What is that written on the marquee of the Michigan Theater?

 
Please use this thread to post impressions, pictures, headphone comparisons, and headphone love affairs sparked at The Southeastern Michigan Headphone Meet, held on Pi Day (3.14.15) at Overture Audio, Ann Arbor, MI.
 
I give my heartfelt thanks to Keith Moorman (@a2keith), "T.J." Jankowsi, and all of the staff at Overture Audio for hosting us.  Their work included arranging for some great door prizes with manufacturers, securing presence at the meet by manufacturers' representatives, obtainng and arranging the tables, providing the streaming internet infrastructure, offering the drinks, and distributing the power. I was privileged to assist @zabzaf in the organization of this meet.  He started these meets, he invited me to organize this one as local to me, and he kept us all on track.
 
We doubled the size compared to our last one, running to (at least) 39 folks today.  head-fi.org originator @jude joined us with the best, just released (or most often, not-yet-released) equipment, fit carefully into his Honda Fit.   IF we had been ANY larger, we would not have fit.
 
Door prizes were won by @dseg30 (PSB M4U2 headphones (donated by PSB), @cavedave (HiFiMAN HE-400i, donated by HiFiMAN), and @Trashman (one-of-a-kind archival poster for Sept. 20 2014 meet, donated by zabzaf). 
 
Premium gear shown included:
 

1. Abyss AB-1266 headphone with Moon Audio amp (Overture Audio)
2. Schiit Yggdrasil DAC (jude)
3. Philips Lightening headphones (jude)
4. Astell & Kern / Beyerdynamic AKT5p (jude)
5. and many others, which I hope you will list.

 
My goals were to compare my new Beyerdynamic T 5 p to the Fostex TH-900, which I had also considered for purchase as a premium closed headphone (to listen with when the room was too noisy or my open Grados) and to compare my T 5 p to the new AKT5p.  I succeeded doing both.  The TH-900 sounded deeper and more colored than my T 5 p bu were not as durable; the AKT5p had larger sound stage and stronger bass than my T 5 p.
 
How about you?  What did you learn, photograph, compare, or fall in love with today?

Subbed. Will post my impressions later. Great meet, thanks again to the organizers for putting in all the behind the scenes work

It was great talking to everyone there, got to hear some fine offerings from quite a few different brands.
Quick impressions would be;
Audeze LCD-Xs have some of the best textured mids and lows of any headphones I've heard, but are quite hefty
HD 650s sound tremendous on a tube amp
Abyss have ridiculous bass
HD800s probably aren't for me,
The Grados I heard have crazy detailed highs but are just too fatiguing for me
Koss Porta Pros are quite the bargain
I know the difference between the AKG K550s and 553 PROs, thanks to Jude! (the pros have a slightly smoother upper treble and the newer, softer AKG pads for a better seal.
Also, tube amps are just cool, even though they get hot!

My main goals were just trying as much as possible since my only hifi headphone purchase (DT 880 Pro) was based completely off reviews and comparisons online and no hands-on experience. I've had them a few years now so I had a good feel for what they were compared to everything else.

I thought I would come away wanting 5 new pairs of headphones but suprisingly that didn't happen. It seems more about choosing which minor differences suit your own personal tastes the most and somehow I managed to pick what was perfect for me. I guess that says volumes about the way people are able to review and describe headphones.

It did open me up to the ideas of going for much more expensive headphones, but I also understand now that there is no dissatisfaction from owning a lower end one.

Personally the beyer T1 was my favorite as I am already well accustomed to their sound signature that seems more mid&high focused than low end. The HE500 was another favorite which I would consider warmer and more musical yet still balanced. These seemed perfect with rock music. I also had that exact same impression from the Audeze (forgot model #). To my ears on two completely different sources and different songs, I would have a hard time telling you if the HE500 was better or worse than an Audeze. That isn't saying much but it did make me realize I would have to sit down and do a good hour long analysis on the same source and amp to notice any differences. Considering the price differences that really says alot about the HE500. In the end they all have their own specializations, much like a different tool for each job.

I really have to thank everyone for being so friendly and open to sharing their toys with strangers, which is what makes this such a great community.

So as someone on the fringes of full on head-fi'ing I figured I'd check it out.  WOW.  Everybody was super knowledgeable, kind and very accommodating.  In fact, I probably freaked out @jude because of the amount of time I spent hanging out with his stuff.  (he's got some pretty sick stuff)  
 
Anyways - It was cool to see.  AND I won these sleek M4U's that sound phenomenal coming out of my mac.   I wonder what it would sound like w/ a headphone amp.  NOOOOO   I'm sure this is how you get people sucked in, huh? 

