the stranger

That seems odd, I would wonder if Danny's comments are on base. In all my years of miking guitar cabs, I haven't ever experienced a situation of having too much gain coming from a dynamic.

Originally posted by blue2blue Oh, yeah... I was kind of thinking out loud there. I think the concept is great. (And shipping is obviously ancillary to the whole concept.) Honest to gosh, I think the thing that really, really holds me back from using Ebay (aside, of course, from occasional horror stories like this) is: I've worked as a shipping clerk. I'm winkin' -- but I'm not really kidding. There's a reason so much commercial music gear may seem overpackaged. {censored} happens. And not infrequently. I love my well-paid and apparently lusted-after brothers and sisters in brown (and whatever their colleagues at FedEx are wearing these days... I should know, I see them all the time)... but, let's face it -- don't ship the Stradivarius UPS. I'd say that almost every ebay item I got was better wrapped than if MF sent it. I could tell you a big one about that {censored}. I won't because MF are generous enough to provide me a place to rant. I forgive them.

Originally posted by blue2blue Bummer. People wonder why, when I've bought just about everything else imaginable online, I haven't used Ebay... Good luck sorting this out. I've done like 300 buys on ebay. Never had any problem. Mostly cd's, though. I've had great luck selling gear on ebay. I wasn't trying to dick people over, though. The worst thing about ebay is it's so slow anymore.

Here's the file, if you want to save a copy...

OK...the true fun part of Windows systems...Regedit! Here we will be doing some pretty snazzy stuff that I found very cool! ****Again...it may be a good idea to make a back up of the registry ***** Intel Chipsets need to have UDMA 66 enabled for Win2k and XP. This also enables UDMA100 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetControlClass {4D36E96A-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

---> Now we get to play with the services! ********FIRST THINGS FIRST!! MAKE A BACK UP OF YOUR REGISTRY ***BEFORE *** DOING ANY REGEDIT OR SERVICES TWEAKS OF ANY KIND!!!!!!!!************** A little word about using the registry. The left hand side is your hierarchy of Windows. Those are the "keys" so to speak. On the right hand side are the "values" for those keys. Now, typically in a registry we have a few types of values We have the String, Binary and a DWORD. To create a new value simply right click in the "values" window and it will come up with NEW and you will see your three options for values. Typically all the values in this tweak are DWORD values and I think one Binary. Each one is labeled as to what value it is. Also each value you create has numbers and hexadecimal settings. Again, each tweak here has the appropriate information on what and when to enter them. Start Menu, Run...type in regedit and hit OK... Hit the Drop menu for Registry and select Export Registry.. save this to another drive for safe keeping's. Now, let's stop that annoying balloon from popping up from our system tray This is a Registry Tweak we have to do.. Start menu>Run...type in regedit Hkey_Current_UserSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrent Version ExplorerAdvanced If enableballoontips is there set the value to 0 If it doesn't enter it in as a new DWORD and put the value to 0 What we want to do is turn off certain "services" that are running in the background that we don't need while recording or playing out Audio Software. Control Panel>Administrative Tools: Double Click on Services Here is a list of what I have disabled. Keep in mind my machine doesn't touch the internet or a network in any way. If you have an NIC or modem of any sort, I specified which ones and what settings with I=Internet and A=Automatic Alerter Disabled Application Layer Gateway Service Disabled Application Management AppMgmt Manual Automatic Updates Disabled Background Intelligent Transfer Service Disabled ClipBook Disabled COM+ Event System EventSystem Disabled COM+ System Application Disabled Computer Browser Disabled Cryptographic Services Disabled DHCP Client Disabled (IA) Distributed Link Tracking Client Disabled Distributed Transaction Coordinator Disabled DNS Client Disabled (IA) Error Reporting Service Disabled Event Log Automatic Fast User Switching Compatibility Disabled Fax Service Disabled Help and Support Disabled Human Interface Device Access Disabled IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service Manual Indexing Service Disabled Internet Connection Sharing Disabled IPSEC Services PolicyAgent Disabled Logical Disk Manager Manual Logical Disk Manager Administrative Service Manual Messenger Disabled MS Software Shadow Copy Provider Disabled Net Login Disabled NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing Disabled Network Connections Manual Network DDE Disabled Network DDE DSDM Disabled Network Location Awareness (NLA) Disabled NT LM Security Support Provider Disabled Performance Logs and Alerts Disabled Plug and Play PlugPlay Automatic Portable Media Serial Number Disabled Print Spooler Disabled Protected Storage Disabled QoS RSVP Disabled Remote Access Auto Connection Manager Disabled Remote Access Connection Manager Disabled Remote Desktop Help Session Manager Disabled Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Automatic Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator Manual Remote Registry Service Disabled Removable Storage Disabled Routing and Remote Access Disabled Secondary Logon s Disabled Security Accounts Manager Disabled Server Disabled Shell Hardware Detection Disabled Smart Card Disabled Smart Card Helper Disabled SSDP Discovery Service Disabled System Event Notification Disabled System Restore Service Disabled Task Scheduler Schedule Disabled TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper Service Disabled (IA) Telephony Disabled Telnet Disabled Terminal Services Disabled Themes Disabled Uninterruptible Power Supply Disabled Universal Plug and Play Device Host Disabled Upload Manager Disabled Volume Shadow Copy Disabled WebClient Disabled Windows Audio Automatic Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) Disabled Windows Installer Manual Windows Management Instrumentation Automatic Windows Management Instrumentation Driver Manual Windows Time Disabled Wireless Zero Configuration Disabled WMI Performance Adapter Disabled Workstation Automatic Once you have set all of these close out of the services and restart Do this for all NTFS drives: Open My Computer>Right Click on C:Drive and select Properties. Deselect Allow Indexing Servicing....Hit Apply Select Apply Changes to C: subfolders and files You might get a message that says Access Denied...press Ignore All Now, click on the Hardware tab. Double click on your Main drive Click on the Policies tab. Uncheck Write Caching. This will help your main drive read faster. Only do this for the main drive! By default, Windows 2000/XP log the I/O traffic of your hard drive. While this is a very useful setting for servers, for workstations it doesn't do anything except use up system resources. To disable it, go to the run menu and type diskperf -n Hit Enter to disable this logging. Disable Error Reporting Right Click on My Computer Press the Advanced Tab Press the Error Reporting Button Choose Disable Error Reporting

