11/21/09 Newport Beach, CA Meet Impressions Thread

Just got back home. Have a horrible back ache, still haven't unloaded the Suv, but loved every single moment at the meet. Everyone just rocked. Impressions to follow.

I just arrived home and had a wonderful time at the meet. Great location and venue - relaxed and spacious. It was fun seeing friends and meeting new ones

Some observations:
1. I enjoyed the Lambda Signature + SRM-T1 amplifier. Probably my favorite Stax combo at the meet.
2. The DT770 Pro 80 sound very good and much better than the consumer 250 ohm version. I think I'll have to get me a set.
3. IPodPJ: Your HD800s never cease to impress me.

First off, thanks leichnitz for hosting the meet. The place was really nice and you did a great job (besides thinking I was a girl before we met ).

Setup took a while because I realized I only had one transport for 2 DACs. I ended up running the Parasound 1100HD for the first half of the meet and the Assemblage DAC1 for the second half.

I'll post the same thing I posted in the last impressions thread wrt what my sound preferences are:

"Before I start with my impressions, I'll state that I put midrange tonality far above any other aspect in the sound of a system. I listened to my CDs that I'm very familiar with to try to give fair assessments (well, under meet conditions at least)." Transparency and imaging are also very important to me.

Last meet I didn't really care for too much of what I heard. For whatever reason, I liked just about everything I heard today. I think everybody did a good job of improving their system's synergy.

A good chunk of my listening was on Donald North's Sonic Frontiers -> Sonnett rig. I think there's some great synergy going on here, as everything sounded pretty darn good on it.
I fell in love with the AKG 240DF at the last meet and decided to listen to them in Donald's rig to see if I still loved them. I did. The midrange is awesome. They aren't detailed, they don't have great extension, the highs and lows could be more refined, the imaging could be greatly improved, and the transparency isn't very good but the midrange on these things is honestly one of the best I've heard in a headphone. Off the top of my head, only the R10, Omega, O2, Sigma, K1000, and Lambdas (in rough order) have a better midrange than these headphones. For the price I think these are a no brainer.
I listened to the rare Beyer 911 headphone Donald won on ebay recently and they sounded nice. They're the best Beyer's I've heard. I own the DT880 and I think the 911 is better in almost every way besides bass reproduction. Cool headphone, I didn't even know it existed before today.
Donald had some odd looking Sony headphones he wanted me to try. They had the most pronounced bass I've ever heard in a headphone. I would never use them, but for the price they seem like a good deal. I don't like overpowering bass, but if you're a basshead looking to get into headphones without breaking the bank, these would be recommended.
Finally, I tried out Deadneddz' Qualias on Donald's rig. I must preface this by saying that I heard the Qualia at CanJam in the RSA room and thought they sounded horrible. I don't mean horrible for the price, I mean horrible period. As Jude told me, they sounded like listening to music in a cave. They were so uninvolving. I've read comments about these needing a good fit and brushed them off for the most part, thinking there was no way these could transform into decent. A listen to these smaller Qualias proved they transformed into great. I listened to them for a while and really liked what I heard but they bugged me because the vocals sounded a bit muffled and distant. After a bit more adjusting, everything clicked into place and this wasn't such a big issue anymore (although it was still very slightly there). The treble is pronounced on these headphones, but the treble is such a great quality that it doesn't bother me at all. This is the only dynamic I've heard where I didn't immediately notice how much slower they are than electrostats. This is also probably the most fit dependent headphone I've ever seen (and I thought the O2 was bad!). Great headphone, up to that point the 2nd best dynamic I'd heard, after the R10.

I listened very briefly to santacore's rig. I tried out the Denon D7000 out of the Sonnett and didn't like it at all. They were very unrefined to my ears and the bass was a bit overpowering. I put on his HD650's and instantly recognized the much more correct tonality. Nice headphones for sure, I can see why they're so popular here.

