February 2012
2 posts
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My Macworld review of the Shure SE315 and headset... →
Shure is one of the biggest names in the in-ear headphone industry (not to mention the recording industry), and it was great to finally get to spend some quality time with their products.
The SE315 is a great little pair of headphones, and are super comfortable, but as I note in the review, in some ways it’s an awkward middle child. Be sure to look at current products and check out the...
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Koss updates their classic Porta Pro with... →
Took ‘em long enough.
Koss: do the KSC75 next!
January 2012
4 posts
2 tags
"5.4" →
Speaking of Pitchfork, Richard Beck writes in N+1 about the history of the site and its effect on music. It’s a bit tl;dr, so I’m posting now and then reading right afterwards, but I think the fact that somebody is undertaking a retrospective on Pitchfork makes it worth linking to.
Pitchfork was a cultural force in the early to mid ’00s—and arguably it is still a huge one (see...
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Pitchfork reviews Lana del Rey's Born to Die →
This is what happens when the hype dies before the album comes out. I haven’t listened to it yet, maybe it’s OK. Maybe Lana has a future of great music still ahead. But no matter what, at least we’ll always have “Video Games”.
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New scientific paper: Stress-induced modulators of... →
My first contribution to a scientific paper in a while.
I got brought into this one late, but the material is really interesting to me, particularly as it relates to evolution.
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My Macworld review of the MEElectronics A151 →
These have a lovely neutrality that’s not often seen at this price ($75), but they can sound a little boring sometimes. You really have to spend a lot more to get the extra detail that makes a neutral sound come off really, really well. But if you’re tired of bloated bass and grating highs, the A151 is a great fit.
The A151 is available direct from MEElectronics, or, if you want to...
December 2011
14 posts
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Marco writes about headphones, I link to it →
Marco mostly talkes about advantages/disadvantages of closed versus open headphones, which is an important distinction to consider when buying full-size headphones, and a distinction that Marco feels this New York Times piece on headphones doesn’t draw starkly enough.
Marco also points out that the article doesn’t actually recommend specific models, which is an excellent point. Marco...
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The theater of air travel security →
Nice piece in vanity fair on air security from the perspective of a computer security expert (Bruce Schneier).
I’d be happy if I could pack my carry-on full of beer (for transportation, not for drinking on the flight, although…) and listen to music during takeoff and landing…
Haters →
You wouldn’t believe how hard it is being right all the time.
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TABC's bogus beer/ale distinction invalidated →
Thank God. That was embarrassing.
Sadly, though, Jester King did not succeed in convincing the judge that TABC’s laws prohibiting breweries from making retail beer sales were likewise bogus. Sounds like TABC barely won that one, though.
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Susan Kare's icons →
Nice piece on a hugely influential artist (I think her role and work surpass being a “designer”.
Ms. Kare designed the icons for the original Mac, among other systems, sites, and applications. I find the economy, expressiveness, and effectiveness of her work particularly impressive.
Ms. Kare sells prints of her work on her web site. I can personally attest that they’re...
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Slate on the Old Fashioned →
Fast becoming my favorite cocktail (well, the Sazerac is putting up a good fight, but really, there’s only one proper way to make a Sazerac, and whereas the old-fashioned is flexible). It’s a great way to get the character if a liquor (whisky, in particular), in an easier-to-drink package.
I think the best I’ve had so far was from Anvil a few weeks ago. I watched the bartender...
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Inner Fidelity's top ten headphone gifts →
The list is a bit unfocused, but it’s not really a buying guide for picking out the best possible headphones for your needs, it’s more a list of products in the headphone realm that would make good gifts. Everything on the first two pages is a great product that’s inexpensive enough to be worthy of your consideration.
The third page has good stuff too, but it’s out of the...
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InnerFidelity's in-ear headphone roundup →
This one isn’t from Tyll, it’s from a big-time Head-Fi forum member.
