postjack
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Posts posted by postjack
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Sounds like a consensus for the RX100 MKII or III, thanks guys.
I should have emphasized at festivals I'm not looking to get super awesome shots of the musicians, there are plenty of pros that will do that for me. So a kick ass zoom isn't a big factor. This is more for general shots: the crowd, the scenery, large views of the stages, etc. Just some good looking photos I can flip through to remember the weekend.
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Hey now!
Short story is I'm tired of messing with phone cameras. There's always something I'm unhappy with: apps are slow to load, difficult to hold the phone and take a good picture, changing settings using a touchscreen, takes too long for pictures to focus, etc. What I'm looking for is a nice point n' shoot for vacations, family pictures, and totin' around music festivals.
Most music festivals won't let you into the concert grounds with a camera with a detachable lens, as they reserve this privilege for people with press passes. Some have revised their rules to be "no detachable lenses over 2 inches" or something similar, but I'd rather it not be an issue as all. Couple this with the fact that I know zero about photography and I don't want a camera that is too complicated, or too expensive, which is why I want a point and shoot (or compact digital camera or whatever they call them).
I've done a bit of light googling over the weekend and have determined that a $500 price range isn't unreasonable for a decent quality small camera that will perform better than a smartphone camera. Right now I'm looking at the Sony RX100, either version I or version II. Seems to get great reviews and is in my price range. I actually went to Best Buy yesterday and messed around with the display model. I wasn't crazy about the hand feel, but I guess thats the price you pay for such a small size.
So in a nutshell:
-$500ish budget
-Relatively beginner friendly, although I'm definitely willing to take the time to learn.
-Fast focus, meaning I can quickly pull the camera up and start taking shots
So any recommendations you can throw out that I can do some more research on would be appreciated. Thanks headcase.
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For you Pelican fans. I am tempted but so far I am two weeks fountain pen sober and my sponsor would be so disappointed if I bought this.
I think its a really good looking pen, but I established weird restrictions that have helped curb my fountain pen obsession, mainly I only do silver trim. Makes sense since the rest of my man-jewelry is silver, watches and tungsten wedding ring.
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Matching Oppo HA-2?
Probably. Neat little unit and the price is right. Also my android phone works great using its big brother the HA-1 as a DAC, so I'm hoping the HA-2 is similarly cooperative.
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I got a pair of PM3s. I haven't heard any Oppo phones prior to these. In fact its been many many years since I've even heard a planar phone (audeze lcd-2 in canjam LA I think).
In short they are dope ass cans. Really really really comfortable, like when I put them on I literally sighed they felt so nice. As I always said I have a large n' long head, and have fit issues with lots of headphones, no issues here. Pads are super comfy, ears fit perfectly in the cups, really nice padding on the headband and great weight distribution. Plus the pads and headband smell amazing. Best smelling headphone since the GS1000.
Sound is very midrange centric, and it is a lovely midrange. Pretty much accurate with maybe just a bit of romantic flair thrown in. Or maybe they are totally accurate and I hear them as romantic because accuracy is romantic. Nothing wrong with the highs but I'd prefer a bit more bite. You can hear the midbass just fine but it lacks slam. The lowest bass frequencies aren't very prominent at all.
Great soundstage, if I didn't know and you told me they were open cans I'd probably believe you for a bit.
As much as I love midbass slam I can overlook the lack of it due to the great midrange and outstanding comfort. I anticipate these cans getting a lot of use at work, with the V-Moda M100s going on the shelf for a while.
Only way I've used them is straight out of my Moto Gs headphone jack. Pretty easy to get decent volume out of them, although I do have the volume maxed out on some tracks that get me excited. I'll probably invest in a portable amp for the first time in my audio career because its fun to buy shit, but I am pretty happy with them straight out the phone.
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Well, so much for only sticking with one pen.
Bought various inks today on Amazon, and put an order in for 2 pens from nibs.com.
