Thanks for the recommendation about XMind—I will check it out. And good tips on using Circus Ponies NoteBook for GTD.

—Ed Eubanks

By “structured data” and what you go on to say, I assume you mean something like an open standard?

It would be nifty if all of the GTD application developers all agreed to use XML or OPML, or some other existing standard. The trouble is, even with just XML or OPML, which do you use? It would depend on what application(s) you want to share that data with. That was, in a sense, one of the great advantages of the original KinklessGTD, which—because it was based on OmniOutliner with its inherent power—could export the data in a scad of formats.

I’m not entirely sure about the nature of your question, though: is it your wish to use multiple GTD-style apps, and move data regularly between them? Or is it simply to have the flexibility to export and import a variety of data types?

—Ed Eubanks

Good summary—and you’re right, a clear protocol, as you call it, is the hinge-pin, isn’t it? I want to begin to work on that idea with the “Task Tracking” article—but I think such a topic is bigger than one or even several articles. Maybe my thoughts will, at least, provide a petri dish in which your workflow might emerge.

—Ed Eubanks

I realize my coverage of Life Balance is spotty. Thanks for pointing out the advantage of the outline view—I can see how that would be an asset to many users for sorting and planning. I’ll include it in my summary next time.

—Ed Eubanks

Thanks for your kind remarks. It’s good to know that even 4+ years on this review is bringing readers some laughs.

There is no definitive list of recordings for auditioning speakers or sound equipment. You can find albums on Stereophile’s R2D4 (Records to Die For) and The Absolute Sound has their own list as well. But my advice has always been to bring albums you know very well so that you can detect differences in the reproduction easily. That having been said, there are obviously albums which are more demanding in terms of their bandwidth, tonal or dynamic range, etc. or are of higher fidelity in terms of the recording quality. It would be hard for me to provide a list here for you—networking with other audiophiles and reading some of the magazines may help. I have discovered a lot of music by spending time with other music lovers and audiophiles who spread the word about great albums from artists who often fly below the radar.

My advice is to bring a variety with you so that you can cover a wide cross section of your own music library. Personally whenever I audition equipment I bring at least one very demanding large scale orchestral recording (Mahler, Beethoven, etc.). The two recordings I mention here, the Dvorak and Mahler, are good examples but there are countless others. I always bring a vocal recording or two—at least one male and one female, as human voice can be very challenging to reproduce accurately. I typically bring something big that rocks to make sure the system isn’t just sterile and “audiophile” but can actually swing too. Pink Floyd, The Who, The Stones, etc. whatever your particular preference. I also typically bring one or two small scale ensemble recordings—a jazz trio or quartet (say Keith Jarrett Trio, Oscar Peterson Trio, etc.) and a chamber music recording, say Bach or something along those lines, to ensure the system can handle delicate passages as well as bombastic ones.

In terms of your other question. I am not a big fan of SACD personally, but there are others who feel differently. There is some merit to the MFSL discs, but they run the gamut—some are really no better than the original aluminum CD release, some are significantly better, and many fall somewhere in between. The prices out there can be kind of goofy, so use your own judgment. MFSL was really mostly about their high-end LP releases, which typically were worth the extra money and did sound significantly better than regular LP releases (there were some exceptions, and people spend hours online debating this stuff—but overall the MFSL LP releases were excellent, especially given when they were released). The MFSL CD concept didn’t really offer the same level of improvement.

One format that is absolutely worth the money is the XRCD, which is a standard aluminum CD, but which is mastered using a proprietary process by JVC in Japan. The resulting sound quality is vastly superior to a conventionally recorded/produced CD. There is a limited catalog in large part because they go back to the original master tapes to create the discs, but most of the titles are really excellent so the collection makes up in quality what it lacks in quantity.

At the end of the day I am very cynical about digital formats and SACD vs. CD etc. because I am really an analog guru and I listen to LPs about 90% of the time. So to me the digital debates are pretty uninteresting. But then again I am an audiophile and willing to deal with all the hassles that come with LPs.

As to your last question—I have never actually written any formal audio reviews. I am an audiophile, and for years I owned a store by the name of Symphony Sound in Chicago where we designed, sold, and installed high-end audio and home theater systems. But I have not written any reviews. I mostly wrote this piece as a send-off of the typical audiophile reviews out there because after spending a number of years in the industry the reviews started to really drive me nuts.

Trust your own ears, find a good store—one which treats people the way I’d like to believe our customers would say we treated them, a store that will spend time with you and is serious about good sound and about music and not just about the next sale. And recognize it is a gradual process. It took me about 10 years to get my system where I wanted it, in part because I couldn’t afford to do it all right in one fell swoop, and in part because I needed to spend more time listening and learning what I like and dislike, and in part because some products in my system only recently became available. So it’s unlikely to all come together overnight, but now that I have my system the way I want it, I don’t fiddle with it anymore. I just leave it alone and listen to music. And that is what I call reaching audio nirvana…

Thanks for reading,

—Evan Trent