[Layman1]

I've been listening to an album by The Ataris recently, and especially to this track:

the last part, from around 2:14 onwards is just perfect

NB: the video says 'with lyrics', but the lyrics are actually posted in the info section under the video (click the 'show more' link to view).

Apparently the songwriter was quite influenced by popular film The Goonies whilst writing this song; see if you can spot the references in the lyrics

 

[Layman1]

And that video has been making me want to learn to play the song.
I have an electric guitar, but have lost the power cable lol.

Just wondering, but does anyone here have experience of making music at home?
I have a feeling I remember @KEV G saying he had a homemade studio or something, but not sure.

I have a fairly decent digital piano that I am about to start learning to play.
I also have an electric guitar and an electro-acoustic guitar, both of which I can play at a basic to lower-intermediate level.

Usually, I just play the acoustic unplugged (so to speak).
But that song (and others recently - have been going through an uptempo, uplifting happy rock phase) makes me want to dust off the electric and learn to play it properly

I had a multi-FX pedal, but it stopped working and got thrown away years ago.

Was looking on Amazon at various multi-FX pedals with tiny buttons, switches and circa-1980's digital displays and it got me to thinking whether there's a way to use my MacBook with my guitar instead. That led me onto finding out I'd need an audio interface device, which led me on to finding this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Audient-Au...00UALWPCA/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Of course, I will then need some kind of software on my MacBook to simulate different amp/pedal effects.
I found the Garageband app for Mac.
The interface and gazillion options made me break out into a cold sweat.
Then I looked up Logic Pro X and almost had a spontaneous hernia lol.

I looked on Audient Audio's website for how to set up the audio interface device (I haven't bought it yet).

This is like being a newbie audiophile all over again.. sooo many technical words, devices, connectors and whatnot..

Maybe I should just buy a power cable for my amp and a simple distortion pedal (or very basic multi-FX pedal)...

What do you all think? And for those that know about this kind of stuff, any recommendations or advice?

 

[Midgetguy]

The past baggage gives me hindsight, I'm zero emotional in everything I wrote. I try and be as factual as I can... I never said his business strategy was bad either. So even if you come across as defending, I won't challenge it. But are you really playing devil's advocate or are you trying to convincing yourself it's worth the investment? If that's the case and you got the zeniths on rebate, I'm sure you will be satisfied.

I'd say @jsmiller58 isn't trying to convince themselves of an investment, not in the bits and pieces I've read while skipping pages. Their position makes an enormous amount of sense as a person wanting to know more about the IEM; forget whatever happened 3 years ago, what's the state of the IEM now? Because they're buying (have bought) the IEM now, not 3 years ago. Live in the present, if there isn't a reason to think further than the product/company's life of the the past 3 months, nothing else besides how the IEM sounds matters.

I mean, I'd say the TAE business strategy was bad.........new IEM every 6 months? And it wasn't even like it was a new IEM in a different part of the product lineup, it would be a new IEM to replace/discontinue an existing one. They had a really solid base set of IEM offerings at the start that could cruise for a year before announcement of any future products. At some point, it seemed to switch from quality to quantity. Over the course of less than 2 years, they discontinued 4 models, each model lasted barely more than 6 months, if even that. I think the Hyperion was the only one that existed as a production IEM for more than a year. Such a short span of time and releasing 8 models that only fill 4 product segments, plus 3 more announced products (though 2 products were for previously untapped segments)........in hindsight, yeah, I'd call that a bad business strategy.

“But are you really playing devil's advocate or are you trying to convincing yourself it's worth the investment? If that's the case and you got the zeniths on rebate, I'm sure you will be satisfied.”

A few pages back I was reading about what some people paid in this hobby... Off the top of my head in 2019 I have purchased (not all arrived) said Zenith, DM6, S8F, TSMR-3 Pro, Kanas Pro, Tin T3, ZMF Eikon, HiBy R6 Pro, Voky Erupt, Schiit Loki, quite a few cables for IEMs and headphones... And 2019 has been WAY less expensive than 2018. But the year’s still young... Justifying my purchase of the Zenith? Nah, doesn’t even crack the list of things where I might feel the need to do that!

Seriously, none of you know me, so you don’t know how I am wired. I really am interested in the facts and impressions, simply separated from the emotion. Emotion is for over glasses of beers or wine. I typically have a knee jerk reaction when I see overly specific comments about gear versus generalized comments (in this hobby I would say 33% comes from the gear, 33% comes from taste and experience, and 33% comes from anatomy/age/hearing health, etc).

