My Audio Journey

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Re: My Audio Journey

Postby dimfer » Mon Jun 03, 2013 2:08 pm

I really enjoyed the Newport Beach show, traffic was significantly lighter than CES, and there were awesome displays. It was also cool to enter into the elevator and look up to see Fremer saying hi to you. We've been alone at the elevator with Fremer and Atkinson. A lot of reviewers also happen to walk into the rooms while we were in. The room hosts would almost automatically put a sign (basically locking the door for the duration of their stay) kaya swerte mo 'pag inabutan ka nila sa loob.

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here, we were listening to the new Wilson Alexia when Fremer walked in. He was instantly ushered to the sweet spot.

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the TAD room was playing something else, but the moment JA walked in, lipat classical kaagad
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Re: My Audio Journey

Postby dimfer » Tue Jun 04, 2013 2:00 pm

To my surprise when I entered the Linn room, she was sitting in the sweet spot :rock: .. Actually by Sunday, she was going from room to room by herself.
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best sound of the show for her:
TAD Reference One & Magico Q7 followed by Perfect 8 The Point
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Re: My Audio Journey

Postby dimfer » Mon Oct 21, 2013 11:37 am



update coming soon, before the end of the year :devil:
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Re: My Audio Journey

Postby JackD201 » Tue Oct 22, 2013 8:30 am

Dimf Punk! Yeah Baby! :devil: :devil: :devil:
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Re: My Audio Journey

Postby dimfer » Tue Oct 22, 2013 9:19 am

you definitely have to play that in your room this coming show :rock:
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Re: My Audio Journey

Postby JackD201 » Tue Oct 22, 2013 2:43 pm

Have it in both 24/88 and LP. Only question is if we'll bring a turntable this year. Our scheds are so tight these days, TT logistics particularly curating LPs to bring, clean them and pack 'em can be extremely tough. :(
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Re: My Audio Journey

Postby JoeyGS » Tue Oct 22, 2013 3:25 pm

Hey Jack,

Bringing a TT and your top notch digital source (digital music server) can be the highlight of your showcase. We then can hear for ourselves the current developments of the digital domain and how it fairs with analog vinyl source.

If not, then CD player will be pitted against the digital music server.

Excited! :)
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Re: My Audio Journey

Postby JackD201 » Wed Oct 23, 2013 5:32 am

Hi Joey,

We could bring some of our top digital products but our top analog is staying put at the Lair. The Air Force One TT is a big, heavy, complex machine and if anything should happen to it during transport and set up, it could literally bankrupt us. Besides, the variability of show conditions might do more harm than good. Time is really not on our side here. I'm still in the US, am arriving in a day, then I'm off again and arriving just a few days before show ingress. You can say that we are really joining this year just because we miss everybody so much.

Dimfer being a fellow Critical Mass Systems dealer knows what kind of logistics are required just for a 3 level rack. Add a TT, add a full rack (TT, Phonostage, Power Supply). Make that an Air Force One and that's a 160lb TT on a 200+ lb custom rack. Itotono pa yun. :( It's likely that the Da Vinci Dual will not be displayed either. We don't have it yet and break-in of the silk capacitors takes a month and a half. We are sure that we can shoot out the EERA Tentation CDP with the TechDAS D7 running PureMusic off a MBP. Price wise, it's a fair comparison to make with the Laptop/DAC/USB combo just a bit more expensive.

We also want to present stuff that is within reach of more people. We do mainly big systems costing big bucks and that's what we are known for. Not many people know that Keith and I have been hard at work selecting and putting together killer medium and small systems too. Seeing that even a suite in a show is small, we're shooting for a system that is more appropriate for the space.
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Re: My Audio Journey

Postby botching » Wed Oct 23, 2013 8:46 am

Any hints on what to be added :) ?
I've got to visit you the next time I'm back home na, baka makahakot ng mga leftovers mo Ding :D
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Re: My Audio Journey

Postby JoeyGS » Wed Oct 23, 2013 9:44 am

That's good enough Jack. Medium to small systems with top notch sound is very much welcome. And this days we can see great sound coming from small packages and it will be a pleasure for us audiofools to experience such systems.

See ya on the show!

Apologies to dimfer for the OT.
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Re: My Audio Journey

Postby rtsyrtsy » Wed Oct 23, 2013 12:01 pm

I shudder in anticipation of what dimfer will update us on and what "real world" kit Jack & Keith will introduce us to!
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Re: My Audio Journey

Postby dimfer » Wed Oct 23, 2013 1:20 pm

Have it in both 24/88 and LP. Only question is if we'll bring a turntable this year. Our scheds are so tight these days, TT logistics particularly curating LPs to bring, clean them and pack 'em can be extremely tough.


