Miscellaneous

I am think of getting a small handheld camcorder but don't know what to look for. I assume a bigger sensor is better for low light and you want a decent mic, optical zoom, and decent battery life. That's about all I know. I have read that midrange ($300-$600) is the sweet spot for someone like me. I'm just going to use it for the usual recording friends, family, etc. I was thinking of something like http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00AW54Z4K/thewire06-20 or http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00AWZFJ22/thewire06-20 or http://www.amazon.com/Sony-HDR-CX380-Definition-Handycam-Camcorder/dp/B00AR95FRM/ref=dp_ob_title_ce or maybe something even cheaper http…

Having bought many numerous sources, amps, headphones, speakers .... you name it. I wondered what are the purchases you got for especially good prices .... or that you are just bowled over by the price performance ratio. This can be new or used gear. I am 50 and have been buying audio gear for 35 years now so my list might be a little longer than most. To start the conversation off .... I am still shocked how good the little modded grado sr-80's Reks gave me sound. Thanks again Reks! The senn 595/120 ohm headphones that most people ignored continue to rival my favorite senn 600's .... and these cost me $110 shipped/ used. This is my favorite heaphone with the amps…

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Hello. I'm new to this forum & wanted to say hi. Well, as the title of the thread asks, does anyone know of any good audiophile stores in the Philippines (Manila specifically)? I will be going there next week, so I thought I might have the opportunity to check out some cool gear while I'm there - stuff that might not be released in the US or stuff that I could find at a really good price. Any suggestions or pointers would be great! Thanks in advance!

I've decided that I need something that offers a little more functionality than my ~10 year old Motorola Razer. I'm going to head down to Cable & Wireless (the local phone company) store and buy something today. Hopefully, it will have a lot of buttons on it, a fancy screen, and the ability to BBM. Until today, I didn't know what the hell BBM was, or even that there was such a thing. But someone texted me and asked me if I can BBM her, so I Googled it, and have now come to the conclusion that I need to get with the program. She told me that I couldn't do this with an iPhone, so now I'm sold. Don't know on what, or why, precisely. But I'm sold. Will repor…

I thought we were having some light hearted fun in the "Is this the anti head-fi forum or what?" thread, only to see it locked very quickly. Maybe it's just me, but I didn't get any kind of malicious sense from those last several posts, just some fun loving, lighthearted ribbing. I noticed the same thing in another thread recently. Are we jumping the gun too early and censoring like the other site? Just my own viewpoint.

In the process of buying a property, my credit report was pulled with much lower score than previous. It was due to some %$#@ opening a credit card with my identity, defaulting on the bill, which went into collection. I never knew any of it because the address they sent their letters was different than mine. I asked the credit card CS on the phone how could someone so easily open a credit card under someone else's identity, and he said "It is easy." Damn, if it's so easy, why don't credit card companies do a better job of screening applicants for fraud Now all my real estate actions are on hold, and I am supposed to call their Identity Theft department when…

I'll probably be ordering some wooden LP racks from http://www.tonyswoodshop.com/. They are half the price of TTVJ's maple LP racks. Tony offers oak or cherry (or mixed hardwood) racks. Is there any structural reason I should choose one wood over the other, or is this purely a cosmetic choice? And if it is purely cosmetic, which wood do you think is prettier?

Hey folks, I find myself in need of a couple of webcams now that my relationship will be long distance for the next 9 months (one for me, one for the gf). I simply don't know very much about webcams and am not looking for anything out of the ordinary but I was still hoping someone could share an experience or two just to give me an idea. The cams won't be used for anything beyond basic web chatting (gchat and skype probably). Need sound for both as well, but I assume that comes standard with most. Budget is probably no more than $50 per webcam. Here's one that intrigued me earlier today. Thanks much for any/all help.

I've run into the need for some sort of shipping account a few times in the past, and recently ran into this again. Is this something that's hard to setup, or perhaps not worthwhile for occasional use? If I were to find someone that had an account I could use, is there any sort of authorization, or do you just give the shipping party the number and an address and the package shows up and the account is charged? Seems like that could be abused pretty readily. Anyways, if anyone might be able to help with an account number, PM me Otherwise, I'm trying to talk the vendor out of this requirement or seeing what it takes to set one up on my own. Thanks!

Any good ones to recommend for a ground floor bedroom? Thanks.

I don't know what KG has to say, but I've had the chance to carry a DBT at my place using cryoed and uncryoed tubes on my speaker amp, and I spotted them with 0 errors . This doesn't mean the cryoed were better. They weren't. Cryoing was clearly an awful thing on power tubes. On caps I also noticed clear differences, but for obvious reasons it was impossible to carry a proper DBT. Probably some parts change more undergoing cryoing than others. Not sure the plastic sheet on an electrostatic HP would change a wee bit.

Interesting item for sale found on Ken Rockwell's pages... of all places. Some cool pictures included in this .pdf http://www.kenrockwe...ube-factory.pdf Quote from the page... "My buddy who founded and owned Groove Tubes retired, and had bought all the original GE production equipment used for certain kinds of audio vacuum tubes. If you'd like to bring tube production back to the USA (or anywhere else), here's your chance to do it, with the original equipment! Interested? Phone or email Raffie at Industrial Odds & Ends at (818) 253-5692."

