Camera guru, Thom Hogan, describes audiophilia

I couldn't have said it better:

“The High Fidelity makers discovered this the hard way. Far too many folk stopped buying the minute they had something that they felt was good enough for their needs. Only a smallish group of die-hard audiophiles kept buying, and they bought only the top end. For them to buy, the new thing had to be demonstrably better than their current thing. Things got so ridiculous that some started hearing things that weren’t probably there. (Note that I’m not dismissing “golden ears”, but that many who thought they had such ears were just imagining things, not actually discriminating them.)”

Of course, Thom's most recent essay is about camera manufacturers not understanding the market. Still, the premise stands: "some started hearing things that weren't probably there". 

Aya: FitEar's first 3D-printed production earphone

Aya is FitEar's latest custom earphone. It was released just yesterday. It's got balanced armature drivers inside, and it comes in black, with a black cable, and all that comes in a black Penguin box.

You can find out more information about it here (Japanese).

The big news is that it is the company's first 3D-printed earphone.

Why has it taken FitEar so long to release a 3D-printed earphone? Put simply, FitEar release products, and technologies at their own pace, when they feel they are ready. And the process by which they arrived at today's fully 3D-printed custom earphones was fraught with hardware and software issues. 

Mr. Suyama's lengthy Facebook harangue on the subject of German-made, German-engineered printers and support is worth the read, even in machine translation. And if you're a fan of anime, well, so, too, is Mr. Suyama. And he's got some leggy anime renditions of Aya in a China Dress. there's also a panda.

Otukaresama deshita FitEar!

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Alpha Dog Music: Nigel Standford's Solar Echoes

Until this morning I hadn't heard of Nigel Standford's poppy electronic beats and melodies. Until thirty minutes ago, I had never purchased a Nigel Standford album. I now own two. Solar Echoes (iTunes 9,99$ CDN) is perfect for the slightly moody, deep-hitting Mr. Speakers Alpha Dog headphones. The As you may or may not know, the Alpha Dogs are also a recent purchase of mine. They are awesome. They used to belong to Sean Chan.

They were on my head for most of the Aurender FLOW review. They were on my head yesterday until I had to sleep. I could barely hear Japan edge out Iraq in the FIFA AFC tournament. 

And now, with my wife at work, Nigel's poppy mix of synth and organic instruments is tossing a bone to my new favourite closed headphones. It's really the mix of space and the folding of melody into rhythm that works, not only in a musical sense, but which works toward the Alpha Dog's sonic strengths. By all means check it out. 

For more about the Mr. Speakers Alpah Dog headphones: Mr. Speakers Alpha Dog
For more about Nigel Standford: Nigel Standford
For more about Sean Chan: Headfi Anakchan

 

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Synergistic Research's Headphone・Optimised・Transducer tastes like Pepsi Cola

It's no coincidence that Lana Del Rey's Cola is fizzing in my Alpha Dogs. Smooth, bubbly, a touch of class here, and cavalier aplenty. Lana is freaking hot, and evidently, her bits taste like everyone's second favourite fizzy drink. I'll have to take her word on that. My diet, balanced on the fulcrums of monogamy and obscurity, doesn't make room for strange pussy.

And Synergistic Research's white HOT sits on my desk like a giant reefer, sometimes in states of repair, sometimes not. It is as controversial as Lana's sultry song. At Headfi, the buzzing HOT thread got Amosed. Bam! Then Sean Chan, my personal patron, passed the reefer meways with a threat:

The HOT will be your character assassination.

Dear Sean, I'm perfectly capable of assassinating myself. Please read the first paragraph of this martyrdom again. Ain't no nerd hopped up on sound science going to do me murder. I'm on the reefer. I'm hot and bothered. And HOT's 6,3mm bit leans a bit to the left. My doctor said that was perfectly normal. He said not to be worried. He said that if it was up in the morning and leaked where and when it was supposed to, everything was hunky dory. 

Well, my HOT and me are two peas in a pod (though my pod is decidedly bigger).

