grawk

Given that you're comparing apples to oranges (cassettes to "lossless files"), that you're using "lossless files" doesn't have much meaning. You're finding the sound from the imod->iqube->ultrasones to sound thin and slow. "(more matter, more dynamic, more low and high)" The only way that's possible is if something is doing something wrong. Cassettes are limited at both the low and high end and have noticable other flaws.

Can't you see? Those are "air wired"

We already established what level of digital player I think bests a WM D6. An ipod. Your results with an ipod suggest you're doing something wrong. Either using lousy source files, headphones that are a mismatch with the amp, or something else equally glaringly wrong.

There's more to music than how an "impulse" is reproduced, tho.

Good digital: Well recorded music stored in digital format, without glaring errors in recording or analog to digital conversion. My budget isn't that high, but I was fairly involved in live music recording in the early to mid 90s. Until good portable analog to digital converters were affordable, I used portable cassette recorders. The only one I really liked was the PMD-430.

The trick is you're testing with tones, instead of with music. Music is affected by how the speaker transitions from one frequency to another. You need to pick a challenging piece of music, and plot it over time to get the whole picture.

your title will match in a second

No, the Nak 550 was a full sized cassette deck, made portable. The PMD430 was stereo, wtih DBX. I've owned all 3 of these portable cassettes, and good digital is still worlds better. If what you're hearing from your ipod is thin and lifeless, then the problem isn't the ipod, it's somewhere else.

I was amused by that one. I think xkcd is occassionally funny in that it mirrors how I think. The classic example is

So you'll be selling the GS-X in favor of the AE2? How good a deal will you give me?

It only misses the point if the only thing impacting how headphones sound is frequency response.

We'll just have to disagree. The inherent problems in cassette aren't improved with a D6 (yes, I've owned a few), and an ipod with good source material can sound a hell of a lot better than anything the D6 can manage. The only "portable" cassette that comes close is the Nak 550, and well. That thing was a monster. The Marantz PMD430 can sound VERY good, but it's still not going to outperform an ipod with good source material.

I'm sorry, a WMD6 is not a better source than an ipod if you use a decent amp with the ipod. That doesn't mean portable audiophile rigs aren't silly, tho.

I've never thought frequency response would be impacted by going balanced. Control, slew rate and power, which are hard to show in a static graph, are what I thought was improved by going balanced.

It has been a good year to be a caps fan. Every game is something new. It's like the "who did we lose today" lottery each week. When the team is healthy they're awesome, and they still manage to win most days when they're not.

I got a package from reksy. It's not part of the xmas exchange, but it's going under the tree anyway

[ame=http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1892014]Most Improbable Lil Jon Mashup Ever - CollegeHumor video[/ame]

I guess ian wasn't kidding about not posting anymore now that the thread split

yes, if it's got network,t hat's good enough

what you get from the wireless ones that you don't get from the airport express is the scanner functions wirelessly

I will recommend for your all in one you get one with wireless connectivity if you can. It makes life so much easier.

I don't miss alaska summers at all, but I do miss winter in fairbanks

I'm not sure why you think the fan running is a concern. As long as the laptop doesn't overheat, there's no risk other than a few decibels of noise. It's an annoyance with open headphones, but that's not really the target market for the duet, and even then, you'll only hear it if there's no actual music playing.

I should offer to sell my parka. It's rated to -60, but I'm pretty sure it'd be cosy a lot colder than that...

if that's his version of an olive branch, it's easy to see why he doesn't fit in here