#medium frequency

[judiansteelcastingandrolling]

Medium Frequency Furnace Cooling Water Temperature Requirements

The cooling water of the medium frequency furnace relieves the heat generated during the working process of the furnace and drives the temperature of the equipment and surroundings to rise. If it is not cooled in time, it may affect the performance of the equipment and the power of the intermediate frequency electric furnace and even burn out the equipment. The role of intermediate-frequency furnace cooling water is very important. So do you know what the cooling water temperature requirement of the medium frequency furnace is?

Medium Frequency Furnace Cooling Water Temperature Requirements

Water temperature requirements: The inlet water temperature of the intermediate frequency furnace cooling water should be kept at 5~30°C, the outlet water temperature should be controlled at 30-40°C, and the outlet water temperature should be lower than 55°C. If the cooling water temperature is too low, condensation will occur, and if the water temperature exceeds 55°C, the cooling capacity will be lost. In order to save water, a circulating cooling system is usually used.

Parameter requirements for thyristor inverters: The cooling water pressure should be maintained stably at 0.15MPa, the water quality should be softened, the hardness should be less than P8, the resistance should be above 20kΩ, the insoluble matter in the water should be less than 0.03mg/L, and the water volume should be 8 tons/ When the outlet pipe inner diameter is greater than 3 inches.

The Hazards of High Cooling Water Temperature

Some data point out that when the temperature of the intermediate frequency furnace coil and cooling water increases by 25°C, its power consumption and resistance increase by 10.75% compared with before, and the power consumption per hour increases by 10.8kW·h, accounting for 2.7% of the total system power. When the load current passes through the power supply coil and water cable, the heating of the coil and water cable will cause the temperature to rise continuously, and the resistance will also increase. As the resistance increases, the heat generation will increase, which will further increase the temperature, so that the power supply line will heat up and the resistance will change. A vicious circle is formed, so it is necessary to cool the coil through cooling water while controlling the temperature of the cooling water to ensure continuous cooling. The overheating of the cooling water will not only affect the medium frequency furnace, but it may burn out the equipment when the power is serious, so how to solve it?

The Solution to the Overheating of the Cooling Water

When the cooling water temperature is too high, the electric bell of the medium frequency furnace will send out a continuous alarm, which mostly occurs in summer. The operator can release the hot water from the water outlet, and inject cold water into the circulating pool at the same time, so as to reduce the temperature in the cooling pool, wait for the alarm to stop, measure the water temperature, and restore the normal working state. In addition, it should be noted that the water temperature is too high may be caused by water pipe blockage, cooling water scaling, relay failure, and other reasons. After the cooling water temperature is restored, these aspects should be checked, and troubleshooting can truly solve the problem of cooling water overheating.

[bisexualamy]

I see people talk about fanfiction and novels being different mediums a lot, and while I don’t necessarily disagree, I don’t feel like I understand either. In your opinion, what makes them different mediums from each other? What decides that two things are separate mediums like in general? It’s totally cool if you don’t wanna answer this btw, I know it’s kind of a lot

No worries I think that's an interesting question! With any categories, the boundaries on this are going to be fuzzy, but the reason I believe they're different mediums is that fundamentally, on a metatextual level, the languages are different. What do I mean by this? Let's use film as an example, a medium that I'd argue is very obviously a different medium than novels, even if we may not be able to articulate all the reasons why.

What are some attributes of film that differentiate it from novels (another storytelling medium) or paintings (another visual medium)? Films and novels are both storytelling mediums, but films have visual and auditory components. They also mainly consist of storytelling through visual cues and dialogue. Exposition is given visually or in media res by characters speaking. In a novel, your omniscient narrator giving you a few paragraphs of background on your main characters is common, and so expected it probably flies over the reader's head. In a film, a narrator doing the exact same thing for all the main characters often comes off clumsy. It takes you out of the story in a film, where it doesn't in a novel.

Film is also a time-based medium. A film unfolds over time, and you cannot experience the entire film in one moment or glance. That's not true of a painting (at least traditionally). With a painting, you can view the whole painting in one look. Now, you can sit with a painting, pick out details, analyze the craft or ponder it for a long time and watch as new aspects jump out at you. Fundamentally, however, if you wanted to view a whole painting in one look, you can, and it would still make sense. You cannot do that with a film. On the other hand, a painting is typically not an auditory experience. To do so would be an experimental use of the form. In modern film-making, the exact opposite is true. Music, dialogue, and environmental sound, all of these things are essential to how a film tells a story. To not use them would be considered experimental or odd.

These are three different mediums with three different "languages" in how they interact with their audience. They may share parts of their languages, like I said above, but they don't speak the same language. What works well for one medium can come off clumsy or strange in another.

I believe fanfic and novels have sufficiently different languages that they should be considered different mediums. Both of them are short or long form written mediums telling some sort of story. But fanfic's relationship to its source material is such an inherent trait that novels do not have. The relationship doesn't have to be positive (it's often, in fact, argumentative or strained or dismissive), but the relationship exists. Even in AU fanfiction. Even in fics full of OCs.

