scblock
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Nov 28, 2023 at 6:07 PM
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Location:
Denver
Occupation:
Wind and Solar Performance Lead

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scblock

Friend, Male, from Denver

Pyrate

The Algorithm recommended Moon Hooch to me, though I'm not sure why. Haven't heard this much saxophone in 20 years. Nov 25, 2023 at 7:20 PM

scblock was last seen:
Nov 28, 2023 at 6:07 PM
    1. scblock
      scblock
      The Algorithm recommended Moon Hooch to me, though I'm not sure why. Haven't heard this much saxophone in 20 years.
      1. MLegend likes this.
    2. scblock
      scblock
      Recording recent digital purchases to minidisc so I have a physical copy I can grab and play. No real reason.
      1. joch and jexby like this.
      2. View previous comments...
      3. Thad E Ginathom
        Thad E Ginathom
        minidisc was wonderful. Recordings without tape hiss!
        Nov 1, 2023
      4. atomicbob
        atomicbob
        Minidisc historically used a lossy compression scheme called ATRAC similar to mp3 but did not attempt to reduce more than 5:1 whereas default mp3 compression was 11:1. It sounded much better than mp3 at that time.
        Nov 3, 2023
        Cspirou and scblock like this.
      5. scblock
        scblock
        My recorder is "Type R" which I believe is the last ATRAC encoder improvement (the later Type S was an ATRAC3 decoder improvement IIRC). I can tell it isn't perfect but it's extremely good. Using MD as it was intended (a replacement for compact cassette), the quality is astounding.
        Nov 3, 2023
        Thad E Ginathom likes this.
    3. scblock
      scblock
      Roon has to go. Can't leave it running without it consuming all my ram after a day or so. What a pain.
      1. YMO likes this.
      2. View previous comments...
      3. Vansen
        Vansen
        Roon clients only go on my iOS devices, not letting it on other PCs. I still want to ditch Roon though for all the reasons you mentioned, but it’s been 100% reliable for me while sounding good so far.
        Oct 27, 2023
        Riotvan likes this.
      4. Riotvan
        Riotvan
        I ran roon on my Fedora desktop 12c/24t/32gb and one update it was fine and then the other one it was fucked again. Don't get wrong i didn't have performance or usability problems except for the one time where i could only play one album before the memory leak got too bad. Roon remote on my ipad was funky sometimes as well.
        Oct 27, 2023
        Vansen likes this.
      5. Riotvan
        Riotvan
        Now i just use tidal connect most of the times, my pc is connected to my stereo as well with aes so i can just play files from there. Volumio was a bit shit in the past for network playback so i haven't looked back since, it's fine for roon endpoints and tidal though since i don't have to touch that horrible interface.
        Oct 27, 2023
        Vansen likes this.
    4. scblock
      scblock
      Javelin LP arrived today. Hard to fathom what Sufjan's been through this year.
      1. Vansen
        Vansen
        Thanks for the reminder - I keep forgetting it’s out. I read a prerelease review of the album and it made me very grateful while incredibly sad at the same time.
        Oct 14, 2023
        gsanger likes this.
      2. Vansen
        Vansen
        I can’t imagine loosing the closet person in my life and then having to go through a disease like that without my partner.
        Oct 14, 2023
        RestoredSparda and gsanger like this.
      3. DigMe
        DigMe
        I’ve been listening to Javelin but I was unaware of what he’s been through.
        Oct 15, 2023
    5. scblock
      scblock
      I made a gimmick playlist that tells a short story with track titles. Not sure this will work as an actual mixtape though.
      1. Qildail, Thad E Ginathom and joch like this.
      2. DigMe
        DigMe
        Rick Astley already wrote the greatest musical short story ever told with one song. Hard to top.
        Sep 20, 2023
      3. Armaegis
    6. scblock
      scblock
      Trying out Gjallarhorn as a desktop amp in place of the S.E.X. I've used for a couple years. More power, sure. Piety as a preamp for now.
      1. Qildail and Gazny like this.
      2. Qildail
        Qildail
        I've been having fun dropping things like Valhalla 2 and Mjolnir 2 in front of it with the ELACs on the desk. I tried Folkvangr for a bit too, but it kept tripping the protection on the speaker amp too often.
        Aug 21, 2023
    7. scblock
      scblock
      Been playing. Replaced Roon on a Pi with Plexamp headless, and hooked up SW51+ and Modi MB. Nice combo with Grado SR225x.
      1. Cryptowolf and Gazny like this.
      2. bixby
        bixby
        So what? Is the Roon solution trumped (I hate that word) by the new one?
        Aug 9, 2023
      3. scblock
        scblock
        It's more that my Roon core keeps eating 8+ gigs of ram and I'm sick of how much it costs. Trying alternatives.
        Aug 9, 2023
      4. RestoredSparda
        RestoredSparda
        I just bought an Intel NUC to install Roon Rock on. Hoping it's more trouble-free than running roon Core on my PC. Been having constant hangups and crashes the last few months after a year of no issues.
        Aug 10, 2023
    8. scblock
      scblock
      Grado cable is damn near unlivable. I’m going to have to consider modding, maybe put in 3.5mm jacks.
      1. View previous comments...
      2. ColdsnapBry
        ColdsnapBry
        I've got no way to prove this, all tinfoil hat. But there's something to the headphone cable being soldered to the voice coil that gives Grado their clarity. 3.5mm ruins that.
        Aug 3, 2023
      3. ColdsnapBry
        ColdsnapBry
        Then the cable, solid core non litz also gives their Grado sound. In short, Grado knows what they are doing actually.
        Aug 3, 2023
      4. bobboxbody
        bobboxbody
        If you did want to leave the grado wiring intact, you might be able to strip the sleeving/insulation and replace it with something lighter and more pliable, but it would be a huge pain and I imagine the solid core wire has a lot to do with the memory aspect.
        Aug 4, 2023
    9. scblock
      scblock
      My only regret in purchasing the SR225x is not having purchased it years ago.
      1. Slade01 and Lyander like this.
      2. ColdsnapBry
        ColdsnapBry
        Seems like that x series is solid. I love my 80x. Shit SLAPS right off an iphone dongle. Makes all my Sennheisers sound super sleepy.
        Jul 25, 2023
        Slade01 likes this.
    10. scblock
      scblock
      Been spoiled recently. New Yes, new Local Natives, new Sigur Ros
      1. Qildail and philipmorgan like this.
    11. scblock
      scblock
      Oh nice, new Sigur Rós album!
      1. Cryptowolf, DigMe, gixxerwimp and 4 others like this.
    12. scblock
      scblock
      Four days camping in the desert, then riding my motorcycle into the heat of Phoenix. NW-A55 and ER4XR have performed well on this trip.
      1. Jinxy245, Cryptowolf, zottel and 5 others like this.
      2. Qildail
        Qildail
        Never been much for camping, but I love the quiet isolation of evenings in the desert. I need to get back there.
        May 24, 2023
        FlySweep and scblock like this.
      3. scblock
        scblock
        It was super quiet way out 20 miles from any civilization when we had the equipment off. And so many stars. I saw a Starlink train last night.
        May 24, 2023
        Gazny and Qildail like this.
      4. JK47
        JK47
        Hope you didn’t have the iem’s in while riding
        May 25, 2023
    13. scblock
      scblock
      Recording a new mix tonight. Goes in real time and I like to monitor, so it’s a good thing this is a good one. On the third copy now.
    14. scblock
      scblock
      There's seriously a new Jethro Tull album in 2023? What a world this is.
      1. Deep Funk and Qildail like this.
      2. Thad E Ginathom
        Thad E Ginathom
        I have trouble standing on one leg these days.
        Apr 23, 2023
        Jinxy245 likes this.
      3. Deep Funk
        Deep Funk
        Iron Maiden is still touring. Imagine that. You can still jump in to headbang to "Die With Your Boots On."
        Apr 23, 2023
        Thad E Ginathom likes this.
      4. Thad E Ginathom
        Thad E Ginathom
        Hawkwind? I think they were the first live band I saw. Maybe I could arrange for them to be the last. (edit: Google says yes, they are still playing)

