Anyone found their headphone nirvana yet? - Page 17

Quote:

Originally Posted by walfredo 

So...

 

Let my try a theory.  There are two very related, but still independent hobbies:  (1) listening/loving music,  (2) audio gear.

 

There are those who like both equally.  Those folk are rare.  There are people who like one side much more than the other.  I'd venture that people who love music but not audio gear are not present in this forum. :-)  But they do exist out there. :-)

 

Anyhow, this is relevant for the question posed:  "audio nirvana".  Although gear can definitely help and enhance, "nirvana" is actually in the music. :-)

 

BTW, this dialectic is the same in the camera vs photography world.  Music vs. audio is just more "flanboyant" and beautiful.

 

[]s

Walfredo

 I love listening to music, and like playing with audio gear. I think some people here (not everyone) get obsessive and listen to the gear and not the music....I will never be that guy.

Me too, Achmedisdead!!

It is just all the times I reached "nirvana" it was on music... 

Quote:

Originally Posted by longbowbbs 

Can't imagine why?    Looking forward to your impressions when the new gear arrives, David!

 

I'm mainly referring to the SR-009 I have Eric.

The Senn HD600 for what it cost me, is a remarkable headphone, so too is my se535, but there'll be better sounding headphones and IEM's at a much higher price though.

Regarding my Source and Amps, I couldn't be happier, and when I receive the Aristaeus and GS-X I'll be even happier. 

Wrong thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by David1961 

 

I'm mainly referring to the SR-009 I have Eric.

The Senn HD600 for what it cost me, is a remarkable headphone, so too is my se535, but there'll be better sounding headphones and IEM's at a much higher price though.

Regarding my Source and Amps, I couldn't be happier, and when I receive the Aristaeus and GS-X I'll be even happier. 

One of these days I need to audition the legendary Stax headphones. Not a lot of meets in my area. The deer and the bear do not use headphones much...

Just plugged in my HD800s to the Conductor, forgot how good it sounded since I had the W3000. The detail and soundstage is fantastic 

Well, what the heck-- it's late on a Saturday night, I figure it's a good time to tell a story.

I'm sitting in my home office spinning some extremely vintage vinyl.  Currently the sounds blasting out my HD800s is the Stones "Let it Bleed".  This is a true original London blue-label pressing.  Heavy & thick, the way they used to make great records.  This particular record is in M- condition, though the cover isn't what it used to be.  Of course who cares when the upper left corner  has Keith Richard's autograph.  I managed to get two of my early Stones albums signed by him back in the early 90's when he was playing with the Winos.  He was doing a concert for the TV station I worked at-- WTTW in Chicago.  Anyway-- I asked and he obliged-- I think it makes the record sound much sweeter.

I'm in mid-turntable replacement.  Last weekend I finally started unpacking my vinyl collection after a long long hiatus (think: years).  The first two records I played on the old Sony sounded positively horrible.  I've never listened to the TT on my HD800s, I'm driving them with a Woo Audio WA5LE-- and perhaps the cartridge is just shot-- or sitting in a box in the garage did really bad things, I'm not certain.  But when something isn't working just right-- that usually means I'm going to spend a lot of money in short order.  

The phono stage isn't the best-- It's a Rotel RQ970.  It needs an upgrade, but it will do for now.  But the turntable and cartridge have got to go.  I started my research and through a head-fier I struck a deal for a VPI Scout.  It will be here Monday, but I needed the cartridge, too.  I went through a bunch of recommended components lists Stereophile, etc., and the cartridge that kept bubbling to the top was the Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood.  Clearaudio has a killer phono stage that will likely be a great match for it, but that will have to wait.  

The cartridge arrived Friday.  I hooked it up to the Sony, and set the tracking force with the scale I purchased with the cartridge.  I don't have a good anti-skate gauge, but If you drop the needle on a record, you can see if there's a lot of force on the needle toward the center-- I just backed it off until the needle didn't bend when dropped in the groove.  Seems to be a good adjustment.  I eyeballed the alignment as best I could-- that gauge was still in the mail somewhere and played a few sides for fun.  Sounded pretty good, though the bass was a little thin.  

Today the alignment gauge arrived.  My eyeball job wasn't so good, imagine that?  I straightened it out and viola!  The bass suddenly extended way way down in the spectrum.  Anyone who says the HD800 can't do great bass is sorely mistaken.  With the right amplifier, the bass extends to the depths of the range.  Most people underpower it-- then complain the bottom end is light.  

I've got over a thousand lp's.  Not all are in great shape, but I really was quite the collector back in the day.  I even purchased every Mobile Fidelity album I could get my hands on when they announced they were stopping record production back in the day-- bought them retail and shelved a bunch of Beatles albums, still sealed, for a retirement fund.  A few are worth $500 and up.  Not a bad ROI.

So I'm re-discovering my vinyl, and it's quite fun.  The MoFi records are simply stunning-- and I don't have the VPI Scout in the mix yet.  It will be another step toward that elusive headphone nirvana come Monday night.  Meanwhile, Mick, Keef and the boys are telling me it's time to flip to side 2.  Alright boys, it's the least I can do...

Reeltime, that was a great post! Keith Richards autographed London pressings....Very sweet 

I am debating what to get in the new TT arena myself as the old CJ Walker finally died a few years ago and the collection (About 400 LP's) is probably very lonely.

Good job on the MF pressings. I have several, but was not in the game when they went under so I missed the Going out of business rush.

Looking forward to reports from your new TT and Phono stage!

Quote:

Originally Posted by walfredo 

So...

 

Let my try a theory.  There are two very related, but still independent hobbies:  (1) listening/loving music,  (2) audio gear.

