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The is basically the tube chair version of a dog bed. You know those folding camp chairs that slide into a long skinny bag?

This thing works the same way. Awk script for ns2 trace file. It's an elevated mesh dog bed with a solid canopy above to provide shade. The whole thing folds up into a surprisingly small package.

The Quik Shade comes in three sizes, there is also an enclosed version with mesh walls to keep bugs out and your dog in. Photo by Erin Koski Do you and your dog spend a lot of time outdoors? Do they need a comfortable and non-absorbent place to chill after a swim? A cool place to rest at work or while visiting friends?

Aug 26, 2015. Unlike with a traditional DSLR, choosing a lower ISO will NOT result in a better image on this camera. Instead, it will rob you of dynamic range. So always always. But you have plenty of quick options for giving it snap, crackle and pop by applying LUTs. More about that momentarily. Enable View Assist. Talents to oblivion, and the inevitable bias against poetry which, in its forthrightness, would seem. This content downloaded from 66.249.79.153 on Tue, 05 Dec 2017 06:01:57 UTC. All use subject to himself, he encounters Paul, 'a flower/ Of iso late boyhood,' a restless and handsome young.

The Quik Shade was made for you. The bed portion is basically a mesh hammock, it allows a lot of air to circulate under your dog. The top provides some solid shade, and it's angled a bit so you can position he bed for maximum effect. The comparison to a folding camp chair seems to be entirely appropriate. It's built the same way, out of the same materials, and seems to be intended for the same sorts of uses. That is to say, this is a portable piece of furniture that you take along with you on an outing, and then put away in your garage when you get home.

I've read some reviews by people that reported the canopy disintegrated after being left outside in the sun for months on end. You know what else does that? Folding camp chairs. It's not a piece of patio furniture designed to last years in the sun.

Does that make sense? Pros: Provides an instant cool and shady spot. Very portable. Non-absorbent, perfect for wet dogs.

Cons: About as sturdy as a mid-range folding camp chair, not top-of-the-line, but better than a $5 Walmart tube chair. Prone to fading in the sun eventually. Customer service for this company appears to be lacking. Bottom Line: I found our QuikShade at a thrift store. I had no idea such a thing existed. This biothane collar by has everything: a martingale chain, a buckle so I don't have to slip it over my dog's head, and enough width to protect her throat.

Photo by Erin Koski This collar was custom made for a dog friend who is no longer with us, and it was kindly passed along because it fits the girls so well. It's a nice thick, heavy-duty collar for a strong dog, and it has a lot of hardware. Look how much thought went into this design! The buckle means I don't have to pull it over Godzilla's head. This is more comfortable for her, and also means the chain loop can be short enough to hang loose without the collar being huge. The chain is perfect for this size collar, a biothane loop would be way too stiff and bulky, and a biothane limited slip wouldn't slide as smoothly.

The chain cuts down on bulk while allowing for nice snappy action. I like to use this type of collar for competitive obedience training because I can give a lot of feedback by sliding or jingling the chain. 'Say cheese!' Photo by Erin Koski Pros: Stink-proof, non-absorbent biothane.

Quick-release buckle. Perfect size chain loop. Heavy enough to have some serious presence for training. Cons: A bit on the heavy side for a sensitive dog. Bottom Line: I'm definitely going to use this collar when we start rally obedience classes in a few weeks. I really like having a way to communicate 'this is the collar we wear when we do this activity'.

Ideally, it should be something totally different from everything else we have, and this collar fits the bill perfectly. This may sound completely crazy, but brushing your cat's teeth is a really good idea. I know, right? But seriously, how many elderly cats have you known that didn't have some sort of horrible dental issue? That bad breath? That means bad teeth.

Bad teeth means a constant stream of bacteria assaulting your poor kitty, stressing their kidneys and making them feel icky all the time. I've known some older cats that had to have all their teeth removed, and were much happier afterwards. The Hellions like windowsills. Especially windowsills full of breakable things. Fortunately, most cats don't need to become toothless wonders. This is fortunate, because pet dental surgery costs an absolute fortune. How can you save yourself a thousand bucks in vet bills?

By brushing your cat's teeth. How do you talk your cat into letting you come anywhere near them with a toothbrush?

