Well, as I said, the meetup gave me a strong sense of validation for the equipment I'm using and for what I'm doing. When Jude visited my table, he told me I'd definitely made the best choice for headphones (i.e., V-Moda M-100s) for the type of sound that I'm trying to achieve with these extreme settings, running through powerful portable amps.
I was really glad that Kyuuketsuki brought his M-100s with XL pads so I could hear them, and compare them to mine with the standard pads.
I had always been skeptical that the XL pads would improve the sound to my liking, or that these pads would give the sound "more bass." My assumption had always been that the XL pads would reduce the sensitivity of the sound, and this assumption turned out to be correct.
I was correct that the treble (i.e., the highs) would suffer the most -- which they did -- but here's the strange part: the reduction in sub-bass sensitivity seemed almost as bad as in the treble! The kick drum at the beginning of Joe Satriani's "Starry Night" was really weak with the XL pads, compared to the standard ones, for example.
Kyuuketsuki also brought his on-ear V-Moda XS, and I compared them to the M-100 as well. I was expecting the XS to have a decent "slam" sound that's similar to the Beats Solo3, but with my extreme settings, the XS didn't seem to have that at all, and the XS doesn't seem to be a basshead can. In spite of the Solo3's lack of clarity in the mids & highs, I'd definitely choose it over the XS.
Anyway, this reinforced my confidence that the M-100 (with the standard pads) is an epic set of basshead headphones, because...
A. It's over-the-ear
B. It's closed-back with a really good air seal around the ears (as long as your big hair or glasses don't break this air seal)
C. It has a small enclosure space around the ears
D. Your ears sit close to the drivers
E. The drivers have excellent power handling and maximum excursion capability (i.e., X-max)
F. And, of course, the M-100 has decent mids & highs to go with it
Letter C is very important, because if you increase the size of the enclosure space around the ear, then it's like taking a subwoofer system out of a small car, and transferring this same system to a big SUV. Bye-bye sonic sensitivity! You're gonna need a lot more subwoofers and amps to fill up that bigger interior space of the SUV, just to get it to hit and throb as much as it did in the small car.
Anyway (moving on), at Tom's recommendation, I checked out the Meze 99 Classic with my portable rig, and was quite impressed with it. I only checked out two songs with it, but it handled really well and sounded great. On one of those songs, the M-100 sounded better, but on the other tune, the 99 Classic seemed to have a slightly-better sound.
I'd have to spend more time with it to see what I think, but I would certainly prefer the M-100's style, build quality, and portability, though. The 99 Classic was definitely my 2nd-favorite headphone at the meetup, and one I can totally respect.
It was especially interesting to hear Monsterzero describe and compare the sound of my portable setup...to the JVC SZ-2000. I've never heard those before (and still haven't, but am really curious about them), but he used to own a pair for about 10 days, and said my portable system hits and throbs just as hard as those, but with sound quality that's a million times better. He said the midrange on the SZ-2000 sounds like it's "in the next state," and that the treble on it is just a one-note wonder around 10 kHz. (ha) I've always wanted to hear the SZ-2000, but might not like it.
Earlier in the morning, I ran my portable rig and one pair of M-100s through a Schitt Audio desktop amp to hear what it sounded like. Had my portable Cayin C5 amp at max volume (while controlling the volume from my Rockboxed iPod Classic) as I always do, with it running through the desktop amp with a pair of RCA cables plugged into the back. Surprisingly I had to set the volume on the Schitt amp at maximum as well for it to sound the best for me, but when I did, it sounded great. Played the song "Let Her Go" by Passenger with the EQ preset I always use for it. For some reason, the kick drum in this song requires a lot more amplifier power to hit really well with it cranked up, and when running directly off the Cayin C5, I tend to get amp clipping on this tune if I'm not careful. But with the Schitt amp powering it, this song did awesome.
But, of course, the obvious problem with a desktop amp is that you can't take it outside when you go walking, which is when you psychologically want to crank it up more -- and with more bass -- to "fill up" the wide-open outdoor space! (In your mind, at least.) So it's a catch-22: you need the extra power when you can't have it, and can use a desktop amp indoors when you don't really need its extra power. Oh well....
Moving on,...heard the Sennheiser HD 800S. It was running though a display setup on a table and not through my rig, and I didn't really put it to a big test. Its biggest strength seemed to be its highs, which sounded really clean, clear, and detailed, but its bass probably won't cut it for an extreme basshead. (ha)
Biggest disappointment (sorry, guys) was with the sound of the electrostatic headphones, which I had never heard prior to Saturday. Cranked it up and got a lot of distortion, and thought there was something wrong with the system. Quickly found out that electrostatics are designed just for low and medium volume levels, aren't meant to be cranked up, and don't have very much bass. If people like electrostats, then that's great, but extreme bassheads should look elsewhere for satisfaction.
Finally, I've saved the funniest "paper tiger" flop for last, which gave me quite a big belly laugh at the meetup. This is a headphone that's listed at #5 on Hawaiibadboy's "Hardest Hitting Headphone" thread, which is one of the most popular topic threads on Head-Fi. (By contrast, my beloved M-100s are relegated to #10 on his list.) This supposedly "fierce" basshead competitor: the Fostex Massdrop TH-X00! I was anxious to check this out, so I found the proper plug adaptor at a nearby table, and plugged it into my portable rig.
The first problem I noticed before even beginning to play music...was the lack of a proper air seal around the earcups.
So I played a couple of tunes, and heard the delicious sound of Rice Krispies. "Snap! Crackle! Pop!" went the paper-tiger drivers as they simply could not handle the power and excursion that's required for DiscoProJoe's Rockbox EQ Presets. And this was without the slightest bit of clipping from either the portable Cayin C5 amp, or from the EQ. So I quickly turned the volume back down so as not to damage the drivers.
Ha ha, well,...there you have it, everyone. An extreme basshead's impressions of various equipment at his first Head-Fi meetup.
Anyway, it was fun meeting everybody and I had a wonderful time! I look forward to attending more Head-Fi meetups and events in the future when the chances come.
(j/k)
