[DigitalFreak]

  I heard a prototype of what I'm assuming was the LC with my TH900's at a meet like 2 years ago.  I quite liked it and look forward to being able to try Romy's with other cans, although I'm not sure how much I care about that sort of thing while commuting anymore. 
 
My gear usage has really stagnated lately -- pretty much just my SR009's, HD600's, and Signature Pros for outside.  I'm not sure I ever see my interest in this hobby returning to what it once was, tbh.  I still appreciate good sound and nerd out over the build quality and aesthetics of a lot of this ****, but the compulsion grab it all up just isn't there anymore.  I think I'll always feel geeked to at least try ****, though, and definitely appreciate the potential for such to come with the aforementioned cohabitation. 
 

---

 
Edit: ardgedee's embed vaguely reminds me of Space Ghost music.  I like that.

I think you and me are on the same page dude. You only have to visit my feedback page to see I'm moulting off all my extra gear. I've come to the point in this hobby where I really don't need all that gear and prefer a more capable home rig to fit all my needs and leaves me content in my happy place. By the way, I'm guessing you heard the mobile amp which won't been released for awhile yet and hasn't even been named yet and not the Liquid Carbon. The Carbon I reviewed for Headphone Guru and thought it was a freaking spectacular little transportable amp. I've pre ordered a unit and have been busy building a nice home rig around it consisting of a Chord 2Qute and some better cabling. I even went out and ordered myself a Ether to go with it, wonderful pairing by the way. As a happy aside, my WA6 sounds wonderful with the 2Qute. I'm really happy with the direction my new home rig is headed. Right now I'm trying to decide whether I should leave the Play It By Ear amp downstairs or maybe move it back into my bedroom. My thinking is WA6 and Carbon mated to the 2Qute as my main rig and the Play It By Ear and Vali hooked up to a Modi 2 as my mellow out in my bedroom rig. I'm on the fence concerning my CLAS-db DAC. One side says sell it and just use the Modi 2 while another side says keep it. I'm also contemplating maybe getting an Airport Express for my iPad Mini so as to wirelessly stream my tunes. I'm not crazy about a big honkin USB cable attached to my iPad Mini via camera connection kit.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[driver 8]

I like that girl with the skull atop your WA6.

These pics are almost a year old, but I've been using the same setup since then.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k80/sarsamis/IMG_0513_zpsb48b5a46.jpg
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k80/sarsamis/IMG_0514_zpsb71e7b76.jpg
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k80/sarsamis/IMG_0511_zps7cc1ad0b.jpg

 

[ardgedee]

  I think you and me are on the same page dude. You only have to visit my feedback page to see I'm moulting off all my extra gear. I've come to the point in this hobby where I really don't need all that gear and prefer a more capable home rig to fit all my needs and leaves me content in my happy place. By the way, I'm guessing you heard the mobile amp which won't been released for awhile yet and hasn't even been named yet and not the Liquid Carbon. The Carbon I reviewed for Headphone Guru and thought it was a freaking spectacular little transportable amp. I've pre ordered a unit and have been busy building a nice home rig around it consisting of a Chord 2Qute and some better cabling. I even went out and ordered myself a Ether to go with it, wonderful pairing by the way. As a happy aside, my WA6 sounds wonderful with the 2Qute. I'm really happy with the direction my new home rig is headed. Right now I'm trying to decide whether I should leave the Play It By Ear amp downstairs or maybe move it back into my bedroom. My thinking is WA6 and Carbon mated to the 2Qute as my main rig and the Play It By Ear and Vali hooked up to a Modi 2 as my mellow out in my bedroom rig. I'm on the fence concerning my CLAS-db DAC. One side says sell it and just use the Modi 2 while another side says keep it. I'm also contemplating maybe getting an Airport Express for my iPad Mini so as to wirelessly stream my tunes. I'm not crazy about a big honkin USB cable attached to my iPad Mini via camera connection kit.

 
The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom, as the saying goes.
 
Personally I'm still experimenting, but at the same more or less glacial and random pace I've been for a couple years. The home system's added a new DAC and headphones in the past three months, although the process of getting them started in 2013. For mobile I haven't settled on an optimal work area system I'm happy with yet and just got an Android mini tablet to hack on with that purpose in mind.

 

[DigitalFreak]

   
The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom, as the saying goes.
 
Personally I'm still experimenting, but at the same more or less glacial and random pace I've been for a couple years. The home system's added a new DAC and headphones in the past three months, although the process of getting them started in 2013. For mobile I haven't settled on an optimal work area system I'm happy with yet and just got an Android mini tablet to hack on with that purpose in mind.

