Old Drawings

I don't know what to do with these, so I'll just put them here.

They are very old and I cannot even remember what I copied from.

A.T.A.C. vs Interceptor

The full name of this article is 5.11 Tactical A.T.A.C. 8" Side Zip vs Magnum Interceptor 8.0 SZ WP.

Left: A.T.A.C. - Right: Interceptor

Protection
Both boots offer good protection for the feet and provide good ankle support. I have (accidentally) kicked and been kicked on the feet and ankles and it sure helps to have either of these boots on.  The A.T.A.C.s have slightly more padding on the sides so it softens impact a little better.

Although these boots are not steel capped, they do help if someone steps on your toes.

I am unsure if this means better protection, but the sole of the A.T.A.C.s are much harder than the Interceptors.

Zips

The side zips on both boots save a lot of time when wearing and removing them. I do not know how long the zips will last but hopefully a very long time for myself since I do not actually use boots for rough duty.

In this department the A.T.A.C.s are better than the Interceptors. The zips on the A.T.A.C.s moves smoother and the velcro straps to hold the zippers in place are larger than the Interceptors.

A.T.A.C. Zip

Interceptor Zip

The A.T.A.C.s are slightly easier to wear than the Interceptors due to the open flap at the zip area. Of course the Interceptors have a closed flap probably to provide full waterproofing on the side. I am not sure if the non-waterproof Interceptors have an open flap, but I have seen that the waterproof version of the A.T.A.C. also has a sealed side area where the zip is.

Non-waterproof Open Flap

Waterproof Closed Flap

Waterproof

The Interceptors I bought have a waterproof/breathable membrane. I do not know if this is the same Sympatex Plus that Magnums had on the old Stealths, but so far they work just as well.

My A.T.A.C.s are not waterproof but there is a waterproof version which I guess work the same.

These come in very handy in the rain or just going through puddles of water.

Foot Comfort
This is where the Interceptors and I would say Magnums in general are way ahead of the competition. The first time I tried on Magnum Stealth Waterproofs my feet felt good, but as I wore them more, it was clear that these boots were the most comfortable footwear I have ever worn in my whole life. Better than any cross-trainers or basketball boots. Don't try to play basketball in them(I have tried), but walking, running and standing around feels very comfortable in Magnums.

The Interceptor like the Stealths before it, are very comfortable and feel much nicer on the feet than the A.T.A.C.s. For me this is most evident when standing around. After about ten minutes my feet start to ache in A.T.A.C.s.  I can stand about one hour in the Interceptors before the aching starts.

I am happy to say that while walking or running in A.T.A.C.s, my feet feel fine.  Not as comfortable as the Interceptors but still OK.


Other Stuff
Both boots do not have any metallic hardware so no need to take them off to walk through airport scanners.

Both boots have non-slip oil resistant soles.

The Interceptors are slightly lighter than the A.T.A.C.s.  I am guessing this is due to the extra padding in the A.T.A.C.s


Biases
I am an office worker, so why on Earth do I have two combat/security boots?  Too much Rainbow Six led me to buy Magnum Stealth Waterproofs just for fun. When time came to dispose of them, I immediately looked to buy a new pair of Magnums. After a long time I could not find a shop nearby that stocked them, so I thought why not try a different brand and bought a pair of 5.11 Tactical A.T.A.C. 8" Side Zip boots.

After wearing the A.T.A.C.s for a while, it was clear not all combat/security boots are equal!  Back to searching for Magnums I go. When the opportunity came, I snapped up the Interceptors in a flash - good ol' Magnum comfort.

I only wear boots three to four days a week and I do not perform rough duties with them. As such I cannot say whether these boots are very durable. My old Stealths lasted me seven years under these conditions.

Next, I gotta try Magnums with the separate zipper thingy.

Track Building Days of Past

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away there was a game called Stunts.  And a great game it was.  Insane unrealistic stunt driving with a track editor.

Today the Stunts equivalent is TrackMania.  Sure, TrackMania does not have licensed cars and does not have car collisions, but it does have insane unrealistic stunt driving and a track editor.  Thanks to sites like the TrackMania Carpark and TrackMania Track Exchange, people can also share car models and crazy tracks.

Although I don't have TrackMania Sunrise anymore, I did find these videos made back in my track building days.

Offline GPS Maps.

We just got off a train and out of one of many massive train stations in Tokyo.  We are looking for our hotel which is somewhere nearby but we are not sure which building it is.  Out comes the Lonely Planet guide.  After looking at the included map and looking at the streets and buildings several times, we still have no idea where we are.

Time to bring out the Blackberry Torch.  Activate GPS.  Activate data roaming.

"Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

The data roaming failed completely.  The phone could not connect to the Internet.  There goes Blackberry maps and Google Maps down the drain.

Luckily, I came prepared with Mobile GMaps.  This application can be used with offline maps that you build yourself.  I took the time to learn how to build my own maps and built one for Tokyo and loaded it onto the Torch.  It worked wonders as a portable street directory with GPS to show the current location.  Just don't expect it to give you directions, you still need an Internet connection for that.

With Mobile GMaps we found our hotel and many other places too.  All this without an Internet connection.

Logitech G35 Dolby Headphone Headset

"Dolby Headphone", the name given by Dolby Laboratories for their method/processing/thingy that takes surround sound input and modifies it to output through stereo headphones but still sound like surround sound.  I did not believe it at first, but then I found this (Must listen with headphones).