http://www.musicxp.net http://www.tweakxp.com --- This was a good page. http://www.opusaudioprojects.net/WinXp.htm It's a 404 now, so I'll share a copy I saved... ---- Windows XP DAW Optimization Guide Well Folks... It's that time again... A new OS... a New Tweak Guide. This one is going to be pretty in-depth and requires some Registry Editing and other fun stuff of the sort! This is what I do. Install OS, Install all hardware drivers, Tweak OS and then install software. So..here we go First thing is the installation. Let XP install as ACPI. This has been proven to be easier and smoother. Let Windows do its thing. Hit F8 saying you agree (legal stuff ya know!) Now, if this is an existing OS of say Win2k or a previous install of XP you will see options for: Esc=Don't Repair; R=Repair F3 to Quit Well, we're doing a fresh install so we want to hit Esc for Don't Repair Now, you'll see your drives and partitions here.. If you have Two "physical" drives it will show you these drives as C and D Highlight C Drive If you had an existing Install from any other OS press D for Delete Partition. Press Enter to Continue Press L for Delete Now, we're back at the drive selection screen again and this time we see Unpartioned space. Highlight the drive you want to install XP onto Press Enter to Install Now we have to decide what File System do we use...NTFS or FAT32. Here's the lowdown.. I'm going to steal someone else's words here... Daniel Keller from Tascam wrote this little blurb about NTFS Vs FAT32. I find this stuff very intriguing and indeed do agree! Tascam's Win2k/XP Document FAT32 vs. NTFS You have the option under W2k and XP to choose the file system that best suits your needs, FAT or NTFS. FAT (File Allocation Table) is the native file system based on the Windows 9x kernel (including 95, 95a, 95b, 95c, 98, 98se and ME). NTFS (New Technology File System) is the native file system for operating systems based on the Windows NT kernel (including NT4, 2000 and XP). During the installation, Win2K or XP will ask if you want to convert the installation partition to NTFS. If you need compatibility for Windows 98 - especially if you want to dual-boot - don't convert. While NTFS offers a number of improvements over FAT32, most of these advantages are not all that applicable to audio, and you are unlikely to see a major performance difference between the two. Moreover, defragmenting your drives (something you should do on a regular basis anyway) is substantially quicker in FAT32. Be aware that Windows 9x cannot read data on NTFS-formatted drives. Generally speaking, you should use FAT32 if you are doing a parallel installation with Windows 9x/ME, or if you will need to work with files created with a FAT32 system (opening old song files, working with others using FAT32-based systems, etc.) leave everything with FAT32. One exception would be if you'll be working with video or other large files in excess of 4GB; or if you also use your PC to browse the internet or the computer is part of a LAN running XP Professional. Only NTFS can limit access rights to your files and therefore provide the security needed for a networked computer. In this case, select NTFS for all partitions except those which are to accommodate your audio data later. One other interesting point: NTFS can read the "resource fork" of SDII files from MacOS, and can therefore recognize the timecode stamps used in these files; FAT(32) can't do this. If you do a lot of work with ProTools or other MacOS-based DAW applications, you should consider at least one NTFS partition in your system. (Note that this does not imply that your NTFS-based system can mount/read from a MacOS drive; simply that individual SDII files imported to an NTFS drive will retain their time-stamp information.) End Tascam excerpt Most DAW users tend to go with NTFS file systems for the OS drives due to more stability and more security plus larger disk support. FAT32 for the data drives. I've done both and don't see a performance difference either way. Windows will begin it's file copying, Once it's done it will restart your machine. It's a good idea from here to enter into the BIOS to stop the CD-ROM from being the first boot device. Set the Hard Drive as the main boot. Also locate the Parellel Port mode in the BIOS and set it to EPP(Enhanced Parellel Port) This option is for those using copy protection devices for Cubase, Nuendo or Logic only! When you disable the Portable Serial Number service and have the Parellel Port set to ECP