Drop.com $20 off - Lumintop Copper/Brass Tool for $10 - Discount not available as of 12/10/19

Lick, thanks for the link to Zeroair’s review and comparison of the different flavors of the Massdrop and Tool (post #50). It is very useful.

jon_slider, thanks for the additional info and beamshots (post #60).

I definitely prefer LMH and would most likely use low and medium the most. The level and runtime on low and medium are more important to me than the high specs.

It’s possible that I’ll end up not ordering any of these for hat brim use.

I’ve always got the Folomov Pen L1 in my shirt pocket for hand-held high CRI use.

cyclops, thanks for the idea of adding $5 expedited shipping to get to total order of the aluminum up to $30 to take advantage of the $20 off coupon - I just might take that route.

Yes, got mine shipped.

From Shen Zhen, China as per email.

By the way, thanks cyclops for the share…

That will explain it…. :person_facepalming: thought where it was a US site with free US returns, that it came from US lol.

Ha ha… The best part is US get free shipping to my understanding while to my location is $2.38… Still, that’s fair enough with total $12.38 shipped to my location.

There was a change to the Lumintop drivers that lowered the runtime on High to 30 minutes instead of 1 hour. Im not sure why, my guess is it was caused by increasing the output of the highest mode.

During the Worm Era, the drivers were regulated and more efficient, like in your Jetbeam. There is a thread about the change in the Lumintop drivers in this thread.

But I still think the Cu Tool is a classic worth buying.

changing LEDs changes output, not runtime, or regulation

fwiw
my copper Tool w sw45k makes 77 lumens, and on the same battery my JetU w Optisolis 6500k makes 72 lumens. The other modes are also similar between the two lights.

I much prefer the Tool because
it can clip to a hat
it does not have last mode memory
I prefer a tailswitch to a twisty

If you want a copper twisty, I highly recommend the Maratac aaa CU

.

To me, High CRI is THE most important thing, and from an AAA light, Im happy at 20 lumens and I dont expect to use them at 100 lumen levels

The Jet U driver runs flat regulated on High, which I concede the Tool does not, but the Jetu does not come in High CRI, does not clip to a hat, and I dont like memory. (because I forget, lol)

Thanks for the heads up OP.
I already had the Cree version so picked up the Nicha shipped to Canada for $12.75. Cannot beat that deal!

QUANTITY
1
SUBTOTAL
$30.00
SHIPPING & HANDLING
$2.75
DISCOUNT
-$20.00
TOTAL (USD)
$12.75

Where do the lights ship from? San Francisco or China? Was thinking SF for some reason… :person_facepalming: DUH

my shipping notice email says the package originated in Shenzen China

USPS Tracking info says:

November 20, 2019, 9:26 pm
Arrived Shipping Partner Facility, USPS Awaiting Item
Shipping Partner: INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE
Your item arrived at a shipping partner facility at 9:26 pm on November 20, 2019. This does not indicate receipt by the USPS or the actual mailing date.

MH755+MH&50 were made in 2012 and all this is old stock. If you are interested in an objective standpoint, there is a curve called the harmon curve. https://www.innerfidelity.com/content/harman-tweaks-its-headphone-target-response

The paper is here: https://seanolive.blogspot.com/2015/11/factors-that-influence-listeners.html

The conclusion is most headphone makers have no idea what they're doing. KZ seduced me with its promise of replaceable cables, its nice sounding for bassheads, like the ATR and the ZS3, and ER4. But the cables on them suck, they are really heavy and don't go on your ears normally, they go over the top, if you like that style. I don't think you need to do too much research, they're super cheap! If you don't like them you're out $6 or so and you can get another IEM!

Nice job, details please!

They look identical best I remember. Its been a week or so since I was in it messing around. That review has some pretty useful info in it, thanks. I didn’t ever find out what exactly the 6 pin ic was either. I did find another driver where the PAM2803 was used and had a similar 6 pin ic. In that driver the 6 pin ic was a mode controller. Apparently it was made just to add modes to a led driver in a small package. Not certain that this 6 pin ic in this driver is the same but with no mcu on board it about has to be.
Mine has different markings on the 6 pin ic but I couldn’t find a datasheet for it either. The CFC6F is a boost controller and its very common in AA and AAA flashlight drivers that can also run li-ion batteries. It runs direct drive anything above the vf of the led. I changed the high resistor out for a much lower one and there was no current chnage using a AAA Eneloop. I went back and looked at some of my test data from the Sunwayman V11R which uses the same PAM2803 and the numbers from the input volatge to output current was on par with what I had tested before with the V11R driver. I wanted to see if I could increse the current but I think this is about max using a eneloop battery.
I think I got this labeled right.

