Beefy

Glass dildo?

The 6-pin variant is even more fun I removed all of the outer pins, did the centre pin first, and made sure for the outside pins that all the wires were actually towards the outside. I used 22AWG Belden wire and a decent length of heatshrink, and it ended up a nice clean job, and very secure.

No snow forecast here, but the wind is bitterly cold...... -26C with wind chill

Facets has come with the last few releases of foobar by default. It definitely still works. Addition of themes has improved the ease of the UI even more.

PRP maybe?

I'm proud to say that I have no idea what you are talking about, because I have never played a MMORPG

Foobar is a hell of a lot easier once you discover 'Facets'

Of all the amusement I could get from that...... you gotta love the divorce rate in Nevada

Thanks. I think I'll just stay in New Orleans then

Well I am definitely missing friends and family. But no, I'm probably just an arsehole.

Damn Frenchies! [EDIT] O/T..... would May be a nice time of year to visit Montreal? I am probably stopping-over on the way back from a conference in the US, and might consider making it a holiday......

If he's a nice guy IRL, that's fine. But honestly, go through his posts here - douchebaggery at its finest. And I feel confident saying that, even considering how much of a douche many now think I am (or always thought I was).

Well I don't know how it sounds with Grados specifically, but I use the MiniMax/y2 combo as my work rig and it is pretty damn good with the ESW9. I don't really notice the handful of MP3s amongst my FLACs while I'm working, so it really depends on how you listen.

Wait for the DAC, then listen to your new setup - and nothing else - for about a week. Then go back to your current crappy player and earbuds. It will give you a better perspective once you are fully adjusted to how it is supposed to sound.

My Buffalo is still better than anything else I have listened to, but like the other kids I certainly haven't listened to anything that could qualify as a holy grail either. I guess that helps diddly squat, really.

...... and I'm the condescending one with the chip on their shoulder? I know you don't like me, but I think you're taking it a bit far.

Computer as source just seems to be one of those areas where audiophiles give up. I just can't see or understand why the majority don't put the same effort into this as they do to everything else. Pompon's first post got me started, because pompon is a douche. Anybody else, and I probably wouldn't have even bothered. For those that do put the effort in, and genuinely prefer Amarra or *whatever*, I really have no problem. It is just impossible to tell which camp people are falling into.

The problem is, nobody in this thread has given a decent reference point for their comparison. This is what I snapped at randerson for: The Amarra makes a big difference in my system. The iMac and Ayre QB-9 are good by themselves, but the Amarra makes it truly musical. Compared to what? There is no stringency in the comparison. Its a valid question to ask.

Honestly, I'm happy you've got a solution you're comfortable with. In your particular situation I can genuinely see a need for going with the fastest and easiest option. But do I think you should try and learn a bit more about computer as source when you have more time? Yes, absolutely.

The lowly PC was intended as sarcasm. I don't consider it lowly at all, and I intend to stick with a PC/Windows regardless - that is just what I have used and always used. I don't think I have a chip on my shoulder, but I can see how it comes across like that. I just get rather frustrated because computer audio is one of those areas that seems to escape the rigor normally covered by healthy skepticism - or even audiophile skepticism. As I said earlier, people are happy to spend hours upon hours testing comparing cables, DACs, amps, and finding millimeter perfect positioning of phones on the head. But then when it comes to computer audio they throw their hands up in defeat before even starting. The default position is frequently that everything sucks, and the only way around it for many is expensive snakeoil. There are alternatives, they are cheap, and they take very little time.

You don't need coffee, I think you have it pretty well nailed I don't deny that different software, or poorly setup software, can have different results. But keep in mind that we keep getting derailed from my original point that there is no inherent difference between a MAC and a PC for audio playback. Deepak posted about Amarra, which I took as a suggestion that MAC is somehow still superior. I strongly disagree, because I believe that properly set up software on any O/S can have the same effect as Amarra on a MAC. Bit perfect, well buffered, low latency is all good. My thoughts about spending money for it were made pretty clear in my post right after Deepak's, and I'll state it again here - I think it is retarded, because it isn't exactly difficult and there are plenty of free or less expensive solutions. If anybody takes that as condescending, then they can take a spoonful of concrete and harden the hell up. I'm not going to get concerned if people criticise me for being too poor to buy Amarra and a MAC, such that I have to look for free solutions on a lowly PC......

Oh please. How much valuable time do most of us 'waste' buying/building/testing/selling gear already...... but a few minutes to set up your audio playback software properly is too much time to bear?

I'm not denying that people could like it. I am just skeptical of what it actually does, and whether something free would have the same effect...... if set up 'properly'.

The new smilies suck

How the fuck does that happen? Meh, the only Cirque production I have seen was Allegria, and it was pretty boring. Too much pretentious arty crap for this philistine. Glad at least half of yours was good though