In canon compliant and even canon divergent fics, this relationship is more obvious. These fics are both conversations with the source material as much as they are stories. They're playing in the author's sandbox, or they're wrecking their sandcastle and building something else. They're saying "I like/dislike what you did with this specific story, and I'm going to show you that by rewriting or expanding it." They take large aspects of the author's story whole cloth: the characters, the setting, the magic system, the tech, etc.

These fanfics often have little exposition at the top because they presume a familiarity with the characters, the world, or both. This alone makes them really different from novels. Creatively and seamlessly integrating exposition, immersing your audience in a new world and convincing them to stay, is a really important aspect of a novel that these fics don't have to contend with. This alone fundamentally changes how you'd structure a story.

For AU fics, both fics in AU settings and AU fics full of OCs, the above still applies. These fics are still a conversation with the source material. Something about the source material compelled an author to flip it and remix it and change it around. That conversation might be "in the source material, these characters suffered, and I don't want them to suffer any longer" or it could be "I felt the story had a vacancy that this OC fills" or it could be "if these characters had the time/awareness/ability to grow closer, they would've fallen in love." These are all direct commentaries on the original work.

An exercise that I believe illustrates this point the best is to try and adapt an AU fanfic to an original work. Try to file the serial numbers off. I've done this with some of my fic, and it just doesn't work. You don't realize how much you presume the audience knows until you have to cater to an audience who knows nothing of the source material. That hilarious joke you wrote? Turns out it's only funny because it's a nod to this character's original characterization. This awesome climatic plot point that ties the whole story together? Turns out in relies on a specific bit of lore, a quirk of the magic system, or an aspect of the character's past history or personality. Now that this is a novel, you have to back-fill all of that exposition. And you can try to do that, but watch how your story gets clunky and bloated. You will have to start viciously killing your darlings, as you realize that your favorite scene is beautiful in a fic, but sounds awkward and out of place in a novel. Soon, you're basically just rewriting the whole thing to fit a different medium.

Many fanfic writers are extremely talented. And much of that talent, that wit, that perfect line that you can't get out of your head, is integrally informed by your knowledge of the source material. The irony falls flat without having read the source books. The relationships suddenly feel shallow when you don't have seasons of backstory to deepen them. You do not realize how much of fanfic writing consists of this back and forth until you go looking for it.

And here's the thing: if your fanfic has a totally AU setting and it consists of completely original characters, I'd argue that's just a novel posted to AO3. If all you need to do is change the names to make it work, that's a novel. This is why Clueless is inspired by Jane Austen's Emma and not an AU fanfic of it. If you've never read Emma, if you went into Clueless not knowing that Emma was the inspiration for it, you'd perfectly understand the movie.

In fanfic, the source material is always present. It can be obviously present with canon compliant fic. It can be antagonistically present with canon divergent or AU fic. And it is still present, floating in the background, with totally AU fic. Ultimately, the changes a fanfic author makes to the source material are, themselves, as integral to the fanfic as the words on the page. It is a dialogue with the source material: what it did well, what it could've done better, what this author believes is the essence of the story, or the world pushed to its limit, that even though we're in space or in a coffee shop or 1920s New York, we're still, on some level talking about the source material.

This is an aspect of fanfic I love that novels do not have. Novels have a lot of other great stuff! I love novels! But while novels are often engaged in a dialogue with their present society or their predecessors in a genre, that conversation is much more nebulous than it is with fanfic. You can read Slaughterhouse-Five or Gravity's Rainbow, and while knowing their contexts helps you understand them on a deeper level, that is unnecessary to their enjoyment. They are fundamentally more standalone works than fanfic will ever be.

This is ultimately why I think comparing fanfic and novels is comparing apples to oranges. They're different mediums. They use different languages. They require different skills and they fill different artistic niches. You might as well be comparing a film to a painting just because they're both visual art.

[gourdlycatgen]

The regular loner named Chamomile is a brown mtf cat with a broken tabby coat and white splotches. The pronouns this cat uses are several different pronouns. This cat has short, spiky fur and blue-yellow mixed eyes. This cat loves catnip, and loves battle training. The cat is lovable and manipulative. The cat tail-chases. This cat has one scar and a substantial body.

[rachellaurengray]

Free Collective Reading: Guidance for All Signs

Hello, everyone! 🌟 The cosmic energy today offers a wealth of insights and opportunities for growth. If you’re seeking guidance, here’s a general reading with specific advice for each sign to help you navigate the day:

🌟 General Guidance:

Embrace Creativity: Use today’s innovative energy to explore new ideas and solutions.

Strengthen Connections: Focus on nurturing relationships and creating harmony in your interactions.

Reassess and Realign: If you’re feeling uncertain, take a moment to review your goals and ensure they align with your true desires.

Channel Frustration Productively: Any emotional tension can be transformed into constructive action.

[getout-ofyourownway]

The deep mysticism and alchemy within hip-hop/rap are criminally unrecognized and not talked about. It's very deep magic we play around with. And I find it so unironic that "black" people are the ones who channeled (and continue to channel) this vessel called rap.

