Is a really nice fountain pen worth a couple hundred dollars actually 2000 times better than a bic? Is a collectors vehicle safer, faster, or more practical than a modern one?

The difference is that collector vehicles are not seen or advertised as having higher safety than a modern vehicle and a fountain pen is not seen as being more convenient or even as reliable as a bic.

(Certain) Audiophiles regularly confuse people not part of the hobby, convincing them that they need a fancy cable or else their equipment won't work. Monster cables preyed on this for years.

You don't see people doing the same for buying a pen. Nobody goes to a store intending to buy a bic and accidentally getting talked into buying a mont blanc.

If they didn't prey upon those not interested in the hobby, then I'd agree with your take.

port it to other software which runs on an iMac,

Uhh, what?

I dont have a product recommendation but I do have a safety recommendation, and that is research about laser safety before buying anything. There are cheap laser engravers out there without proper safety shielding that can and will blind you. As long as you have good laser safety glasses it's fine but the ones that they ship with the product are often not actually rated for the power levels or wavelengths that the laser has.

Any particular ones you would recommend? I’m not super familiar with this technology tbh

My preference is Haiku OS. No one loves me.

Underrated comment right here

I’m with you. It is an open source project and the author is under no obligation to develop it for your preferences.

My experience is mostly in regards to headphones, but as an ASR-pilled audio enthusiast, Audio Science Review has been nothing but a great resource for anyone hoping to escape the audiophoolery nonsense that plagues audio "hobbies". I don't necessarily agree with every sentiment expressed there, but having a community that prioritizes objective, reproducible testing results as the basis for evaluating gear seems to be a rare thing these days.

You haven't gone far enough down the rabbit hole then. Good, keep it that way.

I've seen some wild takes that get propped up by some snake oil lovers like "breaking in" their cables for a few hundred hours before they sound ideal. The rabbit hole goes deep

It's a cute project, but hardly seems practical with the availabilty of Chinese laser engravers that have 5-10x the laser power for only $30-60 more.

I've never seen audiophiles actually care about cables. The discussions are around speaker accuracy, room acoustics and treatment, listening position, and recording/mastering quality.

There are some really elitist audiophiles who think they always know best and that their preferences are "objectively correct"

Then there are people like z-reviews who fall in love with $30 headphones and mention in the same breath as $3000 ones. Another thing I like about him is that he also recommends buying aftermarket cables quite regularly, but I don't think I've ever heard him talk about them effecting the audio: it was always about aesthetics and comfort/feel, like how the sheathing feels or how soft and flexible a braided rope cable is over the stiff and scratchy out-of-the-box factory-cheapo one

Does it run well under WINE?

As a musician this would be cool to engrave my logo or QR code onto stuff, and support an open source project.

Lately I've been going to bat for audiophiles. People get really shrill about how unpractical their gear is and how much smarter they are for knowing that cheaper cables exist. But ultimately it's a hobby. They like the exotic expensive stuff because it's fun. The value is largely extrinsic.

Is a really nice fountain pen worth a couple hundred dollars actually 2000 times better than a bic? Is a collectors vehicle safer, faster, or more practical than a modern one? Is the story better if it's a first edition?

Ultimately audiophile stuff is more like collectibles than tools. Sounding good is important, but also important is just geeking out on something. And don't think there aren't function-first audiophiles who buy purely utilitarian gear and get super deep into room treatment and such. But there are also people who value aesthetics too. Branding, finish, novelty. And ultimately they're rich. Splurging on audio equipment for them would be like a regular person splurging on expensive stadium food or something. Or perhaps even more appropriate, stadium beer, which is the exact same beer that can be purchased much more easily and cheaply under different circumstances.

Heh. Industry joke: why does thunder come after lightning?

Because, even God has to wait for the fucking sound guy.

To my understanding this needs LaserGRBL as Software. It seems this is Window software only. Kind of a wired choice for an Open Source project.

Is this like crimping your own network cables? Or are you talking more rudimentary?

I started making my own cables. Now I only have to worry about my own shitty craftsmanship. And boy is it shitty.

But hey I get cables at less than half the cost. And it’s fun.

I have a bunch of Hosa cables for music creation and also just for normal headphones and such. They haven't let me down yet!

The thing about audiophiles is that you can’t tell them anything, they have to listen to the wires themselves.

The problem isn't that people aren't buying the fakes because they don't offer a warranty, the problem is if you buy a fake one by accident you won't be able to warranty it.