Sony PS-X75 Biotracer Plays The Who

Well, if I am going to dust off Daniel Thomas Vol 4 and get back into a publishing routine, I will have to write a lot more about music and hi-fi audio.  What better time to listen to my favorite turntable, the mighty Sony PS-X75 Biotracer battleship?

My own hi-fi journey often feels like Billy from Family Circus: a lot of meandering and jumping around the neighborhood, only to wind up at the house across the street.  Back in 2009, I had a spectacular stereo system: Sony PS-X75 Biotracer, Dynavector 10x5 phono cartridge, Pro-Ject Tube Box II with a pair of Mullard 12AX7's.  In less than six months, it was all gone, and I've lamented the loss ever since.  You would think that I would have saved my pennies to rebuild that classic system...but, ohhh nooo.  I've spent years with varying budget turntables, cartridges and phono stages.  It's been a fun journey of learning and discovery, but I'm still sorely missing the days when my music rattled the windows.

Thankfully, I have a Biotracer deck back in my hands, the smaller and more svelte 1981-84 PS-X600.  But I have a tube phono preamp that's nowhere as richly musical as the Pro-Ject Tube Box.  But I'm working to solve that problem right now.  Hopefully, before the end of the year, I can score that Dynavector cart and be back in the promised land.  Maybe...the key difference between 2014 and 2009 is that I'm now married.  "Spare Money" has become a fleeting illusion to me now.

Anyway, enjoy this video of Who's Next.  This LP only really came alive on the PS-X75.  It's a spectacular example of what makes spinning records so much fun.

Project Y - A New Sega Genesis Brawler!

As a dedicated Sega fanboy, I am thrilled and delighted to see video games for my beloved systems continue to arrive all these years later.  The Sega Dreamcast gets most of the attention, but a few indie titles have also appeared on the Sega Genesis.  Project Y (tentatively titled) is the latest and greatest to appear.

Project Y is a classic side-scrolling brawler, features some amazingly detailed and colorful 16-bit graphics, and appears to take many cues from the Streets of Rage series, including adapting SoR3 character sprites, a move which has generated controversy among online circles.  I personally don't have a problem with this; since Project Y's graphics have been so heavily reworked; adapting an existing graphics engine is an affordable way for indie programmers to develop software titles for the Genesis, without all the heavy investments in programming from the ground up.  We forget, all too foolishly, that these indie video games are a labor of love, made with next to no money, and barely earn enough money to pay for the raw materials.  If this title sells 1,000 copies, that would be considered a blockbuster smash hit.

I have my "High Definition Graphics" Model 1 Sega Genesis connected to the Sony Trinitron, and I'm ready to rock.  Today's video game industry is melting down, crumbling into extinction under the weight of sheer incompetence.  You can keep your reruns and franchise sequels that were burned out 15 years ago.  I want something new.  I want real video games again!  And I'll be first in line to grab a cartridge copy of Project Y whenever it is completed.

Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope this beat-em-up is completed and released to the public.