Unblock

With some of the blockage cleared from the nose and throat I'm happy to get most of my hearing back....

And glad to know that music is still as sweet as ever....

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@F1racing, 31/5/11 17:43

F1 Racing (@F1racing) 31/5/11 17:43 Hamilton handed 20-second time penalty http://j.mp/f111mcmhamiltonpenalty Keeps 6th place. Kobayashi reprimanded. #F1 #F111MCM #MCM

He deserves a black flag.....

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over due

for how long can a flu bug hit a person?

a week? 2 weeks?

i am beginning to worry since i am still feeling the effects......

if things dun improve in time, what should i do?

damn....
 

One by one

Seems like problems usually come faster than one can solve ...

Maybe life's like that.....

It's tough to stay ahead.... And even tougher when one is ill from time to time...

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More haste

I dun quite understand why am I taking so much time to recover from this bout of flu..... And to think I just had a anti-flu jab a couple of months ago!!

Perhaps this virus is SO much stronger....

Damn...

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sharp edge

all along, i've never liked any KEF loudspeakers....

but this pair BLADE is soooooo BEAUTIFUL...!!!

photo from soundstage.com

Yellow sucker

Due to the poor drainage, one of the air con pipes overflows frequently and in turn causes the fan unit to leak...

Constant and regular maintenance with a wet vacuum cleaner is the only defence against this scourge....

The old one was broken and now I have a new ally..!!!

Sound block

Have been resting non stop due to a bout of flu....

And my condition has been drowsy, feverish, muscle ache, dry throat and weak....

Didn't spend any time with the music system cos I find my hearing muted ...

Damn..!!

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Fix that rubber

Yes! It's been fixed!!

Who else but the external patch that was done many many months ago....

With a spit-and-see-the-bubbles test the tyre shop guy nailed it right and confirmed my suspicions...

Curiously 2 previous dunking tests didn't show up anything.... I'm still puzzled by that...

Anyway 1 problem is down....

More to go...

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thinning rubber

the last few times i'd checked the air pressure on the troublesome left front tyre, it was down on a couple of PSI after 2 days......

things have got worse for reasons that i cannot comprehend...... the pressure now goes down on the same day of use after visiting the air pump ......

is there a slow leak? or is there a bigger problem....

i'd better get it checked today....
 

Seal it

How do you store your unused cables?

I keep mine in ziplock bags..... Keep out excess air & moisture..!!

Nuforce DAC 9 - first hand account

do you believe what you are hearing in a showroom setup when all you wanted to know is how good a particular component is?

i don't, cos nothing exists in isolation..... and i no longer pay that much attention to these auditions due to the many variables at play e.g. unfamiliar rooms and its acoustics / unfamiliar components and cables etc make these listening sessions confusing to see the least..... many systems in the shops do not even come close to what i think is reasonable performance and of cos i cant depend on their setup to make up my mind.......

then how do i go about listening and buying audio gear?

the only way that matters is a home audition ... but if that is not possible what's next?

reviews by personalities close to my heart and inclinations are always useful ..... I would then have a short-list of stuff that i shouldn't ignore e.g. B&W 802D, vivid giya G2, wilson audio sophia etc......

sometimes i even buy on gut feel too, which is what i did for the nuforce DAC 9....

a few months back I was very close to buying the W4S DAC 2 which is a 24 bit / 192 kHz capable DAC with multiple inputs..... unfortunately i wasn't able to sell my MSB Link 3 DAC and since i'd promised myself the new could only come after the old was gone, i had to postpone the upgrade........ till now i am still holding on to the MSB.....

since then there have been many new wannabees in the market........ calyx, burson, nuforce to name a few but not all fit my requirements........... and my DAC must-haves are

• 24 bit / 192 kHz chipset
• AES/EBU input
• true balanced outputs
• multiple inputs
• usb input
• less than S$2500

this means that even the very promising and popular calyx is not in my short-list as it does not have an AES/EBU input.......

after a few futile attempts to sell the MSB, i'm convinced that it will be staying ..... firstly i was not keen to sell it at a "lelong" price and then no one is interested to buy it at my price..... after all its technology is a decade old (even though it can be upgraded by MSB) and there's no usb input (again an upgrade is available)....... without an usb input, it's safe to say any modern DAC is doomed to fail....

once my previous stance to buy only when the old is gone is no longer valid, i again scowled the market for a suitable DAC........

this time, i caught news of this newbie from nuforce...... other than the full features offered, what piqued me is the no over-sampling, no up-sampling chipset and no negative feedback used in the analogue circuit...... all seems very promising but do the nuforce guys know what they are doing? when everyone else is fighting the numbers game with upsampling and higher sampling frequency, these guys are going the opposite way ..... will the DAC 9 be like a breathe of fresh air? judging by how good their amps are being received, maybe they do know what they are up to.....

