Schiit Happened: The Story of the World's Most Improbable Start-Up

[Orange5o]

Post show glow

Jason Isbell at Red Rocks tonight

 

[yonson]

Nice! Red Rocks has been a bucket list item of mine for quite a while, however there's only a couple bands that I'd actually come out of concert retirement to make the trip for.

 

[EricDH]

OK, everyone, open a browser, go to google.com and search for "dutch angle"

I wondered why it is called a Dutch angle, but apparently it was originally a Deutsch angle....

 

[bagwell359]

You got the real secret for good asparagus? Mine never get cooked long enough to actually be soft, before my oil or butter burn or get too hot.

trim the whites and pale pale greens; shave the skin off the bottom couple of inches with an oxo peeler
put them in a 1 gallon zip lock bag with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste (make sure its distributed well), then a few tablespoons of olive oil (don't skimp)
let them soak (and rotate bag a few times) for at least 10 minutes up to a day
preheat oven to 425F and also the pan you will cook on (not as exciting as on an iron skillet on a grill - but perhaps more predictable results)
put the asparagus on the pan (use a mitt) in the middle rack. Flip/roll them after about 6 minutes. Depending on how you like them I'd cook for 12 minutes total at least, and go to 16-17 if you like them really caramelized.
Same technique but less time works on the grill.
butter will smoke and burn at that temp.
also I often add Balsamic towards the end of cooking - somehow source some real stuff from Modena, not that supermarket rubbish.
Bon Appetit & bon chance!

 

[ArmchairPhilosopher]

There’s a ghost in this car wash.

 

[MindBreak]

There’s a ghost in this car wash.

I didn't realize a carwash can cleanse automotive hauntings. It must have came out of the last car.

 

[Bowmoreman]

You got the real secret for good asparagus? Mine never get cooked long enough to actually be soft, before my oil or butter burn or get too hot.

Parboil them for 2 minutes, then plunge in ice water… then mine go into a glass dish so soak up a bunch of quality olive oil, crushed garlic and black pepper… let em sit for 30 minutes or so… then grill to perfection. Do NOT over boil them and you MUST plunge in ice water, or they’ll lose the bite/snap you want and turn to that evil mush known as steamed asparagus.

Edit: 2nd @bagwell359 … drizzle with a top quality italian balsamic… quick final grind of pepper…mmmmmmm

 

[DACattack]

About to call it a night, but wanted to leave you with this album that is absolutely sublime on VH3 (Especially the track September Fifteenth).

Ah, the Bill Evans tribute. Favorite song on that record. Man, you're making it hard to resist the siren call of V3.

@Verde And Black What a nice haul of records.

@Orange5o I saw Drive-By Truckers with Isbell back in the day and enjoyed it, but I imagine his solo show would be vastly different. Like @yonson Red Rocks is also on my concert bucket list locations.

@sixergixer I've also had a close moose encounter but it was much more calm encounter--in the Boundary Waters again and there was a narrow channel connecting two lakes with huge swaths of cattails on each side (so much so that they were brushing the sides of the canoe). We were about in the middle of the channel, when I heard this odd splashing sound, turned my head, and there it was, not 3 feet from the edge of the canoe with a mouthful of reeds in its mouth, placidly chewing. I'm a bit thankful that their eyesight isn't the greatest. A few seconds later we were past. It never moved. Ha! I was floored by the incredible size of the animal. They are so damn big.

Ah, grilled/roasted asparagus. I also do a quick blanch and plunge in ice water. Marinate in olive oil. Grill or roast, then I dust them with za'atar, a squeeze of fresh lemon, and dust with a few sea salt flakes. Yum!

 

[Paladin79]

About to call it a night, but wanted to leave you with this album that is absolutely sublime on VH3 (Especially the track September Fifteenth).




Have a good night, folks.

I know the album well and the Wichita Falls line was also in a favorite movie, The Ice Harvest.

 

[sickmonkey]

My new Vidar 2F and Saga 2 arrived today. I think this is the first shipment split between Fedex and USPS that arrived to the shipping wasteland on schedule.

The integrated will go back to closet. Midgard will go back to office desk. Modius will stay for a few weeks pending Mimir purchase.

