MOMO-i designed Fostex Headphones

---

Well these babies finally came a few days ago. With two identical sets of stickers and no application instructions, I decided to wing it and just throw stickers on wherever there was space. Hey I can always buy another set if I mess up both times.

I did not get a collectible photo. RG said they may send these out separately at a later time so I'll wait for it. If you got one included with your package... welp I guess I just got screwed then.

Now with my terrible design sense out of the way...

The package also contains a MOMO-i Namagoe Tester mini CD. It's more of a toy than anything else, but very novel and a cute idea. There were 6 tracks total.

1. 1KHz - Momoi saying AAAAAAAH


2. 100Hz Momoi humming MMMMM


3. 5kHz - Very high pitched squeal


4. Left/Right channel test - Momoi saying migi/hidari (felt stupid during this one because I didn't pay attention to the L/R letters and put my headphones on backwards!)


5. Panning test - Momoi going nyan-nyan-nyan followed by a VERY cute skit where she 'yoissho's left, right, and center several times.


6. Headphone information - Specs, care and maintenance instructions with moe voice commentary in the background.

For testing, I used my Sennheiser HD280 as my comparison model. It seemed fair as they are both close in type and price. I plugged these into my XFI card with no amp, and played back both the tester CD and some live concert clips that I often watch. I do not consider myself a true hardcore audiophile, so there were minimal controls and I did not use any objective measuring devices. What I type is just my general feeling:

Fostex is light and comfy with little to no pressure on the ears compared to HD280 (which feel like iron earmuffs after an hour). The headphones are not as loud as HD280 so I had to fiddle with volume a bit. There is a bit clearer distinction between instruments, and a bit less coloration in the voice. This definitely seems like a set of headphones great for listening to radio and long dramas when you are in a quiet room, or when you are wearing them for hours at a time. I prefer the HD280 when watching live concerts with a loud crowd though, even if the bass bleeds over a bit. They add a bit more flavor even though there is greater distortion. Both headphones are closed-ear so they are pretty good for general use and will block out most ambient noise. I'll probably keep these plugged into my PC while I hook up my HD280 to my XBOX.

For the heck of it, I also test-ran them against my HD595s for some choral pieces and Cello solos. They fared surprisingly well, though they are two very different types of headphones meant for different purposes. HD595 had a stronger bass, but its main advantage was the immersion factor - they basically don't exist as headphones when you wear them.

I didn't bother comparing against Shure E5s or CX300. I will probably never use these for PMP since they are so conspicuous.

Posted by Paranda at 12:51 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

Buy this if you are cool

---

Momoi's custom designed headphones are out.

Comes with goodies such as stickers, Momoi voice CD for audio testing, and collectible photo. They didn't just make an English page for fun. Show RG that overseas fans are good for it!

Posted by Paranda at 12:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Momoi concert live broadcast

---

In case any Momoi fans haven't seen the announcement in the forums..

Shinji will attempt to broadcast Momoi's concert live from Las Vegas on Nico. We tried this at Fanime but the feed got shut down by staff. Hopefully Anime Vegas is a bit more lax.

http://live.nicovideo.jp/gate/lv3743186

Broadcast starts 7pm U.S. Eastern time tonight. Come cheer on Momoi and hang out with the other Momoists there virtually

Posted by Paranda at 5:44 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Shirasawa Rie

---

Take KOTOKO from her denpa glory days (circa 2003), crank up the kyunkyun dials a few dozen degrees, and you get 21 year old Shirasawa Rie (白沢理恵) - a sharp young ave;new singer with a voice so cute it causes brain damage.

Rie-chan, winner of "ave;new vocal audition" in 2007, made her public debut at that year's Winter Comiket. Soon after, she began appearing quite regularly as both a blogger on the ave;new website, and as a frequent target of Sakura Saori's "LOOK AT MY CUTE LITTLE SISTER" posts in LovableNote. In February 2008, she had her first song released on the ave;new album 'Orb' (Jewel Colors). Since then, despite her busy schedule as a full time university student, she has maintained a consistent blogging presence on ave;new, released four solo songs of her own (with one more on the way), and appeared as a background singer during Animelo 2008.

Though these accomplishments are impressive for a newbie part-timer, and not an episode of LoveLoveLovable goes by without her senpai Saori plugging Rie-chan this or Rie-chan that, the pitifully small discography hasn't helped her gain much real exposure. To make things worse, half of Rie's current works aren't even available on album or maxi single - they are single tracks bundled with obscure erogame soundtracks or drama CDs.