(Actually my cats are incredibly stupid and somehow continue to suspect nothing despite having their teeth brushed on a near-daily basis.) put together a really neat series of videos on how to introduce your cat to the concept, and work all the way up to brushing their teeth with a weird little pointy toothbrush. I am thankful to shared eleven years with, he had a major impact on my life.

I am thankful for, our relationship is founded on mutual adoration. She is absolutely perfect. I am thankful for, she is an amazing working partner. I seem to just luck into the perfect dogs.

I am thankful for because he is so incredibly easy. I am thankful for the because cats are nice to have around.

I am thankful for my job, because working on a sheep ranch is ridiculously awesome even if I did spend half of yesterday treating sheep for pinkeye and then painting the ones I treated. (I need to do a post about stuff you won't believe happens on a sheep ranch if you grew up in the city, because sheep crayons exist and I find that hilarious.). I am thankful for my friends, who tolerate my endless dog talk, invite my dogs to their houses, and take pictures of my dogs for me.

I am thankful for the internet, which connects me to tons of friends I have never met, and allows me to share my semi-coherent rambling with the world. It's not all hype, either. I've been using CocoClean to soothe Zip's itchy skin while we figure out exactly what's bothering her. I am forever a skeptic, but she really does significantly less scratching after a bath with this stuff. It's far more effective than any oatmeal shampoo I've tried, or anything other than Brisbane's mud bath. I'm honestly rather surprised that Isle of Dogs is pricing it so low.

CocoClean is also very easy to lather, rinsing easily and cleanly, and leaves my hands nice and soft too! This is now Zip's regular shampoo. The best treat ever for hiding pills. Neither Godzilla nor Ranger would eat the treats even if there were no pills in there at all. Then I tried the duck flavor, because they're extra stinky. We have a winner!

Good For: Dogs with allergies to anything but duck and peas. Dogs who don't like other flavors of Pill Pockets.

Non-perishable convenience. Not Good For: Dogs with duck or pea allergies. Keeping on your purse if you leave your purse at dog-level.

How Much We Like Them: Enough to look up how long they've been part of the Greenies brand. I thought that was a new development, but I must just have a long memory because Pill Pockets have been around since 2003, but they were acquired by the company that owns Greenies in 2005. I'm surprised at how much more grown up Godzilla looks at two, she has a far more mature-looking face. She's also significantly more muscular, basically the canine version of a body builder. People put their hands on her and go 'wow!'

I had hoped to start competing in agility by now, but we've taken a few weeks off while our instructor is competing around the country. In the meantime, we've gotten Godzilla's first, and a leg towards her first title as well! I think our biggest achievement is working together on the sheep ranch, though. Sisci Godzilla is happy to demonstrate that ranch work isn't just for border collies. She is my superdog, and the decision to keep her is largely the cause of our move and current work situation. Every time I look at her, I think 'Wow, I made the right choice!' There are two places to register your pet's microchip for free, and I am registering mine with both.

Things have changed a lot since I got Brisbane microchipped over a decade ago, and now there are more options than ever. Today's scanner can detect most chips, and not every company that sells chips has their own registry. Various companies have changed their technology, and information can be updated online rather than by mail. Here's a 2016 look at maximizing your microchips. Baby Brisbane was chipped back when we registered them by snail mail. 'Universal' Chips.

There is no universal national microchip database. When Brisbane and the Hellions were chipped, eleven and eight years ago respectively, the companies selling the chips maintained their own registries. I had to mail off their registration forms, and making changes to the information involved downloading and printing a form and then mailing that off with a check. The companies, HomeAgain and InfoPet, both charged for information updates.

The companies also kept track of who they sold their chips to, so an unregistered chip could be tracked to the veterinarian that sold it originally. Today, there are a lot of different companies selling microchip kits for pets, and many do not keep any sort of records at all.

You can buy a chip from them, and implant it in your pet, but unless you deliberately register it somewhere, nobody will be able to connect it to you. A microchip is like an individual serial number, the chip itself contains only that number.

This has become an issue in recent years, lost pets turn up in shelters and get scanned, only to find that their chip number cannot be found in any registry. Register That Chip! If you know your pet's chip number, you can look it up via that microchip lookup tool. This won't tell you the contact information associated with the chip, but it will tell you who it is registered with. It even gives you a link to each registry website. When someone finds a chipped pet and uses the lookup tool, they can contact the registries listed to get the owner's contact information. I use this tool quite a bit, recently I discovered that someone's dog of many years had a totally unregistered chip.

