iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

Reddit appears to have suddenly banned me, with a cryptic reference to my "other accounts" as the reason This is probably going to be the best thing to happen to my mental health all year

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

And yes, we have received this accusation on multiple occasions, hilariously

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 26/10/2025

Is everyone getting paid for this except me?

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 26/10/2025

Got Sound Reproduction Vol 4, with an extensive headphone section by @seanolive.bsky.social - it's good to see the stuff we've talked about online making it onto the record. It's amazing that with 51 pages, it still feels like there's so much left to cover - maybe Sean should do a followup book.

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

I see. Is there a reason you wanted to use that design in particular?

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

Wait, are those my mics? How did you get my mics? *I* don't even have one of those mics at the moment

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

I am aware that taking Dunbar's number as some kind of deterministic limit is bro science, and that isn't my point; my point is that I've observed different social dynamics in communities << and >1000.

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

To be clear, tiny towns aren't everyone holding hands and being friends; there are no grudges like small town grudges. But there's a certain social cohesion you get when everyone knows everyone else's parents.

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

Having lived in a town with a population under Dunbar's number, it was definitely not utopian, but every year I spend in larger settlements makes me more convinced that humans cope very poorly with not being able to remember all of the people sharing their town.

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

Who said it was professional? I've sent and received silicone pinnae on a purely hobby basis before!

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

I will only add this myth to my powerpoint if Todd Welti sends me a KEMAR-compatible copy of his actual pinna.

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

That's what the analysis of their product by an independent lab did, functionally. I am not certain if Flare understand that this is not the same thing as the ear "adding distortion" - i spent some time trying to explain this to them, but it seems that they're still making that claim

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

Not sure, but it has been the basis of claims they've made in the past that their concha-resonanxe-defeaters lower distortion. I'll email it to you

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

I had a protracted dialogue with the brand's owners, including a critical assessment of their white paper. My ultimate conclusion is that they are not *willfully* misrepresenting their product, but lack the knowledge of physics to understand what it is actually doing.

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

To the same extent I ever was - i log on to post a stupid thought every month or two, and talk to my coworkers and you.

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

I think that's true for literally every headphone show person - you are literally the sole reason I have an account on this site

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

Guys I think I have a brain disorder, I just spent a day F5ing a UPS tracking link before realizing that 1, it was of a shipment I was sending, 2, I hadn't shipped it yet and that's why there were no tracking details

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

When I realized that AI is basically the equivalent of a free CS undergrad intern at present, I simultaneously realized why I'm not very excited by it and why some people are very excited by it.

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

Mind showing 5-10 placements overlaid?

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

They're super cheap on Amazon too! Spend the $8 and save the $100, every time

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Got some QC Ultras for plane usage - I would seriously recommend that any "hifi" company trying to compete in this product space divest immediately.

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

@seanolive.bsky.social be prepared to bring wine back from NYC, I'm finally settling all my debts in that regard 😆

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Realistically, both are very good and very overrated, given that they're the only two composers most people can name off the top of their heads.

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

We're going back to topics next week

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

and then using this as a FUD shield against using measurements in the analysis of products. There's functionally no case made for how optimizing measurements worsens sound quality other than a brief reference to intersample overs (which I did appreciate), and the headline is a vast reach.

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

To be clear, I'm not actually claiming this was AI-written - rather, it has that traditional AI "style" of regurgitating a fixed set of inputs with some facile analysis. This piece overall seems to be what some folks have accused me of doing: pointing out that there are flaws in measurements 1/2

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

This article feels like somebody put the commentary that I, @goldensound.bsky.social, @resolvereviews.bsky.social, and @listener800.bsky.social have made on measurements into a GPT with the instructions "use this to justify measurements being bad"

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

In light of the recently semi-enacted ban on TikTok, I'd like to publicly state my universal support of banning any and all social media platforms, regardless of reason or ownership.

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

To be fair, phone camera quality has been to some degree an ✨AI✨ arms race for some time now.

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

The takes people try to cancel you for: "I heard a thing", "I didn't like a thing" The takes people should try to cancel you for: liking soup

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

In a rare and momentous occasion, audio is NOT the most toxic online nerd hobby space this week, and I am basking in the comparative calm. We're not doing any better, but at least other people are worse!

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

I mean listen, if you don't sign my copy, I will actually cry, but I can't speak for Douglas and Andrew

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

You have to give people some incentive to adopt better things, and apparently for Douglas and Andrew, tramp stamps of you is the carrot that donkey needs

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

My new years resolution is to do work more and worry about work less

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 22/12/2024

I feel like you go out of your way to bully me

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 15/12/2024

@resolvereviews.bsky.social mentioning Great Big Sea on stream has me listening to them again, and while I get that twenty years is a long run, I do wish they were still together. None of their solo stuff has quite captured the vibe for me (although I haven't seen Telltale Harbour)

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

I honestly am coming to the position that we should just have the VOD unlisted at this point - they're active subscriber losers, and they seem to frustrate people, but the live audience seems to like 'em

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

youtu.be/yPIrCaeVtvI?... This never ends well every time it happens, and yet for some reason it keeps happening

youtu.be

The £25,000 Pre-Amp Repair and the Copyright Strike

YouTube video by Mend It Mark

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

That's precisely what I'm asking for - if you do it, it saves me the time of doing it 😂

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Can you include a comparison to PPR for MDAQS? I can win a bet with Jacob Sœndergaard if PPR has a better correlation with listener ratings of sound quality.

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

Eagerly anticipating the release!

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Blaine LaCross @blainelacross.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

Until then, my personal preference is that we use a method of visualization that we can keep consistent in the long run, even as understanding of preference changes, and accept that nothing which gives a technically data-accurate visualization of FR is going to be perceptually correct for users. 8/8

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