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There's a ton of that Chinesium everywhere. Some of them might be good, but I can afford to wait it out. I don't have a video camera or good DSLR (or a business case for content creation), so a shotgun mic is just a curiosity at the moment.

Cassandra Wilson, Star Jazz Singer, Dies at 70 - The New York Times "New Moon Daughter" has been a favorite of mine forever: No cause listed yet. Although the article says "peacefully, surrounded by family". RIP.

That is a hell of good story Steve - I'm massively jealous! We saw Emmy Lou in concert around 6 months ago in Birmingham Symphony Hall (UK). She's 79, and made it clear that was the last time she'd tour outside the US - because of her age she finds it difficult now on endless long hauls. She was superb - lost the clear as a bell high notes, but still absolutely awesome. Back in the late 70's and getting seriously into audio, standard albums that showed off the quality (or not!) of a system was Linda Ronstadt albums. And one of my favourite albums even now is Trio - Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmy Lou Harris - released in 1987 (nearly 40 years ago - eek). Like you said the quality of the harmony and the way their voices complemented each other raises goosebumps. They actually spent well over a decade after the TV show you remember, Steve, trying to follow up with an album. But their personal tour commitments got in the way until Trio was finally recorded.

I don’t know anyone who can keep up with the flood of entry level microphones aimed at content creators.

Carole suffered more angst than me when our kids went to college; Rob to Warwick and Liz to Essex. But the thing to remember when this happens is "Job done". You bring these little creatures into the world totally helpless, they progressively grow up - then they are adults, and quite rightly fly the nest. Now at 41 (Rob) and 37 (Liz) they both keep in touch regularly, and with each other. By phone and WhatsApp. Rob lives in the NE of England, and Liz is on the Gold Coast in Australia with a permanent residence Visa (so she can apply for citizenship). WhatsApp is a wonderful tool.

So, we finished the shelf install last weekend. Linda was in really good spirits. She was like a kid with a new toy when we finished. It made me feel great to make her happy! She then invited us into the living room for homemade lemonade. I started talking about music, and I think I through her for a loop with my knowledge of musicians and music history. I told her that the first time I'd actually seen her on TV was on Dolly's show in the 70's. I was a young teenager and Dolly had Linda and Emmylou on her show. I was amazed at their harmony! They did several old country standards and it was magical. She was surprised that I even new of that appearance, and happy to hear how much I had liked it. She then gave me the greatest gift she could ever have given me. We sat and talked about music for nearly 3 hours. She told me about meeting Emmylou first, through Grahame Parsons, then her and Emmylou meeting Dolly together. We talked about Jackson Brown, and him introducing her to Glenn Fry and Don Henley. About her telling them to form their own band. We talked about her youth and her Mariachi history. I think that she enjoyed revisiting the past as much as I enjoyed listening to it. She kept being surprised at my knowledge and set a few of the stories I'd heard straight. I had one of the best times of my life!

Fresh Air: Celebrating 100 years of jazz great John Coltrane https://www.npr.org/2026/09/01/nx-s1-5951499/celebrating-100-years-of-jazz-great-john-coltrane https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fresh-air/id214089682?i=1000787230888

The more I learn about microphones, the more I realize the depths of my ignorance - I didnt' know the Deity microphones were highly controversial with YouTubers, because I had never heard of them... https://www.silverlightphotoco.com/audio-reviews/deity-v-mic-d3-pro I think I did come across the RØDE VideoMic at some point years ago: https://medium.com/@ed_22350/i-tested-both-best-shotgun-microphones-for-video-heres-the-one-thing-everyone-gets-wrong-about-fd7fcd698448 This Audio-Technica ATV-SG1 looks decent:

The transition from Swing to Bebop

The Physics House Band, Horizons/Rapture -- math rock Giraffes? Giraffes!, Pink Magick -- math rock ...after that, back to Rick "plinky plinky" Wakeman Music on TIDALRick Wakeman solo piano albumsPlaylist - Rick Wakeman solo piano albums - 182 items

Charles Mingus - The Clown

No, neither the dealer nor Stax inquired about the amp (a @GeorgeP DIY T2). BTW, I'm in Canada, so a different service network. I can't comment on any of your service concerns.

Heavy Drops by Adam Ben Ezra (2025) https://open.qobuz.com/album/dnnz2oia5ba1a Example: Jazz that does not shy away from funk.

I don't know the situation of the US dealer, but my friend in China confirmed that the Chinese dealer offers warranty service only when you use a STAX amp, and they don't provide cross-regional warranty services. Considering STAX is theoretically a Chinese company now, maybe this goes the same for the US market.

@velomane did your dealer or stax inquire about the amp you were using? I am debating whether to go grey market or US dealer, because of what happened to my japan-purchased SR-009 just before COVID. It developed a hum on the right channnel just after two years of use, so I just shelved it. I tried contacting Stax USA last month if they can repair it, and radio silence so far. I am worried that even If I get the X9000 from a US dealer this time, I might not be able to get service from Stax USA if I use my KGSS-HV.

I have a KGSS-HV that I acquired years ago from a local builder. It has Sanyo parts and +/- 400V BHSE power supply. I started using it again last week after years of storage and it seems to be working great with my L700. Question: Does the KGSS-HV need periodic maintenance? I ask because in troubleshooting my SR-009 hum on the right channel, I read about DC offsets and balance. Are these something I should be checking periodically?

Just finished season 1 of Furious (Hulu) - very intense:

The durability issue was only my interpretation of what happened. I may be wrong. Let's wait for more results before drawing that conclusion. Still, these things make me so happy. Such a great set of cans.

Paolo Fresu and Omar Sosa’s Food Ex.

Embarrassment of riches and switching on a whim..

Thx for replying. So you mean the early batches of x9000 may have some durability issues and stax have fixed that. That's good news I think

My first pair suffered the imbalance issue within a year. The replacement pair have been solid for over three years. My dealer was astonished that Stax sent me a new pair. I chose to interpret this as meaning they knew they'd manufactured a faulty batch of headphones.