spheric

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spheric
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  • Apple debuts $549 AirPods Max over-ear headphones

    sphericspheric

    Xed said:
    MacQuadra840av said:
    Xed said:
    sevenfeet said:
    Also, audiophiles would want a headphone jack to connect to sound systems and bypass the limitations of Bluetooth for an analog experience.
    What 'analog experience" do you imagine exists with modern headphones? What limitation to the audio quality do you believe exists with BT 5.0?
    Really?  Bluetooth audio is HORRIBLE compared to a wired connection.  Heavily compressed music is not what people listen to when they appreciate the music they are listening to.  Bluetooth is even awful in the acoustics of a car too.  It is hilarious that Apple claims how high quality these are, yet they advertise them as Bluetooth with your iPhone for listening to heavily compressed audio files streamed over Apple Music.
    You don't understand how a DSP, DAC, Bluetooth 5.0, and audio codec work if you're claiming that all sound coming though a BT connection is worse than any sound coming through a wired connection.
    MacQuadra probably has experience with older Bluetooth audio codecs, which were HORRIBLE compared to a wired connection. Absolutely yes. Newer codecs sound a lot better, but they do add artefacts to those already existing from lossy compression in the original audio. 

    Not to throw this too far into audiophile hoo-hah discussion, but even the best Bluetooth audio codec is still lossy compression, and depending upon what already-lossy format the original audio is compressed to, quality is at best pretty good, but not identical to a wired connection. 

    Average listener can't tell, bla bla bla, yadda yadda. 

    Some people can, and fact is fact. 
    watto_cobramuthuk_vanalingam

  • Apple debuts $549 AirPods Max over-ear headphones

    sphericspheric

    MacPro said:
    I am sure these are aimed at professional studios, they will be followed next year by a lower-cost version for the great unwashed.
    Music studios have no use for Bluetooth headphones, except maybe for reference purposes — you need to check your mixes on consumer-grade equipment to make sure they work across a variety of playback environments. 

    The latency of Bluetooth audio makes it completely useless for recording, and the lossy compression of the audio stream means you're hearing everything through digital artefacting and noise masking algorithms, which is simply not an option for production.  
    GeorgeBMacequality72521harry wildCloudTalkintokyojimuphilboogierazorpitwelshdogAlex1NMacQuadra840av

  • New Apple Watch Series 6 has blood oxygen sensor & bright new colors

    sphericspheric
    spheric said:

    razorpit said:
    dewme said:
    dewme said:
    My Apple Watch 5 is less than a year old and I'm tempted to upgrade to get the blood oxygen sensor.

    Question: The article above mentions "sleep apnea" but the demonstrations of the oxygen sensor shown in the video today make the oxygen sensing feature look like an interactive process. This alone wouldn't really do much for sleep apnea sufferers because the greatest threat occurs when they are asleep. To be truly effective for sleep apnea detection the oxygen measurement should take place periodically and whenever the device detects the user has suddenly stopped breathing, is snoring, or is gasping for air. I didn't see anything in the video that talked about how this new sensor would potentially be employed for sleep apnea detection and monitoring.

    Like everything else health related on the Apple Watch, it is not a substitute for the advanced diagnostics that are performed in a clinical setting under the care of a doctor or medical professionals. But it is a tool that can be used to alert you to a potential issue that requires further attention by a medical professional. I'm wondering how this model applies to the detection and treatment of sleep apnea used in conjunction with the Apple Watch 6.
    Watch it again. They said it would take background readings throughout the day. 

    I’m upgrading from my 3 partially because I’m curious about sleep apnea. I just haven’t been able to figure if I want the new silicone loop or just the original sport band. 
    Thanks. That is good news. I keyed in on the on-demand part with the countdown timer on the video and missed the background sampling part.  

    I now see on the Apple.com website: "The remarkable new sensor and app in Apple Watch Series 6 allow you to take on-demand readings of your blood oxygen as well as background readings, day and night." That is a big deal.

    Background readings are vital. Triggering background readings when an "event" occurs would be very important as well, but we won't really know what the watch can until we see this feature in action in the real world. I'm sure Apple tested it, but I'm also sure that Apple does not want to overstate its capabilities or set expectations too high. Some other health monitor band/watch companies have made claims about sleep apnea detection using other sensors, like pulse rate, but these claims don't seem to result in product features, which I suppose due to liability concerns. Apple is very very careful about making any health related claims.

    Regarding at-home CPAP machines - the ones I've used do have a SIM card and, at times, a modem and telemetry, but the only thing they are recording is usage and pressure. It's mainly there to verify that you are using the machine. They don't have any other sensors. The reason ongoing oxygen monitoring is needed is because the pressure on the machine may have to be adjusted periodically, i.e., it may no longer be helping you. Getting everything set correctly requires an overnight sleep study, and these can cost thousands of dollars to administer. If the AW6 can tell you you may need a study it will serve a very important purpose.

