CES 2015: Gear and Roaming In Las Vegas

CES 2015: Gear and Roaming In Las Vegas Just a backpack and headphone rigs 'n' bit o' fun!

By Michael Mercer

Michael Mercer on the Newport Headphonium 2013

Gonna try keeping the ol' Amplified blog goin' again!!  It's been a LONG time since I posted anything here (aggregated intel aside).

Check out my interview w/ my friends at Audio-Head.com about the goals behind my first crack at co-producing a headphone show at The Home Entertainment Show Newport Beach! 

My Writers Choice Awards for Positive Feedback

Link to my Writers Choice Awards for Positive Feedback this year (
just scroll down to mine - the others are Great too btw):

VPI Traveler
Moon Audio Silver Dragon LOD & USB, IEM cables
ALO RxMK3-B lithium battery-powered headphone amplifier


Yours in Sound,

Mercer

The Greatest Ears in Town: The Arif Mardin Story (trailer)

The Faithful - Unearthed Poem

The faithful have become the heroes

And the murderers.

Fair,

and Evil

Gods’ words have been distorted

for an oil drum.

Mother Earth is taking her time

with his demise.

She needs the energy.

We gaze at their glory,

Blinded by our own image

As both God and Earth

slip away from our

Consciousness

Written By: Michael Mercer 23, November 2005

Life Moves

Life Moves,
Meanders,
shakes,
Rumbles
and Breaks.

While we Wonder
and blunder

and stay
Moving

In Fate
In Hate
In Wait

One
Mindstate

Hey! PLS check out my review of the NEW Radiohead album, King of Limbs!! http://ping.fm/R4CjK

PLS check out my l8st Sonic Satori column at TheDailySwarm.com: http://ping.fm/pvpHF & PLS LEAVE A COMMENT!!

Trying to Honor John Trudell, Arif Mardin, Allen Ginsberg

A Mix for Bobby

I had to see a movie about Bobby Kennedy
to find his Words
and his humanity.

His speech following Dr. Martin Luther King's Assassination
inspired me.
The words moved like music through my mind,
so I found a recording of his voice
and starting Djing whike playing the recording over it
(mixing vinyl, actually mixing, unlike many video game DJs today)...

The music flowed with his verbiage
like a remix of a classic track.

An artist called this feeling "true inspiration"
and I wish I had better words to describe
the feeling after a good set, finishing an article, a book,
a bikeride, a walk on the beach, an evening (early morning hours)
with dear friends, and feeling invincible with the Sunrise.

But all I have are these silly-ass thoughts

Reference Recordings: More Rocky Mountain Audiofest information

Reference Recordings: More Rocky Mountain Audiofest information: "We've already told you about 'Prof' Keith Johnson's seminar at Rocky Mountain Audiofest, but here is some more information about how to exp..."

PLS check out What is the Future of High End Audio, Part duex (my follow-up) in Positive Feedback: http://ping.fm/GgWc5

OK Readers-U asked 4 it! PLS check out my Part II of "What is the Future of High End Audio": http://ping.fm/7wLHX

PLS check this out: http://ping.fm/PBhVW Arif Mardin's Son and Peers Pay Tribute to His Passion for Jazz

Jason Mraz review (from Hifi+ magazine yrs ago)

I recently found a copy (pre-editor of course) of this review I wrote about Jason Mraz's Live at Java Joe's record for Hifi+ magazine when my Sonic Satori column started in their pages (thank you Mr. Roy Gregory). This was published back in 2003. PLS forgive any mistakes or sloppy grammar - I had some amazing editors at that magazine.

