Mid-Indiana Meet Impressions Thread (March 21, 2009)

I am ready for pictures and impressions!
Whenever you are ...

This was a great meet, I had an awesome time. Many thanks to bperboy for setting it up, it worked out really nicely. I also enjoyed matching head-fi usernames with faces. Here are some of my impressions:

I compared the HD600, HD650, and the W5000 (all balanced) through my beta22 hooked up to Absorbine_Sr's Opus 21. The W5000 had better high than the sennheisers. It was really crystal clear and sparkly. The problem with them for me was that they sounded just a little off in the rest of the spectrum. Maybe it was just because I am used to the "open" headphones like the HD600/HD650. At first I really liked the crispy sound of the W5000 but after a while it just didn't sound as lifelike and neutral across the spectrum as the Senns. Between the 650 and the 600, I came to prefer the HD600 after going back and forth a while. My HD650 sounded a little bloated on the mid to lower end in comparison. It caused the HD600's highs to sound more clearly spoken, due to a more controlled bass. The different wasn't huge, but the HD600 definitely sounded a little more neutral after listening for a while.

The Resolution Audio Opus 21 CD player sounded downright awesome connected to the beta 22. There was a clear jump in clarity, resolution, detail, and sheer "liveliness" of the music compared to my modded Benchmark DAC1.

Comparing the Zana Deux with the beta 22, both amps shined. I remember Absorbine_Sr telling me at the meet "I like that one because of the warmth from the tubes (points at Zana) and this one for those extra nuances in detail (points at beta)." For me I would be delighted to own either the beta or the zana. They actually sound fairly similar from what I remember. If I owned both I would likely go back and forth depending on what music I was listening to.

Digger945's setup was an EMU 0404 USB feeding his custom Dynamite amplifier. First let me say, his casework puts mine to shame. The amp was gorgeous, even with hookup wire sticking up and without a lid. I listened to it single-ended with his Ultrasone 900's. It sounded good to my ears, but I didn't listen that long and I wasn't really used to the Ultrasone's sound. However, I usually don't like Ultrasones, and those sounded nice to me, from what I remember.

bperboy's setup (when I listened to it) was a Millet MiniMAX and a bantam cable DAC. I was impressed with this setup. It blew me away by how good it sounded for how much he said he paid for it. Really smooth sounding setup. I listened to it with the HD580 and Denon AH-D7000. I preferred the HD580. Ok so I'm a senn fanboy. But the bass just wasn't present enough for me in the Denon's. The Denon's sounded good, especially for closed headphones. But I was just missing the lower-end oomph the HD580's delivered. Yeah, whatever I'm a "bass-head".

Can't wait to see the pictures. Hopefully it won't be too long before the next meet. I'd be willing to make a long drive. These things are worth it.

Shew, that's a long haul guys, can't wait for those aerocars to make it on the dealership showroom floor.
Shame to say I didn't get a chance to listen to your Beta 22. Wish we had more time and it wasn't so far to drive. It is really good to put faces with all the names associated with the posts I read every day. A super cool bunch of guys to hang around with, as I expected. Head-Fi meets are always, like Martha says, a good thing.
I am almost out of steam for now so I'm gonna wait and give some impressions and pic tomorrow. It was a hoot, I had a blast listening to all the awesome gear and socialising with y'all.

I'm with him. Us old guys can't keep up with these youngsters!

Thanks to bperboy for an excellent hosting job. I'll have some semi-coherent impressions tomorrow.

A_Sr.

Very nice to see pictures of people, not just rigs.

There were some members who were not able to make it. I was really looking forward to hearing the Woo 6 but was a no show.

I came away from today's meet with two truths in our hobby. People are the meets and DIY'ers rule.

Very nice visiting our members and I am always impressed at the level of intelligence our gang has. That means either hp fans are smart or I'm a dull knife. Either way, conversations are stimulating and enthusiastic.

A big and grateful thank you to chobint (Tobin) for getting my dear 701s repaired. I did miss my precious.

To our host, bperboy (Evan), thank you for your work and hospitality. Without your help, I'd probably still be on the curb trying to get my gear in. Kidney stones are a bitch.

I had a couple impressions because you can't get to everything in the configurations you want with a 5 hour meet.

Those balanced amps are sweet. I can now appreciate the balanced sound compared to SE. Presentation is much more dynamic and smooth. Ryan's amp with his modded DAC1 is a real treat. A very noticeable upgrade from the Cayin. The Beta makes the Senns shine. Bravo Ryan!

To me, Tobin's DIY rig is the equivalent of anything I"ve been able to hear so far. If I had the patience to pull something of such magnatude off, DIY is the only way to go. Tobin has ways of creating alternate concepts that shows (well sounds) there are more than one answer to a problem. By the way Tobin, I've got a decent ride but was pushing it to stay on your tail home. You're one wild and crazy guy dude. I mean that in a good way.

Digger, wow. I'm looking into your Dynamite thinking, this is DIY? Holy ----. You guys are my idols. Those W5ks are very comfortable. I like the minimalist head band design. I was like Ryan with the closed sound, being used to opens for so long. It changes the weight of the frequencies.

The D7000s sure go a long way to tweak the Denon sound. Being a fan of 701s, the Denons bass department was a step up for me. What I noticed with them though is the mids are better mixed with the rest of the sound. The 2ks seemed recessed which for an old guy like me is a sweet spot in my hearing. I need good mid presence.

The MS-2i continues to impress. For metal genre, this is the Grado to get. I was able to listen to the MS-2i, RS-1 and GS-1k. Each has their strengths.These three cover pretty much all of it though.

Silver does not make things bright. It allows the details to come through. Two pretty much identical dock cables, one gena cryo and one with a silver strand with copper in the balance. You can really notice the details better with the silver. The gena was warmer but to me, kept a bit of a veil on the high end. And the best part is, they aren't three digits. nbourbaki's little gems sound better than my (name withheld to protect the vendor) silver/silk cable.

The ZD still sits on a pinnacle. It was made for the Senns. Though others do well, the combo just synergizes so well. It doesn't hurt to have Mike's source either. That Opus is one fine source. Mike, Head Fi members owe you a debt of gratitude for schlepping your rig from meet to meet so that we can hear some of the best of what this hobby has to offer.

There was much more gear that I didn't get to try, so to those I didn't mention, I'm sorry I didn't get around to check out your rigs. This is reason for another meet.

This is fun!

Looks like a great time guys, wish I could have made it.

Thanks a lot for all the pictures!
Sure looks like you had a nice collection of gear to audition, and that you had a nice time. Great!

Same thing I was thinking. Looks like an awesome meet, and hopefully the Indiana gang will grow as the word spreads. It's just amazing how infectious the passion for this hobby can be.

I remember attending my very first meet in South Florida back in '03. There were only 6 of us at the time, but eventually that group grew to the point where a national meet was hosted in Florida! Of course, a lot of that growth was attributable to the leadership and amazing organizational skills of tyrion, who became the meet master over time. But everything he learned from hosting the smaller meets was relevant to the large scale affair. All I know for sure is that I could have never imagined a national meet being held in Florida back in those early days.

Good to see a new Dynamite is born. I know the “spaghetti wiring” is temporarily and lots of work needs to be done before completion.
Looks very promising, Digger945.

The Mid-Indiana Meet was my first Head-Fi outing and I had a blast! It's great to be able to hear such fantastic gear in such a friendly atmosphere. I'll post more this evening, including more pictures.

From left to right, CompuRyan, emelius, digger945 and bperboy