Time for a few impressions of my own, little though they may be worth in meet environments
dBel, thanks much for sharing your can creations. I'll leave how much of the hardware you want to discuss up to you, but regardless, it was great to hear a first try diy headphone with so much detail and potentially great all around sound once the dampening is worked out. I'm still impressed that they can have as much treble as they do without sounding as fatiguing as what is typically associated with Grados or sa5000s (which both admittedly have spike issues). You should try and get a frequency measurement once you have the casing more refined. Debated data worth aside, I'd be curious to see their graphed signature.
For me too, it was nice to finally hear the GS1000s. As much as the Portland crowd had drifted away from Grado lately, I wasn't sure the opportunity would show itself. The GS1000 is certainly a significant refinement over your typical Grado, being more balanced than I remember the RS1 being (take with a grain of salt), and very detailed and fast. If it had a major fault, at least on the gear I tried, it would be a fair mid-bass hump which also seemed to resonate at times. I still started to feel a bit of eardrum fatigue too, due to the characteristic Grado treble, but not bad. All said, like the SR80 and 225s I used to own, I would say these would be great for certain sounds (like classic rock, and as yoginasser mentioned, for movies), but still not balanced enough for all-around cans, which is what I would personally want from that price range. (but, then it wouldn't be a Grado) Oh, and yes, those new pads are
way more comfortable
The SOHA II with the internal usb dac coming from the Q1Ultra was a fun, self contained little system with a good overall sound. That would be a great pc or office setup, and a nice DIY alternative to the likes of the headroom amps. It also paired well with different headphones, which can certainly be a plus.
The EHHA with it's latest tweaks is really a sweet hybrid. I recently had one of SnoopyRocks's early builds on loan for a while, and personally I think I like Donald's configuration better (again, meet condition caveats), which has a slightly more "tubish" sound to it, with zero noise floor that I could hear, even with the SA5000s. Speaking of which, yeah, they worked really well with this amp. I may have tweaked my M^3 setup for my uses with the SA5000s based on my tastes at the time, but really, the Sonys are born for use with hybrids.
The Stacker was great, very solid, very powerful, very clean. I don't think I want to delve any further into the sound signature (particularly extension) though until I hear it with a different source and in a quieter environment (mini meet dBel?
).
The 770s are still too bass heavy for my taste, but I have to admit, those with the Z-dac were a fun jazz setup.
Sorry I didn't listen to the in-ears Andrew, the genre just generally doesn't play well (physically) with my ears.
I really hope the best for your latest model though.
It's always interesting when I run into another low volume listener like yoginasser. Granted, I'm not that great at verbalizing my impressions very often, but I can usually tell when mine differ from others. When I talk with people who listen at lower volumes though, I always find that their impressions echo mine much more consistently. It really goes to show how much of a difference volume level makes, both with headphones and with amps, which tend to have the most dramatic signature changes (and unfortunate instabilities) near the bottom of the pot. Cheers to saving your ears!
I also find it interesting how looking back over many meets with many different people, the impressions (including mine) change significantly. Sometimes there are technical reasons for this - for example, next time I suggest dBel take a listen to the M^3 driven from the dac and better interconnects rather than the modded CD player direct. I wanted to see the current reaction to that basic configuration, so I deliberately left the Presonus out of the chain. I mentioned at the meet that I don't really care for the 701 with that M^3 configuration as much as other amps, but in truth it's a much better pairing (still not the best I've heard, but nice) when using a neutral, clean source.
Oh, and
cellofourte... pure awesome.
I desperately need some music, but I haven't felt particularly inspired this year.
This post written while listening to ye ol' Stax - every time I go to a recent meet, I'm reminded that I should use them more often.
Hey, I just noticed something, that's the K701 smile I made over in the smilies.