The Monkey

Al, I agreed with you 100% until I threw it into this current rig, which is a bit piecemeal right now. So, I'm going to have to do some more listening. I also think the North Star could be MUCH better through the XLR out, which I am not currently using.

I don't think the Registrar disaster dream (or its derivatives) ever goes away.

Is Blackie Pagano attending CanJam?

It ain't looking good. The Boy's birthday party is scheduled for 11am - 1pm on Saturday. Not quite the best timing.

The north star might have a slightly better soundstage, but it seems to sacrifice some excitement as a result. Is there a proper way to measure noise floor? The reason I ask is that the ECD-1 seems to be just a touch "hot." Like maybe the mids are emphasized. In comparison, the north star sounds a bit laid back and distant. I'm wondering if that could be a noise floor issue. Any thoughts? Am I talking out of my monkey ass?

I'm actually laughing. And listening to House of Pain, which is also funny.

I think you all should grow mustaches for CanJam--for those of you not mustachioed already. No beards, mind you, just mustaches.

Good ol' ebay roulette.

Happy Birthday!

Whee! Where'd you get 'em?

Well, I guess that's what I'm trying to figure out here. Are the chips such that this thing will in all likelihood sound meh?

Got up with the Boy. Made breakfast for the wife. Getting ready to go out to brunch with Boy, Wife, Mother-in-Law. Boy is a wild mess and has argued with me about every single thing this morning. Joy.

Time to make some cables. I want to cover them in the soft nylon stuff. What sizes would I need for the following: 1) 4-conductor 22 or 24 AWG braid 2) Over regular Mogami Thanks!

Diphenhydramine is tough stuff. I'm actually surprised that it's OTC. I think it's Rx in Europe (though the system there is admittedly different).

Still, for $2k it seems pretty cool.

I have 'em too. Zyrtec for me, which is only moderately effective. Benadryl works, too, but puts me into a coma for 8 hours. So I'm going to take some Vicodin instead.

Travertine is nice. How are you going to finish it?

The PS Audio PerfectWave DAC is out: PerfectWave DAC : Product Details | PS Audio The DAC is 2995, but PS Audio is offering a trade-in until the end of May. If I understand correctly, send in your DAC and you will receive up to $1000 off (DAC trade-in value appears to be based on MSRP). Brings the unit to $1995. I'm still trying to piece together what exactly this thing does. Is this just a big gizmo, or does it seem like it could be something that sounds good?

Went to yet another Tribeca street fair. This one was totally random, without any semblance of a theme--except for the table filled with GIGANTIC FUCKING SNAKES AND TWO TARANTULAS.

^exactly, that way you can put your money toward a decent source.

lemonade.

You're in NYC, too? Cool.

Nice!

Stopped by a small local "audiophile" retailer because I had seen a "Demo Sale" sign in the window. Figured why not, I'll probably snatch up yet another DAC if tempted. Store guy (possibly owner) couldn't care less. Generally waved at the stuff on sale (DVD players and some speakers) and looked out the window. He wasn't nasty, just didn't make any effort whatsoever. I know it can't be fun to be a high-end audio retailer these days, but this treatment is not new. I didn't roll up in a Bentley, but I was wearing a suit and presumably looked like I could buy at least one thing in the store. Are the margins so narrow that these guys really only care about 5-6 figure sales? If that's the business model, so be it. If not, I don't get the attitude. So I pissed all over the windows.

The multiple input/cost thing makes sense. Are accuracy in the time domain and frequency domain mutually exclusive?