the copy protection key or "dongle" will not be found. Switching this to EPP fixes that issue. Exit out and restart to begin the XP installation Enter your Name and Organization (If applicable: you can leave it blank) Enter your Windows Key Name your computer! Hit Next Continue Installation If you have a NIC card it will ask you what type of Installation do you want to choose: Typical or Custom Do Typical for faster install Ok. so now we have a fresh install of Windows XP. When XP starts up every time you get that annoying Take the XP Tour pop up..click on it to open the tour..once in the tour simply exit out and it wont open up anymore. Also Messenger starts up at the windows load up but we can get rid of that in no time at all.. Start Menu>Run Type this in exactly as it is here: RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%INFmsmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove Hit Enter...you will see a DOS-like shell appear and disappear very quickly and then it will ask you to restart. Or if you just want to stop it from loading: Double click on the Messenger icon in the system tray to open it. Skip through the internet and sign up stuff, just cancel it. When Messenger loads go to tools and Options then Preferences and uncheck 'Run this program when Windows starts' Now...get rid of that Fisher Price look and go back to the Classic Windows interface. It's better for system performance when using as little colors or graphics as possible: Right-click on your desktop, and then click Properties. Click on Themes tab Set Themes to Windows Classic Click on the Screen Saver tab Set Screensaver to None Press the Power button near the bottom Power Schemes: you can have the monitor turn off but set Turn Hard Drives off to NEVER Hibernate..If this is Enabled uncheck it. This is mainly for Laptops but uses a very large chunk of data.(I've seen this not show up on the first boot of XP..when you restart it will be there but it's disabled) APM..Enabling this will allow your computer to shut down properly when in Standard PC mode Hit OK Click the Appearance tab. On the Windows and Buttons menu, select Windows Classic Press Effect button Deselect all options. Hit OK Click the Settings tab Set your bit depth to 16Bit. This is optimal for Audio machines due to less colors for video drawback which in turn gives you better audio performance Also do this for the Start Menu: Right-click the Start button, and then click Properties. Click Classic Start menu. Click the Customize button to select items to display on the Start menu. By default, selecting the Classic Start menu also adds the My Documents, My Computer, My Network Places, and Internet Explorer icons to your desktop. Right Click My Computer and select Properties: System Restore tab: Check the Turn System Restore on all drives. Automatic Updates tab: Turn Off Automatic Updates. Remote tab: Uncheck all options to turn off Remote Assistance. Advanced tab: Press Settings tab under Performance Visual Affects tab: set to Adjust for Best Performance. Advanced tab: Processor Scheduling: Set this for Background Services Memory Usage: Set this for System Cache(**See Note Below**) Virtual Memory: Press Change... Depending on how much RAM you actually have is what you are going to enter here If you have 256MB RAM set this to 512 for Min and Max If you have 512MB RAM or higher set this to 384 for Min and Max Restart your machine at this point in time... When you come back the first thing you should do is defrag the main drive even if it doesn't say it needs it. This way the swap file has been truly set and you're ready to continue. *****NOTE****** *Using the System Cache setting with a Universal Audio Card is not recommended as it will effect overall performance with the card.****** Now is the time to Install your hardware drivers if you haven't done it already. It makes no difference what order you install the drivers in. Turn off CD AutoPlay Go to Start->Run->gpedit.msc Computer Config -> Administrative Template -> System Double click Turn off AutoPlay Enable it. Control Panel>Double click Sounds and Audio Devices...Go to the Audio tab Set the Playback and the Recording settings to either Your built in soundcard or a SoundBlaster(If Applicable) Check Only Use default devices down below Go to the Sounds tab Under Sound Scheme choose No Sounds Press No to saving the previous Scheme Hit Apply ---->

Give me a minute...

Nothing to be ashamed about. It's not the tools...

Thumbs up to the esteemed Phil-master!