bass_dinger

9 hours ago, tauzero said:

did they have a look round the congregation to see if someone had hacked into it?

The word "hacking" is more likely to describe a congregant's cough, rather than how they access an IT device...

I recall that I would previously remove my wedding ring, and place it on a music stand while playing.  However, I can't recall why wearing it was a problem. 

However, my fingers do seem to fatten up occasionally, which necessitates me removing my ring, leaving a ring-shaped impression underneath. 

At other times, it is loose. Odd.

19 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

There are cheaper tips available.

What other suppliers and brands did IEM-users find?  I would like coloured foam inserts (just for fun) but I mainly need to know that the insert will fit the shaft of the ZS10s (4mm, apparently).

 Most of the ones I have found on eBay have a diameter of 4.5mm - will that extra half-millimetre cause a problem, or make no difference? 

Thanks to @MichaelDean and @EBS_freak for the advice. 

It looks like I will be ordering a set of Comply Memory Foam tips, to see if these will act as an effective upgrade for the ZS10s. 

These tips are compatible with the ZS10s https://www.complyfoam.co.uk/products/isolation-series-500-core-memory-foam-earbud-tips?variant=38150374260934

I will report back with my findings.  

And if the Comply tips don't help, then I will follow @spyder's lead and invest in the 215s.

Generally, it was interesting to hear that different people have different preferences for in-ears - there is no "best", only "differently suitable".

1 hour ago, MichaelDean said:

I would always recommend foam tips over the silicone ones

Thanks for that excellent tip....

45 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

I just can't comprehend how a set of 215s can outperform ZS10s, especially in the lows.

 

I would never recommend 215s ever - but if they work for you, so be it.

In that case, perhaps the problem with the ZS10s is that they are not properly sealed in my ear canal? (I use the supplied "thin rubber mushroom", which fits but doesn't seal).  So perhaps the difference was  the memory-foam tips, rather than the in-ear device itself? 

Those memory-foam tips are a cheaper option than new

The 215s were notably better - perhaps because of the tips, or perhaps because the sound was mixed by a professional  PA company.

A quick question, if I may.

I have a set of KZ ZS10 in ears which struggle to reproduce the low notes on my 5-string bass.    So, I have decided to upgrade to a better set.

I was loaned a pair of Shure wired earbuds, with disposable memory-foam tips, and plugged into a Sennheiser wireless unit.  I really liked them - great sound, good fit.

I asked band leader what they were - "Shure AONIC 215 Wired Sound Isolating Earbuds Wired", from this link.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08H5TK1H5?ref=cm_sw_r_cso_wa_apin_dp_0ZYQ4WXJCTBJ8960P2V7&ref_=cm_sw_r_cso_wa_apin_dp_0ZYQ4WXJCTBJ8960P2V7&social_share=cm_sw_r_cso_wa_apin_dp_0ZYQ4WXJCTBJ8960P2V7&th=1 

However, there also seems to be a Shure 215 Wired Sound Isolating Earbuds Wired - without the AONIC.  The difference seems to be that the AONIC has a microphone built into the cable, which I wont need for monitoring.

So, am I looking for the non-AONIC like these?

https://www.gear4music.com/Headphones/Shure-SE215-Sound-Isolating-Earphones-with-RMCE-UNI-Cable-Purple/51TW - purple for £77

https://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Lighting/Shure-SE215-Sound-Isolation-Earphones-Black/UDQ - Black for £105

And why are they priced differently?!

Can anyone advise on what I should be looking for, and where best to buy them?  Also, where would I get the disposable memory-foam tips?

Robert

On 05/02/2026 at 11:09, chris_b said:

I noticed they'd renamed a big store in town. When I told the wife she said, "They did that 4 years ago!"

Was it Woolworths?

I had my lesson today.

I seem to have developed a negative mindset, that tells me that I cannot play the piano.  Certainly, I have given up on the three pieces that I initially selected - they are now frustrating me.  My feeling is that, if I can't play them after a month of trying, then I am better off moving on to another piece.

The Strangler's keyboard.   Old 'n Brown... 

And, at 12'10" a far better Golden Brown reference. 

I am looking for some Boss Pedals spare parts - the rubber grommet that supports the thumbscrew, two M9 half-nuts, M9 thin washers (both to secure the input and output jack), 4 M3 self-tapping screws for the base plate.  A spare base plate , and "bicycle chain" connectors to attach the pedal to the pedalboard.  And, ideally, a Boss TU2 circuit diagram.

I can find all of the bits separately but I can't find one supplier in the UK who does the lot.

Can anyone advise?

Robert

3 hours ago, neepheid said:

we've got two months off the council tax Feb and Mar

Same here, in my Kentish local authority.  I think that Thames Water also give us a two-month payment holiday too.

I may need to buy a better set of in-ears Replacing my Linsoul ZS10s with some Shure AONIC 215 Wired earbuds. 

I find that the ZS10s distort when I give the B string some welly, whereas the Shures that I borrowed for a professional gig, were clear and strong. T2 fail?

I also want an ipad, to run Song Select, because paper printouts don't really work in my current gig. T2 fail again?

I took the Kurzweil apart and managed to clean the contact pads, and the keyboard now works again.   Thanks to @BassTractor who encouraged me to have a go!

I needed to take out the G and A keys to get at the A flat key, but once they were removed, the rubber contact pads were exposed, and a liberal squirt of contact cleaner got underneath the rubber contact pad and removed the dirt.  I didn't even need to remove the rubber contact pads to access and clean the contact points underneath. 

