Dusty Chalk

Yeah, the ATH-L3000 counts as a "gem" in A-T's lineup, I'd say. ... ... Perhaps I'm underspeaking things -- they're the crown jewel, the diamond, in A-T's lineup.

It never does (see: Max Headroom, Season 2 vs. Season 1).

Well, I asked what your setup was, but I'm thinking that you may want to put a small resister across the load that gets turned off. Value of resister depends on input and output impedance of the two devices that are connected. A switch (the equivalent of disconnecting your cables) would accomplish the same thing. That's assuming you don't mind always listening to whatever louder than whatever your minimum is. What it seems like to me is going on is, is that when you turn your equipment off, it's effectively the same as turning the volume all the way down, input impedance-wise. Just guessing.

Put me in your will?

Did I post about this one already? A-T's domestic flagship, the M50: Also, it's black.

They certainly look the part.

Someone on another board said it reminds them of Immortal: EDIT: Or it may be another animated gif from the same series.

Can we get a non-Casino impressions thread, and/or split this one over there? I mean, I can do it, but I wanted to check with y'all first. If I don't hear anything dissenting, I'll do it later tonight. I won't go any earlier than from when the meeting started, perhaps boomana's first pics post.

Jyeah, those things are monsters, aren't they? Where is you (feel free to PM if you don't want to post publicly)? My guy is in Lee's Summit, MO. You could also ask around on audiokarma.org.

You wanna hear them again? I'm listening to them out of the Supra. I mean, they're not K501/K1000/R10/Qualia airy, but I don't think anything in your price range is going to be. I find them to be almost Leatherhead-airy. Another thought: Ety's? I'm not sure I could stand them for 8-ish hours a day every day, though.

I was close. Awesome.

Uh, hasn't Justin been at this longer than Ray? I mean, just for starters... Shill?

Actually, this makes me think it's an impedance mismatch, especially the first part. What's your gear, again?

I don't know about second-hand (taking a quick gander on eBay it looks like $400-ish), but even first-hand, I've seen them for under US$700, and that's with the bigger (20G? I think) hard drive (mine only has 3G). And yeah, I guess it's overkill for you, but I still love mine, as I use it mostly to record.

One more headphone, and you're going to need a bigger laptop.

How about 'NFB'? No, that looks too much like 'negative feedback'... I suspect a lot of 'balanced' systems out there are not fully balanced. The benefits are real, as even without the ground reference, improvements are had, as long as something else doesn't get screwed up in the process -- like putting signal on the shield instead of tying the shield to ground.

Alesis Masterlink -- should be able to be had on the very cheap -- pay no attention to the MSRP. Plus, it makes a great digital 24/96 recorder.

First of all, thank you. Secondly, yes. Finally, having a lot of black (including shiny black speakers, which -- you are correct -- show dust extremely well), I am familiar with -- and not averse to -- the issue of dusting.

5-HTP

The W5000 can actually sound good if you get a decent fit, however I found that impossible. You kind of lost me with the A950Ltd comment -- what is it that you didn't like about them? I think the Denon's would be a good choice, if you can keep them together. I do not think that the DT770 is a good choice, as much as I love them myself. I agree with the "built like a tank" comment, though. They're sort of the other end of the spectrum from the Denon's, in that regard. I've abused the snot out of my first (600 ohm) pair, and they still work fine, with zero repairs. And the only reason I got another was for the impedance. You may also want to look at the Koss Pro 4AAAT -- I just read a review of them in this issue of UHF magazine* that made them sound promising. It's also well within your budget. I intend to get a pair to try out on my mother. * It appears that the second half of the review is written in a combination of Latin and gibberish.

Finished Deadwood. I actually didn't find the ending as frustrating as I thought I might. I mean, yeah, it went out with a whimper, rather than with a bang, but the primary storyline was at least brought to a relative close. And yeah, sure, there were a bunch of things that weren't resolved, but I was like all "ARGH!!!1!..."

No, I think where I'm getting hung up is that I was probably taught by someone who was more "old school", and was more familiar with the 40-year-old technology that KG refers to in his post. I'll wander off and do some more research about the difference between balanced transmission vs. balanced drive, though. You are correct in that I could know more about that. That's pretty much what I've been trying to say, from the reverse (or "negative") perspective. I.E. we should be calling "things which are not 'bridged output'" something other than "balanced output". Do you have a term for that? 'Unbridged output'? 'Single-ended output'?

Wrong thread? Maybe? Perhaps? EDIT: Never mind, the other one appears to be in the Casino, he doesn't have access to that.

L, yeah, absolutely. The Musical Fidelity muscle amp I have is still better, but get this: the Pioneer was actually competitive with it, after the upgrades. It was surprisingly close. Pleasingly so. Even if you don't upgrade, at least get it recapped, as those caps dry out.

I want a headphone stand! Please, and thank you.