Disqus - Latest Comments for atane

Re: The Death of High Fidelity

atane — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:22:08 -0000

You'll get no argument from me p0ps. My collection of mono lps can attest to that. However, I will disagree with your point of "chasing the false god of technical sound".

It's one thing if a record sounds poor because it is an old recording, or because recording conditions were poor. Old blues records from Ma Rainey, Robert Johnson and Bukka White sound pretty bad technically, but that is understood given the conditions those artists recorded their songs in. I recognize that, and enjoy them for what they are.

However, what we have today are sound engineers deliberately recording music poorly. Excessive DRC that removes the highs and lows of the tracks is not a good thing, and never will be. That has nothing to do with sound technicality. It's not how the song sounds at all. Why would I want the sound to be altered to the detriment of fidelity? That is something I just can't support, and I can't see how any music lover would support sound engineers destroying the music put forth by the artist. It's downright arrogant imo.

Re: The Death of High Fidelity

atane — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:22:29 -0000

True. I think the decline in hifi started when people wanted speakers to be heard and not seen. So companies started making these tiny, cone, "lifestyle" speakers to blend with the decor. This essentially relegated audio to take a backseat to aesthetics.

Then the HTIB (home theater in a box) came out, and basically sold the public a heaping serving of bovine feces. I do realize that after years of the onslaught of substandard audio being marketed to the masses, the masses for the most part just don't care about fidelity. It's an afterthought sadly.

Re: The Death of High Fidelity

atane — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:14:04 -0000

I do agree with you Jesse. Up until the last year, I was pretty much a regular at local jazz clubs in the Village here in NYC like the Village Vanguard, Blue Note & Cafe Wha? It was manageable a few years ago to catch live shows at modest prices, but now it is simply out of reach for most people. I was at the Blue Note last week to see the Dizzy Gillespie all-stars (Roy Hargrove's big band w/ Roberta Gambarini) A table for two was $70. After drinks and food, it was a little under $200. Unless you're wealthy (I'm not), doing this adds up fast.

So yes, while nothing beats a live show, it's just not feasible for most people, and you have to wait for that specific musician to come to your town. My hifi rig will always be there, as will the music. You also avoid the loud talkers, and clanging glasses. For the life of me, I will never understand the people who pay for tickets to shows, only to ignore the act and talk throughout the show.

Re: The Death of High Fidelity

atane — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:58:46 -0000

Yes. It's been a major problem for many years, and it seems to be getting worse as the time goes by.

Re: The Nikon D90 adds HD filming to DSLR’s

atane — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:05:21 -0000

Jeanne,

They are both 12.3 megapixel cameras, but the key difference between them is that the D5000 has an vari-angle display that you can move in different directions to view what you are capturing. The Display on the D90 is static. Nevertheless, the resolution on the D90 screen is higher than the resolution of the screen on the D5000. It’s also slightly bigger at 3 inches, as opposed to 2.7 inches on the D5000.

So it’s a trade off, the D5000’s screen offers versatility, it’s also a little brighter and is more visible in the sun. The D90 screen is larger and has a higher resolution. Ultimately, only you can decide which would suit your needs most. They are both fine cameras.

Re: The Nikon D90 adds HD filming to DSLR’s

atane — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:04:56 -0000

Hi Jeanne, that lens is compatible with only Nikon SLR cameras.

Re: Nikon D90 Body Now Available

atane — Fri, 15 May 2009 11:09:54 -0000

Bob, apart from being lighter and much more affordable, the d40 has no advantages over the d90. The d40 also does not autofocus with non-AF-S lenses. The d90 is 4.5 fps, while the d40 is 3 fps.

Re: Sony BDP-S360 - Blu-ray Player with Wi-Fi

atane — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:37:36 -0000

midori, you're correct. That was my mistake. I'll amend the blogpost. Thanks for the catch!

Re: The Audio Technica ATH-ES7 Combines Style & Function

atane — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 16:22:39 -0000

Glen, the blog post was not fabricated. We are an electronics retailer with access to everything we write about at arms reach. It would be pretty pointless to fabricate something we have here. What would be the point?

