tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23243565308474926412024-03-14T04:08:31.008-04:00phonostageAlan E Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08814067373751548470noreply@blogger.comBlogger123125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2324356530847492641.post-72490847768516044572010-06-09T07:16:00.002-04:002010-06-09T07:16:49.399-04:00Convergence : 20100609A while ago I separated my cycling from my Life And The Universe blog. This proved a little ambitious and Life And The Universe suffered.
So having found out how to combine the blogs I've put everything together under one banner; Oh! That British Bloke ... Everything that was on either VeloStage or PhonoStage is now here. They've been consigned to posterity ...
One or two transparent graphics Alan E Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08814067373751548470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2324356530847492641.post-9968309987744017582010-03-08T17:42:00.004-05:002010-03-08T17:47:47.613-05:00Save BBC Radio 6 MusicThis is a radio station with no demographic. That is, unless that demographic includes everyone who loves music.
For some reason the BBC believes that all tastes, other than classical music (Radio 3 is untouchable regardless of cost per listener), are covered by Radios 1 & 2. Hmm, teenie-boppers and carpet slippers.
No, BBC, keep Radio 6 Music!!!
Listen here.
And for another Alan E Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08814067373751548470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2324356530847492641.post-61777409853953179382010-03-02T09:45:00.001-05:002010-03-02T09:49:00.813-05:00Plymouth Sound Webcam
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This is a view from the BBC Spotlight Southwest Alan E Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08814067373751548470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2324356530847492641.post-39020216577606616242010-03-01T09:32:00.000-05:002010-03-01T09:32:02.862-05:00Shiny Discs
Part of the pleasure of 12" BVDs - Black Vinyl Discs - is the scale of the artwork. CDs never really could compete in this aspect of the pleasure of owning a minor work of art in a gatefold. I mean, have you ever tried to read some of the tiny print in a CD booklet?
I suspect that single attribute is a significant element in the resurgence of the LP as a music source.
However, now Alan E Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08814067373751548470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2324356530847492641.post-81824155680045743842010-02-21T14:06:00.003-05:002010-02-21T14:45:18.731-05:00HiFi : Source III : Home Music ServerThe third source element in my music system is the digital music server.In a nutshell, all my music files are held elsewhere on my home network. Music is accessed via a laptop computer and the digital stream is fed out through a DAC to the amplifier.The set up consists of three elements:Laptop : Currently, this is a Dell with one or two issues, like turning itself off or freezing after an hour orAlan E Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08814067373751548470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2324356530847492641.post-90523645020402598782010-02-21T12:40:00.006-05:002010-02-21T13:11:31.594-05:00HiFi : Source II : Digital DiscThis article sets the digital disc playback into the scheme of things.So far I haven't explored the world of BluRay and other exotic disc systems, and at this stage I'm unlikely to given the success I'm starting to have with digital playback from computer music files ... more about this later.However, like vinyl, I think CD will be around for a while yet.The CD playback trail here consists of twoAlan E Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08814067373751548470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2324356530847492641.post-15066624663362564252010-02-21T10:09:00.007-05:002010-02-21T10:43:35.636-05:00HiFi : Source I : TurntableI've covered the setting up of my turntable previously. This article is to put the turntable in context in my set up.The analogue trail consists of three elements:Cartridge: Ortofon 2M RedTurntable/arm combination: Pro-Ject Classic CherryPre-amplifier: Pro-Ject USB II BoxAs I said, I've already covered aspects of the turntable/cartridge set up and some tweaks remain to be done.I noted before someAlan E Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08814067373751548470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2324356530847492641.post-29111526619713048562010-02-17T07:00:00.004-05:002010-02-17T07:05:22.990-05:00Been Around World : Phonostage VisitorsI kept this list in the sidebar, but it's become unwieldy so here it is for the last time.Africa: Egypt : RSA : Johannesburg, Parow, Pretoria Asia: Hongkong : India : Bengaluru, Delhi, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Kanpur, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi , Patna Indonesia : Bandung, Bekasi, Jakarta Israel : Kfar Saba, Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv Japan : Nagoya, Nishinomiya, Yokahama Jordan : Amman Korea : Seocho, Alan E Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08814067373751548470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2324356530847492641.post-63794360984740910172010-02-16T19:11:00.020-05:002010-02-16T20:23:23.643-05:00Pro-Ject Cherry Classic | Ortofon 2M RedSo far the Pro-Ject Cherry Classic turntable with its original Ortofon 510 cartridge have served well. But tucked away in a box somewhere around here has been an Ortofon 2M Red cartridge. Not a major expense, very cheap even by US hifi standards, but I anticipated a significant upgrade from the 510.I also had a very useful cartridge alignment tool especially for Pro-Ject tonearms so I dug it all Alan E Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08814067373751548470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2324356530847492641.post-6343000742568542432010-02-11T14:15:00.004-05:002010-02-11T14:20:05.262-05:00After the Storm ...Storm's over ... morning after images here ...Alan E Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08814067373751548470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2324356530847492641.post-6812390122943617942010-02-10T18:46:00.003-05:002010-02-10T19:06:00.655-05:00HiFi : progress report IIOkay ... the Quads are back ...Despite their (only) slight lack of bass, the Quad 11L2s are so much more clear than the Infinity RS4001s. To use a hackneyed phrase from the hifi press, it's as though a veil has been lifted.Besides, they're not that short in the bass department anyway. I really think I'd like to try them with a sympathetic sub. In the UK I was using Mission 76s - I think. These Alan E Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08814067373751548470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2324356530847492641.post-22770836949827132842010-02-10T12:50:00.012-05:002010-02-10T14:11:17.973-05:00HiFi : progress reportThe bad weather has given me an opportunity to sort out the hifi.The biggest development has been to move the sources from between the speakers and to the side of the room. Why? More later ...At the moment I have the Infinity RS 4001s connected using some sort of basic Monster Cable speaker wire. I have a pair of UK-sourced Quad 11L2s to use instead, but I'm thinking that they'll do better with Alan E Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08814067373751548470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2324356530847492641.post-77886063377480655342010-02-10T12:07:00.003-05:002010-02-10T12:11:58.873-05:00Snow DayThis is about the most snow I've seen since living in the US. Last night about 6" settled on top of the 4" remaining from last weekend's fall. In fact it's still snowing now, with a blizzard forecast for this afternoon, so I'm resisting getting out on the drive with the snow-blower for the moment.This is the view out the front door at the moment ... roll on spring ...Alan E Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08814067373751548470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2324356530847492641.post-35038882627904913472010-01-25T17:18:00.005-05:002010-01-25T19:51:22.017-05:00BBC Music betaJust found this on the BBC website ... could be interesting ... try my music player to the right >>>Alan E Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08814067373751548470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2324356530847492641.post-61133569821907372012010-01-01T15:16:00.003-05:002010-01-01T15:25:26.250-05:00Happy New Year All!!!A Happy New Year to all!!!And I promise to update my blog more often. In the meantime try FaceBook ...Alan E Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08814067373751548470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2324356530847492641.post-12364250347646578092009-12-30T15:32:00.002-05:002009-12-30T15:38:49.074-05:00Argyle Til I DieA new Plymouth Argyle football forum I've found. It has a section for people living abroad too here.I just hope they can scrabble out of the doldrums soon ...Alan E Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08814067373751548470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2324356530847492641.post-80813378555559130732009-12-23T09:13:00.003-05:002009-12-25T12:45:06.074-05:00Google Chrome : Issues ... fixed?Well, it's been possible to fix the below issues to some extent; from Dashboard>Settings>>> opt for new editor.This works to some extent in that it is possible to attach a URL to the image, but it throws up alignment issues with the graphic. So for the moment I'm