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1
General Discussion / Audiophiles: Get in here!
« on: May 25, 2011, 05:09:44 pm »
Post your current hardware and/or software that you use to appreciate your music. This can range anything from headphones, speakers, amps, soundcards, LP players, portable mp3 players and other peripherals to music formats, software music players, etc.
I'll start, but a preface before that. I'm not the most experienced when it comes to Audiophilogy or terminology thereto; if you are, bear with me...
Headphones: Sennheiser HD595
Very good, incredible mids and highs with decent bass. These headphones have amazing soundstage and instruments/voices that sound blended with other cans will quickly secern. As a result, acoustic or orchestral performances are incredibly warm and involving with these headphones. Some metal songs, on the other hand, will sound not as sublime due to the balanced out bass--an amp fixes this slightly. However, having a 50 ohm impedance, these are quite easy to drive, and sound great, without an amp, so they are good entry level cans for those who don't have the largest disposable income. Oh yeah, incredibly comfortable, but can be a little heavy.
Sound Card:
SB X-Fi
I've had this for a few years now and has been a pretty solid card, never really disappointing, but never really impressing either. I'm not really a zealot when it comes to the whole soundcard vs onboard argument, but if you have the money for it, get a decent soundcard.
Headphone amp:
Fiio E7
A little bit pricey; improves the soundstage and bass response of the hd595s, especially with portable mp3 players.
Software music player:
Winamp
Very configurable, and will do just about anything you need it to. To top it off, it has the best visualizer I've ever seen. Very satisfied.
Portable mp3 player
Zune HD 32Gb
I was adventurous when I decided to go with Microsoft's, at the time, most recent "iPod killer". Suffice to say, initially I was a little disappointed with the lighter bass output of the Zune vis a vis the iPod (due to the iPod having a built-in amp, and the Zune lacking one.), but, with time, I noticed that the sound was much clearer, and less muddy than that of the iPod. Perhaps it was the built-in amp, or the quality of the AACs, as the Zune, and Zune Software, does no conversion to the mp3s supplied to it, but it just sounded better.
That's all I can think of for now... *whoosh*...
I'll start, but a preface before that. I'm not the most experienced when it comes to Audiophilogy or terminology thereto; if you are, bear with me...
Headphones: Sennheiser HD595
Very good, incredible mids and highs with decent bass. These headphones have amazing soundstage and instruments/voices that sound blended with other cans will quickly secern. As a result, acoustic or orchestral performances are incredibly warm and involving with these headphones. Some metal songs, on the other hand, will sound not as sublime due to the balanced out bass--an amp fixes this slightly. However, having a 50 ohm impedance, these are quite easy to drive, and sound great, without an amp, so they are good entry level cans for those who don't have the largest disposable income. Oh yeah, incredibly comfortable, but can be a little heavy.
Sound Card:
SB X-Fi
I've had this for a few years now and has been a pretty solid card, never really disappointing, but never really impressing either. I'm not really a zealot when it comes to the whole soundcard vs onboard argument, but if you have the money for it, get a decent soundcard.
Headphone amp:
Fiio E7
A little bit pricey; improves the soundstage and bass response of the hd595s, especially with portable mp3 players.
Software music player:
Winamp
Very configurable, and will do just about anything you need it to. To top it off, it has the best visualizer I've ever seen. Very satisfied.
Portable mp3 player
Zune HD 32Gb
I was adventurous when I decided to go with Microsoft's, at the time, most recent "iPod killer". Suffice to say, initially I was a little disappointed with the lighter bass output of the Zune vis a vis the iPod (due to the iPod having a built-in amp, and the Zune lacking one.), but, with time, I noticed that the sound was much clearer, and less muddy than that of the iPod. Perhaps it was the built-in amp, or the quality of the AACs, as the Zune, and Zune Software, does no conversion to the mp3s supplied to it, but it just sounded better.
That's all I can think of for now... *whoosh*...
2
General Discussion / Re: Humanity: Good News, Bad News
« on: May 25, 2011, 04:01:09 pm »
NSFW: Language
Original Post: http://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/hjpxn/if_you_think_america_is_fucked_up_heres_a/
Direct Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=jl2JQfxnnHU
Pretty sure one can figure out which one this is...
Original Post: http://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/hjpxn/if_you_think_america_is_fucked_up_heres_a/
Direct Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=jl2JQfxnnHU
Pretty sure one can figure out which one this is...
