[mscott58]

   
One of the guys in the race had a broken collar bone and took off his sling to race.  I don't recall how well he did, but he did beat at least @Hansotek, so there's that!

I actually ended up with a bruise on one of my collarbones as well as on my back, most likely from when Jerry Harvey took me out! But hey, at least it was someone as cool as Jerry. 

 

[drgajet]

Yea, Brianna took Jose out. He thought it was pretty funny.

 

[fzman]

One of the guys in the race had a broken collar bone and took off his sling to race.  I don't recall how well he did, but he did beat at least @Hansotek
, so there's that!

That was Brian from Cardas Audio.

 

[hitman1]

I am so glad to hear some impressions of the Dharma. I live Final Audio VI. When I heard about $5000 for Final Audio X. I was like how can they make it sound $4400 better than the VI? Pricing is getting CRAYCRAY!

 

[Hansotek]

  I am so glad to hear some impressions of the Dharma. I live Final Audio VI. When I heard about $5000 for Final Audio X. I was like how can they make it sound $4400 better than the VI? Pricing is getting CRAYCRAY!

 
It's not $4,400 better than the VI. Honestly, I preferred the VI over the X. Overall, I find their house sound(s) to be a little too colored for my taste... but the VI is pretty good for a full-sized closed back.

 

[AxelCloris]

  @money4me247, how is it that we did not meet?  

 
I have to admit, if I met Money at the show then I didn't associate the man with the Head-Fi name. Now I'm sad.

 

[Cotnijoe]

 
@money4me247
, how is it that we did not meet?  

I have to admit, if I met Money at the show then I didn't associate the man with the Head-Fi name. Now I'm sad.

I didnt recognize him either. It wasnt until i saw his avatar on his phone when i was helping him out with putting on some demo iems that i thought it looked familiar! Got a selfie with the guy and grabbed some tea too haha. Seems like hes trying to keep a low profile

 

[Allanmarcus]

One of the sad things about RMAF is that it is too much of a great thing where your choices and discoveries seem endless. Going from one room to the next the wonderful sounding setups start to blend with only a few exotic systems standing out - and mostly for looks as they all sound great. Furthermore, the prices are well hidden and mostly scary so you don't bother asking. Occasionally, they are posted on the wall outside confirming your fears. With the room systems averaging $50k on the low end and going up dramatically - even the speaker wires were $10,000 each, not a pair - you expect a lot from room to room and become snobby for the ultimate sound like the focal speakers were putting out in style.

That being said, I had no way of knowing that the Elac was a reasonably priced speaker as it blended in with the rest of the very high cost speakers which says a lot. If I would have known, I would have spent more time and could have given you a better answer. It wasn't a focal, but at that price I wold have auditioned it harder to take home to my office setup. Bummer!

As you learn more about HiFi audio, you start to recognize the names, and the price points. The ELAC room had $5000 of electronics connected to $600 speakers, so it was very unusual. The larger rooms always have expensive stuff playing, they are the showplace rooms. For the smaller rooms, I always walk in and simple ask "What speakers are we listening to today?" They will usually answer with the model and price. If they don't, I just follow up with "how much?" (just like that) and they will tell you. 
 
One other trick of the trade. Take notes. I will almost a who small spiral book with notes. One page per vender. You get two benefits: 1) you can refer back to the notes since you will be overwhelmed at the show. 2) you look like you work for a magazine or blog, and they treat you better

 

[drgajet]

I didnt recognize him either. It wasnt until i saw his avatar on his phone when i was helping him out with putting on some demo iems that i thought it looked familiar! Got a selfie with the guy and grabbed some tea too haha. Seems like hes trying to keep a low profile

Incognito Head-fi'er. As you wish. Would still like to meet you some day.

Jim

 

[Barra]

RMAF 2015 Listening Impressions

Each year starting last year, I align a trip to see the in-laws in Colorado so that I can attend RMAF. However, with two young kids, I only have a one day pass from the wife – so I have to plan for priorities. This year, I wanted to get upstairs to the speaker setups to see what they had to offer, so I sandwiched them in after a first loop through CANJAM and before coming back to CANJAM for a second listen to favorites. Unfortunately, my watch was still set to Seattle time losing the last hour and most of my second loop for CANJAM. Here are my impressions. BTW ,don’t ever count on the iPhone notes app, it is slow and awkward, and best of yet, my notes were erased by an automated update – so these impressions are from memory.
 