Hearing the LP version (I've read somebody brought and played this album at RMAF :clap: ) will be cool, but this is a well recorded album and I can attest even the cd version can sound really good (naglakad yata yung powered sub ko sa Give Life Back to Music)

As to bringing a full blown CMS system and the Techdas AF1 - I don't want to imagine the work involved taking everything apart, packing, transporting, unpacking, setting up, fine tuning and reversing the procedure all the way to fine tuning everything again in your system :sweat: ... just blows my mind. With everything so expensive, kailangan todo ingat pa..but it will be really cool though 8)

Bro, Endeavor ba?

@ Russ & Audie - nothing major, tipid ako sa mga panahong ito, may university student ulit kami. Russ, you'd seen most of my stuff sa FB :tmi:

This year, puro DIY lang. Hint, I am working on an isolation system similar to Stillpoints Ultra SS. I am now kicking myself for not jumping on the opportunity to buy an almost new mini metal lathe for really cheap last year. I was working pasingit singit on our shop lathe after office but hate the fact that I have to rush working on my projects kasi may asawang naghihintay ng sundo. Everybody at WBF was raving about the benefits of the Stillpoints but I cannot swallow paying that much for it ($275x8). I think mine will work as good basta gagamitan ko nang aking magic sauce. Kung tatama ako sa lotto, I will retire from my job, go back to school to become a machinist and buy a 5 axis CNC machine para sa mga stuff na gusto kong gawin.

Jack, do you remember the size and thread pattern ng VR5 footers? Quarter inch ba, national coarse thread?
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Re: My Audio Journey

Postby JackD201 » Thu Oct 24, 2013 7:04 am

I don't remember bro but I'm sure Devon can tell you. CMS makes the RiZE footers for speakers. I saw them under Magicos in a show report. I think it was Axpona Chicago.

Hindi abot ang E-3 for the show so bulilit (Unifield 3) is back in action :clap: This time with custom SolidTech stands c/o Cor. We're excited to show the new amps. These little guys can SERIOUSLY ROCK. Woohoo!!!!!!
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Re: My Audio Journey

Postby dimfer » Thu Oct 24, 2013 4:17 pm

noted Bro, thanks - I will email Devon na lang.

regarding isolation - good alternatives din yung Rize at saka yung sa Townshend pero dahil sa feedback na natanggap ko sa aking DIY cables ganado akong mag DIY ulit 8) 8)

hope you guys have a good show, sayang absent na naman ako :doh:
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Re: My Audio Journey

Postby JackD201 » Thu Oct 24, 2013 5:42 pm

Yeah Ding, miss na kita. Badtrip. Now I'm between computers rin and the new one is being pa-cute.
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Re: My Audio Journey

Postby ESaudio » Fri Oct 25, 2013 6:13 pm

looks like the 70s are taking a breather from their vacation mode! 8)
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Re: My Audio Journey

Postby dimfer » Fri Oct 25, 2013 11:36 pm

Here's a link to my 2013 Newport Beach Audio Show Report

2013 was the year of tweaking for me.. most of the main parts remained but IMHO my system's performance improved considerably this year because of the tweaks and small changes that I did.

One thing that I wanted to do the past couple of years was to replace all the Virtual Dynamics Nite 3.0 cables. I don't have much to complaint about it sonicaly, but they are stiff and a pain to work with and the back of my systems always looked like a snake pit. When the Trodt GM 70 came, it introduced some problems in my system. Yes, the GM70's sounded really good but it's design nature (matched with rather sensitive VR5 Annis) picked up even the smallest noise in the environment. A number of amps had gone through my system and it remained very quiet, but not with the GM70.

I once had a long chat with David Beetles and he told me that's an issue DHT lovers will have to live with. He said even with all the innovations Kang Su Park introduced in the design of the $32k Allnic H5000, he could still sometimes hear himself in his system when he is on the phone :D In the previous update, I moved the 2 channel electronics and replaced all my interconnects already, now I took it further. Mang Rod rigged me a much bigger copper shielded isolation transformer (2,000 watts capacity I think) and I replaced all the power cords.

I read and read about the options available in the DIY power cord world. I considered the various VH Audio recipes, and Acrolink but ultimately decided with the Neotech stuff, which was partially mentioned in my May 2013 update. I've had some issues but it turned out great.

