u/loissegwapo

I have been working on a small desktop 2.1 setup for the past couple weeks, nothing crazy, just a pair of compact sealed speakers and a budget sub powered by a basic Class D amp board.

Everything was going fine during testing, clean signal, no noticeable distortion even at higher volumes. But once I moved everything to my actual desk setup, I started getting this faint buzzing and occasional clicking noise, especially noticeable during quiet passages.

At first I thought it was grounding or maybe a bad RCA cable. Swapped cables, tried a different power supply, even moved the amp off the desk to isolate vibrations. Noise was still there.

What’s weird is I eventually traced it to a cheap Portable DVD/VCD Player I had sitting nearby. I use it sometimes just to test old discs or audio tracks, nothing serious. The moment I unplug it, the noise disappears completely. Plug it back in, and within seconds the interference comes back.

This thing wasn’t even connected to my audio chain, just sharing the same power strip.

Funny part is I picked it up a while back off Alibaba out of curiosity. It works fine for what it is, but clearly the shielding or power filtering is questionable at best.

Has anyone else run into interference from completely unrelated devices like this? Is this just poor shielding, or am I missing something obvious in my setup?

I know this subreddit is somehow centered on western hats, but I’ve always been curious about the relationship between fedora hats and cowboy hats from a construction standpoint. Looking at them for the first time, they seem completely different stylistically. Cowboy hats usually have tall crowns and wide brims that are shaped for sun protection and western aesthetics. Fedoras, on the other hand, are often associated with urban fashion or formal wear. But when I started paying more attention to how hats are made, the differences were not as dramatic as I initially thought it to be.

Both hats often rely on felt shaping techniques where the base material is steamed and molded over blocks to create the crown structure. The brim can also be shaped and curved depending on which style the hatmaker wants to achieve. In different ways the identity of the hat seems to come from the final shaping and creasing rather than the base material itself.

I was checking hat production methods recently, and I saw a few discussions about hat blanks, essentially unfinished felt forms that hatmakers shape into different styles. I went further to see what those blanks actually look like before they’re shaped. Interestingly, most of them appear in manufacturing catalogs where suppliers offer the raw forms before branding or finishing happens. Even the manufacturer listings I saw on alibaba showed the base felt bodies that can later become different hat styles.

Seeing those listings made me realize how much flexibility exists in hatmaking actually. The same basic felt body might subsequently become a western hat, a fedora, or another style depending on the blocking and finishing techniques used. It makes me curious what people who know western hats better think about this.

From the perspective of a craftsman, are fedora hats actually related to cowboy hats in terms of production methods, or do western hats involve unique techniques that set them apart completely?

And speaking historically, did these styles evolve from similar traditions of hatmaking? Would love to hear insights from anyone familiar with hat history or making of hats.

Lately, I have been noticing more structured, formal hats popping up in fashion content…not in costume or themed outfits, but paired with clean, intentional styling with formal hats. Yunno outfits that look thoughtfully put together rather than overdone. And surprisingly, it works. There’s something about the structure polish that instantly elevates an outfit, giving it a more deliberate classic feel.

It made me pause and wonder if this is an actual trend or just a niche aesthetic that happens to be circulating online. Cos it’s one of those pieces that could easily feel outdated or costume-like if done wrong and it’ll be funny to see. But in the content I’ve been seeing, it feels surprisingly modern and wearable. The juxtaposition of structured hats with contemporary outfit seems to be pulling it off in ways I didn’t expect.

And looking deeper, I found a wide variety of styles with different shapes and materials available, even on alibaba which suggests there’s probably real demand somewhere than I initially assumed. If suppliers are producing them in volume, that’s a sign that people are actually buying them, whether for personal style, resale, or niche markets.

I really wonder if formal hats are making a comeback, or are they still limited to specific occasions? I’d love insight from people who follow fashion trends closely, whether these hats are truly returning as a mainstream accessory or if this is just a cyclical niche trend.

It feels like one of those pieces that can either completely elevate a look or make it feel out of place, depending on styling, and I would like to understand how people are integrating them successfully in modern wardrobes.