Yeah, I haven't settled on an optimal mobile system either. I've grown tired of 2 and 3 piece rigs an the only player I have left now is a crappy DX50. The only reason I haven't tried selling it is because its so crappy and I don't want to pass on something so horrible to some unsuspecting head-fier.

 

[MuppetFace]

Highlight of this year in gaming for me thus far has definitely been Bloodborne.
 
The soundtrack brings tears to my eyes...
 

 
...Both from how majestic this boss fight's music is, and how much of a pain in the ass The Daughter of the Cosmos was to fight...
 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

....Damn Lovecraftian elder god from space.

 

[MuppetFace]

As for gear, I really haven't been too invested in it since early last year or thereabouts. Most of it was unloaded by that point.
 
For on-the-go listening, I use a Sony Walkman; either a newer Android model or a vintage cassette player. Collecting vintage Walkmans is a hobby unto itself.
I mostly just throw on some Koss PortaPros for the sake of convenience and peace of mind.
 
I kept a few pairs of earphones like the Shure SE846s and Noble K10s.
At some point I'm gonna pick up a production Liquid Carbon to pair with them.
 
Home rig consists of my turntable and Raidho monitors, the latter of which I got at quite a discount since they were floor models.
I really don't listen to headphones as much with good speakers in house. That, or I'll just listen to my mediocre car speakers.
 
For digital I've got my Stax SR-007 headphones (or "earspeakers"). Those, the Jecklins, Code X, and Abyss are what I kept.
The SR-007 is my go-to though.
Okay so I've got a Sony R10 & Qualia in climate controlled storage. Some day I'll sell them to a collector b/c I never listen to them.
 
The only headphones I've heard as of late that have impressed me were the HiFiMan HE-1000s.
They are definitely up there in the headphone pantheon; among the most neutral production headphones I can recall.
Might get a pair eventually
 
Not really interested in IEMs these days. The Shures as K10s honestly nail the sound I want.

 

[DigitalFreak]

I'm surprised you don't have any Final Audio gear lying around. You were in love with that company for awhile.

 

[MuppetFace]

  I kept a few pairs of earphones like the Shure SE846s and Noble K10s.

 
 
That includes some FAD stuff.
 
I still like the company and their stuff, even if I'm not collecting audio products. Same goes for Audio-Technica and their wooden headphones. I appreciate it more from a collector standpoint, but since I'm not really collecting anymore, there's no real point in hanging onto it.

 

[maverickronin]

  Highlight of this year in gaming for me thus far has definitely been Bloodborne.
 
The soundtrack brings tears to my eyes...

 
Damn "console" exclusives.
 
I'm still waiting for them to die or go back to actually being consoles instead of low end PCs.

 

[driver 8]

At least PC still gets Dark Souls 3.

I actually like that the consoles are low end PC's since it means more games will wind up on Steam or w/e than not. I have a PS4, but am perpetually salty about the fact that I only own it for Bloodborne right now (and maybe The Last Guardian someday? >_>).

 

[Idsynchrono_24]

Console exclusives are great. I'm not exactly sure how else you expect these giant corps to differentiate themselves? Nintendo realized this more than a decade ago, which is why they've gone off the beaten path of competing with a similar box, and money-hatting devs. It just results in a war of attrition where the victor is the one with the most capital, or can position themselves as being "for the gamer" even though they're all just heartless corps anyway lol
 

At least PC still gets Dark Souls 3.

I actually like that the consoles are low end PC's since it means more games will wind up on Steam or w/e than not. I have a PS4, but am perpetually salty about the fact that I only own it for Bloodborne right now (and maybe The Last Guardian someday? >_>).

 

 Yeah, Sony totally dropped the ball on exclusives so far. I've had a PS4 since launch and hardly anything intrigues me at all. I've only sunk hours into Bloodborne, Arkham Knight and Life is Strange. Everything else I've tried feels really by the numbers and I don't think it's cause I'm developing some sort of blasé attitude towards gaming or anything. The E3 conference was really well executed, but again, no games. None that are on the immediate horizon anyway, as most of the big titles shown were at least 3-4 years away. Eh well, least I got MGS V and Persona V to look forward to this year 
 
Enjoyed the heck of Bloodborne myself, though I still haven't beaten it. I'm fairly far in, I think, clocking some... I dunno, 30-ish hours at least, and 6 bosses or so, I'm sure. I just got bogged down by the super lengthy load times, which are none too fun in a game where a simple slip up has you dying at the hands of some dumb grunt or a crazed mob of enemies. 
 
