catscratch

The new Orpheus is what, $55k? That's a full 10% better. I'll take one of those. And a BHSE/Carbon/Stax rig? Please. That's, like, what, conceivably $10k max? This is at least 5 times better, lmao... I'm going back to the summit-fi forum... plebs.

Tyll is the last person I'd accuse of selling out. He's one of the few reviewers I read and listen to. Having said that, I often don't hear things the way he does. But that's fine. Use honest, educated opinions like Tyll's, use your own ears, use whatever metrics and science you know, and put all of that together to guess if something is for you or not. Changing your mind in this hobby is a pain in the ass. The internet remembers everything you say and nobody realizes that the situation in the real world always changes. So if you say A and a few years later you say B, people will assume you either sold out or have no idea what you're talking about, when in truth you're just being honest about things as you see them at the moment. It's one of the reasons why I don't post about headphones much anymore. But then again I have nothing to post anyway, though 10 years ago, that didn't stop me.

At the risk of turning this into a shitstorm, I'll say that there is some merit in fighting the good fight at HF. Its size and visibility makes it a source that a lot of people turn to first, and not having knowledgeable folks on HF that can speak with the voice of reason does others a disservice even if they don't realize it. However, don't take this as me pointing the accusatory finger and saying "why aren't you helping." I certainly gave up on it years ago (not that I had much to add in the first place), and if you don't want to, well, fuck 'em. Unfortunately...

I have no idea why I don't play Elite considering how much I played the Wing Commander and Privateer games back in the day. Someday I'll get into it I'm sure. NMS is a paper-thin gaming experience but the tech behind it is fascinating and will probably be a landmark moment in games. I'm sure a lot of developers are looking at it and thinking "what else can I do with this." Also Starbound finally left early access and I recommend it. It's a very polished experience now and is quite good for someone looking to get into the Minecraft/Terraria style of games but is put off by the sheer complexity inherent to the genre. Now Starbound isn't really less complex, but it is a more guided experience that tells you what to do, whereas Terraria is truly obtuse to newcomers. At the end of the day, Terraria is still a better game IMO but Starbound has better combat mechanics and more of a focus on exploration.

I haven't dealt with them recently, but I have had a lot of dealings with Kaneda in the past and he's always been a stand-up guy. I hope once he's back on his feet he'll get his business sorted out.

So it's true, No Man's Sky is a shitty PC port. Playable, but only just. The frame rate isn't great, the game seems to pause and stutter on object load, the pop-in is bad, and the interface is not intuitive. There seems to be really bad mouse smoothing, mouse sensitivity options don't work as advertised and the FOV, while thankfully adjustable, doesn't seem to be as high as indicated. 100 indicated feels like 90 at most. But I can live with 90. The game is more or less right up my alley, endless wandering around in procedurally generated environments occasionally saying, "wow, cool!" The combat, such as it is, is laughable and the amount of actual stuff in the game so far is quite low. But it feels like the foundation is there for a really great game. Think Terraria 1.0, which means that I can't wait for 1.1 and up. But, there's a lot of technical issues on PC to be fixed first. You can tell the team is new to the whole PC thing, when they were showing off their own game they were playing it internally with a controller. So the clueless PC interface is understandable, as are the technical problems. They seem to be listening though, and hopefully they'll learn. So far they did something HIGHLY ambitious for a small team and mostly pulled it off - however they oversold it as the game to beat all games, makes sliced bread look last century, etc. It's certainly not all that. In terms of combat mechanics, story, npc interaction, etc it's all very simplistic at best. It's more of a slow, meditative discovery simulator with a bit of Minecraft. If you run through it looking for cool fights or scripted events to do, you'll be bored. But if, like me, you loved wandering around aimlessly in an Elder Scrolls game going "wow" at the pretty pictures, this game gives you an endless stream of that, and occasionally some bits of crafting and resource gathering to do, with combat mostly as a nuisance. I'd say wait on this one unless the description sounds exactly like your jam. Then try it out but be prepared for some PC port issues on the side. On the PS4 it's more stable and more optimized, however you will be dealing with 70 fov (supposedly, feels like less), 30 fps and aiming with a controller. None of that is acceptable for me but if you don't mind it, it seems to be the better running version at the moment.

Makes sense. They probably would have fired him anyway. Chris Harris can definitely take the reigns, the question is if the BBC is willing to drop its bet on starpower and take the risk that a show led by a virtual unknown (popularity among us internet dorks doesn't count) can bring in the ratings. It's more likely now, especially since most reviews pointed him out as being one of the few positive aspects of the new show. We'll see.

Cheers Birgir. Wish you all the best. Will lift a tankard in your honor in a few.

Cheers Milos. Always insightful reading your posts, wish you all the best.

Just be careful when doing this, because I had a pair that had the same issue, and when I tried to take it apart, the dust cover came off one of the drivers, and when that happens, they'll probably squeal from then on, unless you do it in a dust-proof cleanroom.

The main issue I had with my 007 mk1, which was either a 70xxx or 71xxx, don't remember, was the intermittency that eventually developed in one side, and is a known problem with insufficient strain relief around the cable attachment. So asking if either channel is ever intermittent would be #1, and I would also ask what the age of the pads is, as the foam can deteriorate pretty quickly. Otherwise, they're pretty robust afaik. My Mk 2.9 007A has a SZ2 serial number. It is a bit brighter than the Mk1 and is notably more dynamic but also not quite as smooth. FWIW I like it a lot...

Fun fact: it's 4 am and I just finished digging. I started at 10 am yesterday. Man, I really need to get in better shape, and not having a bad back would help a lot. Also, I need a snowblower that actually works instead of one that makes me spend ours figuring out why it chokes on anything but a few inches of powder. Yup, I had a blower AND it took me 16 hours, because I'm that useless. We got about 2 feet, but in some places it was piled up more like 4. Either way, it's done now. Hope you all fared better.