IPodPJ was running his HD800 out of a Ref1 -> Beta22. I liked this rig but wasn't really impressed again. The amp was turned up pretty loud (technical error), so I wasn't completely comfortable most of the time. Listening to the setup left me a bit confused. It seemed the HD800 was very good at everything but not great at anything. Bass was plentiful, but there was a touch too much treble. It was odd, but this was the slowest I remember a HD800 sounding. I suspect the tshirt mod has something to do with this, as normally I think the HD800 is very fast for a dynamic. I could quickly hear the loss in speed compared to what I'm used to, and a "residual graininess" (as edstrelow aptly put it) that almost all dynamics tend to have. Still, this headphone is a very good all-arounder.

I gave the two vinyl setups a quick listen and was impressed. Even though one of them was using old Sony headphones from the early 90's/late 80's (I think), I could still hear the potential that the source had to offer. The B52->HD600 sounded really nice as well, though I wish I spent a bit more time with this rig. Those turntables were gorgeous, thanks for taking the time to bring them out guys. I was surprised to hear no hiss while music played; I was under the impression that vinyl always had a hiss that was audible at all times but this was not the case. After getting some advice from Donald, shaizada, and redcarmoose, I'm seriously thinking about getting a vinyl setup.

One of my goals for this meet was to get a better grasp on the K1000 sound, as I only listened to them for a minute or two at CanJam and couldn't form a somewhat informed opinion of them. I listened to them from Uncle Erik's Marantz SA8001 -> Zana Deux rig for about 10 minutes and thought they sounded fabulous. The only weakness that bugged me a little was the bass quantity and extension, but everything else was very good to great. I loved the placement of sounds outside the normal headphone "center of your head" zone. My favorite memory of this meet will probably be relaxing on the couch, listening to the K1000 with a nice breeze coming in through the front door. Very relaxing. The K1000 probably usurped the Qualia for me at the meet and are my 2nd favorite dynamic thus far.

That's about it as far as impressions go. I heard some rumblings about people liking the Lambda more than the Lambda Signature, so I decided to put an end to that and put the Sigs on the T1 instead of the SRM1 halfway through the meet. After this swap, two people commented that they thought the Lambda Sig + T1 was the best electrostat setup at the meet. The synergy of that combo is something else. In general, people seemed to enjoy listening to the electrostats, which is always very cool to me. I really enjoy hearing what people think of this "dark side" of the headphone universe.

Thanks again to everybody who showed up and to Vincent for bringing that beautiful source to pair with the O2/HE60 rigs. It was great seeing the familiar faces again, and great to meet new people. Everybody was very nice.

-Milos

What a great day! Thanks to Leichnitz for organizing this and playing host. I'm too tired to comment so I'll let some pictures do the talking.

Here is a link to a photo album of todays events: Head-Fi meet Newport Beach 112109

Nice pix! But PJ has gone into hibernation.

Meet was a blast, I'll post impressions later. I'm still really upset that my computer monitor broke. I'm using a borrowed monitor from my office now. I'm going to upload the pics I took. Shaizada's vinyl rig plugged into my Phoenix and HD800 was the highlight of the meet for me -- just heavenly.

And please, those who got a chance to compare Uncle Erik's stock HD800 to my modded ones, please post your impressions.

John,
I know you have more pics that what you showed in your album. Post them!

And Leichnitz, thanks again for hosting the meet! It was a wonderful location and you did a great job.

Hello, just reached home, thought I would drop some meet impressions. Shaizadas' crazy B52/VPI rig was very easy to like as showing detail, sound stage and bass detail like I have never heard before. I guess the sound could be described in one word as clean. Every one worked really hard to get their systems in order and up and running. Shaizada worked harder than anyone and pulled off a marathon of equipment moving.THX.

This was my first Head-Fi meet and it was a little overwhelming so if I don't write about your system it is just because I have information overload. Many of the systems I do not know the type. I do remember what they sound like though.

