Ariel Bitran

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FujiFilm Develops Ultra-Thin Electroacoustic Film
Ariel Bitran
Ariel Bitran  |  Feb 06, 2013  |  3 comments

Woah.

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General Sisyphus's Chicken
Ariel Bitran
Ariel Bitran  |  Jul 09, 2007  |  7 comments

So I've been banned from avidlistener.com.

I exceeded the 644-click limit.

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Getting Back into Vinyl Hi-fi: Part 3
Ariel Bitran
Ariel Bitran  |  Sep 19, 2012  |  3 comments
Larry listens to the Usher S-520s with the tweeters on the inside first.

After an exhausting but educational day at NYC’s In Living Stereo setting up my new Rega RB101 tonearm with the Audio Technica AT95E phono cartridge, I hailed a taxi while balancing the turntable on one hand. Thirty minutes later, the yellow cab stopped at the doorstep of my quaint Brooklyn duplex, which I share with three other roommates, a Chartreux cat named Larry, and three friendly Pakistani families.

Upon my return home with the P1, the roommates were ecstatic. Jared analyzed, “I dig its minimalist design.” Leeor cheered, “I can’t wait to play the new Animal Collective record on this!” Darryl insisted, “Yo, you need to bring some bitties back now.” Larry the Cat ignored our excitement and cuddled with my phono preamp’s glowing tube. After listening to some records together, I kicked the roommates out for some alone time with my system. No bitties yet, but I did have a mug of green tea, some LPs, and Larry.

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Getting Back Into Hi-fi: Part 4
Ariel Bitran
Ariel Bitran  |  Oct 05, 2012  |  0 comments
So where were we? Ah yes, I had just nailed loudspeaker positioning in my tiny bedroom by switching the left and right speakers placing the tweeters on the outside of my array. This change widened the soundstage and stabilized the central image but sacrificed some pinpoint high-end articulation I had with the tweeters inside the widths of the speakers. Yet, excessive bass resonances remained as evidenced through Paul McCartney’s bass runs on “Something” from my Abbey Road LP. Though a touch vaudeville, Paul is still a reserved and classy English gent, and there’s no way his bass guitar would demand such a boisterous presence. I had to get him under control.
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Getting Back into Vinyl, Part 1
Ariel Bitran
Ariel Bitran  |  Aug 03, 2012  |  20 comments
Bvvvzzzssst.

(Ugh.)

Bvvvzzzssst.

(Where am I? Oh. Bed.)

BVVVZZZSST!

“Alright, alright! I’ll get up!” I yelled at my phone. Slowly, I pulled myself out of bed on an early Saturday morning after a long night out. How did I get home? Something was needed in order to wake me up. Zeppelin’s Presence was on the Rega P1. Perfect.

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Getting Back into Vinyl, Part 1.5
Ariel Bitran
Ariel Bitran  |  Aug 10, 2012  |  5 comments
Kyle studied Film and TV at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. He had a freakish obsession with penguins and spent hours at a time glued to his Macbook watching downloads of Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing. I studied marketing at NYU’s Stern School of Business, counted down the days till the release of Guitar Hero I for Playstation Two, and once paid $20 for a broken drummer monkey known as Trick Star because I wanted to feel free and alive. In the summer of 2006, Kyle and I decided to start listening to vinyl. Why? Because vinyl was cool, and we were not.
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Getting Back into Vinyl, Part 2
Ariel Bitran
Ariel Bitran  |  Aug 13, 2012  |  7 comments
“Hi, Ariel? This is Steve Cohen at In Living Stereo. I just opened up your turntable box. There are some sweatpants in here. Oh, and the tonearm cable is missing.”

“MISSING?”

“Yes.”

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Getting Higher with High Water Sound
NY Audio & AV 2012
Ariel Bitran  |  Apr 18, 2012  |  2 comments
From an email’s distance, Jeff Catalano and his dealership High Water Sound seemed an enigmatic business in my mind, selling esoteric hi-fi from a downtown NYC loft. So, I was a little intimidated to visit his room, but to my surprise, Catalano is as non-elusive as you can get, beaming with joy about hi-fi and music and even wearing a Triumph shirt(!), the true sign of an everyman. He tells me he is committed to selling gear that brings the most emotion out the music.

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GigFi - Listen to Who's Playing Near You
Ariel Bitran
Ariel Bitran  |  Dec 14, 2012  |  0 comments
I've already admitted I have a live music problem, OK? I don't need something awesome like GigFi making my addiction worse. Much much worse.
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Goodbye to Jewel Cases
Ariel Bitran
Ariel Bitran  |  Jun 19, 2013  |  15 comments
I threw away all of the original jewel cases to my CDs. The CDs themselves are in a Case Logic CD Binder. Before throwing the cases away, I adored each title’s artwork and reminisced on each album’s place in my personal history.

It was hard to say goodbye, but the cases were taking up too much space.

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