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DrMacintosh

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Posts posted by DrMacintosh

    how to listen to lossless audio on phone

    in Audio

    Posted

    If you want lossless audio, your two real options are Tidal and Apple Music. Apple Music has an iOS, Android, Mac, and PC app, all of which can playback lossless audio. To do that, you'll need to be using wired headphones. You'll also need a dedicated DAC (can be connected via USB) to playback Hi-Res Lossless (ALAC up to 24Bit/192KHz), at least on an iPhone. Most devices, flagships anyway, should be able to playback lossless 24Bit/48KHz files natively.

     

    The way I listen is my iPhone 13 Pro Max with the Apple Lighting to 3.5mm audio jack adapter connected to my Audio Technica ATH-M50X headphones. My lossless quality is set to 24Bit/48KHz because the apple audio adapter (Lighting and USB-C) support up to that bit rate.

     

    With iPhone 15, the USB-C port allows you to use almost any DAC you want, assuming it works with iOS.

     

    On my PC I have a little USB audio dac that can do the full 24Bit/192Khz quality.

    Hardware upgrade or replacment for built-in Android TV? Must be braindead easy for wife & kids, ideally with same TV remote

    in Home Theater Equipment

    Posted

    • Roku is cheap and works, the cost is it spies on your home network and there are ads in the home screen.
    • AppleTV is expensive ($129), but the performance is unrivaled. Only really works if you have at other Apple devices.
    • Nvidia Shield is the only Android streaming box out there worth anything, but its hardware is old, though its software has been getting updates.

    How to add storage to SharePoint with a 3rd party reseller of Microsoft services like pax8

    in Troubleshooting

    Posted

    Purchasing extra SharePoint storage through Microsoft is crazy expensive, its $0.20/GB/m. So for 350GB, that's an additional $70 per month on the M365 invoice. But if they absolutely need it, at least temporarily, follow these steps:

     

    Go to the M365 Admin Center -> Go to Billing -> Purchase Services -> Click Add-Ons in the "View by Category" section -> scroll to the bottom and click the Details button for "Office 365 Extra File Storage" -> Connect with your subscription -> Purchase as many licenses as you need GBs, in this case, at least 350 licenses.

     

    There may be options to increase your available storage via third party vendors, but I know we didn't pursue that option in my office. Instead I deployed a Synology NAS and Synology Drive to host our archive of cold data, thus freeing up about half of our 1TB SharePoint storage. Synology NAS devices running DSM 7.0+ also have access to a program called Active Backup for M365 which can backup your whole M365 tenant, including SharePoint, OneDrive, and emails.

    Orico 5 bay HDD enclosure

    in Storage Devices

    Formatting new drives gives me unremovable Microsoft garbadge

    in Windows

    Posted

    Hi all, so I noticed that in Windows 11 Home 23H2, when formatting drives, Windows will now add 3 folders to the root directory of every drive you format. Those folders are: Program Files, WindowsApps, and XboxGames. See below:

    image.thumb.png.51dc6bc21cf4210e7aa5bccbe9341076.png

     

    So my questions are: #1 Why? #2 How do I stop Windows from doing this?

     

    When I hit delete on these folders, Windows does not let me and Program Files and WindowsApps remain. Only the XboxGames folder can be deleted.

     

    When I hit format on a drive, I want that drive empty. I don't see why Microsoft feels its ok to start arbitrarily changing how computers work.

    is Apple TV 4K worth it

    in Home Theater Equipment

    Posted

    They are absolutely the best streaming box on the market. The real question is, do you have an iPhone or other Apple Devices? Because if not, your experience using it will be sub optimal, if not downright difficult. If you do have an iPhone, it's an unrivaled product. It's significantly more powerful than any other streaming box considering it's just an iPhone with an HDMI port. 

    Brainstorming Backup Solution for DS923+

    in Servers, NAS, and Home Lab

    Posted

    Hi all, we have recently finally started using our DS923+ at work for more than just a backup solution for Microsoft 365. We've freed up almost 500GB of our available 1.15TB on SharePoint. So now we have some breathing room and are no longer paying Microsoft's insane $0.20/GB pricing. That's all great, but now that data (mostly archival data that does not get touched) no longer lives in the cloud, it's no longer being backed up by the NAS, so I need a method to back it up.

     

    Our DS923+ is currently loaded with 2x8TB Seagate Ironwolf drives in an SHR mirror. We have 2 more identical drives as cold spares. We have 4.4TB of free space with 2.6TB used. I do not foresee us filling up this NAS for at least 3 years.

