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>8 year bump. Allison and I were talking through this exact topic last night and i remembered this discussion from forever ago... pretty fun to go back and see where I was and where I am now. some things remain and some don't. I feel a lot more confident these days especially in honorable mentions as I've build up far more breadth and understanding of some genres, especially metal. Top 5: The Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream. Still as complete as ever. Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood. Still the best female vocals for me. Radiohead - In Rainbows. Over time I've realized that it's nice to just hear how amazing Radiohead can be and not have to think too much about it. Their most listenable album. Tool - Lateralus. Still the best metal and progressive blended together and polished beyond imagination. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell. I go to a lot of different individual songs when I need to come to grips with death. This is the only full album though. Couldn't count the number of times I've cried while listening to this one. Honorables: The Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I. Not sure why this wasn't on the old list. Not far off of Pumpkins in terms of an album I would want people to think of when they think of me. Converge - Jane Doe. I have absorbed so much heavy music in the last 3-5 years and amongst all of it, this is truly supreme for chaos. HUM - Inlet. I'm a child of the 90's and this is the closest anyone got in recent times to peak 90's rock. On permanent repeat. Tash Sultana - Flow State. The album that got me back into caring about headphones because I became obsessed with making this sound as good as possible. Legendary opener. Kaki King - Dreaming of Revenge. My favorite acoustic album with stellar intimate vocals as a big plus. Art Pepper + 11 - Modern Jazz Classics. Art had it all and this is 100% bangers. The Beatles - Revolver. Love arguing with Allison about why this is the best. Do Make Say Think - Stubborn Persistent Illusions. My favorite post rock. A perfect deep thinker. Tool - Aenima. Has closed the gap with Lateralus over the years. I find the two completely complimentary now. Wouldn't argue with anyone preferring this from the full cataloge. See ya'll in 2030.

Ha! Is anything from my list then still in my list now? Maybe one. Probably none. I dare say I haven't listened to at least three of them since. edit: that said, I could listen to the Merry Clayton parts of Gimme Shelter daily for the rest of my life. The rest of it? Meh.

I'll be honest, I hadn't seen anything. But after you posted I went and looked... Heartbreaking. If anyone's interested, this was a very good article/interview.

Learned how to engrave with my milling machine today. It's an original Kevin Gilmore et. Al. DIY T2 amplifier with original parts.

Enrico Pieranunzi - The Extra Something https://album.link/es/i/1610595183

New Nina Nastasia today... First release since 2010!

Yes the Mk2 seals way better for me and easier fitting. Maybe at some point I will need more cutting on the slightly stretched headpad on the Mk1, but the slight looseness of the Mk1 makes it disappear on the head a bit better. But as I said, as long as the seal is not broken, less or more farts don't make an audible difference to me. And I think the drivers are not quite the same and sound different (when Spritzer completely modded the Mk2 to be like the Mk1, it still remained different). Personally I think the Mk1 driver has a brighter, more evenly distributed, polite and airy, open sound, while the Mk2 is more focused, lively and upfront. The Mk2.0 can be a bit shouty in the mids, but on the Carbon I don't hear it anymore. The limitation regarding drive is dynamics. Just not a very well defined sound and the dynamics are flat. It's not like it's bad, I've been listening like that for a decade I think and it was still enjoyable to me as I didn't hear it any better. When I heard the KGSSHV I was surprised, with the Carbon I sort of new what I can expect in some aspects so the appreciation was slower-hitting, but I was surprised for a different reason. (not enjoying the SR-007 Mk1 or the SR-Omega as much as I imagined, while other phones are just plain better than they were before) I think there will be more used BHSEs over the market as more T2s come into fruition. For the 007 in general, even though I have not auditioned it yet, I have spoken to several people (including the original Carbon owner, who does have a BHSE and several copies of the 007) and I am quite confident I would gravitate towards the BHSE over the Carbon and I would choose the Mk1 version. The midrange is probably going to be more natural and the stage will open up. But with the Carbon I have much more appreciation for the Mk2's charm.

Andy Summers. Retrospective. I remember seeing him live about 15 years ago (Antonio was beginning to pervert me at that time 😁). He didn't leave me very impressed... and he didn't play a single song by The Police.