The Stax area was very cool and had what looked like the whole history of their product line{ what do I know ?}.This was my first interface with Stax and what a thrill to try them out. Some had tubes, some did not. They all had a great detail in the bass department, which I was not expecting. They had a nice detailed and easy going sound that I could be inspired to spend a whole lazy afternoon getting intimate with.

Somehow the Stax headphones also made me think about movie soundtracks and home theater, for what reason I do not know? After reading and seeing pictures of Stax systems all dedicated and made for each other, it was nice to hear what the legend was about.


IPodPj had his Hd 800s with really great sounding 11 foot aftermarket cables. They seemed to bring the HD 800s into a whole new world. I did not get the jest of how important this cable mod was until I was able to spend a while with stock HD800s.

I have to admit that my main goal of the day was to try a number of headphones that I had ideas about. Otherwise the choice would have to be purchase and return them one by one in the time frame of months or years. Or.......................... just go to a meet like this one and just demo, demo,demo.

Everyone was so nice. leichnitz gets all the thanks as he was the host of the show. The club was really roomy and more than perfect for such an event. He made sure that everything ran smooth, the refreshments were fantastic!

So to any of you who could not make it, reading this may make you feel like you missed out, well you did, sorry. Orange county is not the headphone capital of the world, but for our short time together today, it was the center of the headphone universe. There was a lot of very talented system builders who got the music to become musical.

I did not feel there were system winners and losers but only many shades of color and people who loved the color they were in. Really there was a lot to admire about each system. Just when 2:00pm hit and you thought you had heard it all, these guys were mixing and matching even more combos of gear and the sky was the limit. Then we heard more stuff. One funny Kodak moment was seeing these guys not getting something as simple as a power cord to plug in right. It was only a power cord, but this is the enthusiasm that makes this group of people tick. This is the effort and enthusiasm that makes Head-Fi tick. And you thought it was the advertisers and sponsors? Wrong!

I finished off the day with UNCLE ERIKs Zana Deux rig married up to my vinyl rig for an audio tour de force. It made me envious of this work of art and at the same time relaxed to know I had the emotional capacity to love more than one system. This always helps if they are world-class of course.


So in one afternoon, would I say it was more fun than a barrel of monkeys? It was a barrel of monkeys wearing headphones! I'm sure to any "normal" Newport Beach person we looked pretty funny from outside those big glass windows! But in reality it was just people doing what they love. Just doing what they love.

First of, a MASSIVE thank you to leichnitz for assuming the role of host. If is wasn't for your patience and resolve, the meet wouldn't have been as fantastic as it was. Plus you get A++++ points for liking Beck as much as I do

Apart from getting a crazy back ache, I was totally drained by the time I got the rig up and running. I just plopped down in the sofa and hibernated for a while...but the energy came right back in once we got the music going and sampling all the different rigs.

I had a great time socializing and meeting some major head-fi over achievers in personality and enthusiasm. Now for some thoughts on rigs:

The DNA Sonnet with the barage of headphones on the table was quite the treat. The sound was very mesmerizing in the midrange and treble extension through the AKG 240DF. But being a 600ohm load, the volume had to be turned up very high to get a decent output from them. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed the velvety presentation these headphones had. Quite a lack of bass authority and texture though, but I attributed that to not being a good matchup with the Sonnet due to the large impedance.

The other standout with the DNA Sonnet was the Beyerdynamics DT880. The detail in the treble extension was quite eye opening. These cans can easily sound very harsh in the wrong setup, but the Sonnet was able to make them sing a beautiful song that can keep you occupied for a long time. This quality of listenability is extremely important to me in a headphone rig. The bass presence and textures were more revealing with the Beyers than any other can on that table, though I remember an older Sony can having the ultimate thump. However, that was more of a one note bass in quantity rather than in quality and finesse. Bass presence, quality, texture and clarity play an extremely important role in laying out the foundation of a musical piece. Getting that right is of crucial importance to attain a more believable and enjoyable musical experience. Headphones can be microscopes to the upstream components and there really is no place to hide sonically. Anyhow, fantastic after taste and I went away from the table smiling. Keep up the good work Donald...I truly appreciate the good sounds you provided