Reading around,  it sounds like this is old technology and that the demo actually is not a Dolby Headphone demo.  Whatever and where ever this came from and even if technically it is not surround sound,  I was impressed.  It is possible to simulate surround sound with just stereo headphones.

So, can surround sound games sound this good with Dolby Headphone headphones?  I bought the Logitech G35 7.1-Channel Surround Sound Headset to try out.

Dark Messiah of Might and Magic

I tried the G35 with 5.1 and 7.1 audio settings.  I cannot tell any difference between the two.  As for the surround sound, it definitely sounds different from normal stereo. But I did not get the true feeling of surround sound.  Sounds coming from the front sometimes sound like they were in front of me.  There have been several times where the ambient sounds did sound like it was coming from behind me.  I turned my head in real life quite a few times because I thought someone came into my room.  Overall the surround effect seems to work half the time and the other half just sounds normal.  It definitely does not sound as good as the Dolby Headphone demo with normal stereo headphones on.

John Woo Presents Stranglehold

There is surround sound coming from Stranglehold but because of all the bullets flying everywhere, things breaking everywhere and debris flying everywhere, I cannot place what is coming from where.  Although different to the stereo war zone mess, it still sounds like a war zone mess.  As such, the surround sound was not very apparent.

Test Drive Unlimited

There were sounds that sounded like it came from behind.  Most of it occurred when I heard cars crash behind me or when debris from a car crash lands behind me.  Unfortunately I have not noticed sounds of cars driving past me at the back.  Also mid-engine cars engine sound does NOT sound like it was coming from behind, it still sounds in head like a stereo headphone.  Front sounds and the overall surround experience was about the same as Dark Messiah of Might and Magic.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow Of Chernobyl

I played it with the Oblivion Lost mod.  So far S.T.A.L.K.E.R. gave the most convincing surround sound experience with the G35.  I would even say it is almost as good as true surround sound.  Maybe it is due to the quietness of the game, but most of the time I could pin point where something was, based on the sound.  Gun fire, barking mutant dogs, people talking, choppers flying, they all sound like coming from their appropriate directions.  Strange though, the G35 did not register S.T.A.L.K.E.R. as being an application that outputted surround sound, yet it has the best surround experience out of all the games I have tried out so far.  This was the closest game experience to the Dolby Headphone demo.  The only thing missing now is the above/below sounds.

Other than games I also tried out the G35 with Star Wars Return of the Jedi DVD.  When I ran the THX Optimizer on the DVD, the test sounds just sound washed out to me.  But playing the movie with surround is a big improvement on playing it  with stereo.  To me it sounds as good as watching other movies with the real surround setup.  Unfortunately I don't remember what it was like to watch Return of the Jedi with a real surround system so I cannot compare the real with the G35.

Overall the G35 does a very good job reproducing surround sound,  but I don't think it is as good as if you had the proper surround speakers setup.  So why did I get a Logitech G35 headset rather than a real surround sound setup?  Plain and simply because I do not have space to place surround speakers around me.  Plus I won't annoy the people around me with screams, gun fire and screeching tires.

There are true surround headphones as well, but since they are too difficult for me to acquire at the moment,  the Logitech G35 will do just fine.


The Headset Itself

The Logitech G35 is the heaviest and largest headset I have ever used.  But it is very comfortable.  The package comes with three interchangeable head pads and I switched to the thickest one.  The length adjuster for the ear pieces feels a bit loose compared to other headsets.  A few times when I picked it up,  the adjustment moved.  The ear pieces fit nicely over the ears and work like mufflers.  Even when there is no sound from the speakers,  I can hardly hear things coming from the outside.  The foldable microphone works very well and is well placed.  when folded up, it automatically mutes.  Although it has been performing brilliantly since day one, the unit feels a bit flimsy to me.  Each time I pick it up,  I can hear creaking, I am not sure from what.

On the left ear piece there are the volume control roller, mic mute button (in case you don't want to fold it up), Dolby Headphone on/off switch and three customisable buttons.  The volume roller and the Dolby Headphone switch  works well, but I have not used the rest of the buttons.  The customisable buttons can only be used for controlling base/treble/mic levels and a handful of applications like Ventrilo and WinAmp.  There is also an inbuilt voice morphing application which can be controlled by the customisable buttons.  So far I have not needed to use any of these.

Being a USB headset, the use is pretty much confined to computers only.  I have only used it on Windows XP so I do not know if it will work on other operating systems.

Compared to my now second best headset, the Logitech Clearchat Premium, the G35 surpasses it in every aspect except for the fact that it is USB rather than a 3.5mm connection.  Everything sounds better with the G35, the microphone is clearer and despite its size and weight, it is actually more comfortable than the Clearchat Premium.


Biases

• All my experience with real surround sound is watching movies with 5.1 systems at friends' houses.  I have not actually owned a surround sound system.
• I do not know much about audio technology except what I have typed in this article.
• I do play a lot of PC games with stereo headphones.
• I have used several headsets before and the best one before the G35 came along, is the Logitech Clearchat Premium. 
• Although I say that I can hear the simulated surround sounds coming from the back sometimes,  I still wonder whether it is my mind processing the sound with the visuals.  I mean if I hear a sound in both ears and I cannot see anything in front of me,  it only makes sense that the sound is coming from behind.

Updates

2012-04-07

I can verify that the G35 works on Windows 7 64 bit.  New drivers must be installed though.  They can be downloaded from Logitech.

Just a little over a year old and I have noticed that the skin of the ear padding is ripping.  That is pretty poor materials or workmanship for the ear pads.