Sometimes I just feel like a little country and western. Marty Robbins - Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs

Our good friend, Lance's fencing coach and mentor just finished a world cup/world championship fencing competition in Cairo. As has been his record for many years, his fencers medaled! Now through the Paris Olympics he is co-coaching the Hong Kong team.

My current top 5 would probably have several that have been on it for many years: Chameleons UK - Script of The Bridge/Strange Times (tied) Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures Propaganda - A Secret Wish October Project - s/t The last, as well as likely many honorable mentions, are a little more variable....

The audience reaction is telling.

Another vote for the DCA Aeon 2 Noire here Just gave these a short listen yesterday. Might borrow them for longer if I can get a balanced cable as I didn't hear it properly driven, and yet the tuning on these is really-really good. Naturally full, yet not dark. Where it fails is where basically any closed-back does, is that the bass is not very high quality for instrumental reproduction. And of course it has very little chance to resolve as well as an estat. But it's not mushy at all and more punchy. Needs some power. Otherwise, it is isolating (unlike most full-sized closed backs), well-built, folds down a really compact size etc. etc. just a nice sound with a high usability factor.

Origami does numerous filters including hario and kalita.

I use the Kalita Wave 185. I'd say the Hario V60 is more popular, so probably the safest bet for single cup. For multiple cups, the Chemex would be my choice.

I'll just say this, there are going to be millions of people upgrading from 5-10 year old Airs like my boss just did and I predict most of them will be very happy.

Pretty good episode of the Trump show today. Profiles in Courage by Josh Hawley.

To Quote Brent / @MexicanDragon : "Yes".

Is that an ironic or straightforward statement?

I think that matches my experience too - I am not sure the other direction is as obvious (have a V60 and pick up a Chemex)

Your description regarding Mk1 vs Mk2 is spot-on. I would add that the narrower sound of the Mk2 adds a slightly better sense of height in my opinion. Personally, I found that the tighter arc assembly makes the Mk2 seal better (and farting much more after the mod), requiring way less bending, but if the seal and positioning are good enough, then it does not change the sound any further. I tried pad or spring swapping, and I found it is best to leave everything how it was. What I don't agree about the CCS T1S, which I used to have, still have a stock SRM-T1W, nice amps with a nice sound signature (doing a good job of "plugging in" some of that upper-mid dip or to draw a nicely sized stage), but they are just inadequate to drive these really well, there is a whole lot more to gain with regards to dynamics, transients, clarity and transparency and probably some more minor things that I haven't observed yet. Plus, opening up the bass region means it becomes much easier to listen at a lower volume. (Higher volume was never a reason why I wished for more powerful amplifiers, in case of a 007, it has more to do with softness, congestion and rounded-off edges at both ends) I currently use a KGSSHV Carbon and I was really surprised that the fight has been reversed. Up to this point, the Mk1 used to come out on top every time, being cleaner, smoother, more airy, etc.. But this amp has more of an analytical take on things coupled with smoothness and refinement, and the slightly rougher, livelier character of the Mk2 comes out as the winner, keeping a good balance between liveliness and smoothness. The Mk1 still has its advantages, but it requires careful matching (probably an even more exquisite amp with some nice tubes) because in this setup it actually sounds bland and lifeless (and the staging isn't as nicely laid out as with others - minor point). So in the end, debating between versions might not matter that much, as long as the rest is nicely set up to it.

Forcing myself to take a break from Preacher's Daughter... Which I may or may not have listened to an unhealthy amount over the last month. MØL - Jord

Alive 2007 Daft Punk 2007 https://album.link/i/717067737 Example: When it is hot - Rock on.

