Currawong

I told spritzer the following, via PM on Head-Fi, on July 30 this year: I didn't receive a reply. So far, Alex hasn't received any emails from either Kevin or Birgir. Why these concerns weren't first raised with Alex is really a mystery to many people. It's not that fucking hard to send an email, is it? Also, if you have a concern with Head-Fi, you can PM me too, instead of making shit up (everything so far posted is complete bullshit) and I'll explain it. The people whose posts were deleted got an explanation. If you didn't already know, I don't (and never did) get paid to moderate Head-Fi, nor do I give a shit about who is or isn't a sponsor. I don't tolerate bullshit though, but if anyone prefers shit-talking over solving the very real issues brought up in this thread, then that's your choice. I think though that, ultimately, the market for 'stats outside of Stax and Headamp is dead, however, and will be relegated to DIY efforts. I'm sure no manufacturer in their right mind will want to enter the market now, or even think about it.

I found these instead, which appear only to be slightly different: http://jp.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=531202B00000Gvirtualkey53210000virtualkey532-531202B00

I borrowed a Resonessence Invicta and tried converting some hi-res PCM to DSD to see how it sounded. I think the change in sound I heard is what people have been calling "more analogue". It was definitely less aggressive-sounding than the PCM. Mind you, the Invicta could be described as "cold" in presentation to begin with (but way better and without the hardness compared to your Benchmarks and Lavrys).

The 50mm high heat sinks (532-513202B25G) are out of stock at Mouser (at least for me). Will the 25mm be ok or will they get too hot?

The boards arrived. Thanks again! Now to find a local transformer manufacturer....

Under Armor has free shipping on all orders, including international, ending today.

I did a DAC-off between the Anedio D2 and a borrowed Resonessence Invicta (not the current version) as well as my Audio-gd Master 7, all straight out of a regular power strip rather than my PPP and fed via USB from my MacBook Air using Audirvana Plus without up-sampling. The Anedio uses USB bus power for the USB receiver, which is otherwise great. It's a bit on the thin side and straight out of a power strip is a bit forward and aggressive in the mids and the bass a bit boomy. It is far nicer with better USB power and plugged into the PPP. The Invicata (being Aussie every time I read that name I think it sounds like the name of a lawn mower) fared quite a bit better with a darker, more effortless sound giving the full sound of each instrument note, eg: drum hits had the full texture and echo in the studio. You can hear all the crazy micro detail in the Chesky binaural recordings, such as the performers shifting in their seats and the birds chirping outside, a bit of which is lost with the Anedio. It runs quite warm. The last DAC I had compared to the Invicta was the Eximus DP1 which is so engaging that it makes the Invica sound cold, even if it doesn't deliver as much detail. Other than that, compared to the Master 7 there was pretty much nothing in it, but I felt the Master 7 conveyed more emotion in each note, that is, I just wanted to sit and listen more with it than the Invicta, similarly to how the DP1 and Zana Deux have that effect, but without seeming to sound coloured.

Given how utterly lousy the conditions were, such as low light inside and a very strong rear light out and being too far for a flash to be workable, I managed to get a few decent shots at the local marine world today. Fish are JPEG basic off the camera, in "vivid" mode. Dolphins are half from the RAW. http://www.flickr.com/photos/currawong1/sets/72157634979382257/ Also, having got the shits with the stock strap, using some spare key rings I put my spare Absolute Strap on the D800. It was VERY comfortable to carry around after that! Edit: Ooer, auto-flickr slideshow!

How readily available are the transistors for that Squarewave clone? I'm guessing the power supply would be the usual Sigma 22 or the like?

This is the kind of amp Japanese people might like. Do they work fed only 100V or would they need a custom transformer?

Happy Birthday Mr Aluminium.

In the latest release it has multichannel playback on multichannel devices. Previously it was only stereo AFAIK. I'm not sure where that'd be useful, but I imagine a full 5.1 SACD rip could be played back through Audirvana to a multi-channel system.

There is Bit Perfect on the App Store too. $10, which I don't think was around when I first wrote the article. Good if you, say, want up-sampling but not DSD or multi-channel features, which I think the latest Audirvana Plus has.

Given how people lamented the passing of the 12" Powerbook and all it could do in such a small size, I reckon the 11" Air is easily its successor. I had to get a new logic board for my 17" MBP ($400) and the Air had no trouble covering for it, including handling the 36MP files from the D800 without breaking a sweat. I only had to keep a couple more apps closed than usual for best results.