when i knew that the DAC 9 has hit the local market, i didn't rush down to Audio Iconic immediately; better to cut myself some slack and ask if i really wanted a new DAC......

it was until this week that i could find time to visit the shop and listen ...... compared with nuforce cd player, the DAC 9 sounded bigger and richer......... however it was also obvious that the DAC 9 has a higher output and this gives it a big advantage when the volume match was not done strictly........ maybe i have to trust my instincts when the showroom audition was not conclusive......

in the end, i bit the bullet and bought the DAC 9 on gut feel......... at that moment, i could only hope my choice is right .....

after about 60 hours of playing time and a few listening sessions, there's no doubt it's better than the MSB .... i am experiencing a big soundstage that can extend beyond the edge of the loudspeakers, richer and deeper low-frequency extension, more details and musical textures in the midrange and a more extended treble.....

now i can forget about being critical and start to enjoy the music ...... which is what the hobby is all about: MUSIC.....

twist or press

why are car manufacturers touting press-button start as a luxury feature..???

and still many are doing so......

maybe in 10 years' time, it could be fashionable to have a physical key and twist to start all over again.....

Knock knock

Saw a guy wearing a White SS daytona....

And when he smacked his watch against the edge of the table he didn't even flinch...

WOW....

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@clubforce, 20/5/11 21:14

Club Force India F1 (@clubforce) 20/5/11 21:14 Time for another Force Fact. Turn 3 is the quickest corner of the lap taken at 250km/h resulting in lateral g-forces of 4.6g. Simply amazing ...!! Imagine 4.6 times your body weight pressing on you..!!

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genuine or replica

many things in life are nice to look at but it is a different matter altogether when one gotta live with them on a daily basis..... and i am not talking about supermodels

other than gorgeous-looking women, bucket car seat is one such example.....

for race car drivers, a bucket seat is essential as the seat and harness work hand in hand to hold the driver in as he tackles the race course....... but can point to point drivers like us live with bucket seats? is the comparatively thin cushioning sufficient for comfort? is the seat restrictive? is the recline mechanism reliable? can one climb in and out easily?

i can tell you straight i have absolutely no idea as i didnt have any opportunity to find out........ not many cars come with bucket seats as original equipment and usually they are at the high-end of price and performance bracket.... and my car is neither expensive nor fast and furious...

fortunately there's the aftermarket we can turn to and that's where things get interesting.......  

if your wallet is thick, go for the top end stuffs like recaro, sparco, bride and OMP and you are assured of quality and performance.....

at the other end of the scale, one can get very affordable seats from top end replicas or budget genuine seats like sscus......

and my question is ...

if you are looking to spend below S$1000 on a pair of bucket seats + railings + installation, would your choose replicas or genuine ones on a budget...????

....

Run & run

After a 24-hour burn in, things are getting better.....

Spatial information, top-end extension, details, bass, imaging etc...

At 30 mins of playing time, it was already a small step ahead of my MSB... But with a day more, the MSB is no match for the newcomer...

Input 2 is AES/EBU connection from my trusty CAL delta transport player.... And 44 is the source sampling rate...

Hot or cold

Overheard when a stall holder was serving fruit juice to the table next to me....

He said "烧" .......

..............

?????????

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New digital resident

Here comes the nuforce DAC ....

Road warrior

This is my trusty companion on the roads...... Anything unusual and I can depend on it to keep a tab on things.....

On my advise one of my colleague decided to join in too....

For less headaches after 50 - 50 cases, the only thing that can help you is a HD video clip....

Get yours fast!!!

The money spent is worth every cent when no witness is there to vouch for you...!!!

red hot..??

oh for the sake of finding out the early bird prices, i'd just dropped by the Singapore GP ticket sales page....

guess what.... the Green Room @ Turn 3 is SOLD OUT..!!

even before the end of may????

very very impressive......

No effect

When I walked past the Kate Spade boutique in Taka this afternoon it was full of people and as busy as any Sunday ...

So there seems to be no effect at all on the brand ...

Is there anyone turned off by the brand? Probably only a few....

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@stcom, 14/5/11 12:05

The Straits Times (@stcom) 14/5/11 12:05 mioTV presenter alleged to have bitten co-host in the middle of live screening of EPL match at nightspot #singapore http://is.gd/zIpSFI

What do some people choose to bite???? Does that demonstrate their anger till they wanna bare their fangs???

I thought throwing a punch is easier but that also comes under VCH.....

