JimP

thanks - will check it out

another one...hoppin' around with my headphones on...'North Americans'!

stuff is good on headphones...new territory for me, I guess they call this genre IDM???

thanks - I'll stop the drama, and just email STAX tomorrow.

I can't believe this - in one clumsy 'rock-out-with-my-c*ck-out' move (note to self - need to put carpeting in den) I accidentally dropped my 404LE onto hardwood floor and the plastic "fork" on one side broke like this: I've super-glued it together - seems to be holding together for now. Do I have any chance of STAX replacing this piece, especially on a so-called 'limited' edition? (so far, the super-glue seems to be holding, and I have a back-up pair...but it still pisses me off - my clumsiness, that is)

Thanks to HC, I've pieced together a bedroom system consisting of: - McCormack Micro Headphone Drive (MHD) - Rotel RCD971 - Etymotic ER-4s I've tired of IEMs (ie sticking things in my ear) and these old ER-4s have been sitting in my desk drawer for years - sometimes I tried to sell it, but out of laziness it just sat there tucked away. Then I acquired the RCD971 (because I was in a weird GD phase and HDCD seemed pertinent). Then I acquired the MHD, which is the key here. I remember not too long ago when I was a piss-poor student and I lusted after McCormack gear, and the MHD popped up here on HC, and I couldn't resist. It was not planned this way, but this old gear - MHD + RCD971 +ER4s - sounds righteously amazing! I lay catatonic listening to this system, as wifey rolls her eyes. I'm not saying this is THE system, as I'm sure there are many other combinations, but I could honestly sell everything and live with this. Again, the key I believe is the MHD - it is my 'Rosebud'. Here is a generic picture of the MHD off the web (too lazy to snap my own pictures). Latest is not necessarily the greatest - I wish I stumbled on this combo early on. So what is your (ancient) gear that still punches above its weight? ps: I alternate between ER4S and HD580 with the MHD, but its the ER4S that synergizes with the MHD the best. pps: I also acquired a MLD on HC recently; another 'Rosebud' to build a speaker system around!

Massenet's Manon with french soprano Nathalie Manfrino singing the title role - wife and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Deep Purple in Hong Kong this past Monday - missed 'Highway Star' because I went out to concession to buy beers. Man, these guys are old...but they rocked it! Steve Morse, the guitarist was amazing.

So I've been able to recently acquire a used KGSS. Using it with my 404LE, but I got it in anticipation of trying a 4070 and/or O2 at some point. It supposedly has a stepped DACT attenuator added (as original attenuator failed). It has some very noticeable static when I turn the volume knob, especially between each notch, but goes away completely when I set it at any specific volume level. The seller specifically disclosed this before the purchase, so all is good. I can live with it, as it sounds so good with the 404LE. My question is - in the future, if I wanted to eliminate this minor flaw, is it as simple as replacing with a new quality attenuator? (I'd have to find someone locally qualified to do it). Mind you, this is not annoying enough that I need to address immediately, but assuming this KGSS works out with a 4070 and/or O2 in the future, maybe I endeavor to fix this last bit. Just curious.

congrats on on the 4070 and O2mkI! I know you've just gotten these, I but I would be keen to hear more of your comparative soundbites on the two. Unfortunately I'm at a location where I cannot trial run these in advance. What could be helpful if you could associate them crudely to commonly known dynamics, eg, 4070s sound roughly like [k1000], etc. ... if that's possible at all.

as others have said...thank you "Catch y'all on the flip side" - I love this, will co-opt this into my lexicon!

from conus list price...

sorry for having taken this thread way off track! fyi, the side comment about Barry Diament's view on ULN-8 and ULN-2, he is careful to state that he is opining on the sound of the DAC, he is not opining on it as studio tool (which he himself states is beyond what audiophiles need/use at home).

hey that's me right now, so let's see, if I divide by 3...wow the ULN-8 is actually a bargain (pretty easy to convince/trick myself to buy something new around here!)

this is digressing from original thread, but speaking of Barry Diament, he also states that the best DAC today is ULN-8, and if he can't have the ULN-8 then the ULN-2. I find that quite an endorsement of ULN-8, but even more so for ULN-2 (need to hunt down a used ULN-2 one for a second firewire based system...)