I need an external sound card. Why not an internal sound card? Well, I have a few reasons. First, I blew out my PCI slot. Yeah, it sounds severe, but it’s true. I was recording, and I put too much power into the input, and all of the sudden, everything I recorded sounded all distorted. I ran out and bought a new sound card, but of course it couldn’t be that simple. After installing the new card, I still had the exact same problem. So, I cannot use a PCI sound card. Another reason that I want an external card is for future-proofing. The PCI slot is going the way of the floppy disk… being replaced by E-PCI or some such newfangled goodness. So for the sake of being able to use my expensive components with my next computer, I’m looking for an external sound card. I just hope that I can get the USB 2.0 to work.

I’d like to buy this Creative E-MU sound card because it records in 24 bit, has separate left/right inputs and a nice built in preamp. Sadly, I cannot afford such luxuries at the moment. A good card like this is going to cost you a hundred bucks or more, even on sale , and I just can’t see myself spending that kind of scratch at the moment.

My other option is just to buy a new computer, but I won’t settle for anything less than a quad-core CPU, and I won’t pay more than $400 for it, and I don’t really have that kind of dough to spend anyway, so it’s going to be a while before I get a new PC.

I heard about the LFa for the first time just last week, and I was intrigued by this prototype, thinking that it would never see the light of day. As it turns out, 500 will be sold to the general public before.. well I’m not sure what’s next.. I assume they’re either going to come out with the next model or stop production. Anyway, it isn’t the fastest, most powerful or anything like that, but it has been designed from the ground up by Toyota, with meticulous attention to detail. It has near perfect weight distribution and an extremely low center of gravity. They went to great lengths to make sure of this- moving parts to unusual places and so on.

Read a more detailed explanation here.

I’ve owned a turntable and a bunch of records since 1993. I kinda inherited them. The other day I was out shopping and I was quite surprised to find that there was not just one, but several USB turntables for sale at this electronics store. I had no idea that turntables were still so popular. Who would have thought that the turntable would be such a long-lasting media? I mean, the invention is something like a century old. It may not be the ideal format for traveling, but when it comes to home stereo, many people swear by the analog goodness that records provide. I do like the warmth and vibe of using records… but my biggest thing is that I would hate to have to buy all of those albums again! Plus, a few of them are probably out of print.

Not so long ago, I picked up a really awesome turntable at a local auction house. I wanted to sell it, but it didn’t have a needle, so I used my needle, which was starting to show it’s age anyway. I figured I’d replace it, though I really haven’t- even though I turned a nice profit on the turntable, cost of needle and all. Imagine my surprise when I found this sweet Shure M97xE phono cartridge for under sixty bucks. The needles I usually buy runs about $25 at Radio Shack, but they aren’t all that great. I’d really like to get my hands on a really nice cartridge like this one. It gets great reviews and the sale price is less than half off.

Truth be told, I don’t listen to my records very often, and that is why I had no qualms with letting go of the needle. One of these days, I just know that I’ll get the itch and I’ll be forced to go out and buy a new cartridge so that I can listen to my record collection once again.