After trying quite a few setups, these particular ones give me a good combination of bass and detail, along with isolation: - iPod -> HD-25: nice for going amp-less; definite bass impact and reasonable level of detail; good isolation - iPod -> SIK line out -> SuperMacro amp (with 75 ohm...

Depending on your use of them, iPods definitely are versatile. Since I have about 33 GB of MP3 music on my iPod 4G 40GB, managing that music would be a nightmare without iTunes' smart playlists. While all my music is properly ID3V2 tagged, it would be hard for me to live without smart playlists...

I really like the electronica album La Revancha Del Tango by the artist Gotan Project. It has a really cool feel to it, and it seems a lot less monotonous than most other electronic music. eMusic also has Music Has the Right to Children by Boards of Canada and The Mirror Conspiracy by...

Magnolia has a nicer selection than your average chain store (i'm referring to the ones in Palo Alto, CA and San Jose, CA). The last time I was there, I saw -- among other things -- a Sony SCD-555ES (tempting...) and some Krell stuff. Their high-end room is pretty decent, and their home theater...

My CD6000OSE died within roughly one and a half years as well. That's pretty disappointing, considering what I paid for it two years ago. I've had cheap ($150) Sony CDPs that have lasted much longer. I had no problems with its sound quality though. When it was working, it sounded very nice.

Quote: Originally posted by Watchdog I have a couple of questions Edog: Have you used the calendar function at all? How useful is it? I'm trying to justify the cost of the iPod to myself by rationalizing that the calendar function will be quite useful. I thought I might have read...

Quote: Originally posted by Watchdog He claimed that the Apple version uses the 6 pin cable and charges while music is transferring, while the Windows version uses the 4 pin and thus does not charge while transferring music. You have to plug in the adaptor to recharge I haven't...

Quote: Originally posted by aznhoward "The pouch is pretty much useless. " I think the pouch is used to carry your ac adapter, firewire cable, earbuds, etc. rather than the iPod itself... Cool... that's actually pretty useful then. I just wish Apple had shipped a more useful...

I just got my iPod for Windows (20 GB version) today. In the SF Bay Area, one can get them at CompUSA and Fry's Electronics. So, here's a short review for those of you who, like me, were anxiously waiting for an officially supported iPod for Windows. Test system - Athlon XP1700+, 512 MB...

I've seen Penguin Mints in a convenience store in Pittsburgh, PA (where I went to college) and in a cafe in Fremont, CA (where I reside now). I've also seen them in a couple of other cafes in California.

Try to find an SHN copy of it. SHN is a lossless compression that's used a lot by live music traders on the 'net. One place to look for SHNs is etree.org. The good sites tell you what digitization path the file went through. Obviously, an SHN created from an MP3 would not be better than an MP3...

I usually use two imprecise but seemingly effective tests: 1. The talking test. If you can hold a casual conversation with somebody while you're doing your cardio, you're not over-working yourself. 2. The sweat test. If you've worked up a pretty good sweat after 30 minutes, you're not...

I like "Live at Luther College" as well. At first I didn't like it much, because it didn't feature the whole band, but it grew on me so much that it's now one of my favorites. The guitar work on that album really is great.

So, are you saying that most transports sound the same? All the differences you've pointed out seem to be in the DAC or the output stage. I don't see why transports should be different. Jitter shouldn't be an issue with the transport, because the player can use an uncompressed buffer to store...

I love my SL-CT780, which is unfortunately being loaned to someone else right now. Even the headphone out sounds pretty good to me; the antishock seems rather innocuous. The line out is really, really good. I've also had good experiences with the Panasonic Shockwave PCDPs (the SL-SWxxx...

I use the CaseLogic MD case when I'm jogging. It has a belt strap that I use as a handstrap, which makes it quite a bit more convenient than simply holding the MD player.

The Sony MZ-E900 player (no recording) is an excellent player. It has a great combination of long battery life, good sound, cool looks, and durability.

What do people here think of recent MD players' headphone outputs vs. recent portable CD players' headphone outputs? For example, how would the sound from a Sony MZ-E900 compare to a Panasonic SL-CT780's headphone out? I know that the Panasonic has a more powerful headphone out, but I'm more...

Red Rocks is my favorite. Both the sound quality and the performance are wonderful. I like all of their studio albums, including Lillywhite, but excluding Everyday. Everyday really is incredibly boring to me. I really dislike Listener Supported. It doesn't have the "tight" kind of sound...

Open headphones, like the Grados, let sounds in and out. Similarly, the PortaPros are open, and they will not have any kind of isolation. At your price range, your best bet are the Sony MDR-V6's. They are closed, and they provide pretty good isolation.

You say that MP3 has many flaws. If you use the highest-quality LAME encoding (--alt-preset extreme), can you hear those flaws in a portable listening environment (i.e. away from your home setup)? Also, what specific quality flaws does MP3 have? What bugs you the most? Finally, how does...

Thanks for the pointer and other info! I overlooked that thread when doing my message search. Quote: Originally posted by Hirsch For more info, check out this thread: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showth...&threadid=3624

Hirsch, Is it true that the Plainview charger can only charge one battery at a time? I am leaning toward the Plainviews, because they have a very nice voltage, but I'm a little concerned about the convenience factor for the charger.

I was wondering what rechargeable 9V's I should use to get the optimal performance out of my Porta Corda. I've seen the Plainviews, but I don't like the fact that they need their own charger, and that the charger (at least from the one picture I've seen of them) only takes a single 9V at a time...

Can anybody point me to a reasonably high quality in-line volume control? I need this to replace the extremely crappy digital volume control in my PJB-100. So, what I would do is set the digital volume to full on the PJB-100, and use the volume control to provide volume attenuation. I've...