Nonetheless, you are correct. That sentence was simply miswritten. It was my mistake. I have corrected it.

Re: The Yamaha RX-V663BL - A Perfect Entry Level Home Theater Receiver

atane — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:19:51 -0000

Hey bud, you said you're down to 3 remotes. Perhaps it's time you stepped up to a harmony universal remote, that way you'll be down to one remote only.

Re: Grado Delivers Quality

atane — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 13:51:12 -0000

We don't ship to France.

Re: One Hour Photo? Try One Minute Photo.

atane — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 10:29:42 -0000

I really don't understand how not using film photography hinders you from storing permanent copies. In fact, it makes it easier. Archaeologists, Cops, Crime investigators etc all use digital cameras today and can make unlimited prints if they wanted.

Further more, they can see the quality of the pictures when they take them, unlike film photography where you have to wait to see the quality of the pictures after the fact. Imagine you are an archaeologist on an expedition and you discover some rare artifact, then when you get your film developed, you realize that most of your pictures were terrible. This is not a problem with digital photography.

I really can't think of any problems with digital photography, other than people who wax poetics about film photography simply because of nostalgia. In terms of practicality, film photography is dead.

Re: The Sony BDP-S550 - A Blu-ray Player For Everyone

atane — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:43:45 -0000

Bose doesn't offer blu-ray players.

I'm not exactly sure what you don't understand. It's pretty simple, to watch blu-ray movies you need a blu-ray player. The Sony BDP-S550 is a blu-ray player.

Re: An iPod Dock Built for Two

atane — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 10:57:53 -0000

Yes it will.

Re: Sling Media Introduces the Slingbox PRO-HD

atane — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:21:28 -0000

Troy. I would recommend the Sling Media HD Connect if you want to use it with a HDTV.

The $50 price of the other vendor is too much. We have a much better deal.

Click the link below for the latest price. Hurry up though, there aren't many left in stock.

http://tinyurl.com/8afqhc

Re: Sony Reader Hints Towards the Death of Books

atane — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 12:00:21 -0000

It supports the following formats below:

Adobe PDF10, RTF, TXT, BBeB and Microsoft Word.

No color text.

Re: JBL Wireless Speakers Gets Rid of Cable Clutter

atane — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:28:28 -0000

The transmitter does not connect to speaker terminals. The transmitter simply works as a wireless range device. It has a pair of RCA inputs that can be used for plugging source units like CD players to it directly, or to a receiver with pre-outs if you want to use the speakers as surrounds.

The left channel speaker is active, so it is already amplified. The right channel is passive. You simply connect the passive speaker to the active speaker. The active left channel speaker also has a line out and sub-woofer input. This is done for those who do not have a receiver.

You won't lose any inputs or speaker capabilities since connectivity and zone capabilities lies solely on what your receiver is capable of doing in this case.

Re: Video - Nikon D40 Overview

atane — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:49:45 -0000

Thanks Nick, I appreciate it!

Re: Sony Brings the Xperia X1 to the Market - Broke People Cry Everywhere

atane — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 10:23:21 -0000

That is because shortly after I spoke to our buyer, they came in. :)

Re: CES Roundup - The Hot List

atane — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:04:52 -0000

p0ps, take a chill pill man, it's all good. It ain't that serious.

Re: Affordable Two Channel Audio

atane — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:51:27 -0000

What would you like to know about the mmf 2.2? I know quite a bit about it. One of my first TT's was a Musichall, but an mmf 5.1. So the mmf line is familiar territory for me.

Re: Sony Brings the Xperia X1 to the Market - Broke People Cry Everywhere

atane — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:46:23 -0000

Just spoke to our buyer, and he says they should be in by early next week.

Re: Gaming Vest Lets People Know You’re Serious About Games

atane — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:44:44 -0000

Sounds cool. Gears of War will be great with it, but imagine Resident Evil 5!

Re: Panasonic Announces VHS/Blu-ray Combo at CES

atane — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:39:02 -0000

Interesting Kubrick. What percentage of your customers overall would you say this represents?

Re: The LaCie Ethernet Disk mini - An Ideal External Drive

atane — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 17:22:27 -0000

It has both a USB and ethernet port.