Oktyabr

"Obsolete" only truly happens when you can no longer source it as an option. Dial up modems, Betamax and VHS, AGP slots in motherboards (and video cards that fit them) are examples of technology that is now "obsolete". As long as a technology has a significant market share (people want it), companies will continue to make it. The prices of 1440P displays and the hardware needed to make use of them keeps it from entirely replacing 1080P as the standard. VR too, will soon be another hurdle for 1440p and 4K.

Damn! I wish I could find this one for sale in the states: http://www.lg.com/hk_en/monitor/lg-27MS73D

I love my Fanatec setup. The Logitech G29 is a good pick too but the wheel is significantly smaller and feels more "toy like" in it's construction. Good deals on second hand fanatec setups hit the bay every so often. Search the bay for "Fanatec GT3", "Fanatec GT2", "Fanatec Clubsport"

I realize that. And if I could find a 4K smart TV, no larger than 32", I'd buy it.

I believe that they may have had them in the past. I am so far unable to find any current models offered by Samsung in a 1080P 27" television. I'll keep looking though. Anyone have any links to such a mythical beast? Ideally "smart"?

I don't see any 1080P Samsung televisions in those sizes listed on costco's website?

@Himommies No budget. Whatever works. @ImperialSteele, thanks for the link. Looks like a good price. How would I go about turning it on and off with my smart phone?

I'm downsizing (think "tiny house") and that includes my PC setup. I would like to find a display that can serve double use, both as a quality TV and as a monitor. Yes, I game. I have room for nothing larger than a 32" television but think that 32" is probably too large for 1080P, when reading text close up, as I would when using it as a monitor. So I'm looking for 24-27". "Smart" would be better than not. TV rather than monitor for a few reasons, primarily I like having a remote control when using it as a TV. Suggestions?

The difference is how close you are sitting to your 46" TV (or monitor). My son runs a 27" at 1080P and with the screen only two or three feet away from my face, I can see aliasing in text, especially. Not enough to really bug me (or him), still great for gaming.

Games would have to be Fallout. Movies would be "Hackers", "Blade Runner", and the Matrix series.

Without really knowing much about the room you have to set them up in I would recommend, for floor standing speakers, extending your budget a bit for a pair of Vandersteen 2Ci or shopping for a mint pair of used ones. Bookshelf sized? I like KEF but Vandersteen might make some good smaller speakers too. I only have experience with their full size, floor standers. http://vandersteen.com/categories/floorstanding-loudspeakers

None, in sound quality. FLAC, because they are compressed, take up less room than raw WAVs and have the added benefit of a header capable of storing things like id3 tags, even cover art. But you can do the reverse with FLAC as well... burn an *audio* CD from FLAC and it will make a perfect copy of the original CD.

With no DRM??? How unlike Microsoft...

I didn't think WMP even supported FLAC?! In Foobar 2000 you will notice you can change your CD lookup database too. If one doesn't work I'd try another.

Foobar is very nice but takes a bit to get setup properly. There is even a script you can install for it that will locate missing album art. This video will take less time for you to watch than it would me typing (and you reading) the same thing

The other thing that has been overlooked is that CDs can be purchased USED. Try and buy an entire album from iTunes, Amazon, or HDtracks for $1 And by ripping them (and then putting the CDs in safe storage) you actually have another back up. Yeah, it would be a pain in the butt to re-rip every single one of my CD collection (500+) BUT I could do it if I had to! I use the ripper in Foobar 2000. Most other non-iTunes music apps have a FLAC capable ripper as well. Some of the paid ones will even go out and find the cover art and automatically download it for you while it's being ripped. Fairstars CD Ripper is also very good. It's fast, does FLAC, id3 tags, and it's free: http://www.fairstars.com/cd_ripper/

WTF?!?! CDs are basically raw WAV data. MP3s are compressed. Compression, especially lossy compression like MP3, is not as good as raw. FLAC is lossLESS compression and will make bit perfect copies of anything, including CDs, that you encode with it. Forget all about mp3s unless you are stuck with a music player that can't handle anything else. Buy CDs and rip to FLAC and/or buy HD recordings online. Storage space is CHEAP!

Although be sure to turn OFF "Boom Sound" on your HTC One when using decent headphones.

TumbleButt at least sees the logic in recommending a good open backed headphone. :rolleyes: If you are already having motherboard problems seriously consider a decent USB DAC/AMP. It doesn't have to have gobs of power. Both of those that Tumble recommended are pretty good but there are other options too, such as just about anything by FiiO (with USB and integrated amp), even the Syba Sonic SD-DAC63057, which might not be a bad choice since it has audio IN as well as out, giving you a mic input even if the sound chip on your motherboard is completely dead. The K7XX is relatively easy to drive. Should be fine with your phone too.

They are excellent. They do away with the bumpy headbands of some of the earlier AKG K/Q models, have the same (expensive!) earpads made of velour covered memory foam as the K712, very light weight for a headphone their size and the adjustment bands are great! Just put them on your head. No messing around trying to get just the right fit. They adjust their fitment automatically. Sound quality? Superb, but I AM an AKG fan so perhaps I'm biased. I use them for gaming, movies, and of course music... everything from jazz and classical to heavy metal and electronica. If they didn't make me happy I would have replaced them by now.

Yup! K7XX = K712. The K712 does come with an extra cord and a velour travel bag but I never used the bag and extra cords are cheap for the AKGs.

The K7XX is the headphone I use all day, every day now. I LOVE them, and at US$200 I can't recommend them enough. They ARE open backed though! But if you are good with that and can afford them, yeah, I would jump on them. I have no regrets! 650 usd? I don't know about that. I would compare them to the AKG K712, whatever those cost in Norway. I used to own both and sold the K712. No differences I could detect (besides the orange trim on the K712).

Massdrop "blue box" Brainwavz Exclusive grab bag. $20. At the least you will end up with a decent pair of Brainwavz earbuds for listening to music on the go, that have an MSRP of twice that value. In the best case, one out of 1000 purchases will end up with something possibly worth much more

Not to YOU, it isn't What's that extra cable worth, if you went out to buy one for the M40X (US$19-29.99 on Amazon for OEM replacements)? Did you know the earcups on the M50X rotate 90 degrees in either direction? The M40X (apparently), only in one direction. The 45mm driver may help with bass reproduction... as many reviewers claim. The M40X is also 1.5 ounces lighter than the M50X... Why, I wonder? Certainly a driver that is only 5mm smaller couldn't make that much difference. The point is that while I would fully expect the M40X to serve to all the same capacity as the M50X, at least how *I would use them*, with a sound more similar than not, the differences are much more than just a "silver ring"... And while it's perhaps appropriate to recommend the 40 over the 50 to some people, especially if the budget is rather tight, it is not accurate to recommend them to everyone on the "silver ring" premise.

Really? Each to their own, of course, but if there is a better built (with a similar number of satisfied customers), better sounding closed back can for under US$169 (Amazon... white ones are actually $149 right now), I'd like to know what it might be. Don't forget detachable cables (two are included with the M40X, three with the M50X), folding for travel, replaceable ear pads, a pleather storage bag, and of course that magical silver ring!!! They are a jack of all trades and pack a ton of value. I'd buy them again in heart beat, if I didn't already own a pair.