The Impact Zone and Amps

"Life is alot like surfing, when you get caught in the impact zone, you need to get right back up because you never know what’s over the next wave" - Bethany Hamilton (Soul Surfer)

Right now I feel this is the philosophy that I feel like I've been living by since moving into the dorms. At the dorms, I've felt a tiny bit overwhelmed with the amount of stuff that I have to do. I try and not get too stressed and take it step by step until the weekend. (Then I can finally have some breathing room! :)) Though the experience has been incredible thus far. Anyways, life is pretty stressful between classes, homework work, learning parkour and trying to eat healthy and bulk up a bit. I'm struggling but it's getting there slowly. At the very least thinking about the quote keeps me optimistic. :) The rest of my posters came and I'll throw pics of  them up in a later post. (I have a gigantic banner hanging near my bed of Alana Blanchard surfing om nom nom) On a tangent, surfing is something I think I'm going to pick up again this summer....just need to figure out how to get out to California -_-.

Anyways, onto music (and Amps!) Lately, I've been feeling buyers impulse to get another amp (yeah yeah bad I know, and not a amp but another amp) Anyways, the amp isn't an amplifier in the traditional sense that it is for electric guitars. The one I want is actually for headphones. The one I've been eyeing for the last couple of months is the Schiit Lyr. (Yes, it's pronounced how it looks) It's a hybrid tube amp.

Isn't it pretty? 

Anyways, the specs of this amp are ridiculous.

Headphone Impedance: 8-600 ohms
Gain: 10 (20 dB)
Frequency Response: 2Hz-200KHz, -3dB
Maximum Output: 40V P-P into 32 ohms typ
THD: Less than 0.1%, 20Hz-20KHz, at 1V
Topology: Dynamically Adaptive Dual-Mode Class A, zero feedback, noninverting, hybrid tube/MOSFET, single voltage gain stage, DC-coupled input and output
Tube Complement: ECC88 or 6BZ7 dual triode, 1 per channel (rollable to all 6922/6DJ8/ECC88/6BZ7 types and similar)
Power Consumption: 30W
Size: 9 x 6.75 x 3.25”
Weight: 7 lbs

Yeah, tons of power to power Orthodynamic headphones! Also, the sound signature you can get from this has a fairly wide range due to the ability to use mainly types of tubes. The company has a great track record of customer service and is definitely something I'd definitely look into getting. The only set back is the price, at $500 it's a little steep (read a lot) for me right now and so over the next couple months I'll be saving up for one of these. The price to performance ratio from what I hear is definitely worth it and isn't quite to the point where the law of diminishing returns apply? haha

Long overdue update post

Life has been hectic with school starting and all. But with Labor Day Weekend, I thought that this would be a nice time to update on what's been going on with me. Well...three weeks ago I moved out of my house and into an apartment dorm for my sophomore year, and my living situation isn't too shabby if I do say so myself. :D
Some pictures of my humble little dorm:

 Little bit messy but I've got a pretty adequate amount of room to store things.

 One of the posters hanging in my room. The wall on the right is a little bland...gigantic vinyl banner coming soon. Go big or go home right? :D

 Radiohead Poster!!! :D

My workspace and current music setup for right now. (and DSOTM poster!) The lack of audio equipment is kind of disheartening but oh well hopefully that will change. Two more posters are on the way to hang in various other places around my room. 

Anyways, dorm life is ridiculous but I love it! My roommates ended up not being crazy and being really chill people. Classes and work will be hectic and pretty intense this semester so updates will probably be limited but I'll do my best to keep updates current. Honestly though, on campus life is kind of boring so far and there hasn't been a whole lot to do.

Anyways, with no meal plan in the dorm I'm in guess I'm going to need to learn to cook a lot better *yikes*. I guess I've always to an extent been pretty interested in cooking, but am terribad at cooking, like really terrible. However, I'd say even in these short two weeks I've been on campus I've gotten better at cooking, so I'll take some time to post more pics of stuff I've made since being on campus. Part of the challenge is too cook healthy and delicious foods all year. Here's a sampling of some items I've made:

 Small (~4 oz.) salmon burger on whole wheat buns.

 Technically didn't made this but it's Greek yogurt with fresh blueberries on top.

4 oz. eye of round steak with leftover brown rice.

I guess I'll leave it on that note, next post will more specifically address the shortcomings (and pros) of the current speakers I have in my dorm and what I plan to do to solve it. Also, by then maybe I'll have the rest of my dorm decorated...which means moar pics!