| Since this blog software is not getting anywhere new... | | 作成日時: Jun 14, 2005, 11:27 AM |
I'm migrating my blog topics to my Mombo based site, xtream.ne.jp and brightminds.jp.
Video and media production related new topics are found at;
Media Production Study Blog at www.xtream.ne.jp
Various mountainbike topics are found also at;
English Section at www.xtream.ne.jp
I'm doing this because the comment section of this blog uses Halo comment which does not keep precious commnets from people after so much use of memory or timeline. Also, this blog sofware does not let me have multiple blogs which the author of the software promised a long ago. |
- About > Since this blog software is not getting anywhere new...
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| Kona Frenzy is moving to another site. | | Date Created: Mar 28, 2005, 10:28 AM |
My blog on Kona bikes is moving to xtream.ne.jp from now on.
Xtream.ne.jp is in mostly Japanese but I made a section in English for non-Japanese readers.
Please visit and if you like it, let me know to register at the site.
xtream.ne.jp english section
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- Kona Bikes > Kona Frenzy is moving to another site.
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| Have you tried this? | | Date Created: Mar 09, 2005, 11:53 AM |
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Have you ever tried to connect iTunes software and route the outputs using "SoundFlower" or "Jack" to inputs of Digital Performer (with MOTU audio hardware like 896HD or 192HD)? Unfortunately, since these SoundFfower and Jack are not commertial software that work reliablly, but you can see the future of digital audio and how good the fidelity is going to be.
The issue on the reliability is that the SoundFlower seems to go out of sync and starts to make noise. When that happens, you have to restart the iTune or just open the audio hardware setting and close (you don't have to do any resetting).
HOWEVER!! When you play from CD, AIFF files saved, or even AIFF through network (my number one mentioned that it send the AIFF file as Apple lossless encoding through the network), the fidelity is just amazing. It sounds like this setup would just play everything out of the CD format. You won't get this by assigning MOTU audio hardware directly to iTunes because Apple's clunky (but not so bad) audio play back engine, but using dp's audio engine to play back. The movement of instruments going up and down is all expressed!! You can use this to tune your monitor system because it sounds so balanced and transparent to the source itself.
Enough of yakking, you just try it by yourselft and give me your opinion!
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Experimental update
My staff told me to set the clock source in the hardware setup to be SoundFlower, then it has gotten reliable.
But rememer, use this method for listening to your CD with close to full potential ONLY!! |
| Since I had to send my FX1 back to get firmware update... | | Date Created: Feb 14, 2005, 01:36 AM |
Pro Video Station prepared a Z1 for me as loaner.
Focus assist thing is very nice on Z1. |
- Sony HDR-FX1 > Since I had to send my FX1 back to get firmware update...
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| Betd in U.K. renovated their web site. Nice! | | Date Created: Feb 08, 2005, 01:06 PM |
- MTB Topics > Betd in U.K. renovated their web site. Nice!
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| The evolution of my Stab Primo from 2001 through 2005 | | 作成日時: Feb 03, 2005, 01:37 PM |
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| First, this is the photo from Kona site and how stock Stab Primo 2001 looks like. |
 This is almost stock Kona Stab Primo 2001 model as I bought it. First time I saw this bike at Nukaya in Meguro, I fell in love with the phatness of its looks. The Marzocchi Shiver looked awesome. But, I never thought I would spend over $6,000 for a bike, so my heart was broken. Then some days later, I found the same model on Yahoo! Auction and I was lucky to win bid. This bike happened to be specially priced at a shop because Kona Japan was selling this out after the bike show. |
 I already had changed the stem at this point, but the wheels are still 26 inch. |
 This picture is the first major modification that I worked on. The wheels were changed to Mavic XY 24 inch rims with Sapim Leader spokes. |
 I did not know many brands of tyre. Here, you can see they are IRC tyres. Also, the stem is changed to the Marzocchi original direct clumps. |
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| Now, it is getting to be a lot more colorful. My wife bought me the Raceface Northshore cranks for my birthday. The coil spring for the rear shock is changed to MRP, too. By this time, I found a lot of different tyre brands like Arrow Racing, Nokian and Maxxis (shown in the photo). Also, this period must be the first time I got the SRAM XO components. |
 My photos are getting better around this period with the Nikon Coolpix 990. A good weather helped, too. |
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| Now, after these photos, I started going really nuts. The photo below is the phase of major change in 2003. Got a Manitou Dorado. |
| Then I got the Therapy Components floating brake retrofit kit. |
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 Here's the close-up photo of the floating brake kit. |
Upon getting the floating brake kit, I had to change the whole wheel components. I ordered the Hadley hubs with the floating kit and Sun Ringle's Singletrack rims.
