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satkinsn

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  1. They are quite good, but I want to disabuse you of the idea that you'll get 'big bass,' if that's what you're after. The sub blends really well with the mains, and the set makes music, but it's not a boomer. best, Scott A.
  2. TV news director (equivalent to city editor or executive editor on a paper) for small tv station in upstate New York. Entire adult life as journalist, with time in radio and papers before tv. s.
  3. I'm on all three platforms, and will start with the Mac suggestion. best, s.
  4. All - Dumb question, but I can't think my way through it on my own. I have an old Olive Musica server in my office. It stops at cd resolution. If I want to add albums I have purchased in high resolution, how do I make 'down resolution' copies that are essentially cd files? tks, Scott A.
  5. Chris -<br /> <br /> Isn't the Audioengine W2 significantly cheaper, of better sound quality and designed in such a way as to meet your standards when it comes to office use?<br /> <br /> (Not affiliated and have not used either the Chordette or the W2 myself.)<br /> <br /> s.
  6. If you have a G1 Air that does not have the hinge problem, consider yourself lucky. My impression is that the differences between first and second generation machines are more incremental than many Mac upgrades - I'll know better in a day, but I suspect you're not missing a whole lot. s.
  7. Forgive the thread jacking, but two cheers for Apple. Back when the Air first came out, my sister in law bought my son one as a present. In under six months, it developed the infamous hinge problem. Apple refused to fix it back then, and the computer sat in my basement for the last couple of years. Even though I thought the company was wrong, we have continued to be largely an Apple family, and I replaced my son's broken Air with a Macbook. A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled into notes that Apple was quietly repairing some hinge problems. After calls to customer support, emails, pictures of the damage, I was told to take the machine to my nearest Apple store for evaluation. They decided it *was* the hinge problem and should be fixed, but said the final determination was at the repair depot. The store called this morning - the unit couldn't be fixed. So they're giving us a new Air. Now on the one hand, the problem arguably should have been handled a couple of years ago, and shouldn't have required the level of persistence I showed, modest though it is. On the other hand, they have made the problem absolutely right, despite having years between the issue and today, and despite the alternative of saying "I'm sorry, regardless of what happened, this is just too old." I'm satisfied with the outcome: the Air comes with solid state drive, so I suspect I'll hook it up to an external drive and use it as a music source for the time being. s. btw - wgs: I have to ask: what's it like to cohabitate with someone who casually loads protein and dna sequences?
  8. How do you like the AE amplifier and the P4s? I'm a fiend for the A2 powered speakers. Also, I'm anxious to hear both the Onkyo and the companion cd player. s.
  9. When I started following computer audio, it appeared to be following the 'computer' model - more and more for less and less. I now think it's reverting to the 'audio' model - slightly more for more. This isn't universally true, and I'm hoping that what's going on is similar to what happened in computers, where the price point was $1000 for a long time, while each generation of machine was more and more competent, and then the price barrier was breached. s.
  10. realhifi wrote: "I would hope that the person that can (and does) spend $10,000 up on a system doesn't think that their way is the best way and that you HAVE to spend that to achieve musical satisfaction. BUT, I would also hope that the person that feels you need to spend no more than say $500 or $1,000 on a system can also find their way to understand why the person that is spending much more on their system is doing it and not knock that approach either." Well, in absolute terms you're right. It's not up to me to tell you how to spend your money, or to chastise you for spending it your way, and not the way I would. BUT for some of us there is a sense - call it an opinion - that there is something deeply flawed in the idea that good sound starts in the $10,000 range. Maybe you're right, but if you are then there is a lot of bad faith and voodoo in the price ranges below that. (I know - you mention that people can enjoy the music for much less. But implicit in your comment is the idea that you have to overlook some pretty big sonic compromises.) And as for me specifically, I have a nagging disappointment about computer audio. It started out (along with T amps and a few other mid-2000 things) as a possible 'magic bullet,' a way to not spend a fortune to get good sound, a way that ordinary (and especially young) people could get into it. However, it seems like the old audiophile mindset/marketing is kicking in: increasingly expensive boutique products and a compulsion to believe more expensive is usually better. Aside: none of this is directed at Chris. It's more a whine about the direction the field seems to be taking. s.
