pedro

I am using Nordost Valhalla interconnects, but not the mains cable (probably next upgrade). The Nordost Thor makes a difference and if you going to spend as much money as I have, then it is worth it. But be careful with some AC mains products. I tried a PS Audio P300 AC regenerator and was horrified at the way my system lost its dynamics. Your system looks excellent. Sudgen products are great and I love the Proac sound. I used to have a Proac 2.5. I have heard the Future One in Hi-fi shows and they sound wonderful. But the triangle shape is an acquired taste. The Isotek mains conditioner (it is the Titan that you have?) is very good, probably not necessary for you to change it for a Nordost Thor. The Nordost Valkyra are also fantastic (and bloody expensive) and it is not worth upgrading at this point to Valhalla. VDH make great products. I have a VDH CS 122 speaker cable in one of my secondary systems. You probably have 90% of my sound at a much lower price. Better value for money and for electronic music I am not sure that my system is that much better than yours. Pedro PS The Fabric sound system (which I know well since I have been there dozens of times) is fantastic. The best one that I know of in a London club. But it is not a hi-fi system. You also get all sorts of studies suggesting that people can not hear differences in formats, cables, mains conditioners and other stuff. Other studies show otherwise. I love music and I don't care if someone can not hear differences. In fact, they are better off than I am. They don't have to spend as much money to be satisfied.

Perhaps I did not make myself clear. Just as I can see the superiority of SACD over redbook (regular) CD, I can appreciate the difference between CD and MP3. There is a noticeable difference between 320k and CD if you have a proper audio system. However, in a cheap system (or to uneducated ears) it can SOMETIMES be difficult to see any difference at 320k. Furthermore, most people do not care enough about sound quality to bother. This is why I suggested that for most users in this forum, even 192k is probably alright. My system is embarassingly expensive. Unfortunately, I am the sort of audiophile who goes the full monty, including such things as expensive cables which some audiophiles claim to make little to no difference. Time for me to show-off: In my main system, the front end is either a Mark Levinson (CD) or a much cheaper Marantz (SACD). The pre-amp is a Conrad-Johnson and the power amp is either a Pass Labs (solid state) or a Unison Research (single ended 845 triode, for the classical music). The two speakers are Focal-JM Labs Utopia. The cables are Transparent Audio and Nordost and I have a power distribution unit (Nordost Thor). I also use special mains cables. The equipment rack is by Townsend Audio and I also have special Townsend supports for the speakers. I will skip on the price tag, which is terrifying. Hi-fi is a hobby of diminuishing returns. You could get 80% of my sound for a small fraction of the price. One just gets carried away... You do not have to have an ultra expensive system to see the difference. Nowadays with improving technology you can buy amazing components at very cheap prices. One word of hif-fi advice - don't waste your time with surround sound and suchlike if your primary interest is music. Go for two-channel sound and buy hi-fi seperates, not mini systems with flashing lights or lifestyle systems. Often the biggest compromise in those systems (even the most expensive ones) are the crappy speakers they come with. Pedro

The higher the encoding, obviously the less the loss, and the harder it is to notice the difference. Sometimes it can be hard to notice any difference at 320k. But I have participated in tests and found that even at 320k one can tell the difference. I doubt most of the people in this forum are serious enough into audio quality to really care. My gut feeling is that for many 192k is good enough to listen at home and to put in the car. I don't do downloads, but I would not be surprised if most of it is at 192k or lower. However, for me it does make a difference (especially in the sound systems that I have at home), but then again I am a hi-fi nut. Incidently, there are better audio media formats than CD - such as SACD and DVD-Audio. Although these formats seem to be doomed they are pretty spectacular. I have a SACD player at home and while there is little in the way of electronic music, there is lots of classical music (which I love). Everybody who listens to the SACDs in my house are amazed at how good they sound vis-a-vis regular CDs. Pedro

Nick, I am afraid you are the one who is mistaken. MP3 is a lossy format carrying less data than CD (do a web search, you will find plenty of resources on that matter). It is inherently lower quality than CD and unless you listen to music through poor equipment, you will usually notice the difference. I do. Pedro

I liked your justification for the EUR 50, Sherlockalien. It would have been more honest and straightfoward if you had been upfront about it. Using your silly rationale then a CD costs more than that amount in your country. GDP per capita in the Europe is roughly 10x higher than Brazil. But I am glad you included that remark and then the artificial explanation. It speaks volumes about you. I may be grumpy. But you are dim. Over and out. Pedro