[mangor]

… the prism entity …

" The entity, which Wallis' team have affectionately named 'Prism', seemingly exists beyond the four dimensions we inhabit. It appears to vibrate with a range of colors not identifiable on the normal visible spectrum, suggesting a form of light or energy emission yet to be fully understood."

[martyrbat]

finally found a video i been looking for :)

[shithowdy]

this is your periodic reminder that for all the artifacts and errors and "tells" one could possibly list, the only reliable way to actually determine if an image is ai generated is to investigate the source. it is becoming increasingly common for "fake classical paintings" to circulate around curative aesthetic blogs, and everyone should be using this as an opportunity to not only exercise their investigative skills but also appreciate art more in general. you're all checking out the artists you reblog, right? 🫣

so what are some signs to look for? let's use this very good example.

what a lovely late-impressionist piece blended with evocative leyendecker-esque themes! why haven't you ever heard of this artist before? surely tumblr would be all over an artist like this. who is justin brown?

your two options from here are to do a search for the name, or a reverse image search. i prefer reverse image searching, particularly when it comes to a common name like "justin brown". so what does that net?

Immediately, without looking at any text, something is wrong: it barely exists. an actual historical piece would turn up numerous results from websites individually discussing the piece, but no such discussions are taking place. Looking at the text, though, does show the source-- and at least in this case, the creator was honest about their medium.

But let's also look at the "exact matches", in case a source doesn't make itself apparent in the initial sidebar results like this.

This section will often tell you post dates of images, and here it can be seen that the very first iteration of the image was posted 15 days ago. It did not exist online prior to that.

Seeing how long an unsourced image has been floating around is a skill applicable to more than just generative images! See a cool image of an artifact or other intriguing item with a vivid caption? Reverse search it! If all the results are paired with that caption and only go back a few months, you might just have viral facebook spam.

Sometimes generative creators are dishonest about their medium and do not tag it like in the example, so that's when establishing "jpeg provenance" becomes important. While it can be a little trickier to determine if someone is using generative images and not admitting to it if they aren't trying to pass it off as a classic, something to consider is the age of their account and the frequency with which they post. Here are some account red flags:

-Did they only start posting art after 2022, or if they did before, did their style/skill level WILDLY change? Not gradual improvement-- I'm talking amateur graphite portraits straight into complex digital renders. Everyone starts somewhere, newness is not a red flag alone; it's newness combined with existing in a vacuum away from any community.

-Do they post fully-finished paintings several times a week? -Do many of these paintings seem iterative of a similar theme or subject matter ("three well-dressed young men face each other under shade and dappled sunlight")?

-Does their style change in inconsistent ways? An artist that can swap between painting like Drew Struzan and Hokusai should be pretty well known, right? Why is no one hyping this guy?!

-Do they have social media besides the source instagram? If so, what are they posting about? Are there any WIPs? Doodles? Interactions with other artists? Gallery dates? 3am self-doubt posts? Or is it all self-promo? Crypto? Seemingly nothing art-related at all for someone pushing out 3 weekly paintings?

Basically, if it's important to you to omit this stuff when you curate, please don't just smash reblog if the source doesn't seem to be the OP themselves. Seeking out sources was important even before this became an issue, now it is more than ever.

peace n love

[valtsv]

i love the use of the word "medium" to describe someone who talks with the dead. not "interpretor", or "translator", or even "voice of", but medium, as in media, as in a channel through which information is delivered and communicated. a ghostly radio, tuning the dial to a frequency through which the dead can speak.

[exitwound]

2024

EAT EMPTINESS IF IT EATS AT YOU

SYMPATHETIC MAGIC IS STRONGEST ON YOURSELF, YOU ARE YOUR ITERATED DOUBLE

(IT TAKES TIME)

YOU ARE SOMETHING OTHER THAN THE NETWORK OF THE SYSTEMS THAT AT ONCE GIVE YOU A LIFE AND MAKE IT YOURS; TO UNDERSTAND AND UTILIZE THEM WILL NOT IMPRISON YOU IN THE MONOTONOUS END OF YOUR DESPERATE-TO-COME-ALIVE POETICS AND UNRECREATABLE GESTALT MEANINGS BUT RENDER THE PHYSICS OF YOUR WORLD A REARTICULATABLE MEDIUM ON WHICH TO KNEAD AND BAKE THE RESTLESSNESS YOU ARE TRYING TO SEEK IN THE GLOW OF THE EMERGENCY EXIT, I.E., YOU DONT NEED TO KNOW THE NARRATIVE TO NARRATE

IT MIGHT HELP TO KNOW WHAT YOU ARE RUNNING FROM

FLOODED PLAIN; HOLD FAST

INSIST ON A JOY THAT IS UNFORGETTABLE

REDUCE THE FREQUENCY WITH WHICH YOU LOOK BACK

KEEP DANCING

[croik]

Podcast Creators stop naming your characters after yourself challenge.

Heard the recent dice shame episode and learned Harlan's middle name is Kayne

[alienpossession]

Shorties

Bunch of shorts that I just can't flesh out but I feel like they have potentials for longer. Maybe some of you can help me out to make it longer later?