Started with a shipment from partsconnexion
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I also replaced my first DIY speaker cable (twisted UPOCC terminated with Furutec rhodium) with matching Neotech cables and connectors
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Op kors I did not just slap them together. My brain had been preconditioned by Ban Hoang of Anti Vibration Magic and Rick Schultz of Virtual Dynamics (or now High Fidelity Cables).. that vibration is an enemy. AVM has become too rich for my blood, and with the total footage of cables I want to do I could spend $1k on AVM before I'm done, sa poor man's version tayo :geek: Silent Running. My design goals - start with good quality parts, dampen as much as I could and shield it with all the way with aluminum foil tapes. I only used AVM on the connections points. This endeavor proved to be very labor intensive, I did at least 4 coats of dampening paint then wrapped it really tight with electrical tape. David Schulte of The Upgrade Company became controversial in some audio fora for using AVM (or dampening products) and aluminum foil tape in some of his upgrade works, but hey a lot of people swear that his upgrades bring a lot of improvements. And yeah, para hindi halatang nagtitipid, I labelled my stuff and used the term "Reference" para mukhang high end :D

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here they are, finished and inserted to my system
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My original cable lifters were not as good as I hoped for in the beginning because the material is too light and they flip to their side too easily. I added footers made of bent .32" aluminum strips. Now they work perfectly and has taken my cables to new heights :geek: .
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While I was shopping at pcx, I also grabbed some audiophile fuses.. for the Lamms and the GM70, damped them too before inserting to my system. I was tempted to try Audio Magic Nano Liquid Fuses but since this is my first venture into this tweak and not sure about it's merits, I held back and wen for the (a little) cheaper alternative. I think they work, YMMV :hai:

so dimfer, you busted your ass doing all sort of stuff - how's the sound? I say GREAT. It was a little harsh and grainy in the beginning but as they bedded in, the sound balanced and the harshness went away. From the beginning, I noticed that the noise was mostly gone, I say 95% or more. I can hear no noise at all from the listening position, and the only noise I can hear is the the slight vibration from the iso transformer, but this becomes totally negligible when the music start playing. Compared to the VD Nite 3.0 days, my system reveals a lot more information but the image became more focused at the same time. The human voice is more palpable and alive.

I have a local customer whom I did not realize in the beginning to be a cable junkie. While waiting for his VR35 & Masterbuilt cables, he asked to borrow some of my cables. I told him most of my cables are now in use, but I have a spare pair of DIY bi-wire speaker cables. Upon realization that he is a cable junkie, I was hesitant to lend him any of the cable that I made, but then I thought heck it is about time I let somebody else hear my DIY stuff in a different environment. Thinking that if he says it sucks, I could say "yeah, that's my first gig and I have replaced that one already". I told him, ok I will lend you my first DIY cables and my only condition is for you to give me your honest evaluation, if it sucks I want to to know how it sucked. If it lacks something, I want to know what it is. He picked them up from my office. The next day I came to work, I was told that this customer called already, so I phoned him in his office. The moment he got on the phone he told me right away how great they sounded... fast and very holographic, full of body yet quite balanced. He was complaining that the bass is a little bit muddied in some recordings, but does not mean it has bad bass, just not at par with the rest of the spectrum. He continued on to say it is much better than his expensive Cardas, Kimber and Audience stuff. Now he is questioning his decision in ordering the Masterbuilt Standard bi-wires (langhya, pera na magiging bato pa) - so I had to assure the Masterbuilt will sound better, and if it doesn't, I will help him re-sell those. Now he want to hear my other cables, but then I don't want to disturb my system, wala naman akong balak mag negosyo ng cables. So I lent him my first DIY powercords (2 sets of Belden wires with Marinco termination, also damped with Silent Running & AVM) and my Mogami 2534 terminated with Switchcraft stuff. I told him the IC is the one that I don't like the most among the 4 that I built (the one terminated with WBT sounded best to these ears) so I won't be surprised if he won't like them at all. The next day, I received a very enthusiastic email from the guy detailing the attributes of my cables. He said he directly compared the Beldens with the new Shunyata model he has on demo from a local dealer and my cables blew them (shunyata and another brand I forgot) out of the water. He said "Fernando, seriously, you should start selling your cables". Since I already told him my formula, he dug his old DIY cables (DH Labs stuff etc) from his closet and almost begged me to treat them for him. I told him I will do one, if he hears an improvement, I will do more. So I did, and now I have done a few pairs of interconnects and power cables for him and his other expensive cables are now for sale. I delivered his Masterbuilt cables last December 3rd, but has not returned my DIY.. haven't spoken with him lately, but the last time I spoke with him, tumatabla daw yung MB but he is not yet sure if he want to keep it. I once mentioned to him that my current sets of treated Neotechs are better than the set he borrowed and want to borrow it, pero hindi ko ipinahihiram for fear of having to sell the Masterbuilt :angel:

Recabling my system improved my system's performance (to my ears) and my wife is happy because it looks a lot neater now. Re-reading my above, parang nagyayabang na yata si dimfer ah.. heck wala namang bayad magyabang lubus lubusin na :devil: .. but seriously, I try to be as honest as I could when updating this journey.

Another highlight of my audio related journey was our trip to Newport Beach Show as reported here. I was smitten by Magico this time around at nagtangkang maging Magician pero 'di na ako pinapasok kasi meron nang dealer sa Calgary. Inaakit ko na nga si Irv ng order ng demo unit ng S5 ayaw pa rin. Magico sound very different from VSA, both are excellent speaker manufacturers.

It took me a while to get my Memory Player running again as I had to gut everything out of the box to replace the motherboard, hard drives etc.
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Happy to report that the upgrade was completed and as Mark Porzilli said, I now have the best Memory Player 64 in existance. The old hardware cannot keep up with the software upgrades and at one point the player would stall when doing the 64 bit playback. I am now playing all my files at 64/48 wav (2822 PCM) as per Mark's recommendation. Even high res downloads, I convert to this format.

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When I started typing this update, I was comparing the Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances 24/192 I purchased from HDTracks to the re ripped 64/48 version and I prefer the latter. So, I have no reason to question why Mark prefer it that way. Besides, he is the smart guy (one of the few recorded with IQ of over 200 in America) and while he is still being ridiculed at various fora I just bite my tongue when people make snide remarks about a product without listening to it. When something is above their head, they call it marketing gimmick (ignorance is a bliss). I don't expect a true genius like him to build stuff like everybody else would. Mark believed that digital audios problem is software related and the best way to address it is through a software, not with more complicated dac with lot's of parts (he actually went the exact opposite way with D2D).. Mark believes that even the highest resolution DSD or 2xDSD can still benefit from the technologies he implemented with the MP64. Common assumption is hi-res downloads are not jittered, but as Mark explains downloading splits data and reassembles it, that too result in jitter. Jitter free bits cannot be accomplished by playing data directly after downloading from the internet. We spent a good amount of time talking about this while we were together in California, and I believe that the guy truly believe in what he is doing, and everything is not just a marketing ploy. I think he gave up in convincing the audiophile crowd and became deeply insulted by this. He once told me that he want to be remembered with what he did/accomplished with MP64 because it is his pet project (not Scaena, not Melos, not Pipe Dreams). I am more than convinced that my front end is one of the best available and my systems performance will only get better with the improvements in associated equipment. I have heard the highly regarded Playback Design MPS-5, Light Harmonics, 4 stack DCS, EmmLabs & a few others (hoping to hear the $37k Trinity Dac and the similarly priced TotalDac in Munich 2014) but can live happily with what I have. The YFS server was priced similarly but IMHO, the MP64 sound better, way better. The MP user interface may look backward compared to JRiver or Amarra etc but Mark is doing it this way for a reason - he believes having too many plugins and sharing too much power degrade the sound performance, but having said that Mark heeded to the request of some MP users, JRiver is now available in MP64.

Another project I completed was the DIY finger lift for my AC4000MC tonearm.. the original lift had to be taken out when I switched to the XV-1, and as you know it, a pain (and risky) to operate without. Also made of aluminum
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My only remaining DIY project is the isolation base/footers. Here's some pictures, more details later

I spent a few hours machining rubber hockey pucks
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to this
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dampened (ugly) to this
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I added a lot of titles to my collection in 2013, both in analog & digital. now that download sources like HDTracks and Music Direct are open to Canadian buyers, hires materials became very accessible to me.. :rock:

other journeys - pasyal, kotse, photography atbp

we toured western Canada again this summer, we logged in total of 7,000 kms of pure lakwatsa in the Cayenne from late August to mid September. It started with a family vacation in Sicamous, British Columbia with side trips to Kelowna and surrounding area. When I said family I meant 23 of us, organized by my wife at hinakot lahat ng kapatid at pamangkin na gustong sumama. We rented a 4,000 sq. ft log cabin in Sicamous kaya maraming bonding moments... di na ko mabaligya sa bisaya, ok lang. My mom is 85, my father in law is 82 and my mother in law is 80 and since their grandkids are mostly grown up and busy with their own lives on a regular basis, my wife is exerting extra efforts to round up everybody whenever possible habang nandito pa raw ang mga tigulang.. We did something similar on my side of the family on my last trip to the Phils in 2012 (we rented a bus and 43 of us went to Pagudpud). Coordinating is a real challenge, but totally worth it. Walang inorasang kainan, tawanan, kainan, kwentuhan, kainan, pasyalan, kainan..