Also really enjoying Life is Strange, which is like some crazily calculated ode to the hipster, what with its Oregon setting, Sparklehorse/Alt-J OST, copious use of chromatic aberration, hell, even the protag's journal's got Hobonichi Techo aesthetics. The plot started off simple and mundane enough, but has since escalated to your typical butterfly effect induced levels of madness. I think it's a really well crafted experience, with a dorky, yet winsome charm that really does genuinely capture (in subtle, and more overt ways) the painfully awkward, and sometimes just plain painful swells of love and friendship. Well, it works for me at least, as some people can't seem to look past the "cringe worthy" dialogue (and let's face it, who among us wasn't just a cringe worthy individual back in HS?)  I can't wait to see how it ends. 
 
Most currently playing Dangan Ronpa though, which I picked up from the PSN summer sale. I'm a pretty big fan of stuff like Persona, the VLR series and stuff like Ace Attorney and this does strike me as being an amalgam of those series. The plot is basically Battle Royale mashed into Clue, and the court room cases play out like a dizzying free for all, incorporating crazy **** like slo-mo mechanics, and rhythm mini games, cause seriously, why the hell not? I must admit, it does seriously blow when you've found yourself invested in one of the game's many characters, only to see them murdered several days later. 
 

Originally Posted by MuppetFace 
  As for gear, I really haven't been too invested in it since early last year or thereabouts. Most of it was unloaded by that point.
 
Not really interested in IEMs these days. The Shures as K10s honestly nail the sound I want.

 


Well that explains that, lol. I still talk gear with James, SGS and Muzak. I think my current fave trio is the Angie, R2Pro and LAB I. I'd say that the LAB I has occupied role of "fave earphone" far longer than anything I've encountered to date. Every so often, I'll encounter some phone that is perhaps more resolving, such as the Angie, or has more correct timbre, such as the R2Pro, but then I get to listening to the LAB I, and I find myself very impressed and seduced by it all over again. There's something to its extreme note weight, depth, sheer power and airiness that just does it for me. If absolutely forced to, it would probably be the solitary phone I'd keep. With that said, I'm probably gonna have to unload some stuff myself. So much of it is highly redundant at the moment. 

 

[maverickronin]

  Console exclusives are great. I'm not exactly sure how else you expect these giant corps to differentiate themselves?

 
I'd rather the game devs did instead.  I don't care if the hardware manufacturers do or not.  It's completely irrelevant to me, as a player.  It's just something people accept with consoles because they grew up with it.  What kind of schiit storm would there be if this happened out of the blue in PC gaming and devs started taking wheelbarrows of cash to make their games Nvidia, AMD, and Intel exclusive all of a sudden?
 
If game consoles were still plug and play like they used to be then I wouldn't mind as much and just deal with it like I used too but now they're just as much if not more hassle than PCs.  Put it on your network, make an account, download firmware updates, download patches for the game itself, wait forever for the game to load because they still use spinning disks (magnetic or optical), etc, etc.  That last one really pisses me off because it's been getting worse and worse over the years.  We pretty much had to deal with when the first batch couple batches of optical disc based consoles game out because that extra space was put to good use and there was no other viable alternative technology for storing it.  That's no longer the case though.  They need to go back to cartridges and start shipping games on SSDs.
 
All that is why the newest console I own is a 3DS.

 

[ardgedee]

  For on-the-go listening, I use a Sony Walkman; either a newer Android model or a vintage cassette player. Collecting vintage Walkmans is a hobby unto itself.
 
For digital I've got my Stax SR-007 headphones (or "earspeakers"). Those, the Jecklins, Code X, and Abyss are what I kept.

 
Cassette deck collecting -- portable and otherwise -- is the one audio thing I really don't get. I have some serious anti-nostalgia going with that technology. I think I finally understand why my father got cranky back in the day when I mentioned being interested in tube audio gear. His memories of audio from the era are mostly about the comparatively high maintenance, cost of replacement tubes, and muddiness of the sound; the discrete transistorized equipment of the 70s was a breath of fresh air on most points, and he never looked back either.
 
Otherwise, the only thing that surprises me in your post is that you didn't keep the Taket H2.
 
I've been sluggish about selling off the equipment I don't use -- and I've accumulated too much of that. At this point pretty much all my listening at home is electrostatics via the headphone out on the DAC. It's sufficiently satisfying for the time being.
 
The only real question I have: What's made you happy in music recently?

 

[MuppetFace]

  Enjoyed the heck of Bloodborne myself, though I still haven't beaten it. I'm fairly far in, I think, clocking some... I dunno, 30-ish hours at least, and 6 bosses or so, I'm sure. I just got bogged down by the super lengthy load times, which are none too fun in a game where a simple slip up has you dying at the hands of some dumb grunt or a crazed mob of enemies. 
   