There are two places to register your chip online for free, and all you need to know is your pet's chip number. The is the first place I registered my pets. They let you set up a profile for each of your pets, with pictures and medical information. I just registered them with, and found it interesting that the registries don't cross-reference with each other.

Sisci Godzilla's chip is still registered to her breeder through Found Animals, but Free Pet Chip Registry allowed me to register her to myself. There are at least a dozen other registries out there, some sell their own brand of microchips but most will register any chip. However, they all charge for their services, and some also charge an annual subscription fee. They also claim to be universal national databases.

So far, Found Animals is the most widely cited free database out there, and I think they come pretty close to being a universal national registry. I strongly encourage everyone to cross-register their pets with Found Animals and the Free Pet Chip Registry.

They don't want to sell you anything, they just want to help you find your pet. Earlier this week I received an email from the folks behind 'We Reviewed Over 2,000 Brands of dog Food, Only 134 Made the Cut'. They have a whole lot of marketing sunk into their page on Reviews.com, and wanted to know if I was interested in sharing their results with you readers. I kind of figured that the whole thing would have very little substance, and I was right. Though they claim to have built a list of over 11,000 people, from veterinarians to university researchers, they somehow managed to miss some glaring issues with their study. I'm pretty sure a lot of this 'research' involved reading marketing claims and accepting them at face value. The folks at Reviews.com then went a step further and made a completely unsubstantiated claim that nutriceuticals work for joint pain.

This is actually a lawsuit-worthy claim when made by a dog food company. They can say that glucosamine and chondroitin help support healthy joints, but there is not enough evidence for them to state outright that they alleviate joint pain because. The evidence that glucosamine and chondroitin work is minimal, and tends to disappear in larger and better-designed studies. Falling for Marketing Tactics. Like so many reviewers before me, I found that our split at the seam just from regular play. This toy wasn't gnawed into oblivion, it was just fetched to death.

I did get to see how it worked though, inside the purple ball was a clear rubber ball, and inside that was a piece of clear plastic like you might find holding a brand new action figure onto a cardboard back card. The result was a very firm and very crackley ball that was, it seems, entirely too much fun to chomp.

Outward Hound Splash Disc. Does your dog love sleeping on your laundry? Do they think a pile of dirty clothes on the floor makes the best bed ever?

Do they tend to unstuff anything filled with fluff? Molly Mutt makes a bed for you. I've often used threadbare comforters and ratty old blankets as bedding for my dogs, with the side effect of making their sleeping area look like a little hobo camp. The stuff is easy to wash, doesn't take hours to dry, and it's just laying around anyway, but is there a way to make it look nice? MollyMutt has come up with a solution to a variety of dog bed problems. Their bed starts with a sturdy mesh stuff sack that zips shut. I have personally washed tons and tons of dog beds over the years, mostly because stupid cats pee on them.

I've learned that the vast majority of dog beds with removable covers have inner cushions constructed from what amounts to fabric tissue paper. Yes, it holds the stuffing in and allows the pretty cover to be removed, but the inner pillows themselves can't survive many trips through the wash before they disintegrate. MollyMutt's inner cushion is sturdy enough to be washed if you live with asshole cats. Washing the actual stuffing is easy too, since it's just clothes, towels, blankets, or whatever you decided to stick in there. MollyMutt sent me this stuff sack and duvet cover to review, and it was tough to decide on a cover.

There are a bunch of different patterns, and they aren't your typical paw prints and bones. They've got robots and elephants! I finally settled on the Rocketman design, it's just so sciency! If your dog has incontinence issues, you can get a waterproof cover for the stuff sack and then order multiple duvet covers so you always have a fresh one.

Pros: Sturdy and durable. Highly customizable. Unique design allows you to stuff the bed with something your dog won't feel compelled to shred. Eco-friendly, allows you to recycle old clothes or store unused bedding. Lots of different options for a custom bed, with unique patterns. Cons: Not all stuffing materials are optimal, laundry can get compacted down and end up rather hard.

Careless stuffing can result in a lopsided or lumpy bed. A medium or large bed needs to be stuffed with a surprising amount of stuff. Bottom Line: If you ever felt like stuffing was a waste, if your dog has a fiberfill compulsion, if your dog's favorite bed is your old comforter or a pile of laundry, MollyMutt has a dog bed for you. They also make beds stuffed with wool, just in case you don't have any spare laundry laying around. Today's post is a shameless plug for our photographer, Erin Koski, and her calendar of. No, seriously. I am not making this up.

