TMoney

Had a chance to play with HomePod yesterday. Some random impressions: It is really small. I knew it was going to be small from reading reviews, but it is even smaller that I thought. It is about the size of a cantaloupe. It feels like a bit of a beta product. We had a bunch of Airplay drop outs when we navigated away from the music play apps on our phones. Neither of us had Apple Music, but the iOS Tidal and Spotify apps worked fine over Airplay except for the occasional dropouts. I imagine a lot of this will get fixed with updates. This isn't replacing anyone's two-channel system. As a smart speaker, it is impressive and possibly the best sounding smart speaker I've heard. That being said, we tested it in a larger room and I thought it struggled. It is solid for what it is, but there is only so much it can do in a decent sized room. Apple really needed to have stereo functionality with two HomePods at launch. A bunch of reviewers mentioned that Apple demoed the stereo functionality for them and that it sounded great. I believe them and I think having a second HomePod in a stereo configuration might help a lot. One HomePod sounds big for a mono speaker, but it still sounds like a mono speaker. Overall, I'd say I'm lukewarm about HomePod. It is impressive for what it is, but don't go expecting a $350 smart speaker to work miracles. There is only so much it can do sonically in a moderate/large room, even with whatever DSP tricks Apple has worked into it. I get the impression that a lot of the reviewers who gushed about the sound quality don't know what a proper stereo rig can sound like. EDIT: Looks like Apple's staged tests for the media that the HomePod easily won against the other smart speakers might not stand up: http://pogueman.tumblr.com/post/170722337727/head-to-head-does-the-apple-homepod-really-sound

Ozzy Osbourne and Randy Rhoads - Tribute. Brilliant. What a tragedy RR wasn't able to go on to keep making music.

Ho-lee-shit, Cleveland! Can't say they don't have balls.

Happy birthday, Jeff!

One of the most hilarious interviews I've ever read. http://www.vulture.com/2018/02/quincy-jones-in-conversation.html

I've got a friend who has one coming in on Friday. We are going to play around with it and do some testing with various placements to see how Apple's DSP handles everything. I'm pretty curious to see how it sounds as you move it from place to place in a room. The lack of an analog inputs makes it a non-starter for me, but there is always version 2 to look forward to!

What. A. Game! Philly deserves this. I went to college in Maryland during the heyday of the McNabb years and went to many playoff games in the freezing cold at the Linc. This means so much to that city.

Maureen Orth - Vulgar Favors This is the book that the "The Assassination of Gianni Versace" TV show is based off. I'm enjoying it way more than I should be, given the grizzly subject matter. It is a real page turner. Maureen Orth is an excellent investigative reporter and I'm a sucker for good reporting. She strikes just the right balance between celebrity trash and high-mindedness. I love it. I also didn't realize that she was Tim Russert's widow.

The Pharcyde - Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde Chill AF

What a gentleman SL is! I went over to his house on my lunch break and had a listen with him. Very impressive! I think I have a hard buying decision ahead of me!

Thanks for the advice and recommendation, Craig. I'm going to email him later today. I just finished reading through the DIYA thread on them and it seems like a very solid solution for a small apartment. Also watched NP's and SL's 2017 burning amp presentations last night.

For sure, CSP. One of the sellers of pre-built LXminis sells a 6-way amp with the Pass ASP built in that I'd strongly consider picking up.

After years of seeing Siegfried Linkwitz and his awesome creations at burning amp I'm seriously considering setting up a LXmini + 2 setup for my small apartment. http://linkwitzlab.com/LXmini/LXmini+2.htm The prices on both the kits and the pre-built models seem pretty reasonable. SL seems very bright, plus he is a local here in Marin County. I'm thinking of asking him if I can come by his house and have a listen. Does anyone here have any experience with Linkwitz's stuff? Any advice would be much appreciated!

RIP Ursula K. Le Guin. Really liked some of her books. She will be missed. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/obituaries/ursula-k-le-guin-acclaimed-for-her-fantasy-fiction-is-dead-at-88.html

American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace As Season 1 of ACS (the OJ season) was so damn good, my hype level for this is extremely high. Watched the first episode last night and I can't wait for the rest.

LOVED IT. Ballsiest thing I've seen on TV in a long time. Lynch is a genius.

It is just a printout of California Government Code §8855(k) (which concerns Annual Debt Reports for California public agencies that have issued bonds in 2017) with some of my handwritten comments on it. Nothing confidential!

Happy birthday, Mike!

Thanks, everyone! Spent the day shopping for and assembling Billy Bookcases, but I’ll soon be headed to my favorite steakhouse in the City for dinner tonight to properly celebrate.

Indeed. Work: Home:

Swedish M3.

Very sad to hear the news. I was a big fan and 46 is far too young. RIP.

Happy birthday, G-Unit!