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our homebase, owned by a Canadian tv personality.. the property has an access to a private whitesand beach which is cool

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our 3 seniors, getting up there but thankfully in stable health

We drove back to Edmonton after a week to bring the oldies home and also so that the younger generation can either go back to work (sorry na lang sila, konti pa bakasyon nila) or do whatever. Rested for a couple of days then tipas na naman. My sister-in-law from Vancouver came to Edmonton and wanted us to travel west with them, so we did. We stayed in Vancouver area for 4 days.

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My wife's cousin live a short walk away from the Wharf, very beautiful place and I wouldn't mind retiring here if I could afford it, I mean a small $1m house.

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I practiced my photography and used my 300mm (M4/3) lens para hindi mapukpuk sa ulo :devil:

puro foodtrip lang while in Vancouver - Goldilocks, Max's, Little Ongpin at iba pang Pinoy restos..

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nagpapagutom bago kumain sa Hog Shack

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we were served 2 big trays of bbq at Hog Shack.. yumm pero suko si dimfer sa sobrang dami

me and my wife crossed the US border and drove 5 hours to Yakima, Washington. A little boring drive and the traffic in Seattle is really bad.

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My cousin Ray is a car nut, and I cannot help but experience garage envy - 1200 sq. ft with 18' high ceiling, he has a room for everything (junk) and can easily double the parking capacity by installing 4 car lifts. He has lot's of tools because he does most of the repair work on his 993. He might also add a dedicated HT room.

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Yakima is a small town with lot's of old money, marami daw Pinoy millionaires dito, yung mga naunang dumating na nag farming. Me and Ray spent a day ripping through the backroads and around apple plantations on my CGTS and his 911.. very therapeutic

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we also did some wine tasting

After Yakima, we returned to Vancouver for a couple of days then took the ferry via Nanaimo to Ucluelet and Tofino. I've heard a lot about Tofino, maganda raw and was surprised to find out 2 days prior to the trip that each and every hotel room in town was fully booked (and they're not cheap) so we ended staying in Ucluelet, next town 35 kms away. Looking at googlemap, the drive from Nanaimo to Ucluelet was only 250 kms but I was wondering why the estimated time is over 4 hours. Driving about 100 kms out, nagtataka pa rin ako because it is flat and easy drive up to Port Alberni, with posted speed limits between 70 - 100. Past Post Alberni, things changed - lots of steep climb and drops and hard twists and turns, some of them really tight you can see marks on the side of the mountain made by vehicles scraping it. It is like playing a PS3 game for the next hour, a real excercise of skill and will. Sarap mag modulate ng brake & accelerator ni Cayenne :devil: . I was behaving in the beginning and staying close to posted limits (sometimes slowing down to 35), pero nagagalit si Cayenne 'pag nilalampasan ng kotse tapos sabay ngiti ng driver.. aba aba, hataw din.. sukdulang magdoble :tmi: bahala na si Batman (at saka si Escort 9500). In short, di kami inabot ng apat na oras.

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Upper Falls in Nanaimo

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somewhere in Parksville. notice how wide is the shoreline?

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somewhere in Cathedral Grove

It is always raining in this part of the island, and was raining really hard when we got to Ucluelet. Thinking the a lot of people probably cancelled, I asked the reception as we were checking in - I was told they have no cancellation and still fully booked. As we were soaking in the hot tub at the back porch of our cabin, cloud suddenly covered most of what we can see of the lake and it started to drizzle. Eerie feeling, parang hinihintay kong biglang lumabas ang Lockness monster.

It was a little better on our second day, sunny. We stopped by a few beaches/lakes and finally made our way to Tofino. Beautiful place. As we were having lunch by the beach, we could see a lot of vehicles parked everywhere - pero wala akong makitang kahit isang tao, it took another 10 minutes before we saw a couple.