Erin breeds a particular variety of hairless guinea pigs called skinny pigs, and they are hilariously adorable. I think they look like tiny hippopotamuses. Erin is also a talented photographer (which is why I have so many wonderful pictures of my dogs), and she uses her powers to take amazing pictures of her piggies with tiny props.

Photo by Erin Koski, obviously For a preview of what's inside the calendar, check out the. Naked guinea pigs in tiny bathtubs. Naked guinea pigs in bowls of candy. Naked guinea pigs in costumes.

Naked guinea wearing hats. Naked guinea pigs playing tiny arcade games. Naked guinea pigs lounging on tiny couches. I am not kidding about any of this. I personally think this calendar would make a wonderful Christmas gift for a guinea pig lover, and a wonderfully weird gift for someone that just doesn't think about guinea pigs that much.

Check it out! The Splash Disc is a floating water toy designed for interactive play. It has a soft foam core and is easy on mouths.

Yes I know this is technically a summertime toy, but it's 95 degrees in southern California and seasons are things that happen to other people. Photo by Erin Koski As far as I can tell, there are two kinds of water toys. The first kind is covered in stretchy swimsuit fabric that my dogs feel compelled to shred as quickly as possible. The second kind is usually rubber or something durable that doesn't shriek 'DESTROOOOOOOOY ME!!!!!'

In a pitch only dogs can hear. The Splash Disc is the first kind. It's squishy, it's soft, it won't cut your dog's mouth if they catch it on a really hard throw. It floats, it's brightly colored, and it's easy to spot in the water. My dogs don't care.

As much as they love catching, fetching, and swimming, all of those activities took a backseat because the frisbee had to die. I assume that this isn't an issue common to all dogs, otherwise toy companies wouldn't keep making fabric water toys, right? Pros: Soft, safe, and it floats.

Easy to spot in the water. Cons: Not very durable, not for pavement or playing tug. Unusually shreddable. Bottom Line: It's great for the beach, lake, or pool if your dog just wants to play fetch. Not so great if you have to convince them not to destroy it as fast as they possibly can. A cat grooming bag is the solution to most of life's problems. It's basically a gimp suit for your cat, because sometimes kitty bondage is necessary.

But seriously, this is the best device ever created for immobilizing your cat for grooming and medical care. Anyone who has ever attempted to restrain a cat knows that they are basically slow-moving liquids capable of oozing through your hands. They don't have legs so much as they have pseudopods that can be retracted at will and then popped out at another location. They are also sharp on five out of their six ends. What is a Cat Grooming Bag? Is basically the answer to your tug-a-holic dog that can never get enough playtime.

It's incredibly durable, can be taken to a park or other open space for playtime, and can be enjoyed by more than one dog at a time. Tuggo is a giant ball made from hard plastic, fill it with water and it provides enough resistance to keep your dog tugging happily while saving your arm. There is a replaceable rope running through the middle of the ball, so a dog can tug it from either end. The larger version is a whopping 10' in diameter, and can be weighted with up to 18 pounds of water. There are also 7' and 4' version for smaller dogs. Photo by Erin Koski This was one of the first things I was given at SuperZoo, and I was highly impressed.

Big enough for a huge mastiff to tackle! It's a hard ball too, and most dogs won't be able to get their mouths around it.

That's what the rope is for. The rope is threaded through a passage in the center of the ball, so it doesn't get wet and is easy to replace. Tuggo sells a replacement rope, but you can always pick one up at the hardware store too. There are a few different self-tugging dog toys out there. The is a classic, but requires some DIY skills and also something to hang the toy from. I saw a toy at SuperZoo that stakes into the ground and is mounted on a shock-absorbing flexible shaft. The Tuggo is different though, because you can change the weight of the ball by adding or draining water.

It is also movable, easy to toss in the car and get out at the park or on a playdate. Photo by Erin Koski This is a serious dog toy for serious dogs. It rolls, it makes some noise, and it can actually get quite heavy. It's precisely the sort of challenge that a lot of terriers and bully breeds enjoy, and the ball rolling around and hitting them just makes the game more exciting. The size and weight of the Tuggo might be a little intimidating for more sensitive dogs, though.

