The diary entries of a little girl who is now 30! ~ Part 2 - Page 449

Quote:

Originally Posted by 28980 

I just dislike the fact that their pricing is so deceiving as you have to pay $55 shipping and then ~$40 more. Customs from China to the US can easily be avoided, its not like its the UK. And I don't understand why they insist on freight shipping, when any other method is much cheaper. I also was extremely confused as to why their explanation for the high price of shipping was so that some customers absorb the costs of what other customers would have had as shipping.

This is me penny pinching though, I just believe some of their marketing strategies to be flawed, and obviously I'm in the minority as they are pretty popular.

The whole thing with the wizard design was arbitrary I'll admit, I'm sure there are plenty of people with a lack of artistic ability that would like to have an awesome design and would pay a premium for it, and I can't fault them for that. It in fact the took me 4/5 revisions of random things and about 4 months of research and design to create my own customs.

I've never been hit with customs from China. I have massive problems with shipping from the US though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by a_recording 

 

But um. Why is it shocking?

 

Well I'm from an immigrant family myself (Portuguese) and I've lived in Canada since the age of two. Because I've lived in Canada for 95% of my life I have the standard western Canadian drawl. I remember you once mentioning you weren't born in Oz but immigrated there when you were very young so I expected the Ozzie accent. I know it's silly but what can I say. Just out of curiosity, have you ever visited your parents native country and when you speak Chinese do people know right away you aren't from around there by the way you speak.

Last post of the night guys. Please try not to laugh to hard at this old softie. I was just listening to Jia Peng Fang's Silent Moon on my Sextettes just now. I've always loved that song because it's so melancholy sounding. The song has always moved me but tonight on my Sextettes I actually cried while listening to it. I know I'm fast becoming a silly old man before my time.

I'm out, take care everyone and have a safe and fun filled weekend.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DigitalFreak 

Well I'm from an immigrant family myself (Portuguese) and I've lived in Canada since the age of two. Because I've lived in Canada for 95% of my life I have the standard western Canadian drawl. I remember you once mentioning you weren't born in Oz but immigrated there when you were very young so I expected the Ozzie accent. I know it's silly but what can I say. Just out of curiosity, have you ever visited your parents native country and when you speak Chinese do people know right away you aren't from around there by the way you speak.

---

Last post of the night guys. Please try not to laugh to hard at this old softie. I was just listening to Jia Peng Fang's Silent Moon on my Sextettes just now. I've always loved that song because it's so melancholy sounding. The song has always moved me but tonight on my Sextettes I actually cried while listening to it. I know I'm fast becoming a silly old man before my time.

 

I'm out, take care everyone and have a safe and fun filled weekend.

Yes. When I am in Hong Kong they think I'm from overseas or from mainland China. It's sorta embarassing but eh. 

I think its a beautiful thing when music makes me want to cry.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrViolin 

Quote:

Originally Posted by warrenpchi 

 

Um, wut?  Not disagreeing or anything, just wondering where that came from all of a sudden.

 

Back when I was a lurker 2-3 years ago, I searched around the 70x series a lot and about akg. I remember people saying that ever since Harmon took over AKG, it hasn't been able to make new phones but was rather geared towards marketing. They said that they took out the k1000- but I'm guessing that's wrong? K1000, why you no still around 

LOL, I mean how did the conversation turn to AKGs in general.  Did I totally miss a post somewhere?

Quote:

Originally Posted by DigitalFreak 

Quote:

Originally Posted by a_recording 

But um. Why is it shocking?

Last post of the night guys. Please try not to laugh to hard at this old softie. I was just listening to Jia Peng Fang's Silent Moon on my Sextettes just now. I've always loved that song because it's so melancholy sounding. The song has always moved me but tonight on my Sextettes I actually cried while listening to it. I know I'm fast becoming a silly old man before my time.

I listen to that all the time (not all, you know, frequently)!  I prefer the "Studio Live Version" (Track 12) myself. 

Subbed to your channel BTW.

Quote:

Originally Posted by a_recording 

I really like the word wuss. It's a word that has a sound which aligns nicely with it's meaning. I wonder what the etymology is...

 

 

Etymology

1982, from earlier wussy (circa 1960), probably a blend of wimp and p****.

But I thought the latter word was a term of endearment at one point... or is this just a falsehood I learnt from Arrested Development?

I have a 1950 edition of "Word Origins and Their Romantic Stories" by W.Funk - some of these accounts are right goofy, tickling and entertaining.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DigitalFreak 

For those interested, Heir Audio continues to bolster it's product line by adding yet another IEM. This one, according to Sorenslim, sounds like a less refined 8A which delivers a good 90-95% of the 8A's capabilities at a lower price. According to The Wizard because the 8A couldn't be engineered into a IEM he decided to blow the dust off an old forgotten project and set to work and came up with the 5 driver 5A. Pricing has not been announced yet and the new IEM currently is still not available for order.

                      

                          Heir Audio 5A IEM

 

 

If that wasn't enough The Wizard earlier today made a further announcement concerning Heir's IEM line

 

 

I can't help but think Dr Moulton aka The Wizard is having a ton of fun on head-fi posting pictures of his creations for the community to see.

Here's the latest pic of The Wizards handy work. Some lucky head-fier is about to be the rage of the Heir Head clan.

Now if only my 4A's would finally get shipped I would be one happy head-fier

Actually the 5.0 are available and they are 599 USD. I just ordered them.