Sean said Amos broke it. Let's not get to blaming. People are people. And Synergistic Research, people all to the last, say this: "never compromise". There's no compromise in HOT's red-hot typography. Nor its 399$ USD price. And it's go a cool feature: involuntary convertibility. Sean blames Amos for that. Again, people are people. Maybe the people that gingerly popped the top on the HOT wanted it to pop back off when I (very carefully) decoupled it from the frozen wave called the Aurender FLOW. 

One thing I came away with is a strong feeling that tipped-to-the-left headphone plug enhancers should be bendy, not boner-like.

Anyways, I got to see inside. Inside are wires, glue, and glue and glue and more stuff, including some dead space. I like glue. I love the smell of the inside of the HOT. I went at it like Billy Pilgrim on a vat of syrup.

I came to the following Tuesday. The last 30 minutes of battery in my RWAK100 fizzled over a bit of Ultraviolence. And damn, Lana sounds good, too. It was totally like I was tripping. Like magic. Like nothing possible short of a glue high and the whiff of famous vagina. 

Sean asked me to give a real report. Something, maybe the glue, maybe the fact that I'm not yet dead, makes me think I'll have to revisit this.

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Cymbacavum giving away an RHA T10i earphone

The RHA T10i, by all accounts, is a worthy earphone. If you aren't currently a T10i owner, but think you've got what it takes, hit up Cymbacavum's RHA T10i review. Then, observe the following: 

1. You must be 18 years of age or older. (International participants are eligible.)
2. Leave a comment at the bottom of Cymbacavum's review of the T10i describing what you like about it or what you wish RHA would change about it.
3. ‘Like’ Cymbacavum's Facebook page, and/or ‘Follow’ them on Twitter, and publicly share this giveaway post.

PLUG: Cymbacavum is one of the best resources for all your sick and geeky earphone needs. And Mr. T's a frequent guest of OHM AIR. 

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OHM AIR episode #11: Brought to You by Tenga, a Revolution in Male Pleasure

OHM AIR was joined yet again by the superciliousest SAT tutor on the planet, Thomas Tsai, MD. Tsai himself described this episode as the lowest point in OHM AIR's short history. We laughed. We cried. We talked extensively about naked ladies. And male masturbation toys. We got an infusion of culture thanks to a chit-chat inspired by Digital Audio Review. I suppose just talking about Celsus DACs, too, drew us up. Relevant talking points include: Celsus Companion One - Celsus ESS DACs - ESS DACs Naked Ladies at audio festivals - ohm image Girls Aloud - Digital Audio Review Chamonix View Cameras - Chamonix Be sure to follow OHM AIR on SoundCloud. And be just as sure to check out Cymbacavum (http://cymbacavum.com. I'd recommend their twitter account, but it appears that Thomas don't tweet.

OHM AIR was joined yet again by the superciliousest SAT tutor this side of Titan, Thomas Tsai, MD. Tsai himself described this episode as the lowest point in OHM AIR's short history. We laughed. We cried. We talked extensively about naked ladies. And male masturbation toys.

We got an infusion of culture thanks to a chit-chat inspired by Digital Audio Review. I suppose just talking about Celsus DACs, too, drew us up.

Relevant talking points include:

Celsus Companion One - Celsus
ESS DACs - ESS DACs
Naked Ladies at audio festivals - ohm image
Girls Aloud - Digital Audio Review
Chamonix View Cameras - Chamonix
Tenga Male Masturbation toys - Tenga Global

Be sure to follow OHM AIR on SoundCloud.
And be just as sure to check out Cymbacavum and their facebook page. I'd recommend their twitter account, but it appears that Thomas don't tweet.

2014: Year End Ohmage

This Scrooge is back on track. And that track leads to another year’s Year End Ohmage — which, dare I say it, is as close to becoming a tradition as any at this 2 year-old site. 

The following is a list of products which I feel rocked 2014’s socks off. Every one I have reviewed, or fondled, and every one is worth its porridge weight in ohmage. Runners up show up when, and if, I see fit. This is my site, cry if you want to.

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