Month: April 2005

My air travel audio rig

(originally posted to Head-Fi on 2004.01.27)

Well, wow. I mean, just wow.

I just got back from a business trip where I got the chance to really put all the pieces of the my “air travel” rig seriously through their paces, because my flight home was ultra-delayed (4 hours). And what I have to say is, while I may not have reached pure headphone Nirvana, but I’m pretty amazed in terms of size/performance:

15Gb 3rd-generation iPod
Sennheiser PXC250 and MX400
Xin SuperMicro Amp

Many will argue that Shure or Ety would be the better choice than the PXC250s, but I really find all forms of canalphone uncomfortable–or maybe just unsettling. Regardless, I don’t like ’em.

The PXC250s have at least OK passive isolation (closed can, can get a decent seal with practice) and very solid noise cancellation circuitry, which handles the pesky airplane noise. The real drawback with these cans is that, at 320 Ohms, they’re tough to drive from a portable, even a relatively high-output one like an iPod (don’t even think about these from a 5mW MD player without an amp).

The solution? The Xin SuperMicro. I only got this recently and haven’t had much of chance to listen, but did let it run down a couple AAAs to burn it in before this trip. It’s so little it slips easily into the case for the PXC250s. And for such a little thing, AMAZING performance! Very neutral, clear highs, tight lows, maybe a very smidge on the bright side (probably the 8620 opamp).

The MX400s are for waiting in the stupid concourse for them to find a plane, since ya gotta be able to hear them announce the two gate changes (grr), you can’t run the PXC 250s. Xin is right, the MX400s really sound a heck of a lot better amped–not so dark. And they, too, fit in the PXC250 case, even with the SuperMicro in there.

And, or course, an iPod (or some other HD-based player) was necessary since between the wait and the actual flight, I think I cleared over seven hours plugged in. I suspect the crossfeed in the Xin helped reduce listening fatigue as well because normally I find it hard to listen that long to phones in one stretch. So my first experience with a crossfeed was a positive one.

So, I wanted to thank all the folks here at Head-Fi, because I never would have heard of, much less bought, the SuperMicro or the PXC250s without this site (though the iPod is what actually got me here).

Oh, and thanks to Sennheiser, Xin, and Apple for making what could have been a miserable wait seem, well, not so bad.

(Just for the record, the playlist: Crystal Method’s Legion of Boom, Deepsky’s In Silico, Thievery Corporation’s Richest Man in Babylon, Soundtrack from The Fifth Element, Tool’s AEnima, my audio test mix, and some other random tracks.)

ESPN on Limbaugh

(originally sent as an email to ESPN on 2003.10.01)

Normally I’m a big fan of ESPN. But the entire Rush Limbaugh thing shows that some people at my favorite network are not very clever and some are spineless (and some probably both).

Under “not very clever,” how can this come as any kind of surprise to anyone there at ESPN? All the anchors and commentators bringing up this incident act all outraged. It’s not like Limbaugh has never said anything like this before; he’s always been a right-wing demagogue and has made numerous racially insensitive remarks in the past. They should have been outraged when Limbaugh was hired to to a FOOTBALL show, someething for which he had zero qualifications and was totally inappropriate. Where was the outrage then? It’s not like Limbaugh being a racist is news–but it was OK before he said it live on ESPN? Not clever.

Second, if the appropriate people at ESPN had any spine, not only would Limbaugh be gone, but the producer or whoever who green-lighted his hiring should very publicly be given the axe–because if he or she didn’t see this coming, then that person really shouldn’t be given so much responsibility.

And if Bodenheimer had any spine, he’d have said something more like “we’re outraged by Limbaugh’s comments, we apologize to McNabb, and we’re idiots for having hired Limbaugh in the first place.” His lukewarm statement doesn’t even bother to disagree with Limbaugh. Why not? Is Bodenheimer just as much of a racist as Limbaugh? Then have the balls to ask Limbaugh to stay. If not, then have the balls to take issue with what Limbaugh said. The watered-down statement that was issued is completely gutless.

