especially with stuff in our living room. ime then, and only then, will she allow herself to try and appreciate the logical function of the level indicators, and understand why they are valuable in that way also.
but if she detests the way it looks, everytime she notices/thinks of my preamp, her emotions will remind her how much she hates the way it looks. this will in turn shut down the process of her allowing herself to see the value. instead, it will start the process of her figuring out how to nag me enough to remove the offending equipment and/or whatever piece of the equip she dislikes.
It nice to be considerate and sensitive to her opinions and views BUT the given assumption by most men is that women have better taste than they have.
Of course, I see it differently. I KNOW I have better taste than most women and the idea is to let them know that, Frank T.J. Mackey style.
Here it is blunt-like: LED's are garish and don't belong on or in good looking hifi gear. Good analogue meters look ok, but really, do you need this?
Of course, I see it differently. I KNOW I have better taste than most women and the idea is to let them know that, Frank T.J. Mackey style.
Here it is blunt-like: LED's are garish and don't belong on or in good looking hifi gear. Good analogue meters look ok, but really, do you need this?
MJL21193 said:
well said. we are definitely on the same page here. the way i see it if she doesn't like it is either a) let her know it is staying Frank T.J. Mackey style or b) next her if option a is not effective. both options are undesirable imho, cuz i like this girl.
MJL21193 said:
in your opinion.
MJL21193 said:
don't see how this question relates to the topic, but i have separate level controls for left and right channels and want the level indicators to visually check for stereo balance.
thanks for your replies MJL you make good points.
suzy, thank you for your reply. i am incorporating an off switch for the LEDs, and i will be using it for recording, even doing karaoke with GF which she loves so its nice to know we agree and have common ground on both points you made.
again thanks for your opinion and it was nice to meet you.
again thanks for your opinion and it was nice to meet you.
My GF is actually pretty supportive of stuff that I have built, as she sees that it involves a lot of smarts to manufacture something at home when everybody else just buys it!
What she DOESNT like though, its the broken/recycled stuff I have lying around because "it'll come in handy one day" !!
What she DOESNT like though, its the broken/recycled stuff I have lying around because "it'll come in handy one day" !!
Context matters, too.
Junk is okay in the workshop. A little bit of it is okay in the spare room. But not in my living room. So what I make to attach to the computer in the spare room has a completely different aesthetic to what I make to go on the hifi in the living room. No obvious heatsinks, no obnoxious flashing lights (especially no blue lights). No bling. No naked circuitry, at all. Nothing that looks like it belongs down the tip.
Junk is okay in the workshop. A little bit of it is okay in the spare room. But not in my living room. So what I make to attach to the computer in the spare room has a completely different aesthetic to what I make to go on the hifi in the living room. No obvious heatsinks, no obnoxious flashing lights (especially no blue lights). No bling. No naked circuitry, at all. Nothing that looks like it belongs down the tip.
jaycee said:
what can help here is when you acquire a piece of broken/recycled stuff, make one of two decisions. repair it to full working order, in which case the woman will be happier because at least its functional and not trash. its playing pretty songs for her. if you decide you want it for scrap, then that day pull any boards/components that "may come in handy someday" and throw out the carcass and the rest of the stuff you don't want.
put the parts you want in a nice pretty plastic non-transparent container and store it someplace out of the way.
jaycee said:
yeah i observed this with my GF recently. she had an itrip, which for those who don't know is a device that lets you play an ipod through an fm radio, such as one in a car. that way you can listen to ipod in your car. well, her itrip had static and sometimes other people's itrip's in passing cars would overpower hers and cut her music off and replace it with theirs of the fm station.
so i decided to do her a favor. i built her a 3W FM stereo transmitter that runs off 12V from cig lighter socket and accepts audio from a 1/8 stereo male plug (for ipod). i put a proper length antenna on it too unlike the commercial unit which appeared to have no antenna at all.
well she doesn't have the static / cutout problem anymore when she listens to her ipod while driving. in fact you can hear the thing across the neighborhood if you tune the right station. the fact that i could do this (build such a simple circuit) impressed her so much i was stunned. i won't give any details, but she returned my favor many many times in lots of different ways!!!
MJL21193 said:
Yeah, you've been pretty comprehensive. Sorry, much as it's clearly a wonderful piece of kit, I wouldn't have it in my living room in a pink fit, and I fully support your partner in the domestic dispute that I'm sure will soon ensue.
I hope you enjoy listening to it in your shed
gain said:
Thats what I started doing. I've got a massive green storage box full of PCB's in the loft... but i keep getting bits out to "have a look at something" and never putting it back! It's not all over the house, but in the bedroom which is where I work.
The plan is to build a workshop in the garden, but that's way off due to finances
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