Ok, first impressions of the SR-007 Mk1 on my CCS-modded SRM-T1S - this post will probably be updated as my assessment of the combo evolves. First of all, the physical impressions: First of all, the 007 Mk1 feels slightly lighter on the head than the 007A. I haven't weighed both units on a proper scale to be sure yet, but that's the first thing I noticed. The second thing I noticed is that the 007 Mk1 drivers feel farther away from the ears than the 007A's. This matches spritzer's assessment waay back in 2008 that the 007 Mk1's earpads are more angled than the 007A's, despite the 007 Mk1's earpad springs being wider and less angled than the 007A's. Most importantly, the earpad seal on the 007 Mk1 is much better than 007A's. As a side effect, though, its Stax farts are loud, more that the 007A's after the blu-tac mod, which makes finding the right fit somewhat annoying. On the other hand, the 007A's earpads are more comfortable and have a more pleasant touch to the skin. This may make 007A a set more suitable for longer listening sessions. I may try later to use the 007A earpads on the 007 Mk1 to see if the increased comfort is worth the ensuing change in sound, this seems doable... (edit - July 21st 2022) I found that the clamping of the headband arcs on my head was too loose and couldn't maintain the fit. Maybe the elastic band is also loose? Visually it doesn't seem so... As a result, I kept fiddling with the fit and the ensuing Stax farts were driving me nuts! Fortunately, a gentle additional bend on the arcs has improved the fit considerably - now the set seems to stay at the right position, the arcs no longer touch my head and thus I no longer have to deal with deafening Stax farts so often. Still evaluating whether the arc setup has achieved its optimal shape for my head or not, but results so far are encouraging. The set feels more comfortable now, perhaps I won't need to swap earpads with my 007A. Also considering slightly shortening the elastic band so that the set is kept higher on my head, let's see... As for the sound impressions... wow. I didn't imagine there would be that much difference. I reckon my findings below have mostly been reported ad nauseam by others on this and other forums already, but again, this is mainly for my own record and I find it convenient to have it all in one place, so I apologize in advance: The soundstage definitely feels wider on the 007 Mk1 than on the 007A. This is particularly noticeable in live tracks such as Blue Öyster Cult's "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" from "Extraterrestrial Live" or opera tracks such as Sir Georg Solti's "Don Giovanni, a cenar teco m'invitasti" from Mozart's "Don Giovanni". This corroborates my impression above about the drivers feeling farther away from the ears on the former. Instrument separation and fine sound details are more evident on the 007 Mk1, with better resolved low-volume information. Put differently, the 007A sounds darker (more details on that later). For instance, unlike with the 007A, with the 007 Mk1 I can clearly hear the intro's bass line on Metallica's "Master of Puppets" (the DCC 24K Gold remaster, of course - the standard master is obscenely compressed, as most of Metallica's tracks, a trend that got even worse in more recent albums. OK, end of off-topic rant). In the same spirit, I hear a better defined bass line on Rage Against the Machine's "Bullet in the Head" with the 007 Mk1. Imaging also feels slightly more precise on the 007 Mk1, take e.g. La Venexiana's "Si ch'io vorrei morire" and "Io mi son giovinetta" from Monteverdi's 4th Book of Madrigals, or even Bill Evans's version of his "Waltz for Debby" from the album of the same name. All of the above probably have to do mostly with the driver position and the far superior earpad seal on the 007 Mk1. One thing that's probably due to something else, though (i.e. tuning?), is the frequency response: even after the blu-tac mod, the 007A retains a slight damping in the upper mids (don't get me wrong, it gets much worse without blu-tac) which still bothers me in some tracks, especially ones with some degree of compression. I've tried to correct this with EQ, but that caused other problems that made the ensuing sound less natural to me, so I gave up that route. This problem is completely absent on the 007 Mk1 - to a fault: (edit - July 22nd 2022) after listening to it for a somewhat longer period, it comes out in fact as a bit shouty in the high mids / lower treble. This alone makes the 007 Mk1 a bit more tiring for longer listening sessions than the more relaxed 007A, even if the latter's characteristic comes at the above price. Bass still feels slightly stronger on the 007A than on the 007 Mk1, despite the blu-tac mod on the former (which controls the stock 007A's wonky bass response) and the better earpad seal on the latter, but better resolved on the 007 Mk1. On the other hand, regarding timbral quality the 007 Mk1 and the 007A seem to me so far unsurprisingly quite close to each other, and so does their transient response. You can "taste" the texture and materials of acoustic instruments (particularly guitar, bass and percussion) in a similar way with both units. That's top-notch e-stat speed for you. The 007 Mk1 feels very slightly more resolving, though, but that may be just me - I need more time listening and comparing both. To sum it up so far, it seems that both sets have essentially the same drivers, but with slight differences in tuning. In any case, these are rather minor differences if compared to the former listed above. Overall, now I get the hype about the 007 Mk1. It's definitely a superior headphone to the 007A in most ways that matter. I'm still evaluating the effect of the 007 Mk1's earpad seal and materials on the long-term comfort; it may be the case that the 007A ends up being more comfortable for long listening sessions - or not. As pointed above, swapping earpads may also settle this issue. Some claim that the latest (i.e. currently being sold new) 007 Mk2 / 007A is close enough to (maybe even slightly better than?) the 007 Mk1, with many of its earlier versions' problems having been solved, to the point it may make no sense anymore to overpay for a 007 Mk1 (see, on the other hand, how spritzer's opinion on this has evolved compared to the previous two links, to quote one example - wondering here what made him bump the 007 Mk1 above the current 007 Mk2 / 007A in his personal preference between 2018 and 2021 🤔 ), but mine was still a bargain compared to a brand-new 007 Mk2 / 007A, at least here in Brazil (especially considering it came with some Mk1 spare parts and the standard flight case - by the way, this is what the actual carbon fiber case for the very early 007 Mk1's looks like, completely different from mine) and I think I got somewhat lucky with the serial number, so I guess that's a win? 😁 As for the role of the CCS-modded SRM-T1S proper in all this, my impression is that the CCS mod together with the 007 Mk1's efficient earpad seal are usually enough to make the SRM-T1S able to drive these cans in the volumes I typically use (10-11 o'clock, depending on the source), which is good since it'll be quite a while until I can get another, more powerful energizer (if I can get it at all), which may help in a few, more compressed tracks for which I need to raise the volume to noon or higher and hence start hitting the 6CG7's limitations on the SRM-T1S's design. On the other hand (edit - July 22nd 2022), the aforementioned shoutiness of the 007 Mk1 indicates that I may be listening to it at a bit too high a volume, but otherwise I lose resolution and clarity with both 007's. This should be compared to the 9-10 o'clock optimal volume setting of the SRM-T1S with the Lambda SR-L407 and hence signals that the 007's are still underpowered by the SRM-T1S, even after the CCS mod. I may get some minor additional improvements once I change tubes to (say) some Japanese Raytheons (I have a few lying around waiting for their turn), but right now I don't feel compelled enough to do it. I've given up for the time being the idea of rewiring the tube sockets and moving to brand-new JJ ECC99 tubes, based on spritzer's recent advice on the matter. (as both a side note and a cautionary tale, I noticed an improvement in sound quality and an increase in bass response on the 007A, a few weeks before getting the 007 Mk1, after I changed my glasses - the new frame is much less obtrusive, thus affecting far less the earpad seal. However, I didn't realize the new frame was the "culprit" until the 007 Mk1 arrived, which made me understand more viscerally the importance of a good earpad seal for sound quality in headphones)