You must seriously be joking, Sherlockalien. Anybody who reads your post can easily see that you are straying from the issues at hand. I do not have the time, patience or inclination to be sucked into debate of what is law and justice with you. Instead, let me answer your justice and legal questions as follows: you should pay for the music that you enjoy for two simple reasons (1) it is the legal thing to do and (2) more importantly, it is the RIGHT thing to do. I am sorry (and disappointed) if you feel different. As for your other questions: a- CDs costing EUR 50: I do not where you are ordering these CDs from, but I have just did several 'test' orders with Saikosounds.com and chaosunlimited.co.uk and the costs are nothing like that. For example in Saikosounds, airmail shipping costs for 5CDs to Brazil from Hong Kong is only USD 12.50 for all five CDs. That is USD 2.50 (just under EUR 3) per CD. Even by special courier, it only costs USD 38 (USD 7.5 each). Furthermore, I have purchased trance CDs in Brazil (made in Brazil) and they also did not cost me USD 50. Are you being dishonest? b - Poor people and music: poor people do not have the right to steal music. I can understand the economic incentives to do so, but it also is not right. Poverty can be an explanation why sometimes it happens, not a justification. c - I realise Mp3 trading will always continue. I have mentioned this SEVERAL times already. All I am doing is asking people, particularly those in these forums, to please support the artists that we respect. I do hope this settles the matter. This debate is now getting a bit boring, I have made my points (which are hardly controversial or indeed particularly amazing) and I regret that I shall not be responding to any further e-mails from you, Sherlockalien, in this thread. Unlike you I have no wish to make thousands of posts in these forums. Bye. Pedro

Oh, I see. It is the Brazilian postal service. That is an interesting excuse. Pedro

Sherlockalien, your explanation of 'going with the flow' made me laugh ("acting according to the situation and not having blind ideas that can not be reached..."). I have read and re-read your comments and it is mostly mindless drivel. In all of it, you have failed to make a single valid, sensible explanation of why you should steal other people's music. Do not let what DJs should or should not do keep you from not supporting the music you love. And just because other people trade and download illegally (and it will always continue), it does not follow that you should do so as well. Whether trance artists can or can not live from their music (and whether they should expect to do so) are interesting topics for discussion. And certainly the world does not owe a living to every artist who deems himself the next great entertainer. But I fail to see why we should not pay for his or her music if we download it. Do what is right, Sherlockalien, and stop obfuscating the issue and deflecting your responsibility to pay for the music. Pedro PS I hope you at least purchased the Antix CD you keep raving about. Please, at least that one.

Presumably this is what you meant by 'going with the flow'. I am not sure since you did not answer my question directly. I am sorry, Basilisk, but you tend to be a bit vague with your statements and it is sometimes hard for me to see what you are driving at. Abandoning the 'going with the flow' thing for a moment, I am interested if you could kindly tell us how you would 'alter the system' and convince those who do not want to pay for music in any circumstances and make them pay. Is it through boosting paid downloading services? I am sure some artists and labels could find it interesting if your suggestions are constructive. Pedro

They may get more money from gigs, but you still have to pay for the music. They may get free promotion from mp3, but they still deserve to be paid for the music that you have. It is that simple. Pedro

What do you mean 'go with the flow'? That sounds like a suitably vague statement. I feel that if you like the music and respect the artists then one should always purchase, not copy, the music and encourage others to do the same. The fact that many do not do so is something that unfortunately has always been true. There has always been copying in music; nowadays it is even easier. But if by 'going with the flow' you mean condoning or not speaking out against it - well in my case, I will 'not go with the flow'. And, no, I do not do it 'in order to feel good about myself', as you put it. Pedro

Bloody hell! How old are you, Nick? You are deriving a benefit for which you are required to pay for it. It does not matter that you never intended to pay for it. Many people who steal, do so in the full knowledge that if they would have to pay for the goods or services they would never do so. Indeed, that is the precise reason many of them do steal! In other words, it is NOT a valid arguement to say that because you had no intention to pay, there is no opportunity cost of a lost sale and therefore this does not constitute stealing. Let me give an example which perhaps might illustrate the situation better. Let us say that you want to move from point A to point B. Let us assume that it is a 20 minute walk. Your intention is to walk the distance (you are young and strong). However, you find there is a bus going the same way and you can be there in 5 minutes with no effort. You do not want to pay and you decide to try to ride for free. Stealing or not? Of course it is stealing even if you never intended to pay for the ticket and even if the company suffered no economic loss. Please guys, let us support our small (and perhaps getting even smaller) trance music scene. We all know that, barring a few exceptions, nobody is getting filthy rich. The money that goes into these artists pockets does more than just buy things for them, it also can contribute to a feeling of greater self-worth and encourage them. Pedro