Pros: Extremely durable and tough. Weight can be changed. Extremely attractive for certain dogs, maybe even a little addictive. Builds muscle and can really tire a dog out.

Allows tugging play without human interaction. Cons: Plastic can crack in very cold weather. Rope is easy to chew through if your dog has a desire for destruction. Definitely an outdoor-only toy unless you don't really care about your floors/walls/furniture.

May be intimidating for some dogs. Bottom Line: This is a fabulous toy for a certain type of dog. It's a great way to let a pit bull, jack russell, or other drivey physical dog go hard at something for as long as they like. Ideally they wouldn't even need human interaction, you just point them at it and get out of the way.

That said, the Tuggo taught me that my superintelligent herding dogs are primarily interested in tug as a way to interact with me. I had thought they loved it for the sheer joy of tugging, but it turns out they only care if there is a human on the other end of the toy. They also find the huge ball to be intimidating rather than exciting, they get worried when it rolls toward them.

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It's wonderful for some of my client dogs, though! I've written about and their before, but I had a lingering question about this particular product. I found the Superior Farms booth at SuperZoo, and they invited me to choose a treat from their display of wonderful animal-based chews and treats. Of course I selected a venison crepe, and then I had the opportunity to ask my burning question: What, exactly, is a venison crepe? The label says venison hide, but what part of the deer renders this exquisite little scrunched up bit? The rep was happy to tell me, as the squeamish don't tend to pop up with such geeky questions.

Superior Farms is all about using every part of the animal, and dog treats are a really great way to use the weird bits. Venison crepes are made out of the face skin of a deer. Can you see the nose on this one?

I like to imagine these were born when someone dropped a piece of hide on the floor, let it dry off a bit, and then went 'you know what, that's actually kinda cool!' Fr those unacquainted with the venison crepe, this is a rawhide alternative that is great for dogs with beef allergies. For my dogs, who enjoy bully sticks and don't just gobble them down like quick snacks, these things last for more than one chewing session.

Superior Farms makes their products in the USA, without any of the scary chemical processing that imported treat usually go through. Treat Dispensing Looper is a new take on their amazing food toys. The Looper is a large ring that bounces, floats, and can be filled with kibble or small treats for added fun.

It is available in two sizes, ours is the larger one. Photo by Erin Koski We've had one of our for well over a decade now, but Starmark has recently decided to think outside the ball. They've expanded the flexible, chewable, treat-dispensing toy concept into other shapes. We have their dumbell-shaped, and now we have the Looper as well. They're all made with the same durable material that is easy on teeth, walls, and furniture. I can easily see that the Chew Ball, Squeakee, and Looper are all variations on a theme, but they each have their unique qualities.

The ball rolls and is fun to chomp and squish. The Squeakee squeaks, and never rolls under the couch. The Looper can be tossed like a frisbee, used as a tug toy, and rolled like a wheel. It's a lot of fun to chase when it's rolling, but it doesn't get lost like a ball.

It can dispense treats, but they don't come out nearly as easily as they do in the chew ball. Photo by Erin Koski Pros: Durable enough for a large amount of biting and chomping, though not intended for a serious chewing project. More challenging to get treats out than most of our other Starmark chew toys. Floats, bounces, and can be rolled and tugged for lots of versatile play. Cons: Probably easier to demolish than the Treat Dispensing Chew Ball just because of the smaller diameter. May be too difficult for some dogs to get the treats out consistently. Bottom Line: When I first saw the Looper I thought it was just a variation on an already good toy, but it turned out to be surprisingly unique.

Well, lets be honest here, Ru spent most of the trip in his. Even his coat and weren't enough to keep him toasty. His favorite part of camping is sitting as close to the fire as he can get without actually bursting into flames. I'm not really sure how hot a chihuahua can be for how long before incurring thermal damage, but it's a lot more than I would have guessed. Despite two days of rain and an unplanned night in a motel, we had a really wonderful trip. The California coastal redwoods are really, truly amazing and walking among them is absolutely magical.

If you ever read an article about sound quality and music and it includes 'On my laptop's speakers I could not tell the difference.' , I'd recommend taking everything said related to sound quality as being relevant only under those same conditions.

