Dusty Chalk

I was close. Awesome.

Uh, hasn't Justin been at this longer than Ray? I mean, just for starters... Shill?

Actually, this makes me think it's an impedance mismatch, especially the first part. What's your gear, again?

I don't know about second-hand (taking a quick gander on eBay it looks like $400-ish), but even first-hand, I've seen them for under US$700, and that's with the bigger (20G? I think) hard drive (mine only has 3G). And yeah, I guess it's overkill for you, but I still love mine, as I use it mostly to record.

One more headphone, and you're going to need a bigger laptop.

How about 'NFB'? No, that looks too much like 'negative feedback'... I suspect a lot of 'balanced' systems out there are not fully balanced. The benefits are real, as even without the ground reference, improvements are had, as long as something else doesn't get screwed up in the process -- like putting signal on the shield instead of tying the shield to ground.

Alesis Masterlink -- should be able to be had on the very cheap -- pay no attention to the MSRP. Plus, it makes a great digital 24/96 recorder.

First of all, thank you. Secondly, yes. Finally, having a lot of black (including shiny black speakers, which -- you are correct -- show dust extremely well), I am familiar with -- and not averse to -- the issue of dusting.

5-HTP

The W5000 can actually sound good if you get a decent fit, however I found that impossible. You kind of lost me with the A950Ltd comment -- what is it that you didn't like about them? I think the Denon's would be a good choice, if you can keep them together. I do not think that the DT770 is a good choice, as much as I love them myself. I agree with the "built like a tank" comment, though. They're sort of the other end of the spectrum from the Denon's, in that regard. I've abused the snot out of my first (600 ohm) pair, and they still work fine, with zero repairs. And the only reason I got another was for the impedance. You may also want to look at the Koss Pro 4AAAT -- I just read a review of them in this issue of UHF magazine* that made them sound promising. It's also well within your budget. I intend to get a pair to try out on my mother. * It appears that the second half of the review is written in a combination of Latin and gibberish.

Finished Deadwood. I actually didn't find the ending as frustrating as I thought I might. I mean, yeah, it went out with a whimper, rather than with a bang, but the primary storyline was at least brought to a relative close. And yeah, sure, there were a bunch of things that weren't resolved, but I was like all "ARGH!!!1!..."

No, I think where I'm getting hung up is that I was probably taught by someone who was more "old school", and was more familiar with the 40-year-old technology that KG refers to in his post. I'll wander off and do some more research about the difference between balanced transmission vs. balanced drive, though. You are correct in that I could know more about that. That's pretty much what I've been trying to say, from the reverse (or "negative") perspective. I.E. we should be calling "things which are not 'bridged output'" something other than "balanced output". Do you have a term for that? 'Unbridged output'? 'Single-ended output'?

Wrong thread? Maybe? Perhaps? EDIT: Never mind, the other one appears to be in the Casino, he doesn't have access to that.

L, yeah, absolutely. The Musical Fidelity muscle amp I have is still better, but get this: the Pioneer was actually competitive with it, after the upgrades. It was surprisingly close. Pleasingly so. Even if you don't upgrade, at least get it recapped, as those caps dry out.

I want a headphone stand! Please, and thank you.

Actually, I think it looks good. Doesn't look like pretty much any other phone. I mean, for something that isn't black.

No. Here, watch, I'll say it: I have no problem being corrected when I'm wrong. Does it sound to you like I'm admitting that I'm wrong? 'Cause I'm not. First of all, thanks for dropping the personal attacks, and returning to the actual technical discussion. Secondly, we're going to have to just disagree. I mean, if you have a balanced pre going to a balanced power amp, and you have an XLR cable going between them, it's a balanced connection. If you have two sets of XLR->RCA adapters and you use single-ended interconnects, it's not a balanced connection, despite both sides being balanced. I'm not arguing against doing it that way, you'll still get some of the benefits of having the pre and the power balanced, but the terminology -- it's not a balanced connection you're making -- and its implications -- that there's a difference between the two, and if you lived in a community where everyone did it that way, one might forget that there is a proper way to do it in other contexts.

Would you want to wear a blindfold around a beautiful girl?

Withdrawn. You know, Dan, I fucking hate when people say that. How is any one of you perpetuating the argument any different from me perpetuating the argument? We just happen to be on opposing sides of the argument. You three are more guilty of perpetuating the argument than I am. You do realize, that by calling the K1000 not balanced, you're making me correct, neh? It's wired for balanced operation -- per your definition -- and yet you are the ones calling it not balanced. You guys can gang up to agree with each other, but by doing so, you jointly screw up. The only one who has come close to understanding what I had to say was KG, with his dual voice coil example. And even he will admit that it's (a) convoluted, ( the exception, not the rule, and © the closest one can come to calling a dynamic driver balanced. You guys want to call it balanced, go the fuck ahead, I won't pretend to not know what you're talking about. But don't ask me to call it that.

Whatever, I give up trying to convince you guys, but quit trying to get me to capitulate.

Yeah, that's pretty black. Actually, I have the SRS-3010 system, which consists of the SRM-310 (black) and SR-202 (also black). So of course it sounds pretty damn good. Now you're talking.

Alright, you know me -- black is beautiful. So what should my short list be? Besides the O2's, which I will be getting at some point, just because they're black. Second best? I think it's a toss-up -- until I get my customized DT880, I won't know for sure, but at some point, I'm going to go through all the options and buy one. There would still be two places that it isn't black -- the cover, and the personalizable tabs. Either that, or the Audio Technica A950Ltd. I already have that one, so I'll probably keep both.

You know, I'm just going to have to get this because it's black. I'm going to start a new thread: best black headphone. I think I already know the answer, but I'm curious what other people come up with.

Cap'n Crunch. I haven't had Cap'n Crunch in years. The roof of my mouth is bleeding.

Not as wrong as blinging up one of: HD580/600/650/HE60/HE90 -- at least they leave the top-of-the-line alone. Oh god, I hope they don't see this. Might give them ideas.