Miscellaneous

Since Mike deleted the old one, I'm starting a new one. Did 80 miles today. It was the best cycling weather I've experienced since getting a bike. Absolutely perfect. I accidentally didn't get up on time (had my phone, which is my alarm, on silent and didn't know), and rushed out the door, forgetting that I didn't take the new saddle off my bike and also forgetting chamois cream. I got lucky and think this saddle is a winner. No issues at all. My butt and bits apparently like leather saddles. I road with my "team" from the Smart Ride, and this week, there were some stronger riders, so averaged 17-18 going north in the headwind, and 20-22 coming back south. Real…

I currently have an Odyssey Stratos Plus power amp which I have used for I guess going on 20 years and have been pretty satisfied with. I was thinking about upgrading it as these have gone from the Plus model to Extreme models. Klauss of Odyssey is now offering a Kismet amp. I can get my Stratos upgraded to the Kismet pcbs with a larger power supply for a fairly reasonable price. However, I ran across an opportunity to get a Mark Levinson No. 23 for around the same price as upgrading the Stratos. Reliability is a large factor in my decision. I've read a number of threads on diyaudio related to repairing Mark Levinson gear, and most of them seem to be a massive PITA t…

I've given the idea of this thread some thought on and off for years (going back at least as far as Mikhail's Bad Hair Day) but never actually made one. ADD is a hell of a drug. Also been busy with a few other things. It's not secret that there are many companies that make and sell high end audio products that look shiny, cost large sums of money and have questionable performance. (There's also products that are expensive, shiny and sound incredible, but y'all know that of course.) It's not unheard of for companies to engage in lawfare against competitors and critics they dislike. BOSE is infamously litigious. Earlier this year Tekton Audio went after critics over …

https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/27/23978507/roon-the-popular-high-end-music-streaming-system-has-been-acquired-by-samsung-subsidiary-harman https://news.samsung.com/global/harman-acquires-roon-a-popular-multi-device-multi-room-audio-technology-platform https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/harman-acquires-roon/ https://darko.audio/2023/11/harman-buys-roon/ https://twitteringmachines.com/harman-bought-roon/ https://www.whathifi.com/news/harman-acquires-roon-heres-what-that-means-for-subscribers https://news.harman.com/releases/harman-acquires-roon-a-popular-multi-device-multi-room-audio-technology-platform And the Roon side of the s…

This is an idea I've had for years. I have a lot of audio equipment and other gear (but still a tiny fraction compared to many HCers). Much of it is in less than 100% working order. Some of it is "door stop" or "paperweight" status. There are bits I'd like to get working again and things I'd do better to throw out. I am sure I am not the only one. In no particular order: HeadRoom Milllet(t) Hybrid serial #1. Pete's name misspelled on the front panel. Class A circuitry. I bought it from one HighLife 10 years ago. I strongly suspect it's got bad caps. This is among the top pieces of gear I wish to restore. It's got real history to it. Also it sou…

I've been using iPhone iterations for some years. I like the Apple ecosystem and all that, but I dislike their phones being larger and larger, those protruding camera lenses and their not having headphone jack. I think I could enjoy one of those foldable phones that fit into the front pocket of your jeans. Any experiences that you may share?

Rare AM stereo station tour at KYET (C-QUAM): Skipping to Pt. 4 at another station (WION):

Just to alert others of this as I have an alert set up for any data breach of all my accounts. I had a message that there was a possible data breach for my head case password so have changed it

https://www.stereogum.com/2184752/bob-dylan-t-bone-burnett-new-audio-format/news/ 🤔🥴

I know we have Shave-Case, but for those periods of wanting to keep hair have any suggestions for beard treatments to keep things manly soft and not bone dry? Currently using Viking Revolution Beard Conditioner and then alternating between Honest Amish Balm and Mountaineer Brand Beard Oil, but it's time to reevaluate the options. All ears.

This many buttons requires a new thread. Who's buying a Blackmagic ATEM Mini Extreme ISO? https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/news/blackmagic-atem-mini-video-switcher-goes-extreme

I am looking into getting a 360 degree camera for VR tours on campus (for hiring and recruiting grad students in the spring) and also just to play with for fun. I've been looking into the Ricoh cameras. Other suggestions are the Gopro Max but I already have a GoPro Hero 9. https://theta360.com/en/ Anyone tried any of these cameras?

