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Mike Pence driving a young Justin Trudeau to go trick or treating in Indiana (1981) Mount Moran and the Snake River. Godafoss, Iceland. Click for slightly Birgir.

Hey, thanks guys. It was nice. I've been telling people it's like Heinz 57 varieties, this one being old and fat! Always good to have another one though...

via https://judgmentalmaps.com/post/151041235895/marincounty so

I decided on Alison Krauss + Union Station: Live (SACD) as my test album. It has impeccable recording quality, masterful performances, and it's an incredibly life-affirming barnstorming hootenanny in your head. I recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone who enjoys music (even those of you who normally hate country and bluegrass). It's one of my desert-island discs and there is a fantastic interplay between Alison Krauss and the guitars, fiddle, dobro, mandolin, bass, and drums. You can also get this performance on DVD, but we're concerned about the stereo recording in this case. I listened to this album a few months ago, but it gave me the meh like a lot of my beloved albums on the HP 2's dying pads. On the regular flat pads, the bass was the first thing to catch my attention. I did a bit of fiddling to get a perfect fit (these are brand new pads, which are the best pads, if you haven't examined my disintegrating flat pads above already) and turned up the volume a smidge. Bass is a bit wooly and Alison Krauss' voice has a keening quality that can sound edgy in a bad way on the wrong gear. The virtuoso playing on the stringed instruments is very clear and direct (reverb dies fairly quickly), and you can hear the louder responses from the audience. When Alison sings in harmony with the various band members, the effect is slightly recessed. Running out of things to say about a sound I know and love, I take a break for dinner. This is good. Switching back to the deluxe pads, I first notice that things sound quieter. Next, I notice that the pads seem thicker... no, their dimensions are the same as the regular pads, but the material seems to be denser. Then as more of the music comes in off the leading notes I have... soundstage. Yes, the depth I noticed before with 2016 Atomized is even more obvious on this acoustic recording. Everything is slightly less forward than on the regular flat pads and there is a lot more information coming from the headphones. The difference is not subtle at all. Knowing how short auditory memory is (extremely short), I was expecting to have difficulty finding differences between the pads, especially after a long break. Maybe it was the placebo effect. Maybe I'm just a sucker. A fool and his money are soon parted and all that. Or maybe there is a huge difference between new pads and dead pads. But no, I keep listening and there is more to describe. Alison's voice is more emotional (you can hear more of her breathing and phrasing) and the male performers in Union Station sound much richer and more real. The drums have more dynamic energy and the bass doesn't overwhelm the lower midrange like it does with the regular pads. And the detail just keeps coming. I can hear how far back the audience members are in Louisville Palace where audience noise was more flat and simply less loud for farther members before. This is better. I was fine stopping with the regular flat pads, but with the deluxe pads, I want to listen to all my albums again. The only thing stopping me is fatigue (I spent the whole day driving fast on new (to me) winding country roads with my car club) and the fact that I have to go to work tomorrow. The deluxe flat pads unambiguously improve the voicing of the Grado HP 2 (removing some of the midrange-low-treble glare) and add soundstage and detail to headphones I've owned and loved for 14 years. The HP 2 are sometimes described as flat or clinical, but now they are more involving, musical, and, to use one of Joe Grado's words, holographic. TTVJ were understated in describing the audio improvements of their new pads, but I am not. Audiophiles spend hundreds to thousands of dollars to get these kind of improvements. I think what I spent was fair, I'm sorry I took so long to try them, and I'll have to buy them again if they crumble. I'm not taking the deluxe pads off again. The regular flat pads will have to go on my Alessandro MS-1.

Happy belated, birthday brother Steve!

The Decemberists - The King Is Dead

I went through the crumbling period for awhile too. It's a mess. I bought TTVJ flat pads a couple of years ago. The are still holding up strong. I'm looking forward to trying the Deluxe pads. If I go a long period without listening, I do put them in a ziplock bag.

My ears are silky soft and I don't drag my headphones in the dirt, so I really hope these new pads last. On the plus side, they were the only new flat pads I ever bought (from TTVJ, of course)... the seller sold my HP 2 to me with bowl pads. 14 years of musical enjoyment is not so bad. I still need to vacuum some of the dead flat pads' black bits out of the carpet. They've been leaving bits on my ears for months. Ugh. ? Lesson learned: don't try to keep using the pads when they begin to self-destruct. According to this thread, my pads have been crumbling since 2016. ?

You just cost me $50.

Happy belated, glad to hear you are doing what you love. (party favour noise)

I especially like this one.

Happy Birthday, Steve!

Steve, Happy Birthday, I hope you had a great day!!

Cheers Steve - Happy Birthday -- ..

^ Wow The album cover is very cool

Happy Birthday, Steve. Enjoy Monterey.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Thanks guys! I’m at the Monterey Jazz Festival so things couldn’t be better.

I reserve my left hand for some very special purposes, hehe! Table updated!

But Michael you have two hands... use the other one!!! ... best of luck getting 100% better!