Well, it has taken me six months, but I've finally managed to paint myself into a corner. I'm beginning to drown in the incoming headphones from the Stax Mafia, an over-abundance of celebrity cans, and DIYers sending their beloved projects.

Let's take a moment to breathe and reflect on the month's activities, and things to come.

In a rather shady headphone forum out there on the interweb (that will remain unnamed) lives a group of gentlemen who call themselves: "The Stax Mafia." In recent weeks, having become aware of my work measuring headphones, they've "requested" that I make some measurements of electrostatic headphones.

I just couldn't resist. (I don't want to wake up with a goat head on the pillow next to me.)

Summer's a beautiful thing in Montana, it doesn't last long enough, though. September is here, and the fall weather is starting to show up, believe it or not. Ah well, more time inside the house measuring headphones I suppose.

Speaking of which, lots of new cans, and some interesting things upcoming!

In a recent email, Stereophile's Stephan Majias inquired of Editor John Atkinson, "Um, is that a Peachtree DAC?"

John responded that it indeed did look like a Peachtree, but didn't know what the headphones were, so I was cc'ed on the exchange.

Little did they know, they were opening up one of the classic, often funny, and at times a little creepy topics in Headphonedom.

Like it or not, Monster has done more for the recent success of headphones than any one else. They've moved headphones from just another audio accessory, to a major stand-alone audio category in the mind of the popular culture. Headphone sales have climbed strongly over the past three years in the face of economic turmoil, and Monster has played the major roll in that success.

I'd say it's mostly been an exersize in marketing and supply chain acumen so far, but the deal with HTC may change all that.

I recently posted a poll asking why the perceived value of headphones has increase so much over the last ten years. Much to my chagrin, the answer, "The success of the iPod in the pop culture allowed headphones to become a sweeping fad of fashion and celebrity" has just pulled into the lead.

Saddly, I tend to agree.

Any headphone enthusiast will tell you one of the unque characteristics of cans is their ability to take you somewhere else. To secret you away to another place ... the place where your music is all around and you are subsumed in its spell.

Evidently, experimental musician Jeremiah Cymerman gets it, too.