Why Singletrack rims, not Doubletrack? Because I was getting fed up with the haevy wieght of this bike. |
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| Now, this is the best photo I took of my bikes and it must had been the most expensive period of my Stab Primo. |
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 The rear shock was changed to Progressive Suspension's 5th Element shock. I had some problems every time I jumped off from rather high (not so high) drop-offs and I would get the bottom out in the rear shock. However, the famous tech like Mr. Nagai from Koowhoo would tell me the spring rate is too high. So, I had to change the shock. After I made this change, it made the whole bike so valuable. I wouldn't have pedaling loss, won't bottom out and suspension works for whatever the bumps ahead. Notice the coil spring is still steel. |
 And the top crown for Dorado is changed to Betd's 1 inch drop top crown. This crown provided me more setting range for the head angle. |
| The wheels are changed to Intense MAG30 24 inch rims, the spokes are Sapim CX-Ray and the tyres were Intense FRO 909 tyres. The chain device is changed to Blackspire's ITC-1 for the larger ring. When you use 24 inch wheels, using larger ring is required to compensate the wheel size/gear ratio. I had gone all the way with everything I could. |
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| HOWEVER!!! After trying everything I could with 24 inch wheels, I couldn't figure out why I would be so slow in rough terrain. Then realized that smaller wheels don't work good in typical Japanese rough terrain. So, I made a big change and switched to 26 inch wheels. |
 The Dorado was good, but the bike shop I bought the Dorado really distracted me that he could not service the forks as often as I wanted it to be and had a problem with the top cap and he could not even open it up completely. So, I sold it to his customer and for the time moment, I found the Boxxer Worldcup 2003 at very cheap price. Tracy Moseley of Kona/Clark Team was using this combination (now they are using Marzocchi 888), so it can't go wrong. So, the changes here are; Mavic EX823 rims, titanium spring for the 5th Element, Boxxer Worldcup and the Betd 2 inch drop top crown with direct clumps. |
 Here's the close look for the Betd 2 inch drop crown. |
 and here's the photo from the back.
It looks cool, but actually, the top crown would hit the frame's top tube, so I had to add the rubber bumper and it did not make it look that hot. |
| The photo below is when I went to Takamineyama with Ganaha from Fox Flagship Store Harajuku after this modification. |
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| Gangs from Guava Jelly |
 These photos are taken after I had moved to Shibuya. |
 Pro freerider, Daiki Takahashi (Norco/Idun), had pointed out that the handlebar was too close for me, so the stem was changed to Easton Vise stem and the top crown is back to normal low crown. This advice had improved my riding position a lot, but this low height crown was too low that the frame was ducked towards the front too low. |
| Here's another photo. |
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 Then, this is the most current photo of my Stab Primo (June 2004). Betd had manufactured the 1 inch drop crown that I originally wanted, so I purchased it right away. Although he promised me that he could make me a special version with 65 mm reach, the actual crown I received was regular 35/45 mm reach version. So, I got hold of X-lite DHR Stem with 75 mm reach (kind of worried if it was too long). |
 This is the photo from the front. The color of the stem is perfect for my bike. |
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| I will take better picture later, but this is the whole shot of current Stab Primo. |
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| At last (this moment), you can compare the 2004 model (stock). Besides the front forks, my modified 2001 Stab Primo is more capable than the stock 2004 Stab Primo off the shelf. |
 and to wrap up for now, here's the photo of Atom Lab's limited CNC'd pedal. |
| Another photo of the current setup taken at Fujimi Panorama Downhill Course. |
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 Oct. 27th 2004
Waiting for about 5 months, I finally got my set of Mojo Suspension's Boxxcart, an upgrade kit for the RockShox Boxxer. Now, some issues like not getting enough rebound damping and getting little astound when the shock extend when I pick up the front are gone. Feels a little too firm as I would like it to be, so maybe change the spring back to yellow, instead of the spring provide by Mojo. |
 This is the damping dial of the Boxxcart. All you have is this. Today is a little better road condition and I descended long stairs near by with rather faster speed and IT FEELS GOOD! It feels like perfectly tuned suspension forks. |
Nov. 5th, 2004.
I made it in time. I enjoyed my last chance to go to Fujimi Panoramo for this season and tested my MOJO tuned Boxxer. I nolonger feel the kickback and the forks feel very firm. The spring provided with the Boxcart is firmer than Yellow or Silver. I changed to Yellow spring but it could be even softer. I will try the silver spring next time. |
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Dec. 20th, 2004
Some parts from Chain Reaction Cycle came in today. It took about 5 days to receive them from England.