Well over a foot here and it's still going. The winds have died down though. Power's still on (knock on wood). The snow's piled up higher than the laundry room window outside. Tomorrow's gonna be fun, in a "not" kind of way.

I went to 4 photo workshops with Phil. He's a great guy and a real character. Definitely try a workshop with him if you're into that sort of thing. I did try my hand at this shot, but the conditions weren't ideal, and, well, I'm not Phil Hawkins.

I hear a bit of the honk as well, with the 007a and 717. It's mostly a great combo, dynamic enough and not dark, but the mids aren't perfect. I gotta be honest, I've become a huge fan of the HD650 and the way it does mids and highs in particular. But when you're used to the effortless resolution of high-end 'stats the 650 just isn't technically competent enough. Which does leave me wondering if there's something that gives the best of both. The 007 Mk1 is probably the closest in terms of tonality and detail but it has its own problems, mainly with not being dynamic and impactful enough. All the talk of brightness in the 009 has turned me off of the idea (and the price-tag even more so), but I wonder if I'll ever hear a system that has everything I want. In either case, I'm reasonably happy with what I have and there's plenty of room for better amps and sources.

Chris Harris is the best automotive journalist on youtube. Though credit also has to go to his cameraman, Neil Carey, as he puts out some terrific work. Together the two of them have produced stuff that I've consistently liked more than Top Gear lately, so inviting Chris is the natural, logical choice. Considering that he hasn't been doing that well since he left Drive, it's also only logical that he accepted. I'm not sure about Sabine, and word round the campfire is that David Coulthard will also be joining them. Either way, that's a pretty good lineup of presenters. I would have loved to see Rowan Atkinson but the BBC probably can't afford to pay him. Now here's to hoping that the BBC's managerial clusterfuck doesn't tighten the leash too much and make them copy the old TG formula verbatim.

I've ranted about this before, but I think the scandal will go well past VW. Cheating on these sorts of tests is pretty common, and manufacturers sending tuned cars to the press so they perform better, or cars with non-stock tires so they grip better, is hardly unusual these days (or has hardly been unusual ever). EPA themselves are responsible for this in part, since their tests aren't very representative of real-world use either. At the end of this, EPA testing methodology will have to change, and manufacturers will either have to be more honest in designing cars to meet regulations (unlikely), lobby for less restrictive regulations, be more devious about circumventing them, or just play the dinosaur strategy and wait until the whole bloody thing blows over. Either way, the surprise here is not as much about VW being lying cheats but more about fairly commonplace manufacturer dishonesty finally coming into light. All IMO of course. Remember the time when all high-performance Japanese cars had exactly 276 horsepower? Yeah...

Looks like they're pricing it firmly as a luxury product. Kind of a shame, as at that price it's completely irrelevant to most people. I wonder if they're going to do a reasonably priced electrostatic like the HE60, but then given today's pricing "reasonably priced" might mean 5k or so. Either way, I was hoping for more electrostatics in the hobby, not for something that for most is a headphone equivalent of a supercar poster on a wall.

Already have a thread for it. I already flipped out over the idiotic price. Though I guess it's inline with what everyone else is doing. What I'm wondering about is what someone on head-fi mentioned - how are these going to handle the abuse that regularly comes with a pair of IEMs? I'm far from gentle with mine, and sweat, dust, impacts, being in a pocket somewhere, and generally being used on the move is not something that I see a very fragile electrostatic driver enduring for long. I do admit that I'm tempted by an electrostatic IEM, but probably not for $3k, and probably not from Shure, given that I pretty much hated most of their IEMs that I've heard. Treble spikes the size of the Himalayas aren't really my thing... could be the fit, of course.

Utterly ridiculous price, kind of insulting for people that actually waited for an electrostatic alternative to the SR-001 that didn't have the ergonomic compromises. But the technology sounds fascinating, and it will be interesting to see where this goes. Jude's reviews are basically product announcements and should be treated as such.

I would like a Lambda that doesn't suck, mainly for more casual listening than the 007. The 007 is great but the finnicky fit and comfort aren't ideal. If I can get a Lambda that isn't brighter than a bus full of MIT students and still has that airy open thing going on that would be great. Also provided it doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

Whoever posted over there that the look seems to be catering to the New Russian demographic is probably onto something. The price, if indeed that's what it is, is absurd. This is Sennheiser saying "look at how prestigious we are" and not "hey let's finally release a headphone you've all been waiting for." But then I guess that's what the original HE90 was too, if maybe slightly less insane. Parallels to the speaker market indeed. I don't want to see the headphone hobby pushing out everyday enthusiasts just because it can.

This sucks. Hope you get well and everything works out!

If they were really getting smart, they'd normalize prices across regions, or at the very least make them more fair, and make sure their regional distibutors are at least competent. I get that they're a small company and all but when dealing with you is a pain, you're hurting your business regardless of what you do. Sure they have to cover distribution costs, but they need to understand the importance of customer good will. Would be nice if we could source 009 pads regardless. Though maybe public forums aren't a place to disclose where.

Picked up a new 007A off PJ. Birgir doesn't lie, it's a good one. Next to the Mk1 it's kinda like a young whiskey next to an aged whiskey, not quite as refined or mild mannered but with more punch and bite. The highs seem more present, the mids are close to the Mk1 if not quite as lush, and the dynamics seem a bit improved if anything, though maybe it's the highs. I haven't done the bass port mod so I can't comment on the bass, save that in stock form it's a tad uneven but quite good already. It's a keeper. Maybe if I completely lose my mind I'll get a 009 and compare, but for now I'm talking myself out of it. Now I just need to fix up the Mk1.