Yes, those are Koss Porta Pros being driven by the Schiit Ragnarok and Yggrdrasil. And yes, that surprised looks says it all. 
 

ruthieandjohn said:

 
My goals were to compare my new Beyerdynamic T 5 p to the Fostex TH-900, which I had also considered for purchase as a premium closed headphone (to listen with when the room was too noisy or my open Grados) and to compare my T 5 p to the new AKT5p.  I succeeded doing both.  The TH-900 sounded deeper and more colored than my T 5 p bu were not as durable; the AKT5p had larger sound stage and stronger bass than my T 5 p.

Click to expand...

 
kayandjohn, did you listen to the AKT5p in isolation?  Or did you hear it with the AK240 > AKT5p EQ > Balanced > AKT5p?  

warrenpchi said:

kayandjohn, did you listen to the AKT5p in isolation?  Or did you hear it with the AK240 > AKT5p EQ > Balanced > AKT5p?  

Click to expand...

Your second choice, from the AK240 with EQ (as preset by A&K for the AKT5p) on, but single ended not balanced.

Dear Sirs KayandJohn & Overture Audio,
 
A Superb Event, congratulations to you and Mr.Keith Moorman for hosting one of the nicest Shows I've ever attended.    
 
I hope Keith picks up plenty of new customers from our headphone folks, I'll return to buy something I spotted.  
 
Dr.Jon fell in love with that Astel & Kern player that Jude was showing, I fell for those new Audeze 8s in Open or Closed which are now challenging my older love for your HD800 & matching Amp.
 
The Bottlehead/HD600 was another "astonishing" system, wow, thanks to that lad for bringing and sharing.  
 
This was a Candy Store of wonderful stuff, I was getting dizzy from auditioning superb equipment,  everything seemed to sound beautiful, 
 
Thank you for the invitation and the hospitality,
 
Tony in Michigan 

Here are the pics I took at the meet today. Overall impressions coming tomorrow...Goodnight and thanks to everyone for coming!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a good time seeing everyone at the meet and sampling all your gear! Looking at LCD's now..
 
 

zabzaf said:

  Here are the pics I took at the meet today. Overall impressions coming tomorrow...Goodnight and thanks to everyone for coming!
 

Click to expand...

Man, the lighting made me look so bald in that picture! Haha
 
Nice pictures, I thought about getting my little point and shoot camera out, but I figured Zabzaf and Timkwhite had it under control with their fancy DSLRs. I just let the pros handle that.
 

Wow. Laying here trying to decompress after a very long, but fun day. It was great to see everyone and everything. Wish that I didn't have to leave so early but there's always next time.

Quick impressions before going to bed...I want a Schiit Valhalla! I loved the Oppo 1's and 3's that Jude brought. Pono was fun to play around with. I became infatuated with clean power....

Wish list: Yggy/Rag, Moon Integrated Amp, Project Turtable and Senn 700 or 800's!

Good night and thanks everybody for a great day especially KayandJohn ad zabzaf for organizing, Ccasper TFG for sharing the bass and TimKWhite for inspiring me with tube amps and photography!

tonykaz said:

  Dear Sirs KayandJohn & Overture Audio,
 
A Superb Event, congratulations to you and Mr.Keith Moorman for hosting one of the nicest Shows I've ever attended.    
 
I hope Keith picks up plenty of new customers from our headphone folks, I'll return to buy something I spotted.  
 
Dr.Jon fell in love with that Astel & Kern player that Jude was showing, I fell for those new Audeze 8s in Open or Closed which are now challenging my older love for your HD800 & matching Amp.
 
The Bottlehead/HD600 was another "astonishing" system, wow, thanks to that lad for bringing and sharing.  
 
This was a Candy Store of wonderful stuff, I was getting dizzy from auditioning superb equipment,  everything seemed to sound beautiful, 
 
Thank you for the invitation and the hospitality,
 
Tony in Michigan 

Click to expand...

 
Hello Tony... I'm the "lad" with the Bottlehead Crack/HD650 (not 600, though I've always been curious to hear the differences). It was a pleasure talking to you once again and I'm glad you enjoyed my rig. Catch you at the next meet!

For those who spent yesterday here in Ann Arbor at the headphone meet, you might like to know that Ann Arbor has another development that hoists it into the Hallowed Halls of Headphonedom.
 
