Voltron

They didn't like you stealing their image. - Dusty

VanJam will arrive in LA late afternoon Friday and rolls back North on Monday. It is looking like blessingx, neilvg, and maybe others have joined the crew. Should be quite a trip!

Gene and I offered you the couch, fold-out, floor, tub, or whatever we will have available in our room. You're set, buddy.

Hi Rez selections from Linn Records, Reference Recordings HRx, HDTracks, and Blue Coast Records. Got some Kinks, jazz, and folk stuff.

What's the word on the Skipjack, Dinny? Have you been doing fun stuff with it this week? Looking forward to those comparisons you were talking about with the spdif/toslink deal in play.

I hate his face too because United screwed me over on my flight home that day and I had to haul ass from airport directly to this much-anticipated show. I ended up getting about 30 minutes of bliss but missed 60 others.

Didn't pass, just didn't have time to counter. Enjoy them but make sure they get to you for CJ09.

That is very cool Dinny. When you decide to come to CJ09, please be sure to bring both because we could do some neat comparos.

No spatula needed. I'll use this: Duet deal might work.

Cool. I hope one is for me. I just bought this stuff for my hi rez audio project: + 2GB RAM

Bobby Hutcherson -- Head On

Good to hear you are still investigating, Dinny.

I am not sure why you think there is no more discount, but I would be persistent on that one. They slot in a block of rooms at the discount, then when those are filled they add more. Ping 909 or jp11801 for a definitive answer.

Tell us what they sound like when you hit n_maher. I bet that haz the best smudge factor.

I met Jonathan Reichbach at Sonic Studio's office and got a good introduction to the features of the Amarra software and hardware. I cannot give you any more technical data but I can say that I am buying a Mac Mini and will have Amarra and a Model 4 of my own or on loan as of Friday. And either way, Jonathan will make sure I have an Amarra for CanJam. If Dreadhead has a Mytek and/or Weiss unit or if I can get something on demo then we could do some comparing as well. The integration with iTunes is easy and yet impressive. The ease of handling tracks with a variety of sampling rates on the fly and without hiccup is great. The mixing, EQ and other features with and without the Model 4 are going to be fantastic for needle-drops. The additional features are too numerous to list and I don't think I know a tenth of them. Sonic also seems to have lots of plans for unlocking features already in Amarra and adding more. This system is going to be very robust from what I can tell. And the sound is great although I hardly had time or ability to do any real comparison on gear and speakers I am completely unfamiliar with. It will be very easy to compare iTunes to Amarra and Model 4 to any DAC given the ins/outs and ability to switch from Amarra to iTunes by clicking a dialog box. I intend to do some of the comparing next week. Sonic is taking it slow and trying to get everything figured out before they do a real, full-fledged launch. They are a pro dealer, after all, so this retail audiophile stuff is new to them as far as I can tell. Sonic has a number of early adopters who are getting the software to use with Weiss and Alpha DACs and some that are also getting the hardware unit. I cannot speak for the company but my guess is that they are getting some things worked out on the hardware and software ends during a limited launch. Good idea in my opinion.

That was my other guess. :b

Black eyed peas?

Bob Dylan -- Together Through Life

I would slap you with my gauntlet, sir, if I only could find it under all of this money!

Heaven and Hell -- The Devil You Know

Still unrelated to the original topic of this thread, but I am going to demo the Amarra system today at Sonic Studio's office. Really nice of them to do this, and I will be hearing to Model 4 unit that combines all of my requirements for hi-rez ad/da, firewire connectivity, and improved music server integrated with iTunes. Should be interesting and I am going to work on getting a unit to CJ09 as well (either Sonic will participate, or they will send a demo with me, or I will own one by then ). Unless I am completely sold on the Amarra immediately, I will also try to procure some demo gear from Vintage King so we can compare Weiss or DAD options...

The only cool place is the meet hotel. Plenty of people out there who might share a room or a couch or whatever.

Happy 364 days until your next birthday Ryan! Cheers!

Contemporary Jazz Monday: Brian Blade -- Moma Rosa (ok, so I didn't know that one of my favorite drummers was releasing his singer/song-writer/guitar player albums when I played it on Rhapsody, but it is pretty good in that light) Brian Blade and the Fellowship Band -- Season of Changes (known quantity post-bop instrumental ) Roy Hargrove -- Earfood Roy Hargrove -- Nothing Serious

Sounds good, but why no rye?