I guess the good news overall is that now I can go back to watching Countdown, which I stopped watching because of Limbaugh–except, of course, that’s if I can stand Irvin. At least Irvin has a football background, but he’s an inarticulate train wreck who has no business being on TV. Less time to guys like him and more for Jaws and the amazing “<insert sponsor here> NFL Matchup”!

iPod vs. Minidisc

(originally posted to some forum, maybe iPodLounge, on 2003.07.26)

I’ve been in MiniDisc since 1999, before the MP3 thing really got serious. I never really liked MP3’s because Sony’s ATRAC blows away the “standard” 128 kbps MP3 in terms of sound quality. I had little interest in solid-state MP3 players when they first came around, and while I thought the first iPods looked cool and all, I still wasn’t inclined to switch over. What moved me over was the combination of AAC encoding, reasonable drive sizes, PDA features, and size of the 3rd gen iPods. While they aren’t as good as ATRAC, 160 kbps AAC files encoded with QT’s “best” setting are actually good enough for the places where I tend to use portable players–airplanes/airports, buses/taxis, mowing the lawn, etc.–noisy places. So I took the plunge and got an iPod.

Wow, do I ever NOT miss MD. Having 1000+ tracks on the iPod means that I don’t have to have remembered to pack a specific disc if there’s a particular song I want to hear later. I never have to dig through my bag on an airplane for a disc which I can’t tell from another one in the dark. It’s tons easier to make a mix via playlists in iTunes than it is to record one to MD.

Of course, that may be because I don’t have a “NetMD” since those weren’t on the market when I got into it. In fact, I don’t have a portable player that even supports MDLP because they didn’t exist back then, and even though all I want is a play-only player, I can’t get one with a remote for less than $150, and I ain’t blowing that for another player just to get a modest technology boost. But I can get firmware upgrades for my iPod. (Actually, I don’t think I could use a NetMD anyway since I’m on a Mac.)

The iPod convenience more than makes up for the very marginal difference in sound quality. At least in the U.S., I give MD like five more years tops–it’s a dying technology that even Sony only supports in a half-ass (err, arse) way here. Oh, and Sony’s role as a member of the RIAA doesn’t exactly put me in their corner, either.

Of course, despite all this, I’m still archiving all my old analog cassette tapes onto MD, go figure. It has its uses.

Oh, and iPods have a drastically higher coolness factor.

Fark thread on “wost movie ever”

(originally posted to fark.com on 2003.06.30)

Certainly the first movie that leaps to mind is The Avengers. I guess maybe Uma Thurman in the body suit gives it one redeeming quality, but man, wow, was the most incoherent pile of crap ever or what?

Others that have been mentioned that I really hate include:
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Rocky IV
Breakin’ 2

Some others I really hated that haven’t been mentioned:
Howard’s End Bunch of stupid, petty English twits do NOTHING on screen for two hours but whine. Oh my god.

Sid and Nancy Starting about ten minutes in, I really wanted both of them to kill themselves, the sooner the better.

Pet Sematary Stupidest, most predictable script EVER.

Mosquito Coast I think it was supposed to be deep, or a political statement, or something. Instead, it just sucked.

Man Trouble> Ellen Barkin and Jack Nicholson mailed in every scene, probably because the script was so farking stupid and the director obviously didn’t care either.

Spies Like Us I was a kid and we snuck in. Even paying nothing, we were STILL ripped off.

Honorable mention in the worst-movie-to-box-office-ratio:
Titanic. Most one-dimensional characters ever, so what was supposed to save this, the plot? Hey, we all knew the ending BEFORE IT STARTED. Ugh.

Honorable mention in the worst-movie-to-critical-acclaim-ratio:
2001: A Space Odyssey Boring and senseless. It wasn’t deep or groundbreaking, it was just pretentious and waaaay too long.

Kudos to pheed for sticking up for Hudson Hawk. You have to be in the right mood, it really is funny. Honest…

Review: PSB SubSonic 5

(originally posted to audioreview.com on 2003.05.05)

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
4 of 5

Product Model Year:
2002

Summary:
I have PSB stuff all around for my HT: 4Ts up front, 8C center, 1B surrounds. However, I thought the Sub5 was a bit pricey for a 10″ sub so I considered a couple others like the Paradigm. Truth be told, I didn’t find the comparable Paradigm much different–probably a little louder, but not quite as musical. For pure HT use, I might have gone with the Paradigm. But since I do music as well, I went with the PSB. My living room has a funny shape to it and is entirely open to the kitchen in back, so while the “standard” sub to go with the setup I have is a 12″ (the Sub6), for me, this is more than enough. This thing can easily rattle all the windows in the room when something in a movie explodes–no power issues for me.