sticking to FireFox and the old BlogSpot editor to compile these articles.The music streaming issue has been more successful, by addingAlan E Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08814067373751548470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2324356530847492641.post-83125035789338903352009-12-23T06:28:00.012-05:002009-12-23T07:10:53.677-05:00Google Chrome : Issues?Recently I've started using Google Chrome as my browser. Generally I find it very good, but I have found a few issues with it.The most general problem is that, occasionally, pages will not load and the screen stays blank with no reported error. Even a reload doesn't fix this.However, I am finding a more specific problem using this blogspot editor with Chrome; it doesn't seem possible to compile aAlan E Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08814067373751548470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2324356530847492641.post-11012341304375684452009-12-22T13:59:00.009-05:002009-12-23T06:22:40.327-05:00Retro Vintage BlogJust found this blog ... reminds me of my Connoisseur turntable and Audio-Technica arm ...PS: can't seem to link graphic to web address, so try this: http://itishifi.blogspot.com/Alan E Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08814067373751548470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2324356530847492641.post-58410000983887847112009-12-15T06:14:00.003-05:002009-12-15T06:46:26.030-05:00Found; a home for my hifiSo far so good. I'll go through the components individually a bit later on.It's distinctly British looking; small stand-mounted speakers - Quad 11L2s - and components tuned to the European ear, although manufactured by Marantz.Most stuff has been brought in from the UK, suitcase by suitcase and powered through a 110v>220v converter.The turntable, a Pro-Ject Classic Cherry, has had a new 110v/60HzAlan E Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08814067373751548470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2324356530847492641.post-27860875553410585812009-12-14T17:27:00.003-05:002009-12-14T17:42:26.723-05:00Okay ... so I didn't try that hard ...... but I am back ...Big developments on the computer/digital interface front and my hifi has found a home.More soon ...Alan E Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08814067373751548470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2324356530847492641.post-58086366207913341412009-08-04T06:55:00.004-04:002009-08-04T07:52:49.808-04:00Poor neglected PhonoStageHmmm ... six months without a post. I really should try harder.However, I have started posting more regularly on my cycling blog; velostage.blogspot.comNot much development with the hifi situation either, although I probably have enough stuff collected for a bijou cd/lp/digital playback setup.Maybe I should start about getting it all together.Alan E Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08814067373751548470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2324356530847492641.post-52181715493441581712009-03-09T09:06:00.003-04:002009-03-09T09:17:31.498-04:00Daylight Saving TimeSo, we've sprung forward and we're in summer time.It means that for a couple of weeks the time difference between EST and GMT is just four hours rather than the usual five and sunset will now be around 7.00EST this evening ... a bit longer and I'll be able to cycle to and from work.Alan E Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08814067373751548470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2324356530847492641.post-308058042142648322009-02-26T10:21:00.005-05:002009-02-26T10:36:17.078-05:00Indianapolis, INHere I am, currently in rather grey, but unseasonably mild Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.I flew in yesterday, into Indy's very new and rather nice airport. Nice, that is, in the way any airport could actually be nice ...I am here for the North American Handmade Bicycle Show. I'll be running the show's web presence. You can visit the show's website here, or the daily blog here.Indianapolis calls Alan E Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08814067373751548470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2324356530847492641.post-40639958410633794992009-02-15T10:13:00.008-05:002009-02-19T21:24:48.249-05:00Today, I am, again, mostly listening to ... I still think internet radio is the best thing since, oh, I dunno, sliced bread, colour tellie, synthetic inserts for cycle shorts ...Anyway, here are one or two of my favourite internet radio stations:RemoteDJ.com - rare R&B, plus broken beat, bossa, etc ...SomaFM.com - over a dozen minority interest stations, including; Secret Agent, Beat Blender, Illinois Street Lounge and the very, very Alan E Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08814067373751548470noreply@blogger.com0