After all, it's important to realize that any test is only as valid as the conditions under which the test was performed. If you listen to music through your laptop's speakers, it doesn't make sense to pay more money for higher quality music for a number of reasons beginning with the fact that it's impossible to fully reproduce music through drivers the size of loose change.

Sam Biddle of Gawker is responsible for that opening quote in his article titled. Sam also shares, 'I gave it a try. You should not.' Since you can try Tidal for free, I have to wonder why Sam feels people shouldn't try it for themselves. When it comes to the appreciation of music, listening for yourself is what it's all about and not everyone listens through their laptop speakers. Sam also takes issue with Tidal's interface and the dropouts he experienced. These are valid points—some people may not like the Tidal interface.

Dropouts may be an issue with Tidal or with Sam's network. It's impossible to know for sure based on the information provided. For some of us, CD-quality streaming is a very welcome advance back to the sound quality we had decades ago. It's therefore difficult to ignore when people report on CD-quality and claim it's not worth the money using inadequate equipment. The Tannoy Reveal 402 ($280/pair) and the iFi nano iDSD DAC ($189) make for a fine desktop setup If you want to improve your desktop listening experience, the first thing to do is get some speakers.

We have a number of recommendations starting at $280/pair. The next step is to get an external USB DAC. You can see our short list of recommendations which start at $149. The final step in improving the quality of your desktop playback is to get Media Player software. Check out ($129), ($74), and (starts at $34.99) for the Mac and ($69.98) and (free) for PCs.

All of these offer a free demo so I'd recommend trying them all to see which you prefer. So we're looking at an investment of around $500 which will smoke your laptop's sound and provide a lifetime's worth of musical enjoyment. I agree with what you say Michael. However i feel the gawker article has some very valid points and actually reflects quite accurately on how tidal is or might be perceived by the public. Tidal was an audiophile service targeted at audiophiles. Now they are trying to compete with spotify but the average spotify user doesnt have speakers and hasnt heard anything but mp3 in their eintire life.

They have a laptop or maybe a jambox. If they would have a sound system, they would already be tidal users.

I feel the communication about this takeover was really horrible, the press conference was a joke and id rather not even comment on the video they made. Instead of educating potential users about sound quality, they made it about themselves and threw the baby out with the bathwater. I feel (and this is what the backlash on the web shows as well) that they have just pissed everyone off and failed miserably in explaining what the service can bring to the life of music lovers. I feel the article reflects quite precisely on how a spotifly user might feel about this 'rip-off'. Tidal is a great service, it used to be a nice company, i really hope someone will be able to turn this fiasco around, but currently, all i see is a lot of pissed off people. My point here is that you obviously cannot determine sound quality using laptop speakers. In my opinion, articles like this simply perpetuate falsehoods, i.e.

CD-quality is indistinguishable from lossy quality. Tidal's lossless service, and Deezer's and Qobuz, are clearly aimed at people who appreciate better sound quality. There's no 'rip-off' unless you are misinformed enough to expect to hear a difference on something like your laptop speakers. This Gawker article simply reinforces that misinformation. Well, indeed. Gawker is not the most serious site afterall, that is true.

The author could have taken another approach and explain - like you did many times- how lossless streaming works, what it means, and what you need to appreciate it. Im just angry because this tidal thing could have been a step into the direction where a lot more people would listen to lossless files/streaming on actual speakers if they would do (have done) a bit more to help consumers understand. If not them - who want to get our money for the service - then who?.by the negative reaction to Tidal in the non-audio press and in the comments section of the related articles. On one hand, we're talking about another $9.99 streaming service, albeit one which also offers lossless streaming for $20/mo. On the other hand we now have a lot of famous and successful artists as owners. It seems to me the majority of the negative feelings are related to this which is something I suppose I can understand although I don't agree with.

When it comes to dealing with the worth of lossless streaming, I'd just like to see this taken seriously by the non-audio press and viewed as an opportunity to educate and inform. Listening through laptop speakers and saying the service 'sucks' doesn't make the grade.

I'm listening to Deezer premium through Monitor Audio BR2 speakers into a Marantz Amp using a Behringer UCA202. Im happy ish with the sound and got rid of the weird clicks and crackles when I switched from windows to linux but the sound is just not engaging. I'm thinking the Deezer stream is too low quality and my temp set up (while I save up for a better system) is just not up to the task. I know Deezer are offering lossless with Sonos but have not rolled out beyond that in Ireland. If my very basic system sounds just alright how can anyone expect to hear good sound from laptop speakers! That kind of article (horrible by the way!) only exists because the audio industry is trying to sell hi-fi audio to people (especially youngsters) that use laptops, skinny U$$ 5 desktop speakers, and trashy earbuds or some Bose Bluetooth speaker!