I'm putting this here because the album has found new fans in the Hifi community (the original, NOT the new version in iTunes) as the recording is simply FANTASTIC!
Hope you enjoy the review:

Artist: Jason Mraz

Album: Live at Java Joe’s

Label: Independent Release – Purchase through www.jasonmraz.com

Jason Mraz: I hate to drop some music industry lingo on you (you can take the man out of the industry, but you can’t take the industry out of the man) but this kid’s got pipes. He’s young, vibrant, and holds the key to true success. I only hope that key opens the necessary doors and they swing wide open for him! A brilliant lyricist and soulful performer, Mraz is the package that the big labels are looking for, but I think his talents are beyond their scope. How could they put this guy into a Gap ad, or, could his music be a good soundtrack to a car commercial? Who knows, and frankly, who cares. This is solid pop music. Elektra was smart enough to sign him for his release Waiting For My Rocket To Come back in October of 02’ but where was the marketing team? No more dollars for the little guy it seems. Despite the labels negligence the album has sold over 119,000 copies (according to recent SoundScan numbers). That speaks volumes about his ability to captivate an audience, whether it is live or through a stereo system. The lack of support on Elektra’s part might have been the best thing for this hungry artist, as it may have sparked the desire to release the extraordinarily live and engaging Live at Java Joe’s. This record is simply a gem, a showcase into Mraz’s ability to master both his instruments (his guitar and voice) and entertain a crowd. “Dream Life of Rand McNally” is a tremendous storyboard of a song. Witty and humorous, this track jumps from dreams of sexual encounters with the Spice Girls to political banter and Hunter S. Thompson references. Do you want to bask in a grand jam session? Check out “Common Pleasure.” Jason and his band maintain full control technically, while letting the music take its own course at times, chanting and playing through drummy breaks and guitar plucks. His rendition of the classic “At Last” makes listening to the song tolerable again (I forget the film, but some Hollywood blockbuster rendered that song unlistenable for a while). Mraz cites such influences at the Dave Matthews Band and Ani DiFranco. This makes perfect sense, as he combines poetry with organically woven chord progressions and simple, yet poignant arrangements. The biggest surprise, and a pleasant one to say the least, is the sonic merit of this CD. The digital sound is astonishingly dynamic and airy. Guitar tones soar, and dissipate as if they were occurring in real time and space. The vocals are warm and emotively delivered. The percussion, while sparse, is so coherent you can hear (and even feel) the space surrounding the skins, and the fingers that are tapping the beat to them. There is a live presence and textural quality captured on this disc that I have only heard from companies such as Classic Records, Chesky, or MoFi. How they did it? I’m not concerned, but it is blissful blaring through my reference system. It seems the only way to purchase this CD is through Mraz’s own website, so; go surfing!!

Music: 9

Sonics: 9

PLS check out my latest Sonic Satori column in @TheDailySwarm! http://ping.fm/zU9Ct & leave a Comment!

Fan of Portishead? PLS check out my review of the Beak> record: http://ping.fm/U2Ikf Dark and Lovely!!!!

Stereophile: Data Density Eats Tweaks for Breakfast http://ping.fm/38nOt

Kids (15-21) & me (35 yrs old) DON'T CARE HOW A SPEAKER MEASURES. We CARE about MUSIC, & if the SYSTEM SOUNDS GOOD!: http://ping.fm/ZhO4Z

Where is the Soul

I think if my father looked at Pollock painting
he'd see wall of splattered macaroni.

Those things run through my mind
when I get a phone call from him
and I'm excited about something,

something that furthers my own survival.

It's never a predictable move on my part,
the way I manage to slip through life
But I put my heart and soul into anything
that excites and challenges me.

That should make him proud

it should make him proud that a business believed
in me enough to move me back into a metropolitan city,

it should make him proud that, despite that situation
disintegrating around me, I manage to land another
job quickly in this impossible economic climate.

I look at a Pollock painting and I know, I know that despite
all the madness, and all the anger, there were moments of joy
that found its way onto his canvas.

and he took the hardest road to get to that joy,
but there was no choice.

PLS check out my latest album review for Positive Feedback: White Belt Yellow Tag's Methods - http://ping.fm/SPvLx