blessingx

What I posted over at HF... Here are some very, very brief thoughts. My time with the P1u was limited and I selfishly spent more time listening than detailed comparing. I was a fan of the 'powerful reserves, but polite' Luxman P1 presentation and the P1u continues this. They are very, very close in sound (spent some time comparing Al's P1) and I'm afraid I don't currently own a dynamic headphone amp that competes closely with either. Much of the differences may come down to balanced operation, and their prices ranges certainly differ greatly, but using the Tony Bennett and Bill Evans XRCD (ripped and Airport Express to Parasound 1600 HD) the P1u has a larger and seemingly more accurate soundstage than my Headamp GS1 with both HD580 and K701. This was further confirmed by the more problematic, though best I've ever heard them, CD3000. A better extension in both ends (including lower presence), a more organic (though may or may not be accurate) decay were more obviously also added to the mix there (then confirm back with other cans). Overall though, the most immediately recognized difference, and all-emcompassing trait, was a more life-like atmostphere with all three cans. Shifting over to tubes and Ennio Morricone's*The Best of 50 Years of Music (previous B&W Society of Sound club and future CD release), the Singlepower Extreme Platinum (with RCA 6SN7/IBM 5998s mostly) immediately falls behind the P1u in instrument separation and resolution (clearly can pick out more separate strings) and overall signiture balance. The Exteme seemed a bit peaky and plain uncontrolled in comparison. And again the soudstage grows. On the discussed blackness levels, I don't have the cleanest electrical system, but I only heard slight noise when maxing the volume, and once disconnecting my source, heard nothing all the way up. I know these trait differences are rather simplistic, but from my limited time comparing, the P1u clearly stood out above the others. More importantly it eliminated the issues I occasionally have with either, which arguably are their greatest strengths. If you feel the GS1 is a bit neutral/flat, the P1u is will bring life to the music with some signiture tweaks, if you feel the energy of the Singlepowers can often step on the music, the P1u will tame that down. While doing both it will dramatically create a more belieable soundstage. Course this is at minimum triple the cost and sacrificing a little functionality. I've been pretty focused on Stax and K1000s the last few years, however if I was looking for a solution for conventional dymanic cans, this is where I'd start. I'd easily recommend the same for tube or solid state fans. It's probably my favorite headphone amp.

The Carlos Saura’s Flamenco Trilogy is really great. As is the biggie, Grand Illusion. Suspect many here would like Le Trou and, of course, Alphaville. Shame they are going OOP. Sure most will reappear, but I have my doubts about the Flamenco Trilogy.

Unsure where to put this, but may never have seen a video sum up the strangeness of the '80s so well. Directed by James Cameron and starring his soon to be ex-wife (and director of Hurt Locker) Kathryn Bigelow, Cameron veteran Bill Paxton, and a few others you're likely to recognize. Anyone ever heard of Paxton's Martini Ranch band? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KusApBvbxuM&feature=player_embedded

Forget politics, just don't look into its eyes... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo7HiQRM7BA

Installing Mac OS X on the HP TC1100

Seems relevant to this conversation... Op-Ed Contributor - Microsoft’s Creative Destruction - NYTimes.com

Nice. Speaking of icons...

If you know someone who crys at movies... Cryingwife.com videos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCV7qn3bTvs&feature=player_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQ_H13NgXaM&feature=player_embedded

And the competition heats up... Amazon buys touchscreen startup Touchco, merging with Kindle division -- Engadget

As Al said, we tried a little 20 minute experiment with the P1/P1u and his Amarra, HD800s & AD2000s and although the P1 output was a touch higher (thus sounded fuller at lower level), as soon as we dipped the Amarras variable output down a small bit, and reset volume levels, I found it was very difficult to tell the difference. Will definitely pipe in with comments in the next day or two. Listening to some of the Beatles mono and stereo remasters at the moment with HD580s and K701s. More problematic CD3000, which I always loved with the P1, soon.

This isn't how Apple would likely introduce change*. Right or wrong, they tend to be more focused. Plus as mentioned by others, Apple has other products for most of those requirements and I think the commentary has been pretty clear Jobs was unlikely to consider OS X an acceptable tablet interface (plus those Windows 'successes' of the last seven years). Maybe Android/Chrome OS (which should be part of this larger discussion), may (likely?) go down a hybrid path, but Apple doesn't 'slap' anything on. I really think the Flash discussion needs to be on the side (and again pulls Google, etc. in), and as mentioned by others, multitasking is likely to be introduced in the next OS update (though if controlled threading, etc. is part of that we'll see - stability is rising in importance and limited multitasking has always been part of the OS). Way I see it, as soon as you decide on a Linux desktop environment, compromises are made, and that's long before the more restrictive Windows or OS X most users accept. We all laugh at the not far past of hunting down video drivers for every application or avoiding laptops because their hardware isn't 'open.' This is just the next step... for some/most. * Then Intel move is the only recent I'd consider gradual and that was only an internal shift. Also: northtemple - On iPads, Grandmas and Game-changing

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Looks like the Nexus One just got multi-touch. Nexus One Gets Multitouch, Other Improvements - PCWorld EDIT: Double whammy.

Looks like the Nexus One just got multi-touch. Nexus One Gets Multitouch, Other Improvements - PCWorld

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As surprised as I am of the anger towards the iPad (for those who didn't get exactly what they personally wanted and others afraid the mass may not always be in Latin), I think this introduction has spawned the most interesting commentary I can remember, including that link .

I've been looking at some car receivers and focusing on iPhone connection and navigation, eyed the Sony CDX-GT640UI. Was still unsure until I saw this review. Better than the rest.

Chinese manufacturer prepared to sue over iPad

stevenf.com - I need to talk to you about computers. I?ve been...

Yeah, but Parker probably isn't man enough to drink his own urine daily. Very cool.

Pee-wee Gets An iPad! from Pee-wee Herman and Eric Appel - Video

They're working on it. Fetus' today are so spoiled. I remember when I was a fetus...