Hopstretch

Ascend 170 are very nice bookshelf speakers at $350 new. They come up on Agon for a lot less. If you're using them nearfield, a $60 Sonic Impact T-Amp from Parts Express will get you to to earbleed levels.

PS: New version of iTunes in Software Update as of now. It is said that iPhone backups feel snappier.

PS: New version of iTunes in Software Update as of now. It is said that iPhone backups feel snappier.

I have a couple of pretty banged-up CDs that knocked around in my car longer than they should have. When I re-ripped everything to ALAC recently in iTunes (with error correction), there were no problems with them at all. Still, I'm tormented by the possibility that, in theory, Max might have done a better job.

I have a couple of pretty banged-up CDs that knocked around in my car longer than they should have. When I re-ripped everything to ALAC recently in iTunes (with error correction), there were no problems with them at all. Still, I'm tormented by the possibility that, in theory, Max might have done a better job.

OK, but you eat the PayPal fees.

Worse. Holy worms.

Worse. Holy worms.

A lot of these things seem to be luck of the draw. A friend and I bought our iMacs at pretty much the same time and he had all sorts of graphics card/driver issues that never affected me, although the hardware was identical. Consequently, I concluded he was a whiny bitch.

So, will you be able to part with it?

I don't mind the keyboard. I hate, hate, hate the general lagginess introduced by the new firmware, but take comfort in the fact that it'll be fixed, eventually.

That's not a boyyyk! This is a boyyyk!

Is the implication then that iTunes itself does not do a good job of ripping CDs to a lossless format? I don't really need to hear that.

Is the implication then that iTunes itself does not do a good job of ripping CDs to a lossless format? I don't really need to hear that.

Can't come fast enough. 2.0 is a crock. I'm having to hard reset my phone about 5 times a day and that's with pretty light use.

Maybe surf's up?

Sounds like it's just the white so far. So it only affects the effeminate. (Try and say that 10 times fast!)

Is it an on-the-fly conversion? I wonder if that's a good idea, sownd kwality wise?

Is it an on-the-fly conversion? I wonder if that's a good idea, sownd kwality wise?

There's a petition you can sign online to try and get FLAC support in iTunes, much good it'll do. I'm pretty much wedded to the Mac platform, so I went the whole hog -- iTunes, ALAC, FireWire interface. Insert smug, purist assertion of inherent superiority here.

There's a petition you can sign online to try and get FLAC support in iTunes, much good it'll do. I'm pretty much wedded to the Mac platform, so I went the whole hog -- iTunes, ALAC, FireWire interface. Insert smug, purist assertion of inherent superiority here.

Yeah, I think even at the undoubtedly premium price they are going to sell a few of those stands. Probably two to me, eventually. Thanks again for all the input. I'll keep thinking about it and keep checking out the various "For Sale" forums. Maybe something will jump out at me one of these days. Just to clarify, this will be my one and only system for both headphone and speaker listening. An outbreak of small children has rendered big towers and living-room cable spaghetti a thing of the past.

Gentlemen, you can't fight in here. This is the War Room!

T-t-t-time s-s-s-suck!

Thanks for the kind offer of the loaner DAC, Tyrion, but I'm sorted on that front with the Duet. I may yet go for the Headroom stands, for aesthetic rather than ego reasons, though. As far as speakers go, I remember reading something by Ethan Winer -- the guy who runs Real Traps -- that compared acoustic measurements of a bunch of pro audio and consumer monitors. He found differences mainly between 2kHz and 4kHz, which is a primary source of perceived treble harshness. The home gear generally had pronounced (presumably intentional) dips in this range, while the pro gear (not surprisingly) tended to be flatter. Even within the different groups, though, there was considerable variation. Dynaudio's pro monitors, for example, were down over 10dB at 3.5kHz, probably why they are almost invariably described as "smooth." As usual, it all comes down to personal preference in the end. I'm still trying to nail mine down.