The Sennheiser HE60 through the Exstata (sp?) electrostatic amp was fantastic as well. Hats off to the detail, purity, tone clarity and bass texture that these headphones can provide. This was being sourced through a Simaudio Moon CD player and I thought the rig really drove home my thoughts of how a good Electrostatic rig should sound. The best I've heard from Electrostats has been Neil and Andys ES-2 with the HE90 through the Esoteric NWO, followed by the O2/Blue Hawaii SE (ASR). The HE60 clearly derives itself from the same family tree and provides a healthy glimpse of what the best Electrostats can do. Unfortunately the O2 on the scene was being driven through the Stax amp and just didn't last on my head too long. The O2's have this dark sound signature that needs to be matched to a proper amp to truly dig into the sonic qualities that headphone possesses. Excellent headphones, but definitely need the right amp to truly wake up and dance

The Zana Deux with the HD800 and the AKG1000 were ravishing as always. This rig has this musical wholesomeness and palpability that is hard to reproduce. The music comes through naturally and rendered effortlessly. If I were to buy another headphone amp, it would be the Zana Deux without a doubt. A nice alcoholic beverage and the Zana would provide for an evening of total bliss. Thanks for brining this sonic marvel in Uncle Erik.

Next, Jan's and IPODPJ's Audio GD Ref1 dac/transporter/Beta22 rig was a clear, transparent and beautifully rendered musical offering. The Bass was quite textured, but I felt it lacked a level of bass authority that I always expect form the Beta22. I remember having that bass authority in spades in the Beta22 that I had, but somehow it just wasn't here with the Sennheiser HD800's. Apart from that, this rig had all the frequencies covered very well. Again, it is a very clear, yet dry presentation but made me realize why my calling is towards tube amplifiers. If I want to bask in the beauty of the sound and be hit by musical wave after wave, I will reach out for those glowing bottles. However, if I want to really analyze and piece out a song, the Beta22 has got to be the most transparent amp there is. I love solid state gear for it's ultimate transparency and auditory virtues, but I lust for the sound most tube amps are easily able to provide if done right.

Finally, my fellow vinylphile Redcarmoose with the VPI Scout, Monolithic phonostage, Woo Audio 5 LE and his newly acquired (at the frikkin meet itself!!) Denon D7000 were just sublime. It was a helping of smoooooooooooooth and sensual butter! Those are the very words that came to my mind. God it sounded just purdy. Sit back and melt away into the chair with this rig... This setup provided a sense of relaxation and ease that you get like having a warm cup of coffee on a cold winter night. It was the feeling that all is well in the world and there are no worries. The soundscape texture took my breath away and I felt the Woo Audio amp would be the lady that can woo me wearing a satin dress ANYTIME SHE WANTS! Those 300B tubes just pack a wallop of melody and harmonic righteousness that few other setups could provide. This would be my ultimate Jazz and classical music setup. It does other genres of music well too, but for me, I know exactly what I would use this setup for. Thanks for bringing about the experience Greg...you definitely know how to make a system sound excellent.

Thats all for now. I'm kinda tired and don't want to post further. However, once again. THANKS to everyone who came. Head-fi is really a diverse and magical place. I made more friends again and am proud of the dedication, helpfulness and maturity shared by our small group. Man I hate my backache! Gonna be a looooong night....so Gnight

PS:- Greg, a special thanks for letting me borrow your leveler. I can't believe I forgot mine and I couldn't have even done my setup if you weren't there with the long 8" leveler. All that work would have gone to waste if I couldn't level the table....damn!! U rock!

So jealous you guys really suck, but love the impressions and pics. The vinyl rigs look stunning!

PJ, you're right, but only a few more. As always I thought I took more then I did.