My first impressions - TomC

[TomC]

G'day to all from Oz,

I've had my new Procyon 11 days now and overall, I'm very happy with it.

I'm a long-time light/sound machine user (~20 years). I originally had a Synetics (?sp?) Tutor + and it worked great. I used it to relax and found that it helped reduce my jet-lag (I used to do a lot of air travel on my job). When it finally gave up the ghost, I bought a Proteus (~6 years ago) and a Thoughtstream soon after. I've had the NP2-pro program for a few weeks and really like this as well.

I've really loved my Proteus and have used it a lot. Mainly just the factory (complex) sessions (sometimes with a few Seascape type CD's piped in) and lots of Audiostrobe CD's. I have tried modifying a few factory sessions with the editor, but I mainly find the factory ones work best for me. Besides the stock red/green glasses, I also have the red/blue and true-white ones as well. All these work well and I just swap them around once in a while for a little variety.

I have not got quite as much use out of the thoughtstream although I still play the Mental Games addon once in a while with the hope that one day this will improve my golf game!

My new Procyon came with version 2.2 loaded and is a rev2 unit. I had a little problem uploading the latest software but Andy walked me through it no problem. I've even managed to upload a session (Marcus's) and appended it to my factory sessions (as session #50). Probably no big deal for you PC wiz's but heh, I was pretty proud of myself for being able to do this!

The headphones are similar to my old Proteus ones and I like the fact that they are very comfortable and have the same nice long leads on them so I don't have to put a CD player on my lap when using them. I kind of like my old Proteus headphones a bit better because they only have one wire, on the left side, running out of them. Main reason is I always know which side (left/right) is which, esp. in darkened conditions. Realistically, this probably does not make much difference anyway. I've just put a small tab of tape on one of the headphone wires so I know which side is which.

The new Procyon glasses are absolutely fantastic! They are much more comfortable and have smaller front frames so they don't sit on my face or have the led bulbs hitting my eyeballs like my old Proteus ones did before I added a bit of padding to their nose-piece. I've never noticed a lot of colour difference in my old Proteus glasses, except for pure red, green, blue, or white, but I sure see a lot more in-between colours now. Maybe not a complete rainbow effect, but still a lot more noticable and very nice. Brightness-wise, they are plenty bright for me. I find I only need full brightness control in strong abient light conditions.

I have tried quite a few of the Procyon factory sessions and in all cases they are much nicer and more vibrant than my old Proteus ones. I doubt that I would ever use a Proteus session again! This to me was worth the cost of the Procyon.

I bought a Proteus glasses/ Procyon adapter and it works fine, but I'll probably never use this escept maybe with my pure-whote light Proteus glasses with NP2-pro.

As far as Procyon use on Audiostrobe CD's or NP2-pro, I don't see much difference. Any NP2 session I think is worth doing I just download to a CD and it seems to work as fine as any Audiostrobe CD.

Minor complaints, I have a couple;

I do not like the on/off power button. During many sessions, I have managed to hit this little button a number of times, which turns the session off and either I have to start again or call it quits. I like the on/off switch on the Proteus much better. My suggestions would be to either put an on/off switch or a plastic donut over this buton so it's harder to hit it.

My only other minor complaint is that the new Prcocyon glasses connectors seem a bit loose, connection-wise. If I hit them just a very litltle bit during a session they turn off and I have to fiddle (rock them back and forth) with them to turn them on again. Sometimes they don't start properly and I have to wiggle them a bit more. Like the on/off button, this can be a bit annoying.

These are both pretty minor concerns and I'm sure that they will be fixed soon.

Cheers,
TomC

[Andy]

Hi Tom;

Thanks very much for writing about your new toy! Glad to hear that your overall impression is positive.

We're aware of the connector issue in that it doesn't always seat well. It's difficult to find a small, secure connector with the extra wires that are needed for the Procyon. I've been told that if you're very careful, you can bend the metal spring plate in the connector ever so slightly using a jewler's screwdriver and it makes the contact more secure. In the end hopefully this can be done at the factory so the contact is better from the get-go.

That's the first time anyone's mentioned the power button. I'll ask and see if that's something that can modified in the OS. Maybe it can be set so that it has to be pressed longer to power down or something. No promises but I'll certainly ask!

Keep enjoying your Procyon and write back if you discover anything else.

-Andy.

[TomC]

Andy,

As you suggested, I just tried prying the little metal flap in the outside of the lightframe connector with a very thin hobby knife, just a bit. This seems to have done the trick. It holds it more securely and does not go on/off every time it gets rocked back/forth a bit. Thanks for the tip!

