State of the Ward

Koss updates their classic Porta Pro with remote/mic

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:00:05 -0600

Koss updates their classic Porta Pro with remote/mic:

Took ‘em long enough.

Koss: do the KSC75 next!

"5.4"

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:00:06 -0600

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 the linked article). Of course, a web site that plays tastemaker for an audience who likes to discard things one they become too big was headed for a backlash, and that backlash arrived, followed by seeming apathy. Anecdotally, I can only think of a couple of people with whom I still talk about the site—although apparently the numbers tell a different story.

I’ll always love them, though. In the formative years of my musical tastes, they were a kindred spirit. As my listening ambitions became more ambitious (or my listening time became less, or as I accumulated more and more albums that I wanted to continue to have a relationship with long after they were released), I got pickier and pickier about what new stuff I listened to (or intended to). And Pitchfork has been there to help me filter through it. I never let Pitchfork keep me from listening to something I liked (although I certainly let them challenge me to figure out why I liked something they didn’t), but I’ve certainly found lots of stuff I would have never listened to otherwise through the site.

I don’t think the writing’s quite what it used to be. Or, perhaps, it’s gotten too serious and is no longer gleefully absurd (I was combing through the archives the other day and found a few examples that highlight this, I’ll probably link to them later). But there are so many bands and albums that have are now an integral part of my biography that they get a free pass from me, forever. Let the haters hate. Long live Pitchfork.

Addendum: Speaking of haters, Mr. Beck seems to be one of them. And not just pitchfork—the article displays quite a lot of self loathing as well, once he gets around to making his point.

The piece has lots of good history that I enjoyed reading. It’s got some good observations. It’s also an example of the worst kind of facile writing that ignores shades of grey to make its black and white point. Take Mr. Beck’s bit about the Dismemberment Plan and Travis Morrison: Beck points out that Pitchfork were big boosters of the Plan, then recounts the 0.0 score they gave to Morrison’s first solo album, and then gives the story the epilogue that Morrison has done nothing since but play a few Plan reunion shows in 2011.

That ignores these points:

the Plan was a really awesome band.
Travistan was a pretty horrible album. It didn’t deserve a 0.0, but what that score shows is the level of disappointment Pitchfork felt in Morrison and the album.
Morrison didn’t go into retirement because Pitchfork Pitchfork destroyed his career. He put out a pretty good album in 2007 under the moniker Travis Morrison Hellfighters, All Y’all (Pitchfork score: 4.5).
Far from the sad state of affairs that Mr. Beck implies, the Plan’s 2011 reunion tour was greeted with sold-out shows and glowing reviews.

There’s more bits in the piece, especially the facile part at the end that accuses Indie as a whole (and really, today’s popular music as a whole) of completely failing to innovate (which strikes me as short-sighted), but I’ll leave them as an exercise to the reader. Point being, it’s quite clear that Beck worked backwards from his conclusion, cherry picking facts to make his point, and forgoing what could have otherwise been a fascinating retrospective on one of the decade’s great cultural forces.

That’s not to say he’s wrong, or that his points aren’t well taken. But by trying to strengthen them, he’s weakened them. Give us your argument straight, don’t be afraid to acknowledge the shades of gray and the contradictions. If there’s truth to what you say, we’ll figure out what to do with the bits that don’t fit.

Pitchfork reviews Lana del Rey's Born to Die

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:02:05 -0600

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”.

New scientific paper: Stress-induced modulators of repeat instability and genome evolution

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:01:05 -0600

New scientific paper: Stress-induced modulators of repeat instability and genome evolution:

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.

My Macworld review of the MEElectronics A151

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:58:51 -0600

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 support my blog, the A151 is available at a significant discounts from Amazon through this affiliate link.

Smart advertising. (Taken with Instagram at George’s...

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 02:23:55 -0600

Smart advertising. (Taken with Instagram at George’s Restaurant)

Marco writes about headphones, I link to it

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 14:33:00 -0600

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 provides his recommendations, and of course, Macworld has some great headphone recommendations.