Strengths:
More musical response than others in price range.

Weaknesses:
Not quite as loud as others in price range

Similar Products Used:
Paradigms. Also listened to consumer-grade stuff like Infinity and Polk, which isn’t even in the same class–avoid.

Review: NAD T751

(originally posted to audioreview.com on 2002.02.07)

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
4 of 5

Price Paid:  $600 at Happy Medium

Product Model Year:
2000

Summary:
I’ve been a big fan of Proton/NAD for some time, and so naturally I listened to the 751 when it was time to go to home theater. Good call. Very good DACs with the expected NAD clean amplification. As others have mentioned, NAD concentrated their efforts on getting it to be clean, not on lots of idiotic DSP modes. This is one of the only HT receivers in this price range that also features solid music-only two-channel performance (I thought this was a particularly weak point for the Denon models). Very clean NAD sound in all modes, not just HT.

Other people have complained about the remote, but I have a universal remote for my whole system anyway and I rarely have to use the NAD remote. When I do end up using it, it doesn’t seem all _that_ bad.

The one thing I don’t like about it is the delay when you switch inputs while the unit searches for a digital signal. Kind of annoying.

Composite to S-video conversion seems pretty OK to me–this only comes up with the VCR for me, since all my other sources are S-video anyway, and we don’t watch much on VHS anymore.

I have this set up with PSB speakers all around: the Image 4Ts up front, the 8C center, and 1B surrounds. I highly recommend the NAD/PSB combo. NAD and PSB are owned by the same parent company and share the same “performance first” design philosophy, and work together very well.

Strengths:
Sound quality, including 2-channel mode

Weaknesses:
Lag on input switching

Similar Products Used:
I auditioned Onkyo, Denon, Yamaha as well.

Review: 2002 Mazda Protege5

(originally posted to carreview.com on 2002.02.06)

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Price Paid:  $17000 at Jeff Haas Mazda

Summary:
Somewhere on here, I have a review of my wife’s 1999 Protege LX, which I always really liked for what it was. However, the car has no balls and doesn’t have the hauling capacity of even a simple hatch. I was resigned to having to fork out a ton more cash for a Passat wagon, all the while wishing that Mazda would just make a wagon version of my wife’s car, but faster. Then BAM, they did it. Kudos to Mazda. Exactly the right car at exactly the right price.

Strengths:
* Handling. Man, I do love the handling.
* Versatility. I can carry five, or stuff, or five and some stuff with the roof rack. Excellent.
* Comfort. Great seats, enough room in back for rear-facing baby seat.
* Styling. I’ve never owned a car that got this much attention before.
* I like the leather-wrapped steering wheel and white dials.
* Good ergonomics on the stereo.
* I never thought I’d have any use for a moonroof, but I love it!
* Handling. It’s just so sweet around the corners.
* Excellent brakes, especially with EBD.
* Mileage is decent, particularly for how fun it is to drive.
* Doesn’t suck up the whole garage, amazing considering how much interior space there is.
* Good ergonomics on the cruise control.
* Reliability. Not a single problem so far, good chance that’ll continue.
* Friendly torque curve, especially with the stick.
* Did I mention the handling?

Weaknesses:
* Cupholders suck.
* Center console/armrest is too small for both of those tasks.
* Only one intermittent wiper setting.
* Door lock sticks up into arm when you rest it on the door.
* Speakers and speaker placement leave a lot to be desired.
* Rear defroster should be on a timer.
* Car should be 4″ longer to give a smidge more room in cargo area.
* Gas fill on the wrong side.

Similar Products Used:
I also liked the Subie Impreza TS wagon, but the backseat is too small and I didn’t want to pay the extra bucks for AWD, which I don’t need in SE Texas.

Review: 1999 Mazda Progege LX

(originally posted to carreview.com on 2001.07.13)

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Model/Year:
1999 LX

Summary:
In 1999, it was time to replace my wife’s old beater, a 1985 Chevy Citation with 135k miles and no AC–we were moving to Houston, so AC was a must, and this was her first new car. As we were starting the decision process, the auto show came to town and we got to sit in and bang around everything in this price class. I wouldn’t have even thought of the Protege (great job marketing this, Mazda) if we hadn’t seen it at the show. And wow, am I glad we saw it at the show!

