Well that was one fine meet, Nick. My thanks to you for your excellent hosting and letting us all take over your home for the day. And I think poo summed it all up - a mini meet is a handful of folks, generally around one table - this was definitely a MEET - a dozen enthusiasts with a diverse range of equipment, knowledge, love of music and a willingness to share, consider alternate options and discover together.
Quote:
Originally Posted by poo /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I didn't agree with all that you proposed, but honestly enjoy being challenged on subjects that I 'take for granted'.
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And yes, Covenant, the biggest highlight is meeting the people, particularly with the relaxed atmosphere Nick provides for us to sit around, chat and share.
The Ever Smiling Host
THE DIYers - yes, even Nick's son has built his own amp!
I'm particularly glad everyone enjoyed the range of electrostats I was able to bring and hook up. The Gammas arrived from New Zealand first thing Monday LOL.
I must concur with Nick that Mark's GD amp was a definite eye opener for all it delivered to a wide range of dynamic headphones. Very impressive. Similarly Elliot's ultrasmall Starving Student build was a unique and entertaining piece of kit, and not short on delivering impressive sound.
Shhh Meet In Progress
I too was impressed that Jack Wu is providing such quality in his dynamic amps as with his electrostatic ones. I agree with Covenant - there's still so much potential to be unravelled in Jason's Woo6 SE.
Poor Nick, a portable focussed listener, was a little surprised by the volume of full sized rigs I think, but obviously enjoyed his time with the SR-71 and iBasso goodies (In fact I think he was immersed under the SR-71 at the start of the morning, not even aware people were turning up!
).
Congratulations to Tom on winning the raffle - looking forward to your impressions of the T4 as it burns in.
The Draw
Happy Winner
My hand is up for the P3+ and T3 prototype review opportunity.
I also appreciated the wide range of systems on hand and, like Nick, felt that there just wasn't enough time to truly explore each (typical meet issue/conditions
).
Hard At Work
I also must compliment John on his Beta22 build. Very impressive both sonically and in presentation. Linking it to the HD800s for the day gave it a really good workout I'm sure.
The Headphone EVERYONE had to try
As to the HD800s I also really appreciated their all-enclosing feel, like the larger ESPs with their wide diaphragms but with a much snugger fit; VERY comfortable.
I picked a few songs I knew to run them through their paces and must stress all of my comments really are about the overall system. I really would like to hear them through a number of sources/amps. That said, though, I found them to be overall drier in their presentation than the O2s, with not so much of a resonance to instruments at the top end of the spectrum.
Physically they were VERY comfortable; light, enclosing, warm but not sweaty like Stax leather. They reminded me of good snow gear-if only these could be my ski-ing earmuffs!
The dry presentation, to me, doesn't ring as true to my preferred electrostatic sound, but it does have very good separation and placement of instruments and voices across and within the soundstage. However I did find it to be more congested in complex passages than an O2Mk1. Overall this was a quite impressive dynamic setup that with some tweaking could lead me to considering dynamics - if it was this good without the need to go to a balanced setup. I found the soundstage to be a little stretched out but my main concerns were really my preference for it to be a little more resonant/less dry and, paradoxically, a need for clearer instrument separation in complex passages. As folks say, bass presentation in dynamics is quite different to ESPs and my ESP bias prefers the O2s and Sigma 404s - but that's me, and my opinions. As always, YMMV.
I also agree with Covenant and elliott42's assessment that the HD 800 worked well with some material and was less than impressive with others. Like Covenant I also tried a Loreena McKennitt track and enjoyed an accurate detailed sound as I was used to with the ESPs. But once my music selection became complex or aggressive I also felt a lack of bottom-end presence, which I know is quite a comment coming from a HE60 owner.
These Sigma 404s need driving
Yeah, That's better
Quote:
Originally Posted by John Buchanan /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Webbie, I didn't realise you had some Sigma/404s as well. What do you think of them?
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Well, John, you're the reason I have one. When I first joined HeadFi you were so impressed with yours that you were comparing them almost equally to the O2 Mk1 and I thought, naively I must admit, that I might find them to be my economical alternative (giving I was coming at that time from owning just the Sigma Normals as my ESP for the previous decade or more).
As it turns out part of my HeadFi journey for the last 2 1/2 years is recognising how much, although I'm a HiFi buff, I put my father/ husband/ breadwinner/ family/ friend roles ahead of my musical enjoyment. I've had the parts for the Sigma 404 for over a year but have always found other parts of life more important than putting aside the time to build them. But if I commit to another to do something, it gets done. So that's why I put in the meet thread they'd be there. I finally put both them and my Lambda Normals together just last week. Initial listening is very pleasing and confirms what I've read on various threads.
