PC Tech Thread

toying with the idea of a 28 inch 4k monitor, but won't if it's going to end up being tiny and hard to read

Apps with decent development will look fine at any scaling, so going from 28"/1080 at 100% to 28" 4K at 200% you probably won't notice any difference. I have some legacy/niche apps which don't display correctly if I go above 150%, and at 150% on a 32" screen the small print is very small. If I go to a 42.5" screen at 150%, everything should be 95% of the size it was on a 27"/1080 screen which is what I've been using for a decade

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None of them are pornhub. How can this possibly be a fair test?

None of them are pornhub

Apparently that displays fine

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XLR interfaces...

I've been using a TC-Helicon GoXLR Mini since about 2021. I've never liked it, always found it bulky, complex and buggy but recently it's become unbearable - possibly due to simply changing cable but I can't get it to behave at all any more (powers itself on and off unpredictably every minute or so and when it comes back it's at half input volume so no one can hear me). I can't roll back firmware or update it at all seemingly, not least because TC-Helicon made everyone redundant recently.

I'd planned last week to swap it with a Wave XLR from Elgato but having ordered/paid for an 'in stock' item from AWD-IT they now tell me it's been declared end of life by Elgato and they won't be getting any more stock in. I could still get it from Amazon etc but feel if it's end of life, do I really want to?

I liked the look of the Wave for a big/tactile round dial. No extraneous stuff. Just push it to cycle between functions and turn it up and down according to need. In an ideal world it'd be end of life because they're releasing a Wave 2, but we've had CES and I can't see any other obvious release windows. So what else is out there?

I have plenty of complex sound stuff for work but want a single XLR-in/usb-out with a means of adjusting levels. I'd like it to be small, ideally powered by the USB to keep cables minimal. It's purely going to be used for getting a mic (currently a Shure SM7B) into Windows so @chrisbmx116 can hear me tell him he's doing a good job at PUBG and is one of the best players I've ever seen.

I GUESS it would be good to have some kind of EQ/VST options at the back end so I can make my voice sound convincing when I tell him that.

I don't love the form factor of the scarlett/presonus stuff. It's a bit fiddly compared to the angled dial on the Wave and the physical faders on the GoXLR.

I don't need it to control headphones (Astro A50X).

the latest goxlr firmware update in the past week totally hosed my setup too.

had to remove everything and reinstall twice then use an old version of the software and manually update it through the app to get things just to working state again, lost all my settings and they added a setting that switches you to a default profile whenever the app is closed instead of the last used profile and thought "ehh lets just make everyone figure out why that's happening for themselves and turn the old behaviour off by default.

of course all this happened as i was about to log off and go to bed. so lost about 2 hours of sleep resolving it so my pc was functional when i got up.

Yeah, I'm not interested in troubleshooting that. Good excuse for me to look elsewhere tbh.

This is interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_HzmMyGtTI

Edit: also heard good things here: https://www.uaudio.com/audio-interfaces/volt.html

Oh god, am I about to fall down this rabbit hole?

OK, hard vote in favour of this which came yesterday: https://www.awd-it.co.uk/asus-rog-azoth-75-wireless-mechanical-gaming-keyboard-90mp0316-bkea01.html Haven't yet worked out how to load ascii porn onto the OLED display yet but give it time.

Next up mouse, upgrading from Logitech G403 to something wireless - however, I want it to be qi charging which at the moment is basically only Powerplay - the dock also doubling as transceiver https://www.logitechg.com/en-gb/products/gaming-mouse-pads/powerplay-wireless-charging.943-000110.html

So that means compatible mice are limited to G502X, G502 Lightspeed, G703 and Pro X Superlight 2 - most likely the Pro X, although, distressingly, it says 'Superlight' on the side. Also, only 5 buttons instead of the 6 on the 703 (I use the little nubbin behind the mouse wheel to mute all the time - the new keyboard has a nice mute function but means taking hand off the mouse).

Anyone use either and can comment? Bonus if you use Powerplay.

My thoughts on Powerplay are that it seems a bit small and I don't love the Logitech logo on it. I've seen some people DIY larger versions by cutting out a comparable surface, butting them together and layering a thin mouse pad over the lot. Might be a plan. https://imgur.com/a/diy-oversized-logitech-powerplay-mouse-pad-sangc

I want it to be qi charging

Why? Rechargeable is fine and dandy for stuff which consumes a full charge in a few days, but it's an unnecessary expense and hostage to fortune on a mouse which will go months on a single primary cell you can buy in any supermarket.

It adds a wire to the desktop rather than removing one too.