3
General Discussion / Re: Mythology
« on: April 16, 2010, 10:45:07 pm »
I guess I'll make a few more recommendations:
The Epic of Gilgamesh--racy, violent and thought provoking. Has interesting tie-ins to Christian lore and Greek myth.
The Saga of the Volsungs--lotta Norse myth in this one--quintessential even. Humorous, dramatic and violent. Very episodic, if you don't notice at first.
The Epic of Gilgamesh--racy, violent and thought provoking. Has interesting tie-ins to Christian lore and Greek myth.
The Saga of the Volsungs--lotta Norse myth in this one--quintessential even. Humorous, dramatic and violent. Very episodic, if you don't notice at first.
4
General Discussion / Re: Mythology
« on: April 14, 2010, 01:49:32 am »
Check out Hesiod's Theogony and Works and Days. These are quite possibly the best compilations of Greek mythology from the pre-Golden Age to the Iron Age, coming from the era of Homer.
As for Hades; what I know of him is his duty to watch over the dead souls, titans and dissenters of Zeus, his kidnapping of Persephone, Demeter's daughter, his helmet of invisibility (later possessed by Perseus) and his 'dog' killed by Herakles in his twelve trials. Beyond that, all I know of him is random genealogy trivia.
Zeus is a much more interesting character, to be sure. Nothing quite like an ungodly, powerful, power-hungry, egomaniacal (nb not omniscient, though) god running the show. He led the onslaught against his elder generations, ate his first wife because he didn't want his son to be born, took the lion's share of power after the defeat of the titans (leaving* virtually nothing to his sisters, the sea to his brother Poseidon and the underworld to his other brother Hades; keeping the heavens, the earth, the smoking bolt, and all other things all to himself. Because of this most, if not all, power and prognostication in Greek myth is said to derive from Zeus) as well as single-handedly defeating Typhus, the last of the 'titans' to be born.
Truly, if there is to be a 'God', it'd be more likely to be the selfish, non-omniscient, hypocritical Zeus than the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good Judeo-Christian counterpart. Though to note, they both seem to have the mentality of 'no gods before me.'
*Because Zeus 'became' the first born after freeing his siblings and a rock from the stomach of Kronos, his father, he was the one to delegate the powers of the defeated titans.
As for Hades; what I know of him is his duty to watch over the dead souls, titans and dissenters of Zeus, his kidnapping of Persephone, Demeter's daughter, his helmet of invisibility (later possessed by Perseus) and his 'dog' killed by Herakles in his twelve trials. Beyond that, all I know of him is random genealogy trivia.
Zeus is a much more interesting character, to be sure. Nothing quite like an ungodly, powerful, power-hungry, egomaniacal (nb not omniscient, though) god running the show. He led the onslaught against his elder generations, ate his first wife because he didn't want his son to be born, took the lion's share of power after the defeat of the titans (leaving* virtually nothing to his sisters, the sea to his brother Poseidon and the underworld to his other brother Hades; keeping the heavens, the earth, the smoking bolt, and all other things all to himself. Because of this most, if not all, power and prognostication in Greek myth is said to derive from Zeus) as well as single-handedly defeating Typhus, the last of the 'titans' to be born.
Truly, if there is to be a 'God', it'd be more likely to be the selfish, non-omniscient, hypocritical Zeus than the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good Judeo-Christian counterpart. Though to note, they both seem to have the mentality of 'no gods before me.'
*Because Zeus 'became' the first born after freeing his siblings and a rock from the stomach of Kronos, his father, he was the one to delegate the powers of the defeated titans.
5
General Discussion / Re: Ask A Liberal
« on: March 13, 2010, 04:56:37 pm »I'm not sure that would be enough. Granted, I do not disagree with anything you have said, I simply feel it is incomplete.Q: In your opinion, what would be the best way for our government to mitigate the deforestation of the Amazon?
That's a good question, and unexpected. The first thing to do is lead by example when it comes to managing and protecting our own forests at the governmental level, and respecting and preserving their health the individual and entrepreneurial levels. Because America is so influential, American ideas are inevitably exported, so it does good to lead by example.
The best direct solution, in my opinion, would be to negotiate a treaty with the Brazilian government, either bilaterally or through a world organization, under which Brasilia would agree to preserve the most substantial portion of its forests in exchange for whatever incentives. The second-best solution would be to restrict the import of anything that is produced on the grounds of cleared forest--a sticky proposition, and guaranteed to light the free trade people's heads on fire.
