[listening - cibo matto: king of silence (dan the automator mix).]

take two: after a browser crash. *grumbles*

one thing i try to avoid doing is going gaga over new gadgets or toys. maybe it's a reaction against frivolous spending, saving money or avoiding disappointment, but there are better things to do than incessantly gush over the latest device, thinking i need the doodad du jour.

that said, i'm way overdue on a turntable. i've borrowed friend's geminis and abused roommate's akais, but it's been three years or so since i've had a proper one to use, and i've continued to buy vinyl since then, which i haven't heard.

part of it is the fact that my receiver doesn't have a PHONO port (oh, what was i thinking), so i'd need to get a pre-amplifier, or at least a mixer to bypass and use the auxiliary port. after scratching my merry heart out and tricking it out (only a bit), then i'd want to be able to hook it up to the computer to cut and mix mp3s.

well, my drool factor is on when i see the potential of going the opposite direction: making vinyl out of mp3s. behold -

for a humble $15.000, i could make wax using the vestax vrx 2000. vestax jumped on the scene recently with their own turntable, which can outwoosh the old 1200s club standard. i would die to be able to make records at home, but i couldn't afford that. or justify it. it'd be cheaper to make dub plates and get them pressed.

still...

meanwhile, i'll be kinda happy for now after getting the sound card up and running again. i'll go pout later. and keep my hopes lower, like an ibook. or the archos mp3 recorder. or those addictive ipods....

(just because i paid the credit card off for the first time in 6 months doesn't mean i go back in the hole right away...)