A little esoteric for my tastes, but I think it’s far better than the crappy guides some sites are putting out. I’d much rather see a guide like this that’s really trying to find the best value for the dollar than one that just throws some crap on the page.
Of course, if you want some picks I...
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Another Engadget holiday guide, this one for “docks“—I think they mean speaker docks. Docks do exist without speakers, and these products aren’t for people looking for docks, they’re for people looking for speakers.
As to the actual choices… meh. I have no idea how they sound. Why buy overpriced items like this when there are so many great speakers out there looking...
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Engadget's holiday headphone guide →
Like their back to school guide, it’s kind of a shit show here.
Headphones with a built-in music player don’t sound like a bright idea to me.
The Klipsch S4i still isn’t that great.
I’ve seen nothing to indicate that AiAiAi’s headphones are worth considering.
They’re pushing the mediocre B&W C5.
The entire guide is a jumbled mess. The way to buy...
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Cindy had a couple weeks off and we did a lot of travelling. I fell behind in my RSS feeds. As I was going back through them, I started to slog through 300 unread Gizmodo stories, got pissed off by their blatant Apple bias (stories about Apple’s upcoming Grand Central Station store, the Business Software Alliance, and Carrier IQ), and had enough. I deleted Gizmodo from Google Reader and, in...
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Inner Fidelity reviews the Koss Tony Bennett... →
Tony Bennett? Add that to the list of other unlikely “signature” endorsements including Quincy Jones, Miles Davis, and Lou Reed. This celebrity headphone thing has probably gone too far.
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Engadget "reviews" Orb Audio's modular speaker... →
The actual review is bullshit—no comparison to competing products, very little said about sound quality, nothing to indicate that any critical listening took place.
But I linked because these guys have been making a big marketing push lately and I’m genuinely curious about the products. They certainly have great aethetics and the modular idea is cool, but how is the execution? And, beyond...
November 2011
12 posts
Turgooduccochiqua →
Worth a re-post for Thanksgiving: Wil Shipley’s Turgooduccochiqua.
Macworld's headphone buying guide →
Dan Frakes has updated Macworld’s always-excellent headphone buying guide for the 2011 holiday season, including minor contributions from yours truly.
Includes a great overview of headphone styles so you can figure out exactly what’s right for you, as well as recommended models for each style.
Macworld buyer's guide for speakers →
Excellent (as usual) advice from Dan Frakes. If you’re in the market for computer speakers, iPod speakers, or Bluetooth/AirPlay wireless speakers—pretty much anything that’s not a traditional, passive loudspeaker hooked up to stereo components—this will be very helpful.
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My Macworld review of the Bowers & Wilkins C5 →
All indications are that B&W has been doing a great job with their consumer (that is, Apple accessory) products lately.
I tried very had to evaluate these objectively (and I think I did), but in the end, I just didn’t like them. I found the bass obnoxious, and while most of B&W’s other products have had bass emphasis, it hasn’t gotten in the way of the music, and it is...
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Another podcast cameo on Stewed 1.10 →
This should be a great episode, with St. Louis superstars Gerard Craft of Niche and Mike Emerson of Pappy’s.
Also, I weigh in briefly on making your Asian significant other phone in orders to Asian restaurants, the best thing I ate in the past two weeks (which was not me trying to suck up), and the financial value of my twitter handle.
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Disappearing picture optical illusion →
It’s amazing how everything we see is completely dependent on our brain’s image processing software and very far removed from the hardware of our eyes.
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Adobe to discontinue development of mobile Flash? →
Well, someone was right. I sort of thought Flash would keep pushing for the moral high ground here, but no, even they can be practical sometimes, like when they decided they’d like a piece of the HTML5 pie, too.
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More from Adam Tilford (and me, and the Stewed... →
I actually talked some on this one, thanks to tequila and to host KBO leaving early and ceding her microphone to me. Cindy jumps in some too.
The conversation covers Taco Bell, Taco Cabana, the value proposition of ten tacos for ten dollars, the origin of the crispy taco and the chimichanga, and the value proposition of overbuilt (in the best way possible) tortilla presses.
