I'm really keen to get some open cans for use at home and at work, probably an HD-580 or 595. I'm worried though that I might disturb my workmates, one of whom sits about 6-ft away from me. I don't listen to music very loud, currently I have PX-100's and I know he can't hear them. How...

My flatmate was just playing the Toccata from Suite Gothique on the piano, and I thought it was great. I'd like to get him a good (CD) recording of it for his birthday, so if anyone knows of a good one I'd appreciate your recommendations! Cheers

I know! I was really surprised they'd got another album out so quickly after Reise, Reise. Well, I don't think it's actually out, but I've got my hands on it just now and I'm giving it a spin, so this review is based on just my initial impressions after the first listen. Before I begin, let...

For the past couple of days I've been listening to "Ladies and Gentlemen we are Floating in Space" by Spiritualized. It's amazing! I love the vocal overlay in title-track intro, the slow burn of I Think I'm in Love, the caress of Cool Waves... The list goes on... What an awesome album! Now I see...

I heard Pendulum's 2005 release Hold Your Colour while at a friends house on Saturday night. It's the freshest, catchiest d'n'b I've heard in a long time. The tracks are diverse, incorporating reggae and hip-hop flavours. It's mostly not that 'dark' d'n'b that there seems to be a lot of. Also...

A friend of mine has asked me to find out about ipod-like players that don't require custom software (eg iTunes) to be installed in order to add songs to the device. I guess he's thinking about travelling and wants to be flexible. Does anyone know of any devices like that? Ones that you can just...

What a revelation these headphones have been! They're so light and comfortable, they sit softly on my ears rather than clamping my head like the Hd-280 vice. I can wear them in bed without discomfit, I hardly even know they're there - if it wasn't for the bass. Sure, they don't have the...

Ever since I first heard The Gorillaz new song "Feel Good Inc" I was bugged by how much it sounded like another song I knew. Today I nailed it - U2's "Staring At The Sun". During the non-rap parts of Feel Good Inc there is a section that you can almost sing this part of Staring At The Sun to...

I love Metallica's S&M, for me little can match the combined power of a metal band and a full orchestra. Are there other rock or metal groups who have made good recordings with an orchestra?

I need some help with phase settings on my sub - I think I'm a bit out of my depth! Let me describe my setup... I have a pair of Kef Q3's opposite the couch I am sitting on (about 10 feet away, and the speakers are about 8 feet apart). I used to have the sub next to the speakers, but due to...

I've had my Indigo I/O for about a year now, and it's just crapped out in the last five minutes. Without any warning the sound became crackly and patchy - at first I thought it was the headphone jack or cable, as when I wiggled them the sound would come right. However, I soon realised that what...

When the new Chemical Brothers album came up, I wrote it off on the strength of Galvanise. But recently Galvanise has grown on me, and so I listened to the rest of it - and I found track 3, Believe. From the start it's got a phat beat and rhythm - complete with squeaks and squarks (is that a...

God it's bad. It's so, so bad. Anyone else seen this travesty?

I love a funky tune - I often find myself saying to friends "You'll like this, it's really funky". But tonight I sat down to try to quantify what it is that makes a song "funky" - and I'm really struggling! I could list the songs that I consider funky, but that would just be another Head-Fi...

I've heard The Caeser's song "Jetk It Out" on the SSX 3 soundtrack, but I havn't been able to find out much about them. AMG tells me their Swedish, does anyone know their music, or know where i could pick up their CD for shipment to New Zealand?

I've just found out that The Moody Blues are playing a concert in my hometown (Christchurch, New Zealand) and I'm keen to go. But ticket prices start at $100. Has anyone seen The Moody Blues live? What did you think of the experience?

I've been reading head-fi for a while now, but in the amplification department I've always been smothered in terms. What I'm looking for is a glossary to the headphile lexicon. For example, what does an Op-Amp do? Why is one Op-Amp better than another? What is Tuberolling? How does a valve work...

I encode at with EAC & --alt-preset-standard, and I was talking to a friend the other night, who claimed that when copying songs to the iPod, the bitrate was converted down if above a certain level. I was like "No, it's not" but he said he was sure. Who's right?

I can't find anyone who is going to ship a Zen Micro to New Zealand any time soon, so I am left with pretty much the Muvo 2 and IPod Mini as my options. Before I make the final plunge and buy my first mp3 player, I want to know: Are you happy with your Ipod Mini? Would you buy it again? What (if...

I can't seem to find the Creative Zen Micro anywhere in New Zealand, can someone recommend an online retailer with known-good international shipping? The closer to NZ the better, in terms of shipping costs. Cheers!

I have built a tactile couch using a couple of Aura Interactors stripped and bolted into the bottom. I have it running from the subwoofer out of my Denon HT receiver. Problem is, the sub out is set to crossover at 80hz, and I only want the tactiles to go from around 30hz and down. Currently they...

From someone who doesn't know anything about tubes... But aspires to know a lot one day: What is tube rolling? PS Try searching for this and reading through 27 pages of posts!

To me, Andy C is the king of d'n'b - nothing gets a party going like dropping Nightlife into the player and cranking the volume up loud! I've tried other d'n'b - Goldie, LTJ Bukem, Amon Tobin, DJ Hype, Dj Marky, Total Science - but I always come back to that unique floor-filling Andy C sound...

I really hate this program. I hate how it randomly consumes 99% cpu and then doesn't work and I have to kill it with task manager. I hate how long it takes to load, it hate it continually foisting unnecessary upgrades upon me, I hate the way it doesn't scroll with my laptop trackpad. How I hate...

I'm considering building a small pc solely for the purpose of serving music. I'd use it as a source for headphone listening and for my stereo. I've heard a lot about em interference inside the computer, and I've been thinking of ways to minimise this. Presumably, the amount of interference grows...