  11. "I believe most of us buy the best kit we can argue ourselves into buying. Why? It is an effort to satisfy the need to be engaged by and emotionally moved by the music. (Eh- sort of like adrenaline junkies I suppose... ) It's not an effort to impress our neighbors or keep up with the Jones. I think it is, in a small way, the same spirit that drives an artist, or writer, or a chef. Artists tend to like seeing other people's art; writers read books other than their own, and chefs occasionally eat out. :)" Agreed, and I don't mean to suggest people who spend lots of money on gear are doing it for ego's sake. I'm sure there are some, but they're the minority. The rest of us fit the 'engaged by' category. However, the underlying issues are the same, whether you're spending a lot of money on gear to show off or you're struggling to get that better, clearer sound you can hear in your head, if not in the rack. It's still vastly more money than most people would or could spend. s.
  12. All - I already own this machine: http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10151&catalogId=10551&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665296316 It's certainly powerful enough. The question is, since I don't care about its primary function - as an htpc - does it make sense to turn it into a music machine? It's running Vista Home Premium and has the usual Sony junk on it. The disc player is a blu-ray player. I could strip down Vista, add EAC or dbpower amp and play back through the usual suspects. (The machine has usb and an s/pdif out on back). Or I could buy Win 7 and do much the same thing. Or, or I could run Linux in some form or the other, though I need to take a harder look at what's in the box to make sure there aren't any showstopper compatibility issues. Thoughts? Scott A.
  13. Paul - You're right, and it's one of those things I struggle with when I read a high end audio magazine and it calls a $4000 Dac 'affordable.' Both my wife and I make decent livings, but I'll never spend a quarter of that on an item of equipment - and I worry that the early promise of computer audio, which was genuinely good sound at a price most people could afford, is being quietly transmogrified into a more traditional audiophile concern. Anyway, I care only about the far cheap end of this hobby, so I'll confine myself to the $500 system. My rule is - anyone has to be able to buy it with no special powers or luck. I'll end up between $500 and $1000, I suspect. 1.) Grado SR60i headphones, at $79 from ALO Audio. 2.) iPod Classic, refurbed. They're currently $209 @ the Apple Store, which is pretty consistently the price. 3.) The HRT iStreamer at $199. I haven't heard it, but I own the basic HRT Streamer II and think it's a very good product. Even cheaper: 1.) Again, the Grados 2.) Sansa Fuze 8 gig player for $100 through one of Amazon's third party sellers 3.) LOD for Fuze, $15 through Amazon or DIY. (Notes on Head Fi) Cheaper still... 1.) Substitute Sansa Clip or Clip + for Fuze. Eliminate LOD. Of course, there's a cheat here - you have to already have the computer to store your music on and get to your portable player. The least expensive computer option would be a.) the computer and b.) a USB DAC and c.) the headphones, again. For a computer, I would be tempted to try somebody's netbook, with the goal of landing in the $300 to $400 range. Then add the HRT Streamer II and an external drive. At under $1000 total, a new Mac is mostly impossible, especially if you step up to speakers. Speaking of which, my preferred choice in the under $1000 remains the Audioengine powered speaker line. The A2s have been on my desk for more than three years and I never grow tired of them. Even cheaper: Parts Express sells its Dayton Audio T amp clone for $45 now, and Dayton Audio B652s for $35. I'm not crazy about the 652s, but some people swear by them. Of course, if you can buy used, especially in computers, and you can run Linux, you can save yourself some real money. (Or buy a Mac.) Anyway, I find this question of 'how much I can coax out of not much' to be endlessly fascinating. Scott A.
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