DCA Aeon 2 Noire

Bump for a fun thread. I've not been in a music phase for a long time but find myself reinvigorated of late. This is hard, but I have to be true to my youth and not pretend that I frequently listen to anything earlier than 1990. 1. Tool - Lateralus. "Metaphysics" would have been another appropriate title. How Mike G. feels about In the Court of the Crimson King is how I feel about this. 2. The Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream. "Spaceboy" in particular is on perma-repeat but a bad track this album has not. 3. Beck - Sea Change. I can't think of a more personal album [to the artist, not the listener]. 4. Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood. This is the most listenable album I have ever heard in my entire life. "At Last" is a song to die by. 5. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles. It's ridiculous, chaotic, and absurd. And I love every single second of it. Honorable mentions: Radiohead - Kid A. The only release from them that I ever thought lived up to the hype. Pretty much perfect. A Perfect Circle - Mer de Noms. The other side of Maynard and it is gloriously emotional. Flying Lotus - Until the Quiet Comes. Probably the most complex and delightfully-themed electronic album I've heard. The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Jazz at Oberlin. Always found this group to be the most listenable in all of jazz. The airiness in their sound is lovely. Brings me back to my decade+ of playing alto and makes me wish I still played. Andy McKee - Art of Motion. I would love to put a half-dozen acoustic records on here but I find Andy to be the most personable artist with perfect pedigree and influence and this record hits that spot-on. Fiona Apple - When the Pawn... Like everything in my life, 75% of the music I listen to now, I would never have experienced if I hadn't met Allison. This one album represents all of that. Opeth - Blackwater Park. I likelove nearly every album for them but I still think this one had true balance between metal and prog-rock. Also to be different from the other people who already posted Opeth. Okay I have to stop somewhere.