Home 2018 September

Docfender fireproof bag protects your valuables

NEWS – There are a lot of fireproof safes on the market, but they are usually big, heavy, and decidedly not going to fit in your luggage.  The Docfender bag will fit in your luggage, so you can easily take your valuable documents when you travel, or when you have to “bug out”, like so many people recently did in my state of North Carolina.  This fireproof and water-resistant bag has a silicone-coated fiberglass exterior and an aluminum foil interior, which not only protects from heat – up to 932°F – but also repels water.

To ensure that your valuables stay inside, the Docfender closes with both a metal zipper and a Velcro closure.  At 15″ x 11″ x 2.5″, the bag is big enough to hold most document types.  The bag can also hold other valuables, like jewelry, money, or even a gun.

You can learn more about the Docfender Fireproof Document bag at the Docfender website and purchase one of your own for $18.66 at Amazon.

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Docfender fireproof bag protects your valuables originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 28, 2018 at 10:00 am.

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Archeer Vinyl Turntable Record Player Review


REVIEW – As an audiophile, I have long had a love/hate relationship with turntables because while I love the unique sound of vinyl, I hate how much it costs to buy an audiophile turntable that is built with the right technology and materials to compliment the other components of even a mid-range audiophile system. And since the number of vinyl enthusiasts has decreased exponentially, the cost of a classic record can be prohibitive. I decided to accept the opportunity to test and review this turntable because I still love vinyl, but I accepted with the understanding that it is not considered audiophile equipment. So here goes.

What is it?

The Archeer vinyl turntable record player is a 3 Speed Turntable with a diamond stylus cartridge. It plays records at 3 speeds which are 33, 45 & 78 RPM and supports 7, 10 and 12″ records. It has 2 built-in 3 Watt speakers and includes auxiliary and Bluetooth connectivity.

What’s in the box



1 x Wooden Turntable
1 x AC Power Adapter
1 x Plastic Turntable Cover
1 x Record Spindle Adapter
1 x User Manual

Design and features

Specifications:

Type: Belt drive turntable, fully automatic

Speeds: 33, 45 & 78 RPM

Turntable Platter: Plastic

Signal-to-Noise Ratio: >40dB

Power Adapter: 5V/ 1A

Frequency Response: 125Hz-10KHz

Output Level: 450mV±150mV

Output Power: 5W

This turntable has the usual tonearm controls that are Auto Stop on/off and the speed selection switch along with the tonearm lever and lock. In addition and as shown below, there is a control panel that has the following controls (from front to back): Power on/off and Volume Control, Power LED, Stop button, Mode button, Previous Track button, Next Track button, Play/Record button, USB Port, Function Indicator and AUX-In Port.



The turntable also comes with the record spindle adapter that stores away when not in use as seen in the first picture below. It is placed on the turntable center spindle when playing 45RPM records that have the larger hole in the center.




At the back of the turntable, there is the power jack and left/right RCA output jacks so that you can connect the turntable to external speakers or a preamplifier/amplifier.



The clear plastic/acrylic cover is connected to the turntable via 2 plastic hinges. The cover has 2 notches that mark where it slides into the hinges.


Underneath the turntable, there are the two built-in 3-watt watt speakers.


PICTURE

Performance

When I first unpacked the turntable, the internal packing material was crushed, and upon further examination, I discovered that one of the plastic hinges that secure the turntable cover to the base was broken. After contacting the vendor, and waiting for a couple of weeks, a replacement was sent for testing and review.

I like the basic features of this turntable. Playing a record is simple and straightforward as with any turntable. I used a 33RPM 12″ LP for my test. The sound out of the speakers if full-range so it lacks any sort of depth or separation of frequencies and exists mostly in the midrange. I also connected the RCA output to my audiophile preamplifier, but the result was the same since there is no equalization with audiophile systems and low quality in = low quality out. Keep in mind that this is not really a criticism of this turntable since by design it is not expected to perform as such. Connecting your phone or mobile device to the turntable is easy and works well. Connecting an iPod or iPhone via a 3.5mm to the AUX-IN port yielded the same result as the Bluetooth connection albeit wired. The feature I like the most is the USB port that allows you to plug in a USB flash drive and record the record as an MP3 file. This is better than having to buy an additional interface to accomplish this. Again, the quality of the sound is the same. I do suppose that if you have powered speakers and/or some amount of external equalization, that you may be able to get a better quality of sound.

Here are the four operational modes and how they function:

Bluetooth Mode:
Turn on the power, press the mode button once, and the function indicator will flash blue. Once you go into the Bluetooth settings on your mobile device, the device “TS5310” should be available to connect to.
AUX-IN Mode:
Turn on the power, press the mode button twice and the function indicator flashes red and blue. You can then connect your device via a 3.5mm cable.
USB Mode:
Turn on the power, plug in your USB flash drive, press the mode button twice, and the function indicator will flash red and the turntable automatically starts playing any music on your USB drive. In this more the previous track, next track and stop functions work.
Record Mode:
Turn on the power, plug in your USB drive to the USB port, Start record to play and press and hold the Play/Rec button until the function indicator flashes red. This means that the recording has started. You can press and hold the Play/Rec button again until the function indicator is steady red to stop the recording and save the file.