I want to try fine and extra fine. Ordered an Omas Paragon, fine, and a Pilot Falcon Metal, customized to extra fine.
I started writing out an inventory of music last night with the Lamy, then tried a ballpoint pen at the end.
Wow, I'm never going back to ball point.
I had a similar experience going from Chris Reeves to Rockstead knives.
if we have nothing else in common around here its we're all obsessive.
I love Omas pens. You are going to love the way it writes. "Binderized" nibs were always my favorite, but I'll take a Mottishaw'd nib any day.
The only issue you might run into with the Paragon (if you bought a new style) is that metal section makes the pen really heavy. I didn't mind writing with it, in fact I loved the metal section, but found the pen to be a bit too heavy in my front pocket, so I ended up selling it. I like the new style Milords a lot, perfect size and weight. I have one of those Omas Arco Bronze celluloids in the Milord style. Really beautiful pen.
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when i made the impulse purchase, i just bought the lamy w/ lamy ink. no idea if that is good ink or not.
i did make sure to get the same color for home and office. seemed easier that way.
Yes, Lamy ink is perfectly fine ink. As a general rule, expect any ink made by a pen manufacturer to be really easy on a pen. Besides Sheaffer Skrip Blue I also have a bottle of Aurora Blue I keep at the office and have had no issues with it.
Please note that I'm not knocking inks made my non-pen manufacturers, just in my personal experience I'm willing to trade vibrancy of color on the page for ease in pen cleaning. Purely my preference, I don't believe that inks made by Noodlers or Private Reserve will actually damage pens.
Maybe I'll try that. The ink still isn't flowing as freely as I'd like. I've got to start each stroke slowly and press firmly to get it moving, or else it leaves the first half-inch or so blank.
Of course, it could also be that it's a cheap knockoff pen. My dad loves his impulse bargains when he travels, so he's the ideal mark for junk peddlars.
Its worth a shot, but poor ink flow could be because of all sorts of issues. Misaligned tines etc. If the pen is worth it there are a number of nibmeisters you could pay to fix your pen for you. Writing with a pen tuned by a nibmeister, like John Mottishaw at nibs.com or the now retired Richard Binder, is a fantastic experience.
Picked up an early 90s vintage Montblanc Meisterstuck 146 in excellent condition at a price I was more than willing to pay. Fine tip.
I love Montblancs. The tri-tone nibs on the 149 are visually the most stunning nibs made, IMO.
I really like both Vanishing Points, so I'll be keeping both of them. They write quite differently, but they are both great. Definitely the best feeling Japanese Fine nib I've used, so far. The medium has a little bit of flex that I really like, and shows nice shading. I don't mind the clips. I really like the Parker medium nib Sonnet, as well, which I received today. Great shading and smooth writing. Very comfortable. I should have my new Lamy 2000 tomorrow. Waterman Expert 2 should arrive next week, looking forward to it, as I like the inexpensive Waterman that I own. Not sure when the Aurora Hastil will make it, still in transit from Italy. Picked up a Tombow Zoom 101, as well, should arrive next week. The Tombow is quite light, might become my new carry around pen. This is starting to get expensive, so I'm done with buying pens for a while, though it's a thing I'll be adding to my list when I go to flea markers, etc. My handing writing is getting much better, thanks to practice and writing exercises, and I've been enjoying writing, buying paper, etc.
If you really want to go down the Japanese pen rabbit hole start looking into Nakaya pens.
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how often are you supposed to dip in water to clean?
it's not every day, is it?
Whenever I am taking a pen out of the rotation, I empty it and rinse it thoroughly in cold water (filling it and emptying it with cold water) until the water starts to run clear out of the pen. Unfortunately I am not the best at doing this (I'll often grab a new pen in the morning and just put the pen I was using back in the pen case without emptying it) which is one of the reasons I use really mild inks like Sheaffer Skrip Blue. Mild inks are less likely to clog a pen after sitting unused for a while. The richer inks like Noodlers etc may look nicer on the page, but I get tired of the head aches of trying to clean the damn things. Sheaffer Skrip Blue also washes off hands really easily.