#1

"And this....this is deltoid and biceps. Yeah......you see that the lower part....also getting a bit tense as I flex it? That's triceps, and vain men like me always tried to make it bigger. We are obsessed with having bigger, stronger bodies, just like all of you itching to get inside of me and feeling all the sensation I feel," said the tranced stud guiding his captors and demonstrating his body's capability

The swarm of black bugs surrounding him clicked with excitement as one of the bigger bugs climbed to his nape and injected him once more with its venom, causing the man to instantly freeze. Then, like a drone, the man said

"One of you will be the chosen one to pilot this human and observe the viability of our survival in their planet. All you have to do is to be the first to reach his brain, so in the count of three.....one....two.....three---"

#2

"Mmmmm.....see, you look delicious now when we add some muscle in your boney frame. Damn, I look like a proper twunk now, huh....twunk, that's a new word," murmured Alberto as he admired his growing physique as the alien inside of him enhanced his strength and metabolism for the past few weeks while also stretching Alberto's once-lithe physique. It's important for the alien inside Alberto to make the former biochemist look seductive because it needs other human male to breed Alberto in order to make Alberto the carrier of the next generation of the alien. It will be like a mini-pregnancy, but the results will be swarm of little termite-like creature that can then jump into another bodies, effectively kickstarting the colony of the alien in this outpost planet called Earth

#3

His wife already said during their last fight that he needs to reduce the frequency of playing video games as if he's still a child. Plus, everytime he played his "silly boy game", he always locked in to the point he's not aware of his surroundings. That's going to be deadly when an invasive slime landed on your backyard and then now inches away from getting inside of your body, but it's not like he's aware of the slime's presence

#4

"He hates your puppet,"

"The feeling is mutual,"

"So we have to keep that facade when more human entered the gym?"

"I guess. We can always do more in private,"

"I have a wife and 3 kids. There's no private moment for me except in here,"

"Just infect them,"

"Well, then we should just infect the gym, so we can do our mission more freely with more puppet in our disposal,"

"This is public space, silly. You can tuck your wife and kids to their bed if you are not using them but how can you pose as 50 different people when the closest backup is 3 months away? Let's take this slow and be wise, we can definitely carve some more free time for you,"

#5

"You will make a great addition to the team, stud," whispered Mike to his client's ear before spitting into his ear canal while keeping the stud tightly locked and unable to move as the alien makes its way to the blonde's brain

#6

"Hell yeah, this is definitely miles better than that skinny janitor body," shouted the recently taken over jock

#7

The pod practically served as a medium to transfer the alien consciousness to the human target, and its unassuming, tanning-bed-form clearly caught the human users off-guard. They expected to get a tan, a little sunburnt, yet the only thing burned is their brain as they turned into mindless puppet with the alien then reside inside the head and formed themselves to resemble human brain as a way to remain undetected.

With the bodybuilding competition season rolled around the corner, it really becomes a prime time for the aliens as they get themselves inside the ultimate jackpot, bunch of muscular, domineeering human clearly resided on the top of the societal hierarchy with their built physique and dominant personality

[sirfrogsworth]

Froggie's Guide to Budget Headphones

@nimrella I am more well versed in traditional audio and home theater with big honking speakers, so I don't have much personal experience with headphones and headphone accessories. But I can tell you what I've learned from other people who are in the headphone world. And since you are starting more within the "budget" range I think I am somewhat qualified to guide you at this level.

You have three paths to choose from...

Wireless, low impedance wired (no amplification required), and high impedance wired (amplification required).

Basically... easy, medium, and hard.

But also... good, better, best.

Wireless Headphones

Wireless headphones have come a long way. Audiophiles used to scoff at them but now there are options that really do sound fantastic and the Bluetooth data rates are good enough to deliver high resolution audio. They also have noise cancellation options which may be desirable. If you do not have a quiet, dedicated space for listening to music you might find high end noise cancellation a godsend. People love them especially for planes, trains, and automobiles.

I don't know if everyone knows how noise cancellation works or not, but basically the headphones have microphones that listen to the world around you. They measure the incoming sound and then generate an opposite sound that just about kills ambient noise. If you play the same sound 180 degrees out of phase it basically nullifies those sound waves. The tech works best between 50 Hz and 1000 Hz. For reference we hear between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz (lower if you are old). So anything super high or super low pitched can still get through.

In any case, if that sounds appealing, wireless headphones should be a consideration.

The other advantage of wireless headphones would be the ease of use. They pair to your phone, your laptop, your TV. They have controls to help you pause and skip songs and change volume. Some allow you to take phone calls.

But the big downside is the sound quality takes a bit of a hit. As I said, the bluetooth standards have actually gotten very very good. (Though there are audiophiles who will swear it still sounds like a 1990s MP3.) So streaming the actual media files are not really an issue. But trying to cram all of that tech into lightweight headphones you can wear around town all day requires compromises and added expense. Not to mention the battery has a limited lifespan. You may have more limited or inconsistent frequency response, poor dynamic range, distortion problems, weak output, and a high noise floor. Wireless options still can't match wired headphone systems in the same price range. And the wireless options that come close are quite spendy.