I was always interested in Romic Integrated Top Crown for Boxxer, but Chain Reaction Cycle is the first company that indicated that they have it "in stock". Installation was easy and put it together during my lunch break. I will post some photos later.
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Happy 2005!!
As I mentioned on the last paragraph, taking advantage on my winter break, I installed all of the new parts and renewed my Stab Primo signicantly for 2005.
It might look like small change to you, but combining the changes during the 2004, I really feel more complete with this bike now. I'm going to go through with each details on the new changes. |
 Here's the big change. I bought Raceface X-type Diabolus crank set and swapped with Raceface Northshore XS crank set that is getting to be worned out a little. With this Diabolus crank set, it supposed to give me a lot more rigidity, but also fixed the chain line problem that I always had. |
 Also, I changed the chain device from ITC-1 which was too large for after changing 24 inch wheels to 26 in wheels, and to AS-1 that is compatible with upto 44 teeth chain ring. Also changed the chain guard to lexan, so I can play around with different color chain ring. |
 Since the Mojo Boxxcart is working so beautifully, I decided to give it a new lower leg that matches better with my sliver Stab Primo frame. I peeled off one side of the Boxxer plate and sticked the Mojo Sticker. |
 The red dial is the part of Mojo Boxxcart which works as rebound damping adjustment. I use yellow spring and specially adjusted Boxxcart for my weight and riding style. Also, I had changed the top crown from Betd to Romic. Romic top crown gives me a little more drop than Betd. |
 And the handle bar is changed to Answer ProTAPER 1 inch rise bar. The previous bar was the middle rise Easton Carbon bar, but since I raise the fork length by the Romic top crown, I had to compensate the total handle bar height, so I changed to the lower rise handle bar. |
I used the Michelin tyres for the whole season of 2004, so I'm going to change the tyres to Nokian Gazzaloddi G after this. Also probably change the brake hoses to Goodrige since the current hose and oil are probably over used by now.
The photo album is here. |
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January 20th, 2005
I know....I'm crazy frenzy. The color of the Boxxer Race 2003 was not quite the color I expected then I found a special sale at Chain Reaction Cycle on Boxxer Worldcup 2004, the model that I really wanted. I figure I can sell the Race 2003 as is on Auction or to friends, so I went for the special sale and got the Worldcup 2004. The exact moment I opened up the box that I received, I was very delighted with the color. |
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 Since the logo plate is a lot nicer comparing to the other models and years, I'm keeping them instead of changing to the Mojo fork stickers. Instead, putting some marks of "Mojofied" in couple of places. |
 The right is at the bottom of the lower leg's arch, I like how this sticker turned out on this side. I have to think of how to make it look nice on the other side, though. |
 As you can see here that the silver logo plates of the Worldcup 2004 are nice, but then the black logos of Stab Primo really stands out, making the Worldcup 2004 looking like albino. So, I'm thinking to paste black "Boxxer" stickers over it. |
| Well, that's it for now. It really take time, effort, thinking and money to make everything perfect. Now most of the things are close to perfect, I'm staring at the original Hayes Purple Disc brakes and thinking these are not matching the color of bike at all.... It's endless. |
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- Kona Bikes > The evolution of my Stab Primo from 2001 through 2005
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| I'm suggesting to Betd in England... | | Date Created: Feb 02, 2005, 10:07 AM |
| I'm suggesting to Betd in England to make Stab Primo linkplate with adjustable rear shock travel. If you look at the photoshop file of comparing the models from 2001 through 2005, you will find that the BB height is low to high and come back to low in 2005. Don't you think if Betd makes linkplates that are adjustable with 8 inch and 9 inch travel, that would be marvelous? If they can cut down some weight but keeping the strength with more sorted out structure would be great. I would easily pay 200 pounds for that. So, if you agree, please leave your comment here, so I can let Bob at Betd know. Thank you for your attention!! |
| Have people in western world been talking about this box? | | Date Created: Feb 01, 2005, 06:25 PM |
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Someone was mentioning that there is the same kind of technology that Sony has realesed about a week ago.
Qualia 001 |
- Sony HDR-FX1 > Have people in western world been talking about this box?
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| Working with Frederic's HDR-FX1/iMovieHD/FCPHD work flow with DecklinkHD Pro | | Date Created: Jan 29, 2005, 08:40 PM |
 I'm working heavily on this workflow to combine the solution with Blackmagic Design's DecklinkHD Pro. You will be provided with edited materials and comparison with the other ways shortly. |
- Sony HDR-FX1 > Working with Frederic's HDR-FX1/iMovieHD/FCPHD work flow with DecklinkHD Pro
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| If you have a Adobe Photoshop, I made a comparison file for you to look at... | | Date Created: Jan 27, 2005, 03:09 PM |
| I made a photoshop file to compare the geometories of 2001, 2003, 2004 Stab Primos and 2005 Stinky Supreme.