Basilisk, I find your arguements a bit silly and constitute a rather desperate attempt to justify what you know at heart is wrong. Let me approach what you have written in two points. (1) The essense of your arguement seems to be that illegally downloading music is okay because it is possible. And because you feel that people will not listen to criticism, then all this 'moral crusading' is useless. You can call it 'moral crusading' if you want, Basilisk, but you are definitely stealing from the artists and it is natural that many of us choose to speak against it and urge other members on these forums to pay for their tunes. Even if just one person chooses to change their behaviour it is worth it. Furthermore, I would ask you not to worry whether others continue to cheat artists of their rightful dues, just make sure YOU are not part of the problem. Only a selfish twat will sit back and rationalise that because it is inevitable that some people will steal, it is therefore okay for me to do it. (2) You then try to further justify your arguement by saying that 'the money was never in the canned tunes anyway'. Plus you seem to indicate that because artists get paid huge money to play live, then revenue from music sales is either (1) not needed because they are raking it in from live performance and/or (2) it is so little compared to live music money that it is of little importance. This is completely irrelevant, Baslisk. One can steal from the rich, one can steal from the poor. In fact, because many of these artists derive so little money from CD sales, this should be an added incentive to obtain the music legally since a few extra hundred sales can make more of a difference to these artists and labels. Baslisk, your faulty self-serving arguements are bereft of any logic or common sense whatsoever and smack of selfish dishonesty. Pedro

I think this is a solid debut CD from Insane Creation. While it might not have any 'bombs', the tracks are consistently good quality. I am obviously more fond of this release than the two previous posters. I would rate this higher than Antix or Jaia's latest efforts and about in line with Gaudium (although I find myself listening to 'Connected' more often). Fav tracks: 2, 3 ,4, 5, and 6. Pedro

The Campfire Headphase disappointed me. If it had not been done by BOC, I believe it would have sunk without a trace. Pedro

A useful compilation. The album does not start very promising, but then picks up with track 4 (which I quite enjoyed). I find track 5 a little over the top (maybe if I was mainlining speed...), but it does have a nice break in it. Tracks 6-8 are all very good, much fun and this is my favourite section of the CD. Track 10 is okay, but I find it less amazing than DeathPosture. Pedro

This is the best of the H & H compilations, but it is also quite different from the others (more technoish, less darkish). The sound is more like what Boshke Beats is putting out, rather than Eleventure, for example. I do recommend it, but I would purchase Boshke Beats' Chronika Chapter 2 before I would buy Idea FX. My favourite tracks are 4, 5, 6, 7 and 11. Pedro

Well...if ska came before reggae, I think it is worth mentioning Mento music. Just got back today from Jamaica and am happy to report it is still being played today (although it is hard to find. it has taken me 14 trips before I ran into somebody playing it live). Mento is the grandfather of Jamaican music (before we start going back to the old African music) and was critical to the development of Ska, rock steady, reggae et al. Although its beginnings go back to the 19th century, its heyday was back in the 1950s. It seems that it is largely forgotten (but not completely), and it did not help that even at its apex it was often mis-labeled as being a type of Calypso (which comes from T & T), even though it does sound quite different. Enough history. If I were to recommend one piece of dub/reggae it would be Lee Scratch Perry's compilation Arkology. It is 3 CDs brimful of good music (plus you get a nice booklet). In fact, everybody should own this. I also confess to have a strong weakness for Tapper Zukie's In Dub compilation. But it is a less urgent purchase. Finally, it is worth mentioning that dub is used by many in techno; for example, it famously featured quite prominently in much of the Chain Reaction label output, and by the Basic Channel /Rhythm and Sound duo (Maurizio and Ernestus). Pedro

Flora & Fauna is a very good CD (and I recommend it heartily), but there are plenty of others in the same genre as well. I am not sure it is really such an amazing release that it merits being highlighted in a trance forum. On a more helpful note from my part - while we are mentioning Traum label, I would encourage having a listen to Brinkmann's very tasty mix CD "Tour de Traum". I also have three of the Traum compilations: Electronishe Musik-Interkontinetal 2, 3 and 4. The last two are very nice. The #2 compilation is less strong, but still worth buying if you enjoy the style (I do). Pedro

I think the 2nd Brigade is under-rated as a whole. Pedro

I thought that I would prefer Phony Orphants, but I found myself choosing Ticon even though some of his tracks are a bit iffy... I also did a back to back comparison between Phony Orphants and Beat Bizarre's latest release, and I ended up thinking the latter was also superior. Pedro

Rezwalker, Thanks for the very nice private message you sent me. It was rather sweet of you to come to The Watcher's defence and I was delighted to read your insults. Not much more than a week in these forums and you are already distributing asinine messages. Congratulations and welcome to the board! You are obvious stuck in the same stage of evolution as The Watcher. And I am really not interested in finding out which one it is... Best of luck. Pedro

I agree that the album is certainly of rather poor quality. However, I do think that The Walker's very childish approach to this review was not strictly necessary nor particularly fun to read. Pedro

I find the music on this CD truly awful. It manages to be both boring and irritating at the same time - no mean feat! Music that stinks to the ears. Even Apsara is better than this, and the good baby Jesus knows how much that album displeases me... Pedro

Perhaps the way forward is to start using Brummie (Birmingham) accents more often in psy trance. It is still English (I think), but most of us will not understand it. So the vocals can retain a certain abstract quality... Pedro