 

There are those who like both equally.  Those folk are rare.  There are people who like one side much more than the other.  I'd venture that people who love music but not audio gear are not present in this forum. :-)  But they do exist out there. :-)

 

Anyhow, this is relevant for the question posed:  "audio nirvana".  Although gear can definitely help and enhance, "nirvana" is actually in the music. :-)

 

BTW, this dialectic is the same in the camera vs photography world.  Music vs. audio is just more "flanboyant" and beautiful.

 

[]s

Walfredo

Very interesting thought - something similar has certainly crossed my mind before, as I am sure it has many others here. I have friends who listen to a lot of music (probably has much as I do, if not more), but are not particular about their gear in the slightest. One of my friends owns over 4000 CDs (and a smaller vinyl collection), but listens to most of it on computer speakers and in his car (awful system there too). My aunt listens to music for hours coming out of her iPad. In mono. They may think it's a sin to spend so much on gear, but if you think about it, per hour of entertainment, it would be a tiny investment, amongst the cheapest you could make. Or buy a few less CDs for a couple of months and get a $1K system that sounds musical. But then, there are the opposite, people with lots of gear and little music.

To me, the best measure is: how much have you spent on music vs. gear. A second thought it how many hours of music do you listen to in a year, vs. how much did you spend on gear that year, and bring it down to $/hr. It's an inexact and possibly poor measurement, but an easy one and an interesting thought exercise.

I just posted this on another thread and thought it might add to this conversation also.  We were dicussing the way people view their music differently and consider different equipment to be "better" than others (beats=bass=good vs. what we here generally accept as better equipment).

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It's similar to the mayo, mustard, or ketchup preferences on burgers, fries, or hot dogs depends on where you are form and what is the norm for your culture.

Another example is blood pudding, lutefisk, balut, or kimchi, it all comes down to how your evirnoment influences what you feel is acceptable or normal.

Unless you were with the band when they were deciding what their music should sound like, you have to use your own experience to decide what is acceptable to you. Doesn't much matter what others think. We can only present what we think is good and then let them do what they want, ultimately.

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The $/hr of listening is really not of consideration in my book, its the amount of enjoyment I get and how long that lasts that is more important.  How much you spend can help but is not the primary focus, You can spend a million and not get the sound you like.  Again it comes down to what you like, not what it costs, for me any way.  Some people put a lower value on SQ or are used to lower SQ and therefore have decided they get what they want out of it and that's good enough.

Quote:

Originally Posted by reeltime 

vinyl is sweeter.

I agree there is nothing like it!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Achmedisdead 

 

 I love listening to music, and like playing with audio gear. I think some people here (not everyone) get obsessive and listen to the gear and not the music....I will never be that guy.

Yeah, unfortunately we still need some music to be able to listen to our headphones;)

Someone started a thread over at AK asking what others intended to purchase in 2013 - several of the usual suspects put their hands on their hearts and proclaimed that they wouldn't be buying anything other than music in 2013. 'Too much gear already !' several proclaimed. Here we are, not yet the end of Feb, and I'm reading about new gear that has mysteriously appeared in their homes.In some cases, I cant see that it's a massive upgrade on what they had already - just different. We all crave novelty - I certainly do - but that is often accompanied by 'man, I thought the LCD-2 was good till I heard the LCD-3 ! Suddenly I can hear what I was missing with the old model !'. Instead of deja vu all over again, it's nivana all over again  :D   

Let's face reality - this hobby is all consuming. End-game rigs don't exist - I said it about 5 pages back, and I said it at the start of this thread, and I'll say it again now. I see the same thing in camera gear, and I see the same thing on blogs dedicated to watches. We love our toys, pure and simple. 

Flame on   ;)

I had a moment tonight of near nirvana.  

A thin cardboard package arrived from Elusive Disc.  I opened the package, removed the album, and set it aside.  This is going to take the right moment, undisturbed, for complete emersion.  

I fed the cats.  Emptied the garbage and got everything out of the way which could intrude into my thoughts.  

Sitting back in my office-- I fired up the phono stage, ignited the tubes in my Woo WA5LE, and carefully separated the top of the bag over the record.

It contained the 45rpm remastered pressing of Fleetwood Mac's eponymous.  

Placing the vinyl on the Scout, spinning on the clamp, I dropped the needle on side 3, inched up the volume and listened to the low swish of the needle riding its groove.  

Out of the rumble, the first piano chords from Christine McVie's fingers broke the silence across nearly 30 years.  Mick kicked his thunderous bass drum into life, while John thumped out his first notes, bending at the end of the measure of "Say You Love Me."

It's the most satisfying moment I've experienced since setting up a modern analog system.  I've never heard the HD800 dig so deep.  The soundstage and nuance of the harmonies and musical fills dropped into the production with exacting precision was never lost, and even surprised, though I've heard this recording probably a thousand times since it was first released.  

"Landslide" was an acoustic gem.  The reverb on Stevie Nick's falsetto seemed to echo into infinity.  But the biggest treat was yet to come--

The quirky syncopation on "World Turning" raised this three song audition to an even higher plane.  The song crafted to build as each repeating musical phrase wrapped back around.  It's a musical orgy for the senses.  

Then it was over as quickly as it began.  Three songs per side, admittedly, is a cumbersome way to enjoy the experience.  But the fidelity reached tonight I've only caught glimpses in the highest-end listening rooms I've had the pleasure to visit.

I still have a new phono stage on backorder.  It should arrive next week.  I will gladly be repeating this journey. 

I'm the first one here to claim "I have reached my end-game rig and found my headphone nirvana" just waiting for the cash to roll in for a BHSE.