What I like

  • The built-in Bluetooth and Auxiliary Port
  • The ease of use
  • The original look

What can be improved

  • Better/safer packaging
  • Better/stronger made hinges for the turntable cover

Final thoughts

The Archeer turntable is an “old-school” throw-back to the original turntable era. It is designed with that simple look but includes convenient and usable features that make it a more inclusive component. However, it is very basic and serves more as a convenience than for a purposeful listening experience. If you are looking for a turntable for basic listening to serve as entertaining ambient sound, this may work. If you are looking for an immersive listening experience, look elsewhere. Regardless, it is not a bad value for the price.

Price: $119.99
Where can I buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Archeer.

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Archeer Vinyl Turntable Record Player Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 28, 2018 at 9:00 am.

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The Odor STEELer rids your hands of food odors without the suds

NEWS – What do fish, garlic, and onions all have in common? They all taste great and are good for you but cooking with them always leaves the chef with smelly hands. No matter how hard you scrub with soap and water the smell lingers. Odor STEELer is here to rid your hands of those unwanted lingering smells.

The Odor STEELer is a stainless steel “soap” that gets rid of odors when you rub your hands on it under running water. It works because the sulfur compounds in the scent of foods like fish and garlic are attracted to and bind to the metal. And because it’s made of metal, it won’t absorb any of the odors.

The not-really-soap cleaner even comes with a removable silicone sponge sleeve that helps to clean your hands when you do use actual soap. And the silicone sleeve has bristles, so it doubles as a veggie-brush. Perfect for soft-skinned fruits and vegetables like peaches, mushrooms, and plums.

The Odor STEELer comes in four different colors blue, green, red, and yellow and is available on The Grommet for $11.95.

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The Odor STEELer rids your hands of food odors without the suds originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 28, 2018 at 8:00 am.

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Add a nightlight and an air freshener to your toilet

NEWS – A few years ago, we told you about the Kohler Nightlight toilet seats that added two battery-powered nightlights to your Kohler toilet.  If you don’t have Kohler fixtures, you can still have a nightlight for your toilet with the GlowBowl Fresh.  This motion-activated toilet nightlight fits any toilet.  It has a flexible arm that will bend to fit any toilet bowl and hold itself in place.  This is the second generation of the GlowBowl, which adds an air freshener function to the nightlight.

 

The GlowBowl Fresh is powered by three AAA batteries.  It’s motion-activated to preserve battery life; it turns itself off after you leave the bathroom.  It has LEDs that can produce 13 different colors, so you can select the nightlight color you like best.  The GlowBowl Fresh is available for $14.99 at Amazon.

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Add a nightlight and an air freshener to your toilet originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 27, 2018 at 3:12 pm.

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Aiwa Arc-1 Bluetooth headphones review

REVIEW – Does anyone remember Aiwa? Years ago, I installed an Aiwa car CD player in a ‘92 Acura. It was good—not great. Later, Aiwa just about disappeared after Sony bought them. Now they’re back and getting some serious (as in good) attention. First Aiwa released the Exos-9 Bluetooth speaker—a monster speaker that’s getting rave reviews. Now, they’ve just come out with their own wireless headphones—the Arc-1 Bluetooth headphones. Aiwa’s goal is to offer affordable wireless headphones that sound better than it should for its price. Did they achieve their goal?

What is it?

The Arc-1 is a wireless, over-ear Bluetooth headphone that utilizes a non-traditional biocellulose speaker cone—more on this later. 

Specs

  • Design: Closed back, dynamic, circumaural (over ear)
  • Driver: 40mm dynamic
  • Driver technology: Bonded biocellulose composite with flexible surround
  • Impedance: 20 ohms.
  • Frequency range: 15Hz to 20kHz
  • Max. power: 40mW
  • Inputs: 3.5mm stereo mini jack or Bluetooth 4.2
  • Materials:  Aluminum, protein leather, real leather
  • Bluetooth range: 33+ feet
  • Battery life: 20 hours playback
  • Microphone
  • Codecs: aptX, AAC

In the box

  • Arc-1 Bluetooth headphones
  • Travel case
  • Micro USB charge/data cable
  • 3.5mm audio cable
  • Quick Start Guide

Design and features

There’s nothing about the Aiwa Arc-1 headphones that scream, “Look at me!” The design is rather bland and generic looking. It’s not surprising because Aiwa freely admits to picking certain non-audio related parts off the shelf, so they could concentrate resources on the important stuff. A bright and colorful exception to the bland design are red speaker covers that have L and R printed on them. That’s actually helpful when you quickly grab your phones to put them on. Aiwa also printed the serial number and service web address above and below the large L on the left speaker. If you ever have any issues with the Arc-1, the info you need is right there. Clever. The Arc-1 has a 90-day “No questions asked” return policy and a 3-year warranty that will provide a replacement should they ever have a defect.