Title says it all. As of 3rd December SME announced that they were no longer supplying pickup arms, and now would only provide them integrated with an SME turntable. https://sme.co.uk/2019/12/03/sme-product-announcement/ They instantly removed the entire pickup arm category from their website. Thus ends pretty much to the month 60 years and >1 million arm sales since Alastair Robertson-Aikman sold the first SME pickup arm. Of course, the new owner (Ajay Shirke) and the new MD Stuart McNeilis can do what the hell they want - but it seems to be a major strategic error to withdraw from arm sales. The entry price for the lowest cost SME package will now be t…

Hello everyone, I hope this is the right spot for this. I have recently been buying stuff at a local liquidator, because money is tight and I'm always on the lookout for good deals. I've had a relatively good experience with this liquidator, and have for instance bought three Huion USB drawing tablets for $60, which I promptly turned around and resold on eBay for $180 before shipping. So, when I saw they had listed a pair of Sennheiser HD660S headphones, I knew I had to win them. I got them for $161! I picked them up, and sure enough they were new...But the wrong model! The box, and case is all genuine Sennheiser, even the original manual for the HD660S was incl…

I know a couple of us make music as well as listen to it, so I thought I'd start a thread on it. For example, despite being a classically trained musician, I had never heard of Negative Harmony before, but now I'm all over it. Also, I found this instructive:

Qobuz streaming officially came to the US on Valentine's Day. Anyone else giving the 30 day free trial a try? Like the background text info on releases, etc., though that can get in the way as a player occasionally. Seems to have more releases per artist, though some major artists missing in comparison in Tidal, though that could be simply my preferences. Handles high resolution (24/96-24/192) differently (no MQA). Seems to dislike using the word "album."

I am planning to get Yumi a digital piano for Christmas. She has been playing since she was young (she is used to an acoustic piano). I have an old Casio PS-20 (https://www.musiciansfriend.com/keyboards-midi/casio-ps-20-88-key-digital-piano) from 2002 which does have hammer weighted action but I am sure the technology has come a long way since then. I was looking at the Yamaha Arius 163B since I have heard good things about Yamaha. I listened to both this one and the 143 and this one certainly had a better sound. Anything that might be better to look at without completely breaking the bank? Is it worth upgrading to the Yamaha Clavinova 625? https://www.…

https://www.innerfidelity.com/

Forcing Windows and Linux kernel redesign, which is expected to cause 5-30% Slowdown for all Intel chips made in last 10 years.. UNfreakingBelievable. If not fixed at OS software level, huge security risk looms. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/01/02/intel_cpu_design_flaw/

Now that I have a house with a bunch of room, I would like to get a wine/beer fridge. Thinking about getting the Wine Enthusiast 11 or 165 version fridge. Any suggestions? I would like something that is relatively quiet and lasts a while, even if it costs more. http://www.wineenthusiast.com/wine-enthusiast-classic-wine-cellar-(111-bottle).asp

Planning to start doing more hiking and biking. Looking for a multi-activity watch (wrist computer?). A bit of Googling seems to suggest the Garmin Forerunner 935 (cheaper, lighter and anecdotally better GPS performance than the Fenix 5 series). I known some of you here like Suunto as well. Any experiences to share?

Hello, Wife's birthday Friday, and I've been wanting to get her a quality point and shoot for a while. I got her a nice Nikon DSLR a while back but notice she sometimes doesn't bring it as its somewhat bulky. I'd love to get her something I know she will use more portably, take quality pics and she can do all her downloading and Facebook uploading with ease thanks for any recommendations!

So I've been going out and playing darts quite a bit lately, and I'm sick and tired of getting beaten by my fairer-sexed companions. I'm also sick of shitty house darts, and shitty boards. Since this is HC, and I have the space, I'm contemplating getting a setup for the house to practice, and have some darts to keep with me when I go out so we don't have to play with nylon nonsense. I think I've narrowed my board choices down to either the Winmau Blade 5 (60$) or Blade 5 Dual Core (better, and 85-90$.) The dart board surround, and the darts themselves, however, I'm not sure on. Anyone here throw? Have a recommendation for some mid-level darts I should conside…

My niece wants a video camera for her birthday. What should I get her? She already takes a lot of videos with her phone (has been for a couple of years) but wants something a little more professional. She originally asked for a camera but is mostly interested in videos. She's turning 15 but is pretty careful with her stuff. I assume a dedicated video camera will be much better than a DSLR? What about this? https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1109405-REG/panasonic_hc_v770_full_hd_camcorder.html

Was saddened by this news; http://powersource.post-gazette.com/powersource/companies/2017/04/11/Toshiba-unaudited-earnings-westinghouse-pittsburgh/stories/201704110113