[Army-Firedawg]

  Thanks for a great meet.  Really appreciate the opportunity to meet everyone and a special thanks to Danny and Army-Firedawg!

......Ya know what woulda made this even better? DOUGHNUTS!!!!!! Right @DannyB!!! Who needs clean, none sticky hands while handling super high dollar stuff??!?!?! 

 

[krumley7882]

  ......Ya know what woulda made this even better? DOUGHNUTS!!!!!! Right @DannyB!!! Who needs clean, none sticky hands while handling super high dollar stuff??!?!?! 

hahaha...See!!!  I was looking out for everyone.  Yea, thats it!  But for real.  Thank you both.  It was awesome today.
 
 
Army-Firedawg-  As I leaving, about a mile away from the Meet I saw 2 Dunkin Donuts.  ha  Missed them both coming in.

 

[Army-Firedawg]

hahaha...See!!!  I was looking out for everyone.  Yea, thats it!  But for real.  Thank you both.  It was awesome today.


Army-Firedawg-  As I leaving, about a mile away from the Meet I saw 2 Dunkin Donuts.  ha  Missed them both coming in.

BLASPHEMY I TELL YOU BLASPHEMY!!!!!


As for everyone else. PLEASE post any pictures you have. I'd like to post a video PowerPoint thingamajig (....My phone auto corrected to that so I ran with it haha)

 

[Army-Firedawg]

Ew! Found one not rand it's if me!!

 

[BunnyNamedCraig]

Ew! Found one not rand it's if me!!

(Trying to "reel it in" after experiencing the greatest listening moment Ever....) the Stax 009 were truly exceptional.

 

[Army-Firedawg]

It actually kinda sucks haha, causse after listening to those just amazing gifts from high nothing else sounded the same. The LCD-XC was respectably close and I loved the musicality of it but omgsh was that set-up heavenly!

 

[Snuss]

I'll stand firm in that LCD-XC is a much more exciting headphone than the HE-1000; however, the HE-1000s were just indescribably incredulous.
 
It was awesome to meet everyone and have some great conversations about some quality gear.  

 

[TomNC]

Some brief impressions while they are still fresh on my mind.

 

First, thanks to Danny and Army-Firedawg for putting together this meet so nicely. It is a quiet and convenient venue.

 

It’s a great surprise hearing the Stax 009 system for the first time. Indeed, it is a top-notch headphone. Most standing-out to me was the sound separation. Every sound seemed to crystal clear, discretely suspended in the air, no veil or background cloudiness or blurring. Music from the Stax had that natural sounding composure that my HD800 cannot convey due to the pollution of nervous trebles. Soundstage and speed were excellent too.

 

I was shocked by the mighty Moth. At the beginning I heard no sound from one track I played. Then came the bass, the kind of bass that was more close to that from hi-fi speakers than any headphone system I’ve heard so far. The sounds from the Moth had so much weight, power and authority. Not the blunt forces; lots of emotion, more impactful than the Stax. Soundstage was immersive, speaker-like but obviously smaller. The sounds from the Moth also had a great deal of immediate realism. Dynamics and speed were also excellent. After hearing the Moth, I had a hard time adjusting to other systems, all of which seemed lacking of some deep impact in comparison. I know, given a little time, I would recover from this experience and start to be moved by my humble system again.

 

Both the Stax system and the Moth are great in their own way. Perhaps the $55k Sennheiser super headphone system combines the best attributes of these two systems, I can only imagine.

 

I have mixed feelings about the HEK. The bass, soundstage, details, and speed were excellent. But overall the sound was too polite to me, lacking some biting presence (not the fatiguing or even skull-drilling kind). Now I understand why many reviewers said they wanted to raise volume while listening to the HEK. Even at higher volumes, I still sensed the overly smooth, euphoric, less-engaging sound signature. I had thought I would get an HEK as an easy-going and more balanced alternative to HD800 when the secondhand ones were priced lower enough, but today’s experience has dampened my desire unless I hear differently under future circumstances. Notably, some owners claimed that using aftermarket cables would improve the sound significantly. I have to have a taste of that to believe it.

 

Ayre Codex has been a combo I want to hear. It sounded quite good with a nice amount of, but by no means excessive, warmth. Sound separation and imaging were excellent. The tuning and technicality indeed well embodied the strengths of the company behind it. Being their first product of this kind (not counting the PONO), the Codex has non-trivial weaknesses. One might be limited power. I only used SE with HD800. It only reached moderate loudness at maxim volume. Balanced should be better, but it uses uncommon connections. A 4-pin mini XLR would be nice.

 

I also listened to Mojo. The resolution was excellent. It sounded slightly warm, at least not bright, to my ears. It had enough power to drive my HD650 with good delivery of bass and highs. I did not spend enough time to evaluate how big a soundstage it could open up with different music. From what heard, the soundstage was not very expansive. Driving IEMs could be a different story though.