The packaging is even blander than the design. Aiwa’s stated goal is to place more effort into the product than the disposable box it comes in. That is plainly evident.

 

The first thing one notices when wearing the Arc-1 headphones is how comfortable they are. The clamping factor is just enough without being too tight. I do have to extend the ear pads all the way, so anyone with a larger head may have fit issues. Extending the ear pads was not as smooth feeling as I would have liked, but the build felt solid. 

The leather ear pads are soft and have an unusual shaped flat spot that works quite well at completely covering the ear. Even though the Arc-1 headphones do not have active noise canceling, the pads provide good isolation from exterior noise. The headband could use a bit more cushioning, but it didn’t detract from the comfort. It’s sturdy and can be bent without any damage. The headphones are protected by a large, but sturdy case. Unfortunately, the Arc-1s don’t fold, which is too bad, since the wireless headphones were made for use while mobile.

The selling point to the Arc-1 headphones is the speaker material. Rather than the usual—and fragile—mylar speaker material, Aiwa uses a 40mm biocellulose-diaphragm driver that they designed. Biocellulose is a natural material (made from bacteria!) that retains its stiffness similar to metallic speaker cones, while remaining lightweight—perfect for headphones. This stiffness helps individual audio waves quickly snap back to a neutral position resulting in better music reproduction with sharper bass. You might think that this approach would create super accurate sounding headphones, but it doesn’t. And that’s a good thing.

It’s apparent that the Arc-1 headphones were tuned for a mass audience rather than a select group that may prefer a bass heavy model or one with a bright sound. The Arc-1’s sound signature is slightly warm and smooth. Bass is slightly boosted, but not too much. It’s just enough to allow for hours of listening with no aural comfort issues. Mellow is a word that comes to mind. The speaker’s smooth character is forgiving which simply means that lower resolution song files can sound better than they might on more accurate (and more expensive) headphones. This is especially true when streaming music from a smart phone over Bluetooth. 

Aiwa uses 24-bit digital signal processing to help achieve its sound signature. They’ve also set up what’s known as Qconnect—dual-radio Bluetooth. This allows the Arc-1 headphones to not only receive the Bluetooth signal but also send a signal allowing you to share your music with a friend no matter what brand wireless headphones they may have. Note that Qconnect is still in Beta. Future firmware updates will improve Qconnect as well as improving audio tuning. Unfortunately, firmware updates can only be done using Windows PCs—sorry Mac users. 

Battery life is rated at 20 hours on a full charge. 3 extra hours can be quickly added after only 20 minutes of charging. Battery life is indicated by lights on the right headphone cup. This cup also houses the on/off button as well as Bluetooth pairing and volume/forward/reverse buttons. A built-in mic allows for phone calls, but I’m not a fan of talking on the phone through any headphones—no matter the brand or cost.

As I said, the Arc-1 headphones are smooth sounding. This helps with older recordings which can be a bit weak on bass due to recording restrictions that existed back then. I’m a fan of 60s and 70s rock. Some of my favorite albums were dismally recorded. Listening with the Arc-1 headphones makes many of these older albums tolerable. One of my favorite late 60s albums was an obscure country-rock album from Chicago’s Mason Proffit. Their first album perfectly captured the political tone of that tumultuous time with biting lyrics wrapped in a radio-friendly country sound. As good as the songs were (and still are), the recording is in dire need of remastering. Until that happens though, it’s easier to listen to the album on the Arc-1s than many other headphones.

Bass-happy modern music also fares well with the Arc-1 headphones. Yes, bass on these recordings is most definitely there, but it’s tuned in such a way that it doesn’t create a headache. Credit Aiwa’s DSP at work. Groups like Massive Attack, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and Daft Punk benefit from this tuning approach. While bass may be more up front than what I prefer, it’s never distracting or unwelcome.

What I like

The design may be bland, but the constriction is solid. Despite that, it’s the sound and comfort that captivates me. These are headphones I could listen to for hours—and have. 

What needs to be improved

I like the sturdy case but I would have preferred that the Arc-1s fold into a more compact, easy to carry form.

Final Thoughts

Aiwa has risen from the ashes in a big way with the Arc-1 headphones. If they can keep up the momentum with more great products, the future of personal audio will become even more interesting.

P.S.

If you’re interested, you can read an exhaustive history of Aiwa here. The short version is that an entrepreneur named Joe Born acquired the Aiwa name for North America and several European countries. Shortly after, the Exos-9 Bluetooth speaker was born (pun intended). 

Price: $199.99 US
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Aiwa.

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Aiwa Arc-1 Bluetooth headphones review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 27, 2018 at 11:33 am.

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