You are absolutely right . . . oh well, what a shame. Thanks for the info.

I just bought a second Benchmark DAC1 and it uses a step attenuator to control the volume on the headphone jacks (and XLR/RCA output on the back, when not set to calibrated). When did they switch from a pot to a step attenuator? Not that I'm complaining (as it sounds much better), but I am just...

The top of Mt. Evans works for me. I always go up to the top of Mt. Evans on Father's day to take pictures of the baby mountain goats. At that time, they are only a 3-4 weeks old and very cute. Nonetheless, I'll bring my Max a couple DACs and my cans. Besides, the observatory has power for...

Ari, I think I'm finally going to break down and get a pair of Schoeps CMC6/MK41s. And to think, I had just gotten rid of the upgrade bug before we started talking mics and preamps . . . oh well, wallet be damned, eh?

After controlled testing, I decided there isn't any audible difference between the Max (with filter off and processing off) and the Lunatec V3. After adjusting the volume of the Max and the V3 to within 0.1 dB, I hooked up identical headphone extension cords to them and sat switching between the...

Orpheus, You're probably right. Frankly, I've never really figured out what the differences between headphone amps and other line-level preamps are. Admittedly, it isn't the right way to go about things . . . but, I've never had a use for the line-out's of the Lunatec before and I couldn't...

As for my RMAA testing, I used the digital out on my Lunatec V3 for most my testing -- of all my sound cards, it was the most accurate (my DAC1 to V3 beat the Lynx Two tested on the RMAA site on everything but frequency responce, where it lost by a hair). Of course, I had to make a cable to be...

While I realize Grace also makes a headphone amp, my point was more along the line of (i) there are some amazing tube and solid state mic-preamps out there that might bring you one step closer to your audio nirvana, (ii) it gives people interested in XLR-type headphone cables a choice in...

Last night, I downloaded RMAA and proceeded to test every DAC, ADC and amp I own; in the end, I found the balanced (XLR) outputs of my Benchmark DAC 1 to be my hands down winner of my sources. Since my HeadRoom Max only takes unbalanced (RCA) inputs, I decided I'd try the analog pre-amp side of...

eric343, It's true, you don't need a Ph.D. for the vast majority of engineering jobs. A Ph.D. in engineering/pure sciences is only required for jobs at research institutes (such as government labs and some corporate R&D) or teaching at a university. If working very hard for a position at one...

SunByrne, You are absolutely correct about the REU programs. There are actually two types of REU programs, site REU programs (which is what you wrote those recommendations for) and individual REU funding. Site REU programs usually have 4-8 faculty sponsors who each work with groups of 2-7...

As blasphemous a this may sound, I'd suggest going in-state for your undergraduate and then going on to one of the big name schools for your Masters or Ph.D. If you go in-state, you may even turn a profit on your undergraduate -- I cleared three to ten thousand a year (thanks to scholarships...

I thought about the Apogee MiniDAC when I was in the market . . . but, heard people were having problems with them shorting-out. Personally, I'm very happy with the digital in/out of my Edirol UA-5; it is 24 bit / 96 kHz and works great with my Benchmark DAC1. Since you don't need...

Gee, 22 years old and still 90% pure. I'd say the test gave me some great ideas . . . but who am I kidding, Disney characters thinks I'm to pure for my own good.

Not that I have had direct experience with the ADC of either, the RME has a much better reputation on the recording boards than the ART DI/O does. Of course, if you want to go hog wild, you could look at Apogee, dCs, etc. For more info on recording stuff, you could surf over to Gearslutz (my...