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DAPs

This was the main event for me other than the LCD4. My mission was to hit all the new DAPs to do a comparison back to back to see if I could find any standouts or a rational to upgrade.

1. AK380: “Best DAP Ever – that cannot justify its price” Award: Wow, this is really pretty and much smaller than I thought it would be. The UI is different than my AK100ii – and not in a good way being less intuitive – but still one of the very best ui for ease of use. The SQ is slightly better than my AK100ii, and I mean that I am splitting hairs. Not sure that I nor other head-fiers would be able to tell the difference in a blind listening test for all but special songs. However, there feels to be more width in some songs back to back with my 100ii using my own music and with my Hidition NT6pro which I would argue are the best or second best CIEMs in the market for SQ overall as well as transparency for comparisons like these. Besides the width, it feels like on my low bassy songs that the 380 went deeper. However, for the most part, the 100ii and the 380 were interchangeable IMO. That being said, the 380 wins the beauty contest being much more desirable. One note of interest is that the  corners on the 380 were sharp in the hand being a wide body model that promoted holding the corners and much less ergonomic than the 240. But the 380 is tiny regardless of the pictures. I did a prospective shot to try to show the size next to my 100ii which is also tiny. Look how big the SD card is next to them.

 

 

1. Pioneer XDP-100R/ONKYO DP-X1: No ONKYO at the show, but the Pioneer guys say that it is the same DAP, same chassis, same chips, same UI, same signature, but the ONKYO is dual DAC/AMP and balanced. They also said that the ONKYO is a long way off – up to a year but unknown – while the Pioneer will be out around late November. The UI was nice, but not as intuitive as the AK, but great once learned. The recessed dedicated buttons on the side including volume worked with the screen dark for great usability. The size was large but thin to support a big screen making it pretty, but not overly pocketable. The Pioneer guys are still trying to convince the developers to leave the handle off the top like the ONKYO for better usability making it smaller and allow custom cable jacks to fit. I agree feeling that the handle was somewhat cheap looking. The SQ was great like all DAPs in this price range are. Even an iPhone6 sounds great at this point. But the SQ was definitely a top tier contender – even though I liked my AK100ii more. It provides additional options for a good price point considering the price of the other top tier contenders. Having an AK100ii, I found no reason to get excited about this one through. Here is what I captured in photo - yes that is a speaker on the bottom.
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Sony NW-ZX2: I was bummed, but I could not find these guys and ran out of time to search. Apparently they were there given other reports.
2. Paw Gold: “BEST Sounding DAP Period! – with sucky UI” Award: Wasn’t on my list to listen, but they were there so I took a listen. Wow, best SQ for a DAP – period. However, I would never live with the gold tin foil look or the terrible UI. One point of interest is that like the AK380, this thing was tiny and very pocketable. No, not flat nice pocketable, but more like a little rectangle box pocketable. When I say best SQ, I am saying that it sounded more like a desktop than any other and desktop that I would want to own at that. It had authority, dynamics, natural signature, without piercing brightness that I find too often. I could listen to this one all day. It had a full sized feel to the sound output. I don’t know what to say, but I could find this one in a blind listening test IMO which is unique in itself. However, no sale due to UI and price. Yes, I listened to it shortly after the AK380 and IMO the 380 has some work to get there in SQ. But both will delight regardless. In the end, I would cough up the money for the 380 before the Paw for all the reasons mentioned.
3. Questyle QP1r: “Best DAP for Full Sized HPs” Award: This dap looked very expensive and felt elaborate in the hand carved out of a single piece of aluminum. The UI was so small that I had to guess as to what I was clicking on and it has an ancient spin dial like the X5 as everyone knows – so love it or hate it. Furthermore, there were no dedicated buttons that would work with the screen off, so not overly portable user friendly – don’t use while driving. However, the sound was solid and pleasing with a very dynamic and crisp quality to it. I could see many people making the signature their favorite, but I still prefer the AK and Paw signature. Where this DAP excels was in driving the LCD-XC and Ether full sized headphone like it was plugged into a nice quality desktop. For those that do full sized on the go, this is your DAP. For me, this didn’t make a difference as I do my CIEMs mostly, and I like the Sig and usability of my AK100ii better.
4. HE 901s: “Two times and you are out” Award: Again, the hifiman booth was a big looser for me like it was last year. Again, only music that sucks and DAPs that cannot read a SD card so I cannot get my music loaded. Same thing happened last year. To be fair, these are MicroSD to SD conversion cards, but I give – I would never buy something with this atrocious of a design or UI no matter how good it sounded. Moving on.
5. Conclusion: The only DAP that tempted me was the AK380 for its looks and marginal SQ improvement over my AK100ii – but at $4K, no thanks. My take away is that there are a lot of good choices to fit everyone’s needs. There is no best DAP, just the one that best serves an individual’s needs. Something significant would need to happen to move me away from the AK lineup and my 100ii, but it is not the 240 or the 380. There just is no justification for the price bump.