 

[jfoxvol]

Awesome. Sorry I couldn't make it. Next time for sure.

 

[Afghan Vet]

I'll add my voice and pictures to the chorus of praise. Thank you Army-Firedawg and Danny for hosting - awesome job! This is a great venue - convenient to the major freeways, large room to spread out in, lots of tables / chairs and outlets.
 
Once again....I did more yappin' then listening. But....I really enjoyed catching with a bunch of the folks I have met over the last several meets, and I got to meet some fantastic folks at this event. So, I really only had 1 full demo during this meet - unbelievable considering I was there from 0930 - 1600. Of course that demo was with Danny's Cary SACD player and the Moth. I'll mimic Tom's feedback above - weight, speed, stage - it was all there. I really liked the sound of the LCD-XC, but like most headphones, because of a comfort issue - I listened mostly with my Fostex. Fantastic system!
 
I really wished I had listened to Daily's Stax system, the Ayre Codex, the Mojo, the HEK, the Bryston stack, and so many more. I'll need to apply better time management at the next one. Sorry to those who came over to my 'station' and was looking for something to plug your phones into.......should have my amp by the next one I also wanted to say thank you to Vernon for putting together a mini-meet recently that Tom and I attended with Jay - that was a great time, and we had a fantastic time listening to his fantastic tube amps. It was also a pleasure meeting Kevin - sharing some military experiences via PM prior to the meet, and giving a short demo of the car during the meet. Again, awesome time seeing several of 'my buds'.....Alex, Danny, Jason, Mark, Vernon, Tom, Jay......... 
 
 
Now the pics that I took - many are the same as what has been posted, but since I need to get to work, I'm not going to filter through them. 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[rhyyhm]

First off (again), thanks to DannyB and Army-Firedawg for setting this up!
 
As this was my first headphone meet, here are my impressions about the headphones to be taken with a grain of salt:
 
The STAX-009s and AKG K1000s were the only summit-fi headphones I have heard as of yet. And both of them practically reproduced what would sound like the closest thing to a set of acoustic instruments--and vocals if any--in a room: very clear, clean, and effortless with separation. This sort of separation the Stax headphones have gives a surreal quality to that one electronic track I listened to...
 
The Audeze LCD-2’s were the headphones I was most interested in listening to. Paired with the Schiit Lyr 2’s, they sounded very clean, as I could hear details, but I didn’t feel much of the bass. When paired with my Project Sunrise II, however, I felt and heard a bit more bass, when listening to a bit of EDM and rock. Now I could understand how there could be a difference between amps.
 
Now comparing the LCD-2F’s to the LCD-XC, I recognize that it sounds much more clearer—more emphasis around the upper treble region than the LCD-2F’s. My only regret regarding this matter was that I didn’t try all the other LCD-2’s, and didn't compare them to LCD-X's.
 
Regarding the HifiMan line, the HE560's, I find, are more tame the HE-400i's that I have, with the treble tuned lower. The 560s are pretty much the sweet spot in their entire new lineup, with the HEK's way above in terms of price point, but plesant to listen to.
 
So all in all, I had a very good time at this meet. My only regrets were that I didn’t try all the other LCD-2’s, or listened to those other pair of electrostatics, or compared the LCD-2's to the HE-560's, etc... I also really need to manage my time better next time.
 
And the variety of pizza was pretty good.

 

[vc1187]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Here are the pics that I took.
 
I had a great time at this year's meet and my guests did as well.  I'd like to give a big thanks to the hosts and would also like to thank everyone who attended for bringing such a large variety of equipment.  
 
A few quick impressions:
 
I really enjoyed the sound of Kelly's LCD3F paired with the RWA Cassabria.  I felt like many of the shortcomings I had always heard from the LCD2 had been conquered and the bass was ever so delightful.  I would rate the 3F as my favorite Audeze headphone in terms of sound, but quite possibly the least comfortable
 
Alex's WA22 paired with the D7000 is always a pleasure to listen to.  While it's not the most resolving and/or technically superb headphone, it doesn't fail to get my toes tapping along with the music.  Just really a musical and involving pairing that makes you want to get up and start dancing.  
The K1000 is also really impressive in just about every aspect.  It's shocking that it can really generate that bass when it's that distance away from the ears.  
 
Jay's Lyr with Alpha Primes was my first time hearing the Primes and I absolutely loved what I heard.  He had warned me that it wasn't nearly as resolving as the LCD2F or the HD800 before I listened, but afterwards, my response was "so what? they still sound really good!"  I actually prefer them to the LCD2F due to the fact that the mids are more forward sounding.
 
Jason had a pair of Sennheiser 530s that he wanted me to give an opinion on, and the opinion was a very positive one.  It was a relatively warm headphone that was perfect for easy listening.  Without any idea on the price of those old headphones, I'd rate them around the level of the HD600, which I consider to be one of the best sounding headphones for its time.
 