Out the gate, while the integrated is a little jewel IMHO, there is really no comparison to the SAGA 2 / Vidar combo. It's rocking right now.

I put this together to play with streaming. I am using the little Wiim Pro via COAX. I have ordered a second Wiim Pro to go on the main system.

The fun begins this weekend. I am going to do some network changes. My local library (main system) is on a Mac mini that also serves FLACs to the Wiim(s) via Samba. I am using only the Samba share source and Qobuz on the Wiim. I want to do some deep diving on the streaming network relationship. I have a new managed switch coming that will let me do some protocol analysis (mirrored port + sniffer) I also have a very nice network inspector that will let me measure performance especially around jitter.

I am curious. I have had zero issues streaming with the exception of non-gapless playback from FLAC to Wiim. I am want to look at those packets!

SickMonkey

#1 - Complete overhaul of my home network is complete. All CAT6e, new managed switch and UPSs redistributed. I have 8 wired connections and only 4 wireless (iPad, iPhone, Security and one SamsungTV). Lots of fun crawling under house, drilling and patching.

And the results: Nothing - nada - the most boring network in the world. I can't find anything. Performance is spot on. So boring. Industrial networks in trash environments are so much more fun. That was half a Saturday in the bag.

#2 Now onto the streaming quest. I have both the Wiim Pros connected (wired). Both are using COAX to Gungnir 2 and Modius E. I spent the rest of Saturday poking and prodding. Even tried Toshlink for the fun of it. Bottom line, the S/PDIF works. However, a dumb question. Why is the S/PDIF level so much lower than USB into the Gungnir/Modius compared to USB from Macs? I am so glad the Kara and Saga have the x4, else the sound level is not getting to where I like.

I keep hearing digital is digital and bits are bits. Apparently there is something different between S/PDIF and USB with audio levels?

Also, while I was playing around with this and that. I tried the little Kef's Meta Q1 on the Wotan stack. Oh my. It was nice to have both the ML's (40i) and the Kef's in the same room to compare. I am glad I did for I have renewed appreciation of my ML's. I think I have been a little hard on them. No doubt the Kef's are more rolled off in the upper range, a little nasal too. I think the ML's maybe a bit boosted with the FMT. Perhaps I should have experimented with the Wiim Ultra via USB a bit more before returning. Maybe the combination of Wiim USB and the ML's led to the overly bright make it stop reaction.

No doubt in my setups, I can claim a difference between the Wiim Pro stream (Qobuz) and Mac (FLAC local). It maybe "digital just alike" but it is not the same. I wonder if the convenience factor is clouding our objectionable human reaction (right) ? My initial take was a streamer would never touch the big system. Now I have digressed. I think it's perfect for exploring new music and reliving the old. Example: Metallica's Bleeding Me came up in queue on Qobuz. About halfway through I switched to local FLAC and it's just better IMHO.

SickMonkey

 

[Ripper2860]

I didn't realize a carwash can cleanse automotive hauntings. It must have came out of the last car.

I didn't realize HEB had a car wash.

 

[Ableza]

I keep hearing digital is digital and bits are bits.

This is true, although how the bits are transported and what happens between the bits and your ears can create profound differences in results, as you have discovered.

 

[ArmchairPhilosopher]

I keep hearing digital is digital and bits are bits.

It is, and they are.
Usually.

Apparently there is something different between S/PDIF and USB with audio levels?

Check the WiiM app that there aren't any differences in audio levels for each of the outputs. Not entirely sure about this, but it sounds to me like the app is using separate volume settings per each output.

 

[Verde And Black]

I love Sonic Youth.

I hate country.

If we’re talking over produced Nashville slick, God/Beer/Dogs/Truck country, I’m with you.

But if you’re talking Red Dirt/Outlaw/Alterative/Real country, well, let’s just say a whole lot of it is Punk Rock as hell.

How do you feel about X, The Blasters, Hank III, The Bottle Rockets, The Meat Puppets, Gun Club, Unlce Tupelo, etc? Basically, if you like them, or anything on Bloodshot Records, or Steve Earle or Lone Justice has put out, that Renderers’ record is worth looking at.

 

[cricket]

There’s a ghost in this car wash.

Who ya gonna call?