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Bought! This is the last damn audio thing I'm buying for a very long time. This is the final DAC, mark my words.

so true *edit* it occurred to me I've been slacking on some of the ap series / shm sacd stuff. Just ordered 40 more.

I was driving through Lloydminster AB today, and called the company that made one of my drumsets, because I'm missing a piece of hardware and they're based around there, so I thought I might try stopping by the factory and seeing if they had my missing piece. There was no answer, so I just kept driving as it was another 10 hours before I'd get home. About half an hour later, I notice that my phone, which was in silent mode for some reason, had taken a call from Canwood Percussion. Fred Pepper, the founder and master drum-maker of the company, had left a message saying sorry he missed my call. So I called him back and we had a very pleasant chat, mostly about the weather. He didn't have my piece of hardware, because he hasn't been able to source that particular piece for 20 years. He seemed like a very cool, down-to-earth guy, and he told me to stop by the shop for a visit the next time I was through. He makes really nice-sounding drums if mine are any indication. I'm looking forward to seeing how he does it.

There is no real benefit to speaker MFR's to follow current trends. The reason is simple. By following current trends/best practices in designing "objectively better" speakers (computer modeling, measurement systems based on computer guestimation, digital crossovers, etc) EVERYONE will arrive at a largely similar end result - which I'm not entirely convinced would add significantly to the cost of the thing. At that point, what differentiates one guy from the next? NOTHING! This quickly turns into a race to the bottom, which favors large companies who can compete on economics of scale, and all of these small to medium sized MFRs are left with no business. The best thing for a small-medium MFR and the industry that supports them to do is accept and embrace that every speaker sounds sooooooooo different that you might even think you were listening to a different recording by simply switching speakers. After this truth is accepted the little MFR can sell an obviously fucked up speaker to some guy who FINALLY got tired of the particular way that his old speakers were fucked up. A few years down the line he will get tired of these speakers and get another set of differently fucked up speakers, but so long as the money keeps flowing... Nobody is enraged by the fact that they never heard the saxophone in their favorite recording on their old speakers. They can hear it on the speakers they have now (but not the trumpet) so these speakers must be better. They are delighted! Its not that speakers suck (even though they do) the same thing happens in headphones. Every brand has "their sound."

18.5mm/1.8 for my Nikon V1. Much better better performance than the kit zoom lens. A fast 50mm-equivalent prime addresses the issues I was having so I should end up using the V1 a lot more.

15 Sep

^^^ Radiohead -- Kid A

Done! I decided to just do it and send it back if I don't like it (instead of endlessly reading reviews).

Hard to sit in the sweet spot when you are vibrating around the room. I'm thinking that rig would be like when I saw Slayer and my clothes were vibrating and I couldn't stop blinking.

Ortofon 2M Black is here, aligned and playing: Just aligned using the Technics Overhang Gauge. I've never done that before, I always used a baerwald arc alignment thing I downloaded from vinyl engine. This way was super easy, probably about 30 minutes all in to get it unboxed, aligned, and tracking force dialed in. About halfway through my first side and I think the alignment is good. Some mild distortion at the end of vocals, but I think that might be crappy orange vinyl instead of alignment. We'll see how it treats the inner grooves. Eventually I'll give it the "Aja" test to find out for sure. Significant upgrade from the KAB/Ortofon ProS30, as it should be. Significantly more punch to the midbass, significantly smoother and livelier midrange. PRaT out the ass, everything feels much more deliberate and correct. Using an ADL GT40 as a phono, I have no clue what the capacitance is, Ortofon recommends between 150-300pf. I'll probably upgrade to a phono stage with adjustable capacitance in the future, but right now it sounds great. Definitely a worthy upgrade. Good price on agon, $400, retails for $720.