monkeygod

this could be a VERY long list - I like quite a few of the recommendations already made, so I'll try and add some that may have been overlooked, or that may not have filtered to Singapore yet : Brooke Fraser http://www.brookefraser.com/ A Girl Called Eddy http://www.agirlcallededdy.com/ Rachael Yamagata http://www.rachaelyamagata.com/ Emm Gryner http://www.emmgryner.com/ Kathleen Edwards http://www.kathleenedwards.com/ Thea Gilmore http://www.theagilmore.com/

Hmm, even with the forum down for a while, I have a few PM's and a reply in this thread all asking the same question I guess we can start the bidding for the Chaintech at $30 and the Echo Indigo at $150 ?

Hi all, thinking of making the jump to an external DAC, so I won't really need the Chaintech any more. Don't mind keeping it for spare parts, but if someone wants to make an offer ? Bought 2.5 yrs ago. Still works fine. Just the card - no box or accessories. Can burn a drivers CD if buyer would like. As for the Echo Indigo - I bought it for use with my ultra portable R4, which I sold recently. I would use it with my Mac laptop ... but the one disadvantage of having the latest model is that it doesn't have a PCMCIA slot the Echo Indigo was bought in February this year, and will come in original box with all manuals, cables and cds.

having auditioned all of these recently, I can say that for SOUNDSTAGE alone, the most recent version of the Portaphile beats all the others hands down. EVEN the LaRocca Having said that, I think the SR-71 has a slight edge in terms of absolute SQ - its warm and dark and rich But the portaphile (with the LT1210 ground circuit and new 1500 Black Gate Caps) has the best soundstage of a portable amp that I've heard. And I pretty much spend the entire National HF Meet auditioning every one I could find I did *not* like the Hornet - the sound seemed too 'aggressive' for my tastes. Its fast and has a more forward presentation than I'd like, especially when listening to tracks with many instruments (e.g. orchestral), the seperation tends to suffer. I used to own an SR-71. Now I own a Portaphile, and am VERY happy with it. for reference : http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread....101#post2080101

the DR-77 looks fine. not really much improvement over the older models, but then again MD development is pretty stagnant now. i should note that some of the sony MD models come with FM remotes - not sure whether you can record off them, but that might fit your needs better ? really you just need any of the full featured MD models released in the last 3+ years ... avoid HI MD and the cheaper models with no real line in/mic in and you'll be fine.

if you're doing live recording, why would you want to compress it ? unless its some extremely boring lecture that you just need for reference normal MDs are cheap, and are easily found in 74 minute lengths, sometimes in 80 minutes. Thats not really long enough for most concerts, so changing discs CAN be a hassle. However if its a LONG event, MD recorders generally have much better battery life for recording than HDD DAPS - and most accept standard AAs, so in effect you could record all day with enough media and juice (I have), unlike with a flash player. Thats an extreme scenario of course, but one to bear in mind. Easy to pick up a secondhand MD nowadays with the migration to flash/HDD players. My advice would be to look at Minidisc.org to familiarize yourself with the more current models available before you hit the classifieds. In general, I'd say the Sharp models are a little bit better than the Sonys for recording (due to the documented mic sensitivity on the Sonys). I use a Sharp DR-7 and I've been much happier with that compared to the Sony models I've tried. Of course if you're *Serious* about live recording, then a Sony DAT recorder is the way to go

so I'm thinking of investing in a DAC, but I'm haven't played with too many personally, and I just don't know what is available in the local market to try ! Are there a good number of options, or am I reduced to having to buy something from the US ? I know Jaben has the Firestone DAC, which seems to be in my price range, but are there any alternatives ? Budget ideally around $300, but if someone wants to recommend something that costs more (sub $1k please), I can always save up a little longer USB preferred, but since I have an M-Audio Sonica with optical out, a DAC with optical in/analog out would also suffice.

wait - i think i missed something. there's an orpheus in singapore now ?

I've Heard the King - its sweet sweet sound still haunts my dreams ...

pretty sure the only rapping jew that gets MTV time nowadays (or ever) is Matisyahu - was he in full orthodox get up (black hat, full beard, long dark clothing) ? if it is him, his most well known video is for the song 'King Without A Crown', but if you just saw it recently, it might be a video off his newer album - hard to tell without seeing it, sorry

hah, those are the exact same bookshelves i just got no mention of any cd dividers on the sg site though -maybe i can order from aus if they're not too heavy ...

really ? i was just at the store today picking up another lot of bookshelves, and I didn't see them ... maybe they look different without the optional dividers - or they no longer make that model if you can check the model name, I'd really appreciate it ! got a TON of ikea points to blow now

http://www.engadget.com/2006/09/26/etymoti...oth-headphones/ i don't see why ety would come out with something like this - I'd rather they work on a MK II of the ER-4's, or perhaps something to compete with the higher end IEMs ... still curious as to what they sound like though

Ha, thats the model I'm using - the SN95G5 over the next few months I'm going to see if I can swop out a few parts to make it a 'quiet' PC. Right now both the HDD and Video Card are quite noisy ... dunno if I can fit anything too exotic graphics-wise into the small casing though ...

yes, but really the goal here is to maximize my convenience and minimize my expense ... a high end external sound card is a priority while I need to budget to fix my sensaphonics having said that, I just found out that the wireless attachment for my Shuttle PC is available in Singapore ! so i'm going to wander down to Sim Lim and see if its capable enough to serve - a little pricey at $78, but if it seems reliable I guess its worth it to keep my already setup AV710 ...