 

---

Portable AMPs

My goal here is to see if anything was good enough to steer me away from my go to portable amp, the C&C BH2 $100, 80 hour battery wonder. The answer was an easy no. To be fair, I like the full bodied warm sound that it provides and the higher end audiophile amps are more for neutral dynamic transparency. I rarely need my amp, but occasionally will play full sized headphones in bed like my LCD2.2 which it drive faultlessly with elegance and for 80 hours. Why can’t anyone else do that battery life in that small of size. The BH2 is also tiny while the new trend is large and short battery.

 
 

1. Cavalli Audio – Nameless new Portable: “Best new Portable AMP” Award: Checking out the new Carbon, I saw the new portable next to it and decided to do a back and forth with them. Guess what, the Carbon is a great amp and the new portable almost went step by step with it in all the Carbons value props. Obviously it is single ended only, but it was dynamic and desktop sounding just like the Carbon, but a little less width. If I was going to get a portable amp to replace my BH2, this would be it. However, it did not have the warmer flavor that I like with the BH2 and something like 15 hours battery. Even so,  I am considering buying it for a second amp for a different flavor. But the Carbon would solve more needs with the same signature for just a little more. Tempting.
2. IFI Macro: Hearing so much about this amp, I thought it would sweep me off my feet. Not so. Hearing so many outstanding devices in such a short time it just bored me. However, I should point out that it was in some sort of supper stack with 4 or 5 different IFI devices so maybe something else in the stack handicapped it. Nothing special here, moving on.

---

Desktop AMPs

My only goals here was the Cavalli Carbon and the new Schiit. The Cavalli blew me away, the Schiit left me cold. To be fair, I have been spoiled by Eddie Current with Craig sending me his Zana Deux and his Black Widow which for me are end game. Even with everything I heard at RMAF, the ZD and black widow are all I can think about in terms of getting my next amp.

1. Cavalli Carbon: “Best Value Amp” Award: The Carbon is on the other side of my preferred signature being neutral transparent and dynamic with fantastic inner detail rather than thick tuby syrupy and euphoric. However, I know when I hear something special and I appreciate a great value. Therefore, I am still trying to justify a purchase before they run out of stock. Spending some time with Dr. Cavalli, I could tell that he was particularly proud of this creation. The team was gracious enough to keep the booth open after close to allow me to hear this and the new portable amp – THANK YOU TEAM CAVALLI! If there was more time, I would have loved to hear the Crimson that was on sale and everyone is raving about, but at that point it would have just been rude as they needed to tear down.
2. Woo WA5: Listened through the woo lineup including the 009 setup and was ho hum until I got to the Abyss which was sharing a table hooked up to the WA5. I don’t know if it was the Abyss or the WA5, or both, but it was spectacular. The only thing better was the LCD4/King combo.
3. Schiit Audio: Schiit has ****ty music choices at their booth and a get em out quick policy that left me kinda cold. They were not well maned to help either. Their setups were very busy as usual with the odd exception of the Ygg/Rok stack.
   1. Ygg/Rok: The Ygg/Rok stack was empty for an obvious reason, there was only one song available and it would be uncomfortable to go behind their counter on your own to plug in your own source cable. Regardless, I tested the one song with the available HE1000, the HD800, and my Hidition NT6pro CIEMs.
      1. HE1000: For some reason, the HE1000 was not sounding good to me during RMAF at the various booths and not at the Schiit booth either. Having heard it before in Seattle with the Rock and my Havana 2 tube amp, I was wondering if there was something wrong with the Ygg. At our last Seattle meet, we tested a cold and a warm Ygg side by side and found the difference to be there, but not that great to do this. The HEK is a great HP, but it didn’t fare well in this side by side.
      2. HD800: The 800 sounded very good, but with so much greatness surrounding it, the results were only of moderate interest. I was ruined by hearing the LCD4 first.
      3. Hidition NT6pro CIEMs: To show you how crazy I am and how little my opinion amounts to, my favorite pairing was my CIEMs. The magic of the Ygg/Rok shinned here with huge sound stage, immense detail, and out of this world dynamics. No contest here for me – this is the best my pros have ever sounded.
   2. Mjolnir 2: The Mojo had a few songs of no value but the sound left me cold so I didn’t even attempt my own music hook up even though it would have been easier at that station. Having my original Mojo at home hooked up to my Havana, the combo is heavenly – so either the new mojo or gungnir multibit that it was hooked up to was not to my taste The Mojo was running the solid state plugs, not tubes so there may have been something more to see, but with no support and lack of interest, I moved on.
4. Audeze King: “Best of Show Setup” Award: Knowing nothing about the king, I heard it only because it was hooked up to the greatly anticipated LCD4. The combo was magic. However, was it the amp or the HP or both?
5. Conclusion: All I could think about after the show was the LCD4 and the King combo. The rest was an afterthought. However, if I had the money to buy the LCD4, I would probably step up to an Eddie Current amp anyways. The Carbon and the portable may be justifiable though.