Wireless Headphones Suggestions

In your price range the two wireless options that I hear mentioned over and over again are the Sony WH-1000 series and the Bose QuietComfort. They are both well regarded for having a good mix of sound quality and noise cancellation while also being a decent value. You might be able to visit a Best Buy and demo them to see if you prefer the sound and comfort of one over the other.

The Apple AirPods Max are said to work really well within the Apple ecosystem. They have some interesting spatial sound modes and very good audio quality. I've heard the noise cancellation is some of the best currently available. But they seem too expensive and a lot of people feel they are too heavy. I also suspect they are due for an update. That said, if you wait for the new ones to come out and buy used, they could come into your price range. I'd really only suggest these if you have multiple Apple products that you will be streaming sound from.

Before we move into wired headphones, let's go over some terms that you might see pop up when doing research and reading reviews.

Froggie's Glossary of Audiophile Terminology

Driver A speaker is made up of drivers. Some speakers have a woofer, a midrange, and a tweeter. Each individual thing is a driver. And with headphones you will often hear "headphone driver" instead of speaker because it is more specific. Headphones typically have an all-in-one driver that does all frequencies. A woofymidteet.

That's not a thing.

I made that up.

Frequency Response This is the range of frequencies produced by the drivers from low to high. You want to make sure your headphones have good, deep bass. That will make more of a difference than anything else. It's the foundation of all sound and what is sorely lacking in devices with small/cheap speakers.

Music typically doesn't go much below 40 Hz in the bass range. So if you are only interested in music listening, that is plenty deep. Movies can go down to 20 Hz, but this isn't necessary for a good immersive experience unless you have giant subwoofers. So if you find something that can play ~40 Hz with decent output, you should be all good. Every speaker has a frequency response curve. It looks something like this.

The X-axis represents the frequency and the Y-axis represents the volume in decibels. We are most concerned with the 40 to 10K Hz section, as most sound happens there.

I'm not going to go super in-depth and overwhelm everyone, but typically you want this graph to look fairly flat in that range. A flat-ish line will give you a "neutral" response.

The above graph gets a little bumpy in the high frequencies. That means those frequencies will have a higher volume than the lower frequencies. If a higher frequency has a big peak, that could make your sound seem too bright or tinny.

Or you could have the opposite problem. You could have a null in the bass where the output dips below everything else. This can make your sound a bit anemic and lacking punch.

Whereas a more flat speaker will output all frequencies at about the same volume and sound much more balanced and smooth.

Equalization or EQ A flat response is good because it will accept EQ well. Equalization is where you add peaks and dips in volume deliberately to taste.

This can be as simple as 3 knobs.

Or it can be a more complicated parametric EQ.

A lot of digital EQ methods have presets to help get you started. I promise it isn't as intimidating as it looks.

Some people like to buy speakers/headphones that are EQ'd how they prefer out of the box. (Or if you get Beats by Dre they just turn the bass all the way up and say "Fuck them other frequencies!") But this is often a bit of a crapshoot because it is hard to EQ a speaker that sounds good in every room or every environment or just to varying individual preferences.

By making the speaker more neutral, it can be much easier to equalize specifically to your needs and enjoyment.

So if you like the bass a little bassier and the mids a little quieter, you have the power to dial that in with great specificity on a neutral speaker. You can apply any EQ you wish and you won't be fighting the speaker's predetermined response.

Basically if you are reading reviews and the headphones are described as "flat" or "neutral" that's a good thing (in my opinion). Just remember nothing is going to be perfectly flat. We're shooting for flat-ish.

If you do decide to get a neutral sounding pair of headphones you may find them a little bland out of the box. Do not panic. You just need to learn a bit about how to apply EQ, but thankfully YouTube is plentiful with tutorials.

The Harman Curve was researched to be most liked by the most people, so you might start there. (Also, SoundSource is a very popular EQ app for Mac.)

Dynamic Range This is the spectrum of how quiet to loud something can get. If you have speakers that can render both a pin drop and a big explosion with great fidelity and proper intensity, you will be in audio heaven. There is so much emotion and drama that can be expressed by expansive dynamic range and most cheap speakers compress it to an inch of its life. When the soft and the loud sounds are the same you miss out on so much audio information intended by the composer.

Distortion This is just how loud a speaker can go without breaking up. Low distortion is good. While every driver distorts at some point, usually that is at a much higher volume than you will use. This typically only plagues cheap, tiny drivers.

Sound Pressure Level (SPL) This is a measurement of how loud a speaker can get. While you don't want to listen to anything louder than a sustained average decibel level of 80 to 85, you do want peaks over 100, especially in the bass. Bass is less damaging to ears and hearing damage is all about sustained volume rather than quick peaks here and there. Most headphones can comfortably do an SPL between 90 and 110 dB. The ability to go louder is good, but only because that expands headroom, not because you should actually listen to them that loud. So if the headphones can get super loud, that means they will have a much easier time delivering normal levels.

Noise Floor Every sound system has background noise. You know that static you hear when you turn a radio up really loud when there is no sound playing? That is your noise floor. You want that to be as quiet as possible because if you turn up the volume, you don't just turn up the volume of the sounds you want to hear, you also turn up the volume of that background noise.

