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I love and own a Yamaha FS1R. (Haven't sold it yet.) I bought it when it came out. It's a niche product, with its formant filtering engine designed to help emulate the human voice (it is the technology that led to Vocaloid software), but at the time it just sounded vaguely voice-like. My designs were to use it differently -- feed different voices into different dirt boxes, because dirt boxes respond differently depending on the shape of the input. Never followed through, to my lifelong regret. And yeah, Into Deep was my biggest entry point into the world of music of Oliver Lieb. Such a great album.

Bit of a link bait title, but I'm glad we're well clear of the lossy compression era in hi-fi CD players - I always turned skip protection off. The test album is Goldfrapp's Head First - pure synthwave ear candy. I pulled out my old Panasonic SL-S160 from 1995, plugged in the Alessandro MS-1 and inserted 2 Eneloop AA 1.2V NiMH batteries and it sounds a bit looser and not as deep in the bass with its MASH DAC (with XBS bass off - this budget player lacks skip protection), but serviceable (volume is somewhere around 2 out of 10 with its scratchy old pot and decent channel matching - 2.5+ is deafeningly loud with the Alessandro MS-1) compared to the Sony D-EJ2000 from 2002 - the SL-S160 was an excellent match for my old Sennheiser HD 320 headphones with a nominal impedance of 100 Ω back in the day. Switching back to the D-EJ2000 on 1.2V gumstick battery with the Alessandro MS-1 is a sonic revelation (perhaps not a surprise, comparing a budget player to a cutting-edge flagship). People underestimated the Sony when it was released (it came with horrible stock earbuds) - it has a much cleaner overall sound, far more separation, resolution, bass depth, soundstage, you name it - it blows the older Panasonic away in every category - you can hear things on the Sony that are completely obscured on the older player at the same volume level - younger people raised on iPods and wireless headphones have no idea what they're missing. It is like comparing a landscape in a dark fog to a bright, sunny and clear day. A few months ago, I had the opportunity to finally test a Chord Mojo 2 - I used a Toslink optical cable out of the Sony D-EJ2000 to the Mojo 2 into the Alessandro MS-1 and I heard no difference. It was both reassuring and surprising. Obviously, the source and the headphones were limiting factors, but I walked away discovering that a $150 portable CD player from 2002 can match a $650 DAC from 2022 in my informal test.

I think they are HD650 pads but they were just some I found in my stash of earpads. I had to trim off the plastic ring at the bottom and attach them with double sided adhesive but it fits nicely on there.

Nice! Are those pads DIY?

Piano Concerto No.9 In Eb Major, KV 271 - Piano Concerto No.27 in Bb Major, KV 595 by Nicola Frisardi (1995) https://album.link/bzr0znrvcphj6 Example: Checking out the Chesky releases. This has great sonics of course, and the performance is good. More romantic interpretation that I was expecting. And there is a flaw at the beginning of the third track, which is a bummer, so one blemish on an otherwise great release. I checked three different sources and it is all the same. (Edit - and I do wish it was high res)

I've been cheerfully obsessing over Oliver Lieb's music for well over 30 years now. His personal studio is the stuff of legend. OL's collection of kit goes deep, and he knows how to use all of it. OL's studio in 1993. OL's studio in the late 90s. OL's studio in the mid 00s. OL's studio in 2013. OL's studio in 2017. Oliver works as mastering engineer for other artists and his own productions are fastidiously constructed and precisely arranged in three dimensional sonic space. OL is the grand master of reverb, delay and compression. His compositions extend to the edge of the known universe. With that said, Oliver himself is very much rooted on planet earth. There are certain other visionary electronic musicians who are more than a bit out there. Geir Jenssen and Jake Stephenson are two shining examples. Both are (sadly, were in the case of Jake) capable of making music like no one else can and have a sound that is instantly recognizable. They are, to borrow a phrase from the late George Carlin, fuckin' nuts. Weirdly, both Stephenson and Jenssen made use of remarkably sparse studio setups. Jake was never hugely successful (he's far more famous in death than he was in life) and Geir is just weird. Gier Jenssen's studio, 2012. Gier Jenssen's studio, 2015. The man himself in his studio, 2017. Jake Stephen's humble bedroom setup in Glastonbury. What he was capable of doing with it boggles the mind. Compared to Jake and Geir, Oliver Lieb is (to quote my favorite malapropism by the greatest stand up comedian of the modern era, Bill Hicks) the complete realm of sanity and reason. In every interaction I've had with him online (going back to a text based internet in the late 90s), OL communicates quickly, concisely and wastes no time. No one as productive as him has time for idle chit-chat. With this said, I've noticed an uptick in Oliver's online presence recently. He's got a personal FB account (which I've been friends with since 2007. Neener.) that he doesn't use and an official artist page. That latter one has been exhibiting a flurry of activity recently. Today he posted this: In the man's own words: There is nothing quite like hearing Oliver Lieb of all people geek out about synth gear.

Son of the beach:

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Congrat on the birthday gift!

Oops! Happy belated birthday, Todd! (party favour noise)

IMG_3921.mov

Sous-Vide Halibut Fish Tacos

My sister had a great cat named Skittles. Enjoy yours!

Happy Birthday, Todd!

Looking Ahead by Ken McIntyre (1960) https://album.link/fdwvwcdwftnxp Example: New issue, originally RVG recording. Some of the hard left/right panning is hard for headphones, but works okay for speakers. And just overall lovely tunes.

^this

I bought a party pack of Feather blades years ago that will likely see me into the ground...ridiculous number of blades. Love my Feather safety razor...a lot. The quality and general weight of it is satisfying and suits me...my fine motor skills are questionable...LOL. HS

Happy birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Todd! Someone sent this to me to fucking annoy me. But I send it in gratitude....really 🤣

Happy Birthday!

Cheers Todd -- Happy Birthday!! - 😸

Happy Birthday!