Rubber contact pads are shown here    

As far as I can make out, the velocity of the note is worked out by timing the difference between the first and second signal from the first and second contact points. I am guessing that one of the contact points was dirty and so the system only registered one signal, which it assumed was infinitely fast (and so, the maximum loudness).

The video here gave the details of what screws I needed to remove to get into the casing, and what to clean once I was in.

1 hour ago, Rosie C said:

The very first Rock School exam I did was "Grade 1 Acoustic Guitar" and I turned up with a guitar-bodied mandocello and the examiner was really interested in it

That shows the difference between ABRSM and Rock School exams.

You are doing acoustic guitar grade 1, but  turned up with a different instrument, and had a nice chat about that choice. 

ABRSM? You can't even choose which note to play. Play it, as written - note, value, dynamics. 

With regards to the instrument, ABRSM make no allowances for the fact that the student may have learned on a keyboard with no dynamics, but when they are doing the exam on a piano they are expected to play the written dynamics. 

2 hours ago, Hellzero said:

Repetition is the key to technique, which is the key to ease, which is the key to expressiveness, which is the key to musical beauty.

 

I read this out loud, to my wife. 

She laugh, with joy, at the wisdom and the poetry therein.

I am now practicing...

On 23/01/2026 at 09:37, SumOne said:

 

(I'm actually finding perfecting the grade pieces a bit tedious - playing The Muppet Theme for the 100th time it starts gets a bit annoying!)

That's what did it for me: the endless repetition of a single piece to get it just so, and the aiming for one single perfect performance. 

I am guessing that if  @SumOne has played something 100 times on the bass guitar, it is because it has been gigged it 95 times.  However, piano is frustratingly different, and difficult. 

I confess to have taken an inadvertent break from learning recently  - I am simply not practicing anymore, because failure is so discouraging. 

I realise now, that I need to practice little and often, and work through the difficulties that comes from learning something new.

Onwards and upwards...

Bits of violin - tail pieces, rosin, fine tuners, all free 

1 hour ago, Downunderwonder said:

A reasonable expectation that justice be dealt before Christmas?

I checked my diary in which I noted the conversation.  "Has been adjourned until February 2026".

I suspect that the clerk misread the date - she like me, reasonably expected the case to be resolved 6 months after it first came before the court, rather than 18 months. 

Those puns - I am laughing myself hoarse!

Midi [5pin] to TRS jack 

Such cables do exist, and are available (other suppliers can be found)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/kenable-3-5mm-Stereo-Audio-Cable-Black/dp/B00KQUZQ4O/ref=asc_df_B00KQUZQ4O?mcid=9505f24b5e163411afc0646faf38461b&tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=710760400267&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=4222002176326608353&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9044980&hvtargid=pla-392235580309&hvocijid=4222002176326608353-B00KQUZQ4O-&hvexpln=0&gad_source=1&th=1

This thread https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/521143-midi-pedal-board/#comment-5602414 has @BigRedX telling me that "MIDI leads despite using 5-Pin DIN connectors only use 3 of the conductors - the centre pin for earth and the two pins immediately either side of that for the data signal. The other two pins are unused."

On 27/11/2025 at 11:49, bass_dinger said:

The case has no status update against it, so I called the court for an update.  I was told that the hearing was listed for a plea, and trial preparation; that Mr Mason entered a Not Guilty plea; and that the case has been adjourned until February 2026.   

An update, and a correction.

I called Leicester Crown Court (0116 222 5700) and quoted the usual reference (33JJ0821825) and answered the usual questions, and was given the date of the trial.  "It's the week commencing 8th February 2027" - not 2026.  I am not sure where 2026 came from - apologies. 

On 19/01/2026 at 21:30, Sean said:

Is that the place that used to secretly put horsemeat in its products and not tell the customers

Or, as the Tesco Recipe book describes it,  "horses for courses"....

9 hours ago, Owen said:

I have been wondering about a writing bureau with the innards ripped out and mounting a widescreen monitor in there.

Look on ebay for writing desks and Welsh dressers.

They are pretty much unsellable especially if they are dark brown wood, made in the 70s or 80s, and definitely if they are huge.

Convert the draw fronts into drop down flaps to reveal a sliding tray for a electric piano or mixing desk, put a rack unit and amplifier into the cupboard on the bottom.

If the top unit has glass doors, hang curtains inside to obscure the PC monitor and powered monitors.  Go big on lots of shelves and alcoves for storage - as you have already discovered, having one single 8'×4' shelf leads to a messy layout.

Try also local auctioDepending ouses, Facebook market place, and house clearance companies.  Even if they don't want that sort of furniture, they might be willing to tell you about it.

If you buy yourself a Victorian piano stool to place in front of the unit, you will have somewhere to sit that matches the unit. 

Depending on the layout and size of the unit you could use it to store bass guitars.  Perhaps you might buy a second unit (a wardrobe) to store the instruments. 

On 13/01/2026 at 22:35, Richard R said:

Someone will be delighted and you will be a few quid up, though it leaves you without a pedalboard.

I have had a long think about this.

I think that I like this  inexpensive pedalboard - it is portable, and sits in a neat enclosure.  That means that i won't need to pull apart a home-organ to salvage the pedals and then make an enclosure.

If I leave it as it is, it will only work with a 30 year old GEM keyboard. 

If I convert it to midi, it will work with any midi device (including the 30 year old GEM keyboard, which also has midi).

So, once I learn electronics, midi it will be!

It's like sending one's children to Finishing School in Switzerland. 

One is surprised to see that they had such potential, but delighted to see that they have been smartened up and made presentable.  Well done @Mediocre Polymath.