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| File Name |
Size |
Download |
| Stab01_03_04_05 |
2.4 MB |
Download |
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- Kona Bikes > If you have a Adobe Photoshop, I made a comparison file for you to look at...
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| Didn't notice about Siemen's MTB website until now and wonder... | | Date Created: Jan 27, 2005, 05:18 AM |
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Didn't notice about Siemen's MTB website until now and wonder how they are supporting the sports for 2005.
Siemen's MTB Site
Make sure to check out the X-lake Jump Clips. You will find the familiar face there. |
- MTB Topics > Didn't notice about Siemen's MTB website until now and wonder...
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| Very good representation on new product coming up at Chain Reaction Cycle | | Date Created: Jan 25, 2005, 01:16 PM |
- MTB Topics > Very good representation on new product coming up at Chain Reaction Cycle
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| Let's sort (music) things out for now. | | Date Created: Jan 24, 2005, 01:02 PM |
Now MOTU dp4 is up to 4.52, and MOTU has announced some other new features at NAMM show for later versions. Since the history of dp (Digital Performer) goes way back, we often forget to look at the sorted out idea of what this software is able to do.
Since I have a lot of visitors here from the video market, I wanted to introduce the depth and the variety of application that dp can provide. |
Digital Performer-The choice for real musicians-
dp is used by many known musicians like Pat Metheny. I had a chance to interveiw him in person, then he mentioned that he tried everything else to compare and he chose dp and MOTU audio interface (2408 at that time) because of the sound quality and the faith in the company. I interviewed him right after he came out with an soundtrack album called "Map of the World" and he explained how he created the album using dp, 2408 and the whole work flow with recording studio.
Pat receives QuickTime movies for the films. Then he opens the movie file with dp, so he can watch and play his guitar along. He would record his guitar at home, using Avalogn preamp and 2408 directly to dp's audio tracks at 24-bit 48KHz at that time. At this moment, you can choose from 24-bit/192Khz compatible 896HD and HD192 for very high quality recording and the current model of 2408 called 2408mkIII can do 24-bit/96Khz recording. Pat said that some of his playing from the first "take" are remained in the released version, explaining the first inspiration is often times the best takes. After recording his guitar tracks on dp, he would use dp's MIDI sequencing features and sythesizers to create the arrangement of other parts, and this time was the orchestra arrangement.
After playing around with the projects at home, he would take the whole project to the recording studio with Sony 3348HR recorder. Then he copies all of the guitar tracks and the reference mix of orchestra created with synthesizers and samplers. So the guitar parts he recorded at home is kept mostly at the final recording and the orchestra parts are recorded at studio with 3348HR. During the recording session, he would make copies from 3348HR and take them home to listen and play around with more ideas. Finally do all of the mixing at studio and that is how the album "Map of the World" is made. |
I'm listing up what you can use for this kind of production.
Fast Power Mac G5 preferiblly Dual processor.
MOTU digital performer software for MIDI sequencing and audio recording, mixing.
MOTU audio interface of your choice. 24-bit/192Khz for 896HD and HD192, up to 96Khz for 2408mkIII and 828mkII.
MOTU Machfive Sampler plug-in for realistic acoustic instrument sound.
MOTU EX4 for sound by various synthesizer methods.
Audioease Altiverb for processing the audio with super realistic reverbration.
Good master keyboard (buy a real "musical" instrument instead of just being controller)
Good microphone but it does not have to be super expensive.
Good stereo or surround monitor speaker set. We recommend PMC/Bryston or KRK.
Other plug-in instruments like PRO53, B4, Spectrasonic.
Maybe a physical mixing cntroller.
You can work with the internal hard disk drive, but if you want to record the sound on external hard disk drive then firewire 800 compatible drives like G-Raid is very good.
You can also work with HD movie files and dp would take advantage of hardware like Blackmagic Decklink, so you will be watching HD clips on NTSC HD monitor usind Decklink HD's ability while record and playback 24-bit/192Khz audio tracks. It is simply amazing (thanks to the effort of Kei Kinoshita of CreativeSuite and Blackmagic developing team).
more information to be updated later. |
- Creative > Let's sort (music) things out for now.
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| Frederic Haubrich revealed his finding on HDV Editing flow on Mac using iMovie/FCPHD | | Date Created: Jan 24, 2005, 10:00 AM |
- Sony HDR-FX1 > Frederic Haubrich revealed his finding on HDV Editing flow on Mac using iMovie/FCPHD
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| Updated Stab Primo photo page | | Date Created: Jan 22, 2005, 10:10 PM |
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