Well it's time to start planning for the 2008 Decfest here at Decware!

Here's a link to the info: https://www.decware.com/audio-blogs/

You can find pictures from last year on the link.

Consider this an attendance thread and general Q&A about the fest.  We'll monitor this thread until the fest to get an idea how many people will be attending.  Of course, the fest is for anyone, not just forum members so this thread will by no means be the last word on how many people will be here!

Looking forward to seeing everyone who can attend!

Steve

Hey, I can finally login to the new forum
You can count me in, I'm trying to get my brother to come out from Ct. so there may be two or us. Last year was a blast and I can hardly wait. see ya then.
John

Steve,
 Last year I stayed at the Super 8 motel in East Peoria on Taylor Street. I see there is another super 8 in Washington,IL. on Washington Road. Is the on in Washington Ok to stay in? Is it closer to your location? It's cheaper by $40 so it makes me wonder.

Dennis,
Thanks for the reply. I will book my room tomorrow.
Is there any music anybody want's to hear. I have about 1000 albums and if I have it i will bring it. Mostly 70's 80's rock. I have a good selection of referance recordings, If you haven't heard these you need to.    

I will be there. I am looking forward to meeting condesending out of touch elitists who spend 600 dollars on power cords, much as I have met here before. A lot of lounchair "experts" that believe they find knowledge by how much they jerk off over their credit card.

What an inspirational 1st post, Chevy!
Don

Chevelle's cheap shot is unsupported by the facts and my experience with Decware & Decfest....I attended last year and found just regular folks in a friendly and low-key environment.  I buy Decware because their products are very value-conscious and reliable.  No boutique products ....just great value and nice people too.  Anybody who has met Steve or visited his operation know that  he's a practical and knowledgeable designer who offers high-end audio at bargain prices.....I don't see any $600 power cords in his catalog but do see various kits , amps, tubes, that are quality made  and based on simple, good-sounding design....chevelle take your comments back and say your sorry or did you post on the wrong forum????

Hey Steve,
Will you have streaming video like last year? Maybe some steaming audio? Will you have your turn table set up?
John

Dave,

 Looking forward to seeing you Randy, and the Yeagermeister. Sorry I missed you all at Ed's this year.

ZYGI

Hopefully my first post will go over better than Chevelle's. I am going to try and make it this year. It has been 3-4 years since the first and last time I attended.

Hi Bob,

It's sad, but true .....  :(

I have been dealing with a serious health problem for the past few months and will be in the middle of treatment during this year's DecFest.

The docs tell me that I will survive, but I'm in pretty rough shape right now and have missed the past two weeks of work ..... and the next few to come.  The situation came as quite a surprise ..... but, stuff happens.

The good news is that I am still enjoying music at home thanks to my Decware based audio system and will be in Peoria in spirit.

I hope to put this "bump in the road" behind me and see everyone at the 2009 DecFest.

I will be checking the forum threads as time and health permit .....  8-)

Best wishes to all ..... and have a great Fest,

Randy

Edit: They called tonite and changed the date to Friday night.....so We will be getting in on Saturday....woohoo my favorite day!

Really Looking forward to this year.  Sure can't wait to hang out again.  Will miss some people(our thoughts are with you), but hopefully meet some others.......This is our third year, but will be a short one - I have to DJ (with my Pro12's) Saturday night   so we will only be there thursday night, Friday and leave Saturday morning.

Dave

ps: I am the one with the 4 legged critics, and boy are they excited too!  

pps: My new convertible is rarin to go.....last year it was in the shop but now its DECFEST OR BUST!!!

Randy,
  I was looking forward to hanging out with you and the rest of the guys.  I hope all goes well and you recover soon.  
Feel better
John

That's rough, Randy.
Hope things work in your favor. I'm inclined to expect that they will.

Godspeed!

I want to thank everyone for the kind thoughts and concerns .....  : )

I would ask that everyone possible attend the 2008 DecFest and have a great time.  Steve, DeVon and Bob work very hard every year to make this unique event a success.  All of those who have attended in the past know that the DecFest is so much more than a mere "promotional event" ..... it's a true labor of love provided by music lovers for music lovers.