The biggest criticism of the Times article I would like to add is that Mr. Grobart implies that in-ear headphones¹ are somehow inferior to on-ear versions. There’s a case to be made that high-end in-ears are every bit as good (or potentially better) than high-end full-size headphones.

Some people distinguish between “headphones” and “earphones”, but I don’t think the distinction is particularly useful since there’s lots of variation within these two categories. So I just stick to “headphones” to keep it simple. ↩

The theater of air travel security

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:00:06 -0600

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

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:00:05 -0600

Haters:

You wouldn’t believe how hard it is being right all the time.

TABC's bogus beer/ale distinction invalidated

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:00:05 -0600

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.

Susan Kare's icons

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:00:06 -0600

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 beautiful. I own one of her pieces (naturally, the Happy Mac), and haven’t quite clicked the “buy” button on a second (the absolutely perfect bomb icon).

Slate on the Old Fashioned

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:00:00 -0600

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 make the drink and I don’t know what made it so special (sugar cube and bitters muddled, Wild Turkey rye, served on the rocks with a lemon twist).

I’ve developed my own take, which I like quite a lot. Orange peel (no pith) muddled with a pinch of granulated sugar (used purely mechanically), topped liberally with Angostura bitters and simple syrup (muddling a sugar cube is way too much work), and stirred with a shot (or even two ounces) of bourbon or rye. I generally let the orange peel steep in the drink for ten minutes or so, which extracts some lovely flavors from the peel, including very nice vanilla notes. Then I top with ice and enjoy.

I need to establish the proper amount of bitters and syrup, and the ideal steep time for the orange peel. But it turns out pretty nicely.

Inner Fidelity's top ten headphone gifts

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 15:07:00 -0600

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 price range of things I would actually consider giving as a gift. If you’re looking for a more comprehensive guide that sticks mostly to items priced suitably for gifts, there’s another great headphone buying guide.

InnerFidelity's in-ear headphone roundup

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 01:53:00 -0600

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 personally vouch for, I know of another great headphone buying guide.

Another Engadget holiday guide, this one for “docks“—I think they mean speaker docks....

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 15:00:05 -0600

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 for an loving home that are already easy to connect to an iPod?

Engadget's holiday headphone guide

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:00:05 -0600

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 headphones is to decide on a form factor and then look for the combination of a budget-fitting price and good-for-the-money performance, not to go with a completely different type of model depending on your budget.
I wouldn’t expect much from those Nokia headphones.
Not sure the Sony is a particularly good noise canceling model.

If you’re looking for holiday headphone buying advice, I know where you can find a really good holiday headphone buyer’s guide.

Cindy had a couple weeks off and we did a lot of travelling. I fell behind in my RSS feeds. As I was...

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:00:06 -0600

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 doing so, also killed off several hundred starred articles I’d intended to get back to.

Good riddance. I feel relieved. I spend way too much time going through redundant feeds. If there’s anything good on Giz, hopefully I’ll see it through other channels.

Engadget, you haven’t really pissed me off yet but I’m doubting your value. Kotaku, your idiot articles about Japanese pop culture, annoying tone, and blatant sexism are pissing me off. You’re both on notice.

Don’t be surprised if you see a few more bitchy articles about Gizmodo as I go through my backlog…

Inner Fidelity reviews the Koss Tony Bennett Special Edition TBSE1 Headphone

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:30:06 -0600

Inner Fidelity reviews the Koss Tony Bennett Special Edition TBSE1 Headphone:

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.

Engadget "reviews" Orb Audio's modular speaker system

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 01:35:00 -0600

Engadget "reviews" Orb Audio's modular speaker system:

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 that, can they compete with comparatively priced but significantly larger bargain models (NHT SuperZero, AudioEngine P4, Pioneer SP-BS41-LR)?

I was only supposed to review their small integrated amplifiers, but they sent along some of their speakers to try out too. The review may not make it into Macworld but I’ll publish my thoughts here, at minimum.

My travel keychain is key-free. (@acscustomusa @leathermanusa...

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 20:54:35 -0600

My travel keychain is key-free. (@acscustomusa @leathermanusa @etymotic @studioneat) (Taken with Instagram at 21st Amendment)