Audio Accessories

Can someone provide a comparison between the Grado Flats vs. the Sennheiser HD-414 flats in terms of sound? Thanks in advance.

Picked up a "Snap 'N Stack" cookie & cupcake carrier at Costco this afternoon for $18.99 CAD here in Canada. It makes an excellent headphone storage carrier for all you Grado fanboys. Simply swap out the inner cupcake trays with the foam inserts from your Grado boxes. It's a perfect fit!

While reading the new July issue of Stereophile, I came across a good article on HDMI cables. The article is mostly about the cables one achilles heal... light clamping force. The article goes on to state that the problem is not just aggravating, but can lead to cable and or socket failure. If the cable connection is dislodged too many times it can cause the cable or socket to fail permanently. They go on to give a few cable solutions, namely cables with a tighter clamping force, cables with a PC type screw connector, and finally a clamp system for use on any HDMI cable. The latter is the solution that most interested me, since I will soon be putting my A/V system t…

I was recently at BestBuy looking to purchase some new audio equipment and came across "Headphone amplifiers." I had to do some research about what exactly they are and came across this post- link removed I'm just curious about what constitutes a good headphone amp and should I purchase one. Thanks ya'll.

This cable has great tonal balance, outstanding depth and sounds way better than stock or higher-grade USB cables Music Lovers - News - Transparent Audio Introduces High-Performance USB Cable - San Francisco Home Theater, High End Audio & Video, Custom Installations, HiFi, Stereos As a bonus this over priced piece of high end audio nonsense comes complete with the requisite glowing recommendation from Art Dudley, one of the high end gods, on pages 43 & 45 of the January 2010 edition of "Stereophile". Unfortunately hip waders are NOT included.

I've been looking for a decent multi-way speaker switch. Something with at least a half substantial casing, binding post terminals instead of screw clamps or spring clips. Good internal construction too. Its so that I can easily switch between the AMT, the H2 and my speakers rather than having to duck behind the rack and change plugs around. QED make a few boxes, but they look cheap and plasticy and use screw clamps, theres also some even crappier looking products on eBay and Maplin. Anyone have any suggestions?

So I'm listening to a record, and on a whim I plugged up my Grado 15ft extension cable to give my RS-1 a little room to move (damn Grado stock cable is too damn short damn it). At the end of the side, I stand up to flip the record, and notice a buzzing noise coming through the headphones that was previously undetectable when the music was playing. I unplugged the Grado extension cable (because I've always been suspicious of it) and just plugged my headphones straight into the amp. The buzz goes away completely! My question: how can a cable be so crappy that it actually introduces noise into the system?

I have a ton of DIY parts, cables, old iPods, accessories, etc., as I'm sure most of us do. Living in an apartment means little storage space. I have those big clear Rubbermaid bins and the little parts cases, but it's still sort of unwieldy. I want something perfect. How do you store your crap? Any recommendations?

I don't have enough experience to answer, but I'm curious to see what others think. Let's keep this friendly...who am I kidding (I will be setting up a double blind cable test to see how I do, right now I'm trying to find a Nordost Blue Heaven RCA cable to pit against a cheap Monster IC)

Take a look at this. I'd pay $20 with ship. I don't think I want to pay more than a third of what I paid for my SR60 but I sorely need one before the padding gets shredded from putting it in my backpack. If you know of something else, point me the way.

I have a few long road trips coming up and while I enjoy listening to the radio I don't particularly care for the idea of having to find new channels every few hours. Cd player in the car only takes 1 cd and I don't have an Aux input. I have an iphone 4 and my road trip companion has an ipod touch (not sure which generation) that i would like to use to play music on but hear it through the car speakers. Never really looked much into it but I don't imagine using it much outside of road trips so don't want to spend enormous amounts of money on it. Road trip is on the 24th so would need to have in house by the 23rd preferably. +1 for Amazon prime. Any suggestions for…

So basically desk space is getting to be a problem. I realized that when I have my monitor on top of my CDP, it does deaden the music a bit to my ears, so now it is in the back corner of the desk on top of some old books and it is hard to read. So I want to get some kind of floor standing rack to accommodate a 17" wide, 12" deep cdp, a PPX3, a future amp, and possibly, if I can get a stable enough stand, room at the top for my TT (17"w, 13"d). Anyone have any good recommendations for component stands on the cheap? I was thinking of going with Boltz since I enjoy my CD rack, and they would match, but goddamnit I don't want to pay $600 for a component stand. I'm hoping …

Anyone know of such a device? Or should I DIY one? And should I do it in digital or analog?

roll up, roll up, buy an expensive empty box.. https://shop.mcintoshlabs.com/products/lb200-light-box

Looks like I'll be getting a new source (Modwright Sony 999es), and as such I need some longer ICs to run from the source to my PPX3. I'm thinking in the length of 5-6feet, from one side of my desk to the other. I've used Blue Jeans Cables before and they are fine, but I was wondering if there are any other ICs worth checking out in that range. Just give me a couple names and I'll do some research. The world of IC's is dense and scary. Here is a pic of my listening area to better give you an idea of what I'm doing:

Anyone know what's going on here? In an ad over there and from the Take T group. Super-tweeter applied to face. Site, PDF "We call the sound that the ear is naturally drawned to the sound even if we are not looking for is 'entranced sound'." "Vocal of both the man and the woman becomes be sexy."

Has anyone any experience with Virtual Dynamics cables other than looking at the price and getting turned off?

I had more or less gotten out of the cable game the past few years, as it didn't seem to me to be a cost effective area to get into. I am using old interconnects... Audioquest Turquoise mainly, though I have a couple of pairs of AQ Ruby and 2 pairs of HGA Super Silvers (their first IC) which I am not currently using. I started toying with perhaps looking at something more modern... Grovers maybe? It could be DIY also... VH Audio Silver (but these appear to run ~$120 for a 1M pair, and up depending upon RCA chosen). If I went into this, it would have to be something inexpensive (<$100 per 1M pair preferred... I know that will elicit some ). I noticed a pair of G…

http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/cables/messages/117389.html gee this guy's rig probably sounds pretty weird. i thought mike wolff's cables are already borderline 'warm'.

So I don't use my setup at home nearly as much as I'd like, so I'm selling off that shit. I've decided to go back to using a portable setup exclusively for both home and library use. My 3rd gen 10 gig iPod is still running strong (after battery transplant), so I'm looking for opinions on iPod line out docks. I don't particularly have the time to make my own (or to learn how to for that matter) and I don't want to spend a shit load of money, because I'd rather spend it on food and tuition. I was thinking about getting one of Alex's, but I just don't think I can dish out the $70 for one right now. Any suggestions or anyone want to make me one? While we're at it, anyone k…

Looking to up the ante on isolation for my Technics 1210 turntable. Anyone have thoughts on this: AudiogoN ForSale: edenSound MyrtleMat I was thinking to put some sort of vibration absorbing feet under the above platform, and then spike cones under the turntable. Open to thoughts and comments. Cheers Pete

JBL MS-2 pocket digital processor Any thoughts? Would this thing have any practical use in a headphone rig? Oh, and how awful is this promotional video?

http://www.kabusa.com/wirewin.htm I know a few DIY folks around here are fans of the Mogami cables. While browsing the KAB site I saw this. Not sure how long he has been doing it, but it looks like good cables at a good price, if all of one's DIY friends are busy with other projects. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I was browsing diyparadise.com today and found this: diyparadise - all about volume control... Is there a reason it should sound good?

What do you people use? And no.. beer bottles aren't legit..