CanJam 2009 Impressions - Page 30  

How exactly is the chassis an integral part of the overall design? I mean, beyond making it look like it's worth a lot of money?

Sir, I think it is fairly obvious that the M-Audio looks like rubbish. How could it possibly sound good when the manufacturer did not use adamantium case?

wow this is great
thank for the pictures !

looks like someone's built themselves a better, more expensive mousetrap...

↓↓↓nice pics, Charles!...what was your favorite gear there?...

this was an awesome meet, sorry for responding so late but we just got back in chicago last night so i just uploaded pictures and got back to my computer. the show was amazing and so were all the ppl. it was awesome to meet so many fellow head-fiers and get to listen and see some really cool products. here's some of the pictures i took at the meet while helping my dad around with the show.














































ENJOY

Speaking of analog tapes, I had my Nakamichi Dragon cassette deck playing some well-recorded music on a rare TDK MA-XG metal tape.

Many of those who listened were astonished by how good it is, particularly the younger generation, many had never heard a top-end cassette deck and a top-end tape. Nakamichi showed the world that the cassette format (originally developed by Philips and never intended to be "hi-fi") could indeed rival reel-to-reel.

Oh, if you see this: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/5734992-post39.html, I have to say I hadn't read this post of yours, but it also fits the other thread.

And I have to add that if you don't mind it being 16/48 (quite good too), you also have the Behringer UCA202 for $30...

Interesting this Can Jam with things like that, yeah...

Looks like someone likes playing with SolidWorks too. At least those nasty vibrations will not be harming the lead weighted goodness. For extra benefit, you can attach it with bolts through the threaded holes to your workstation.

I would at least have gone with a nice 75 ohm BNC connector, but then buyers would probably be confused if they had to buy a BNC to RCA coaxial cable.

FWIW--The engineer/designer does not use (or "play with") SolidWorks. He is a serious engineer that is renowned for his critical electronic design and precision machining work for the military and medical design fields. The chassis design grows naturally out of how the circuit design and PCB evolves. That it is pleasant to look at and exquisitely machined is a bonus as he does all the machining and design work himself.

Not sure what is meant by "lead weighted goodness". There is no lead used in the design, nor did I indicate anywhere that there was.

BNC is nice, RCA is the standard everyone wants. It is what it is, the market decides which connectors become standard.

Lee

I really liked the layout of this National. instead of one big room there was many smaller rooms. This proves the National is growing up a bit with the experience and work from the past hosts and past nationals working with the new hosts for a new experience over and over. i really like how it seemed more personal with the vendors and other headfi members this time around with the smaller rooms, though the sense of overall size and comunity was some what taken back unless you really walked the rooms fast..and there was plently of time to walk the rooms! the member setups where in i think two or three rooms, this gave you a sense of a regular meet with 15 or 20 people tops and kept the sound levels down. if you listened to someones rig and they where in the room you felt more one on one with them like you would at a mini meet without the noise and large crowd. if you didnt like a vendor then all you had to do was stay out of the room they where in, though how one amazing new small headphone company was placed outside in the hall i dont know..though i giggled every time i passed them at the sure quality of hifi sound this company gives in all its low cost products...hey whatever pay the bills, but i won't say anything more cause i dont wanna get sued..haha

love the t-shirts also, i guess they were bleached and the colors where magically placed in. it did not feel like a silk screened shirt with a big sticker on the printing, must of been some process involving fish though...not sure but i love my olive green shirt! thanks for the free swag!

i loved helping out at the registration desk with my man 909, to bad the ceiling was to low to hang a noose or the desk was to small to fit a bathtub with a hairdryer plugged in. luckily there was no sharp objects at the desk, not even a plastic spork..damn these guys thought ahead! seriously joking aside it was great hanging out with David and talking with him like i never did before...really cool dude!

the graphic and design was so damn professional also, it should be kept the same for next years event!

i will post more later on...got to go to the bar..

Speaking of bars. I felt like ordering a drink while you were behind that desk Billy! Maybe later this year I'll fly out there and order from your bar, Belvedere martini strait up with a Polish on the side

Aaron

The Sonicweld does come with a Stereovox XV2 cable which is both BNC and RCA type. I use this cable personally in my system.

I think the design of the Sonicweld is very nice. As far as the electronics side of it go... I have no clue, but in my personal opinion, there aren't many electronic devices that small that I'd pay that much for... unless they went inside my body and performed life sustaining jobs.

I never understood Empirical Audio's high cost usb either. I can get a device to shoot rockets that I can control with my PC for under 100 bucks, but I can't a digital replication of my audio off of it... quite sad!

damn I should have gone! How come no love for the sets of L3000 there? There are the best bass cans! No more bassheads?

Not in cali, all of them like the more bass light of the ATHs.

Wonder if anyone brought in an AD500?

Not to derail the impressions, but the chassis is absolutely integral.

There's a lot of considerations when you lay out a piece of gear - things like RFI might not seem like a problem, but they are. You can get a lot of noise from something like a rectifier bridge, anywhere AC comes into the chassis, and a number of other considerations. This is where buzzes, hums, etc. come from.

Next, you need to consider and plan for heat. Heat is what kills components, more than anything else. You have to let it escape and allow the gear to cool itself while operating. You need to keep the most sensitive parts away from the hottest ones.

The material the case is made of is also important. Ferrous metals (e.g. steel and iron) can actually magnetically couple to the circuit, which can cause problems.

You also need to design for safety. A tube amp can have several hundred volts inside. You don't want to accidentally cook your customers or yourself while building them.

I could go on, but quality casework is important. It might not seem like it at first, but believe me, all these considerations can make the difference between a good and bad piece of gear.

Thanks for all the impressions and pics from everyone!!! Didn't get to attend this year, but looking forward to next year when it is closer to my side of the country!!!!