But if you are using the same pen daily, you definitely don't need to rinse it daily. A pen is more likely to get clogged if it is sitting unused with ink in it for a long period.
If you do have a pen thats clogged, I've found letting it soak overnight in a 1:10 solution of ammonia can fix it. In fact doing this has solved all kinds of problems I've had with nibs.
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The nice thing about buying from Goulet pens is that the piece will be inspected before shipment. I didn't pay much more than the Massdrop price for the pen from Amazon, and it didn't turn out all that great for me...
yeah goulet runs a tight ship. i like all the videos he has too.
you're probably familiar with nibs.com. I think its the last online store run by a nibmeister, since Richard Binder retired.
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Then there's this: Lamy 2000 fountain pen on Massdrop for $115.
massdrop has really been awesome with fountain pens lately. they had a good deal on a Pelikan M800/M805 a couple weeks back, but I missed out on the design/nib I wanted. I did manage to get a Pelikan M405 on massdrop though. Great little pen. Still overpriced, but I remember when Pelikan prices were WAY lower than they are now, so to me they'll always seem overpriced.
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Citizen ecodrive = FOTM
Nice looking watches yall!
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apologies for the crappy photos, the camera on my phone is terrible.
Short version: they are awesome
Long version:
Shipment - They ship via freight and arrive on a pallet. Shipping weight is 175 pounds. Had the delivery guy put them in my garage.
That night I got a little too excited and wanted to see them really bad, so I opened up one of them and stood it up. I accidentally pushed on one of the woofers when I stood it up, so started worrying I damaged them. Convinced Melody to help me bring them inside. While it is possible for one person to lift these (75lbs a speaker), they are so unwieldy I would not recommend it.
Brought the single in and of course listened to it. Even with just one speaker I knew I would be pleased.
The next day my helpful local audio friend Chase came over and helped me get the other one in. I had a thumb drive with a bunch of flacs and we put the speakers through their paces. Both speakers were being powered by my Denon 2112CI receiver in direct mode, I haven't had a chance to run Audyssey yet. Brief rundown:
Highs: No issues here, definitely not any excessive brightness to speak of, but there is nothing at all missing either. I'm a fan, I think smooth is the word, but smooth without being dull. Smooth is a word I think of a lot with these speakers, that and fun.
Midrange: Big surprise, I thought this would be where the speaker fell short, but all my standard midrange tests went perfectly. Sure, I don't get that "ryan adams is sitting in front of me" feeling I get with the ESL-63, but it comes a hell of a lot closer than I thought it would, and everything sounds perfectly realistic and smooth. Electric guitar wails like a champ.
Bass: Hallelujah. The four 8" woofers in these things pressurize my room better than my seven year old SVS cylinder sub does, and they don't sound stressed at all. Every bass test I throw at these things it handles with no issues, even with just the 90 watts I'm giving them. But it does it all without sounding the least bit bloated or compressed. Chase and I listened to Tool "Forty Six and Two" and goddamn it was perfect. The bass never feels out of control.
Soundstage: I pretty much have the speakers firing straight ahead, maybe just the tiniest bit of toe in. Soundstage between the speakers is perfectly lovely, but they don't seem to throw the stage too wide outside the speakers. I personally don't give a shit about soundstage, I'm more of a tone guy, but it was kind of spooky cool the way my old PSB monitors would throw a soundstage all across the width of the room. Some toe-in might fix this but I'm not too eager to experiment since everything tonally is damn near perfect for my taste.
I've done a lot of TV and movie watching with these and they are great there too. In my room, there is absolutely no need for a center channel, and that was definitely not the case with my PSBs. Vocals are super easy to understand. But I'll still be buying the center channel because why the hell not? Speech will probably be even better with the center. The bass makes everything sound very epic and theatre-like. Having said that, the lowest of the lows you aren't going to get with this or probably any tower. The towers are flat to the upper 20s. I'll still be upgrading my subwoofer (to another SVS of course) at some point in the future, as home theater has become more and more important to me, and I want a flat response down to 20hz or lower for that movie rumble.
