Excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg from Sportek shop

On start, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop
On start, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop

Yesterday excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg was held on, organized by Sportek shop ( group and meeting album in VKontacte social network ), it was led on by Anna Bushmeleva – the representative of this shop. For exercising for Kirgishany competitions event I rode from home at morning and directed on Polevskoy highway into Yekaterinburg, at morning it was quite cold and strong cold wind blew in the face, cooling muscles and whole organism, so it was harder to rotate pedals, than in more comfortable weather. Excursion started in a first half of day from southern part of city, first we rode through little parks of South-West of Yekaterinburg, then into Green Grove, after it in Dendrarium and park near Youth Palace. Closer to evening wind became not so strong and cold and it started to be much warmer on the streets, so now rotating pedals became much more interesting. On the event I met old acquaintances, which I know from rides of previous year, and became acquainted with new people. Overall around 20 people participated in excursion, on the way some people leaved the group, part returned back and new ones joined the ride.

One of the south-west parks of city, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop
One of the south-west parks of city, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop

I found common topics for conversation with Suvorov Sergey – another one photographer on the event, part of photos in this article belong to him, here is his group in VKontakte, devoted to photographing. At the beginning of evening we have come into Weiner Garden in the center of city, after it again small ride on the city streets; park on the Malyshev and Bazhov streets crossroad with photos making with the locomotive maquette in the background; small uphill and we are on the Meteohill : setting Sun in the city mist fills everything with a light. After it – Pavlik Morozov Park – brave soviet boy, which made ideologically right ( ideologically tough duckspeak ), but in terms of moral and soul – quite controversial deed. Lots of memories are connected with this place. Further we moved to Mayakovskiy Central Park of Culture and Recreation – the largest park of Yekaterinburg, on the way we visited food shop, others made some purchases, I took everything with me : already taught by experience.

Photographing with locomotive maquette in the background, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop
Photographing with locomotive maquette in the background, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop

On the way in each park Anna told us small story about them and people shared their knowledge about these places, in Mayakovskiy park she made small quiz on the topics of event with give-away of a delicious prizes and small picnic. Closer to evening it started to be colder and people started to ride to their homes, I made some more photos, said “Good bye” to people and rode home – to wind up the distance, accommodate with clip-less pedals even more and make speed on the asphalt. By the 9th May I already knew, what awaits me at evening after sunset, so, this time I dressed much warmer and was not cold at all on the way to home : only hands were slightly blown by the wind, but even this was not strong. Closer to night beginning, receiving impressions and feelings for this day, I arrived at home, met on the way acquainted bicycle rider, we talked for a while and I continued my way. Cooked food, washed myself, sent photos and made connections in social network, then went to sleep. Now training on the ground roads and small hills in the city go on and competitions will start, see you there!

Meteohill, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop
Meteohill, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop
Meteohill, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop
Meteohill, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop
In Central Park of Culture and Recreation, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop
In Central Park of Culture and Recreation, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop
Sunset above Polevskoy highway, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop
Sunset above Polevskoy highway, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop
I'm in person, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop ( photographer is Sergey Suvorov )
I’m in person, excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg, organized by Sportek shop ( photographer is Sergey Suvorov )

You can see additional photos here : Excursion in the parks of Yekaterinburg from Sportek shop.

Superlux HD-685 – 40 mm monitor headphones with microphone, 10 Hz – 20 kHz and neodymium magnets

Headphones Superlux HD-685
Headphones Superlux HD-685

One of the novelties among dynamic monitor headphones is a 40 mm Superlux HD-685 with microphone, 10 Hz – 20 kHz sounds frequencies playback support, neodymium magnets, closed acoustic architecture, dynamic audio emitters and price around 85 USD. Their impedance is 68 Ohms, sensitivity is 102 dB/mW and mass is 285 g without wire accounting ( 310 g with it ); it has 1.2 m length, attached only to 1 cup, can be disconnected and is plugged to sound source via 1/8″ mini jack connector with gold-plated contacts. With headphones 2 cables are supplied, one of them contains volume control module with microphone and mobile devices remote control button.

Monitor headphones Superlux HD-685
Monitor headphones Superlux HD-685

Superlux HD-685 are foldable for compact carrying and storage, earspads are made from leatherette for comfortable sounds and music listening over long time. In each cup there is only 1 sound emitter, they have no active noise-cancellation function, as some other monitor headphones do, but they have good isolation from external sounds. In place of entering into cup wire is additionally reinforced with resin tube for increased wear resistance and durability during bending and tear-off forces application. It is equipped with clip, for tangling and clinging to clothes and surrounding objects prevention, it has no slider for this purpose.