This car is amazing for the price. The interior space, especially the back seat, is amazing for such a small car. The handling is spectacular. We’ve put 34k miles on it in two years and haven’t had a snag–but don’t listen to anecdotes on reliability: every car has some winners and some lemons. Look up the numbers on this car and you’ll see this is a reliability champ. My wife routinely gets 33+ mpg commuting (mostly highway). We’ve added a baby since we bought it and it’s perfect for the little one as well; I can’t even imagine trying to work his car seat with base in the teensy back seat of a Corolla.

The only thing I’d have done differently if this car were primarily for me and not for my wife is that I would have gotten a 5-speed or upgraded to an ES, or both, as the car lacks zip with the automatic. This bothers her a lot less than it does me.

Car & Driver rated the ES version of this car as the best small sedan they’d ever driven in 1999, and in 2000 they rated it above everything in its price class. This is no accident. Unless you really require something substantially bigger, I can’t imagine why people would spend more when the 2001 ES version of this car can be had for around $17k, pretty much loaded. Reasonable car payments are a Good Thing, and I don’t feel like I’m sacrificing. C&D said it well: “This is a car that does everything well. And it has spirit. BMW verve for less than half the price. What’s not to like?”

In fact, I like this car so much that my next car will also be a Protege, but mine will be a Protege5 with a 5-speed for the extra zip and little extra bit of hauling capacity.

No car is perfect, though, and I did list a few fairly minor complaints; those are all things Mazda could fix and it would add almost nothing to the cost of the car. It’d be nice if more other people knew what a great car this is, too.

Strengths:
Handling, reliability, interior space, fit and finish, great standard features, nice exterior styling, good price relative to closest competitor (Civic), great big trunk, comfortable seats.

Weaknesses:
Minor stuff only: crappy Mazda marketing, only one intermittent wiper setting, no trunk release on remote, windows should have darker tint, center armrest is too low and small. Not as zippy as I’d like with the automatic (buy the ES or a 5-speed, or both)

Similar Products Used:
Looked at everyting in its price class for 1999, nothing was as good. Nothing. Civic was the next closest.

Review: PSB Image 1B

(originally posted to audioreview.com on 2001.07.02)

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
4 of 5

Product Model Year:
2000

Summary:
For the price, these are excellent bookshelf speakers. I’m using them as surrounds in my home theater setup so I can’t really comment on them as mains, but I did audition them solo. I settled on them because they’re matched to my Image 4T fronts and 8C center, which I love (see my other reviews).

They do everything you want your surrounds to do. They provide tremendous ambience, image effects superbly, and give terrific “eveloped” sound feel.

I do think these might indeed be a cut below the PSB Alpha A/Vs if you wanted to use these as mains because the A/V’s have larger bass drivers, but otherwise I really cannot agree with the review below–I don’t think they sound boxy at all.

Yes, the bass response isn’t great. It’s a bookshelf speaker, what else would one expect?

Of the other speakers I auditioned in roughly this price range, I think I liked the Mirage’s second best as surrounds and the Paradigms second best as fronts, but nothing was as good all-around as the PSB setup. Give ’em a listen!

Strengths:
Imaging, flat response, appearance

Weaknesses:
none at this price

Similar Products Used:
KEF, Klipsch, Paradigm, Mirage

Review: PSB Image 8C

(originally posted to audioreview.com on 2001.07.02)

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Price Paid:  $230 at Colonel Audio Video

Product Model Year:
2000

Summary:
I bought this to go with the rest of my system which includes Image 4T’s up front and 1B’s in the back. In my review of the 4T’s (which I’ve had a little longer), I noted they were particuarly good at mid-range, especially vocals.

Well, the 8C is even better, which is what you want your center channel to be. This speaker does an outstanding job of reproducing voices in a home theater setup. Different voices are clear and distinct at all volumes, and any effects played through the center sound great as well. For this price, this is a steal. A truly outstanding speaker.

No, they don’t reproduce really low bass very well. And if you’re trying to reproduce really low bass with your center channel, why? This is why you have fronts and a sub…

Strengths:
Outstanding reproduction of voices, appearance.

Weaknesses:
none

Similar Products Used:
Listened to similarly-priced Klipsch, KEF, Paradigm, and Mirage