I want a very fast mouse for playing games.
I want it to be wireless.
The best battery life I've seen on one that fits the bill is 145 hours (have seen claims of 250 but am dubious).
I will constantly forget and be annoyed at having forgotten to change batteries or plug it in via a cable.

If I could modify the Azoth keyboard to charge wirelessly from a puck I recess into my desk surface, I would.

I've been resolutely in favour of cables for power and data my entire life but having recently stuck my monitors on a wall mount and seeing what a clutter/cable free life looks like, I'm a convert.

Do you mean the PowerPlay thing? I've considered that - turning it to the right is enough for me so the cable hangs off the edge of the desk. Technically it'd be the same number of wires I'd see at the moment (1) but much less obvious. And, as above, am semi seriously considering covering the entire desk with a 2mm hard surface (magnetised so I can get at it again if anything breaks) in which case I'd bury the Powerplay receiver/pad and wire with a routed recess so the wire could go out the back or out the side depending on where the desk ends up.

I don't think the GPX Superlight 2 is wireless charging. The only real changes over the Superlight 1 are the increased polling rate (from 1000 to 4000 max), and the optical switches (which feel worse than the old ones). EDIT: ohh, I see, the pad adds a charging puck. Ignore me.

Out of interest, why the ROG keyboard over a hall effect keyboard like a Wooting for gaming? Is it mainly for the wireless connection?

I want my answer to be 'because magnets'.

But my main argument, after wireless, against an HE board is that I've read lots of reviews claiming they're much more susceptible to dust/gunk (I have been known to eat at my desk though am trying hard not to this time around - also have a cat who likes to sit on my hands when I'm typing). Also I wanted something now, I did look at the Wooting 80HE but wasn't around until later in the summer at the earliest. And yes, wires*.

*Looked at keychron q1 he on that front but was convinced by enough reviews (including bad ones) of the ROG to go with it and it feels great to use and easy to set up, so no complaints after the first day. OLED screen in particular is great - fully customisable but so far have it showing battery, caps, connection, multimedia and gpu/cpu temps. The little rotating twisty bit is great for quick volume adjustment and pausing/unpausing media (even in other tabs) but again you can customise to do what you want.

I have 502X and a powerplay mat. Have had other wireless mice but regardless of how good the battery life is, never having to worry about it is worth the expense (and extra cable on the desk).

Definitely wouldn't consider it small. My phone's on the mat most of the time, although that doesn't charge which is a shame.

Thanks for the reassurance - yep, it's purely about the convenience of not having to think/plan.

I think it's not small in terms of actual usable area (I have my settings quite high so barely move my wrist at all - I'm not one of those people who moves their arm 70cm to line up a headshot) but just visually the size kind of irritates me. I've seen people testing that it charges through up to 17mm of solid objects (they used card, mil by mil, so obvs different densities and properties would likely make a difference). My current desk surface is a 40mm thick sheet of oak kitchen surface.

I'd probably route the top to fit rather than stick it from underneath - only thing is it looks like the actual USB /hub bit sticks out above the matt (the hub appears to be 10mm and the matt appears to be 2mm). In theory it'd still work if I routed say 10 or 10.5mm deep and then covered the whole desk with a 2mm surface. Unless it works upside down?

Interesting that your phone doesn't charge. I have a pixel stand (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Google-Pixel-2021-Stand-White/dp/B09K45K8MS) which sits on my desk but can't actually see the wire from where I sit. I'd consider adding another recess for a third party qi puck, though I do like the phone upright so I can see notifications/time/calendar etc.

If I did go back to looking at the Elgato Wave XLR I could always go for something like this: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1491891658/underdesk-mount-for-elgato-wave-xlr

Equally could probably fit a 1ru rack mount immediately under the desk - might be useful actually to fit stuff like card readers / thunderbolt hubs / maybe a video I/O.

Actually, I've got one of these: https://cvp.com/product/blackmagic-bmd-bdlkulsdmini4k-ultrastudio I could probably use that as an XLR interface without too much trouble...

Unless it works upside down?

Will let you know in a few hours...

Ooh, thank you!

I can always tell when I've got overdue work by the rapid-fire stream of consciousness posts on LFGSS about weird shit I could do but don't need to.

I've found this has helped me recently

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5vZGF73NyIiJdofAj1HPdR?si=Ig-7inEmRA6yAj0-WxvpLQ&pi=bgAiHFXgQYqHC

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Thank you, will have a look/listen.

Upside down charging confirmed.

How else would it work in Australia?

By turning the mat upside down, obvsly.