hselburn
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Wanted to be there. 
How often do you meet?
How often do you meet?Mini SF Bay Area meet
- Thread starter Bill-P
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How often would you like it to be?
Wolfetan: Sorry, I'm not the organizer this time around, but I'd love to help out, of course. We shall see.
----
Anyway, I had a blast with everyone else. Our host was awesome, and they were very nice! So nice that they forgot to tell everyone about their product! In case you don't know, Voxoa has one headphone model out on the market right now. It's a bluetooth wireless headset with NFC (for Android). It's very nice. Check it out when you can.
No photos from me this time, though. Sorry. I was too absorbed in checking out gears and conversing with the amazing folks there that I totally forgot.
But let's have some impressions:
CEE TEE brought a bunch of UE IEMs, and I jumped on the chance like a fat kid who just discovered ice cream (only more dramatic).
UE4: sounds pretty nice for an entry level model
UE5: hmm... pretty much like UE4 to me, except with higher sensitivity. My 3DS would definitely love that.
UERM: oh, my, God. Now I understand the hype! And now I'm stuck trying to justify a possible future purchase! Clarity is a level or two above the two I mentioned above. Nice tonality as well.
UE11 Pro: thumping bass, much like CEE TEE "warned" me. A bit too much for my ears, but could be nice for EDM. Note that I was listening to Derezzed, so...
UE18 Pro: dark... ish. Very different from the rest of the UE range. It sounds somewhat too claustrophobic for me, but it does have a pretty mellow and laid back feel to it that I quite enjoyed.
Aside from those, I also got a chance to try 2 cool amps:
TTVJ Millet Hybrid Tube Portable: a very good break from the Continental. In fact, this one sounded different enough that... well, it's just different. I actually think the TTVJ strikes a nicer balance, with a more upbeat and exciting, detailed sound, while the Continental has that dark, smooth, but slightly too smooth sound... that some details are just lost in the transition. Either way, I think each amp has its use, and I can definitely see the appeal for either. Fun fact: I don't quite use the Continental by itself, so you can probably guess that I'm not quite a fan of its stock sound either.
AMB Mini^3: very good for the size. Man, I'm strongly reminded of the ale keratin UHA-6S mk.II as soon as I put this on. Would love to know if CEE TEE would end up choosing the Leckerton over the Mini^3 for day to day use... since... I think the Mini^3 is pretty close!
So special thanks to CEE TEE for making that happen! I'm going to have to re-evaluate my portable setup. (my ES10 + amps is barely transportable to me)
Hifiman HE-500 + Burson Soloist: very nice combo. I have heard the HE-500 out of quite a few amps, but I think Burson does the best out of the bunch. Almost makes me curious about the Soloist SL... (cheaper than Soloist)
ALO Continental v2 + Beyerdynamic DT880 (600 Ohm): Hahahaha, wait... what? I didn't get a chance to compare to the Bottlehead Crack+ that was right there but man was I surprised to see the Continental v2 pushing this behemoth of a load to some decent height. And it sounded good enough that I'm considering a possible DT880 purchase again. Sigh...
Philips Fidelio X1: wow... surprisingly good. Honestly, I was amazed. My only complaint was that it wasn't too comfortable. Probably the ear pads. But everything else is just spot on. Really nice for the price!
Hifiman HE-6: special thanks to jazzfan for sticking around and letting me try this headphone. I'm glad I did! And even though the HE-6 was driven by what looked like a class T speaker amp, I thought... it sounded damn nice. Nicer than the Anax-modded HD800 hooked up to the Woo Audio WA5. I don't doubt that the HE-6 coupled with the WA5 would be a killer combo. That's a very nice rig right there! For the first time, I'm genuinely envious! And it's not just the gears, but the music was awesome as well. It was truly a treat! Thank you very much, my good sir!
There were more, of course, but mostly, it was just a nice cozy setting for some friends to get together, discuss their hobby, and get to know each other. I'm really glad we got this together.
I hope we can do this again soon.
Too bad I'm all the way in Santa Cruz (pretty darn far from the rest of the group), otherwise I wouldn't mind doing this every week.
Wolfetan: Sorry, I'm not the organizer this time around, but I'd love to help out, of course. We shall see.
----
Anyway, I had a blast with everyone else. Our host was awesome, and they were very nice! So nice that they forgot to tell everyone about their product! In case you don't know, Voxoa has one headphone model out on the market right now. It's a bluetooth wireless headset with NFC (for Android). It's very nice. Check it out when you can.