If you have never attended, do yourself a big favor and meet all of the wonderful folks that make each year better than the last.

See you in '09 ......  

Randy

Ok, Im going grocery shopping this weekend.  If anyone knows they will make it but has not posted, now would be a good time to do so.  Of course there will be plenty of food and for sure it will taste scrumcious.  Im just tryin to get some idea of how many.

Randy....... I am soooo sad  :'(   Hope you are well soon, and you will stay in my prayers.  We'll send a guinness back with Dave for you.  Keep us posted.

You gonna make soup?

I'm in!  :D

Well, first off, Randy you have our prayers.  It will feel odd without you here.  

As you know last year I tried to set up a zen cam for the fest, it worked somewhat but what a process.  Funny how these new cams all lead to paying someone else to make them work for you...  In any case, I have purchased another one that will work in low light and have set it on a dedicated server here at the office with a static IP address.

Unlike last year, this year in addition to the video send, there will be a non-compressed CD quality stereo feed of the event!

I have set up a stereo array of professional microphones in the center of the listening room and am running them through the mixer from my old studio via fire wire to the dedicated server.  I will allow you to hear all the conversation and music in the room with a surprising degree of accuracy (sound quality).  For example, it will be easy to hear what all the gear sounds like (I've been testing that part) making VIRTUAL attendance truly possible.  

NOTE:  A good set of headphones plugged into your computer while you watch is doing a respectable job of letting you hear the respective differences between components.

I have set up the stream so that you can just click on the link and windows media player will open and play the stream.  I will post the link on Thursday night here in this thread.

Because of the huge bandwidth of the feed (since it has non-compressed CD quality audio) is a factor, I am pushing it to a large server that will have no issues sending the feed to as many people as want to watch it.   On that note, I expect this to horrifyingly expensive so it may not be repeated next year.  

I will be paying by the meg for the bandwidth so when you quit watching be sure to close your media player.  I will likely try to archive the whole event provided the hard drive on my server is big enough with the intension of making a couple DVD's so that people who want a copy of it can get one.

And Randy, I'll give you an alternate direct IP and port address to connect to my server (which costs me nothing) in the event we have to pull the broadcast off the web for monetary reasons.  

On a different subject - I have the lower half of the listening room finished for this years fest.  All but the floor.  I plan to put cork flooring in for acoustic reasons, but need time with the new room to decided for sure so meanwhile I've just painted it and tossed a small area rug in there.  I'll post some pictures of it this weekend sometime.

REMEMBER, the fest starts Friday at noon and ends Sunday at 5:00 PM.
Do not arrive before this time.  Bob, Dave, Paul and possibly one other who I've been in contact with be arriving Thursday to help set things up.

NEW PRODUCT, there will some yes.  The long awaited replacement for the Radials model RL-1.5's will be making their debut.  Also it looks like my latest secret project is ready for this years fest.  It was a spontaneous idea we had one night for a new amplifier... I think it's going to stun quite a few people so I'm anxious to present it.

As I get things ready this week I may post some pictures.

Steve

Wow Steve, Friday morning when I turn the key in my Van can't come soon enough!

Stone of Tone

If anyone needs last minute instructions on how to get to our place, you can call this number:  309.669.7041.  This number is only for DECFEST questions, I guess you could call it the DECFEST hotline.  lol
Anyway, someone should be available on it Friday - Sunday.
Everyone have a safe trip and we will see you in a few days !!

Hi,

Actually starts around noon on Friday, so anytime after that would be great.  I will pm the directions to you.

You should set up a link on Head-Fi to your live link since you posted the notice over their.

I just wanted to say thanks to Steve and DeVon.   Had a great time chatting with everyone Friday.  Great bunch of people.  

Hi Randy,

I'd always hoped (against hope) to be able to make it to a Decfest to meet you, but have never been able to get it together (due to timing and distance).

TERRIBLY terribly sorry to hear of your health difficulties, and hope they clear up like a rough patch in the road that is soon behind! Get well, dude, and hopefully we'll talk over a Guinness one day.

Cheers,
Karl