raif

RMBP owner here. A matte finish is nice because it seems to blur or diffract the reflections to a degree, making them less noticeable. The retina screen is significantly better than the older glossy models but the reflections that do remain are pretty clear, which can distract the eye in adverse conditions. As long as I am risking coming out of lurker status, I would like to add that Chrome Canary has been giving me quite a bit of grief. For awhile I thought I was having connection issues with my router because pictures would only half load and some sites seem to take forever to connect but after switching back to Safari, the problems went away. I did some back and forth checking to verify, however... YMMV.

Ah, I see. I just assumed it was a lower clocked version of the same processor, but it looks like my mac has the 2410M which is pulling about 35 watts and I am guessing the Macbook Air has the 2557M which is only around 17 watts. We are still looking at about a 7 watt increase from the core 2 duos but hopefully Apple figured out a way to dissipate the extra heat without relying on the "super loud fan" solution of the MBPs. EDIT: I guess if you stick with the i5 in the 13" Air you are looking at the same TDP as the high end core 2 duo. However, there were reports of throttling on that processor, most likely for heat concerns.

Speaking of heat, I am personally a little wary of the new Macbook Air. My 2011 13" i5 Macbook Pro is specc'ed similarly to some of the new models and anytime the processor or video card starts working, the fans kick in to overdrive. I run into this with VMWare, youtube, compiling code, etc. I am curious if Apple is going to throttle the processor or just have people deal with super loud fans kicking in anytime they work on something more complex than surfing forums. Has anyone heard anything about this?

I am actually a huge fan of skagen watches. They are the only company I have found that makes metallic band watches that are thin enough to wear while programming, but still look classy enough that they can be worn with nicer clothes. Mine has held up admirably for a few years now, and seems to keep accurate time.

Happy birthday Neil. Hope to catch you at the upcoming NorCal Meet. It's been awhile.

to parhelictriangle: It seems to me that if there is anyone to blame besides the manufacturer, it is the masses at head-f1 that are so quick to pick up the pitchfork and a torch anytime someone decides to troll a FOTM. That being said, I just wrote Todd and re-affirmed my order. I understand why others wouldn't, but it doesn't really bother me all that much.

Hey Marshall, hope you have a good birthday. On the 4th of July huh? I guess that means twice the beer, food and fireworks.

Finding a good vet is very hard. Having had issues in the past, it is hard for me to trust them. There are some great ones, but many of them remind me of the servers at Applebees, they are always going for the upsell. On the the lighter side... He likes to hide from the vacuum.

It seems like the more vocal camps on this subject are lining up on the sides of deity vs nut-job pedophile. I have refrained from really airing my thoughts on this or the other site due mostly to not wanting to get sucked in to a psychoanalysis of MJ. I did however, happen upon a eulogy of sorts on allmusic.com that I thought rather accurately described why his death has touched many of us beyond his appeal as a polarizing public figure. The last paragraph really sums it up appropriately. The Allmusic Blog In Tribute: Michael Jackson heh... I said touched.

On each cup it reads: Electret Direct Condenser Headphones I was able to plug them in to my reciever's headphone jack and get music out of them. To be quite honest, I really have no idea about vintage electrets or orthos, including whether or not trying to drive them through conventional amplifiers will damage the amplifier or headphones.

Ha! No, I am sorry, it was actually just an attempt at self-effacing humor. After your post I started furiously researching what a UC connection was and how it was used with orthodynamic headphones. I didn't want to sound stupid and summon the shovel. Talk about a backfire. The best part about it is, various universities kept coming up in my search, and I was like. "No! I am looking for an adapter of some sort. Stupid google!" Anyways... I am not Raphael. It is actually a misspelling of Dennis Miller's character from the movie "Bordello of Blood." Sorry for the misunderstanding.

It is indeed. He is actually responsible for the new cigar habit as well.

Great, now I get to look dumb for trying to help someone out. what is a uc connection?

It is on my way home from work.

Picked up a small humidor and some cigars at a local shop today.

From what I can gather it looks like they were dealing with an oversees partner that was supplying junk. Of course, they weren't complete victims as they continued to sell it. I bought a used ufw-10 sub woofer from av123, which looks and sounds beautiful. I thought I had dodged a bullet, but after a month or so it started buzzing for the first 10-15 minutes after it powered up. I had to buy a replacement amp due to not being the original owner and the sub being about 4 years old but, they were extremely helpful and responsive, walking me through the install.(my choice to save on shipping) Here is the thing though. After I finally got the amp installed I decided to really rock it out... then discovered that the driver was now buzzing at moderately loud volumes. I called in again leaving a polite wtf message. The owner, a pretty nice guy, called me back and after an hour or so of discussing everything from my issue to what has been going on with the company, shipped me a new driver free of charge. Take of that what you will, but it seemed to me he is passionate about both his craft, his business, and is trying to honestly work his way out from the troubles of the last few years.

I am glad to see this so soon after CanJam. I wasn't able to make it down due to prior obligations so it will be exciting to see everyone('s gear) again after a long absence from the scene.

Have they updated to the es9018 chip? Last I heard they were still using the older 9008 one, but I did most of my research a few months ago and there was talk of a refresh. When I was upgrading my office system at work, I briefly considered this as an all in one solution due to it's headphone output, pre-amp capabilities, sacd and, in my opinion, really cool looks. I finally ended up heading in a different direction due mostly to the fact that this massive beast would have drawn too much attention in the workplace.

The looks of the phone is one of the things those in the know are keeping a secret. Current speculation at the other site is: based on the fact that "Todd Green has described the HF-2 as a sort of 'baby PS-1000,'" we are going to see metal cups and donut pads. Of course the dissenting sentiment is that the comment can be construed to mean, "no significant advance in technology or build materials, only an increased price to match the current used market value of the original product." From what I can gather, people are speculating based on their feelings towards Grado, rather than any actual knowledge of the product. yay!

I boarded a very similar boat. After reading the comments of the umpteenth Benchmark hater, I decided that I needed some perspective and planned on picking up the pico when it became available, also figuring it would become a secondary rig. Then I started to read about the new Buffalo32s and when the time to order came around, I just got both. Well the pico came in yesterday and I spent an hour or so comparing between it and the benchmark. I used a very unscientific method of volume matching, but after an hour or so of switching back and forth, I realized I couldn't tell the difference between the two. I know it is a sin in the audiophile world to admit the inability to readily identify the minutia that differentiates two products during a comparison, but if nothing else, I am jazzed that I will have a premium quality component that I can slip under the significant other's radar for home office use. I think as soon as I get the Buffalo I will spend a day or so scrutinizing between the benchmark, buffalo and pico. I still would like to believe that I will hear some huge difference between them, but I am not getting my hopes up. I would probably post some huge (admittedly trite) diatribe on that other site about placebo vs genuine difference in SQ, but from my experience people would just use it to validate their dislike of the gear compared, dismiss my hearing ability, or even worse, turn it in to another "Are all cables snake oil?" discussion. Self Pity Party of a Disillusioned Audiophile aside, the pico is great little piece of tech. I have always been a huge fan of Justin's work and I think if/when the "Pretty Box" version of the KGSS comes out, I will use it to finally make the step into the world of electrostats.