Enjoy the pics guys. They actually all came out looking pretty good.

Wish I was there.

Here is the headband pad I had on the HE500's, not bad at all for $9.

From Amazon.com 

NEW! Replacement Upgrade Headband Comfort Cushion Pad in Leatherette with snap locks. Universal fit most Headphone models; Grado SR SRi-series, Sennheiser HD-series, Beyerdynamic and more.

by AudioEquip

I didn't say much when I was there but I really really liked the HD800. Next in line would be the HE500 and then the HD650. The Schitt stuff really sounded nice too. The M&M stack in my book is top bargain for the money spent.

Armaegis, I have it hooked up like we had it when we were experiencing the strange shut offs of the topping amp (but from my laptop).  Like this:  MX11>Bifrost>asgard 2>Asgard 2 pre amp out>toppings aux in>srd7>stax lambda.  There appears to be quite a difference.  A lot more bass, and just a 'stronger' sound.  I am not sure where the voume controls should be on the Asgard 2 and the toppings though.  The DAC in the toppings T32 does seem to be the week link in the chain.   I also figured out why the toppings was cutting out.  It seems that some of the eighties vintage screw type banana plugs loosened during the cable swithing we were doing and the speaker leads were shorting.  I think this was triggering some protection circuit the toppings has and was shutting it down.  Better that than letting the magic smoke out.  I hooked up the SRD7 without them.  We will need to try again on the 27th  and see if you hear the improvment I think I am hearing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyberidd 

The difference changing the vents on those Beyers made was incredible, but for me, the Stax were the thing to hear. 

 

I've been wanting to hear/use/own a set of Stax since shortly after I joined head-fi, and have just never had the opportunity before today.  There was a lot of amazing gear there today, but for me, hearing a set of Stax was like the icing on an audiophile cake!

I'd heard one several months ago which I think was a step up from today's. At least I assume it was. The 404 I think? That one definitely wowed me, although the experience was soured when the headband broke. It had it's own amp, rather than a box that you hook up to a speaker amp. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by DigitalFreak 

I didn't say much when I was there but I really really liked the HD800. Next in line would be the HE500 and then the HD650. The Schitt stuff really sounded nice too. The M&M stack in my book is top bargain for the money spent.

I actually didn't like the HD800 as much*. There were some things it did very well, and I think we can all agree the soundstage was amazing. But there was something in the overall tonal balance that didn't quite jive with me. A bit too hot in the treble in some spots, and I would have liked a flatter bass extension. 

*though take that in comparison to all the other crazy stuff we had laying around. From a broader view it's still a fantastic headphone

I think the HD600/650 is better bang for the buck, although it lags noticeably in capability. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by bearFNF 

Armaegis, I have it hooked up like we had it when we were experiencing the strange shut offs of the topping amp (but from my laptop).  Like this:  MX11>Bifrost>asgard 2>Asgard 2 pre amp out>toppings aux in>srd7>stax lambda.  There appears to be quite a difference.  A lot more bass, and just a 'stronger' sound.  I am not sure where the voume controls should be on the Asgard 2 and the toppings though.  The DAC in the toppings T32 does seem to be the week link in the chain.   I also figured out why the toppings was cutting out.  It seems that some of the eighties vintage screw type banana plugs loosened during the cable swithing we were doing and the speaker leads were shorting.  I think this was triggering some protection circuit the toppings has and was shutting it down.  Better that than letting the magic smoke out.  I hooked up the SRD7 without them.  We will need to try again on the 27th  and see if you hear the improvment I think I am hearing.

Yeah, I think it was triggering the protection circuit on my gear as well since those were flicking on and off. I'm glad it didn't do any damage as I've already RMA'd them once. 

The volume controls should generally be maxed out for best S/N ratio. The only exception to this is if the amp has an input limit (usually to protect from clipping). I don't know how high the preamp out on the Asgard2 goes. Safe bet would be to set it at 80% and adjust from the Topping after that. Either that or just feed the Bifrost directly into the Topping. 

Interesting that you felt the bass improved. That was the one part I thought was lacking in your setup, so maybe the Topping just renders poorly in that area. I'll be really curious to try hooking it up with the nicer dacs now. I did a comparison a while back with the Bifrost vs DAC-100 and felt the DAC-100 was just a smidge ahead. 

Say, would you be able to order a couple of those headbands and bring them up here next time? (assuming they arrive in time) I'd pay you back of course. Those same headbands off the Canadian side of Amazon cost $36 

damn, looks like a good time, wish i couldve made it

It was nice seeing all that gear. I enjoyed listening to the Stax , 800s and other headphones. There sure was lot of electronics, I must be pretty boring, 1 headphone, 1 DAC

I also wish I could have made it but hopefully I can get away to a future meet.  That's a nice looking pile of gear!  

Quote:

Originally Posted by DigitalFreak 

I didn't say much when I was there but I really really liked the HD800. Next in line would be the HE500 and then the HD650. The Schitt stuff really sounded nice too. The M&M stack in my book is top bargain for the money spent.

I was considering the M&M stack for my HD 600s.  What do you guys think?  I also have K240 Sextetts.  

It'd be nice to have those HD800s in again on the 27th to compare with mine to see if I can hear any discrepancies in sound, especially 6k.

If anyone has another HD650, I'd like to hear that too. I thought the one Bear brought was quite different from others that I've heard in the past, so I'm not sure if that was my memory playing tricks on me.  I've heard both the HD650/800 have had alterations over the years. 

Apparently the latest ones has better bass, but it isn't confirmed. Just a speculation.

Yep, I plan to bring them to the next meet, also.  I jus tlooked at the tag on the box and it says "Made in Ireland"  WTH??   Do they make some of them in Ireland, too?  The HD800's say made in Germany.

We never did listen to the 650's on one of the higher power amps (at least I did not notice anyone doing it), to me they sound much better on the Asgard 2, looks like we hae some experimenting left to do.

@Tuco1965: I have used the M&M stack for the HD650's and it was ok, but the Asgard 2 did a much better job.  Seemed to sound much cleaner and with more enregy.