Package contains : Superlux HD-685 headphones themselves, 2 cables, carrying and storage pouch, cable clip, warranty card and user’s guide. All in all, headphones are good : with large membranes, wide reproducible sounds frequencies range, neodymium magnets and microphone, their price is not high for their functions. However, there is need to note, that there is ability to buy cheaper 40 mm monitor headphones, or for the same amount of money – 50 mm monitor headphones, providing better basses reproduction quality. There is also ability to say that, if from device compactness and lightness are needed, then there is ability to buy much cheaper in-ears headphones, oriented for use during sportive trainings and exercises and everyday compact use. Their cable is also often equipped with clip and slider.

Superlux – is a company, which main office is located in Taiwan development and testing laboratories and facilities in Hong Kong and other China cities. This name is a brand of company Goang-Fann Co. Ltd., which in 1997 year acquired Tenlux – company-producer of microphones and started to release headphones, microphones and other audio equipment under this name. Company is known for production of very functional devices with very attractive prices; so, when according sound devices are being choosen, it is useful to look on products of Superlux.

JVC HA-EBR25 – sportive in-ears 13.5 mm headphones with 16 Hz – 20 kHz, microphone and neodymium magnets

Headphones JVC HA-EBR25
Headphones JVC HA-EBR25

Company JVC released new sportive in-ears headphones HA-EBR25 with 13.5 mm membranes, 16 Hz – 20 kHz sounds frequencies playback support, microphone and neodymium magnets. Their maximal input power is 200 mW, mass is 13 g, without wire accounting; manufacturer does not tell anything about their impedance and sensitivity; cable with 1.2 m length is mounted to both cups, it is connected to sound source via 1/8″ mini jack connector with gold-plated contacts, compatible with Apple iPhone, iPod and iPad, as well as with Android and BlackBerry mobile devices.

Headphones JVC HA-EBR25
Headphones JVC HA-EBR25

JVC HA-EBR25 have ears band with adjustable size, protected from sweat and moisture, which is useful for sports exercises, and have microphone and mobile devices control button, built into volume control module. They are released in 4 colors variants : white, blue, black and red; package with JVC HA-EBR25 contains : warranty card and user’s guide. Their price is around 26 USD, which is adequate to their functions; but, in the same time, there is ability to buy similar in-ears headphones cheaper and, by adding small sum, there is ability to buy 40 or 50 mm monitor headphones, providing better sound quality, if compactness is not needed.

Xiaomi Mi Max – new large 6.44″ IPS Android 6.0 smartphone with 4G LTE, 16 MP camera and 4850 mAh battery

Smartphone Xiaomi Mi Max
Smartphone Xiaomi Mi Max

Xiaomi acts big and releases Android 6.0 smartphone Mi Max with 6.44″ IPS screen with Full HD 1080 x 1920 pixels resolution and tough Corning Gorilla Glass 4, 4G LTE, 16 MP main camera and 4850 mAh battery. From other modules it has : 8-cores processor Qualcomm MSM8976 Snapdragon 652 or 6-cores Qualcomm MSM8956 Snapdragon 650, depending on modification; 3 or 4 GB of RAM; graphical chip Adreno 510; 32, 64 or 128 GB of on-board memory, also depending on modification; bay for Micro SD flash cards with 200 GB max size; and 2 Nano SIM cards slots. Smartphone can work in 2G ( GSM 850, 900, 1800 and 1900 and CDMA 800 and 1900 ), 3G ( HSDPA 850, 900, 1900 and 2100, CDMA 2000, 1xEV-DO and TD-SCDMA ) and 4G LTE ( 2100, 1800, 2600, 1900, 2300 and 2500 ) networks, supports GLONASS, GPS+A-GPS and BDS satellite navigation and contains acceleration and proximity sensors, gyroscope, electronic compass and fingerprints scanner.

