[Keithpgdrb]

Hello all,
 
Thank you so much for coming today.  I had a blast, and I hope you did as well.
 
Typically, we start an impressions thread, but lets go crazy and just leave our impressions and pictures here.  I hate having to join another thread when the people who care are already posting here.   I don't think Jude will be posting us on the front page anyway.  Try it this way this year, and if it sucks, we'll change it next time.  
 
Impressions to follow.  looking forward to seeing pics from those who took them!

 

[Levaix]

I'll just give some random thoughts, I guess...
 
-Was really impressed with the ZMF x Vibro blackwood edition. I spent a half hour or so trying to decide if I liked it more than my Signature Pros. And Zach seems like a cool guy! Will definitely give these a longer listen in the near future.
 
-Was less impressed with the new Sony. They were okay... I think they were going for inoffensive, and took it a little too far for my taste.
 
-The Fostex TH900... Gosh darnit. So flippin' good. I was really hoping these would be forgotten on my table.
 
-Surprisingly, plugging my Ultrasones into Frank's GS-X setup diminished the gap between them and the TH900s. It gave me hope for the little Sig Pros that could. But I'm not spending over $2500 on an amp, sorry...
 
-HE-6 and HD800 are definitely very nice, but not my cup of tea.

-Having heard the Enigma, I wasn't sure what to expect from the Paradox. It's fairly laid back, but not to the extremes of the Enigma. I actually prefer the Enigma for going further, but also the Sig Pros, TH900, and ZMF for going the opposite direction. I guess the Paradox just falls too far in between for me.

 

[Audio Addict]

  Thanks to Keith for setting this up, and for all who came and share their gear.  Great to hear the Ragnarok and other gear I have had my eyes one.  Always fun to see you guys in real life.  

 
So how did your A vs. B blind test go between the Head Amp GS Mk 2 and the Ragnarok?  I never met it over for the test.  

 

[Keithpgdrb]

Also. lost and found. Couple small connectors. If you can tell me what they are, I'll throw them in the mail to you.

 

[zach915m]

   
So how did your A vs. B blind test go between the Head Amp GS Mk 2 and the Ragnarok?  I never met it over for the test.  

I know this Q was for Fraggler - but I'll chime in! I was fairly pleased with my 2 for 3 blind test result.  So much so that I was scared to do it again!  I do feel like there was a marginal difference, that whole 1% thing, I'd have to spend more time with both amps to figure out what would work best with my gear, but one thing is for sure, the Ragnarok is the real deal, I preferred it with the HD-800.  Both amps are absolutely fantastic.

 

[zach915m]

Hey @SoundApprentice - what the heck was the name of that band you had on your CD Player?  I was trying to find it last night.  That band was the dope-ness.
 
Also - Chris (can't remember your head-fi name) thanks for leaving that "High Fidelity" playlist up on my Tidal!  Hadn't seen that before and there was some seriously great music on there! 

 

 

[AustinValentine]

It was great getting a chance to meet those that attended. The meet was a really pleasant atmosphere; probably the least stressful group event I’ve ever seen. From the pure silliness that was blind testing the Ragnarok against the GS-X mk2 to the general excitement of playing with Jack’s Smyth Realiser (“Have you been on the ride yet!?”), the event was had the perfect mix of whimsical play and equipment testing.
 
I’ll definitely be game for future Chi-Uni-Fi events.
 
General Impressions (YMMV, My Subjective Analysis, Limited Listening Time, etc. etc. Thoughts behind Spoilers to avoid making the thread too long.):
 
The Good:

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

- I’ll start with what I thought was, for me, the evening equipment highlight: Keith’s vintage restored Fisher 500C > HiFiMan HE-6. When I made it back home later in the evening, I had to Google what the large brown box was. The 500C sufficiently tamed the HE-6’s treble peaks/etch while allowing the clean high range to come through. The 500C added smidge of warmth to the HE-6, compared to when I listened to it off of the GS-X mk2/Mytek, but it didn’t remove any of the HE-6’s attack or crispness…nor did it introduce any smear or stuffiness. Talk about slam: the 500C let the HE-6 dip low and deep – and then hit you in the face with its impact. When I got up from listening to “Billy Jean” I think I was still feeling the bounce. Great combination, an engaging and enjoyable listen!
 