How does the law deals with people who bites? Send them to the vet?

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the new focus

in dutch but with subtitles....

new book mark....

it's not everyday someone comes up with a pair of small loudspeakers that screams "LOOK AT ME..!!".....

but then this is what the magico Q1 promises to do....

simply because a pair of this little luxury aluminium-clad speakers costs US$24,950!!!....

oh yes, i promise you that this is not a typo.......

enough to buy a car over in country of the big apple......

OUCH..!

Come back

During the campaign period for the recently concluded GE 2011, I didn't have time for my music.....

How many days did I miss listening to lovely pair of loudspeakers..???? Maybe 10 over days ....

Since the biggie event is over life must go on and of cos that includes going back to my dose of fix....

This evening everything still sounds as lovely as I can remember...

Good job..!!!!

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Near the dot....

Since my driving habit didn't change much over the past few weeks my mileage has been quite consistent @ 10.5 km/l....

People who knows how I use the throttle / accelerator will understand that this is a very fair figure the car is getting from each litre of petrol....

Of cos it can go further but the fun factor has to come down as well.....

For now I have no complaints.....

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From the drawer

See?

I still have my poll cards from 2001 & 2006..!!!!

Hot up

The heat is driving me NUTS..!!!!

Even though a morning shower did help to cool things down a bit, it was back to the crazy heat by late morning....

Without aircon I can't sleep...... Help!!! Seems like 23 degree C is not helping much....

Damn...

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@tocsg, 10/5/11 19:13

theonlinecitizen (@tocsg) 10/5/11 19:13 Mr Chiam's table which he used for his Meet The People sessions for 27 years fb.me/AXHkjZbv

A piece of history..... Which it end up being dumped???

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add on...

i wish all car marques could start offering factory-approved turbo charging options for our cars......

knowing how the LTA works, we have to get a factory-approved sanction.......

with that, we can even get a rocket-powered car......

please get me a TURBO approval for 4B11.....

quick quick...
 

@Fake_PMLee, 7/5/11 22:08

Fake PM Lee (@Fake_PMLee) 7/5/11 22:08 Do you know that there are more $1 notes in my annual pay than all of #SG votes combined? #SGelections

I think he meant $1 coins...

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ST TNP

felt incredulous to read what CYL wrote to congrate ST and TNP for being professional and unbiased.......

i dunno what to say!!

and i dunno what he's reading.......

i reckon that for 1 compliment they rec'd, they probably get 100 complaints.....

oopss...

Not you

For about $150,000 I will pick da Renault Megane RS over the 120 M Sport.....

@Fake_PMLee, 6/5/11 10:20

Fake PM Lee (@Fake_PMLee) 6/5/11 10:20 In George, we trust. With Xiaxue, we wonder.

Maybe she will cost george some votes ...

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Web?

What Howard Webb top referee?

Cock and bull can do better on each half of the pitch ...

CB..!

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No tune

I feel weird...

The car feels weird...

And add one CB face?

Damn..... And forced me into a mistake!!!

KNN..!!!

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DAC force

Ok hot news?? Maybe...

The nuforce DAC 9 is in town..!!!!

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Your choice

If you have to the privilege to choose between the Wilson Audio Sasha and Vivid Giya G2, which one will you bring home???

Sigh I am beginning to fall in love with the G2.....

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rapid fire

wow...

the tweets are coming fast and furious......

and they are way too hot .....

and i dun have enough time to catch up with everything......

the new media is HOT......

embrace it ... even though you may hate it...

Cake

Needed a break.....

Even though it's fattening but who cares..!!!

@tocsg, 3/5/11 0:04

theonlinecitizen (@tocsg) 3/5/11 0:04 Nicole Seah overtakes Lee Kuan Yew on number of "likes" on Facebook. fb.me/xg4ewZrb

That's pretty fast even by celebrity standards in Singapore ..!!

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be gone..

yeah..!!

i have now officially terminated my OCBC credit card.......

since they are so insistent in wanting to earn my late fees and interest charges, i wont give them any chance to earn my money from now on....

be gone and goodbye.....

Catching

Fast & Furious 5 is out on video streaming but as usual the quality is crap...

These guys simply took a video off the theatre screen ...

Damn ....

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No 4

Oh no...

Capt Jack Sparrow will be back very soon...

Even though I have enjoyed the franchise I thought the last one was getting stale in terms of storytelling ....

Will No 4 will good? I try not to expect anything..... So I won't get disappointed....

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boo boo

oh no...

here we have another goal line boo boo......

too bad there's nothing to help the referee and his assistant........

no man with his pair of eyes can be depended on to do this important work......

but it's all too late...