Dusty Chalk

Someone should put those in a fortune file. No, wait, who would use it? Never mind.

MSB Link DAC III, yes. The previously described setup is -- SACD/DVD transport with analog outputs plugged into analog inputs of DAC, then listen to outputs of DAC. If there's no digital input to the DAC, then it plays through the analog inputs, so there's no plugging and unplugging necessary, but a small amount of deterioration due to the additional connections. That's my home system, which I hardly listen to. My work system is the 3910, pretty much. The Apollo is currently not being used. I'll probably hook it up to my speaker rig once I fix my vintage Pioneer SX-5590 receiver which blew an output. (It sounded pretty good right up until it blew the output -- had it refurbbed with black gates.)

Yes, and yes. I love my 3910. I just put 'shiny disc' in, and it plays. I don't need to think about it -- do I listen directly out of the player for SACD or high-res DVD-A, or from the DAC for redbook, or turn off upsampling for HDCD and DAD's? Shiny ==> play. The end. But hYdrociTy was talking in the digital domain. If not, one can always get an external HDCD DAC. I think someone (grawk, perhaps?) once posted a link on how to use WMP to decode HDCD's in the digital domain.

Epica, The Divine Conspiracy

The only options that exist are the Pacific Microsonics Model One and Model Two -- on the order of US$12K. These are what studios use to make the HDCD masters. They're studio quality -- studios don't necessarily get them for their HDCD capabilities -- sometimes they just get them because they're wonderful DACs and excellent digital sample rate converters. I've been tempted to try to find the standalone chip (for example, in the MSB HDCD upgrade daughter board), and trying to figure it out myself. I bet Justin could do it.

That was real interesting -- nice write-up! I'll post to this thread when I can do something that is worthy. The hard part is going to actually figure out what my favourite albums are -- I know my first two (they're a tie for first place, and have been for quite a while), but I don't know the rest. Will get back to you.

Where are you, again?

You don't know who Merton is? [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byqFeevFZYk]Harry Potter's Puppet Pals, in "Bothering Snape"[/ame] "Naked Time!"

Which one was you? I'd have been the "dad-old grizzly-type" one.

Yes. If however, like me, you enjoyed reading the books, then 'uh, no' stands.

What makes you think he isn't?

Ew.

You left off the 'm', 'primate'.

Yeah, but they just look like a poor man's Strad -- these are cute...but in a cool way.

Uh, no.

Nochnoi Dozyor was pretty faithful. But yeah, that's exactly why I hated it so much.

On the one hand, I hated the second one so bad, I'm tempted to out-and-out boycott this one. On the other, my movie-watching buddies will probably watch it, and I'll probably capitulate and watch it with them. Maybe. There are so many other good movies that I'm thinking they can do that on one of the nights that I'm not available.

That's too bad. But I wish him well. That said, when I was unemployed, I seriously considered doing custom HT installs (which would have been a complete change of vocation for me).

Why does your soundcard need to be plugged in? Get one that doesn't. There's a start. I run my M-Audio Sonica straight into my amp, it's fine. Now, I realize the M-Audio Sonica is not your solution, but what you need is one of those new quality DACs with (a) a balanced output, and ( a USB input.

Quoted for

These are so sexy. Regular: Black and less black FTW:

Yeah, nothing sticks to fries very well. They have to be fresh out of the deep fat fryer, I.E. still wet.

That's what I was trying to say. I think I should get points for interpreting the question correctly. Even if my answer wasn't as lucid. You got that right. Can you say, 'musician'?

Seconds Out is a really good place to start. If you want to start with a studio album, Trick of the Tail would be my recommendation. My favourites are Foxtrot, Nursery Cryme and Selling England by the Pound. ...Lamb... is considered their creative peak, but it would be like getting into Pink Floyd by getting The Wall -- great album, but not indicative of their spacier/space-rockier moments at all (DSOTM, Animals, WYWH, "Echoes", "One of These Days", etc.). Genesis are very accomplished songwriters, with a proggy bent, so that's what you should want to hear, methinky.