A University of Michigan startup called TurtleCell has developed an iPhone 5 case that includes good-quality IEMs with an automatic, tangle-free retractor.  Coming in a variety of colors (including my favorites, red and black), it sells for $39.99.  IEMs are reported to be built by the same manufacturer used by V-MODA and Beats.  Here is the website:  http://www.turtlecell.com/
 
Their video was filmed in Ann Arbor and shows many of the sights of our fair town:
 
 

 
Wow...what a great meet!
 
First off, I would like to thank the ever gracious Keith from Overture Audio. He was a fantastic host and the use of his store was much appreciated. Without it, this meet may never have happened. Second, I have to thank the main organizer of the meet, kayandjohn (John) for his organization and enthusiasm in assembling the event. I can tell you that putting together an event like the one at Overture is no small feat. Between the emails, PMs, posts, table rentals, etc., I can tell you that there was a tremendous amount of effort put into Saturday’s meet.
 
I’d also like to thank Jude for making it to the meet as well. I had never met Jude prior to the meet, but I can tell you that he is one of the nicest and warmest individuals I’ve ever met. I know that sounds like hyperbole but the way in which he interacted with the folks at the meet, was uber generous with sharing the gear he brought and always taking time to educate, he was an invaluable part of what made the day so special. He even made it to the meet despite some sudden family commitments that almost forced him to cancel. A true professional and an all-around good guy.
 
With all the mushy thank yous out of the way, now on to the gear:
 
What I liked and will likely purchase-
 
Schiit Yggdrasil
 
Release 0.99 was in the house at Overture.  We had some issues getting it up and running which had to do with Windows problems. Once someone (Jude, I believe) identified the issue and said to connect it to a Mac via USB, a group including blitzxgene had it singing. Luckily, there were two Ragnarok amps at the meet so that just made an obvious choice for amp.
 
I first tried my LCD-3 with Fazor and was absolutely blown away by the transparency of its presentation. Nearly life-like with an airy quality during soft passages and muscle during those that required it.  Since meets are not the best place to critically listen to most gear because of the environment and the variables present, I was hard-pressed to find a fault. I have a feeling there aren’t many.
 
I was fortunate to test drive the Bricasti M1 at the last Metro Detroit meet courtesy of @TOPnut (get well soon, BTW) and I felt it was the best presented DAC I had ever heard. I was hoping for a head-to-head but it was not in the cards. Given that Yggdrasil will retail for about 25% of the Bricasti, I feel it’s a no-brainer. I’m hoping Jude will publish his thoughts on his time with Yggy (please?).
 
Schiit Valhalla 2
 
I have been in search of the perfect OTL amp to power my HD 800s for a few months. I am looking for an tube OTL amp that won’t make my wallet explode yet will bring out the best in my Senns. I was fortunate to hear timkwhite’s Valhalla 2 fed by a plain ol’ Bifrost driving my HD 800s. Upon listening to the Star War’s theme, I was blown away by the sound. As Tim best put it, Valhalla 2tamed the harshness sometimes experiences by the HD 800s without too much gooey tube sound. For me, it pair exhibited very nice symmetry, for a price I can handle. Now Valhalla 2 just needs to get out of backorder.
 
Gear I liked but need more time with-
 
Audeze EL-8 Open Back
 
I was fortunate to experience the closed-back version of the EL-8s and liked them very much. I detected a slight “closed-in” feeling from them which I would expect. Being driving through my iPhone 6 Plus, I found that an external amp would still be needed.  I was unable to get much time with the EL-8 open back cans. As I said earlier, it’s hard to listen to open-backed cans at a meet and do a proper evaluation.
 
In any event, there are light as far as planars go and fit very nice. Definitely on the radar for further listening.
 
Geek Pulse X
 
Fresh out of the box, my friend elrod-tom told me to “take a listen to this”. I did and man, what a sweet sound. I’m hoping to get a mini meet with Mr. Tom to put it through the paces with my headphones. Very impressed in the limited time I had.
 
Schiit Ragnarok
 
Obviously, the Rag was a popular item at our meet. While we had two (one of with was 001B, the first beta unit), I didn’t feel I had sufficient time to really work it through it’s paces. I did notice extreme headroom with the LCD-3s as well as being delicate enough to drive the HD 800s with less harsh and analytical senses as my Mjolnir. A nice unit. The stepped attenuator was well implemented. Construction was rock-solid.
 