And I am typically going to ride to the aid of whoever is the target, whether the need or deserve someone trying to redirect the conversation. I stumbled on this private party looking for anything on the Zenith and the first thing I saw was what I thought was a string of messages conflating an individual, their history, and an unrelated product family. Absolutely and sincerely, if I misunderstood what you (or anyone else) were trying to say, then you have my unqualified apology!

And, oh, yes, bought the Zenith at 50% off - £250, plus £10 to give it a seat on a plane or boat or whatever!

From what I've read, yeah the Zenith sounds good. Likewise, from what I've read, it even holds up to sounding good for its MSRP, let alone the discounted price you got. I haven't read anything related to its chifi equivalents (just haven't done all that much reading since I've settled down on my purchasing). The thing I always also consider is that ever-lovely law of diminishing returns. I've read people praise the upper ends of brands like Campfire Audio or 64 Audio and say IMR's offering is quite nearly there for less cost of admission. I've only personally gone as high as 64 Audio's JH16 Pro FP (back when they were known as 1964 Ears) and while I do like how they sound, I'll reach for cheaper IEMs much more often. Something about knowing they sound (to me) like 85% of the performance, but for 1/20 the cost of something on the high end of the audio world. Not everyone follows the same audio path or has the same opinions as me, but isn't that sort of the point? Would be a bit boring otherwise . Purely from what I've read (and I've read probably a lot less about it than many others), the R1 and its derivatives should yield some pretty nice sounds.

 

[Karendar]

“But are you really playing devil's advocate or are you trying to convincing yourself it's worth the investment? If that's the case and you got the zeniths on rebate, I'm sure you will be satisfied.”

A few pages back I was reading about what some people paid in this hobby... Off the top of my head in 2019 I have purchased (not all arrived) said Zenith, DM6, S8F, TSMR-3 Pro, Kanas Pro, Tin T3, ZMF Eikon, HiBy R6 Pro, Voky Erupt, Schiit Loki, quite a few cables for IEMs and headphones... And 2019 has been WAY less expensive than 2018. But the year’s still young... Justifying my purchase of the Zenith? Nah, doesn’t even crack the list of things where I might feel the need to do that!

Seriously, none of you know me, so you don’t know how I am wired.

1. I really am interested in the facts and impressions, simply separated from the emotion. Emotion is for over glasses of beers or wine. As to feeling burnt by a seller... I once bought a house where the well went dry in a week. The seller knew that they had a problem. Didn’t say a word. And it was in a state where that level of disclosure was not required. A year and more than $30,000 later we have a well with 60 gallons/minute. All's well that ends well (rereading that I see the unintended pun!), but at quite the cost. I think that’s a bit more than some audio gear not delivered, so I do have perspective.

2. I typically have a knee jerk reaction when I see overly specific comments about gear versus generalized comments (in this hobby I would say 33% comes from the gear, 33% comes from taste and experience, and 33% comes from anatomy/age/hearing health, etc). Someone stating that A is better than B and anyone who disagrees is deranged gets a reaction that is different than A is better to me than B for these perceived reasons.

3. And I am typically going to ride to the aid of whoever is the target, whether the need or deserve someone trying to redirect the conversation. I stumbled on this private party looking for anything on the Zenith and the first thing I saw was what I thought was a string of messages conflating an individual, their history, and an unrelated product family. Absolutely and sincerely, if I misunderstood what you (or anyone else) were trying to say, then you have my unqualified apology!

And, oh, yes, bought the Zenith at 50% off - £250, plus £10 to give it a seat on a plane or boat or whatever!

Well, to see your list of purchases, you're in the right place! Lots of these items are on the purchased list of the members of the lounge. So you'll feel right at home if you want to stick around.

Well, if you look at my sig, I have an impression of the R1... I willingly chose to not go for the Zenith due to cost restrictions, the out of phase issue (Which could probably be fixed now, I guess) and the fact I prefer the DM6 over the R1's right now. I don't have personal experience with the Zenith, so I can't vouch for it other than speak of technical specifications, which is pretty obvious, considering IMR's direction. Impressions are that they are sonically different from the R1's, which is to be expected. They are generally well loved as an upgrade to the R1's. The open/close wheel was upgraded too, which looks like a MUCH better design... The reason I even spoke about markup was due to Chifi discussions and Trinity history discussions. If ever you're bored, you can read the whole saga in the Trinity thread. It'll give you perspective as to why Trinity failed with their business model and why some of us are wary of the new one.