- Ogodei’s Gungnir > Ragnarok/GS-X setup was excellent with his HD800’s. I knew I wouldn’t have time to get a proper sense of the difference in sound between the two, so I constrained my listening to the Rag.  It was on top of the rack and I’m lazy, so there. (Plus, embarrassingly, I didn’t notice the volume control box to the left of the laptop until Ogodei pointed it out halfway through the meet. Every time I wanted to change the volume, I kept going to the rack to change it on the Ragnarok.) I liked the Gungnir/Rag combo more than the Mytek/GS-X combo, which in my fast impressions seemed much brighter, slightly grainier, and far more punishing to poorly recorded material. The Gungnir/Rag/HD800 showed you the problems in a recording on a serving dish and gave you choice of whether to partake or not; the Mytek/GS-X/HD800 force-fed them to you to the tune of “Die Walküre.” The two HD800 rigs were very different listening experiences.
 
- Liam’s Bottlehead Crack really showed how well the Crack lives up to the hype with the HD600. It also sounded really good with his DT880 600 ohm. I’ll have to DIY one of these in the future.
 
-  Claritas had a copy of The Beach Boys, “Sounds of Summer” at his rig, so I decided to give that a go for demoing his Marantz CD6005 > Darkvoice > vintage AKG K340. Man, did that K340 have some air. I kept taking them off to see if they were closed or open. I still don’t know – but they sure sounded open, with expansive imaging and incredible high-end extension. “God Only Knows,” “Sloop John B,” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” all sounded positively ethereal. The K340’s high range is really its strength, but there isn’t a part of the spectrum that I think it does badly. If I had to fault these for anything it would be their low-end extension. I felt like there was very little sub-bass. I this setup is near perfect for classical; Tupac or Busta Rhymes is another matter entirely. I bet this setup would make the string sample on the Lox’s “Money, Power, Respect” sound great. Cat Stevens would probably sound terrific.
 
- This isn't a gear impression, it's a people impression: everyone there was awesome, welcoming, curious, respectful, and interesting. This could have been a couple day event and I would have been cool with that. 
 

 
 
The Bad:

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

- Oppo PM-1 – Claritas brought the Oppo PM-1 loaner, so it was at the same table as the AKG K340. They couldn’t have had a worse comparison partner. The PM-1 seemed like a closed headphone. Their treble roll off was excessive; they really lacked anything like air. Their imaging was constrained and claustrophobic. Their bass reproduction wasn’t anything like I’d expect out of an ortho driver.  These things retail for $1,099? I really love the fit, build quality, and design aesthetics of the Oppo. I wanted to like them, because they were easy to drive and comfortable.
 
- Ultrasone Pro 900 – Great build quality and very nice looking headphones. But man, that’s a lot of bass. I mean a lot of bass. It’s like you added 8db more bass to a V-Moda M-100…which already has a lot of bass. Once you made it past the bass, and I’m not really sure that ever I did, I think there was some treble ringing. Thought I heard some ringing on Daft Punk’s “Digital Love.” Results inconclusive because I didn’t EQ the bass down. Can you EQ the bass down? I think the FR chart of the Pro 900 probably stops at 250hz.

 
 
The Indifferent:

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

- Sony MDR-Z7 – Qualifiers: I didn’t get to the new Sony until well into the afternoon, so I may have had some listening fatigue by that point. Moreover: because of their balanced connection, I couldn’t listen to them on my own rig. I did most of my Sony listening on Ogodei’s Gungnir > Ragnarok setup. That’s a much better setup than the one I had with me or had at home. But nonetheless it’s a different sounding setup; that makes evaluation much more difficult. If you’re not used to the rig, then your brain is trying to adjust both to the headphone and the rig. Not optimal, so take what I have to say here with a grain of salt. I know I do.
 
The Z7’s upper mids seemed scooped out, making the transition between the mids and highs sound off. I thought I heard some bass bleed into the lower mids. The bass was a problem for me, both in quantity and tightness. I thought the TH-900, who I didn’t get to spend much time with because it was very popular and rightfully so, had better clarity across the board. The TH-900’s bass put the Z7’s to shame. Something else was going on with the mids on the Z7 too, but I couldn’t put my finger on it with the limited listening time that I had.
 