        That honour, as far as rock bands go, is probably going to remain with The Grateful Dead. And that was, iirc, 1991. Oh wait, I saw Osibisa, here in Chennai, a decade or so ago.
        Apr 23, 2023
        Deep Funk likes this.
    15. scblock
      scblock
      I doubt the "HD speakers" I bought for my Sena headset sound very good, but they're smaller than the originals and so fit in my new helmet.
    16. scblock
      scblock
      I've never listened to Rage Against the Machine on purpose. Until tonight. No idea why I waited.
      1. Case, weicheheck, Sqveak and 6 others like this.
      2. Boops
        Boops
        Must be your "f**k you I won't do what you tell me" attitude
        Apr 10, 2023
        ckhirnigs and Thad E Ginathom like this.
      3. philipmorgan
    17. scblock
      scblock
      I’m going to the office occasionally but haven’t bothered to bring in a system. Meze 99 Noir and iPod 5.5g with SD card are doing ok.
      1. Cryptowolf, Jinxy245, zottel and 2 others like this.
      2. View previous comments...
      3. scblock
        scblock
        Yep, specifics vary by model but it’s not too hard. See www.iflash.xyz
        Apr 7, 2023
        edd and Merrick like this.
      4. scblock
        scblock
        As long as the config is supported iTunes will format and use it like it was factory.
        Apr 7, 2023
      5. Merrick
        Merrick
        Fascinating!
        Apr 7, 2023
    18. scblock
      scblock
      Down to Colorado Springs for a hike then to the brewery for a beer and chicken katsu curry from a friend's food truck. Good Sunday.
      1. scblock
        scblock
        Forgot the earplugs when I got back on the motorcycle though. By the time I made it to Denver my ears hurt and everything sounded muffled. Stupid move. Watch recorded sustained sound levels over 100 dB under the cuff of my glove.
        Apr 2, 2023
        Philimon likes this.
      2. Claritas
        Claritas
        Someday, I should like to visit Colorado Springs during the lightning season (April–May?). "The lightning lives here." — Tesla's assistant, Alley, in "The Prestige." I love lightning. It is an awesome case of God's performing the work of the creation.
        Apr 7, 2023
    19. scblock
      scblock
      New old Sony CD changer from eBay arrived, delivered by a local seller. Parasound deck had no optical and hated CDRs.
      1. scblock
        scblock
        Now I can make CD masters for minidisc recording when I need to.
        Mar 22, 2023
    20. scblock
      scblock
      RoPieee begged for an update and now Roon won't even see it so that's something I wish I had never done.
      1. View previous comments...
      2. scblock
        scblock
        Update: solved this. The issue wasn't Ropieee itself, my pi-hole had nuked its database and was returning no DNS results. Every other machine kept working because I had a fallback DNS server, but Ropieee wasn't using it. Once I fixed the pi-hole Ropieee was also fixed.
        Mar 20, 2023
        Vansen likes this.
      3. Vansen
        Vansen
        Nice, that makes sense! I'm running Unbound DNS with the same filtering lists as pi-hole and am forwarding it to Quad9. No fallback server, but I have had some stuff stop working like that until I go through a similar troubleshooting rabbit hole.
        Mar 20, 2023
      4. Vansen
        Vansen
        I.e., the Stpehen Black List blocks Hulu's ads. Hulu's service completely hangs up when you hit an ad in a video until you whitelist their ad endpoints.
        Mar 20, 2023
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  • About