If you can find a headphone system with a decent low noise floor and you can also find a very quiet space to listen in, you could have a religious experience. I don't think people realize how much the room you are in matters, even when listening to headphones. When you are in a quiet room, you can play at lower volumes. And that can mitigate a lot of the problems associated with cranking the volume. You won't damage your ears for one thing. But the speakers won't have to work as hard so you'll have less distortion and better clarity.

Noise mostly comes from the amplifier, which I will talk about later on.

Froggie Pro Tip: If you want cheap speakers to perform better, go to a quiet room and move them as close as possible. This allows you to play them at a lower output while maintaining your desired perceived volume.

Okay, now we can finally talk about...

Wired Headphones

You have open back and closed back styles.

Open back tends to have a more natural sound and feels more comfortable. Like listening to regular speakers. People generally feel they are able to listen to them longer because they don't create a seal and cause pressure on your ear drum. However, if sound can get out, it can also get in. So with open back headphones people nearby will be able to hear what you are listening to. And if you are not in a quiet room, all of that sound will leak in. Meaning you have to increase the volume and the noise floor and the distortion.

Closed back seals off your ears and gives you a quiet and immersive experience. You can be in a noisier room without having to crank the volume as much. Some prefer this style just because it helps them feel like they are going into their own personal dimension of sound. These are great for ASMR too. But ear fatigue can become an issue and you may need to take little breaks to let your ears breathe and your ear drums rest.

And the last thing we need to discuss is impedance.

The impedance of headphones mostly determines how hard they are to amplify. Impedance is measured in ohms which is this little horseshoe symbol... Ω.

Lower ohms means less electrical resistance and easier to amplify.

Higher ohms means more electrical resistance and difficult to amplify.

If you get headphones rated below 100 ohms, they can typically be driven by smartphones and laptops just by plugging into a standard headphone jack. Though depending on the device, 100 may sound a little quiet so you may want to go lower. 30 ohms is fairly typical if you plan to drive your headphones with everyday electronics.

Above 100 ohms you are going to need some sort of amplification—usually a DAC with a headphone amplifier. (There are DACs without amplification so be sure to check that.)

A DAC, or digital-to-analog converter, is already built into your phone and laptop. But those are very small, don't have a lot of power, and might have a higher noise floor due to interference from other components and heat and just a lot of electrical signals nearby.

By getting an external DAC w/amplifier you separate out the components, make them larger and more powerful, and typically improve the sound quality. Because it is more isolated, the amplification can be much quieter despite being more powerful.

If you plan to stay in a static location and you have high impedance headphones, you can get a little box DAC that sits on your desk. It works like an external sound card for your computer. If you record music or stream, a digital audio interface works great as well (remember to check the Ω).

But if you need to be more mobile with your headphones you can get a little USB dongle DAC, though you will probably not get the same sound quality and power.

Both will be superior to the internal DAC built into your computing devices.

So, low impedance headphones are easier if you need to move around.

High impedance headphones are better for staying put in a single location unless you get a dongle DAC.

Just remember, high and low impedance doesn't necessarily indicate quality. It's just that in order to drive high impedance headphones you need the larger amplifier with the nicer components and, by necessity, you automatically get that quality bump.

You can get very good low impedance headphones. However, if you power them *only* with a smartphone, you may not use them to their full potential. Which is why getting an external DAC is a good idea regardless.

But the nice thing about low impedance is you can get the headphones and still use them until you save up for the DAC. Or you can use them as normal while out and about and have a special listening spot at home with the DAC.

To review...

Low impedance and high impedance can both be high quality.

Low impedance (less than 100 ohms) works with anything.

High impedance (more than 100 ohms) requires amplification.

Both will be used to their full potential with a DAC/headphone amplifier of some kind.

Wired Headphones Suggestions

Again, I have not personally listened to any of these. I am just relaying what experts I trust have mentioned as being nice quality in your price range.

The beyerdynamic DT 770 headphones are some of the most well-regarded budget headphones I've heard of. They come in low and high impedance versions.

The Sennheiser HD 560 high impedance headphones are also praised for their value and performance.

If you can go a little pricier...

The HIFIMAN Sundara headphones have low impedance and can be driven easily by all your devices.

And the HIFIMAN Edition XS are even lower impedance and about the same price.

And if you want to try a DAC, I've heard good things about both Fosi and Schiit (yes, like the poopies), though there are many different brands. Just make sure the DAC has a headphone amplifier rated for the ohms you need.

The FOSI K5 Pro is a cheap "beginner" DAC that will power anything up to 300 ohms. This is the kind that sits on your desk.

And if you want a more portable dongle DAC, you can get something like the iFi Go Link.

I've also heard good things about the AudioQuest Dragonfly, though I hate recommending AudioQuest products due to them claiming they can do magical things. They use scientific gobbledygook to scam customers most of the time. That said, the DragonFly might be their only valid product.

Note from Future Froggie: AudioQuest just can't help themselves. While the Dragonfly itself is a good product and not a scam, they developed the "DragonTail", which is a scam.

It's just a USB A to C Adapter for the Dragonfly. But they have to find a way to justify 30 fucking dollars so they came up with this bullshit.