The Z7 reminds me a little bit of my MDR-1R before using Purrin’s dynamat/fiber mods. I’m a cheap ass, so I tend to think in terms of value propositions. I purchased my 1R off eBay for $135 and put another $10 worth of materials into it.  Is Z7 $400 worth of better? I’m not sure. You know what the Z7 compared very favorably to? The Oppo PM-1. As I understand it, the Z7’s retail for $699. However, several people mentioned that they could be purchased from $540 direct from Sony (essentially price matching the Z7’s price in Japan).  That’s half the price of the PM-1, and I think that the Sony sounded clearer than the Oppo. To me, it also had wider, more accurate imaging.

 
 
The Surprising:

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

- The Ultrasone Signature Pro is a good headphone. It’s rather solid all around, and not just where build quality is concerned. Re: the Signature Pro vs the Pro 900, I think Blake said it best when he wrote, “Did he who made the lamb made make thee?”
 
- I really liked the iFi DSD DAC/Amp combo. I only listened to it as a DAC feeding the Vali, but what I heard was very good. That unit is a really budget friendly way to get a solid quality Burr Brown DAC. iFi/Vali is a very good budget combo. (I wonder if the iFi would benefit from the use of a Wyrd or not?)
 
- Liam’s newer HD600’s sounded nearly identical to my old, slightly warn HD580s. There was a little difference and the difference that was there could be attributed to the clamp difference and pad wear. (Liam’s had very little wear; mine are pretty worn out.) I’ll give it to Sennheiser…that’s some really excellent consistency.
 
-Clartias had a slightly modded pair of NVX XPT100’s, a Fisher 003/Brainwavz HM5 clone. I don’t think I’ve heard a better pair of all arounders at the $100 price point.
 
- Pepperoni trumps Sausage, even at a Sausage-fest.

 
 
With Regrets:

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

- I wanted to run out to the car and get my copy of “Graceland” (1986, not the 25^th anniversary) to listen to on the Marantz. I thought it would be interesting to hear how the AKG handled the title track and “Gumboots.”
 
- I didn’t get to spend any time with Fraggler’s Bottlehead S.E.X., Audio Addict’s HE400i/HE560, or Liam’s AMB M^3. I’ll have to catch those the next time that I have an opportunity.
 
- I had little to no time with Zack’s excellent assortment of T50rp mods. What I did hear sounded pretty nice! Beyond sound: I have to say that the cups on the Blackwood Prototype were just completely and totally sexy. Very nice!
 
- I had to jet at around 3:00 pm because I was already spoken for with regards to dinner. (I promised to make dinner for my wife; the Mahi Mahi was already thawed in the fridge.) In the future, I’ll try to plan ahead so that I can hit the bar for dinner after the event. Until next time, cheers! 

 

[grizzlybeast]

Great impressions!

 

[FraGGleR]

So how did your A vs. B blind test go between the Head Amp GS Mk 2 and the Ragnarok?  I never met it over for the test.  

I actually only listened to the Ragnarok, as I am 99% sure I'd never get a GSX. Even the Ragnarok is more than I want to spend on an amp for this hobby, but after hearing what it could do with the HD650s, I might have to reconsider. It is the best I have heard my HD650s sound and they have been plugged into a lot of amps.

I also enjoyed the Sony Z7s quite a bit but need to play around with damping them to tame the bass bloom. Supremely comfortable. So much so I contacted Sony to see about getting spare pads.

I got a chance to listen to the HE560 again and think they are a very good headphone, but they don't really do anything for me. Their build quality and materials also are quite cheap looking and a bit of a turn off. The HE6 is still the best Hifiman to my ears even when "improperly" driven on my humble 2W amp.

Very much liked the ZMF Blackwood. Very balanced without sounding dull. A little bulky but every T50RP based mod is.

 

[SoundApprentice]

  Hey @SoundApprentice - what the heck was the name of that band you had on your CD Player?  I was trying to find it last night.  That band was the dope-ness.
 

GLASS ANIMALS!

 

[ogodei]

True to my threat, I am posting the results of our Schiit Ragnarok v. HeadAmp GS-X mk2 blind listening tests below.  I claim that these results are COMPLETELY SCIENTIFIC PROOF of something.   What that is, you decide. The important part is that you acknowledge the test was COMPLETELY SCIENTIFIC.
 
For those reading who did not attend the event:   I had already configured my rack for AB listening of the Ragnarok and GS-X mk2 amps for a recent review.  (My conclusions there: the amps were too similar for me to distinguish in blind listening tests).  Since the Chi-Uni-Fi 8.5 was coming up, I took the whole rig on the road to see if anyone else could fare better at telling the amps apart.
 
