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i am not sure if this was in reference to the Mapleshade system or a different platform. However, I have the complete Mapleshade system and it works quite well for me. I have found a few components that work better without the brass footers so that they are directly sitting on the Maple -> Isoblocks. Here is the explanation of how it works from Pierre Sprey. Since Pierre was an engineer for the F16 and A10 and hand selected as one of the Pentagon's McNamara’s “Whiz Kids” I will assume his engineering skills are reasonably solid. "Our Vibration Control System has three elements: brass footers drain vibration out of the component or speaker and down into a platform; air-dried maple platforms receive and dissipate that vibration; and Isoblocks under the platform isolate it from resonances below it..."

It depends on your budget (you did not mention that) and if you are happy with the Grado house sound or want to get a more neutral sounding headphone. The drivers in the Prestige series are very similar. If you like the Grado sound and want an upgrade I would probably go for the 325i or the PS-500 (if your budget will allow). Otherwise, I would also look at Sennheiser, Beyerdynamic, AKG, and Audio Technica cans. I'm not familiar with your amp, but you want to make sure your amp has enough power to drive whatever you select. In the case of Grados there should not be a problem, but some Audiophile headphones can be very hard to drive (AKG K701 for example.) Head-fi.org is another great place to get advice on headphones.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/feb/28/apple-audio-file-adaptive-streaming Apple developing new audio file format to offer 'adaptive streaming'

Cans: AKG-K702 Audio-Technica ATH-M50s Grado SR-125 Formerly owned Grado RS1(I never cared for the tonal balance and sold them) and Sennehiser HD650 (Sounded Great but they fit too tight). Amps: ALO The Continental V2 Portable Tube Amp Burson HA-160 Ray Samuels XP-7 with AD797 Ray Samuels The Hornet Benchmark DAC1-USB

Try this it might save you some money. I run their cable from my MacBook Pro and it works great. If your not happy, they have a 30-day money back guarantee. Technical information http://www.lifatec.com/toslink4.html Plastic http://www.lifatec.com/Lifusa_patchcords.htm Apple Miniplug http://www.lifatec.com/toslink2.html If you must have glass they have it here too. http://www.lifatec.com/toslink2.html

I still have a few Sun Solaris 8 & 9 machines running, but I'm trying to get rid of them.

I never thought much about it, but it makes me wonder what is the purest approach for Windows audio on Apple hardware. I realize you can run a Windows guest OS on Mac OS X. So, you can run Media Center for the cool features. (I own a license myself.) But, since the host OS is still OS X, wouldn't the sound from the Windows guest still be handed off at the Parallels VM layer to OS X host Core Audio subsystem? So Parallels would be causing OS X to handle the audio output a second time? I would think the purest approach for an Apple machine would be to install Windows on it's own partition and option boot Windows natively. I would think this way only one OS is handling the audio.

One might get the impression that NASA chose the speaker cable only for its flexibility. That would be especially true if we ignored the fact they mention the cable met all their other specifications and if we ignored that the Jet Propulsion Lab also selected the Digital Oval Coax Cable for projects. I suspect the AP products were selected by NASA for a mix of criteria such a build quality, flexibility, resistance, form factor etc. The fact that Analysis Plus does consulting and engineering work for Airbus, Boeing, Motorola, Texas Instruments, and NASA probably does not hurt either. http://www.analysisplusinc.com/ I was not entirely clear on the purpose of your original post about the Voyager. I am not really sure what that has to do with audio, but ok. The impression that I got by reading your post stating that you made cables for the Voyager was that this is something on your resume regarding your cabling experience and expertise that you are proud of having participated in. And, that stock coax cable can hold up to the rigors of space travel so it’s probably good enough for audio. If that were the case, then I would think if it’s valid for one person to mention their past experience to make a point, then it’s equally valid for Analysis Plus to also mention theirs too. That’s not at all misdirection on their part, that’s good business. When I select a vendor for a project at work; one of the first things I ask for is a client list. Speaking of client lists have you noticed all of the professional musician endorsements that the AP pro audio cables are getting on Facebook? https://www.facebook.com/analysis.plus1 and on their site http://www.analysis-plus.com/pro_main.html . I would think that if anyone would be able to notice if there are any improvements with any sort of cabling, it would be musicians listening to their own performance through their own musical instruments. Just the same, I have the Blue Jeans Coax cable and it works just fine.

