Melbourne 1st Meet 2011 - 08.01.2011 impressions

Loved the HD650, which was a surprise. Listened to Metallica on them through my Matrix Cube DAC and M^3 amplifier and they sounded great. Bass was amazing, as I am sure many would have noticed at my facial expression T1 are a lot better and different than I remember them being. Probably the Leban amp it was plugged into. I heard the DT990 PRO 250ohm as well and it sounded great in Enter Sandman until the instruments really kicked in. The bass just sent the mids too far back and it sounded bloated. I did compare the DT880 600ohm to my recabled DT880 600ohm and there was quite a large difference. The stock DT880 had more bass, but it was not as tight as my recabled DT880. My pair seemed to have a bit more mid emphasis and the highs on mine were much more pleasing to the ear. The stock pair were too harsh. Mine were recabled by Jeremy (qusp) of TwistedCables with Cryo Parts TWcu copper in case you didn't know. LCD-2 sounded nice, but very different from what I am used to. The vocals have a unique presentation. I can't really explain it. There is just a blackness between the vocals and instruments surrounding. Sounded a bit dark, however (HD650 didn't surprisingly).

Definitely a worth while meet, unfortunately now I think I want the HD650. T1 certainly impressed me for the first time, but out of a $3000+(?) amplifier, it would be bad if it didn't
Edited by stang - 1/7/11 at 10:37pm

Great meet guys! Was great to meet everyone and hear a whole variety of different equipment. Had so much to choose from! I loved the LCD-2 out of my Burson. Great match and sounded so natural. I also loved the AD2000 and the RS1 out of the Leben, though I didn't really get to hear them from the Burson.

 

Thanks a lot to Yukari and David for the organizing and the venue, as well as Shaun for getting the Burson up and running. The size of the venue was great and there was PLENTY of food and drinks.

 

Looking forward to catching up with everyone again!

<3 LCD-2. Unmatched strength and authority. The HD650 was a sissy butter statue in comparison.

Edited by Trysaeder - 1/8/11 at 12:02am

Thank you for Yukari and David for organising the meet, great to see all of the fellow headfiers under one roof.

 

HD800 is great, clearity of it is unmatched. Stax electro-static headphones are also suprisingly punchy with great bass.

 

Hope we can do it again sometime in the near future.

Can anyone give an impression of the LCD-2 mated to the Auditor? My Phonitor is lacking a companion.

Thanks a lot for Yukari and David. Without you two, we won't have a such good time today!

Really love the energy from LCD2. But hottuna was right, it feels dark as well. So I won't buy it in the future.

Stax from Yukari is a great system to listen for a long time, you won't be tired with the system.

W5000 from Vlad is realy nice for rock music! And thks vlad's music collection. Hope you will have a good time in Sydney as well!

Comparing with DT880, 990 and T1, I think T1 has got big improvement from DT880 and 990 in every perspective.

Disappointed without the B22 today, I really want to try it next time.

RS1i was the headphone which I am going to buy. After the meeting, I changed my mind. T1 has got better sound than RS1i in my system. So I will settel for my system for a while.

 

Thanks again for Yukari and David!I really enjoy the meeting today!

I was impressed with the LCD-2 and intrigued by the HD800. Nice to see and listen through a Leben and DNA Sonett. Unfortunately time didn't allow for me to try the Burson HA-160. 

 

PS And an additional thank you to David for organising the venue. 

Edited by MrSpenkelink - 1/8/11 at 1:01am

Whoa, it's like you were there and saw me sitting at that table.

 

 

When you lose yourself to the music, the LCD-2 grabs you by the balls and takes over.

 

Seriously though, unamped from the Clip+, it still was likeable.

 

Bass was awesome, there was a clear slam every time the drum kicked. It didn't really rumble or I didn't hear it, but the low end was the best I've ever heard. 

The mids were very natural and intimate. The warmth made it extremely smooth and realistic.

Highs were recessed. This is definitely a dark headphone. Nothing detail wise was really missing from them though, and it allowed the focus on lows and mids to run free. I found the SM3's highs to be more noticeably recessed. Compared to the HD650s, these were even darker. I put on the 650s afterwards and felt chainsaw cymbals until I adjusted, although it wasn't that bad (the recession) even compared to the T1. I don't know why, it just doesn't feel recessed in a bad way.

 

This DOES NOT sound like the SE530 or the SM3 in any way.

 

Soundstage was very much like the mids; natural and intimate, but not constricting. Keep in mind I'm coming from the MS-pros so this area may be skewed.

