Fukuoka Micro Meet! Pics in a subsequent post. (Our July 2009 micro-meet #3, a year later, is at this post.)
I live in a lovely corner of Japan that most people will never have heard of, Fukuoka. It's a city of 2 mil or so people, certainly not a hotbed of head-fi. I was amazingly surprised to find another dedicated head-fier not just in the same city, but just about around the corner from me! LobsterSan and I immediately made plans for a two-person meet, as not only are we nearby, but each of us has gear the other wanted to hear. It was to be my MD5000s and HD650, with the Lavry DA10 and cables and LobsterSan's impressive STAX collection, Sony R10s, W10JPNs, DAC1 and other gear.
My impressions of the 1989 R10s were that, just like my Senns had shunned my Little Dot MKV, the R10s were in turn shunning my Audio-gd C2C. At that level, they just weren't shining in any way that made them worth more than my MD5000s. I really hope that one day I can hear them through a set-up that reveals their true potential. They certainly were the most comfortable cans I'd ever worn.
Listening through STAX headphones...what was I going to say? I'm just so lost in Jeff Buckley's voice that everything else doesn't matter. The presentation is...I don't feel I can use the same words I use to describe other headphones, as everything takes on a totally different meaning. If one had only ever listened to music through electrostats and was asked, say, "How detailed are they?" the question would be meaningless, as questions of detail and separation, not to mention many of the faults of dynamic headphones, just don't exist with them. I might go as far as to say that they make all the fancy technology in dynamic headphones seem pretentious. The differences between the different models he had (the SRM-717, SRM-007t, SRM-T1, SR-X MK3 Pro, SR-404, SR-007 MK1, SR-007A/MK2, and 4070 for the actual list) were quite interesting, the different earspeakers delivering the sound differently being the most notable thing for me. 4070 vs. 007 MK1 reminded me a bit of HD650 vs. MD5000, the 007s having so much body and the 4070s totally absorbing me with vocals (ignoring their weird and somewhat uncomfortable fit). I regret that we didn't have any good balanced cables to hook them up with. I've got some on the way though, so we've vowed to have another go on another weekend, possibly with wives and babies in tow, so that we can listen longer.
LobsterSan's ESW10JPNs and W10VTGs were interesting, but confirmed my dislike for Audio Technicas with me feeling like I was listening to the drivers, the sound seeming to come from a point even with the bigger W10VTGs and the smaller ESW10s simply being grossly over-priced in my mind. The W10VTGs at the very least needed thicker pads, as pulling them slightly off my ears made for quite an improvement.
Though we live in a far-flung corner of Japan (Korea is nearer than Osaka or Tokyo!) I hope that another Japan-based or Japanese head-fi'er might one day come and visit with gear and we can have a more interesting meet.
I live in a lovely corner of Japan that most people will never have heard of, Fukuoka. It's a city of 2 mil or so people, certainly not a hotbed of head-fi. I was amazingly surprised to find another dedicated head-fier not just in the same city, but just about around the corner from me! LobsterSan and I immediately made plans for a two-person meet, as not only are we nearby, but each of us has gear the other wanted to hear. It was to be my MD5000s and HD650, with the Lavry DA10 and cables and LobsterSan's impressive STAX collection, Sony R10s, W10JPNs, DAC1 and other gear.
My impressions of the 1989 R10s were that, just like my Senns had shunned my Little Dot MKV, the R10s were in turn shunning my Audio-gd C2C. At that level, they just weren't shining in any way that made them worth more than my MD5000s. I really hope that one day I can hear them through a set-up that reveals their true potential. They certainly were the most comfortable cans I'd ever worn.
Listening through STAX headphones...what was I going to say? I'm just so lost in Jeff Buckley's voice that everything else doesn't matter. The presentation is...I don't feel I can use the same words I use to describe other headphones, as everything takes on a totally different meaning. If one had only ever listened to music through electrostats and was asked, say, "How detailed are they?" the question would be meaningless, as questions of detail and separation, not to mention many of the faults of dynamic headphones, just don't exist with them. I might go as far as to say that they make all the fancy technology in dynamic headphones seem pretentious. The differences between the different models he had (the SRM-717, SRM-007t, SRM-T1, SR-X MK3 Pro, SR-404, SR-007 MK1, SR-007A/MK2, and 4070 for the actual list) were quite interesting, the different earspeakers delivering the sound differently being the most notable thing for me. 4070 vs. 007 MK1 reminded me a bit of HD650 vs. MD5000, the 007s having so much body and the 4070s totally absorbing me with vocals (ignoring their weird and somewhat uncomfortable fit). I regret that we didn't have any good balanced cables to hook them up with. I've got some on the way though, so we've vowed to have another go on another weekend, possibly with wives and babies in tow, so that we can listen longer.
LobsterSan's ESW10JPNs and W10VTGs were interesting, but confirmed my dislike for Audio Technicas with me feeling like I was listening to the drivers, the sound seeming to come from a point even with the bigger W10VTGs and the smaller ESW10s simply being grossly over-priced in my mind. The W10VTGs at the very least needed thicker pads, as pulling them slightly off my ears made for quite an improvement.
Though we live in a far-flung corner of Japan (Korea is nearer than Osaka or Tokyo!) I hope that another Japan-based or Japanese head-fi'er might one day come and visit with gear and we can have a more interesting meet.
