s1rrah

Tangled Thoughts of Leaving - "Deaden the Fields" (Pretty neat exp jazz trio out of Australia) ---

Mercury Program & Maserati - Confines of Heat ... A brilliant bunch of kids...

Wow. black fucking sabbath. shit man. excellent.

Ryan Adams - Live at Das Haus, Germany, 10/17/2006 ... An absolutely pristine and totally free set of 24bit live tracks that could have *easily* been released as an official record/CD release. There's lots on archive.org (as many of you know as I've read mention here in various threads) but this is by far the best. Just ridiculous...

Marta Gomez - Solo es vivir ... ... Beautifully played and produced (all of her records, really). Columbian singer/songwriter. And her band is a grouping of musical savants.

I'm just stoked they won't skip songs every 30 seconds any more ...

Got my Koss ESP-950 kit back from Koss today (upon arrival from Amazon it had a horrible low freq distortion in the right channel). It sounds perfect now. Pretty brilliant warranty, gotta say. I bought it used and the cunt who sold it to me admitted he had heard the distortion too but "thought it was just the way the sucky Koss energizer sounded" because the headphones "always sounded great with my KGSS amp) ... sheesh! Anyway, its all suss'd. BTW ... can any of you more technically minded folk decipher these repair notes from Koss' repair department? ... (see attached image) (edited/corrected this as I might have unknowingly made a political faux pas in use of a former link) ...

Since using Windows 7 ... about two years now, I've been mostly happy (I've been on the same original install since Jan of 2011, when I built my current 2700K music/gaming machine and things are clicking along fine thus far). But one process I've always wanted to streamline was the switching among various audio devices (since Windows 7, and I think that trash heap that was Vista, introduced a more granular approach to audio channel management, which, in the long run is a good thing but it also brings with it some tedium). Typically, one must right click the default Windows 7 speaker icon in the task bar, then select "playback devices" and then select whatever playback device you want (Speakers, SPDIF Interface, USB 1.0 Device, Optical, etc.) and then click "OK." ... A real fecking chore, that. But just recently I found a little homebrew utility that, like when I first discovered the Core Temp utility, has literally changed the way I use my computer on a daily basis; and, since I predominately listen to FLACS via optical out and headphones, and also watch a lot of movies via my 5.1 speakers, I find myself switching among devices quite frequently. Enter Win7AudioSwitcher. It puts a little icon in the taskbar and all you do is right click it and then select whatever audio device you want to use. It works like a magic trick. It's free. Some dude made it and gave it away. There used to be a page on SourceForge but I can't find it now. It's very stable, light weight and also puts a (user decided) OSD "gadget" on the screen showing your current config. Sorry about the Softpedia link, it's the best I could find. You'll have to wade through the ads and fake "download" images. But it's there if you want to download it. Here's another link: http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/Win7AudioSwitcher-Download-202022.html ... Some images... The taskbar "selector" bit: ... And, the optionally displayed desktop "widget" ... Super cool util.

I'm really impressed with them combined with the SRM-252S. I had no idea that little amp would sound so good. I like the 307's FAR better with the 252S than I did with the SRM-T1W (which I had for about a week and which sounded sort of dry/dull and etchy with the 307's). The only other benchmark I have to compare the 307's with would be the SR-303's ... which I also really liked and which I think might have been just a bit more smooth sounding than the 307's ... but that's just distant memory talking and so who knows.

I have been seriously surprised by how good it sounds with the 307's ... especially once I got home and hooked it up to my desktop DAC. In fact, I've already contacted Justin to return it in exchange for a 323S because I've decided to sell my dynamic amp/cans. I just prefer the more natural presentation of the Stax over the colored/emphasized tone of the GS1000's and as long as I'm committing, I figure I'll spend a bit more on the 323S as I think it will be more extensible over the long run. Factor in the Koss cans I have as well and I can see myself being quite happy with an all electrostat set up. Would still like to borrow the 404LE's ... I'll let you know once I get the whole amp exchange thing figured out/suss'd.

For reasons of desktop space ... I tentatively ordered the 252S amp; it just came in today and I'm at work listening to it via a little Cowon J3 DAP as source since that's all I have on hand... And man, you weren't kidding. With SR-307's, it's a bit boggling how good the diminutive 252S amp sounds. In all honesty, even via memory, it sounds markedly better to my ear than did the vintage T1W amp I recently had and sold. Mostly in regard to cleanliness/clarity. Pretty amazed. Kind of anxious to hear the Koss ESP950 cans I have too but waiting for them to be shipped back from warranty. If my dynamic stuff goes by the wayside, which is crossing my mind more and more of late, I can already see myself getting the 323S amp... ;-)

Once the smoke settles from the Koss purchase (which is done) .. then I will most likely follow your advice and get the 323s amp .. which was my own advice, too .. but just thought I'd re type it all for drama's sake. ;-) ...

Seriously, though??? (if such a thing is possible) ... I just bought a Koss ESP-950 that comes with a Stax modified extension cable; which means I can now find a Stax amp to use with it (and my 307's for now).

(hypnotizing hand gestures) You will sell ... You will sell ... You will sell ... ...

Brilliant!!! I didn't even think about the extension cable angle! Wow .. that's a relief. I didn't want to hard mod the Koss phones for obvious, warranty related reasons ... ...