Definitely need to stabilize my geometry. If I have unstable geometry that could lead to quixotic trigonometry. And we all know that could introduce vertices into dodecahedrons. Which leads straight to accelerated cosmotic entropy catalyzing the heat death of the universe.

Fucking AudioQuest.

ANYWAY...

An inexpensive DAC may be all you ever need but DACs can get crazy expensive—just like headphones. And if you are really fancy you can get a DAC and a headphone amplifier as separate items. Audiophiles claim when you simplify components to a singular function you increase quality. While I think there is some small truth to that, I suspect they just think the tubes look neat.

Froggie's Disclaimer: I am not telling you to get these specific things, but I do think you'll probably be happy with anything I've suggested. But sound is a subjective experience and it is always best to test things out before you buy them, if possible. Or make sure there is a return policy. You might see if there is a brick-and-mortar store nearby that allows you to demo headphones. Remember that comfort can be just as crucial as sound quality for long listening sessions.

Final Thoughts

Good sound has been life changing for me. And I am excited when anyone goes down this journey. While the stuff mentioned is considered "budget" by audiophiles, this can give you a good starting point if you want to upgrade down the road. You'll get to know your preferences and get a better understanding of how this all works and choose your own adventure from there.

Though it is very possible you'll be quite content with "budget" and the sound quality is more than enough.

Personally, while I am very happy with my current home theater setup, I am hopeful one day I can upgrade one budget tier above where I currently am and that will be my endgame. I've heard $10,000 speakers and it is mostly a land of diminishing returns once you reach that level.

I'm fine in "budget" land.

Further Research

I didn't mention the different types of headphone drivers because I didn't want to put too much data in everyone's head. But if you want to do additional research you can learn about the 4 main types... dynamic, planar magnetic, electrostatic, and balanced armature.

[qedavathegrey]

Writing Will into Water

While most of us are familiar with burning and burial as means by which to make physical then manifest our wills, there is another method that I employ with some frequency: writing will into water.

It's a simple process (and made more complicated, if so desired). All you need is: a basin, water, and a writing implement (a finger works perfectly fine). With the water in your chosen basin, take your instrument and write on the water's surface just as you would on paper. Employ word, symbol, or what have you, imparting your desire into the water.

To the water, you might add any number of herbs, curios or other liquids. Wine or spirits make a good medium if you would like to impart your will into the very offering itself. For something more nefarious, you could add herb and/or scrap, cover and let the admixture ferment/rot, then leave it for the sun or otherwise release it. If your mixture poses no threat to the local environment, pouring your water into a lake, stream or river is a good option. Especially if your water came from that same source. Also, being mindful of modern water treatment and waste management systems: the water we pour down the drain is collected, treated and returned to us. This method might be used to affect persons who share the same treatment facilities as we do in nigh a direct way. But then, as we know, all water is connected at the end of the day, so perhaps that layer adds very little...

Even still, imparted water can be used much more directly on both self or others: as consumable, either as drinking water or as ingredient in food/beverage. Tea is, of course, a great option what with the endless possible inclusion. But then, that's all Kitchen Witching 101, isn't it?

Personally, I like the evaporation method the most. I enjoy the symbol of it: my will being reduced to its most potent form, then taking to the air to join with the clouds and the heavens, finally returning as precipitation. I think it suits my nature. But I think returning water to its source is also a powerful image. Joining it back with the current or body now carrying your will with it.

Just as with water, you can match the instrument and basin with your desire or the specifics of your practice. Perhaps you'd like to carve a stylus out of a certain wood, or use a rusted nail, or a feather, or bone. All perfectly fine options. Perhaps you'd like to use a cauldron or a ceramic bowl or your 1990s glass, promotional Batman Forever mug featuring nipple-suit George Clooney from McDonald's. Do whatever, do you.

None of this is likely new to most of you, but just something I wanted to speak on as I leave my cup on the table out back for the sun to drink.

[mysticstronomy]

WHAT IS 'NEGATIVE TIME'??

Blog#443

Wednesday, October 9th, 2024.

Welcome back,

Negative time may sound like the last committee meeting you attended that should have been an email, but researchers from the University of Toronto and Griffith University have reported that photons — particles of light — can spend a “negative” amount of time exciting atoms as they pass through a medium. Published in the pre-print server arXiv, the researchers report this strange phenomenon, confirmed by experiments and theory, challenges traditional views of light-matter interaction and sheds new light on the concept of negative time in quantum systems.

The study, which investigates the group delay experienced by photons, also suggests that this negative time has more physical meaning than previously thought and could have implications for quantum technology, such as quantum computing.

At the heart of the research is the concept of group delay. When light passes through a material, its speed is affected, causing a delay in how long it takes to travel from one point to another. Normally, this delay is positive, meaning that the light slows down as it interacts with the atoms in the material. However, in certain cases, especially when the light is tuned to specific frequencies near the material’s atomic resonance, something strange happens: the group delay becomes negative.