Smartphone Xiaomi Mi Max
Smartphone Xiaomi Mi Max

Xiaomi Mi Max has 2 very good for smartphones cameras : 16 MP frontal one with autofocusing, HDR and double LED flash, as well as 5 MP frontal one; it supports Full HD 1080p and HD 720p video recording with frame rate up to 120 per second. Smartphone can establish wireless connections Wi-Fi ( 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Dual-Band, Direct, DLNA and Hotspot ), Bluetooth 4.2 ( A2DP and LE ) and NFC for remote data transfers and communications with other devices; also it can interact via infrared port. On its external panels there is ability to find : Micro USB 2.0 port for connection to computer, battery charging and external devices plugging in via OTG and USB Host; 1/8″ mini jack headsets and headphones connector; microphone and speaker; as well as power and volume control buttons. Xiaomi Mi Max works on MIUI 8 platform, based on Android 6.0 operating system, there is ability to acquire Android applications for it in Google Play, Yandex.Store and other shops.

Mobile device’s sizes are 173.1 ( height ) x 88.3 ( width ) x 7.5 ( depth ) mm and mass is 203 g; its body is made from metal and battery charge is 4850 mAh, which is a good value for smartphones. Package with Xiaomi Mi Max contains : USB cable, recharger, headset, warranty card and user’s guide. Smartphone is very good : having large IPS screen, operating system Android 6.0, 4G LTE, high-level cameras, powerful system and capacitive battery; it should appear in shops in May of this year, its cost will be according, but, taking into account company Xiaomi prices policy, there is ability to anticipate, that it’ll be one of the smallest among similar to it smartphones.

Behringer U-PHORIA UMC22 – new USB audio interface with 48 kHz, MIDAS preamplifier, 2 inputs and 2 outputs

USB audio interface Behringer U-PHORIA UMC22
USB audio interface Behringer U-PHORIA UMC22

Company Behringer released new USB audio interface of entry level U-PHORIA UMC22, supporting 48 kHz and 24 or 16 bits work mode ( manufacturer does not tell which precision it supports, but, probably, it should support 24 bits ) and having MIDAS preamplifier, 2 inputs and 2 outputs. On its frontal panel there are : combined XLR/TRS 1/4 jack microphone/linear input; TRS 1/4 jack instrumental Hi-Z input; their volume control knobs with signal and clip indicators; Direct Monitor function switch; outputs volume control; power and phantom pwer +48 V indicators, as well as TRS 1/4 jack monitor headphones output. On back panel of device there are : USB port for connection to computer and powering, phantom power switch, Kensington Lock slot and left and right TRS 1/4 jack linear outputs.

USB audio interface Behringer U-PHORIA UMC22 ( back panel )
USB audio interface Behringer U-PHORIA UMC22 ( back panel )

Dynamic range of Behringer U-PHORIA UMC22 equals to 100 dB, all its connectors work only in un balanced mode; audio interface can work in Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 and Mac OS X with support of ASIO 2.0 and Core Audio interfaces, accordingly. Which allow it to interact with modern DAWs : FL Studio, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER, Avid Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase and others. After purchase there is ability to download from manufacturer’s website program for work with sound and more than 150 VST/AU instruments and effects. Behringer U-PHORIA UMC22 sizes are 46.45 ( height ) x 163 ( width ) x 125 ( depth ) mm and mass is 0.5 kg, its body is made from aluminum for increased durability and reduced electro-magnetic interference.

Package with Behringer U-PHORIA UMC22 contains : USB cable, warranty card and user’s guide. From one side, audio interface is good enough, has entry-level studio characteristics, connectors and controllers and small sizes; from the other side, there are more functional compact audio interface, for example, ESI UGM96. So, this audio interface can be recommended for purchase only, if its price is much less than of competitors; otherwise it is better to look on other entry level audio interface of Steinberg, Behringer, Focusrite, Roland, ESI, M-Audio, Alesis and other companies production.

Day of the Victory celebration in Yekaterinburg at 9th May of 2016 year on the bicycle

View from 1905 year square, Yekaterinburg, Day of the Victory celebration at 9th May of 2016 year
View from 1905 year square, Yekaterinburg, Day of the Victory celebration at 9th May of 2016 year

Yesterday I attended Day of the Victory of 9th May celebration in Yekaterinburg : there were lots of people, especially at morning and daytime. At morning it was quite cool, but on the entrance into city weather became real mayish. In the whole city there were different events and concerts went on, center of Yekaterinburg was closed for cars and was given to pedestrians and bicycles riders. Most of people were located in historical square, central squares and large parks, where concerts went on and on large screen war-times movies were shown.

