Brisbane Meet 2011 (12th March Impressions n Pix) - 56K Warning!  

Thanks for the pics. It's nice to see some familiar faces.

edit: I see more empty tables than last year.

what the hell is this? how did this one make it past the cutting room floor?

really enjoyed the meet today thanks guys, i didnt really chat to any people at the last meet and seemed like today everyone relaxed a bit with each other while the pizza just kept on coming and coming and coming, it was actually quite liberating not having much gear there and not worrying about it, well not much. enjoyed the lcd2 quite a lot, but need to wait till i finish my speakers to see if i really need them, or just want them. i feel they would make a nice upgrade to my hd600 and would be happy being run out of the input stage of one of the speaker amps i'm building, or perhaps tap a separate output fro just a single pair of the output fets. i just find i'm not doing that much headphone listening at home these days, so the portable rig stays primary and speakers will most likely be primary at home except for late at night. i've culled my headphones to 3 pairs and would sell the 600's if i got the lcd2 i just gotta wonder if they are just a wannabe speaker with none, or at least not that many of the advantages of headphones

i found them to be similar in tone to the senns, but more open, fast and dynamic; basically like the hd600 wants to be and i think they will really sing out of a discrete solid state fet amp with ooodles of power to burn, didnt get a chance to see how well they do subtlety, thats more something you learn at home, along with finding out if i could live with the fit

didnt get to hear the new sony flagship, i think i, as well as everyone did a bit of a double take when i saw them. i cant see them fitting my big head all that well, but by the time i thought about trying the they were gone. i forgot my spare comply, so didnt get to try the earsonics. 

anyone up for a small diy meet once you guys are all done smoking that crack? i have drawn a line under the dac i'm building so when its done this time, its done. 

and yeah there was only a few people there, i guess us manufacturers have got to step up to the plate and make it more apealing for those other than the hard core, with comps giveaways etc. i mean the floods and after effects really screwed with lots of people so that something like a headphone meet may not have been at the forefront of peoples minds. it sure meant a good 1-2 months in the lead up to and after the floods, where my normal operation was effected.

so never again will i underestimate the time spent on casework, and start getting ready for the meet at least a couple of months out so i can work it in with any downtime from work

Yeah definitely wasn't as big as last year but it was still enjoyable mainly for the social aspect. 
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by JIGF 

 

edit: I see more empty tables than last year.

damn, that looks hellafun, even more bummed out that i couldnt make it now

Had a better time this year than i did last year. I think it was because i rocked up an hour earlier (not intentional) rather than an hour too late like i did last year. So i felt a bit more organised. That coupled with the fact that there wasn't quite as many people this year as there was last meant i could spend more time chatting with people.

The venue is a great one i must admit .. easy to get too .. and parking is no issue and the trolleys make it easy to get your gear up there :-). Whilst it would be good to get vendors there remember this is not a meet for vendors but rather for enthusiasts and yes i take the point that if vendors are there displaying their wares it might attract more enthusiasts.

Thanks Niall for organising this again this year - great job.

Ok a few dot points of my impressions of the meet;

• What i didn't listen to but wish i had - Sony MDR-Z1000, Beyer DT-990's (i just didn't know they were there. Only saw them in the pics of the meet)
• What i listened to but wish i hadn't - Ultasone Pro 900's (gave me a taste of the Ultrasone sound and now i want to listen to their higher end stuff. A sound signature different to anything else i have. Most likely due to the closed back design - silent)
• Biggest surprise of the meet - Burson HA-160D (nice, nice, nice - understand it is a Solid State amp but very tube like qualities. My AT-W5000's sounded the best i have ever heard them sound on this amp/dac combo)
• Best bang for buck piece of gear - Maverick Audio - Tube Magic D1 (i must admit with a simple USB plug in to a unit that only sells for a couple of hundred dollars i wasn't expecting much. Just goes to show you don't have to spend alot of money for a half decent sound. On my wish list for a portable piece of kit which i am on the market for).
• Best piece of info i got from talking to fellow enthusiasts - Thunderbolt I/O 10GB/s Interface (qusp was talking about this technology that Apple has embraced made by intel. Googled it when i got home and this looks exciting for audio)
• Worst piece of advice i got from talking to a fellow enthusiast - Spugnor Speakers (i'd never heard of them and i suspect neither have you. I won't say anymore than that other than to say it was a pretty hilarious moment when we realised the brand in question was actually called "Spendor" ... not Spugnor ... ;-) )
• Funkiest piece of ancillary kit - Niall's headphone stand

Look forward to next years event.

Quote:

Originally Posted by qusp 

.... enjoyed the lcd2 quite a lot, but need to wait till i finish my speakers to see if i really need them, or just want them. i feel they would make a nice upgrade to my hd600 and would be happy being run out of the input stage of one of the speaker amps i'm building, or perhaps tap a separate output fro just a single pair of the output fets. i just find i'm not doing that much headphone listening at home these days, so the portable rig stays primary and speakers will most likely be primary at home except for late at night. i've culled my headphones to 3 pairs and would sell the 600's if i got the lcd2 i just gotta wonder if they are just a wannabe speaker with none, or at least not that many of the advantages of headphones

 

i found them to be similar in tone to the senns, but more open, fast and dynamic; basically like the hd600 wants to be and i think they will really sing out of a discrete solid state fet amp with ooodles of power to burn, didnt get a chance to see how well they do subtlety, thats more something you learn at home, along with finding out if i could live with the fit

I so have to disagree with you on tis on qusp. Whilst the LCD-2's are nice i don't believe they are anywhere near as "responsive" as say the K701's or HD-6xx series of headphones i own. When i first heard the LCD-2's i immediately thought of terms like - big, expansive, voluminous, enveloping just to name a few ... but agility, nimble, responsiveness or transient speed was not one of them. In fact it was the first thing i noticed especially after having just spent quite a bit of time on my balanced 600's. I listen to alot of classical (mainly chamber) and jazz music and the HD-6XX series and my K701's out manouvered the LCD-2's on speed. Not too sure why it may very well be because of the drivers of the LCD-2's when compared to the other headphones i am talking about ... i don't get too much into the technical aspects of this hobby so i have no idea how this comparison would pan out ... but if you are a long time listener of 701's or 600 series of headphones the LCD-2's are quite sluggish in comparison. But yes the LCD-2's do bring alot of dynamic scale to your ears - so very good for symphonic pieces and complex jazz scores.

Looks like a great time. I really like the look of that Eddie Current amp. 

well maybe thats one of the things you get from taking them home, i must admit i'm extrapolating the effect of using them balanced and with more solid state power than what was on offer at the meet, as due to their design i assumed they needed more and would scale with that (speed and hard hitting power coming from that and adding to the space and dynamism that was already there). meets as we know are not good places for trying out headphones, but i did like what i heard and i do love my hd600, balanced or SE, so i dont say that lightly. what are they like out of your yammy? maybe it was a case of the Emperors new clothes, but i need to spend more time with them at home with my gear and my music before i know. anyone got a spare pair i can loan? lol

now i hear what your music taste is i understand your rig more, as many know i'm not much of a tube guy, but the eddie current is about as clean as i have heard them. i just dont like the k701 out of anything though, after trying to 'get them' many times while having them here for recables. i figure they just dont suit my gear or my music all that much, cant get past the Princess Leia thing they've got going on.

regarding the whole sponsor thing, dont get me wrong, i enjoyed this meet more than most precisely because i turned up early and DIDNT have my industry hat on, but if we want it to grow, then maybe thats whats needed. myself I prefer smaller meets like this one anyway, but whether they are financially viable/sustainable at venues like this i dont know.