If they can put the stuff in a Bluetooth headphone, how special could it be?   Tangentially, I'm actually going to be returning my Utopia after reluctantly deciding I liked my HD800S + BUDA stack a smidge better. But at least this makes it easier not to let the whole fancy exotic material...

Hi,   I must be looking for this in the wrong way because for the life of me I can't seem to find anyone who has directly compared an ALO Reference 8 (or 16, which I am auditioning now) with a StefanArt Endorphin HD800 cable, like Robert Youman did on PFO. The ALO Ref 16 I currently have is...

Anybody who pre-ordered a DAC3 (I'm only on the waiting list, sigh) know whether Bel Canto has started shipping yet or not? Looks like it's taking longer than they thought and will cost $500 more. It's coming awfully close to a PRe3 + a $1K DAC of your choice. BTW, I heard from John Stronzcer...

Hello, After three years of graduate school listening to my MP3s on my TAH, HD600s, and Etys, I finally returned home to my "real" hifi system. As I've noticed in the past, my Nad and Dynaudios highlight the deficiencies of lossy compression like nothing else in my possession. Yes, even...

Not sure where this goes, or even if it goes anywhere. First in-depth review of a device that does so many things that it may create new consumption habits. The video and pictures have been badly Slashdotted, but the main review is still accessible here. In the meantime, I look forward to...

This is an update of my experiences on this thread. Briefly, I discovered that many of my 256/320kbps LAME-encoded MP3s were being played back on my 3rd-gen iPod with a fluttering/underwater artifact overlaid over them. I called Apple and they told me they would not support my problem if I...

Hi, I'm starting a new thread for this because I can't find the recent controversial thread involving an iPod and MP3 encoding. The search engine is still down, see .... Anyway, I'm having very similar problems to the ones described by the originator of that thread, namely that some LAME...

Is your music "collection" a snarling mass of lost files and duplicates, an unsearchable morass with half-filled or nonexistent tags? Or is it an orderly, logical system with complete and consistent tags refined over time? Or is it about a half-half mix?

Hello, I've gotten no help from iPodLounge (compared to this forum, that one's a joke), so in desperation I'm trying here. I've been trying to pin down the noise from the dock's line-out when the thing's plugged into my Firewire card. Here's the problem setup: Firewire card (generic or...

I just got a MD player from tbdoah, something I have wanted for at least a decade to record myself at the piano, lectures, etc. It's wonderful! I had a question about digital transfers. As I understand it, SCMS prevents perfect ATRAC copies from MD to MD beyond the first copy. I am not...

I received a Zen Xtra 60GB from Creative a few days ago and have been running it through the sonic wringer since. I already own a Zen 2.0 60GB and was primarily interested in the Xtra's larger screen and user-replaceable battery; I had heard the sound was the same. But given the dearth of...

Hi, Inspired by fractus2's excellent thread, but for Creative Lab's MP3 HD players. It may be interesting to compare the stats between these two threads, if enough people contribute. Shall we?    1. How many songs?    2. Gig's?    3. Which...

Hi, I just received and upgraded a 20GB Jukebox 3 to 60GB with a newly-released Fujitsu MHT drive. The sound quality was pretty good, so I thought. There's one thing that bothers me, though: there's a certain liveliness to the sound that doesn't appear to be in the originals. This is...

It's always something .... I don't know how to say this without touching off a Tuberoller rant, but I just passed on a pair of ER-6's, because ... oh goodness, this sounds so wussy ... I've been desperately trying to track down a bottle of Archer's Peach Schnapps as a Valentine's gift...

OK, odd question: does anyone know whether the backlit LCD remote of the Japanese model will work (with backlight and LCD, obviously) on the NA model? I'm trying to decide how best to replace my ailing Japanese SL-CT570. Thanks.

Hi, Two questions, from the point of view of a UW graduate student with no car and a strong desire not to rent one: 1. Does anyone know whether there's a shuttle to the Marriott from O'Hare (which I can get to by a Van Galder bus)? 2. Is someone driving there that wouldn't mind a generous...

I know, I apologize, there have been numerous posts concerning this issue. The reason I'm even trying is that I love my Panasonic SL-CT570 to death -- because it's the Japanese model. It's blue, it's got optical out, and sports a beautiful backlit remote. Ohhh .... It skips. Not often, and...

Is battery drain significantly volume dependent? For example, what kind of drain is there with the amp on, headphones plugged in, but with no music playing? Idiotic question, I'm sure, but I have no electronics background. The question probably applies to all battery-powered amps, but I've...

Anyone get an occasional and slight clicking noise when using the Cardas cable? My theory is that the smaller custom plugs (on the headphone end) move around in the jacks a bit, and then something -- probably the connecting spring -- just goes "pling!" inside. Didn't notice it until I was...

Hi everyone, This is my first post, so let me first express my grateful thanks to all the contributors to this site. I have learned so much from all your remarks, reviews, and rants . This is a wierd one: does anyone have both the fix-up 75-Ohm adaptor (ER-4P -> 4S) and an ER-6? How much...