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 ...

Ikea recently reduced the price of their 'basic' cd rack to $35 - unfortunately this caused a rush on them so they are temporarily out of stock of ALL of their cheap cd racks. they have a faux wood variant in the same style, but thats selling for $55 - not worth it for the cosmetics IMHO. they also have some fancy CD lockers and cabinets, but those start at $250+ ... having said that, does anyone have any recommendations for CD racks ? my existing one is already quite full and I need some supplemental so I can unpack the 900+ that I just got shipped back to me ... preferably ones that i don't have to mount to walls ...

so you're saying if you buy the gift card you can download the relevant amount from the US store ? without a US apple account ? anyone tried this ?? i clicked the link for 'Itunes Music Card' and the entry page is very different from when I tried this trick a few years back - now all they ask for is the Card redemption code, but I don't know what happens after that ... If this *does* work then watch out - Itunes JP, AU and CA here I come ... maybe even FR if I can be bothered to track a card down from there ... (these are the stores that offer free downloads every week)

sound quality is ok, but not great. there are NO options for different size/codecs - all tracks on the music store are 128kbps AAC Compared to EAC/LAME APX MP3s, the file size is about 50-60% for a comparable song and the sound quality is about 70-80% depending on the track. Classical and Jazz (no surprise) suffer the worst from being compressed so much, but are still 'ok' - just don't expect to get immersed in the music ;P having said that, there are quite a few 'exclusive' tracks that can only be found on Itunes. these are usually remixes or bonus tracks that are not currently (or will never be) released on CD ... guess it depends on how much of a 'diehard' you are about your music some artists even have Itunes-exclusive special edition albums, where the regular album is released to CD, but a version with extra tracks is released online. Admittedly, I've seen at least 1 of these special editions show up in Singapore as an 'Asian Special Edition' on CD, but most of the time those extra tracks aren't pressed. Extremely annoying when they force you to buy the whole album just for a few bonus tracks Especially if you want the best sonic quality and were planning to buy the CD having an Itunes account also means that you are eligible to download at least 1 free 'discovery' track every week. that may not seem like a lot, but I've been at it for nearly 4 years now, on both the US and UK stores ... that adds up Add to that things like the U2 Complete Set you get with the SE Ipod, and the sampler cards you get at music conferences (the last SXSW had a card for all the sample tracks from attendees who had Itunes music - over 700 tracks *free*), and its a nice little boost to my music collection I'm confused about the Itunes gift cards being available here though - once again, you need the initial Apple ID linked to a CREDIT CARD for the relevant country to start downloading ... I don't see why they would be selling cards here that had no use, unless I'm missing something ... I tried that tactic a few years ago with the Canadian store and it didn't work Personally, I do not think the Itunes music store offers the best quality music around. Arguably, in fact, of the major online music stores, it has the WORST quality and options. BUT, they have the best interface and one of the best selections. They also have a LOT of musicians willing to do 'exclusive' material for them. I'm happy with getting the occasional track of the store if I can't find it anywhere else, or if its something infectious that I don't want to buy a whole album for. But I'm not going to spend any major money there. Its still CDs for me

hmm ... so any recommendations for USB sound card ?

I do both A LOT - hence the indecision ...

dun envy me too much - sending the sensa's away for repair estimate on repair price quite painful - $150 USD per side !! tomorrow is quite busy for me - weekday can ? not sure where 'same old place' is ...

Hey all, so next week I will regain possession of my small Shuttle chassis PC, and I'm faced with having to choose between leaving the existing sound card in ( a Chaintech AV710), which would mean running an extremely long cable from the router to my system for internet access (not really ideal) OR swopping it out for a wireless PCI card and using the onboard Nforce 3 sound. Alternatively, I could go with external USB devices for either component. The problem being I've heard that USB wireless adapters are slower and less stable than PCI (a big factor when bit torrentting), but I don't really know of any USB sound cards in the price/performance range of the Chaintech ! Any opinions/comments appreciated !

well if Loop doesn't get his back in time b4 his Dec trip, I suppose I can let my Imod out of my sight for a *little* while PM me if you really want to test it out - next week I should be too busy unpacking all the barang I had shipped back from the US, so that may be the best time for you to 'borrow' ... how to find space for 1000+ CDs in my room ... here's a 'life size' shot of my bao bei

Hi all, hope someone's local contacts are better than mine my cuz 'accidentally' deleted her wedding tape, but still has the original Video8 version in storage. Checked around buy this seems to be a bit of a dead format. Can anyone recommend a shop that can transfer a tape in this format to something else ? Ideally DVD for compatiblity sakes ... Thanks in Advance !

this is a real subjective question - so much depends on what your listening preferences are and what equipment you pair it up with ... MY OPINION, however, is that the Portaphile V2 [Maxxed]+ is my favorite, having owned RSA SR-71 and Xin Supermini 3, and tried RSA Hornet, AE-1, GO-Vibe, Headroom Total Airhead (2005) and Micro Stack. cut-and-paste here from my initial reaction posted on Head-Fi : "Talking to Romanee and based on my own listening, the new portaphile has a better resolved soundstage - more airy and musical. Its also a 'faster' amp, without sacrifiicing detail or bass presence. it had no problems driving my sensas or HD650s. It is not a particularly neutral amp, and I thought it was quite lively and well suited to the pop-rock i threw at it, but it really shined with Jazz - detailed, without being overly clinical. Classical fared well as the improved soundstage helped with the seperation of instruments in symphonic pieces and the better bass definition gave a nice sense of drama at certain key points. Electronica was a tad bright and lacking substance compared to some other amps, but I know some people like that kind of sound - and I don't listen to that much electronica usually IMPORTANT NOTE : Romanee was running the amps off the mains at the meet (an advantage the Portaphile has over the SR71), but Cesar notes that the new ground circuit doubles power consumption ! The new black gate caps are also more sensitive to voltage than the previous version used so the old Elpacs should NOT be used with them. max voltage is now 18v,compared to 24v previously. Compared to the SR71, its a hard fight. I feel the 71 has the overall advantage in SQ - I just love the rich warm tones that amp can produce. But the portaphile i think has gained a lot of ground, and in some areas - soundstage and to a certain extent, bass definition, has surpassed the 71. Factor in that the portaphile is 2/3rds the size, has selectable Class A and wide bandwith options, can be DC powered and still manages to be $150 cheaper ... " FYI I currently have it paired with a Redwine Imod, Silver Dragon Interconnect and Ultrasone Proline 650s - super happy with this combo