No photos from me this time, though. Sorry. I was too absorbed in checking out gears and conversing with the amazing folks there that I totally forgot.
But let's have some impressions:
CEE TEE brought a bunch of UE IEMs, and I jumped on the chance like a fat kid who just discovered ice cream (only more dramatic).
UE4: sounds pretty nice for an entry level model
UE5: hmm... pretty much like UE4 to me, except with higher sensitivity. My 3DS would definitely love that.
UERM: oh, my, God. Now I understand the hype! And now I'm stuck trying to justify a possible future purchase! Clarity is a level or two above the two I mentioned above. Nice tonality as well.
UE11 Pro: thumping bass, much like CEE TEE "warned" me. A bit too much for my ears, but could be nice for EDM. Note that I was listening to Derezzed, so...
UE18 Pro: dark... ish. Very different from the rest of the UE range. It sounds somewhat too claustrophobic for me, but it does have a pretty mellow and laid back feel to it that I quite enjoyed.
Aside from those, I also got a chance to try 2 cool amps:
TTVJ Millet Hybrid Tube Portable: a very good break from the Continental. In fact, this one sounded different enough that... well, it's just different. I actually think the TTVJ strikes a nicer balance, with a more upbeat and exciting, detailed sound, while the Continental has that dark, smooth, but slightly too smooth sound... that some details are just lost in the transition. Either way, I think each amp has its use, and I can definitely see the appeal for either. Fun fact: I don't quite use the Continental by itself, so you can probably guess that I'm not quite a fan of its stock sound either.
AMB Mini^3: very good for the size. Man, I'm strongly reminded of the ale keratin UHA-6S mk.II as soon as I put this on. Would love to know if CEE TEE would end up choosing the Leckerton over the Mini^3 for day to day use... since... I think the Mini^3 is pretty close!
So special thanks to CEE TEE for making that happen! I'm going to have to re-evaluate my portable setup. (my ES10 + amps is barely transportable to me)
Hifiman HE-500 + Burson Soloist: very nice combo. I have heard the HE-500 out of quite a few amps, but I think Burson does the best out of the bunch. Almost makes me curious about the Soloist SL... (cheaper than Soloist)
ALO Continental v2 + Beyerdynamic DT880 (600 Ohm): Hahahaha, wait... what? I didn't get a chance to compare to the Bottlehead Crack+ that was right there but man was I surprised to see the Continental v2 pushing this behemoth of a load to some decent height. And it sounded good enough that I'm considering a possible DT880 purchase again. Sigh...
Philips Fidelio X1: wow... surprisingly good. Honestly, I was amazed. My only complaint was that it wasn't too comfortable. Probably the ear pads. But everything else is just spot on. Really nice for the price!
Hifiman HE-6: special thanks to jazzfan for sticking around and letting me try this headphone. I'm glad I did! And even though the HE-6 was driven by what looked like a class T speaker amp, I thought... it sounded damn nice. Nicer than the Anax-modded HD800 hooked up to the Woo Audio WA5. I don't doubt that the HE-6 coupled with the WA5 would be a killer combo. That's a very nice rig right there! For the first time, I'm genuinely envious! And it's not just the gears, but the music was awesome as well. It was truly a treat! Thank you very much, my good sir!
There were more, of course, but mostly, it was just a nice cozy setting for some friends to get together, discuss their hobby, and get to know each other. I'm really glad we got this together.
I hope we can do this again soon.
Too bad I'm all the way in Santa Cruz (pretty darn far from the rest of the group), otherwise I wouldn't mind doing this every week.
uzi
100+ Head-Fier
Yeah, the UERM is awesome... and I'm usually using it with my Mini^3. To my ears, things get a bit tighter and better defined when coming out of the Mini^3 versus straight to the phone/ipod.
I'm really happy with both the Soloist and the HE-500 individually... as well as the combination. The Soloist in particular plays a central role on my desk as an input for 3 devices (my DAC, a Roku and a DVD/SACD/CD or a Blu Ray player) as well as a preamp to my Audioengine A2 speakers.
If you decide you want that DT880/600, I'm not using mine anymore with the appearance of the HE-500 -- I'll sell 'em to you (or anyone else local) for (what I think is) a good price.
Yeah, Jazzfan had a class T amp for those HE-6. I was happy to try the HE-6 off the Soloist again (last time, I didn't notice that someone had turned the volume on my iTunes way down). I was getting to where I wanted to listen to things around 2 or 3 pm on the volume dial... versus around noon on the HE-500. The HE-6 and HE-500 sounded like they're from they're from the same family, with the HE-6 being the slight winner to my ears, but the HE-500 definitely holding its own.