City Administration building, Yekaterinburg, Day of the Victory celebration at 9th May of 2016 year
City Administration building, Yekaterinburg, Day of the Victory celebration at 9th May of 2016 year

First I visited 1905 year square, then rode to Mayakovskiy Park, from it to Black Tulip, after it rode over October Square and then again into CPCaR Mayakovskiy. There are places, where I can ride on the bicycle and for a whole day concerts went on. I wished to stay till evening and look on the fireworks, but closer to 8 p.m. o’clock and sunset it started to be colder and inner felling suggested to me, that at evening and closer to night it will be even colder and in light clothes on high speed, especially away from city and in a low-altitude areas, it’ll be real cold. If I’ll stay till fireworks, then on the way to home at night beginning I’ll complete freeze, so at 8 o’clock before sunset I rode to home, receiving holiday impressions and positiveness and cheerfulness charge till next event.

Main city dam, Yekaterinburg, Day of the Victory celebration at 9th May of 2016 year
Main city dam, Yekaterinburg, Day of the Victory celebration at 9th May of 2016 year

At evening temperature fell down quite strong and on high speed in low-altitude areas of Polevskoy highway hands were blown by wind quite strong. All in all I arrived at home without problems, but next time in such rides, when closer to evening and beginning of night it will be still ( or already ) cold, I’ll take with me additional warm clothes. Now I’ll more frequently visit Yekaterinburg and will use these days for a full extent – its enough from me of loneliness in the mountains, I received, what I rode there for, periodically I’ll continue to ride to mountains to stay in fit, but I’ll not invest my whole life into loneliness in wilderness. Mainly it’s better to be closer to civilization and society. This is all for today, stay in the broadcast.

Central street of city, Yekaterinburg, Day of the Victory celebration at 9th May of 2016 year
Central street of city, Yekaterinburg, Day of the Victory celebration at 9th May of 2016 year
City founder monument Tatischev and de Genin, Yekaterinburg, Day of the Victory celebration at 9th May of 2016 year
City founder monument Tatischev and de Genin, Yekaterinburg, Day of the Victory celebration at 9th May of 2016 year
Balloon, flying into sky, Yekaterinburg, Day of the Victory celebration at 9th May of 2016 year
Balloon, flying into sky, Yekaterinburg, Day of the Victory celebration at 9th May of 2016 year
Black Tulip, Yekaterinburg, Day of the Victory celebration at 9th May of 2016 year
Black Tulip, Yekaterinburg, Day of the Victory celebration at 9th May of 2016 year

You can see additional photos here : Day of the Victory celebration in Yekaterinburg at 9th May of 2016 year on the bicycle.

Iran is ready to join to oil production levels freezing agreement, MED forecasts and oil derricks in USA

One of the Iran cities
One of the Iran cities

Iran tells, that it is ready to join to oil production levels freezing agreement, because country reached its pre-sanctions production and export levels. So, now there are no big controversies for this agreement signing and, probably, in close months it’ll be accepted. Ministry of Economical Development of Russia forecasts light industry growth in country on 4 % per year level in 2017 – 2019 years; also it reports, that ruble exchange rate influence on inflation ( 6.5% ) equals to 1.3 – 1.5 %, next year it will be negative and ‘ll be equal to -0.1 – -0.2 %. Foreign investors start to invest money again in Russian economy, because now there are the most favorable conditions for this : economics passed crisis downturn minimum and starts to grow, world economy in perspective promises to be stable and will slowly grow and cheap ruble lowers rent and salary payments. This is profitable to both investors and Russians.

In USA amount of oil and gas derricks lowered to minimum : 415, while 1 year ago there were 894 of them – this way low oil prices and no need of further deposits exploration, because there are enough known deposits for medium term perspective, affect this. Partly because of this oil prices strengthen, which leads to ruble strengthening, in its turn. USD becomes cheaper in comparison to Euro on the background of published labor market statistics in USA. IMF informs, that China now should tighten its monetary politics, instead of softening it, because corporate debt of country equals to 160 % of GDP and further key percent rate lowering with other monetary politics softening measures can aggravate this situation. However China’s economics growth rate lowering is not foreseeable at this time. This is all for today in economical and connected political and society events of this week, follow the releases.

Novation Launchkey Mini – 25 keys USB MIDI keyboard with 16 drumpads, 8 knobs and other controllers

USB MIDI keyboard Novation Launchkey Mini
USB MIDI keyboard Novation Launchkey Mini

One of the most compact USB MIDI keyboards is a Novation Launchkey Mini with 25 velocity-sensitive keys, 16 velocity-sensitive drumpads with color backlight, 8 knobs and other controllers. It also has : 2 octaves control buttons, 2 tracks selectors, 2 navigation buttons, InControl activation switch and 2 round buttons with color backlight. In addition to them there are Kensington Lock slot and USB port for connection to computer and powering are placed on keyboard.

