Quote: Originally posted by sygyzy I wonder if this is the new amp that Craig told me about, that could drive a wide range of headphones. Though he said that one would cost $500, not $2000. The amp you are thinking of is likely the HD25. From what I understand, it will be in the...

I think that there is a camp here, that firmly believes, that no matter what you decide to do with your new amp, one of the best ways to get good sound out of your PC, is to get the D/A processing out of the box. That is, weather you get an external DAC, like the Art DI/O, or an external sound...

NeilPeart - I agree that the 550 does have great sound for a portable. HiWire - technically, wav files should be the same quality as the CDs they were derived from. However, to ensure quality is preserved, using a robust ripper, like EAC, is essential. Just remember that it is difficult to...

Well, I may be alone in this, but I am not all that impressed by my SlimX 550. The sound is actually pretty good for a PCDP, but there were just too many little things that aggravated me. First, the advertised battery life is way off unless you plan on playing highly compressed digital files. If...

There are lots of choices and they get expensive fast. I would suggest starting at the wall. Get a hospital grade outlet or the PS Audio Power Port. After that, you can go with either noise canceling devices or power regenerating type devices - the latter will be much more expensive than the...

Unfortunately, I have never heard the NEC, but I am very happy with my ModWright Pioneer transport. You can find used players starting around $100 and then even with all the mods possible, you are well under $1K - probably around $600-$800 after shipping and everything. I suppose that it will...

The Wall is a fine work, but it was also the first time that Waters and Gilmour showed signs of not working well together. I have always felt that Waters is a better writer and Gilmour is a better composer, but as a team, they were brilliant. The Wall has segments of that brilliance, but not...

I recently faced the same dilemma. I bought a 20G iPod with the intention of using WAV only. During the first week, it seemed my iPod was having trouble with the large file sizes that go along with WAV, short battery life notwithstanding. In an attempt to achieve greater stability and longer...

I picked up a little LCD from ebay for something like $50. Takes all the memory work out of it.

I have only tried CinemaQuest Optilink 1 toslink, Bolder Cable and Zu Ash. Both coax cables where much better than the toslink, which I am fairly certain is not glass. The Zu Ash seemed a little more detailed that the Bolder, but they were pretty close.

I agree with everyone so far, but my nod will go to David Gilmour. I think he is one the most lyrical guitar players that rock has ever seen.

As has already been said, the compare and contrast has been done many times over. I am sure you will not have any problem finding the threads - they are all huge!

I have 3rd gen iPod, and find the lineout/amp to be in a different league altogether (soundwise), than just the headphone out. However, the lineout/amp combo makes a portable merely luggable. If I am going somewhere that I am going to be stationary for long periods or time or on an extended...

Thanks for your comments. I am less compelled to worry about it now.

Quote: Originally posted by ROK3 Where can I find this cable? Here is one source, there may be others

Okay, I can see how things could get noisy in a long cable run, but what about all of these reports from "audiophiles everywhere" that you just can't beat balanced ICs. Is it mostly hype, or is it one of those things where you need a $10K source just to hear the difference?

Quote: Originally posted by Oddball I'm also running into this problem...except since I'm trying to play the WAV files on my NJB3, I don't think I can do these options. Right now I have long file names which won't fit on the screen. Is there any lo-tech way (I admit that I understand...

Search function broken . . . I was hoping someone could explain to me what it means to have balanced inputs/outputs? I know they are supposed to reduce noise and offer other benefits, so why wouldn't they be on all equipment, not just high end gear? Also, is it something that can be added to...

My recipe: Download and install EAC Download and install Damon Tools Image your CDs with EAC and then mount the image with Damon tools. Use iTunes to import the CD image from the virtual drive Now everything is organized the way your iPod likes, you have great sounding AAC files...

I have used several different drives and the Plextor/EAC combo works the best for me.

As far as I know, there is only one Etymotic dealer in Ontario. Go to the Etymotic web site and look up the Canadian dealers. There are only two, one in BC and one in Ontario. I bought mine through the Ontario dealer and was very happy with the experience. I think it will be difficult to...

Quote: Originally posted by Mr.PD I am guessing that the IHP has an optical out for digital signals. The Slimx has no such thing This is just false. The SlimX has digital out via toslink. Your telling my that my Link III would lock onto a signal, that was fed into the digital input...

Grow your hair long and get some Etys? Sorry, to hear about the ban. Hopefully it's just temporary.

Well, it seems you have some tough choices. Any open style can, such as the HD600/650, isn't really optimal for anything but totally quiet environments and cannot really be considered for a library setting due to the amount of sound that you will 'share' with others who are also in the library...

First a few standard questions, What environment will you be doing most of your critical listening? Is it noisy or quiet? Your sources are reasonably portable, do your phones need to be portable too? Have you had a chance to audition anything at all that we can use as a reference...