This means the light appears to exit the material before it should, creating a paradox that has puzzled physicists. Essentially, it’s as if the photon caused an effect, like making the atom excited, before it even arrived — something that can happen in the quantum world but doesn’t make sense in our everyday experience of time. (Welcome to the weird, wonderful world of quantum mechanics.)

To better understand this phenomenon, the research team set out to answer a fundamental question: Does this negative group delay correspond to the time photons spend as atomic excitations? The answer, as it turns out, is yes. By using a method called the cross-Kerr effect, the researchers were able to probe the degree of atomic excitation caused by transmitted photons, even when the group delay was negative.

The results showed that the time spent by the photons as atomic excitations was directly related to the group delay, suggesting that the negative time observed in the group delay has real physical significance.

Another fundamental question the researchers sought to answer was: how much time do atoms spend in an excited state when a photon is transmitted through a medium?

“We define the average time that the atoms spend in the excited state (τ0), or average atomic excitation time, as the time integral of the expectation value of the number of atoms in the excited state,” the researchers write.

They further explored the quantum nature of this interaction, asking how this time changes when photons are transmitted rather than scattered.

The idea that photons can cause atomic excitations for a negative amount of time may seem counterintuitive, but it fits within the framework of quantum mechanics. In classical physics, time is always positive—a particle moves forward in time as it travels. However, in the quantum world, time can behave differently. When the researchers tuned their light pulses to specific frequencies close to the atomic resonance of rubidium-85 atoms, they observed that the group delay of the transmitted photons became negative. This implies that the peak of the light pulse exited the medium before it logically should have, based on when it entered.

To explain this, the team used quantum theory and the concept of “weak values,” a formalism that allows certain measurements in quantum mechanics to take on values outside the normal expected range. In this case, the weak value of the atomic excitation time was found to be negative, corresponding to the negative group delay observed. Essentially, the photons were interacting with the atoms in such a way that the atoms were excited before the light even arrived—at least, from the perspective of the group delay measurement.

This strange behavior was measured using the cross-Kerr effect, which allowed the team to detect tiny phase shifts in a secondary beam of light (the probe) caused by the atomic excitations from the transmitted photons. By carefully synchronizing their measurements and using post-selection techniques to focus only on the transmitted photons, the researchers were able to directly measure the atomic excitation time and compare it to the group delay.

Originally published on https://thequantuminsider.com

COMING UP!!

(Saturday, October 12th, 2024)

"DO MICRO BLACK HOLES EXIST??"

[vicmillen]

Why Danny should be tossed into the Gotham cast

A short medium long list of reasons, by me:

It funny.

Lady Gotham being an nuisance. A mostly benign one but still a nuisance.

Danny being a even bigger nuisance in retaliation because men can be so petty.

Ol' Batsy getting multiple headaches. Must be his age catching up.

Jason.

Oh sweet, a whole species of enslaved undead waiting to be rescued and rehabilitated. Hmm wonder what's the deal with all the owl motifs?

Did I mention Jason? Oh I did. But how about his magic sword? You know the glowy lightsaber that's powered by his soul or something?

Bird watching is fun. Bat watching is even more fun. Until they start watch you back but eh

The rouges here feels more homely then elsewhere. More malicious to the living then your average Amity haunting, maybe. But the commitment to a theme is very familiar, as is the frequency of attacks.

Another fake clown to soup up! Huh? What do you mean he's human? Humans can't get souped like that don't be silly lol.

Wait. Huh. Well that explains everything and nothing.

How To Manage A Ghost Kingdom 101: a joint lecture by Timothy Drake-Wayne and Jason Peter Todd, teenaged entrepreneur and crime lord, respectively. Targeted student: one future Phantom King.

Advanced Anger Management with Jazz. Targeted student: one Jason Todd and one Danny Phantom.

How To Not Be A Cult Leader Part I, a group therapy lead by Tim. Attendee: one ol' Batsy, his son Stabby Robin, and one Ghost Boy.

So many liminals for a place without a 24/7 portal to the afterlife. Wait what's that green pool underground?

Why and most importantly, How is there ecto detectors in the batcave- wait no actually that explains how the Fentons got their first funding for their cursed research.

'It's good to practice for the future.' -Clockwork, probably.

'Enrichment is important for the growth of a Protector.' -Frostbite, probably.

'Peace is not an option.' -Paraphrased by Danny, probably.

Moving from most haunted city to most cursed city isn't exactly an upgrade, but it isn't an downgrade either, so.

Have you ever considered fighting the bad vibes of your city with cutesy lil blobs? Well you should. Not it's not causing a slime infestation what are you talking about.

Finally someone that is both willing (untrue) and able (we'll see) to deal with the various curses in Gotham. Yay...

No but seriously Danny-make friends with rouges while actively beating each other up-Phantom would fit right in with the Robins.

It's Jazz's dream job working in Arkham... Well it's actually working on dismantling the cursed thing, but baby steps, baby steps.

Imagine the everlasting trio getting onto the bats watchlist within a week. Separately.

Sam for Ivy The Second tendency; Danny because he's poking around old dionesium researches that he shouldn't know about; and Tucker because he's having fun (one-sided) with his new online friends. Oracle is deeply unamused.

Ellie should never meet Damian. They'll be such good bad influences for each other.