It's like convincing someone to buy a 3D Blu-Ray movie to watch it in an old 50 year old TV! 'Give me back my VCR' the old lady will say! If premium services like Tidal and Qobuz have warned the customers that you need some 'X' quality audio gear in order to experience the lossless audio, we will see less hate around it.

The mainstream market need to be taught about the quality of the necessary gear. Pono tried to do that, but they fail because they are selling old recordings or simply upsampled recordings in some shiny package. The result was not all that 'wooowwww' propaganda, like NY claimed to be and. More hate, of course. Who's to be blamed again? The audio industry, as a whole. It's imperative to explain that you need some better gear in order to hear the difference beetween lossy and lossless, and that you NEED proper gear (including room treatment if you use bigger speakers) in order to hear the difference beetween 44/16 and 96/24, AND that NOT EVERY 96/24 audio file really is HRA!

Explain this to people is the responsability of the audio industry, and because they're failing to do this, they're being attacked with all the rage of the angry ones. Best regards!.in this mess, I think the non-audio press has done a deplorable job dealing with Pono, Tidal, and high-res. In terms of Tidal and Qobuz warning people, the only way to get the free 30-day Tidal Hi-Fi trial (lossless quality) is to pass a 'test': There's also this note: IS YOUR AUDIO SYSTEM READY FOR LOSSLESS SOUND? Test here if you have the equipment and ears for lossless High Fidelity sound. Lossless gives you all the details and the complete sound image. Perhaps not perfect, it certainly addresses the issue. I enjoyed the article, but I don't really understand the need for improved desktop listening.

Basically, I don't see the need for it at all. Why do people feel the need to listen to loud, clear music while sitting slightly uncomfortably at a desk and, presumably, concentrating on whatever's on the screen while they type? Maybe there's a place for quiet background music, but I would restrict this to music I didn't particular like (why risk becoming bored with something that I do like, while not really listening to it?), and certainly not loud enough to need a snazzy system (as if the headphone output of your PC wouldn't be good enough for this application, anyway!).

Thanks for the reply. I suppose I worry slightly that the image that is being presented of computer-based audio is one of casual desktop-based listening and headphones, while 'real' hi-fi is left to our vinyl and valve brethren.

In my case, I sit down several feet from huge active speakers and do properly listen to (and feel) the music from a computer-based system. It's astounding. I suspect that a lot of people don't even realise that that's possible. Or maybe they don't even think it's worth it, because computer audio is 'digital' and associated only with mobile phones, headphones and 'the desktop'.? You make a very good point and imo articles like the one in Gawker certainly do more harm than good.

I very much enjoy the intimacy of a desktop system. With my ADAM A3X's, it feels as if the music is happening inside my head. I think one issue in terms of broader acceptance is price. The least expensive desktop system that we currently recommend will cost about $500.

That's a lot of money for many people, including me. From my perspective, Neil Young's claims re Pono and high-res overstated the case which made it very easy for people to dismiss the entire notion of better quality reproduction from a digital source.

I kinda wish he had simply said something like 'We think we've done a great job with the PonoPlayer. Give some high-res recordings a listen through it and see what you think.' You can see why I never worked in marketing.

To be entirely fair, I don't believe any of this matters for most people. People are very distracted and very often do not focus on one activity, particularly in entertainment. Go to a sporting event lately?

The sideshow is often the main interest for a lot of attendees. Try explaining to somebody under 30 how their grandparents or great grandparents used to sit in a room focused on listening to radio programs. They just give you that bowling ball look. Watching Ralphie Parker listen to Little Orphan Annie is just a funny skit in a movie to them, entirely contrived by Jean Shepherd. That sort of behavior just isn't relevant for them.

Not saying it's either good or bad, but it is different. Sound quality? Much modern music has been compressed to oblivion, not for artistic effect (though some is), but to grab people's attention just for a little bit. Even re-released older recordings get this treatment. Radio stations have been using this trick since at least the 70's. This doesn't explain the vitriol over so many things that get talked about on the Internet, but, in a way, maybe it does.