You can check the resistance of each with a DMM. I think high measured less than .200 ohms (my DMM doesn’t measure very accuratly down that low).
Med measured around 1 ohm and low 10 ohms. Changing low to 100 to 500 ohms will give you a lower low. Mine has a 500 ohm and measured about .5 lumens.
These appear to be 0402 size resistors, tiny and fun to solder. Just be careful not to shoot it across the room when picking them up with tweezers, never to be seen again :person_facepalming: .

SMD technology invented jumping spider components.

I don’t mind neutral & slightly cool tints for short use EDC lights. I usually have 2 lights on me. And in a moment when my primary EDC is in another room or somewhere else, the Jet-U in my pocket does the trick. I also prefer tail switches, although I don’t mind twisty types that lend themselves to one handed use. I do agree that AAA lights shouldn’t be super bright. No reason for it in that small a form factor, due to very limited thermal management and reflector size. Plus, it’s a near field flashlight type. So max of the Lumintop is OK with me. Anyway, I’ve grown more curious to see how good it is, compared to my other AAA lights.

Very interesting. About headphone makers having no idea what they’re doing, I can believe that. I used to frequent AudioKarma back in the good ol’ Zilch days. Lots of very knowledgeable people were frequenting discussions. It would seem a lot of speaker makers have lots of egos who are more into doing something different to claim as their own, rather than doing what’s more expedient for good sound. They’ve lost their way from audio founding-father folks like Henry Kloss and James Lansing. And with headphones being so small, I wouldn’t be surprised if that segment is even more fraught with disinformation.

“”They’ve lost their way from audio founding-father folks like Henry Kloss and James Lansing. And with headphones being so small, I wouldn’t be surprised if that segment is even more fraught with disinformation.“”“”.

===

Hey.
You want to listen to some real sounding music…
Try some early KEF Systems.

I had several starting with The Concerto’s.
B139Bass. with B110’s the mid’s),
With a T 27 topping them out.

Oak enclosures. lead or foam sheet lined. Bass Reflex.
Magic.
I ended up with a pr of Towers with Dual B139.
Dual B110’s and T27.
Reflex agin.
Custom tuned drivers and lead sheet lining.
7 ft tall 12in x 15in enclosures raised 2 in with corner pins.
on concrete floor. 210lbs each.
Driven with Leek amp’s And solid state turntable.
Still have most of my original reference LP’s. A lot.
Every spin on T-Table was recorded.
Back in the ’60’s they floated you off to heaven with Stravinsky.
Mahler. Sibelius. Jazz.
Music from the gods. Elvis wasn’t too bad either.
But no good for this modern electronics sound. Too slow.

I spent my youth in West Germany. UK Army,
att’d to UK/US Missile units.
We used to spend near every weekend up in the roof spaces of Deutche Factory’s listening to Ella, Dizzy, Satch, etc. Most weekend. Live.
The US military brought them all over.
All US music was free for all Overseas troops back in the ’50’s/’60’s.

I got a shipping update:

Hello Copper Tool,

Your item departed a shipping partner facility at 7:30 pm on November 21, 2019. This does not indicate receipt by the USPS or the actual mailing date.

Very interesting topic and the price at Drop is probably unbeatable!
Also very interesting to show how swapping resistor position can change mode sequence from LMH to MLH, MLH is my favorite but for the massdrop versions it is unfortunately LMH. I have always used the driver from Lumintop Tools for the Drop AAAs, of course this also works, but the tip here is cheaper :+1:
But I don’t buy AAA from Drop now because I already have too many with different LEDs :slight_smile:

Thanks cyclops, it works!

Are those Promotheus’ clips? You have amazing collection there.

no they are not Ti clips from darksucks
they are Stainless Steel Preon 2 clips

darksucks used to sell Ti clips for the Original Preon (made by Olight), that look similar, but they dont fit the Lumintop Tool

the clip that fits the Tool is for the Preon2, I buy then from this guy