mikemercer

Reviewer: PFO, The Daily Swarm, HPSoundings.com, Big Black Disc

Currently offline

mikemercer's Community Profile

Location:	Los Angeles, California
Forum Post Count:	230
Join Date:	9/22/09
About Me:	Columnist, MusicBiz Vet, Audio Evangelist
Interests (Hobbies, favorite activities, etc.):	Writing, music (hi-fi/listening & producing) mountain biking, reading, film and hangin' w/ my wifey
What I do for a living:	Columnist, MusicBiz Vet, Audio Evangelist - VP, Personal Listening, LAOC Audio Society
Headphone Inventory	Audeze LCD3 (my favorite headphone of all-time) Sennheiser HD-800 Sennheiser HD 25-1 II's V-MODA Crossfade M-100s JH Audio JH13 Pro Freqphase Etymotic Hf-3 Grado SR-80 Sol Republic Master Tracks
Headphone Amp Inventory	ALO Pan Am tube head-amp/DAC - Passport battery - Gateway power ALO International ALO Audio Rx MK3-B Audioengine D1 Audioquest Dragonfly CEntrance DACmini PX (integrated) CEntrance DACport My NEW E.A.R HP4 Tube Headphone Amp!!!! Headroom Total Bithead HRT microStreamer HRT Headstreamer Music Hall DAC25.2 (tube DAC & headphone amp w/ Sovtek) Ray Samuels The DarkStar balanced headphone amp StyleAudio CARAT-TOPAZ - (DAC & headphone amp) Firestone Audio Fireeye Mini
Source Inventory	hmmm, lots: Macbook Pro SSD running Amarra into Sonicweld 24/96 Diverter CEntrance DACport LX iPad2 w/ Camera kit/USB output iPod Classic Astell & Kern AK100 hi-rez portable player AppleTV w/ Nordost Purple Flare figure-8 power cable (feeding outboard DAC via optical) Oppo BDP-105 universal disc player/USB DSD DAC Oppo BDP-95 universal disc player (used as transport) dCs Purcell Upsampler dCs Delius DAC Wadia iTransport (170) Sonoma DSD station (project studio) Luxman DZ-111 CD transport (office) VPI Traveler turntable & Unison Research Simply Phono (tube phonostage) Luxman TX099 turntable Music Hall USB-1 turntable
Cable Inventory	ALO Audio Green cable for Audeze LCD3's (+ LOD, balanced, 18" adapters) Cardas Clear cable for LCD3's Moon Audio Silver Dragon IEM (for JHAudio JH-13 Pros) Moon Audio Silver Dragon V3 LOD (2) ALO Audio LOD cable Black Cat Cable analog interconnects Black Cat Cable XV-Ultra Digital SPDIF Locus Design CORE Digital COAX cable Locus Design USB cables; Axis, Nucleus, and Polestar Moon Audio Silver Dragon optical Nordost Heimdall speaker cables & interconnects Nordost Leif/White Lightning Spkr & RCA interconnects Nordost Valhalla Digital COAX cable Nordost Blue Heaven USB cable Nordost Vishnu power cords Nordost Purple Flare power cords Nordost Magus power cords Nordost Purple Flare w/ figure-8 (ffor AppleTV & Oppo BDP-95 Universal Player) WyWires LTD SPD USB cable Yorma Digital (SPDIF)
Power-Related Components	Classe Audio DR-9s in mono-block configuration (updated caps & power supplies) vintage Cary SLA-70 Signature tube amp (stereo) Wadia 151PowerDacMini Hafler DH-220 (w/ 240 mod) Marantz SR-225 (in bedroom) Nordost THOR power distribution block Nordost QB8 Power distribution block Nordost Quantum Qx2 Nordost Quantum Qv2 Silver Circle Audio Juice Box One Cryo-Parts Power Strips
Other Audio Equipment	E.A.R 868 tube pre-amp (my favorite piece of kit) dCs Purcell Upsampler + dCs Helius DAC Zu Audio Omen Def speakers CEntrance 2504 near-field speakers Audioengine A5+ Audioengine A2 SONOS ZP-90 players & Zonebridge System Audio SA2K speakers Nola Thunderbolt IIIA subwoofer Audioengine A5+ monitors (for decks in project studio) Audioengine A2 monitors Audioengine D2 24-bit wireless DAC 2 Technics 1200's w/ Shure White Label cartridges Pioneer DJM-300 DJ mixer (ALL analog) Acurus L-10 Line stage
Audio-Related Tweaks	Nordost QB8 Quantum power distributor. Nordost Quantum QX2, Nordost Sort Kones, various cones, pods, feet, spikes, bedini clarifier, Nordost ECO3 static stabilizer (or as Roy Gregory says: harmonizer) spray, l'Art duSon CD cleaning fluid, Analog Expert Ultimate Record Cleaning solution, Nordost SORT KONES (these things are INCREDIBLE), Eben Cold Ray points, Bright Star bases, Black Ravioli's resonance control devices
Music Preferences	oohh, love a TON of different music; if it moves me, it doesn't matter when, where, or how it was recorded or performed. but, examples of bands I dig: Burial, Mogwai, Portishead, Radiohead, James Blake, Eskmo, Blitzen Trapper, Iron & Wine, Grand Archives, Soapbox Army, Bat for Lashes, WAVVES, Jason Mraz, The Shins, The Morning After Girls, Depeche Mode, The Cure, The Hush Now, Ben Folds, Martin Sexton, Joy Division, Shiny Toy Guns, Bloc Party, house music, dubstep, techno, to name a few..
Interests (non-headphone)	covered this in hobbies I think: writing, reading, music, Djing/producing, mountain biking, film, hiking, traveling, sunsets/sunrises with my wifey
Gear-Fi (Favorite Non-Audio Gear & Gadgets)	my Santa Cruz Superlight bike w/ Avid mechanical disc brakes, Fox shocks, and mean tires. love good hikers, like Solomons or Merrells (though many jumped on that bandwagon recently) - my Craftsman toolbag and drill set, LUV my new Macbook Pro retina/SSD, iPhone 4S, iPad2, and our Samsung LED-backlit 50" LCD 1080p TV (addicted to documentaries) My John CooperWorks Limited Edition Mini Cooper!!!!