Ironically, people are up in arms when something better is being offered to them, for not a lot more money. They seem to be demanding lower quality and are militant over that demand. Which is fine. The issue I have is when people pretend to 'report' on the issue and offer misleading and downright nonsensical misinformation. 'Much modern music has been compressed to oblivion.' I would change that to read 'Much popular music.'

In my experience, music that is not aiming for a spot in the top whatever, does not suffer the same dynamic compression issues as popular music. Yes, some people appear to not only demand lower quality, they get up in arms at the notion that other people are interested in improving their (listening) experience. I can't figure. If there is an analog recording that was re-issued, there are things like a new conversion using better quality ADC's, or using slightly different EQ than before, etc. But I have heard a lot of re-issues that were EQ'd differently and I have also read that a lot of these recording/mastering studios have upgraded their equipment to be able to perform better Analog to Digital conversions. I bought a CD that was created and they had mentioned that they took the original analog tapes, converted to 24 Bit and then down sampled to 16Bit and the liner notes had mentioned that they did it because they feel it makes for a better quality CD. I don't how much truth there is since I haven't compared it to any other method, but if I was a record label that was concerned about sound quality, I would take analog tapes and convert it to the highest level rez digital and then down sample to 16 Bit if I am going to sell CDs.

If you read about iTunes Mastered for iTunes process, they prefer if they took 24/96 recordings and then run it through the Mastered for iTunes process as it creates a AAC file that sounds VERY close to a 16 Bit CD. I bought a CD and Mastered for iTunes version and after listening to the two, I can't tell the difference and I have a decent stereo system. The only problem is that there isn't a huge catalog of Mastered for iTunes content for sale.

I guess you have to find out what the mastering studio did to a specific recording to find out what the actual process was. If there is an analog recording that was re-issued, there are things like a new conversion using better quality ADC's, or using slightly different EQ than before, etc. But I have heard a lot of re-issues that were EQ'd differently and I have also read that a lot of these recording/mastering studios have upgraded their equipment to be able to perform better Analog to Digital conversions. I bought a CD that was created and they had mentioned that they took the original analog tapes, converted to 24 Bit and then down sampled to 16Bit and the liner notes had mentioned that they did it because they feel it makes for a better quality CD.

I don't how much truth there is since I haven't compared it to any other method, but if I was a record label that was concerned about sound quality, I would take analog tapes and convert it to the highest level rez digital and then down sample to 16 Bit if I am going to sell CDs. If you read about iTunes Mastered for iTunes process, they prefer if they took 24/96 recordings and then run it through the Mastered for iTunes process as it creates a AAC file that sounds VERY close to a 16 Bit CD. I bought a CD and Mastered for iTunes version and after listening to the two, I can't tell the difference and I have a decent stereo system. The only problem is that there isn't a huge catalog of Mastered for iTunes content for sale. I guess you have to find out what the mastering studio did to a specific recording to find out what the actual process was. After reading the article it seems to be that the majority of the bashers are divided into 1) those who only learned of it when Jay-Z made headlines with his menagerie and do not like him or them 2) those who do listen to mp3 over laptop speakers and god awful earbuds, or just as bad, Beats headphones and 3) the entitled who have gotten used to freebies and think they deserve more.

For once I really feel it is right to blame the hipsters and millenials. Bad enough we now have Brooklyn artisanal pickles( it's a f.ing pickle), now this. I'm a very happy TIDAL subscriber - it's my first streaming service & I have the gear appreciate it's SQ. In addition to the 'not clearly explained' point described above, where I believe the J-Z 'going to the masses' strategy failed, is by having been joined solely by multi-multi-multi $$-millionaires-$$ and basically saying 'we're taking back the industry!'

With all due respect to these music icon's. The general public - I don't think - just doesn't have the appetite to further enrich multi's at THEIR expense!?!?

Instead, I think he should have been joined by a 'range' of icons, up & comers and starving musicians/artists to make the same point. Much more powerful I think. Yes, Madonna has been affected by free streaming - but no tag days needed for her. Struggling musicians and artists however - a different story! To take it a step further, why not have TIDAL gift-off a portion of revenues to some kind of musician/artist development programs, music schools, or the sort.

Gives subscribers a much warmer contributive feeling than adding another zero to Madonna's bank account. A lost PR opportunity that may be difficult to back-track from???