I've just finished recording all of our old family VHS tapes to the computer and now have about 90 gigs of video which I need to (mainly) trim bits (blanks and tv show popups) from and to make into chapters for putting onto DVDs. Windows XP had that crappy movie maker thing but Windows 7 doesn't seem to have it. I was wondering if anyone had a recommendation for a (free) bit of software which can do what I'm after. The videos are all recorded to MPEG-2.

few weeks ago I heard noise on one channel of my headphones. took CD player off that circuit and that furman surge protector. I now have the CD player going to my receiver via sony h.a.t.s, so its just digital out and not using the analogue stage headphone amp in the player. Its on a different circuit and surge protector. I can hear noise on one speaker like I heard with the headphones. I'm thinking this is something with the player, but maybe both circuits just suck that bad, it is an old house and the circuits share lots of items. Anyone know if AC noise can manifest itself in only one channel? I'm kind of planning to buy new gear this year anyway, but it…

So I've got tons of SHN files. Its easy enough to convert them to FLAC, but I've really got lots. It'd be nice to be able to listen to them first so I can then convert them straight to WAV to burn to CD, rather then having to convert them to FLAC first only to find out its a shitty tape. Yeah I'm lazy, but if I wanted to work I'd go to work. I've searched for a SHN plugin for foobar, and though I've read about it lots and have found plenty of links claiming to lead to it, all of them are dead. If a SHN plugin can't be found, can anyone recommend a free player with a working SHN plugin or native SHN capability I could download. Thanks.

Kinda useful, especially if you EQ... http://ow.ly/1sEFRQ or http://www.independentrecording.net/irn/resources/freqchart/main_display.htm

I currently have the Motorola H700. It is truly a piece of shit. I need to get a new headset, as I tend to be on a lot of calls during my commute. The #1 requirement is sound quality on my end and the listener's end. #2 is that it needs to be comfortable. Otherwise it doesn't need a lot of bells and whistles. I've read some decent things about the Jawbone 2, but it is expensive with some drawbacks, but if the sound and comfort are far superior to anything else then so be it. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Having problems with the search function so apologies if this has already been dealt with. I'm quite enarmored with PC as source due to its convenience but wondering about possible ways to get data from a PC to a DAC. For instance I have a Havana DAC that I've compared using direct USB input vs RCA from an EMU1212m soundcard and preferred the USB by quite a bit even though it's regarded as a lesser method. It just didn't sound as detailed or tonally correct via the RCA socket. So, for an older style DAC with BNC input (like an Assemblage 2.0 for instance) I was wondering whether anyone has any thoughts beyond just connecting up the EMU1212m via a BNC cable and RC…

Does anyone know how many headphones are sold each year and of those how many are purchased by the airlines for distribution and sale to passengers? Headsup

As posted in another thread, the coverage offered by AT&T in Manhattan (especially lower Manhattan) is laughable. My iPhone will continue to suffice for personal email and stupid apps, but now I need something that will actually work as a phone. I was considering a blackberry, as I have grown accustomed to them and find them excellent. However, I don't really want to pay for the data plan, and I won't have corporate support for email, so that seems to be a waste. So I'm thinking that I need one of them smart phones? I'd like something that is a solid phone, and ideally with a keyboard so I can text without learning to type on a numeric keypad like a teenage g…

Hi all, Did some searching, not really finding definitive opinions/answers for good photo printing sites. We got a DVD of pictures (hi-rez JPG) back for our son's Bar-Mitzvah, with the rights to print for our personal use....we wanted to make a nice album. We'll also investigate specialty photography stores locally, but wondered if anyoine can recommend decent online services. We've used Snapfish and Mpix, and have seen other work from Shutterfly. So-so impressed...... Any thoughts or recommendations? Or would a local place really be our best bet? Thanks, Todd.

Perhaps I'm too trusting of the human kind. I had an ad on Craigslist for a camera, and this guy called and wanted to a trade with his lens plus cash on my part. He says he is coming from about about an hour and half away and wants me to meet him half-way at a Starbuck's. Sounded reasonable, so I agreed. Drove 45 min to this Starbuck's and sat on my ass for 15 min, 30 min, 45 min, and finally had to leave after an hour. Apparently the guy called me from some sort of internet phone/google voice, etc because the phone number rings and goes into a beep. Messages come back "invalid." The e-mail address I got out of the guy comes back "Delivery failed." Wow, the…

MIT gets a present. http://ow.ly/1sLw73

Seeking some advice here. I traded some of my stuff for Symphonic line RG2 Preamp. It's in OK condition and sounds good, but shiny steel front plate and body are covered in patina. What can I use to clean it to restore to it's shinny condition. It should look like this: It's also missing two screws from the back plate that hold two RCA jacks to the back panel. Do you guys now a good store to order various crews. These amps are made in Germany so all the screws are hex.