I was surprised that Nick's Magni & Modi with AKG 7xx combo really sounded as good as it did.  We all often fall prey to expectation bias based on price (at least I know I'm usually unintentionally biased when it comes to being biased based on price), but it really reminded me a lot of how good the Valhalla 1 sounded as my first headphone amp that I ever purchased.  It had an all-around very coherent sound that was never fatiguing and worked well with pretty much any genre that I tried.
 
Danny's Moth 2A3 has always sounded great to my ears and that opinion did not change this time around.  I had heard the LCD-XC on a GS-X mk 2 at the 2014 Cornelius, NC meet, and much preferred what I was hearing out of the Moth this year.  Granted the XC sounded fantastic out of the Moth, the star of the show for me was the HEK on the Moth amp.  The RCA Single Plate 2A3s that were installed in the amp brought about a very satisfying presence to female vocals as well as made for a very emotional session.   I think that the HEK's ability to control and texture baas is second to nothing I have ever heard.
 
Patrick's Stax setup single-handedly convinced my guests that an 'end-game' rig does in fact exist.  It's the closest thing to what I'd consider 'being there' for headphones.  I was fooled by some of his binaural recordings and actually felt like people in the room were generating some of the noises I was hearing from the headphones.  I've read about many problems pertaining to the 009s sounding overly bright or strident, but with Patrick's BHSE, I never found this to be a problem.
Danny's HE-Audio Jade on the BHSE: I'd like to compare this to the Abyss headphones some day.  This is the closest thing to audiophile bass-head cans that I think I have heard.  It's frequency response is far from linear, but the bass that comes out of these things will rattle your brains.
 
I definitely heard more great stuff, but these are the few things that pop into mind at the moment.  

 

[KmanChu]

Great meet. Thanks to the organizers. It is hard to believe it had been two years since the previous one. 
 
So, I have been chewing on a few things since I left the meet. In no particuar order...
 
The ambient sound at the meet had people turning the volume probably far higher than they typically would. I noticed when I would return to my table the volume was cranked far higher than I ever even approach in normal use. I assume this is just to drown out the noise around them. I hope no one did any lasting damage.
 
The importance of digital sources was really driven home to me. Many of us had computers or laptops hooked into the USB port of our dac and they sound very good this way. Some systems stood out, however, particularly Danny's and the Bryston system, likely because they had a dedicated source that was not a general purpose computer. These systems seemed to have a more settled sound. This is something I have known to be true from my own experimenting with different computers sounding different, but I didn't think it would be quite so obvious to me in the noisy meet setting. I really wish I had gotten a chance to hear the Aries/Vega combination.
 
The Bryston stack sounded really good, I liked it much better than I thought I would. It sounded super clean and musical, instead of super-clean and bland (which is what I expected.) 
 
I am surprised no one has mentioned the iCAN pro. That was a sweet rig there with the AMR DP-777 and HEK. The iCAN pro I found to be a very serious amp at a good price with some cool features. The form factor is very good too.
 
I really liked the HE1000. The little comparo being done between the Audeze LCD-XC and the HEK with the Moth amp was interesting. To me the HEK sounded more refined and even top to bottom with a more natural and open sound. The XC sounded quite excellent, but a bit exaggerated and technicolor in comparison.
 
I really, really, really like the HD800 and liked getting to compare the Zana Deux and the Stratus with the HD800.  I may have to get an HD800 whenever I finally get my tax return.
 
The Stax was really, really nice. That will take a while to get out of my head.
 
I still just don't like Grados.
 
The K1000 is still cool.
 
The Mezze 99 was the biggest surprise of the meet. It sounded really great driven by my smartphone. Me want one.
 
Eating donuts a few hours before pizza is a terrible idea.

 

[TomNC]

Yes. From what I heard at several occasions, the Aries + VEGA would be quite a bit better as a source: blacker background, better separation/imging/soundstage, greater dynamics and transparency.
 
I like my Grado GH1 while loving my HD800. For some music, it has that Grado flavor. Head-fiers either love it or hate it.

 

[Snuss]

 
The importance of digital sources was really driven home to me. Many of us had computers or laptops hooked into the USB port of our dac and they sound very good this way. Some systems stood out, however, particularly Danny's and the Bryston system, likely because they had a dedicated source that was not a general purpose computer. These systems seemed to have a more settled sound. This is something I have known to be true from my own experimenting with different computers sounding different, but I didn't think it would be quite so obvious to me in the noisy meet setting. I really wish I had gotten a chance to hear the Aries/Vega combination.
 

As one of the much younger guys at the meet, a similar thing happened with older analog sources of music.  The quality of well-made CDs and Vinyl became more apparent than it ever has when I was at the meet.  My parents have TONS of CDs and Vinyls that I'm sure they would love to see get used again.
 
Now I really want a record player.