Give me a little time for a serious assessment/comparison but, being a Sigma Normal fan - which I've held onto, as a seperate ESP to keep, as you advised when discussing your Sigma 404 impressions - I already know these'll be keepers. There's just nothing quite like a well amplified Sigma soundstage, both Normal and 404.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nickyboyo /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I must give an extra special mention to Ian, your tables, time in setting up, equipment and advice were invaluable mate.
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No probs, mate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nickyboyo /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Unfortunately webbie couldn't fit the woo/HE60/PD-S901 rig into his car, so I am stuck with it in my house still for the time being
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But only for the one night, mate. I couldn't put your family through that gear and your concerted listening taking over the family dinner table every night now, could I?
Enjoyment
Quote:
Originally Posted by elliot42 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I just wish I could take it all home to listen to over a period of weeks rather than hours
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Sounds like your family is uber accommodating, too? I mean that would be a LOT of gear to have take over anybody's home space for a period of weeks...
Quote:
Originally Posted by johnwmclean /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Also thanks to Ian for hauling that massive amount of equipment, huge effort.
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Yeah, I'm still putting things back in their regular places at home
But well worth it to give everyone as wide a range of stats experience as I could provide.
... Quote:
Originally Posted by Good Times /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I'd never heard electrostatics, and yesterday got to try eight sets, wooo!
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I Wonder If Webbie might part with these...
Quote:
Originally Posted by johnwmclean /img/forum/go_quote.gif
HE60/Woo best out of the electrostat line-up, smooth, warm and detailed. Type of phone you can put on in the evening after a hard day and get lost in oblivion - lovely. The soundstage is wide and big, and the music seems so suspended and effortless.
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It doesn't need to be a hard day but I appreciate your comments no end - because too often they've entranced me like the mythical Greek Sirens and it's been 3am of the next working day before I've known it
Enjoying the HE60s and Woo GES
Quote:
Originally Posted by poo /img/forum/go_quote.gif
...to be honest my simple HD650 DAC1USB rig still sounds damn impressive to my ears... so to think there is a little room left for even more is a treat!
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I had a couple of conversations along those lines at the meet - hearing about someone who had come to consider an upgrade and now recognised the sonic value they already had in their current rig. I must make two comments on that. First, even with my O2 and He60 rigs that impressed at the meet I still keep a very open mind and seek whether there's something else to be gained sonically out there. I return home and am more than satisfied with the choices I have already made, but I consider tweaks and combos I may not yet have tried. The continuous search for all that can be heard off the recordings: it's constantly there but kept in perspective - enjoy the present yet remain open to seeking even more, if its achievable, in the future
. My second point is to remember that we were at a meet, with the resultant meet conditions of multiple rigs and sounds running alongside one another.
After such a time between meets for me it was a serious reminder that meet conditions are definitely an inhibiting factor to clearly hearing the differences/eccentricities between headphones/systems. I tried a random track, Loreena McKennitt's Bonny Swans, in a variety of amps and phones, including my better combos, and felt that although there were differences/preferences there, they definitely weren't as marked as when I compare equipment myself at home. I still found I could ID preferences, particularly with quite defining characteristics such as the tone of the Grados compared to the ATs or the Senns, or the bass drive of the Audio-gd C-2C, but meets are less of an analysis set of circumstances to really come to your best conclusions.
That said, though, I enjoyed my listens to the MS1s, the HD600s and 650s, the AD900 and k701s, etc. Elliott's detailed 'standard' Jaycar provides a great base to mod further from and Marks GD audio C2C was impressive with all phones for its driving punchy bass. And I agree with johnwmclean - the audio C2C has a nice inviting sound across the spectrum that, to me at least, differentiated well between the various headphones, showing some of the strengths and weaknesses of each IMHO.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nattonrice /img/forum/go_quote.gif
It was a perfect re-enforcement of SOURCE MATTERS!
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Agreed no end. It's not just source, though; it really is the full chain - GIGO - and the synergy of the overall blend of components (including the components within those!
). It's amazing just what a difference one change can sometimes make. For instance, Nick, I haven't even looked inside said Marantz but maybe just a ZAP Filter 2 Mod might make it a whole different player.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Covenant /img/forum/go_quote.gif
And your wife didn't even seem to mind her house being filled with headphone geeks! You're a lucky man
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x 2, Nick. Please thank your family for us all once again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Covenant /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Next, the HE60 > Woo GES. This impressed me immediately. I expected the HE60 to be good at soundstaging/imaging/speed, but what I didn’t expect was the full and pleasing mids, and deep bass. Ian's setup with that source and the tube choices in the GES just worked. Ian, you have to figure out which track that was that I was listening to and let me know
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Yeah, sorry I couldn't immediately re-identify it when you wanted it later on in the day - I've got so much music I'll recognise a track but I'm hopeless with identifying the name of the track straight away (particularly when it's on a compilation of good tracks
). It was Touch by Christopher Hardy featuring tars, percussion, drums and marimba.
Time to relax and enjoy
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