I tried to avoid hyperbole in my above impressions, but rest assured I am absolutely thrilled with the speakers, I really wouldn't change a thing. I'm completely surprised and delighted with how refined and "audiophile" the sound is, while still managing to be a shitload of fun. The shitload of fun part, mainly because of the bass, is the speakers biggest "audiophile" sin. I'm so glad these speakers are sinners.
Did I mention they are really really good looking? My pictures above don't do them justice.
Obligatory "person who is not an audiophile" commenting about how good the speakers sound: my niece, sister, and brother-in-law were over Friday night. Brother-in-law had to hear the speakers, so we cranked them up, and my sister lit up and said "even I can tell those sound awesome."
so thanks headcase for giving me the push, I anticipate enjoying these for a long time to come.
Postjack International Absolute Audiophile Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence-
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Panamax MR5100 for $227 on amazon. FYI amazon is not an authorized panamax dealer, so the warranty would not be honored.
I've never used a power conditioner, just brickwall surge protectors, but figured someone might be interested.
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goddamn there is a lot of wisdom on this forum.
Larry, I am very happy you and your daughter are alive!
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Damn that sounds awful! Here's hoping for a speedy recovery and a reduction in the pain Larry is going through.
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That would be so cool, however unfortunately, Esmé & Mel wouldn't be on the trip. Let's chat on PM about possibilities.
As for speakers, any post-pallet photos yet?
Nah I just ordered them yesterday. That pallet photo was from google.
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Jack ... most of us here share your analysis paralysis. Not to worry, it's not fatal.
In this case, in particular, however, I do believe you have a lot going for the purchase ... past positive experience, very positive (if somewhat limited) reviews, and a pleasing aesthetic (we engineers, scientists, and computer geeks tend to say aesthetics do not matter ... we are wrong). If the looks turn you on, that's a good thing. I know function over form is the rule, but function AND form ... ooh la la.
I predict you will be pleased with these, and am prepared to stop by next summer to verify. I've always wanted to see Mobile, and with a brother in Santa Fe, NM, and daughter having a place in Park City , UT, a cross country trek is in the cards for summer/fall 2015.
Gene, I would love for you to come by! Keep me updated as to your plans.
Took a trip with my family to Park City, UT a looooong time ago. It is a kick ass place.
And I just ordered the towers. I appreciate everyone's input, will of course let everyone know what I think when I receive them.
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Yeah they come freight on a pallet:
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Too many long posts ... Just Dew Eet, Jack.
I know, I'm terrible about obsessively researching and talking and getting opinions.
Melody and I have been together for what, six years now, and whenever I get fixated on something like this, she'll look over my shoulder and see me looking at the same thing on the computer, whatever it is, and she'll say "just buy the damn speakers".
i need to just buy the damn speakers. if they don't work in my room i'll swap 'em out for a new sub.
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Me too. It's been ten years since I had a proper, 5ch setup. The hope is that the (planned) addition to the house will permit the procurement and setup of a HT.
I've been running a 3.1 setup for the past year or so and am very happy with it. I have had surrounds in this room but they add so little to the overall experience that for me its not worth the hassle. Probably because placement of the surrounds is not optimal.
Jack, have you definitely decided to buy them? You may want to do more research. I basically heard these are pretty well-regarded, punching above their price point with strong bass, dynamics and imaging. But there have been some reports of less-then-nice treble at times, so I'd be leery without doing more research....
With a 45 day in home trial, there's not much risk to just doing it.
What Dan said. The only thing keeping me from ordering so far is just dealing with receiving the shipment, and dealing with boxing it back up and returning it if I don't like it. Risk free but still sounds like a pain in the ass. But I am leaning heavily towards ordering.