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Ben Folds on playing with orchestras →
Nice interview form the Riverfront Times, promoting tomorrow’s (or rather, today’s) show with the Saint Louis Symphony, which I will be attending. (Duh.)
October 2011
7 posts
1 tag
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Barack Obama on the passing of Steve Jobs →
As moving a reflection on Steve’s passing as I have read.
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The Saint Louis Bosnian community →
Apparently Saint Louis has Bosnian population outside of Bosnia—I knew it was large but I didn’t know it was that large.
Been meaning to check out the food there. My last Bosnian meal, documented in an as-yet-unpublished blog post, was at Houston’s Café Pita and was absolutely fantastic. Hopefully the food here lives up to it, and it should as a matter of statistics.
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My sister, the influential artist →
Fashion designers cite my sister’s art as part of the inspiration for their spring line. Awesome.
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Inner Fidelity on full-size world-class headphones →
Great writeup from Tyll on the current contenders for “best headphones in the world”. I’ve been fortunate enough to hear two. I briefly tried the Sennheiser HD800 in an audio shop, and it sounded great—although given the short audition, I don’t know how great.
Also, as part of my review of the HeadRoom Micro Amp and Micro DAC, I was lucky to get to borrow the Audeze LCD-2...
September 2011
18 posts
1 tag
Changes in Instagram 2.0 →
Great analysis of alterations to filters in the new version of Instagram. I hadn’t noticed the difference, but some of the changes are quite dramatic, and most are for the worse.
However, I am very happy with the new filter that saves high resolution versions of your filtered shots to your camera roll—I can now take Instagram shots and make decent prints from them. I just wish my old...
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America's Top 25 Live Venues →
Number 17? St. Louis’ Off Broadway. I don’t have the broad experience to know whether it’s really one of the top venues in the nation1, but it is without a doubt my favorite venue in St. Louis2. Congrats guys.
My personal list would almost certainly contain Big Sur’s Henry Miller Library and Houston’s Orange Show. At one point I probably would have put...
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Pitchfork reviews Wilco's new "The Whole Love" →
As is often the case, a nicely written review with astute observations from Pitchfork.
As for me? I like it so far. We’ll see how it holds up to repeated listens (I’m at around five right now). But I think, at least, they’re back moving in the right direction after the boring dad-rock of Sky Blue Sky and the initially likable but bland Wilco, the Album (I can only sonically...
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Home and micro distilling →
Nice piece from Kim Lisagor at American Drink on the current state of home and micro/craft distilling. Apparently it’s legal in Missouri to make up to 200 gallons of liquor a year—score one for the show-me state.
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Aiwa →
Gizmodo has a nice piece (well, it’s not brilliant, but I’m sympathetic to the author) on Aiwa, the Japanese electronics maker. The company made real hi-fi equipment in the 70s and 80s, and then went after the consumer market in the 90s, before being purchased by Sony (who already had invested in the company) in the early 2000s for what sounds like a tax write-off (at least,...
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WatchGreat little video segment from Ben Folds about his upcoming (don’t cal it “greatest hits”, don’t call it “best of”) career retrospective compilation.
As mentioned previously, I’m super pumped about this one, primarily for the new material recorded by the reunited Ben Folds Five. But also because Ben is very near the top of my list of all-time favorite...
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Houston's freeway angel →
I guess in a city big enough, anything can happen.
I’m really disappointed the phrase “Batman of tire changing” didn’t find its way into the article.
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Inner Fidelity on the Koss Porta Pro →
Tyll’s got a great writeup on the classic Koss Porta Pro, which is more-or-less unchanged since the Walkman’s heyday. I haven’t heard it but it’s supposed to be an excellent value (currently $34.91 at Amazon) and also very comfortable.
Koss also has the “street style” behind-the-neck Sporta Pro ($22.72 from Amazon) and the ear clip style (that is, with hooks...