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Head Case disagrees.

Joanne is helping me with an ice cream flight

I also have a BSc and MSc in computer science, but for the last few years I have been lecturing Cisco networking and computer network security rather than programming. If you have the time and the space, DIY is a lot cheaper than buying... My total cost for the blue hawaii build as less than 1/4 of the price I could buy one for new. Even second hand I probably could not afford to buy one. (OK the case will not look as nice and I did not go for a crazily expensive volume pot, but I could add one later). Apart from the satisfaction when its built and working, I know that in the future I can upgrade/modify/repair/service the amp. The blue hawaii is only my second high voltage DIY hifi build. (before this I built the hi-amp alpha centauri and have built a DC electronic load and a few other low voltage DIY projects). I didn’t hate electronics but I don’t "get it" the same way I "get" programming.: I can write programs from scratch in my head... I can't design more than a simple circuit full stop... although I am getting better at understanding and reverse engineering other people’s circuits and modifying them a little bit... The alpha build was tough, there where errors in the pcb, silk screen, component list, I killed a transistor adjusting the psu, the psu specs were marginal, as was the temperatures on the DC valve heater transistors. I think so few people built it that the information did not get debugged. It took some problem solving to get it working but it was a learning experience. In contrast the blue hawaii has been almost plain sailing. Enough people have built them that any errors seem to have been ironed out. The psu worked first time as did the right channel. The left channel hand one issue which I spotted with my magnified visor: a almost solder bridge which would arc at about 65V. Trivial to fix and the amp now works fine. My biggest issue with the Kevin Gilmore designs was getting my head around all the terminology used in the filename of the gerber files used for the PCB creation. I sent a few private messages to Kevin Gilmore and he was very helpful and responsive. To sum up I’m so glad I decided to go DIY, I have learnt a lot and the satisfaction outweighs the frustration when things go wrong.... (just dont ask me to confirm this when im in the middle of something being wrong ) regards and sorry for my rambling James

That cat was listed as a "difficult" cat, when I got her. She isn't the nicest cat in the world, but I think she is pretty pleasant. I wake up most mornings with her on my pillow, chirping in my face. My first SPCA volunteer day had me holding and cleaning up after a pair of 9 week-old kittens. That was a good Saturday afternoon.

The good news here is that for the KG electrostatic amps that are often mentioned here (such as Blue Hawaii, KGSSHV, Carbon, Grounded Grid, etc.), there are proven PCB's for both the amps and the PSU's that many have built working and reliable amps with, myself included and I do not have a science degree and never forged a knife in my life! Extra safety precaution does need to be followed strictly given the high voltage involved! With that said, if you source correct parts from reliable vendors (Mouser, Digikey, etc., not eBay, not Taobao...), stuff the right parts in the right spots on the PCBs, exercise good soldering practice (many good tutorials on Youtube) and pay attention to layout of components (circuit boards, transformers, connectors, etc.) and wiring, your success rate is very high. On top of that, many knowledgeable people here will come to rescue should some things do go wrong provided that you have done your homework! It's lots of fun and a very rewarding experience!

It's never too late to pick up the soldering iron. If you invest the effort to learn, with diligence and good common sense those DIY amps you mentioned in your posts are really not that difficult to build.

Silver is being rather nice tonight.

Shut the FUCK up, Donny! Rave mixing is a crime! The cat that thought it was a photographer, November 1909.

I know I'm in the minority but my 7 plus still feels fine. I like that the display doesn't have a notch and that I don't have to look at it to unlock it or pick it up to see what time it is or if I have any notifications. Its camera still takes great pictures and it costs me $0 to keep using.

Kill them dead. I bought my ex a Fitbit Versa. The Fitbit Versa 2 doesn't seem like much of an upgrade. the Series 3 Apple Watch is vastly better than the Versa 1.

Wonder what Apple now having a $199 Watch will do to FitBit, etc., competitors?