Well that explains that, lol. I still talk gear with James, SGS and Muzak. I think my current fave trio is the Angie, R2Pro and LAB I. I'd say that the LAB I has occupied role of "fave earphone" far longer than anything I've encountered to date. Every so often, I'll encounter some phone that is perhaps more resolving, such as the Angie, or has more correct timbre, such as the R2Pro, but then I get to listening to the LAB I, and I find myself very impressed and seduced by it all over again. There's something to its extreme note weight, depth, sheer power and airiness that just does it for me. If absolutely forced to, it would probably be the solitary phone I'd keep. With that said, I'm probably gonna have to unload some stuff myself. So much of it is highly redundant at the moment. 

 
 
The load times in Bloodborne were shortened with one of the recent patches; they also added item descriptions on the loading screens, though BB doesn't have nearly as many items compared to Dark Souls, so you end up seeing a lot of repetition.
 
By far the biggest issue with Bloodborne at the end of the day is a lack of content. The number of possible builds is limited due to the way stats are allocated, and the weapons are significantly fewer, though fortunately each weapon is complex enough to base an entire build around (compared to groups of re-skinned weapons sharing the same move set a la Dark Souls 2). PVP was significantly reduced in prominence, and new game plus offers absolutely no differences beyond simply being harder.
 
The Chalice Dungeons are a really cool feature, though I feel like they could have been spiced up a bit. Obviously From wanted the prerendered ones to match the procedurally generated ones, so you get a lot of repeating rooms and dead ends and sameness. Every once in a while though you happen across a giant indoor swamp or gloomy incense filled cathedral, and it makes up for it. Plus the bosses in the higher level Chalice Dungeons are amazing. Some of the hardest---if not THE hardest---bosses in all the Souls series. Which is good, because I felt like most of the main game's bosses (with a few notable exceptions) were coming a bit too close to "pushover" territory for my liking.
 
Apparently a significant expansion is due out later this year or early next, and I wholeheartedly welcome it. From's DLC is notoriously challenging and [mostly] well designed.
 
I still have the LAB1 and 1601 / 1062s.
 
 

   
Cassette deck collecting -- portable and otherwise -- is the one audio thing I really don't get. I have some serious anti-nostalgia going with that technology. I think I finally understand why my father got cranky back in the day when I mentioned being interested in tube audio gear. His memories of audio from the era are mostly about the comparatively high maintenance, cost of replacement tubes, and muddiness of the sound; the discrete transistorized equipment of the 70s was a breath of fresh air on most points, and he never looked back either.
 
Otherwise, the only thing that surprises me in your post is that you didn't keep the Taket H2.
  The only real question I have: What's made you happy in music recently?

 
 
For better or worse, a fair amount of music is still released on cassette today, so it gives me a practical excuse to own them.
 
Here's my bandcamp collection in case you're interested (or anyone else for that matter) : https://bandcamp.com/hauntedhymns
 
Seeing Death Grips perform live and getting tossed around violently in a sea of writhing people was certainly one of my musical highlights recently. The energy of their shows is incredible, and it lasts for well over an hour.
 
I should start assembling my personal "best releases of 2015" list if I ever hope to finish it by the end of this year.
 
The Taket is in a box somewhere I think. Its amping requirements are so finicky, it's really not something I'm able to use all that much if at all these days. I really wanted to hang on to the ESP 950---on a better amp it's truly top tier---but after sending it back to koss five times for repairs in the last two years, I just gave up on the notion of ever having a fully functional pair of them. A shame, really.

 

[ardgedee]

  Seeing Death Grips perform live and getting tossed around violently in a sea of writhing people was certainly one of my musical highlights recently. The energy of their shows is incredible, and it lasts for well over an hour.
 
I should start assembling my personal "best releases of 2015" list if I ever hope to finish it by the end of this year.
 
The Taket is in a box somewhere I think. Its amping requirements are so finicky, it's really not something I'm able to use all that much if at all these days. I really wanted to hang on to the ESP 950---on a better amp it's truly top tier---but after sending it back to koss five times for repairs in the last two years, I just gave up on the notion of ever having a fully functional pair of them. A shame, really.

 
I wish I could go to shows, I miss that energy. Concerts are too painful,though.
 
I won't be able to construct a meaningful 'best of this year' list, lately I've been after trip-hop and random Ninja Tune artists. Before that I was on a Philip Glass opera kick. The only current releases I've bought so far have been (for me) usual suspects: Godspeed, Colin Stetson, etc.
 
The ESP 950 really is great, and it's lead me to consider dedicated electrostatic amps (although the Woo WEE is does a great job too), but I'll take my time with it. What I'd really like to do is listen to the SR-007 with my current setup before I decide what to do next.
 
Thanks for the Bandcamp link! I have no idea what's going on there, and for me that makes it more tempting.