ALO The International
 
Thanks to my main man @cCasper TFG, I got spend a few minutes with this nice portable. Nice power, solid build and an overall quality unit. I wanted to listen to it in balanced mode but the cable I made to do so had some weird short and I was only getting one channel. I hope cCasper doesn’t trade it away before I get another listen!
 
The ZMF Headphones
 
zach915m (Zach) is a super cool guy who makes some sweet headphones with Fostex planar magnetic drivers. He and his lovely wife can to A2 all the way from Chicago to show off his creations. I really liked the x Vibros which were being fed with a Violectric amp. Very nice combo!
 
 
Items I didn’t spend anytime with but wished I did-
 
Jude was gracious to bring so many sets of headphones that I couldn’t get a listen to all of them in my limited time at the meet (20-30 would be my guess). I wanted to spend more time with the Philips ‘phones he brought as well as the AKGs he provided (can’t remember the model #). I also missed the Jerry Harvey in-ears but was surprised that all the acrylic fits in one’s ear! There was also a very cool set of Sony’s that seem to have eluded me as well.
 
I was able to speak with krikor about his Bottlehead Crack with Speedball upgrade and various other customizations…but ran out of time to give it a test drive. Hopefully next time.
 
I also wanted to spend time with kayandjohn’s impressive Grado collection (nice apron, BTW) but just ran out of time. Also, AKGunkie had the coolest AKG set-up around. Missed that too.
 
Conclusions:
 
-Jude is cool as heck!
-I prefer (by a wide margin) open-backed headphones
-I don’t love tube amps that are too euphonic
-Schiit Yggdrasil will be a hit.
-Everyone wants to try Audeze cans when they’re at a meet. Most of the time I couldn’t find mine
-Also regarding Audeze, I prefer the 3’s to the X. Finally got to do a AB and the LCD-3s lush sound is music to my ears as compared to the reference-grade LCD-Xs.
-Oppo makes some nice gear
-Overture Audio is a very nice store ran by some cool guys. I will be back!
-We have a very vibrant personal audio community in this area. While we had guys from Concinnati, Chicago, western Michigan as well as from the Metro area, everyone just put their gear out and let a bunch of perfect strangers tinker with it. Awesome!
 
Overheard exchange of the day:
 
“Sure, I’ll help you carry your gear to the store,” says tonykaz to elrod-tom.
 
“But first, I have to ask you a question,”, says tonykaz.
 
“What’s that?” says elrod-tom.
 
“Are you a lawyer,” asks tonykaz.
 
“No, why?” says elrod-tom curiously.
 
“If you are a trial lawyer, I’m dropping your s@#t right here!” says tonykaz emphatically.
 
 
Coming soon…
 
Once we finish our recovery from Saturday, we’ll get to work on our fall meet. It’s too much fun to not do it every 6 months!
 
Those were my impressions…how about yours?

Krikor's Bottlehead Crack w/speedball upgrade and HD650's paired with the Yggdrasil is a phenomenal pairing. This is the second time I've heard the crack/hd650 combo at a meet and both times were engaging experiences. In this case this was probably my standout favorite at the meet. Krikor was also kind enough to lend his macbook as a source for the Yggdrasil. Thanks again for that Craig! His AKG7XX cans were also fun to listen with through the Ragnarok.
 
Finally managed to spend some time listening to a set of HD800's and can confirm these things are detail monsters. I unfortunately felt the need to take them off after a couple minutes of listening when paired with the Rag/Yggy due to the amount of treble energy (might also be that i'm used to speakers at this point). I look forward to hearing these again at some point in a non-meet setting and when I could spend some time messing with eq.
 
Also listened through the Abyss cans, which I could not for the life of me manage to get them to fit on my head without feeling like they were going to fall off. Couldn't form a seal with the ear cups either, but i'm not sure if that's by design. Listening to a few of the organ pieces in my collection with these was just awesome. I guess it's ok I only have a few, considering I'll probably never pick a pair of these up due to cost.
 
I also really really want to thank Jude for coming out for the day and being an awesome guy that brings swaths of headphones + gear. He also discovered my secret that I can't figure out what to do with my face when I'm posing in pictures (my greatest weakness).
 

I'm also going to hold you to your promise to bring your SR-009 to the next michigan meet! You should have 2 by then anyway...
 
Lastly, I left before the showdown between Krikor's Bottlehead and TimKWhite's Valhalla 2 running through the Yggdrasil finished. Do you both have the same conclusions as before?