Hey Carl! I would ask Justin and Peter if the $500 Gilmore Lite mk2 will drive the Utopias the way you want them driven or else extend your experimental budget to cover the new GSX Mini, which is a very cool new product. Have fun!

Aumkar and I had a good time on Saturday. We started the day with a short city tour. I took him to visit the Temple of Emerald Buddha, Grand Palace, and Wat Poh. Then we had lunch with a few of my headphones lover friends. After that, we had a mini headphones meeting. At the meeting, we had Stax SR007 MK1, SR009, My DIY Orpheus Clone, Omega Clone, JF Clone, and of course Aumkar's RR1 headphones. I brought my KGSSHV Carbon, KGST, and KG Grounded Grid, and my friend brought his DIY 300B single ended amp. The RR1 showed very good performance with all the amps we tried. The treble was just right and the bass was impactful and deep. I think they're good headphones for fast music. Aumkar kindly gave me a pair of RR1 and an extra pair of drivers for me to play with. Here are some pictures of the stators, spacers, and dust shield. I'm very impressed to hear that he actually machines down the 4 mm aluminium sheet to 0.8 mm so that he can have the absolutely flat stators. The look and feel of the headphones are good. Aumkar told me that all the cups are 3D printed, sanded, and painted in house. With all these labor intensive works, the result is quite impressive. I basically can't tell that these components are 3D printed at all. All my Thai friends like his headphones and have already asked me to help place their orders with Aumkar.

This weekend I flew down to Bangkok to meet the man himself, Wachara. For me the the entire RR1 Project was a dream - to develop a fully in-house Headphone with Bespoke parts specific to the Headphone and to meet my Heroes along the way. RR1 has enabled me to meet some of the greatest people in the Industry worldwide and that's the only success I see in the Headphone. Everything else to me is irrelevant. With Wachara, I've met all the Heroes I wanted to meet and that ends the RR1 chapter for me. Kaldas was named after my Grandfather and our goal with the company has always been quite diverse. We started the Headphone project knowing we would be in financial turmoil by the end of it and that is indeed, the truth. I will be managing our Headphone division not for long now, as we expand our production and settle the Manufacturing, the responsibilities will be handed over to one of my longest serving Engineer who was instrumental in the RR1 development. I will divert my attention to some of my other dreams. Thank you to everyone whom I've met along the way. Those memories will serve me well for a long time. Where it all started for me. Visiting G.R.A.S. in Denmark Meeting Birgir in Iceland At Audeze HQ in Los Angeles Klippel in Dresden And finally.

A recording ... Of With this lot Not bad for a 65 year old.

Adopted this little girl today. She is a 6 year old female. Very sweet but very shy. She was found as a stray but now she’ll have a great home.

Picked one up mostly due to an interesting feature set. I've had good experience with RME gear being technically impeccable, but falling a bit short in listening tests. The ADI-2 Pro was intended to be an office rig, but I lug it to and fro work, it's that good. Ended up buying one of the limited Anniversary Editions, cuz it's black and has moar pretty. It runs my HD800 balanced with 6x OPA1688 chips pre channel. Sounds as good or better as I've heard any HD800 perform. It also does 5 band PEQ which makes HD800's actually listenable. For my Equator Q12 I use the back XLR's and intend to hook up a MiniDSP via optical to integrate two custom 15" subs. Anyho - check this thing out, if you're looking for an interesting source unit. Cheerio. P.S. Nudie (almost Gilmore sized)

RIP Daniel Johnston. https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/music/2019-09-11/austin-songwriting-genius-daniel-johnston-dead-at-58/

oh -- thank you news cycle... BBC: CNN: wiki: "It is not officially recognized as a mental disorder, but may fall under the broad category of specific phobia if fear is involved and the fear is excessive and distressing" Hey - a new phone that millions and millions will buy - what fucked up thing can we write to get a click? anyway - end rant.. (did not click on either)

I miss the finger print reader. Face unlock is a pain in the ass in the car.