    I agree with the value and benefit of event triggered monitoring -- such as regular or even continuous monitoring during aerobic activity -- especially during periods of elevated heart rate.    During a tempo run my heart rate can run well over 90% of its Max and knowing how my SpO2 levels did would be great information.
    ...  But, as you say, we don't know enough right now.  We'll have to wait for some hands-on testing to know if and how this works.

    As for CPAP machines and sleep:  I am hoping that eventually Apple can replace the need for most sleep studies which, unless you're having a known and significant problem seem pretty sketchy to me -- mostly self proclaimed experts who little about their specialty but who make lots of money selling their snake oil.   Before I trusted one of them I would want to loaded up with facts on what exactly was going on with my body.   As for them monitoring the CPAP machine, please remember that the healthcare industry cares nothing about your health and only about its profits.
    Everything is sketchy to you. CPAP machines work. Sleep studies are done so that they can diagnose your condition and treat it correctly. Type of treatment (machine, surgery) and settings are determined after a sleep study. Can an AppleWatch replace a sleep study? Not yet, but it can provide a lot of useful data to your doctor if everyone was on the same page. I was really hoping for a body temperature setting. That is needed for accurate sleep analysis.

    And by the way as soon as you apply your “they don’t care about you” philosophy to BOTH political parties, you’ll be truly woke.

    LOL.... If you think the healthcare industry cares more about your health than their profits you're probably gullible enough to actually believe anything DonTheCon says too!
    LOL, if you don't understand that the profit motive of the health care industry is what helps keep us healthy you're probably gullible enough to ...  [fill in the blanks]
    What nonsense. The healthcare billionaires make their money treating symptoms. US healthcare is not best in class, we spend more and get less; we have have worse morbidity than much of the west, and it's largely because of the profit-based model of hospitals and insurance companies. Treatment decisions aren't made between patient and doctor, they're made by insurance companies. That's nuts.

    https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2020/jan/us-health-care-global-perspective-2019
    Yet, we manage to get by. The the rest of you live off of the R&D that we do here and the high-price island we provide for the cheap drugs you consume. (It amazes me, for instance, how you all keep whining we won't give you first dibs on the vaccine despite the fact that you're too cheap to front any risk-based $$ for it).

    Nonsense, indeed. 
    Stop being an idiot. 
    Ah, insults, again. Always a good substitute for an argument. But, it might get you flagged.

    More apropos, how many of the "184" are in Phase 3 trials (assuming no one here would volunteer for a Russian or Chinese vaccine)? Six major ones: Five from the US, one from the UK.* For every one of those, it's the US taxpayer that has provided most of the at-risk funding.

    * There are two in China and one Russia, which I would not throw into the mix, hence my assumption.
    Your sources please? 

    Mine say that as of a week ago, there are a total of seven vaccines in Phase III trials currently, ONE of those being a US development, and another a joint development with the German BioNtech.
    Another 25 are in Phase I/II testing; four of those are American.  


    And yes, framing the current state of vaccine development as the whole world waiting to leech off American research is — apologies for the bluntness — idiotic. That’s not even an insult; it’s a gentle way of phrasing it. 

    For Chrissakes, the first PCR Test was developed in Germany by Christian Drosten. The whole developed world had working Covid tests when the US was still in denial and the only test available there had a 50% failure rate because the US refused to use anything not developed there! South Korea had already quelled infections by massive testing and contact tracing by the time the US even had a usable test to use. 

    There may be merit to the idea that the United States are at the forefront of medical advances in some areas, but using this particular situation to beat the jingoistic drums is literally the dumbest possible time since the development of the CAT scan by EMI-funded scientists in Britain fifty years ago. 
    GeorgeBMacjdb8167

  • New Apple Watch Series 6 has blood oxygen sensor & bright new colors

    sphericspheric
    anantksundaram said:
    StrangeDays said:

    razorpit said:
    dewme said:
    dewme said:
    My Apple Watch 5 is less than a year old and I'm tempted to upgrade to get the blood oxygen sensor.

    Question: The article above mentions "sleep apnea" but the demonstrations of the oxygen sensor shown in the video today make the oxygen sensing feature look like an interactive process. This alone wouldn't really do much for sleep apnea sufferers because the greatest threat occurs when they are asleep. To be truly effective for sleep apnea detection the oxygen measurement should take place periodically and whenever the device detects the user has suddenly stopped breathing, is snoring, or is gasping for air. I didn't see anything in the video that talked about how this new sensor would potentially be employed for sleep apnea detection and monitoring.

    Like everything else health related on the Apple Watch, it is not a substitute for the advanced diagnostics that are performed in a clinical setting under the care of a doctor or medical professionals. But it is a tool that can be used to alert you to a potential issue that requires further attention by a medical professional. I'm wondering how this model applies to the detection and treatment of sleep apnea used in conjunction with the Apple Watch 6.
    Watch it again. They said it would take background readings throughout the day. 