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Tofino finally.. the area where the boats are disappeared in the cloud twice during our brief stay in this area. beautiful place

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one of the beaches, still in Tofino. feeling mo naman dito, parang may bigla na lang lalabas na psycho killer. but you'll be surprised, when you go to those logs, you will see somebody, usually alone either suntanning or reading a book. Very relaxing type of vacation. This is where ohn Carpenter shot the movie "The Fog".

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Tofino is very popular to whale watchers, campers and surfers. The water is very cold because the water here mixes with the water that comes from the melting glaciers of the north., the warmest is gets is around 16 deg C in the summer, surfers are required to wear wet suits year round.. let's talk about "shrinkage" problem after surfing here :lol:

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light house in Ucluelet

and my two fav shots taken during our holiday
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my photography skill did not go anywhere, tamad mag praktis :sweat:

I will never get tired of diving to Vancouver! When the day to go home came, we decided that we will stay another night somewhere along the way. Vancouver to Edmonton is over 1200 kms, and usually take 14 hours sa mga hindi nagmamadali. We stayed in Vancouver looking for pasalubongs from Goldilocks, para sa mga Edmontonians and left Vanc a little after noontime. Daming kalaro sa daan, including a Panamera :devil: We decided that we will spend the night in Banff, 400 kms away from home. It was 9:30 pm when we arrived in Banff town proper and as my wife started googling for a place to stay, she got a phone call from her Dad, may pupuntahan daw bukas..sudden change of plan, kain ng hotdog then sibat na naman..woohoo, you know what I mean, kahit madilim. My usual strategy is to wait until somebody driving faster than most people would pass me, then yun ang hahabulin ko. I do it for 2 reasons - pain sa pulis na nagbabantay and it also serve as my guiding light at hindi ako ang nangunguna sa dilim. Most of these drivers hate it when they cannot lose the vehicle behind them, kaya kadalasan napapabilis. Home before 1 am.

and cars!
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my wife's niece borrowed our RAV (she doesn't want to drive her 1series) for the Sicamous trip, ayon na rear ended and totalled tuloy. I can't believe I cried (a little) while it was being towed away. Napansin yata ng tow truck operator that I was watching it intently while he was loading it, nagtaka pa ako nung hindi umaalis kahit matagal nang tapos. Then pagtalikod ko, he started to drive away. I am a little pissed off because at 264,000 kms the engine still run like new and the thing is still in great condition.. we intended to keep it for a while (praktisan mag buff using an orbital). no choice now but to look for a replacement daily driver, we looked at different vehicles and landed in a 2014 Ford Escape SE 2.0 Eco Boost AWD.. Yes, it is that good and totally a different vehicle vs the older Escape, I was surprised by it's handling, we test drove it right after a GLK35 Blue Tec and did not hesitate to pursue it. Well, hindi na pala ako nakapalag kasi gusto ni Esmi ang kulay (parang bumibili lang ng sapatos noh? basta gusto kulay ayus na)..

till the next report.
Last edited by dimfer on Sat Jan 03, 2015 10:29 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: My Audio Journey

Postby dimfer » Wed Jan 08, 2014 10:18 am

huli man daw pero mahaba naman, huli pa rin. thread updated 8)
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Re: My Audio Journey

Postby JoeyGS » Thu Jan 09, 2014 10:44 am

Hi dimfer ... always loved reading thru your journals.

In your memory player, are you using or have tried audio grade SATA cables? I tried using one and it never left my music server. I am using a CAPS Zuma V3 computer based music server. I was very surprised that using an audio grade SATA cable between the mother board and the hard drive made a lot of difference in sound output. I use the SATA cable of Paul Pang - http://ppaproduct.blogspot.tw/2013/08/sata-cable.html. You may want to look at how he did his computer music server in the following link - http://ppastudio.blogspot.com/. I also used his USB cable with very good results - http://ppaproduct.blogspot.tw/2013/07/usb-cable.html. It just came to happen that Paul Pang's products are available here in the Philippines and are not too expensive, but in general, I do believe now that audio grade SATA cables, internal power cables and USB cables do provide better sonic improvement than the standard cables provided in computers.
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Re: My Audio Journey

Postby dimfer » Thu Jan 09, 2014 4:08 pm

Hi Joey,

nice to know you liked the update 8)

thanks for the tip regarding the SATA cable, will definitely investigate on that. I am using internal DAC, so no use for USB on this server. Mark believed that USB connection is more jittered than most people realize that's why he chased the single box design, shorter signal path too.
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