Right, so a RAID5 drive of 78 2gb drives would be 154GB, not 158.

How about oldest piece of equipment in regular use?

I use a 1991 IBM Model M at my main workstation, which puts me at 18 years. They just don't make them like this anymore (well actually Unicomp does)

LOL! If I had mod points in this thread, I'd mod you up :-D.

Agh! Wrong link. http://www.claessonedwards.com/

As an example, for plain ol' FM Stereo it's a matter of squeezing as much audio as cleanly as possible into the allotted frequency bandwidth without overmodulating (+/- 75 kHz), while staying compatible with all receivers, and sounding as "good" to the human ear as possible. Check http://www.claessonedward.com/ -- and check http://www.orban.com/ and http://www.omnia.com/ for the competition. :)

Tip/Ring/Sleeve.

Tip is left signal. Ring is right signal. Sleeve is common ground.

Expensive headphones use thick, proper cables that don't fail just because you stumble. It might yank the socket right out of your laptop, but at least you'll still have headphones :)

That's not what these headphones are used for. In fact, they'd be lousy for it -- TFA even talks about how acoustically transparent they are to the surroundings (i.e. they're not earplugs), so I couldn't imagine using them on the subway with my mp3 player. For that, I'd use my Etymotic ER-4P canal-phones instead ($200 or so). 20dB attenuation across the board -- essentially earplugs with near-reference-quality headphones built in. Indispensable in an airplane!

Loudspeakers have to be placed somewhere.. Usually in a room. The acoustics of the room (echo / reverberation / cancellations) will severely impact the sound of speakers, and there's no way around it without spending thousands on deadening and soundproofing the room. Yes, you can RTA and EQ, and get speakers sounding almost as accurate as cans, but it will never be as tight, unless you have a sonically dead room.

A pair of reference cans, on the other hand, interface with your ears much more accurately, and are not at all affected by room acoustics. If they have flat frequency response on one pair of ears, chances are they will have flat frequency response on most other pairs of ears too.

My work requires me to critically listen to music almost constantly (I write audio algorithms / processors for broadcasting). I normally listen to music on calibrated speakers, but when it's time for extra critical listening, my I put my HD650s on. Speakers are no substitute -- they hide too much, smooth over problems. Reference cans give you the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth (whether you want to hear it or not!).

I currently own a pair of HD650s and they were worth every penny at around $500. Electrostatic cans (STAX brand) would be another step up in accuracy, but comes at a hefty price (cost, fragility, special high-voltage amplifier etc). Until I can audition a pair of HD800s for free, I'll stick with what I have. :)

Well.. No. No you don't. That's the thing -- one of the many differences between $5 headphones and $500 headphones.

I work with audio all the time (it's my job - I invent audio algorithms for broadcast, and related things), and I'm very happy with my HD650s. They were worth every dollar! However, if I get a chance to test the HD800s without having to buy them first, I certainly will. :)