Dusty Chalk

It's something that a lot of people are heard not to give, but no-one has actually heard someone give. Like a not-so-mini-van, or a not-so-super-model.

No big, just don't put quotes around the link, I think that screws up the parser.

Appreciate the opinion; and: (wishlisted).

Not just Firefox, the link was broken. Fixed it.

I know of two, but don't remember the name of the other. One is called WebEx, and it's a pay service. It's excellent. You can tell your dad to relinquish access to his desktop, and then you can control it, and do everything as if you're right on it. I don't remember the name of the other, but it was Java-based, and many years ago. I have no idea if either of these will work with Mac, anyway. There's also a way to do it with NetMeeting, if you've got M$ Office. But you said OSX. I'm sure there are some free ways of doing it, too -- see java desktop sharing.

(winces sympathetically)

I'd really like to see Improv Everywhere vs. the San Francisco Zombie Mob.

Uh...no. Volume has nothing to do with it.

Are those any good? "Buffy starring Philip Marlowe" sounds enticing.

Then yeah, stick with the Silver Spring leg of the red line, or as far out in Virginia as you can. I used to know some people who got a condo that was within walking distance of one of the stops, but the prices on those have gone through the roof, and even with the foreclosure epidemic, they're still higher than they were even as recently as 2000, 2001. (I'm talking about this from the perspective of subletting.) PM me your snmail -- I'll send you a copy of one of the free apartment guides that gets released here once a month or so.

I assume that's a question for the group, and as a member of the audience, let me respond with: I need to think about it. It's actually a very good question, because I find the RS-1 forward (to a fault, most of the time), and the HD600 laid back (again, to a fault, most of the time) (yes, I realize you were asking about the HD650, but I don't have as much experience with those); whereas I find the HP-2 and the L3000 closer to neutral, albeit in entirely different manners (I find the HP-2 neutral in an analytical manner, whereas I find the L3000 neutral in an exciting manner, if that makes any sense). I think the short answer is either one, but not by much, but that's subject to change.

Todd?

I...uh..."segued". And some of it leaked out.

Why specialize? How about AKG madness? Headphone madness? Audio madness? Madness madness?

Yeah, that'd be perfect.

I take a small amount of umbrage specifically with the term "headstage" because it's a play on the word, "soundstage", which, to me, has a very specific meaning of the abilities of speakers to recreate the space of the original recording. Soundstage is, of course, an illusion, the aural equivalent of stereoscopy. Short of binaural recordings -- which no-one is ever talking about when they're talking about headstage -- this is even more illusory with headphones. It is my humble opinion that most people who hear "headstage" are deluding themselves even more so than usual.* It's interesting that you talk about placement -- I don't think there's anything wrong with being able to place sound elements anywhere "within" the head -- anywhere between the two driver elements -- that can be done simply with balance. "Headstage" would require either binaural recording or some sort of HRTF (which, again, people usually aren't talking about -- this entire discussion changes if that is indeed part of the discussion). But that's "placement" -- the ability to place sound elements in the sound field. Also, that's not "separation" -- the ability to separate sound elements in the sound field, especially those which are close to each other. But both of these can be accomplished with normal, untreated recordings, whereas to get a soundstage via headphones, one must be listening to a binaural recording, or a regular recording run through a HRTF, or some such. *Self-delusion is something all of us do all the time to a lesser extent, so I'm not trying to imply that deluding oneself is, in and of itself, bad. The ability to hear a soundstage requires a certain amount of self-delusion, for example -- one must be able to close one's mind's eye to the fact that you aren't actually in the original recording venue.

Hi, morphsci! Ditters.

for reference DC proper -- Northwest, and not much else I'll second grawk's indirect advice: go Virginia. Vienna is expensive, but nice. MD -- aardvark samich isn't far off, most of the metro accessible green line is pretty bad, but U of M isn't bad, as long as you're not a coed, yourself. But don't stray too far. Stay away from the Maryland branches of the blue and orange lines. Red line -- the West leg is expensive but nice as well. The Eastern leg of the red line is a little bit less nice, but probably within reason. What are you looking for, to buy your own place? House or condo? To rent an apartment? A room? Go joint on a house? Is this the beginning of something long term, or only temporary? If the latter, for how long? What kind of music are you going to listen to? You'll need an amp. If you save for a bit and spend just a little bit more, you can get something a lot better.

How important is midrange magic to you? I think the HP-2 has just a little bit more of it. Just a little. Sorry, I keep forgetting to bring my L3000 in to work to compare, I'll try to remember this week.

I do believe I've had stripper. (It was an accident, honest -- I don't think she realized I was moving forward at the same time that she was moving backwards...)

Get both, that's what I did. Wife in the kitchen, mistress on the side.

Okay, now I'm done.

I like to take my time.