And no need to apologize, no harm done! We're just discussing here and trying to understand eachother Different experiences, different approaches!

 

[Karendar]

I'd say @jsmiller58 isn't trying to convince themselves of an investment, not in the bits and pieces I've read while skipping pages. Their position makes an enormous amount of sense as a person wanting to know more about the IEM; forget whatever happened 3 years ago, what's the state of the IEM now? Because they're buying (have bought) the IEM now, not 3 years ago. Live in the present, if there isn't a reason to think further than the product/company's life of the the past 3 months, nothing else besides how the IEM sounds matters.

I mean, I'd say the TAE business strategy was bad.........new IEM every 6 months? And it wasn't even like it was a new IEM in a different part of the product lineup, it would be a new IEM to replace/discontinue an existing one. They had a really solid base set of IEM offerings at the start that could cruise for a year before announcement of any future products. At some point, it seemed to switch from quality to quantity. Over the course of less than 2 years, they discontinued 4 models, each model lasted barely more than 6 months, if even that. I think the Hyperion was the only one that existed as a production IEM for more than a year. Such a short span of time and releasing 8 models that only fill 4 product segments, plus 3 more announced products (though 2 products were for previously untapped segments)........in hindsight, yeah, I'd call that a bad business strategy.

Just to clarify, when I was talking business strategy, I was talking about IMR, due to the fact he has a unified shell for his last 3 products and space inside the shell to bump the driver size by at least 3-4 mm before having to rethink his shell. We all agree that Trinity's strategy was awfully chaotic and bad.

 

[majo123]

some think that possibly imr is the same person who took your/our money and acted like it wasn't him to fund a new company,.. personally and I know I speak for others the subject discussed here "imr products" are definitely related to all our experiences seeing as where and how this thread was started and of course this is emotional and personal to anyone who may feel that this person did infact take there money and run and then is also wakking around trying to sell new products. This will never stop because that Is the nature of it .....but this thread is like no other we all or most of us come from that saga and become quite good friends don't think it should come between us, but we all need to accept that some want to give a chance and some will always want to crucify

 

[DBaldock9]

For anyone who has purchased a Little Bear B4 amp (Single or Dual Mono), which use the 5899 Pentode Tubes, there are a couple of places selling Tested / Matched New-Old-Stock pairs of replacement tubes.

USA - Raytheon JAN 5899 (Military Spec) from an eBay vendor - https://www.ebay.com/str/oletronix/Vintage-Vacuum-Tubes/_i.html?_storecat=8
UK - Mullard CV475 / 5899 (Military Spec) from dBtubes.com - https://dbtubes.com/en/mullard-vacuum-tubes/cv475-5899.html

I'm planning to replace the small vertical circuit boards that the tubes are soldered to, in my B4-X.
The main reason, is to move the tubes further away from the op-amp sockets, so my Sparkos SS3602 Dual Discrete Op-Amps will fit, without touching the tubes.
A secondary goal is to maybe add sockets for the tubes, or for the boards they're mounted on.

 

[KEV G]

some think that possibly imr is the same person who took your/our money and acted like it wasn't him to fund a new company,.. personally and I know I speak for others the subject discussed here "imr products" are definitely related to all our experiences seeing as where and how this thread was started and of course this is emotional and personal to anyone who may feel that this person did infact take there money and run and then is also wakking around trying to sell new products. This will never stop because that Is the nature of it .....but this thread is like no other we all or most of us come from that saga and become quite good friends don't think it should come between us, but we all need to accept that some want to give a chance and some will always want to crucify

I think my feelings are well known on here, I’m with crucifixion with blunt nails and a small hammer
For me personally, I’d prefer the Lounge to be a bob/imr free area. Strictly no admittance lol
But that’s just me, bitter and twisted

 

[majo123]

I think my feelings are well known on here, I’m with crucifixion with blunt nails and a small hammer
For me personally, I’d prefer the Lounge to be a bob/imr free area. Strictly no admittance lol
But that’s just me, bitter and twisted

I too would like to see him held to account for what I possibly think it is, which is why when he is defended I will always be vocal and at least then anyone reading our posts on the outside can make there own mind up.

 

[rr12267]

If anyone is interested

BGVP DMG $90.59 USD

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the...the-first-post.692119/page-1872#post-14901308

 

[mbwilson111]

I too would like to see him held to account for what I possibly think it is, which is why when he is defended I will always be vocal and at least then anyone reading our posts on the outside can make there own mind up.