Consider that, things like exportation of hardwoods, bribery of government officials and police, and slavery are already illegal and are still as prevalent as if there was no law against them. I would say that these problems are wrapped in more complex social issues--mostly due to distorted national policy over national debt and the massive division of wealth. The division of wealth is itself, a consequence of the government paying off national debt, and not investing in law enforcement to prevent things like slavery/exploitation, land exploitation and bribery (which allows all of this to happen).
Speaking of which. A couple years back (I'm not sure what it's at now), Brazil ranked 80 out of 180 countries on the Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index. While it's not the worst, it's pretty bad to make the top 100. Further, it's no coincidence that quite a few other South American countries (Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay) scored in the top 100 as well, as their situations are not too far from Brasilia's.
That said, it is my take that we should also forgive, in part or whole, their national debt to us so that they can focus their funds on internal issues of social justice and most importantly, the preservation of the rainforest. As it stands now, more of Brazil's GDP goes to paying off national debt (nb limiting exportation would only exacerbate this) than it does for law enforcement. So I feel it is an important stroke of mercy on our part.
Do you agree with this addendum?
6
General Discussion / Re: The "WTF? Check this link out!" thread!
« on: March 12, 2010, 06:10:36 pm »7
General Discussion / Re: Ask A Liberal
« on: March 09, 2010, 02:03:22 pm »
Q: In your opinion, what would be the best way for our government to mitigate the deforestation of the Amazon?
8
General Discussion / Re: The "WTF? Check this link out!" thread!
« on: February 27, 2010, 03:43:46 pm »
http://www.promotinglinux.com/truth/
I can't seem to figure out if this is for real or just some extremely surreal humor... (Be sure to read through it all, and maybe some of the comments if you are so inclined.)
I can't seem to figure out if this is for real or just some extremely surreal humor... (Be sure to read through it all, and maybe some of the comments if you are so inclined.)
9
General Discussion / Re: The "WTF? Check this link out!" thread!
« on: February 26, 2010, 12:58:55 pm »
http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/seeing_in_the_dark/
Whoa... This definitely brings insight into the world of vision.
Whoa... This definitely brings insight into the world of vision.
10
General Discussion / Re: The "WTF? Check this link out!" thread!
« on: February 21, 2010, 03:42:17 pm »11
General Discussion / Re: The "WTF? Check this link out!" thread!
« on: February 12, 2010, 12:39:30 pm »12
General Discussion / Re: Stuff you LOVE, baby
« on: February 01, 2010, 12:35:59 am »
http://goosh.org
A handy minimalist Google services environment. Not perfect, but better than the standard way IMHO.
A handy minimalist Google services environment. Not perfect, but better than the standard way IMHO.
13
General Discussion / Re: The "WTF? Check this link out!" thread!
« on: January 24, 2010, 07:10:51 pm »
14
General Discussion / Re: Stuff you hate
« on: January 19, 2010, 05:29:09 pm »
Touche, Thought. Perhaps I used the wrong words.
But as a parting thought, should willful ignorance and lack of due diligence be treated any differently, given their uncannily similar results?
But as a parting thought, should willful ignorance and lack of due diligence be treated any differently, given their uncannily similar results?
15
General Discussion / Re: Stuff you hate
« on: January 18, 2010, 03:47:37 pm »
True enough. But willful ignorance != natural ignorance (which everyone possesses). Your argument assumes I made that jump. Further, if like the person I mentioned, this would be a better article to learn about terminal commands. http://davestechsupport.com/blog/2008/06/14/the-linux-terminal-for-beginners/
EDIT: Though I suppose, I'll lookup a few things on that list out of pure fancy.
Quote from: Thought
Charlemagne, Æthelberht of Kent, Jordanes, polypropylene, Augustine of Hippo, Augustine of Canterbury, epigenetics, micro RNA, mRNA, spissitude, MC4R pathway, glass transition state, SCA, Asia, positive punishment v negative rewards, GNS theory, dice pools, branes, chryssalids, aaaaand Darkwing Duck. If you do not go investigate the ones you aren't familiar with, then you are willfully choosing to remain ignorant. When you get done with those, I am quite sure I can come up with another small selection to keep you busy. And another. And another.Your argument makes another leap--I was talking about those who, and this is key, take an interest in a topic and choose not to pursue it due to low persistence.
Not giving a flying rat’s ass has traditionally been a very legitimate form of justification for people willfully remaining ignorant on a whole host of topics. What turns this into a vice is when the individual willfully remains ignorant on issues that are important. Of course, what counts as being important tends to be rather subjective.
EDIT: Though I suppose, I'll lookup a few things on that list out of pure fancy.