Dusty Chalk

Yes, it really is. If you're going to eschew tubes, then this is the best you can do.

I will not be attending, but I would like to condone the use of my moniker for this purpose.

What? Thanks, I've been pronouncing it "oh-bee-aye" all this time.

Does anyone remember the "fuzz" fad that was on head-fi a while ago? Don't know if it's still going on, might be, for all I know. Is that the same thing (as the "sizzle" mentioned in the article)?

Apogee Duet? I should be able to try it shortly. But yes, I agree with Nate -- easily the best headphone I've ever heard with the built-in amps in most gear. And welcome to head-case, don your thick skin at the door.

There's a thread on audiogon, where a guy changed the guest quarters into a kick-ass audiophile building. He went all out, might give you some ideas. Pictures, too. And yeah, good thing you already have the RealTraps/Ethan Winer's articles. I'd also recommend his forum for questions. Although he out-and-out admitted to me that he knows very little of soundproofing...it is to his credit that he was open and honest about it.

I can hide it in the crack of my ass? No, I didn't...

OMFG, that was awesome.

Hey, I'll start paying attention to measurements as soon as they match what I hear. It's not all about distortion. I'm just not one to succumb to that, "oh, distortion is high" or "signal to noise ratio is bad", therefore "...it must be bad". What kind of distortion is it, even order harmonics, all harmonics, nonlinear? What kind of noise floor is it, dither, hum, thermal? I can tolerate quite a bit of thermal, if that is all it is. Etc. Oh, hells yes -- it's the way I (piano) roll.

You're a regular Peter Saville.

You're right, I misread this sentence (skipped the bolded part).

Gojira x 2 Grails x 1 Genesis box 3 (yeah, yeah, I broke down and did it anyway) Madeline Peyroux x 2 Timeout Drawer x 2 (more or less completes my collection) Steven Wilson x 2 Zombi x 1 Cynic x 1 The Ocean x 1 A Storm of Light x 1 Demians x 1 Lots of Deepak -influenced purchases in this batch. Thanks, Deepak!

And I don't call 25kHz rolled off. And CD's will only go up to 22kHz if you brick wall (brick wall low pass, not brick wall compression) them at that point, most will start rolling off earlier. 20kHz is a better number to quote when talking CD's, as that is where most are significantly rolled off. (And if you don't believe me, take some FFT's, yourself. While you're at it, look at the bass rolloff on most CD's -- it's atrocious -- I agree it's a mastering decision, but if you're going to criticize records for mastering decisions, then CD's can be criticized for their mastering decisions as well.) The signal has to be completely gone by 22.05kHz, otherwise you get divide-down artifacts.

As opposed to CD -- where dynamic range is epidemically bad, highs are rolled off by necessity, and bass is rolled off for no good reason whatsoever. I mean, if you're going to use overgeneralizations, that means I can, too.

Wat? Which player do you have? I've been looking for exactly that. WANT. NOW. Is that the APL 3910 in your sig?

First sentence in the second article: I'll read the entire article more thoroughly later, but from skimming it, it seems to spend more time describing vinyl than comparing it/contrasting it with CD. I have no idea how enlightening that could be.

I don't want to hear the actual frequencies, I am of the school of thought that believes even though one can't hear the actual frequencies above 20kHz, that they still affect the total signal in audible ways. And neither do I agree that the dynamic range is worse -- from my listening experience, they're about the same. Crosstalk could well be worse, but can't be by much.

Keyword: should. Also: no, technically, the upper frequency limit on vinyl is theoretically higher than that of CD. <> "more capable".

Huzzah buzzah, guzzah!

You do know that most things are priced on supply and demand, not cost of parts and markup, right? The answer is, "because they can".

You just haven't heard a well set-up system yet. Vinyl can (and should) be less rolled off than CD.

Is that a reflection, or can you see plum through the headphone jack?

Maybe you just don't "do it" for him.