Yeah I figure he started the new company with the money he took from some of us...and others. It should all be refunded. Losing that 300 pound makes my enjoyment of the Zenith bitter-sweet. If it had been up to me he would have received no more money from us... and yet...there is an R1 and two Zeniths in the house.

When he sent replacements for the out of phase Zeniths without asking for them to be returned,some people were saying we should send them back anyway... that it would be the "right" thing to do. I don't think so! Only if he had included our stolen £300 with the replacement. I bet the ones that were sent back are repaired and being sold as B stock. the one I am using has not been properly physically repaired. Just turned one cable around to put it into phase..which means I cannot use cables with preformed ear guides.

If he continues to take pre-order payments to fund the products this could all go the same way as T****ty.

 

[Karendar]

Yeah I figure he started the new company with the money he took from some of us...and others. It should all be refunded. Losing that 300 pound makes my enjoyment of the Zenith bitter-sweet. If it had been up to me he would have received no more money from us... and yet...there is an R1 and two Zeniths in the house.

When he sent replacements for the out of phase Zeniths without asking for them to be returned, some people were saying we should send them back anyway... that it would be the "right" thing to do. I don't think so! Only if he had included our stolen £300 with the replacement. I bet the ones that were sent back are repaired and being sold as B stock. the one I am using has not been properly physically repaired. Just turned one cable around to put it into phase..which means I cannot use cables with preformed ear guides.

If he continues to take pre-order payments to fund the product this could all go the same way as T****ty.

See, this is another point why I raised a flag about paying more than we're getting. How can a company afford to lose out on MSRP £500 IEM's returns if you're not making an insane amount of profit off of them in the first place? I found it odd when he told me to keep both R1's after one got lost in the mail. How can you afford doing that and stay afloat unless your loss is not that much?

 

[majo123]

Yeah I figure he started the new company with the money he took from some of us...and others. It should all be refunded. Losing that 300 pound makes my enjoyment of the Zenith bitter-sweet. If it had been up to me he would have received no more money from us... and yet...there is an R1 and two Zeniths in the house.

When he sent replacements for the out of phase Zeniths without asking for them to be returned, some people were saying we should send them back anyway... that it would be the "right" thing to do. I don't think so! Only if he had included our stolen £300 with the replacement. I bet the ones that were sent back are repaired and being sold as B stock. the one I am using has not been properly physically repaired. Just turned one cable around to put it into phase..which means I cannot use cables with preformed ear guides.

If he continues to take pre-order payments to fund the product this could all go the same way as T****ty.

I totally hear you..... I respect all you guys and we have been here a few years now, if you want to buy imrr1 or zenith or what ever that's upto you, Im not here to judge what you do with your own money but I will do my dammed hardest to make sure people who don't know about the trinity saga or the fact that imr could well be the same persons make an informed choice

 

[mbwilson111]

I totally hear you..... I respect all you guys and we have been here a few years now, if you want to buy imrr1 or zenith or what ever that's upto you, Im not here to judge what you do with your own money but I will do my dammed hardest to make sure people who don't know about the trinity saga or the fact that imr could well be the same persons make an informed choice

My point was that I would never have ordered anything from him but...some people are more addicted than others... either that or he is the ultimate con man.

I feel a little guilty for thinking the Zenith actually sounds great

 

[jsmiller58]

Now that I understand the mine field I’ve wandered into I will tread very, very carefully, which for me means more lurking and less posting...

I should add as a contribution that for me, out of all the IEMs that I have (the ones I have purchased this year listed earlier plus previous ones - SE846, W50, W30, SE215, Echobox Nomad, Starbrick Beryllium, Massdrop Plus, and others I am probably forgetting - the SF8 are my favorites. For me - good detail without being too bright or sibilant, punchy bass without bleeding into the mids, mids that are forward enough (though I do think they are a little back). Build quality is great, fit is great, seal even with the included tips is great (which for me is a near miracle). My next favorite would be the DM6. Its biggest fault is tuning at the frequency high end which makes it very sensitive to tips, tip insertion, seal, sources, and can be sensitive to some people who are more treble sensitive. It isn’t a forgiving set in the least - which then because there are such disparate experiences with it gives the impression of QC issues, etc, when I think that a simpler explanation is that it is simply tuned too close to the edge... but I like ‘em...!