 

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Headphones

My two goals were to hear the LCD4 and the closed Ether. I did both and loved both.

1. LCD4: “Best HP of Show” Award: While I was expecting to be disappointed, the lcd4 actually left quite a first impression. RMAF is less than ideal conditions for auditions so I reserve the right to change my mind a little with further listens on familiar platforms and music. But I did listen to the he1000, the abyss, and 009s right after on premium setups and they felt much less shiny post lcd4. They are all great sounding and I hold them in high regard, but the chain the lcd4 were tied to was really something. If it helps understand my preferred flavor, the abyss was my second favorite out of that group. The 4 is Still heavy, but definitely an improvement in comfort. However, the sound stage is what stood out to me as new. Fantastic bass slam that drops lower than the LCD3 and smoother creamier treble than the X – but the new large 3d Sound stage was the star of the show. It was hard to go back to the X after comparing to the 4 and the X was my previous favorite – it is that good. The big question though since I did not get a chance to hear the 4 on my own or familiar gear was how much of that sound was the 4 and how much was the King amp. Tales of no bass are not consistent with what I heard coming from my pre-fazor LCD2.2 and I listened to both available pairs. However, they seemed hard to drive compared to the X so maybe these claims are rom using other gear that is not up to the task. Bottom line, given the ridiculous price point, I would probably get the x before the 4 for more bang for the buck. But it is really good and I wish it was affordable.
2. Ether: “Best Closed Can” Award: “Most comfortable HP” Award: The Ether stands out to me because of its comfort and build, not because of its SQ. Don’t get me wrong, they sound better than great, but I consider them at the top of the second tier TOTL HPs (T1s/HE560s) or bottom of the tier 1 (Audeze/HD800) with the HE1000, PMx2, LCD4, 009, and Abyss being in the exotic range beyond the top tier. I reserve the right to change this opinion because this is the first time I have heard the Ether and RMAF is not ideal for auditioning, but I got to hear it on a wide variety of systems. Others may disagree with me as I like a thicker warmer signature while the Ether just got out of the way of the music. Everything sounds good in the top tier ranges, but in a blind listening test – which I have done – the top tier is consistently preferred over the second tier, and the exotics are mostly preferred over the top tier. Regardless of tier, everyone likes all of them and they sound fantastic until we do a side by side where favorites emerge. However, I thought this was more comfortable than the HD700/800 which I had considered the most comfortable up to this point. In terms of sound quality, while the open was a little better than the closed it was very close. Dan said that he actually tuned them differently to provide choice. Bottom line is that I only have need for a closed model to prevent the music from waking my wife at night while listening. The Ether closed isolates well and sounds better than any other closed headphone I have heard. The Ether is surprisingly light and agile with the headband being able to be twisted completely without damage given its wirey structure. This is great for me as I have destroyed many sleeping with them. Finally, the closed looks more premium than any other with the carbon fibre finish including the Fostex. It is a class act. The only issue for me is the price as there are better sounding HPs matching my preferences such as the PMx2 that are on my list at that price. I guess I should have listened to Dan’s lower end closed models to see if I can justify those, but those closed Ethers were just so darn pretty. Still might have to buy one for closed use as it is really that good.
3. HE1000: Having gotten over the initial novelty I am finding the SQ spread on these to be too slight to justify the premium pricing. Maybe it is just not my preferred Audeze signature, but the LCD4 just severely outclass them IMO. Not on my short list any more give better options in this price range. Again to show the low value of my opinion, my LCD2.2 paired with the Rok are within 95 percent of the HE1000 SQ for 25 percent of the price. So maybe my money is better spent elsewhere.
4. Abyss: The Abyss is the HE1000 on steroids giving it a thicker, meatier flavor, with a similar sound stage and 3d imaging. Whatever it is, I just like the Abyss better. Now in the looks department, no I would be too shallow to buy something that looks like a medieval torture device. But I sure like listening to them. They are still second to the LCD4 which I do like the looks of so no contest given similar pricing.
5. Stax SR-009: The 009 is clearly an exotic, great sounding headphone, but it is not my cut of tea. Heard it here with the Woo WES and previously with the Blue Hawaii, and neither time did it rock my boat. Yes it sounds great, but artificial and thin to my ear. Great at getting to the last ounce of detail but at the cost of its soul. Moving on.
6. Audio Zenith PMx2: “Best Sounding Sub-$4K Headphone” Award: The PMx2 is neck to neck with the LCD4 and Abyss in SQ but is being handicapped by its Oppo roots in the opinion polls. Had borrowed a pair from Alex for a Seattle event which allowed for a significant home audition and spent some time with Alex again at the show and have to say that these HPs are stunning, but under appreciated by the Head-Fi community. I think that everyone owes it to themselves to have a listen. Everyone that listened while I was at his booth were stunned by the SQ trying to figure out the trick. The trick per Alex is that he spent years replacing all original parts to get the SQ to flat neutral. This does not mean the typical flat audiophile unnaturally bright for added detail garbage, but flat rich natural as you would hear sounds if they were occurring next to you in real life. The results are spectacular and bests the top tier options competing with the exotics – but for a fraction of the cost. When the OPPOs came out, I loved them for their  design and comfort and hated them for their sub-par SQ. Alex fixed the SQ taking it into the exotic range and kept the design and comfort. This HP is a bargain that I have been working on adding to my collection – hopefully by Christmas.