    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Denver
    Occupation:
    Wind and Solar Performance Lead
    Gear List:
    Listening Room
    DACs
    Schiit Bifrost Multibit

    CD Player
    Parasound C/DP-1000

    MD Player
    Sony MDS-JE530

    Cassette Player
    Sony TC-WE475

    Transport
    Pi2AES on a Raspberry Pi 3

    Turntables
    U-Turn Orbit Plus / Ortofon OM5E
    Schiit Sol / Nagaoka MP-110
    Schiit Mani (later generation)
    U-Turn Pluto (integrated into the table)

    Preamp
    Schiit Saga / Russian Tung Sol 6SN7

    Amplifier
    Schiit Vidar

    Speakers
    Vandersteen 2c (sequential serial nos, purchased new in Denver circa 1984, purchased used by me late 2000s)

    Headphone Amp
    Schiit Folkvangr


    Living Room
    Schiit Modi Multibit
    Schiit Asgard 2
    Bottlehead Crack w/Speedball


    Desktop/Near Field
    DAC
    Schiit Modius

    Headphone Amps
    Schiit Lyr 3 / Russian Tung Sol 6SN7
    Cavalli Liquid Platinum / Stock Tubes
    Shortest Way SW51+

    Headphone/Speaker Amplifier
    Bottlehead S.E.X. 3.0 w/C4S boards

    Speakers
    Klipsch R-51M


    Portable Players
    iPod 5.5g (retrofitted with 200 GB SD card)
    FiiO M6 (mostly retired)
    FiiO X5 Mk III (mostly retired)
    Sony A50 Series w/MrWalkman Firmware (to replace FiiO M6)
    Sony WM1A (to replace FiiO X5)


    Headphones
    Sennheiser HD650
    Drop/Sennheiser HD58x
    Drop/Beyerdynamic DT 177x Go
    Focal Elegia
    HiFiMan HE-400i
    Beyerdynamic DT 990 Edition/Premium 600 Ohm
    Drop/Meze M99 Noir
    Sennheiser HD569
    Koss Porta Pro
    Apple Airpods Max

    IEMs
    Brainwavz B400
    Massdrop/Noble X
    Drop/JVC HA-FDX1
    Etymotic ER4XR
    Apple Airpods Pro
    I like music and music equipment. I also make mixtapes.

    Mixtapes: https://steveblock.com/mixtapes/