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Old 2009.04.10, 07:20 AM   #1
Scribble R
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Default The most listenable concert on the IPOD?

Zazen Ecstasy, hands down. Interesting renditions of old songs. Songs that I ignore, i.e. Byoushou Public, become great. Shoujo Robot and that Nihon song. Fucking Memai.

Dynamite Out and Electric Mole don't sound that good on the mp3 player. EM just sounds like noise. DO feels like it should ONLY be live.
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Old 2009.04.10, 08:12 AM   #2
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It really depends on the setup you have on your iPod and the bit rate of the tracks is gonna make a major difference (at least for me) out of all the concerts I personally liked Gekokujyo best on a portable player, though the iPod was Rockboxed and the tracks were in uncompressed Wav format, maybe it would have sounded tinny with the standard headphones and a lower bit rate? I'll never know cause I got rid of my iPod some time ago, so anyways it's Gekokujyo for me.
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Old 2009.04.10, 08:24 AM   #3
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There is a difference between MP3s on an iPod with earbuds, versus FLACs on a Cowon D2 with 50mm-driver headphones. I think AAC has "caught on" among iPod users because it has a strong coloration or sonic bias that counter-aims for the iPod's (and earbud's) many shortcomings. Perhaps those factors would be enough to tip the scale on your judgment of which concerts sound better or worse on-the-go.

If I have any gripes about Electric Mole's sound, it's that the bass is a bit overbearing. I don't have a problem with the way Dynamite Out sounds, other than it having the usual live atmospheric blurring effect you don't hear from a studio recording - though I find this blur somewhat refreshing (or possibly 'smooth') compared to the unnatural edginess of the original Kyoiku recordings, or Ukigumo's guitar.

Zazen Ecstasy has the most instrument separation out of any of the concerts, but to what end? I'm among the slim minority at EMF who prefer the studio guitarists of Shouso Strip over Yayoshi. He can't meet or exceed any of the organized chaos I want to hear on songs such as Sakana. Keyboards trying to sound like pianos, are also fail - though Gekokujyo Xstasy was much worse about this. I could listen to HZM on a grand piano all day (with or without being able to watch him), and since he was somewhat held back in Dynamite Out, The HZM Unleashed Experience in Electric Mole makes up for the overbearing bass. Plus, Electric Mole was the busiest Hata has ever been out of any of the overall concerts - but you might never know it from only paying visual attention to him, or audibly dwelling upon only his solos. Zazen Ecstasy had the next-most-underrated drumming among the concerts.

It's kinda nice to just listen to Just Can't Help It without any of the off-site camera distractions, but you could also say the same thing about Electric Mole - which almost destroys Just Can't Help It from purely a listening-to-the-performance standpoint.

Are we comparing performances here, or just the sonic textures?

I cannot stand the high-pitched whatever-the-fuck-it-is, during some moments of Ringohan, though I shouldn't fail to mention that Hasegawa Kiyoshi comes through crystal clear. I also think that with three bassists and some very underground production values, Hatsuiki Status is at least as 'noisy' as Electric Mole.
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Old 2009.04.10, 09:31 AM   #4
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^ Glath have you ever heard of Kenwood D9?
Its quality is even better than Cowon D2, I think it is so far the best among the portable audio players.
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Old 2009.04.10, 10:04 AM   #5
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"Kenwood Lossless" and "Kenwood Media Application" can both blow me (this isn't an invitation for gay EMFers to show up under those usernames). I hate it when manufacturers think they need to have their own formats, and their own software interface to convert (or worse - rip) your stuff into their format, or their own software interface to transfer music onto the player in general.

I'd rather have an almost-as-good sounding player without anything proprietary. I can drag-&-drop FLACs into the Cowon D2, from any OS, and the player doesn't need to encrypt or index the songs during the move. Even if I don't keep FLACs around on hard drive (I prefer WavPack), at least I'm not dependent on Cowon for any software/interface to get my music into a lossless format they want. dBpowerAMP Reference and foobar2000 are both multicore converters, the tagging remains intact from one format to the other, and the software is very smart about folders. Why would I want to use Kenwood's software instead?

Freedom is as important to me as sound quality, and Kenwood is just another closed system. I would presume that because they aren't Sony, Kenwood would be better about openness - but it's just another overhyped thing you'd find at Best Buy alongside all the other oppressive players if the D9 were being sold in the United States.

If there were Rockbox development for the Kenwood D9, then I'd think about getting one. That's probably never going to happen.
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Old 2009.04.10, 02:15 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by Glathannus View Post
There is a difference between MP3s on an iPod with earbuds, versus FLACs on a Cowon D2 with 50mm-driver headphones. I think AAC has "caught on" among iPod users because it has a strong coloration or sonic bias that counter-aims for the iPod's (and earbud's) many shortcomings.
This is a bit tangential, but what permanently sinks all earbuds for me is the fact that they directly inject sound into your outer ear canal, bypassing the pinna. The pinna is not an ancillary, optional part of the organ; it is an essential element. The perceived width of the stereo image when listening with my iGrado's extends far beyond my skull, much wider than is possible with earbuds. Even fancy pinna modeling DSP could only provide a rough approximation, due to the unique anatomy of every individual's ears.
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Old 2009.04.10, 02:34 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by TeslaGuy View Post
The perceived width of the stereo image when listening with my iGrado's extends far beyond my skull, much wider than is possible with earbuds.
That iGrado seems neat, I wouldn't mind having one of those things instead of earbuds (ugh). Problem is, I wish they'd consider people with glasses when designing those types of headphones. And I can't beginning to say the amount of other disadvantages of having glasses, but that's beside the point.
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Old 2009.04.10, 02:42 PM   #8
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Well, I've heard about inner-ear headphones that supposedly sound better than any earbuds. It's mostly 'headphones' from Eymotic and Shure. I don't know the science of how they would perform any better than earbuds, but I have online and offline friends who swear by them.

To get at least somewhat back on-topic, I shall DDoS the next person who says Electric Mole isn't their first or second most enjoyable concert. It's so much more effective than an IP ban because a DDoS doesn't leave you with any bandwidth to use a proxy, and it doesn't care if you disconnect from the internet and then reconnect to your ISP with a different IP. Also, I don't need any authority at EMF to initiate a DDoS. I just need a botnet, then you're gone.
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Old 2009.04.10, 02:52 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by ShinjiPG View Post
That iGrado seems neat, I wouldn't mind having one of those things instead of earbuds (ugh). Problem is, I wish they'd consider people with glasses when designing those types of headphones.
All I can say about that is that I wear glasses and have never found these headphones uncomfortable. I am convinced that the iGrados are the best moderately priced portable headphones on the market. I also own very expensive Sonys and noise-canceling Sennheisers, but never wear them any more.

Originally Posted by Glathannus View Post
Well, I've heard about inner-ear headphones that supposedly sound better than any earbuds. It's mostly 'headphones' from Eymotic and Shure. I don't know the science of how they would perform any better than earbuds, but I have online and offline friends who swear by them.
I think it really boils down to which elements of sound reproduction are the most important to the individual user. Eymotics undoubtedly have excellent frequency response and dynamics, but I will always prefer large transducer headphones for the reasons already stated.

I'll add one smartass comment, half in jest. An "inner ear" headphone would have to directly stimulate the cochlea. :p

Last edited by TeslaGuy : 2009.04.10 at 03:11 PM.
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Old 2009.04.11, 05:14 AM   #10
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Grados are "moderately priced"?
Okay.
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