 

Build wise, it weighed a LOT. The diy look was not present in the build; it felt really sturdy and well made. It LOOKS a bit cheap, but even the foam was put in nicely to make it functional. I wore it for a looong time and the weight did not break my neck. I'm very small and thin (but I have a strong neck) so I don't know how others would take it. The shape of the headphone was really really well designed and allowed the weight to be ignored pretty quickly. I probably wore this for a whole hour or so, with several other tries lasting from 30 seconds to 10 minutes. I still felt fine.

 

 

What really made it for me was the ms-pro like mids combined with the commanding bass. Amazing combination.

 

Had a great time at the meet today, kudos to Yukari and David for pulling off yet another successful meet. The venue was spacious and food and drinks aplenty .

 

A good mix of equipment present, deserving special mention would be the LCD2 running the Norse cable out of the Metric Halo ULN2/Leben CS300X. It had a special warmth in the mids of female vocals that I really liked and the cable helped to widen the soundstaging. Switching over to the Audio GD NFB2/Burson HA160 produced a clear,open and very transparent sound. The most analogue sounding pairing of the meet to my ears. No clear cut winner, very much horses for courses.

 

The AD2000 was also fairly talented with a wide genre of music and Stax was in a leaque of their own when compared to the dynamics. At a previous meet I had a chance to A/B the LCD2 and the O2mk1 and I came away with extremely favourable impressions of both.

 

I'm sure each and everyone had benefitted with the variety of gear at the meet, either reaffirming their choices or making new ones(sorry for your wallet), happy listening till the next meet.

 

Thanks to Joe and James for the ride

 

Thanks for your detailed impressions, much appreciated.
 

Wish I was there!

Thank you to Yukari and Duckman for organizing the meet/venue ( and fuses - tip to people going to meets - reading the voltage at the back and noticing the step down transformer usually helps )

Personal thanks to James, who drove me there and back letting me bring all my gear aside from the Jaycar DIY amp that I forgot . G'luck with getting a stax system, James! Also, thanks for the help with re-attaching the vol-knob on the D100 and pacifying the hp-stand edges with masking tape.
Additional thanks go to Joe, who would've driven me if James couldn't



>The Stax 507 sounds a bit different from my 404LE. I think the 404LE's treble stands out a bit more than the 507, and seems more airy. The 507 is sort of in between the O2 and 404LE in my opinion in terms of darkness.

ditto.404LE = less of an etch than 404 and nicer bass. brightness wise, probably 404>404LE>507>O2... For casual listening I'd probably prefer the 404LE.
I'm pretty happy with the refurbished SRM-1/mk2 performance too.



> Stax electro-static headphones are also suprisingly punchy with great bass.

404LE and 507 are close to TOTL (aside from SR-4070 and omegas) - be careful not to buy say a 404std ed not 404LE or a 202. Might not like flabby bass, or really recessed bass there. I'd also like to highlight again that the 507 headband arc may be very uncomfortable for long listening compared to old style arcs (404, other lambas)


>W5000 from Vlad is realy nice for rock music!

=) on which amp? On some of my amps it sounds very bright and UN-inviting for rock. Depending on the amp again, it's pretty nice for classical. (if you like warmish and bright but detailed). Btw,you're welcome to come by and grab the full collection. That won't be missing adagios and andantes ... Also, good luck with the burson d-amps. Hopefully they'll make a low-profile version for you



>I don't know why, it just doesn't feel recessed in a bad way.

SM3's slightly recessed treble is forgiving to sibilant tracks, also making it suitable for both rock and classical. Suitable and enjoyable but not in the washed out pleasant way =)




p.s. anyone interested in buying the SA5000 (too similar to my stax rig) or Musiland MD11 (only useful to me as a 192k/24b usb transport, but I don't use it. For hp have better amps and yulong has a less rolled off highs analog stage)
Edited by svyr - 1/8/11 at 2:01am

>>=) on which amp? On some of my amps it sounds very bright and UN-inviting for rock. Depending on the amp again, it's pretty nice for classical. (if you like warmish and bright but detailed). Btw,you're welcome to come by and grab the full collection. That won't be missing adagios and andantes ... Also, good luck with the burson d-amps. Hopefully they'll make a low-profile version for you

 

I have tried both of the small amp with single tube one and black, W5000 did really outstanding ATH's sound (warm, bright and sharp as well). Regarding to the music collection, I will come to your place and get them as soon as I can. Hope u have time as well. LOL To the Burson D amps, I still don't get enough fund for it. I will sell the SE530 as well. But the Dac1 as dac does a really good job in  Classcial music which sound is my cup of tea! I uesd some warm RCA cables with DAC1 and the sound changed a little bit(not that bright and sharp ) I feel quite happy about the DAC1 so far.

 

Looked like an awesome get together.

 

Duckman, what are your thoughts on the Leben in general?

 

and did anyone try the hd800 on the leben?