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The mushrooms and my "normal" HF-1 woodies have about the same chamber size, so as would be expected, they sound pretty much the same. That said, the woody HF-1 definitely is an improvement over the standard variety.

Well, a little news on the EA front... So I guess it's time to check her site & MySpace page daily to make sure I get in on the pre-order.

And I can't edit it!!! Fixed!

So, what happens when I have a new (to me) lathe, some left over mahogany and nothing better to do? Yup, those are my HF-1 on the bannana stand, and my maple woodied 325s, which are for sale. But what are those other ones? I call them the HF-1000 I was making some standard woody cups and figured I'd have a run at something resembling the GS-1000 (which I've never seen in person). The mahogany I had was way too dry and none of the standard cups came out well (actually only one survived!), but the goofy mushroom cups came out well enough. So after I finished turning them, Nate gave me a hand drilling them out and we decided to see how they'd look on his HF-1. The end grain took a lot of tung oil and ended up much darker than I expected, and the dry wood definitely shows a lot more grain than my previous efforts with mahogany. But considering I was just messing around, they came out pretty well. It was definitey a fun way to spend the afternoon.

I've been listening to the Opheliac EP a lot the last few days. The stand-out tracks are definitely: "Opheliac" This track has a little bit of everything... Gotta love the harpsichord intro, followed by the ebb & flow of aggression. Plenty of atmosphere here, with lots of textures. "Misery Loves Company" Now this is just amazing. It's got a some great vocal work (dualing vocals with different tone), and the synth line is sooooo good. "Marry Me" If you looked up subversive in the dictionary, this could be what you see. A very simple harpsichord base with some truely twisted lyrics that aren't what you'd expect given the setting or her singing style. Hidden Track ("Thank God I'm Pretty"??) After "Marry Me" finishes, there's a fucking great track that's strings and vocals with some great subtly sarcastic lyrics. This is the best kind of hidden track... Definitely not a throw-away. It's a track that could stand on its own, but is also so much fun to find burried at the end of the album. I'm glad people are liking what they hear... It's definitely a breath of fresh air. I love when someone has the creativity to try something new and the talent to pull it off. Her voice was really a pleasant surprise knowing she was trained as a violinist.

160 kbps. Unfortunately all the downloads, with the exception of the Opheliac EP (192 kbps), are @ 160. The Opheliac EP is definitely my favorite. "Opheliac" is out-fucking-standing.

I might be able to get them up somewhere... I'll check tonight & let you know.

I've been listening to her a bunch today at work. It's been pretty fun to hear her growth as an artist and the process of finding her own thing. Enchant, the corresponding Chambermaid EP and the By the Sword single are more melodic, with only flashes of the "edge" to come. Enchant is available for free download @ her official site. The Opheliac EP seems to be a pretty big step from gothic/fantasy/rock/classical pieces with limited electronic & industrial flourishes to the full-on "Victoriandustrial" sound she's been working towards. And with the LP to come, I'm definitely looking forward to hearing more. The newer stuff is definitely the kind of stuff I want to hear!

So, a friend of mine came across an artist recently that has really grabbed my attention. I know it's a bit way off the beaten path, but I'm enjoying it so much I just had to pass it along. And lets face it, most music like this doesn't exactly discover itself! Emilie Autumn She's a classically trained violinist who specialized in boroque pieces. She pretty much abandoned her classical career by the age of 18. She started her own label, releasing one boroque solo-violin album, On A Day... before developing a sound she describes as "Victoriandustrial" and her look as "Punktorian." Both seem quite fitting. A little bit of harpsichord, a little bit of violin with some samples, beats and her developing vocal skills and the result is a pleasant surprise. The resulting albums, the Chambermaid EP, By The Sword Charity Single, Enchant, the Opheliac EP & the upcoming Opheliac LP are quite the sonic adventures. Her work reminds me a little of the queens of "Neo-Victorian Chamber Rock," Rasputina. There's something fun and subversive combining classical instruments and training with rock sensibilities. And Emily Autumn manages to walk the line of playful and aggressive, with theatrics and style to spare. My favorite quote from her bio: "Originally from Malibu, California, EA is now a proud Chicagoan, and can most often be found at nightspots such as the Metro and DoubleDoor as well as cavorting around the city's downtown in her Victorian bustle skirt, corset, and combat boots, attracting a ridiculous amount of attention." It's nice that someone who makes such an effort with the visuals backs it up with some serious talent and creativity. Anyway, you can check her out at: http://www.emilieautumn.com/main.html http://www.myspace.com/emilieautumn Unfortunately her albums aren't available anywhere but from the label, which doesn't seem to have the best track record for speedy service. But full-length samples are floating out there and worth looking for. So, if you check her out, let me know what you think... Hope someone likes it! Ian

I'd agree with Nate that Mark's amp is simply amazing. It seems to be able to do the impossible by combining traits you wouldn't expect to hear together. The bass has great impact and extension, yet there's plenty of detail there as well. Liquid mids with great texture when needed. And the highs had the best blend of smooth and detailed I've heard to date. It really did everything well, and didn't impose itself on the music. It just seemed to do exacty what was needed for the piece of music at the time, and it sounded great with Senns and Grados. I've heard the PPX3 (and MPX3) and thought the Singlepowers were great, and Mikhail was great to talk to about them. But Mark's Ear+ is a great example of an amp that just has 'it'... whatever 'it' is. And unfortunately a picture can't do it justice. It's absolutely beautiful.

I'm guessing it's the Mets going from up 4-0 on the Yankees in the 2nd to down 13-4 in the 4th.

Well, I just updated my Synaptics touch pad drivers, and Opera seems to be working great. It's quite the change from Firefox, so I'm getting used to it. But at least it isn't flakey like Firefox had been.

Fair enough... fixed!

She can do whatever the hell she wants as far as I'm concerned!

beggars can't be choosers

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

I had been running 8.5, but I just downloaded and installed 9 beta, and it still won't scroll with the scroll pad. I guess I'll stick with Firefox until I can get it worked out... the no scrolling is a deal-breaker for me. Stupid Gateway piece of shit.

So, Firefox has been getting flakier and flakier on me, so I finally decided to give Opera a shot. It seems decent enough, and isn't having the page-loading issues Firefox had been having. But I'm having one major problem with it... I can't seem to get the scroll pad (next to the touch-pad) on my POS Gateway laptop to work. Using the space bar works, but is definitely less than ideal. And I can't find anything in the documentation to help. Has anyone else had this problem with the scroll pad & Opera? Thanks! Ian

This thread makes me smile!!! DieInAFire, nice job on the screen-cap!

There's too much discussion and not enough bitching in this thread! Now get back to it!!!

Congrats on the new TT and may the vinyl hunt begin!!!

Great... A new source for media you have almost none of, yet still no source for what you have the most of?

I'm just glad people aren't bitching any more that modding them is a crime against humanity. That annoyed me far more than the people bitching about not getting a pair.

Nate did a great job on this amp. It looks great and sounds even better.