The Expanding Man

I found this to be a great help in turntable set up: http://www.needledoctor.com/Hi-Fi-News-Test-Record?sc=2&category=438 I have the Thorens 160S with an ADC tonearm, and am very pleased with the sound.

Limited experience. Results were quite passable. I used an M-Audio 24/96 soundcard. My TT is a Thorens TD160S with an AT440ml. My phono stage was a Mu-Fi X-LPS. The main hassle is, that after you do a recording in real time, you have to use something like Audacity to edit each side of the vinyl into tracks. Some people even use Audacity to draw out the pops and clicks. I've heard people say that after they spend days doing this, they have heard the music that much that they have no desire to listen to the needle drop. I did mine in 16bit 44khz resolution. Down the track, I'd like to try to use 24/96 burnt onto DVD. Not sure how to do this, I think I might need some video editing software. I can't do anything at present until M-Audio release a vista 64 driver.

Interesting reading. Not too many people have had this opportunity: http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=133328

I met my first significant other by vomitting on her when shit faced.

Yes, I knew there were faults in the logic, but my point was that I don't intimately know the timbre of any other instrument. The one instrument I do know the timbre of, vinyl reproduces most accurately. In fact, one of redbook's biggest drawbacks is that resolution decreases dramatically at high frequency. By design, redbook can produce no higher than 22 khz, and at that frequency, no more than a square wave. Redbook misses out on high frequencies that, although inaudible, influence the harmonics of the audible range of an instrument. I listen, and enjoy CDs for their convenience. Vinyl, though, is superior. Call me Grandpa. Keep listening to your MP3's through a soundcard. It keeps the price of second hand vinyl low.

For detail and musicality, vinyl is still the superior medium in my view (even superior to hi-rez digital). I have some experience with guitars and good tube amplifiers, and I find that only vinyl captures the true timbre of amplified guitars. From this, I conjecture that it must be the same for other instruments. Vinyl set up is not that difficult. Once you have set up your turntable and cartridge alignment, I find it to be stable for 12 months. Although CD was initially marketed as a superior medium, it isn't. In my view, this was all a bit of a con to get music lovers to re-buy their entire collections on CD, and at higher price than vinyl. I have no sympathy for the record companies' decline in sales in recent years as a result of music piracy that the digital medium has easily encouraged. Having said all that, vinyl's biggest drawback is it's clumsiness and lack of portability. In the end, vinyl is a lifestyle decision.

Thanks everyone. Today I picked up the Tennstedt EMI 2 disc set of 4 and 8. The shop also had a number of Teldec discs of Bruckner's symphonies. Anyone heard the Teldec discs?

Any recommendations? Music and best CD versions? I don't know much about this chap's music. Many thanks.

My faithful Creative Zen Touch needs upgrading, and an 80 gb iPod looks like it might be the current sweet spot. From what I have discovered, it looks like if I install rockbox, I can play flac files on an iPod. If I'm right, looks like I need to choose between flac and apple lossless. Ideally, I only want to rip my CDs once. Down the track, I may well start using a squeezebox or something similar in my home system. Are there any sq advantages of one type over the other? What about storage space?

By sheer coincidence, it was over this period that Keith was hanging out with Ry Cooder and Gram Parsons. I've read in some interviews that Ry is quite bitter because, to his mind, he was being auditioned to join the band. Keith "borrowed" a number of his alternate tunings that feature quite heavily on these albums, and perhaps explain the quantum leap from their earlier R'nB and pop sound. All's fair in rock'n roll

What type of wood is that? I am keeping my eyes open for a nice big slab of Maple for my plinth.

Current - DIY Paradise Monica 2 USB DAC with tread power supply Next project/s - Beta 22 (probably 3 channel configuration), restoration of a Garrard 401 turntable and I have my eye on a diy tube phono stage.

I'm going right off on a tangent, but have you considered modding a sonic impact? They have their limitations, but you'll have your super 300B a lot quicker. A couple of years back I mucked around with better caps, alps pot, decent case and connectors and a 12v lead sealed battery. The results were quite astounding for the $$$.

With all of the examples you gave, they all contain starchy sugars. Yeast eats the sugar and excretes alcohol. I doubt olives contain the necessary sugars. Now, you could use olives for no more than a flavouring agent, but you would have to use something else with the required sugars to produce the alcohol. Somehow, my idea of the resulting flavour doesn't float my boat. YMMV.

NIce to find a fellow pipe smoker among the headphone geeks. I'm breaking in a very nice tan Ferndown bulldog with some latakia blends.