MaximumEffort433

MaximumEffort433 OP t1_j6kllv0 wrote

The first line of the Tao Te Ching, depending on your translation of choice, is essentially:

>The Tao which can be conceived of by a finite mind is not the infinite and eternal Tao.

Or, more simply:

>The Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao.

And on account of a poorly made offhanded joke I tried to tell in another thread I was reminded of those audiophiles who are always chasing the truest possible sound for their music. They're looking for the flattest possible headphones, the highest possible bit rates, the lowest levels of interference, they're looking for a kind of purity that neither their equipment nor their ears will ever live up to.

Quite literally, the audio that can be played back on man made headphones and DACs, listened to by people's ears in lived in homes, will never be the truest or the cleanest or the purest audio, just like an eighty or ninety year lifetime will never be enough to conceive of an infinite universe.

(This isn't to say there's anything wrong with chasing the dragon or trying to get closer to perfection, you just have to realize that you can get close to perfection, but you'll never get the whole way there.)

From an audiophile perspective the metaphor is strained, this isn't much more than a shitpost in that regard, but trust me that from a Taoist perspective I've probably embarrassed the fuck out of them, too.
As Lao Tzu once said:

>Those who know, don't speak,
>those who speak don't know.

And boy do I have a lot to say on the matter!

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MaximumEffort433 OP t1_j6jecuf wrote

> Others have twenty or thirty cans, > > > > I alone have two.

I actually loled at this, I love it.

For those who don't know, the original verse was something to the effect of "Others are clever, I alone am stupid," depending on the translation. I don't know, the juxtaposition of being headphoneless and being dull witted is somehow funny to me.

>"I only have two sets of headphones, I'm such an asshole."

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MaximumEffort433 OP t1_j6jbtbr wrote

Do you want to improve the audio?

I don’t think it can be done.

 

The artist's intention is sacred.

It can’t be improved.

If you equalize it, you’ll ruin it.

If you listen for enjoyment, you’ll lose it.

 

There is a time for hearing the song,

a time for hearing the singer;

a time for listening to the headphones,

a time for listening to the music;

a time for seeking upgrades,

a time for enjoying endgames;

a time for tradition,

a time for time for the new.

 

The Sage listens to things as they like,

without trying to convince others.

She lets them go their own way,

and eats popcorn at the center of the argument.

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MaximumEffort433 t1_j597lam wrote

I honestly don't know, I just know that folks who got the post-2018 model haven't seemed to report the same problems, even though the mounting hardware appears to be identical. Sorry that I don't know more. Like I said, I believe they fixed the problem, but five cents worth of zipties can do the same thing, and the headphones are absolutely worth five cents of zipties.

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MaximumEffort433 t1_j4nnd4j wrote

The point of failure on the older models is pretty uniform: The ear cups are held to the headband by eyeglass screws threaded into a plastic retainer, eventually the plastic thread gives way and the ear cup comes off. Here's what mine looked like, and another redditor's, and a third for good measure.

I'm not trying to belabor the point, it's just that the HE-4XX is my favorite headphone so far and I wish I'd put zip ties on them, so I'm trying to show you very specifically where the problem is, I guess. Sorry, I'll go.

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MaximumEffort433 t1_j4m6pao wrote

Seriously. I loved my HE-4XX (before it completely fell apart on me) but the first thing I had to do was buy a new cable because the factory one was cutting out, then the ear cups broke off. On the bright side I haven't had any such problems with my Sundara, so I've got that going for me, which is nice.

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MaximumEffort433 t1_j4cjh8y wrote

Reply to [Image] by sparkblue

Me, the CEO of ADHD: "I've come here to suffer the pain of discipline and the pain of regret, and I'm all out of discipline."

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MaximumEffort433 t1_j1ocka6 wrote

It'll get there, I just figured this audience might have enjoyed the story, I'm not sure that normal people know how stuff like this sounds for us and it's an interesting juxtaposition, telling someone with ADHD to conduct a symphony with their day is a little like telling a double amputee to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.

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MaximumEffort433 t1_j1nelei wrote

I'm subscribed to both r-GetMotivated and r-adhdmeme and let me tell you that scrolling my feed can be a wild ride.

For those not in the know, ADHD is like a cacophony all the time, that's the default, and organizing an entire symphony orchestra is a terrifying enough thought that it makes me want to hide in the corner! 😅 Don't get me wrong, the sentiment of setting out to have an organized and orchestrated day is a good one, but what's interesting to me is that for this person being organized is the starting point, whereas for me being organized is a task in and of itself.

There's a kind of common joke among a lot of ADHD people, if not in word then in spirit:

>"Getting things done is simple, just break them down into smaller tasks."
>
>"But then there will be twice as many tasks!"
>
>"No, that's not-"
>
>"Do you know how much more work that would be!?"

Here's a gif explaining what I'm talking about.

That's all, that's the comment, how not all advice is universal, that what may seem like a small step for one might be a whole project for someone else.

Also if you like "start your day with a symphony" might I also suggest Brian Tracy's take: "Everyday start your day by eating the frog, whatever the worst thing is on your list, do that first, the rest will be easy by comparison."

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MaximumEffort433 t1_iuimnk3 wrote

> These guys actually fought really well

Are there enough of those guys to turn the tide of war in Russia's favor? Because from my (admittedly uninformed) perspective, it really looks like Putin is flailing right now.

Adding a dozen well trained shipwrights to your crew isn't going to do much good if the boat is already underwater, y'know?

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MaximumEffort433 t1_iuihz9r wrote

ROFL, I love it.

Before this Russia was slumming it with North Korea, Iran, Belarus, India, and China, now they're recruiting troops that the United States spent twenty years training... only for them to forget all their training the moment the United States left Afghanistan.

Great call, Russia, this will definitely shore up your very special military operation. Afghan troops riding in Vietnam era tanks armed with World War I era rifles, what a frightening proposition.

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