     

    We do not have the budget to buy another NAS. I could buy one personally and backup the work NAS, but I already have a small home media server and do not need the features of Synology NASs.

     

    I have a 4TB WD Blue drive that I could put in an enclosure and do USB copies regularly (or I can use one of our cold spare NAS drives). (This is my leading option right now I think.)

     

    I could convince work to pickup yet another subscription, and use a provider like Backblaze B2 storage at $6/TB/m. The problem with this is we have cable internet at the office, with only 40Mbps of upload, so this is not optimal.

    WiFi running slower than expected

    in Networking

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

    as WiFi 6e is tri-band but unless one of those is dedicated to backhaul, you're still sharing one of those bands.

    I believe, at least with Linksys Products, their 6e devices will use the 6GHz band as their back haul. Their Wifi 6 devices should favor the second 5Ghz band (if available) but can allegedly dynamically use bits of all available bands.

    WiFi running slower than expected

    in Networking

    Posted

    55 minutes ago, desdby said:

    (I have a mesh system)

    What make and model is your mesh network comprised of?

     

    Keep in mind that using wireless back haul will adversely affect the speed of your client devices as some of that bandwidth is used for connecting the nodes together. This is especially noticeable on dual band mesh systems. On tri-band mesh systems, this effect is hardly noticeable.

     

    What you can do is try taking all child nodes offline and then running a speed test connected to just the main node. If your speeds improve, you can safely say that the slowdown is due to the wireless connection between your other nodes.

    Buying a New Car is Stupid

    in LTT Releases

    Posted

    I bought a used 2007 Ford Taurus SE w/ 183k miles for $1000 in July of 2023. This car has needed so many repairs, all in I've spent about $5000 in maintenance and repairs. This car is arguably a financial mistake. However, the engine and transmission are still fine, the AC and heater work, and the fact that I have CarPlay in it means this car is reliable enough and enjoyable enough to be my daily drive. It does great on 300 mile+ road trips, and the best part is, its paid for. Every repair/maintenance item I've had done was paid for in full.

     

    Sure, all the money I spent on it could have went towards a down payment on something like a brand new Honda Accord....but then I'd be stuck with a huge monthly payment and insane insurance prices.

     

    I'll stick with keeping my Taurus alive until the engine blows up.

    What is the Apple Ecosystem and why do people like it?

    in Programs, Apps and Websites

    Posted

    The Apple Ecosystem:

    • I'm traveling with my laptop and I need another display -> iPad w/ Sidecar lets your Mac use your iPad as an external display.
    • I take a photo with my iPhone -> It shows up on all my devices.
    • I delete a photo on my Mac -> It gets deleted from all my devices.
    • I'm working on my MacBook and get a phone call -> I can answer it on my Mac.
    • I copy some text/a link/a file on my iPhone -> I can paste it on my Mac.
    • I'm listening to Music with AirPods on my iPhone and log into my Mac -> My mac asks if I want to use the AirPods and the connection transfers.
    • I'm wearing an Apple Watch and wake my Mac -> The watch will unlock the Mac for me.
    • I have an email/website/app open on one Apple Device, another Apple Device nearby will suggest that content and open it where I left off.
    • I can wirelessly stream content to my AppleTV/HomePod from anywhere in my home network with two button taps.
    • I can use my iPhone as an AppleTV remote.
    • Standardized MagSafe accessories and cases.
    • iOS, macOS, tvOS, and HomePod can control my HomeKit accessories.
    • Supported HomeKit Routers can secure my HomeKit accessories from communicating outside of my home network.
    • iCloud Keychain (free password manager)
    • Apple Music syncs across all your devices. Including music that you provided. (Its a personal cloud for your ripped music library)
    • iCloud Drive syncs across all your devices.
    • I can upload a .epub file and the Books app will sync that file to all my devices (even if I didn't buy that .epub file from Apple)
    • All Macs, iPads, and iPhones come with a free Office Suite (Pages, Keynote, and Numbers)
    • Preview.app on the Mac has many premium features that Adobe Acrobat charges your first born son for. All for free.
    • The FindMy Network
    • Emergency SOS & Crash detection
    • GPS way points on Apple Watch
    • FaceTime/iMessage
    • AirDrop
    • Apple CarPlay (my 2007 Ford Taurus has a totally modern infotainment system).

    The list continues, but these are just some of the reasons my personal electronics (outside of my gaming desktop and select accessories) are all Apple Products.

     

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