If you're looking for some basic information on a Squeezebox Duet or Apple TV, and some very basic diagrams check out the newest issue of the Abso!ute Sound magazine. It covers some convenience products for music servers.
Hey everyone I have good news and bad news. First the bad news. The power transformer behind Computer Audiophile just exploded! Seriously, it shot flames for yards! Now the good news. Nobody got hurt, no property was damaged and we're getting a new upgraded power transformer. A true Audiophile would start writing the new v. old transformer review right now. I think I'll pass.
Good thing I got my new iPhone 3G yesterday. I'm posting from little keyboard right now. I'll be back as soon as we have power :-)
"...These differences in density differentials may reflect similar changes in stiffness distributions, which could directly impact vibrational efficacy or indirectly modify sound radiation via altered damping characteristics. Either of these mechanisms may help explain the acoustical differences between the..." You may be surprised to hear what this discussion is all about. If you're a high-end audio skeptic this may make you think differently.
As one of the founding fathers I would like to announce the Audiophile Wiki has been launched! Those of you familiar with other Internet Wiki sites will no doubt be a fan of this one. Audiophiles unfamiliar with the whole Wiki concept can think of this as an encyclopedia of all things related to audio. The one huge benefit of a Wiki is its open access for everyone to create and edit entries. Read more for further details.
I've long thought the "Bentley" of music server remote controls is a separate laptop to use from your listening chair. Most people will rule out this option simply because of the cost. Surely a new laptop is a little spendy to use solely as a remote, but you can pick up a used MacBook fairly cheap on eBay these days. Or, you can buy a Mac Mini to use as your music server and transition your MacBook from music server to remote control for even less money. Having a MacBook as a remote control makes the Mac Mini a very user friendly choice for a music server. Windows users are also in luck as I've included a very simple PC based solution this time. With laptop remotes you have the option of checking a little email and surfing the Internet while listening. Maybe you'll even download a new high resolution album from HDtracks and copy it over to your music server without leaving your listening position. This beats getting up to flip the vinyl to side B any day.
The quest for the ultimate audiophile system is now complete. At least the part where I find the best system I have ever heard. Certainly not the part where I pay for it and take delivery! I listened to this spectacular system on a tour of Audio Research Corporation. The funny thing is, we spent more time talking about the non-ARC pieces of the system than we did the ARC components that were made right outside the listening room. The reasons for this are simple. A system with all Audio Research components speaks for itself. No wonder ARC doesn't advertise much, if ever. In addition, ARC components are so transparent the only possible adjustments you'd want to make are cables, speakers, and power conditioning. Join me for a look inside this legendary American high end audio equipment manufacturer.
Bits, bytes, blocks, Linear Pulse Code Modulation, Fraunhöfer, etc ... I don't know about you but I'd rather listen to music than talk about these topics in "engineering" detail. Five days ago I posted a link in the "Uncompressed v. Lossless Compression" thread here on CA to John Atkinson's article titled "MP3 vs AAC vs FLAC vs CD." The article is pretty interesting especially for those of us computer audiophile's. What I find very uninteresting are the Internet conversations about the article that go into too much detail over the bits and bytes of each codec. I have purposely avoided going into that kind of detail in my posts here on computer Audiophile. I think it is very boring and dry and only leads to confusion and unwarranted confrontation.
"There’s no way that a solid-state amp is gonna beat a tube amp. That’s never gonna happen — unless they finally run out of tubes. I think they’ll run out of oil first. You don’t see a war going on to get tubes, do you?"
That was a clip from Lou Reed's Keynote speech from SXSW 2008 which is going on right now. This speech is getting a lot of press around the Internet, so some of you may have read it already. If you haven't Sound&Vision has a good recap of Lou's comments on digital sound, MP3s and technology. read more for a clip and the link.
The third and final CES 2008 photo gallery is now available. This gallery also contains many photos from T.H.E. Show over at Alexis Park & St. Tropez. The audio equipment at T.H.E. Show was just as good as CES and the environment was a lot less crowded. This allowed more time to talk with manufacturers, sole proprietors, other attendees, etc... As I wrote about earlier, the music for sale at Alexis Park was wonderful. Most of the audiophile quality music vendors were there and they all brought their best-of-the-best recordings to sell. My wallet was a little thinner after leaving T.H.E. Show. I finished up the day at the Venetian taking some time to really enjoy the music on some of my favorite systems and talking to a few people. I spent by far the most time in the McIntosh / Richard Gray's Power Company suite. This system was the most musical and enjoyable system of both shows. I spent quite a bit of time talking to Dick McCarthy, President of Richard Gray's Power Company, about the history of the company, RGPC products, and who exactly is Richard Gray. Dick not only knows RGPC products backwards and forwards he really believes in them. Sure the presidents of every company should believe in their products, but with Dick there was a passion and sense of confidence that wasn't apparent in many other suites at CES. Fortunately I am a RGPC customer so I knew Dick's products backed up his words. While there was a bit of salesmanship in what Dick was saying (he has been a very successful businessman leading other companies as well) it was evident that he was an audiophile first and foremost. Anyway, here are the photos from Day 3 at CES / T.H.E. Show. Please remember that I will go back and put captions by the photos, but I want publish them for everyone to see as soon after the show as possible. So, be patient, if you want to know what a certain piece is or how it sounded send me an email and I'l be happy to let you know. Enjoy the show.
My CES Day 2 High End Audio Photo Gallery is open for your perusal. On the second day of CES I started in the high end audio rooms in the Venetian then moved to the main CES area in the convention center. There were a ton of things going on over there including the auto electronics area. I included some shots of a few neat cars that were on display and some very nice McIntosh car audio equipment. As usual no words, just photos for now, enjoy.