    I’m upgrading from my 3 partially because I’m curious about sleep apnea. I just haven’t been able to figure if I want the new silicone loop or just the original sport band. 
    Thanks. That is good news. I keyed in on the on-demand part with the countdown timer on the video and missed the background sampling part.  

    I now see on the Apple.com website: "The remarkable new sensor and app in Apple Watch Series 6 allow you to take on-demand readings of your blood oxygen as well as background readings, day and night." That is a big deal.

    Background readings are vital. Triggering background readings when an "event" occurs would be very important as well, but we won't really know what the watch can until we see this feature in action in the real world. I'm sure Apple tested it, but I'm also sure that Apple does not want to overstate its capabilities or set expectations too high. Some other health monitor band/watch companies have made claims about sleep apnea detection using other sensors, like pulse rate, but these claims don't seem to result in product features, which I suppose due to liability concerns. Apple is very very careful about making any health related claims.

    Regarding at-home CPAP machines - the ones I've used do have a SIM card and, at times, a modem and telemetry, but the only thing they are recording is usage and pressure. It's mainly there to verify that you are using the machine. They don't have any other sensors. The reason ongoing oxygen monitoring is needed is because the pressure on the machine may have to be adjusted periodically, i.e., it may no longer be helping you. Getting everything set correctly requires an overnight sleep study, and these can cost thousands of dollars to administer. If the AW6 can tell you you may need a study it will serve a very important purpose.

    I agree with the value and benefit of event triggered monitoring -- such as regular or even continuous monitoring during aerobic activity -- especially during periods of elevated heart rate.    During a tempo run my heart rate can run well over 90% of its Max and knowing how my SpO2 levels did would be great information.
    ...  But, as you say, we don't know enough right now.  We'll have to wait for some hands-on testing to know if and how this works.

    As for CPAP machines and sleep:  I am hoping that eventually Apple can replace the need for most sleep studies which, unless you're having a known and significant problem seem pretty sketchy to me -- mostly self proclaimed experts who little about their specialty but who make lots of money selling their snake oil.   Before I trusted one of them I would want to loaded up with facts on what exactly was going on with my body.   As for them monitoring the CPAP machine, please remember that the healthcare industry cares nothing about your health and only about its profits.
    Everything is sketchy to you. CPAP machines work. Sleep studies are done so that they can diagnose your condition and treat it correctly. Type of treatment (machine, surgery) and settings are determined after a sleep study. Can an AppleWatch replace a sleep study? Not yet, but it can provide a lot of useful data to your doctor if everyone was on the same page. I was really hoping for a body temperature setting. That is needed for accurate sleep analysis.

    And by the way as soon as you apply your “they don’t care about you” philosophy to BOTH political parties, you’ll be truly woke.

    LOL.... If you think the healthcare industry cares more about your health than their profits you're probably gullible enough to actually believe anything DonTheCon says too!
    LOL, if you don't understand that the profit motive of the health care industry is what helps keep us healthy you're probably gullible enough to ...  [fill in the blanks]
    What nonsense. The healthcare billionaires make their money treating symptoms. US healthcare is not best in class, we spend more and get less; we have have worse morbidity than much of the west, and it's largely because of the profit-based model of hospitals and insurance companies. Treatment decisions aren't made between patient and doctor, they're made by insurance companies. That's nuts.

    https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2020/jan/us-health-care-global-perspective-2019
    Yet, we manage to get by. The the rest of you live off of the R&D that we do here and the high-price island we provide for the cheap drugs you consume. (It amazes me, for instance, how you all keep whining we won't give you first dibs on the vaccine despite the fact that you're too cheap to front any risk-based $$ for it).

    Nonsense, indeed. 
    Is that your perception? Really? Wow. 

    That’s a rather…myopic view of the world. 

    There are currently at least 184 covid vaccine development efforts, and the VAST majority of those, including the vast majority of clinical trials, are being developed and financed OUTSIDE your country. 

    Stop being an idiot. Medical advances have been international efforts for many, many years, and your “system” has the advantage of being the most profitable for medical corporations, and that’s pretty much its only advantage. Yes, many of the world’s top hospitals for certain conditions are located in the United States, but rather a lot of them are also located OUTSIDE the US. 

    The US also has the distinction of being pretty much the only first-world nation where life expectancy has been DROPPING. This may be unrelated to medical care, though, and merely indicative of terrible living conditions faced by many less affluent Americans today. I don’t know. 
    fastasleepjdb8167

  • Apple Maps trials updated maps for UK and Ireland

    sphericspheric
    Rayz2016 said:
    Why is the front page counting five comments for this article?

    There’s only two (three now). 
    I count six (seven now). 

    You blocked any users or pissed anyone off?
    caladanian