USB MIDI keyboard Novation Launchkey Mini ( back and left panel )
USB MIDI keyboard Novation Launchkey Mini ( back and left panel )

With Novation Launchkey Mini DAW Ableton Live Lite 9 and program Novation Launchpad are supplied; it can be connected to Apple iPhone and iPad devices via Camera Connection Kit or USB Camera Adapter. MIDI keyboard is powered only from USB port; and can work in Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 and Mac OS X and integrate with modern DAWs : Avid Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase, FL Studio, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER and others, and their VST/AU instruments and effects. Its sizes are 325 ( width ) x 175 ( depth ) x 43 ( height ) mm. Package with Novation Launchkey Mini contains : USB cable, disks with drivers and programs, warranty card and user’s guide.

MIDI keyboard is very compact and at the same time has large amount of controls, which not many larger MIDI keyboards have. But it has its own minuses : it has no modulation control and pitch bend wheels; it is powered only from USB port and has no power adapter input, so it will draw charge from tablet PCs and notebooks batteries; also 25 keys can become not enough for professional work over time. However, in the role of compact and mobile device Novation Launchkey Mini can be very good, especially if its price in shops is lower than of similar competitors.

Audio-Technica ATH-A2000Z – top-level 53 mm monitor headphones with 5 Hz – 45 kHz, titanium cups and 2000 mW power

Monitor headphones Audio-Technica ATH-A2000Z
Monitor headphones Audio-Technica ATH-A2000Z

Lets look on top-level class of professional studio monitor dynamic headphones and meet with 53 mm Audio-Technica ATH-A2000Z, having 5 Hz – 45 kHz sounds frequencies playback support, titanium cups, 2000 mW maximal power input and closed acoustic architecture. Their sensitivity is 101 dB/mW, impedance is 44 Ohms, mass is 294 g; speakers baffle is made from magnesium alloy for resonance reduction, cable with 3 m length is mounted to both cups, is not detachable and is connected to sound source via TRS 1/8″ mini jack connector with gold-plated contacts, left and right channels have separate grounds, which many other headphones do not have.

Monitor headphones Audio-Technica ATH-A2000Z
Monitor headphones Audio-Technica ATH-A2000Z

Inside of Audio-Technica ATH-A2000Z there is a magnetic system German Permendur, coils are wound with use of OFC-7N wire for mass reduction and better signal transmittance, magnets’ yoke is made of pure iron, PCB of headphones is located in their top part for better air circulation inside them – all this together allows to much better and loudly reproduce all sounds frequencies. In each cup there is only 1 audio emitter; headphones are produced with use of Double Air Damping System ( D.A.D.S ) technology, increasing quality and loudness of basses reproduction due to their resonance inside cups; they are released only in silver-black color variant. Device has no active noise-cancellation function, like some other monitor headphones do, however they have very good external sounds isolation. Audio-Technica ATH-A2000Z have no smartphones and volume control buttons and microphone.

Headband of Audio-Technica ATH-A2000Z has auto-adjustment system to different sizes of heads of different users, earpads are made from soft material for comfortable listening over long time. Manufacturer also tells about implementation of different other techniques for increased amplitude-frequency characteristic uniformity. Package with Audio-Technica ATH-A2000Z contains : screw on adapter to TRS 1/4″ jack connector, warranty card and user’s guide. Headphones are great and aimed for professional studio use, they have according characteristics and will have according price at time of appearance in shops : > 680 USD. For high quality sounds and music playback such characteristics are not needed and there is ability to buy much cheaper consumer level or studio entry-level 40 or 50 mm monitor headphones with good characteristics.

If from headphones compactness and small mass are needed in the first place, then there is ability to look on in-ears headphones, which do not reproduce audio frequencies as good, as monitor ones do, but they cost much less and have small sizes, are light and comfortably place inside ears. Which is especially important during sportive exercises and trainings, also wire of such headphones often has slider and clip, to prevent its tangling and clinging to clothes and surrounding objects.

There is also need to note, that Audio-Technica – is a Japanese company, established in Tokyo in 1962 year, as phonographs cartridges producer. Then it started to develop and introduced among its products microphones and headphones, among which now there are wired and wireless models. At current moment it is one of the leading foreign consumer sound electronics and government organizations devices supplier in USA. And in the country of a rising Sun audio devices are usually made with high quality of components and assembling.