Funny that you should mention NASA... As it turns out, NASA uses the Analysis-Plus "Snake Oil" cables for both their pulse laser and in projects at their Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Not too bad of an endorsement for their cables. http://www.analysis-plus.com/NASA.html Analysis-Plus is also an electrical engineering firm and in their own words "All the members of our team hold advanced degrees in Electrical Engineering or Physics, and our specialty is the art of computer simulation." The cable business is a sideline that they fell into. You can read about it on their website. I recommended a very high quality low cost solution in the Blue Jeans Cable. However, there are many who prefer for whatever reason to purchase high-end cables. I think that is part of the fun of this hobby. Chrome valve covers on a car may do nothing to increase horsepower, but I'm not going to tell someone that they are wasting their money if they want to dress up their car. The same holds true for this hobby. Analysis-Plus will custom make cables that are of very high quality and turn them around in just a day or two, that’s why they also got my recommendation.

At the lower price point, Blue Jeans Cable, at the higher side of your price point the Analysis-Plus Digital Oval .5 Meter is at top rated digital cable. Both are available with BNC termination. http://www.analysis-plus.com/prod_digitalcable.html http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/digital-audio/index.htm

Since I am a cube rat and don't want to disturb my coworkers, I use a pair of Audio-Technica ATH-M50s at while at work. When paired with the little but powerful Hornet amp I can drive them on the lowest gain setting. The ATH-M50s sound really good for their price point and have a closed back, so they do not leak sound. I also currently have a pair of AKG-K702, Grado SR-125, Etymotic ER6i, and Sennheiser PX-200. The AKG-K702 are currently my primary phones when I am at home. In the past I have owned Sennheiser HD 650, but I got rid of them because they fit me way too tight no matter what I did. I have also had a pair of Grado RS-1i, but I sold them. The RS-1i was nice, but got a bit too bright for my tastes when played at higher levels. The RS-1i did sound good and were very detailed, but they were a bit over the top for my tastes. My other headphone amps include a Ray Samuels XP-7, Burson HA-160, Calyx Coffee AMP/DAC, and the Benchmark DAC1 USB. I put the Calyx in there, but its more suited as a portable DAC, than a headphone amp, since it does not have a true volume control. As a DAC, the Calyx is on par with the HRT Music Streamer II+, but has a more open and airy sound while the HRT is warmer.

I assume your looking for an entry level device and that you will probably want to upgrade at a later date? So, it might be better to get entry level separates. $520 will get you a nice little Ray Samuels Audio Hornet headphone amp and a HRT Music Streamer II. This will get you pretty good sound for the money, the Hornet is very portable, so it can pair well with an iPod, etc. I use the Ray Samuels Hornet with a HRT Streamer II+ as my "at work" rig and it sounds very good! http://www.stereophile.com/budgetcomponents/906ray/index1.html http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue29/emmeline_hornet.htm http://audaud.com/2006/12/ray-samuels-the-hornet-compact-headphone-amp/ http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/emmelinehornet/hornet.html http://www.raysamuelsaudio.com/products/hornet

1 Analysis Plus. 1 Kimber Silver Plated Copper with ferrites removed. 1 Belkin.

I'm not sure I would classify early MP3 audio players as having much of a business model. As I recall, there were few options for purchasing music other than on CD. The MP3 format was being used as a vehicle for rampant music piracy over peer-to-peer networks. <br /> <br /> It is true Apple was not first with portable player. However, Apple is by far the most successful because Steve Jobs had the vision to create an entire ecosystem for downloadable music / content. It was Steve's vision to create the ecosystem that set Apple at the top of the portable player market.

I just stopped counting at 20 Apple devices in our home. Steve was a great visionary that has changed the way the world does so many things. Steve we all thank you for your amazing contributions to the world. You will be missed!