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I'll have to call SVS and talk about shipping. They ship the ultras via freight on a pallet, and I can't ship them to my ups box because there is no way i can fit them in my car. Their website says they will call you 24 hours ahead of time to arrange delivery, I just need to find out what kind of arrival window they give you. Work is busy right now so I can't take 4 hours off waiting for speakers, but if they can give me a specific time that will work. We'll see how that goes.
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Unfortunately, I know nothing about the SVS speakers.
Since we are talking about SVS, has anyone heard their sealed subs? I am asking for an SB-2000 for Christmas from hubby. I don't think I can get him to allow anything bigger for the living room (or much more expensive). I'll be using this with a pair of Monitor Audio RX6.
I've read good things but never heard one myself. Will this be for music or HT?
From what I've read, generally speaking, at least with regards to SVS subs, the ported subs are just as quick as their sealed counterparts, so the old adage of sealed being better for music does not apply. What you'll primarily lose in a sealed sub is <20 frequencies, which you'll almost never have to deal with in music except for James Blake or organ music. But there is lots of sub 20 content in movies.
The best reason to get a sealed sub is therefore to save space, which is a damn good reason because those ported subs are enormous. The alternative are their cylinder subs, which give you all the benefits of the ported sub with the smaller footprint of the sealed sub, the enclosure just goes up instead of out. But the SB subs are infinitely better looking than the carpeted cylinders, at least to me.
I'd love to see a cylinder all in piano black, but I imagine its price prohibitive.
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If they are half as good as their subs, which I have no reason to believe they would be anything less, then go for it.
I love my SVS PC Ultra sub.
Also, 45 day inhome trial.
Yeah I have an older SVS cylinder sub (2039 i think, its was the middle of the lineup several years ago) and damn if it hasn't performed like a champ for many years. If i got another sub it would definitely be the PC Ultra. I think the SB Ultra looks amazing, but the PC offers better performance in the sub 30 frequencies.
Wildly throwing an opinion.
Having gone down the path of single driver tower > multi driver bookshelf > multi driver tower > single driver tower I can say that towers are really THE way to go. As long as the footprint is reasonable they are so easy to decouple yet retain the larger "size" of sound I only really hear from a tower (probably because of cabinet interplay). And that is consistent whether it's got one driver or several. For HT, you definitely want large sound.
As for a sub, well I didn't really appreciate a solid sub implementation until I heard Mike G's Cicada rig and it sounded fucking perfect. If you need one, cool. But I bet you don't.
Oh and that price is awesome. I like the nuanced angles on the front baffle. The Prime's look kind of like PSB Images on steroids.
This is good to know. I think bookshelves plus sub has become the popular route for home theater simply because its much easier to get the bass right with a sub, since you can position the sub wherever you want in the room, allowing you to avoid nulls and all that jazz. Then run a quick room correction and you are good to go. You could definitley do the same thing with towers and just cross them over at 80, 60, or 40, but then you are basically paying for frequencies the tower can produce that you will never use.
While I very well may end up crossing over the towers, I'd at least like to hear if the 8" side firing woofers on the Ultras are enough for me. If not, I still have a great looking pair of speakers I can pair with the sub, no audible harm done.
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SVS are more famous for their subs, I've heard zero about their speakers. I would think for US$1K you could do better, but you won't know unless you try, so I say dew et, and utilize that 45 day return policy if it doesn't work out.
They do look pretty bad-ass, though. Kinda like the Quad 22L or 23L.
When I posted this I had a feeling you would be the first to respond, and you would saw "dew eet".
My thinking behind hearing so little about SVS's speakers is either (1) they are bad (2) they are good, but they are trying to break into the speaker market, and since most people think of them as a sub company, its difficult to gain traction.
Regarding (2) above, I think that is the goal with the new Prime speaker line, to put them at a low enough price point to get some sales and get the word out there. But I'm personally more interested in the Ultras.
Point and shoot camera recommendations?
in Off Topic
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True, an interchangeable won't work because of the restrictions most music festivals place on them. Thanks for the recommendation though.