Leaderboard

Because Nelson Pass is a bit of a nutter with building stuff. He apparently has a big house.

How tall will it end up being? Reason I ask, CMU even when concrete filled has very little strength to resist backfill. And be especially cautious if there is any potential for the soil behind the wall to get saturated and retain water. They make little weep structures to allow water but not dirt to pass thru the wall and I'd advise that as well as adding some reinforcing to help give the wall a bit more strength if it's going up more than a course or two. NOTE - I'm not licensed to practice engineering in your jurisdiction so you should take all of that as informal, friendly advice. EDIT - nice work, I bet that was seriously back breaking.

I would focus on the software you want to use. The hardware is secondary. I was very antiRoon before the time of Covid. Once I actually learned how to use Roon I do not see myself going back to anything else. That makes my hardware choices simpler as it just has to work with Roon. It is not super expensive, about $120 year (or $699.99 lifetime), but not insignificant either. There are less expensive choices like J. River Media Center which I use at work and is fine for a one room system but it does offer more video support. I only wish I had listened to my own advice sooner so I did not waste as much of my time trying to get Windows to be useful.

So I decided to explore the Topping and SMSL offerings. First of all they are not exactly comparable to the Project as neither has a built-in headphone output. To get that you need their separate matching Headphone unit. For the Topping that will set you back $170 (Total $420) and for the SMSL that will cost $190 (Total $440). I actually decided to try the two matching SMSL units as the DAC (SU-8) has balanced outputs and the headphone amp (SH-8) has balanced inputs and a 4-pin balanced headphone output, which to me is worth more than the additional $20. So here they are: Initial impressions are very good. At least as good as the Project, plus I can slip my GSX in when it returns from the manufacturer (Ahem ...). I'll probably stop here for a while since I now have a Dinny level of DACs and I need to decide on what I want to compare next.

Todd has a very good description of the system. I run Roon on a MacMini that was already serving music server duty and it is always on running the Roon core and indexing my library on a directly connected disk. I became interested in Roon when I bought the Mytek Brooklyn Bridge and was getting pissed off having to use three separate apps to listen to my local library, Tidal and Qobuz. Roon integrates all three under a common interface. It does not do Spotify, which can be a problem for some. The other thing it does is make the recording format (bit depth, frequency, PCM vs DSD) a non consideration as every endpoint will receive a stream it can use at its maximum resolution (assuming the endpoint is set-up correctly*). How powerful a server you need really depends on how much DSP you want Roon to do. In my case the only DSP I have it do is any necessary format conversion for the endpoints, so my server is pretty much overkill. In most cases the server is less likely to be a bottleneck compared to your network configuration anyway. So if you have any reasonable computer available (Windows, Mac or Linux) it should work fine. There is tons of information available on line for what is required for Roon in terms of both computing power and network infrastructure. As Todd said if you are only interested in streaming services to one or two endpoints then Roon is likely overkill. For me the longterm configuration simplification alone is worth the price of admission. *If the device is Roon Ready or Roon Tested then it generally works fine with the Roon defaults. If not either of those then you may have to play with the device configuration. I have had to do that a couple of times, but it is not too hard even for me.

Roon requires a "core" server, be it a standalone machine or the core SW on another machine; and yes, always on. One of the things I love about Roon is the ability to have many different endpoints. I have had up to 7 endpoints active in my home, several streamers and a couple network-enabled table speakers (Naim and Elac). Very easy to use and direct output to any of the endpoints, and can access local library as well as Tidal and Qobuz services through the same interface. It also has some metadata capabilities that I like as well, info on artists, recommendations in the genre, and the like. Roon "remotes" can be on mobile devices or desktop devices as well..... If ALL you want to do is use a streaming service, and to one or a limited number of devices that need to be network-ready, Roon may be overkill.

Base of the retaining wall finished, now to stack the blocks, pour concete and back fill. Not looking forward to the back filling..

Steve if you could and would make those panels, that'd be porn enough for me. But in the meantime.....

Have an incredible day young man!

Happy birthday!!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Antonio! Hope you get a chance to take a breath today!

Felicidades Antonio!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Antonio!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

^ was just coming here to post this

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Antonio!

Hope you are having a great birthday Antonio! Cheers!

Happy Birthday, Antonio!

Happy birthday!!!

Very Happy Birthday!!

Magnum’s Square Print sale is back on. Theme is Solidarity and 50% of proceeds go to NAACP. https://www.magnumphotos.com/shop/?rfsn=610537.fb00b&subid=IG

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday! (party favour noise) 🎉

^ This. Hope it’s a great one.

I liked it too and will probably have more listens.

"Bixby, Tell Brent to DIAF" "I can do that"

Watched their set on Austin City Lights last night. Talented... HS

Yeah, but now it's easier with cellphone cameras. You don't have to dress up and hold the same pose for 15 minutes anymore.

Augie's Montreal Smoked Meats brisket pastrami. Delicious even though Steve wouldn't go for poutine. 🙁

yesterday:

^IIRC, those speakers were super-inexpensive Insignia brand bookshelves from BestBuy some time back. The juxtaposition of them against the rest of that gear is astounding & wonderful.

RIP John Saxon. Loved Don Winslow's Tweet:

Actress Olivia de Havilland, possibly last of Old Hollywood, dies at 104 https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-12717233 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-53546021 Born in Tokyo, grew up in California, settled in Paris. De Havilland’s specialty was the demure, soulful beauty. “Playing bad girls is a bore,” she once claimed. “I have always had more luck with good-girl roles, because they require more from an actress.” But the actor’s soft exterior concealed a core of steel. In the 1940s she successfully sued Warner Bros in a landmark ruling that helped break the stranglehold of the US studio system. As a side note, when younger and I needed an alternative name for a variety of reasons, it was Max Havilland, the last name from her.

RIP Regis Philbin. The guy was born for tv.

BBC News - Peter Green: Fleetwood Mac co-founder dies aged 73 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53539989 https://www.guitarworld.com/news/peter-green-fleetwood-mac-co-founder-and-british-blues-icon-dies-aged-73 RIP Peter

Zizi Jeanmaire, French Star of Ballet, Cabaret and Film, Dies at 96 “Without her,” the French poet Louis Aragon is reported to have said, “Paris would not be Paris.” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/21/arts/dance/zizi-jeanmaire-french-star-of-ballet-cabaret-and-film-dies-at-96.html?referringSource=articleShare https://www.vogue.com/article/zizi-jeanmaire-and-yves-saint-laurent