Cheers,
TomC

[Half-Dead]

It's difficult to find a small, secure connector with the extra wires that are needed for the Procyon.

How about a standard micro/mini usb connector like the one already being used for the pc connection :: they also have 5 wires like the lightframes, and are more standard than the (non standard mini-usb) connector currently being used, so maybe even cheaper when buying in volume quantities.

[Andy]

You're just asking for trouble if you have a USB connector on the product that's wired non-standard. Somebody's gonna plug their PC in there by mistake and fry their PC or the Procyon.

The connector will not change, but we're looking into seeing if there's a tighter-tolerance version that holds the connection better.

-Andy.

[Half-Dead]

I was thinking more in the lines of mini-usb (or mini type B which seems pretty sturdy) for the lightframes part & maybe a micro for the pc (or inverse if better tolerance) instead of the hirose mini-usb part, for which i currently have 2 standard usb cables laying around from some old mp3 players, so i could just as well accidentaly plug it into my usb port with those too

That said, i'm really impressed with the quality of the headphones that came with the procyon !

[TomC]

Andy,

I see your point on making both glasses and PC points the same plug type may be just asking for trouble. Since I pried open (very slightly) the metal tab on my glasses plug, it fits a lot more securely and I have not had any problems with it cutting on/off, even if I jiggle it a bit.

The on/off button is still a bit of a pain for me. My MP3 player on/off switch needs to be held for a few seconds to activate it. I think that something similar (like you suggested earlier) would help. Most MP3 players also have a lock/unlock switch, but I don't think that this is necessary with the Procyon.

Half-Dead,

I'm not really familiar with all the plugs available but I think that the current ones on the Procyon are fine. I also have a couple of USB/Mini USB conectors for my current MP3 player and camera (really both just storage devices). These all seem to be interchangable so I quess there is some standard Windows protocal for these connectors/storage devices.

These connectors look the same as the Procyon PC connectors but I have not tried them to see if they work or not. Just to be on the safe-side, I've tagged my Procyon PC USB cable and have only used this. Maybe Andy can let us know if it's ok to use them or not.

Also, I agree, the headphones supplied with the Procyon work very well and are a lot more comfortable than the usual mp3 player ear-buds. Ear-buds are a bit more convenient for travel and/or in high ambient noise areas though.

Those new 3 colour glasses are very nice too. Much more comfortable than my old Proteus glasses. I bought the adapter from Andy so that I could use my Proteus glasses but I doubt I'll ever use these, except as an emergency back-up.

I hope you are enjoying your Procyon as much as I am.

Cheers,
TomC

[Andy]

Hi Tom;

The on/off button is still a bit of a pain for me. My MP3 player on/off switch needs to be held for a few seconds to activate it. I think that something similar (like you suggested earlier) would help.

I checked into this and unfortunately, it's not possible to change the instant-on/instant-off nature of that switch. Perhaps putting some "bumpers" around the switch by gluing a little rubber or something would make it so it's not so easy to accidently bump. Just a thought.

I also have a couple of USB/Mini USB conectors for my current MP3 player and camera (really both just storage devices). These all seem to be interchangable so I quess there is some standard Windows protocal for these connectors/storage devices.

These connectors look the same as the Procyon PC connectors but I have not tried them to see if they work or not. Just to be on the safe-side, I've tagged my Procyon PC USB cable and have only used this. Maybe Andy can let us know if it's ok to use them or not.

The Procyon USB cable is just a standard USB to mini-usb like many others that are out there. No need to specifically tag that one.

-Andy.

[TomC]

Hi Tom;

I checked into this and unfortunately, it's not possible to change the instant-on/instant-off nature of that switch. Perhaps putting some "bumpers" around the switch by gluing a little rubber or something would make it so it's not so easy to accidently bump. Just a thought.

The Procyon USB cable is just a standard USB to mini-usb like many others that are out there. No need to specifically tag that one.

-Andy.

Thanks for all that Andy. Glad to know that I can use the same PC usb/mini connectors ok.

Sorry to hear that the nature of the instant on/off button cannot be changed with simple software revisions. I'll try to find some little rubber washers to mount around this button so I cannot easily/accidently hit it during a sesion. Maybe for the next version of the Procyon you can look at a simple on/off switch like the Proteus or at least a spring-loaded sliding switch. Thanks.

Cheers,
TomC