It is a funny story actually because I started argueing with fanboys and "The Wizard" himself on the thread. I was just pissed off about a lot of things: all the Heir fans claim that Heirs are unsurpassed all the time, even if they do not have other customs, and sometimes haven't received their Heir yet ! Plus the marketing of Heir here on headfi I found a bit aggressive. Besides, I don't really connect with "The Wizard" too much, must be the nickname. Anyhow, he was very polite and nice, so I decided one day or the other I was going to check what the fuss is about. And just then the 5.0 was announced, with reputedly 90% of 8.a SQ at half the price. I contacted the Wizard, considered it for a while and just pulled the trigger as such universals have good resale value if I do not like them. But I really want to be able to compare "supreme Heir Quality" and "Heir SQ" with other products I have...

Wait and see, I might become a Heir Fanboy too...

Oh edit...everybody is raving about the design of the second picture you posted...To my taste, on of the ugliest iems I have ever seen. I do like the first one though (Buckeye Burl).

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgray91 

That's quite a change from the Momentum video and the 1R video. You're more confident now. Bravo. The background song may be a bit too distracting LOL.

Annoyingly unlike vimeo youtube doesn't allow you to replace the source video file after uploading, otherwise I would have changed the song. Otherwise though I think its rather poor form for people to be complaining about the song and disliking the video when the author of the music has posted in the comments.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MuppetFace 

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

Another update on the Apex Glacier situation, for those who care:

 

I'm done playing around with it ---- the issue seems to be the amp section for sure. I've asked to send it back and try a second unit, basically an exchange. If I still hear hiss like I'm hearing now, then I'm going to pass on it. Actually, I'm sort of leaning that way anyway, as I'm not particular impressed by the build quality of this thing. The guts of the amp can be pushed forward and back too easily by simply inserting a USB cable, and I've read that the lettering can rub off on the front, which would be inevitable since it's unavoidable to the touch due to the amp's size. The power switch is toggled by pushing the volume dial, which is awkward and hard to do unless you're going at it at exactly the right angle. Finally the case itself looks unfinished and actually worse in person than in pictures. It's also really prone to showing smudges. Perhaps the weirdest issue is how much this thing picks up ambient noise; apparently it's shielded, yet I'm hearing a distinct static sound when it comes anywhere near the MacBook.

 

There is one really cool feature of the amp however: that indicator LED. It has so many colors it flashes at you to tell you various bits of information ---- not that I could ever remember it all, but it's pretty to look at nonetheless. As you turn the volume pot up, the color gradually changes from red to orange to yellow to green to blue to purple. That's just so freakin' cool, and honestly it's the only thing about the build that impressed me.

 

Sound quality on the Glacier is good from what I can tell thus far, hissing aside. It has a spacious, wide presentation and good instrument separation. Bass reproduction is particularly impressive. The amp hits hard, yet it's not overemphasized. Treble is a bit more emphasized compared to the UHA-6S however, and overall it gives the Glacier more of an airy but artificial quality compared to the Leckerton in my humble opinion. The midrange sounds nice, clear and open; I still prefer the UHA-6S in this department as well however. The Glacier seems to emphasize detail more. Overall compared to the Leckerton, it's a nice complementary signature that would serve well as an alternative for me. I'd succinctly characterize it as airy and bright.

 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

 

To be honest, I'm bummed. I didn't expect to hear much in the way of hiss from the Glacier. There're also some annoying nits to pick. The fact that it sounds as good as it does only compounds the frustration, as now I'm compelled to try to find a solution beyond simply returning it.

 

Not sure where to go from there. I'd like to find a second portable amp to compliment the UHA-6S, but one without any noise issues. Thing is, I'd also like a portable DAC of some sort given that I intend to use it with my notebook and not just my DAPs. The obvious choice would thus be the RSA Intruder, but given how high the gain is for it I'm a bit weary. Yes it has three gain settings, but then the Glacier does too (all of them with hiss). Also not sure if I want something that tonally warm based on the impressions I've read for it. That's why I'm sort of avoiding the Decware Zenhead as well.

 

The more I think about it, the more sense it makes to go for an external portable DAC like the CLAS -dB or Pico DAC. I'm still mulling over returning to iOS, but if I'm not mistaken the CLAS now features USB connectivity for non-iDevices. If I went that route, then I'd probably pair it up with the Pico Slim:

 

 

 

 

 

Yum.

 

The only other alternative that interests me along these lines is the CEntrance HiFi M8. It includes an amp section and seems pretty powerful though, so again I'm worried about noise.

I love the colour and finish of that amp, very pleasing to look at.  So much nicer than the wishy washy pastel colours used by Apple on the ipods.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MuppetFace 

For whatever reason, Grimes always affects me in subtle emotional ways I can't quite articulate.

Guess what I am watching right now? Grimes programming the Australian equivalent of MTV <3

Visions was my favourite album of 2012. I find her absolutely adorable.

While I can't put it quite so poetically, I just find her music represents the zeitgeist in a way that just grabs me by the neck. A displaced, nightmare version of sugary pop culture, eviscerated and chopped and fed to a synthesiser. I like how she is so distant in her music, despite the intensely personal subject matter at times. And the fact that it was all done in Garageband. Nghrrrrrr.

I honestly find her personally inspiring.

Recently I ordered two copies of the album just to get two different bonus discs from Rough Trade and Resident. <3

Last night I decided to listen to some Grimes on the SA5000 and it made me shiver.

Also incidentally I may order the XBA-40 just to settle if it sounds different than the XBA-4 (Carlsan reckons it does) and the AD900X. As soon as I can find my wallet, I think it ran away.