 

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Speaker Setups

Missing out last year, I had to get up to the RMAF portion of the event and boy did it make an impression. I forgot that I came to Head-Fi only because I had no options to hear my speakers anymore with two young kids in the house. The right speaker setups definitely crush the Headphone options. Here are some standouts.

1. Riva Turbo X: “Best Boom Box” Award: Wondering through the rooms filled with equipment that easily added up to 50K to 100k and up, it is hard to stand out. Nothing sounded bad, with the exception of some poor choices of music. However, walking into the typical sounding audiophile sounding room filled with nothing but a small 9x3x4 inch box leaves you scratching your head – what am I missing. Sure enough, the Riva folks figured out a way to make a small box fill the room with sound similar to a $50K audiophile setup and for only $400. Wow! I will be grabbing on of these. 21 hour battery with real working Bluetooth system and a two year warrantee on top – done. BTW, they are bringing out a smaller one in November that has 95 percent of the SQ at $250. Looking inside, there are something like 8 speakers and some very heavy magnets which make the box move aggressively in your hand while it is playing music. Feels real premium.
2. ELAC Speakers: Just found out from someone else here in this thread that what I thought to be $20K speakers were $600/pair. Wish I would have known so that I could have done a better audition as the just blended with the other $50K sound rooms which they should not have done at that low of a price.
3. Martin Logan Neolith: These massive speakers thrilled many filling a dance clubs size room with club level sound. Expensive and massive, they may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I would love to own some.

 

 

1. Focal Speakers: “Best Speaker of Show” Award: There is a whole range as they were everywhere at the show, but they consistently stood out as the top sounding speaker – and I should say system as they were stacks of separates that amounted to a whole speaker.

 

 

1. VAC/Valve Amplification Company: The VAC amps were in all the good sounding rooms consistently. I have to assume that they are doing something right and the amps were beautiful. I was afraid to ask how much.

 

[MrSpeakersPeter]

@Barra did you mean ETHER? 

 

[Barra]

  @Barra did you mean ETHER? 

Ops, I guess I am still tired from the event. Thanks, corrected.

 

[Yamantaka]

I'm tired from it and I didn't even go. 

 

[Ra97oR]

Wish I was there, love to have a chance to listen to Dharma, LCD4, the new baby multi-bit and meeting the US side of Head-Fi. Looked fantastic from everyone's impressions.

 

[Asr]

RMAF 2015 Impressions by money4me247

 
What?! You mean I passed up an opportunity to meet the prolific money4me247? Now I'm really disappointed that I didn't attend the show, would've really liked to have met you.