TMoney

Chill AF

So this is interesting re: archiving SACDs using the Oppo. http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f11-software/sacd-ripping-using-oppo-or-pioneer-yes-its-true-29251/

Realllllllly tempted to blow off work next Friday for this:

RIP Denny Green. A wonderful man and beloved football coach out here in the Bay Area. Also responsible for maybe the greatest press conference in NFL history.

One of the Boss's best, IMO.

I also heard the HE-90 Clone but I found the 009 more to my taste. I don't take that as a knock against the Clone, I think that, based on Spritzer's descriptions of the HE-90 sound I'd have the same response to the HE-90.

Only time will tell, but it doesn't hurt to have an open mind. http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/disruption-headphone-world

I know what I am listening to tonight. Thanks, Dusty!

Reading this thread makes me think I need to sign up for a new plan too. AT&T is fleecing me at $93 a month and I rarely go over 2 GBs of data. I have a grandfathered "unlimited" data plan, but I guess there isn't much point in keeping an unlimited data plan I rarely use.

Looks like a blast! You drive a nice line when Brent and Grahame aren't there to ram you off the road.

Again, I am going off memory so it is very hard to tell anything more than a generalization. We all know how fickle audio memory can be. The most definitive thing I can say is that I was very impressed with the Flow yesterday. I hope at some point to have the Flow and the Regular together to do a proper comparison. I would encourage anyone in the market for a high-end headphone to give the Flow a listen and come to their own conclusions. Doug would have to chime in here, but I'm not sure there was anything specifically done to my amp to make it better suited for the HD800 in particular other than having 300 ohm output impedance as default.

I had the Ether at home and heard the Ether Flow at a meet. While I used my rig in both occasions I'd like to A-B with both in a quiet environment.

RIP Nate Thurmond. Warriors and Cavaliers legend and tremendous Warriors community ambassador. Fuck cancer.

Heard the Focal Duo at the SF HF meet yesterday on my rig. My impressions of the Focal Utopia: A real contender for best dynamic headphone. A bit heavy, but otherwise very comfortable to wear. Build quality appeared excellent. Sound was very clear and very detailed. Background noise at the meet was a bit of an issue, but you could tell Utopia is a very technically competent headphone, potentially better on technicalities than the HD800 but would need to evaluate at home to be sure. Not a bass monster and does not compete with planars in that regard. While soundstage is good, does not have the uniquely massive soundstage that is my favorite thing about the HD800. The $4k price is unfortunate. This is a headphone that needs to cost $2k at most for it to be a good value. My impressions of the Focal Elear: The buzz is that Elear sounds somewhat like a HD650 plus. I would agree with that assessment. Should be a must listen for the HD650 fans. As I much prefer the HD600 to the HD650, the slightly tonally dark Elear isn’t a headphone I’d consider buying. Priced at a grand, it is nice to see a step in the right direction on price. Should be $600, but at least its not $1,500. Between Utopia and Elear I lean very strongly towards Utopia.

Heard the Flow yesterday at the SF HF Meet. Got to test it on my own rig and I loved it. My impressions: The real deal, a fabulous headphone. Ether Flow is a stupid name for a headphone. I loved the way it sounded on my rig. Deep, tight bass and great balance overall. This is now the “go to” planar if the Ether wasn’t already. I would need to have a regular Ether side by side to discuss improvements in the new model, but I felt Flow was better balanced high-to-low and sounded a bit more open than its predecessor. This will easily make Tyll’s “wall of fame.” At $1,800 it is clearly positioned to rival the HD800S. I probably still take the 800S (if I had to pick one) as it plays more to my tastes, but loving seeing the Ether get better and better and make that decision harder and harder. There is no way the Audeze LCD-4 can cost $4k when Ether Flow sounded just about as good, is much more comfortable to wear, and costs less than half as much. If Ether Flow was $1,200 I would buy one today, $1,800 feels like a bit of a stretch.

Thanks for sharing, Purk. I'll be doing a similar comparison on my DSHA-4 assuming I can steal a set away from the Mr. Speakers table.

New "Ether-Flow" announced over on HF. http://www.head-fi.org/t/814156/mrspeakers-ether-flow-and-ether-c-flow-inspired-by-electrostatic-headphones#post_12721407 It'll be at the Bay Area HF meet this weekend so I'm looking forward to hearing it. Should be fun to compare it to the new Focal duo and my own HD800S. The open version of the Ether was pretty close to a headphone I'd consider buying. An improved version could be compelling.

Don't let that hold you back. Witcher 3 is a perfect place to jump in. For what its worth I had never played the first or second game either. I ownthe Witcher 2 and have tried to get in to it, but 3 is so much better. I was a bit lost story-wise without playing the first two games, but things started making sense after the first few hours. There are also a number of story primers out there that explain the plot of 1 and 2 to get new players ready for 3.

So good.

Any chance of a Mjolnir Audio version of the mini at some point, @spritzer?

I finished the 2nd Witcher 3 DLC this weekend. I'm just gonna come out and say it. Now that I've played through the complete experience The Witcher 3 is now my favorite game of all time. It is finally time to knock Deus Ex off that pedestal and in to the #2 spot. Witcher 3 has everything I look for in a game. Amazing, "adult" storylines. Phenomenal characters. One of the best looking games on PC, a technical masterpiece. Fun gameplay. The amazing thing is RPGs and games with Fantasy themes usually aren't my type of thing at all. It is a testament to how good W3 is that it is my favorite game regardless. The two DLCs are "must play" if you've enjoyed the base game. 5/5. Duh. -- Also finished off DOOM. What a fun little game. Executing hell-demons to heavy metal puts a smile on my face every time. It looks and runs great on PC. Kudos, ID, for doing such a good job rebooting it. DOOM was the kind of game Steam Sales are made for. I've spend about 11 hours with it and now I'm done. I have zero desire to try its multiplayer, and I'll probably never go back through the campaign again, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy my time with it. I very much did. It sure is fun to see these old classics rebooted. I would say the Wolfenstein reboot had the better story but Doom runs better and has the better gameplay of the two. 4/5. Get it on sale and let that chainsaw rip.

Happy retirement, Tim Duncan! Best PF of all time. One of the top 10 players of all time. Best player of his generation (sorry, Kobe).

When they drop down to line 4 I will buy in.

Kerry, if/when you go in to business selling these sign me up as your first customer! That looks great!