Luckily, I do not expect this to go on much longer. Lately, Rie has been drafted to support avenewproject initiatives which have been wildly successful. She collaborated with Shaori and Miyu to make fantastically catchy tracks for the Twin Angels series, all of which were released this June in the second AvePro album, A LA MODE 2. Her latest duet with Shaori in Momoe Pulchu's theme song "Double Shooting Pulchu" released at Comiket 76 also displayed considerable skill and was the primary motivation for me to write this. I now feel that Shirasawa Rie is ave;new's most underused singer. Ok so she may be going to school now, but once she graduates...please PLEASE lock her up in a moesong sweatshop with dorechu and throw away the key! This is someone who needs to make up for lost time.

Pros:

• Able to sing insanely cute songs at 21 years old while being a full time student.
• Cosplays and makes funny faces
• Learning quickly from Sakura Saori. She even shares some of her speech patterns and habits

Cons:

• Not enough songs!
• May not be immune to aforementioned brain damage effects of own voice. It's kind of funny how her commentary went from fairly run-of-the-mill to WTF psych ward patient?

Posted by Paranda at 1:12 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

So far so good in Mexico

---

It seems Momoi got the rockstar treatment in Mexico and saw a huge welcoming reception with crying fans, billboards all over the place, and various outbursts. Her blog impressions so far have been extremely positive.

It's awesome that the fans there were able to create an atmosphere where she really felt comfortable getting in there and mingling with the fans to a huge extent.

We are also watching the event at the English forums, with cat_clan acting as our unofficial eyes and ears.

And though I was not able to attend this event in person in the end, one thing I had did make it to Mexico after all. Look for Momoi using our Fenix LD10. *sheds tear*

Mexican fan blog watch:
Momoi en Mexico
Momoi Mexico

Posted by Paranda at 10:21 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

Month-end figure arrival

---

Haven't listed any new figures in a while. Don't worry despite the tragic loss of a few favorites in "the great fire" (R.I.P. 1/8 Milfa, 1/8 Ilfa, 1/8 Pastel Ink, and others), I'm still getting them regularly. Kaitendo's 1/6 Tamaki (blue box behind) delayed my order for a month and a half, but everything finally arrived today. This 1/4 Nanoha has some great details (clear lines even on the fingernails) but the plastic feels cheap and weighs so little that I'm afraid to pick it up without snapping it in half without the support attachment. It's definitely one of those figures I have to handle with kid gloves.

When scaled to 1/8 Nanoha, she appears to be a bit on the short end. How can a 1/4 adult be only twice as tall as her 1/8 child self? I might just be spoiled though. My first 1/6th figure being Magical Girl Rin set artificially high standards for everything else because that was basically a 1/4 figure molded out of solid steel but mislabeled as 1/6 PVC.

.

1/4 Fate, the partner in crime, should arrive in 5 months (Don't look at the same page on amazon.co.jp if you don't live in Japan, it will only make you sad).

Also, checking my orders today though, I realized I missed the first press *Dreamy Maple Crown* Blu-Ray. Somehow I thought I already preordered it when the newsmail first came out, but I apparently didn't. Slightly pissed off about that one, especially because the 1st press DVD taunts me by being not sold out yet.

Posted by Paranda at 1:40 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

I suppose it was inevitable

---

When you hang around Momoists a lot, you get infected by the camera nerd disease.I decided to go with Nikon, since as another fan put it so simply, "we need another Nikon guy."

With the seed planted in Hawaii this March, and watered thoroughly at Fanime last month, the initial whim to start playing around with DSLRs has finally come to fruition.

Today, the last piece of a recent string of photo-related purchases arrived to make a usable, if not hastily assembled kit that I intend to carry around for my upcoming trips. It consists of: one Nikon D700 body, two very basic lenses (Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens, Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 lens), a Gitzo GT3541LS tripod, and a Really Right Stuff BH-55 head with Pro II clamp and RRS D700 quick release plates. This seems to be what was most recommended by others. Of course, while getting "recommended" gear is cool and all, I'm still aware that as a beginner amateur, the biggest limiting factor will be my own crappy skill so I probably won't really appreciate it until a few years down the road.

I also plan to get Nikon's 14-24mm if I do decide to go to Japan this summer for Comiket and Animelo 09, as I would use it heavily in the week between while hiking Mt. Fuji and doing other stereotypical tourist stuff (with less time devoted to buying crap this time around).

Animelo is up in the air right now since I am a little tempted by a few other certain events. I do plan to get the 70-200mm VR whenever Momoi comes to the states again though (next year please - because everyone seems to think it's going to get refreshed with a better version).

In the short term, I have a big batch of figures arriving soon, probably Monday, including the giant 1/4 Nanoha which I will use to test-drive the long end of the Tamron.

Posted by Paranda at 2:15 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)