^Bill, it was great to compare notes and confirm what we were hearing yesterday...this meet came together with your energy and will. Much appreciated. Was a killer little meet with the whole range of gear fit into that one room.
I "totally get" the tonality and presentation that you are going for and am impressed by where you took your unique system (ATH HP mods and portable amp combo). Think we have similar tastes!
Glad you had fun with the UE demos, I had fun:
Many thanks to Voxoa for stepping up and having us over to their nice office for the meet when nobody else could find a place! DP Deng, the CEO of Voxoa couldn't have been any nicer (his co-worker was also very nice).
They have a Bluetooth headphone that was incredibly easy to pair with my iPhone and get up and running in about 20 seconds. I don't have any experience with Bluetooth headphones. Was impressed that it set up so easily and intuitively with my iPhone. Showed battery life and a button was available to toggle the signal to the phone on/off easily. I could also plug an HP into the iPhone to compare and the iPhone would simply switch the signal over to the plugged in HP. I didn't try to see if both pair were playing at the same time...that could be cool.
The pair that I tried: no annoying treble peaks and not rollled off in the HF, but definitely less forward in the mids than I prefer and weighted towards the bass. Not "thumpy" but just a lot of presence... Hopefully, they got some good feedback. They were just hanging out listening to everything like the rest of us!
I "totally get" the tonality and presentation that you are going for and am impressed by where you took your unique system (ATH HP mods and portable amp combo). Think we have similar tastes!
Glad you had fun with the UE demos, I had fun:
- Confirming that I like the Bottlehead Crack again for the 8th time, gotta build mine
- Checking out the Fidelio X1- surprisingly nice forward mids with a lush low end that isn't "pounding" or overbearing and overall "sweet/lush character". (Thanks Calvin and Terry for those)
- Liked checking out the WA7 Fireflies in person, gorgeous product design and execution (prefer WA7 DAC section to HRT Music Streamer II and II+ but prefer the Bottlehead Crack amp)
- Uzi's HE-500 sounded better than I remember Fang's HE-500 loaner sounding when we had one for the Bay Area Meet, liked this pair!
- jazzfan's WA5LE/HD800 set-up was very resolving- clean/clear/a touch "dry" for me (THANK YOU for hauling this whole rig out!!)
- Still love jazzfan's HE-6/Trends T-amp combo for sound and value (T-amp only ~$230), HE-6 still a bit uncomfy for me though
- Was cool to take jazzfan's sound level survey...I estimated 77 db and measured around 73 db
- Listened to the Mad Dogs again and would like to spend some more time with them
Many thanks to Voxoa for stepping up and having us over to their nice office for the meet when nobody else could find a place! DP Deng, the CEO of Voxoa couldn't have been any nicer (his co-worker was also very nice).
They have a Bluetooth headphone that was incredibly easy to pair with my iPhone and get up and running in about 20 seconds. I don't have any experience with Bluetooth headphones. Was impressed that it set up so easily and intuitively with my iPhone. Showed battery life and a button was available to toggle the signal to the phone on/off easily. I could also plug an HP into the iPhone to compare and the iPhone would simply switch the signal over to the plugged in HP. I didn't try to see if both pair were playing at the same time...that could be cool.
The pair that I tried: no annoying treble peaks and not rollled off in the HF, but definitely less forward in the mids than I prefer and weighted towards the bass. Not "thumpy" but just a lot of presence... Hopefully, they got some good feedback. They were just hanging out listening to everything like the rest of us!
jazzfan
1000+ Head-Fier
This is so random, but that Squeezebox.
Didn't know other people owned any sort of Squeezebox. That just makes me feel happier.
I liked the functionality of the Squeezebox Touch so much I picked up a second unit. It's unfortunate Logitech discontinued this model.
VXAce
500+ Head-Fier
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I'm not sure about the Squeezebox touch, but setting up the Classic and two Duets was really tough. I'd lost whatever stuff came with them, or for the Duets never had anything since they were engineering models. Had to hunt forever to find out how to set it up. I do like how simple they are to use afterwards.
shane55
Headphoneus Supremus
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<Envy>
So sorry I couldn't make it. Love the reviews, and yeah... the HE-6 has been one of my favorites for way too long. (Underrated, I think)
And the db test by jazzfan. Very cool, and I agree with the cautionary note.
My guess... I listen at 60db. I will have to find out one day.
Next time, gents.
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