[StimpyWan]

The more I use my Gjallarhorn the more I love it. Currently have a Saga S in front of it (another great product!) but want to try a Saga + or maybe the Lyr.

As for a Schiit tube speaker amp, that would be logical, but which type? And what could Jason do to make his different from all the others?

I just dream 'em up. Someone else has to work out the details...!

 

[artur9]

I just dream 'em up. Someone else has to work out the details...!

You, sir, are a true modern American entrepreneur! Or capitalist? Yeah, one of those.

 

[StimpyWan]

You, sir, are a true modern American entrepreneur! Or capitalist? Yeah, one of those.

 

[Ableza]

There's also still a question as to whether 'format shifting' (converting music from the purchased format to another format (i.e. Ripping')) is allowable and legal -- even if you own the original media.

Actually that is settled law. Making a copy of music for personal use is not a Copyright violation as long as you own the original copy (and even then you do not really "own" the content, you only "own" the CD or LP or whatever. You can never "own" the content unless you purchase those rights from the publisher.)

 

[JanMc]

One of my good friends was a junk man. Really though, he was a high end junk man. He did own the original paper, hand written, lyrics to "A Day in the Life" and a bunch of other Beatles songs. He called himself an 'entrecrapeur'! I acquired a pair of Infinity Quantum IIs from him for $400 back in the day. Certainly the BEST! rock and roll speakers I have ever heard when driven with enough watts. There is just something about 3 x 6" ribbon emit tweeters in a speaker that makes it damn special.

 

[AstronomerXI]

I've been enjoying the heck out of the 1960 Amperex Bugle Boys in the right-side pair of my Freya N, paired with some Soviet 6N23P Reflectors on the left side. Music sounds so <insert satisfied grunting noises here>. The BB's had 50 or so hours of use before I bought them, or so the reputable seller said, and they sounded wonderful from the get-go. Jaw-droppingly so to these unenlightened ears. I bought a pair of HP-branded '62 or '63' Bugle-boys soon after that were untouched NOS. I finally got around to dropping them in the Freya last weekend and out of the box they were...meh. The sound was flat, a bit "chunky", not very engaging. It was a deflating experience for this tube-noob,

I did some research and there's a couple of schools of thought around tubes: 1.) don't waste any of a tube's limited lifespan playing music unlistened-to (or running white noise) to break them in. Listen to music through them and give them time to flower; 2.) run music through 'em unlistened to for a few hours and see what happens. I did a number 2 for 6 hours a day for 2 days , then left the amp on for a couple of hours on the third day to let everything warm up. What a difference! The sound is similar in ways to the first pair of Amperex's, but still different. I expect the sound will mature over time. So, the upshot here is I'm becoming addicted to tubes and getting a new amp by just replacing little bits of 120 yer-old glass technology.

Time for me to revisit that great list of recommendations from @Paladin79 and start perusing Ebay and the several online tube shops.

 

[Ripper2860]

no

Believe it or not, I agree.

 

[jonathan c]

Is that a Texas opinion or a universal opinion?

It’s the answer to: can our BBQ beat NC’s ?

 

[Orange5o]

Just left a show by the greatest jazz guitarist in the last half century

 

[golfbravobravo]

Looking for legal opinions from legal and non legal minds.
A special request to ArmChairPhilosopher for a 150,000 word legal opinion.
Here is the question:
If a person rips a Compact Disc collection to a hard drive, and sells the compact disc collection, does that person legally own the files on the hard drive?

If you are serious: No. What you have is a copy.

 

[malenak]

@Jason Stoddard : When can we expect any news about Mjolnir 3, please? Thank you.

 

[O8h7w]

Actually that is settled law. Making a copy of music for personal use is not a Copyright violation as long as you own the original copy (and even then you do not really "own" the content, you only "own" the CD or LP or whatever. You can never "own" the content unless you purchase those rights from the publisher.)

Correct answer, AFAIK. And I did take a course on intellectual property not very long ago, just a few years.

Computer files are more easily shared. Some sharing is still personal use, i.e. when you invite someone over and listen together. Playback in different places? Yes, physical media is portable. Two different places at once? Synchronously I'd say okay, that is listening together or analogous to running a cable. Different people individually having access on-demand in a non-blocking way, that's where we really go into territory that actually requires two copies.

Essentially, the question is "could you do what you're doing with just one copy" - conceptually, ignoring technology. And thankfully you're allowed to make backups, presumably because losing things that could have been backed up is universally bad.

 

[O8h7w]

Note also that most copies of music are for personal use only. If you're having a party, you can play it, but if the party isn't yours then you can't.

What to do if you want to use music in school, in a coffeeshop, in a public event and so on I do not know. I would like to learn, if someone here does know!

 

[Ripper2860]

Just to be clear -- Backup to me is I make a copy and store either the original or the copy in case one is damaged, etc. That is settled law. Format Shifting is ripping a CD or movie to a different format so you can enjoy that music on devices it was not originally intended to be played on, such as portable DAPs, Streamed, etc. and allowing for potentially enjoying it on multiple devices or locations simultaneously (wife at home and me in the car, etc.).

 

[Verde And Black]

Note also that most copies of music are for personal use only. If you're having a party, you can play it, but if the party isn't yours then you can't.

What to do if you want to use music in school, in a coffeeshop, in a public event and so on I do not know. I would like to learn, if someone here does know!

The business pays a licensing fee to SESAC, ASCAP and/or BMI to be legit. And, in my experience, they are quite aggressive about making sure their licensing fees are paid.

Fees are based on various factors and uses, including square footage, cover charges, live or reproduced music, type of establishment, in some instances minutia like how many speakers, etc.

Failure to have the licensing can subject a business to $750 - $30,000 in damages PER SONG played (with up to an additional $150k in penalties if the business “willfully or intentionally” played unlicensed content) depending on a lot of factors.

ASCAP and BMI in particular will send “spotters” into retail and restaurants/bars that have not paid for licensing to listen for songs from their catalogs. If they hear songs from their catalog (and the only way they won’t is if you’re only playing unsigned artists), they will send demand letters, noting the specific songs played.

This is usually more a way to force the issue of paying the fees, instead of seeking damages. But, if those letters are ignored, they get aggressive fast, and an unlicensed business will be sued. And, because ASCAP/BMI have informed the business that playing their music without paying the fees is illegal, the escalator for “knowingly and willfully” doing Schiit kicks in.

On the plus side, often, if a a business is using a “pro” streaming platform of some kind (Musak, Pandora for Business, etc), those licensing fees can be baked into the subscription plans. But the baked in fees usually only apply to music played on/through the subscription platform/hardware (read your TOS!).

So, technically, if you own a cafe that most of the time streamed background music from a Pandora box, but on Sunday hooked up a turntable to your system for a “vinyl listening night,” you probably are liable for more fees than what the Pandora license covers. And ASCAP/BMI/SESAC do look for these sorts of promotions which is a whole lot easier today, when a well built piece of software can do most of the detecting for them.