And they did.  Only many of them took pains to let me know how clear the differences were and that my ears sucked.  My answer is to post the results of their blind tests below. Now others will think twice before insulting my listening skillz and the origins of my handle!
 
The Test:
The Amps were level matched to headphones and fed simultaneously by the same signal chain (PC --> Schiit Wyrd --> Schiit Gungnir).  For each round either the Rag or the GS-X was randomly assigned as the “mystery amp”.  The listeners could then request to listen to either Ragnarok, the GS-X, or the “mystery amp” as for as long and as many times as they wanted before making their guess.  Listeners could select the headphones & music of their choosing as well as control the volume. The headphone was plugged into the amps outside of the listeners view.  At the end of each round, the listener had to guess what the “Mystery amp” was.
 
The Results:
Ok, I will show more character than my detractors and I will not actually identify the listeners (to protect the deaf), but those of you who were brave enough to take the test can feel free to out yourselves or to correct my paraphrasing of your impressions below.
 
LISTENER 1
 
Impressions:  The Ragnarok had fuller mids and low end v. the GS-X.  The GS-X was slightly more brittle at the top end and had slightly more grain at the top end.
 
Correct “Mystery Amp” identifications:  3 out of 3
 
LISTENER 2
 
Impressions:  The GS-X mk2 had better imaging and more clarity. It had a little less bottom end than the Ragnarok and seemed slightly more linear overall. The Ragnarok had a feeling of more headroom & more bass.  It had a little bit less on top and was smoother overall than the GS-X
 
Correct “Mystery Amp” identifications:  2 out of 3
 
LISTENER 3
 
Impressions: The GS-X mk2 had a slightly bigger sound stage & a slightly higher top end. The Ragnarok felt like it had more weight. The sound stage was not as wide, and the highs were more rolled off.
 
Correct “Mystery Amp” identifications:  2 out of 5
 
LISTENER 4
 
Impressions: The GS-X mk2 was more ‘shouty’ in the vocals.
 
Correct “Mystery Amp” identifications:  0 out of 2
 
LISTENER 5
 
Impressions:  Could not articulate any differences.
 
Correct “Mystery Amp” identifications:  0 out of 3
 
LISTENER 6
 
Impressions:  The Ragnarok has less bass and sub-base than the GS-X mk2.  It seems slightly harsher on the top.
 
Correct “Mystery Amp” identifications:  0 out of 2.

 

[zach915m]

  GLASS ANIMALS!

Haha thanks man!  I looked up "Animals" on my Tidal - and it came up with a bunch of other baloney...good to know!  Great stuff.

 

[Claritas]

True to my threat, I am posting the results of our Schiit Ragnarok v. HeadAmp GS-X mk2 blind listening tests below.  I claim that these results are COMPLETELY SCIENTIFIC PROOF of something.   What that is, you decide. The important part is that you acknowledge the test was COMPLETELY SCIENTIFIC.

Only many of them took pains to let me know how clear the differences were and that my ears sucked.  My answer is to post the results of their blind tests below. Now others will think twice before insulting my listening skillz and the origins of my handle!

You certainly didn't deserve to be ragged on (pun intended) for not hearing a difference: people ought to have admired your honesty instead. I'm not trying to pick a fight but there's nothing "COMPLETELY SCIENTIFIC" about running an ABX with five guys standing on both sides of the test subject talking the whole time.

 

[SoundApprentice]

Well, only a few photos turned out decent. Sorry. Click to enlarge.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Levaix]

 
The Bad:

- Ultrasone Pro 900 – Great build quality and very nice looking headphones. But man, that’s a lot of bass. I mean a lot of bass. It’s like you added 8db more bass to a V-Moda M-100…which already has a lot of bass. Once you made it past the bass, and I’m not really sure that ever I did, I think there was some treble ringing. Thought I heard some ringing on Daft Punk’s “Digital Love.” Results inconclusive because I didn’t EQ the bass down. Can you EQ the bass down? I think the FR chart of the Pro 900 probably stops at 250hz.

 Yeah, they really are kind of gratuitous. Fwiw, my rig is REALLY bass heavy at the moment. It works decently with my Sig Pros, but it's definitely overkill on the 900s. I will say, though, soundstage is actually quite decent once your ears adjust to the extreme frequency.