When I settle on an amp, we'll have to get together (and you can then sell me the LE's at a "local" rate!) ... ;-) ... I'm pretty sure I'll already love them as I really liked the 303's and from what I've read (literally, five days worth of reading) ... I think the 404LE's will trump the 303's. More and more, I'm leaning towards investing in a NIB Koss ESP950 and a SRM-323S solid state amp (I still have the SR-307's). I'll have to source an adapter for the Koss cans but that shouldn't be too bad; I certainly won't be making one myself!). As my $$$ piles up, I keep thinking I'd like to keep the dynamic setup and just add the electrostats to it. Hmmmmmm ... chew chew chew ... we'll see! ;-)

@ Shellylh My previous comments were only regarding ear speakers. Just so you know. Sorry, chica ... Just being careful ...

goddamnit shelly. The 404LE has chewed up my last few days. If you have one available? Here in our town? I just re thought everything. (whispering) Hey, Shelly ... Your so pretty... If you happen to have a 404LE for sale? Just let me know, okay? lol.

I was just this night thinking about this thread ... and I realized, .. I never even once offered links to .FLACS or otherwise unaltered, true to the event, NON VIDEO type recordings in my posts. Which I guess, just speaking of "Taping" ... is sort of a sin worth metaphoric torture. (I've had it before and so I'll take it). Because among my taper friends ... un altered, digital copies of the event are really the only reason any of us/them record ... (and, sadly, my aforementioned video tracks fall short) ... (even though we/I do have pure audio versions of the same). Anyway, I'm going to post more now, cause I'm bored ... And because me and my friends have recorded so much really good shit around Houston, TX. And because I haven't taken the time to separate the video from the audio and then post proper, lossless .FLACS? Fuck man .. I guess I'll just post more finery ... But still ... this was fun ... it's totally lossy as a video .. really "spikey" in the highs ... ugly in a "digital" way but still listenable (especially if you have really lame ass listening gear). Even at the 720p settings at Youtube, if you have a decent headphone rig, the artifact/strident/clipping nature is bad with this. But the TRUTH should also be equally apparent ... jeezus fuck! Why does YouTube suck so bad? It's a local Houston band that I'm posting ... The Ancient Cat Society .. they invited us to record (as openers for Scout Niblett) ... it's a sensitive bit .. it's not a rock performance! ... and it's insanely good. Me and my friend set up mics and cameras and shit and since there were only about 40 humans in the audience? ... we just took our time with the recording. And here is how it went: ... (I think the technical details should be evident in the shot ... at the end or the beginning) ..

That exact system was my first introduction to Stax about four years ago; I agree ... super sweet. I've been hunting for SR-303's today but have had no luck...

Well I can certainly live with my current 307's ... really, the "etch" I mention is getting near the splitting of hairs as I found the cans to be quite enjoyable (though I remember the SR-303's being more smooth); but while I amass my small fortune to re invest in a proper amp, I figured I'd really check out the ear speaker landscape as well. Good comments on the Lambdas ... I've found some used Lambda Nova Signatures but not sure I want to spend the money (about $550 US); I've also found some other variants like the SR-407 SR and the Lambda Nova Classic on ebay and for comparable money (perhaps a bit less, give or take) but I have no clue about those. RE: the Koss system... I'm intrigued by this but being a tinkerer/hobbyist to a certain degree, I'd enjoy having something a bit more extensible (easily change amps/cans on a whim and without to much scrounging for adapters/hacks/etc.). I like what I've read about it, though. And there's something to be said for a lifetime warranty (I love my Koss Portapros!). Just not sure if it's what I'd want to replace my current, dynamic rig with ... but It would certainly make for a nice supplement, I'm sure. Also, regarding the Koss system ... is it an easy thing to source an adapter so the headphones will work with typical Stax amps? Re: amps. Have you heard the SR-600LE amp? Haven't found this online currently for sale but I'm intrigued by the use of ECC99 tubes and really want to hear it. For now, the SRM-323S is leading in the personal polls, though I'm a good month or so away from purchasing anything. Thanks for the word.

So recently my re introduction to Stax ended ... it was via a set of SR-307 phones and a vintage (circa 94ish I think) SRM-T1W driver unit. I bought the T1W on a whim and with very little research and decided to quickly put it back up for sale just a few days after I got it as I want to source something with a bit more longevity (even though the particular amp was pretty damn cosmetically pristine inside and out). Thankfully, it sold for 800+ US, within the first hour of posting pics/listing on Ebay this morning (a bit more than I invested; I feel lucky). Anyway, I retain the 307 cans but have been thinking about selling them too as, like I'd read re: this particular ear speaker, I did in fact detect a little of what I've heard described as "etch" (though otherwise, I thought the amp sounded pretty good). The whole etch thing wasn't too bad, could be lived with, but since I'm considering a little time to save some more cash and read a bit more about amps, I thought I'd ask if anyone had experience with the 407's or 507's and if they all share that peculiar attribute. Or, if some other decent ear speaker might be preferred over those variants? Oddly, my first Stax system, some four years ago, a Stax SRM-323II and SR-303, to my memory anyway, didn't have this quality. It's been a bit, though and it was a solid state amp and so who knows? RE: amps, the KGSS variants are simply far too big for my listening space, the Woo WES would fit fairly well (and I haven't read too much about it) and so I've still been considering hunting down something from the typical, more slim Stax driver units (have read some good things about the rather affordable 323s). Anyway ... back to the drawing board.

classic.

Seriously good rock. Dec 5. A new record and everything.

I love taping. It's so fun. Red Fang is playing a dive show here in Houston on Dec 5. I'm torn between the labor of actually organizing a proper recording, or just simply enjoying the show. LOL ... decisions. I'll probably just listen: http://youtu.be/p6wMsI5a3F4