[Eagle_Driver]

I just got back from the 2010 ChiUniFi meet. We had a great time over there.
 
I got to listen to the balanced Sennheiser HD 800 headphones. Recabled, it sounded nice with acoustic and drums.
 
A very special thanks to the sponsers for providing the prizes. And another thank you to bhd812 (Billy D) for organizing the meet, and to Patty for hosting it.
 
Please post your impressions in this thread.

 

[DJGeorgeT]

That HD800 was amazing. Well extended in the lows and highs, clear sounding, neutral. One of my favorites. I enjoyed some many headphone setups. It was unbelievable. Thanks Billy, Steve and the sponsors. It could not have happened without you. This was my first meet.

 

[james93]

It was a great time, big Thanks to Billy, Steve and everyone else that made ChiUniFi 4 happen.  Also to all the vendors for all the goodies that they sent.
 
With all the headphones that I listened to it made picking out my new pair that much harder.  Good thing I can only buy what my wallet says to buy.
 
This was my first ChiUniFi meet and I'm also new to the forum, but the things that I won will help me on my way into this world of headphones.
 
James
 
 

 

[Seamless Sounds]

I had a great time despite the conversational noise. My favorite headphones of them all was LCD-2. I've only had 3 hours to audition, and it went by fast. Too bad I wasn't able to finish the amp, but there's next year; would love to try many cans with the M^3.
 
Thanks again to Billy and Steve and everyone else who helped made this meet happen.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dariusf]

Where to began, I think its only fitting to first and foremost extend great thanks to Billy, Audio Addict and Todd for organizing such a great meet. With out their hard work and dedication this would have never happened and with such bang.
 
The location was great, not too big not to small with quite a bit of setup area. Was a good mix of high end gear and mid to low end setups. I did miss not seeing some higher end gear I was hoping would be there but there were a few great setups.
 
It was great chatting with some new faces and old friends.   
 
It was interesting how many setups used computer based sources.
 
Three setups stood out and I was happy to spend time with them.
 
Ray Samuels, always great to see and chat with, dragged out his A-10 Thunderbolt electrostatic monster driven by Meridian G08 also one of my favorite sources. Thank you Ray for dragging out this monster, I felt a bit bad as I asked about it being at the meet and then learned that Ray will be traveling light. Was greatly surprised to find Ray had dragged it out. Sorry Ray
Was my second time listening to the Jade headphones, previously on Singlepower and I was very positively surprised how much better they sounded over my HE60. Unfortunately I did not try the Jade on my HEV70 but that’s on the upgrade list anyway. Was also interesting to compare my HE60 to Ray’s modded version.
 
One member, name escapes me now, had a great setup with Blue Hawaii, HE60 and Stax. I never had an opportunity to listen to the Blue Hawaii and was pleasantly surprised to find one at the meet. While this is another electrostatic amp that I don’t think I will ever own, it was still great to check it out. I would honestly be hard pressed to choose between it and the A-10 if sound was the only criteria. It was great chatting about the gear as well as the gentlemen’s Transporter with ModWright mods as I was just looking at possibly buying one.
 
The 3^rd setup I would like to mention was very own Billy’s B-52 with yet another Meridian G08. He was running recabled Senn 800s, another can I never heard. After owning 580, 600 and 650 and while respecting and thinking highly of these cans, I ultimately never liked it for my taste. A good friend tried out the 800s and did not like them at all and I had negative expectations. I was very positively surprised with how these cans rocked. I threw a couple CDs at them and they performed respectively well. Perhaps they need a solid amp to blossom.
 
Some other notable items that I remember from all this great gear were the Denon D2000, the Hippo IEMs that surprised me with a very nice presentation and surprisingly good low end for the price.
 
 
We had a huge over $7000 worth of prizes for the raffle and quite a few ticked sales that will help to pay for 2011 meet. I purchased dozen tickets and was very lucky to win several great prizes. Couple IEMs, line out and Ray’s Tomahawk! I could not believe being this lucky.
 
Many thanks to all the companies and people supporting these great meets. With out your support this meet at this level would never be possible.

 

[Audio Addict]

I just wanted to thank all those who attended and the Friends of ChiUniFi IV for their support. To me at least, that is why I get involved is the ability to interact with everyone. I learned the hard way, it does take a lot of time to put together events but with the reaction from everyone, it really does make it worth it.

With that said, I honestly don't know where 8 hours went. I remember getting there around 9 am and then leaving around 5 pm but the rest is sort of a blur.

For those who did win gift certificates, I did send out notifications to the vendors and should have copied you on that email. If you won a gift certificate and you did not get a copy of the email to the Friend, drop me a PM.

 

[Keithpgdrb]

Hey Everyone,
 
great meet today.  I think a good time was had by all.  of course special props to all those who helped make the meet a success, with special mention to Billy, as the baby is his.  More feedback to come on listening experiences.
 
one side note:  Those of you who won the ps audio noise harvesters, please send me a pm.

 

[francisdemarte]

 
This was my first meet! Met a lot of friendly people and got a taste of some of their amazing setups. Thanks to the sponsors, organizers and hosts for making this happen!
 
I also got a brief listen on the LCD-2's (powered by a headroom amp) and I am hopelessly smitten by them.

 

[zlobby]

 
Had a great time at my first ChiUniFi!  Met a lot of great people and heard a lot of incredible gear.  Meets like this are a lot more intimate than large ones such as CanJam.  Thank you to those who hosted and organized the event.  Cant wait til next year.
 
 

 

 

 

[Skylab]

Looks like a great meet, really sorry I missed it (although the NU game was pretty epic!).  Please keep the pics coming!

 

[Audio Addict]

I didn't take too many pictures but there were a lot of others taking better pictures.

 

 

[stringgz301]

 
Being a relative newcomer to the world of Head-Fi, the most interesting thing for me was hearing many of the reference headphones I'd read so much about on the forums.  I was able to listen on others rigs, as well as on my own (Buffalo II + EHHA Rev A), and so was able to get a first glimpse into what the high end offers.  That being said, take my opinion with a grain of salt given my inexperience and the slightly noisy meet environment.
 
Note: the EHHA is set up with a gain around 6 (relatively low for use with the HF-2's).
 
Here we go:
 
Sen HD800: more comfortable than it looks.  Awesome soundstage and imaging.  Frequency distribution would take some getting used to coming from the HF-2's, but I can see how it could be pleasing.  Biggest differentiator: speed and impact.  On first listening I was excited how each note seemed super crisp and separated and how many drum hits seemed to explode in my ears.  After further listening, it seems artificial, and I don't think it represents acoustics naturally.  I think this headphone would be fatiguing in long listening sessions (my opinion).  Moderately easy to drive with EHHA with volume around 12 o'clock.
 
LCD2: least comfortable of the bunch, but still ok.  Of all the headphones I heard, this one gave the greatest sense of neutrality from top to bottom of the sound spectrum.  This was particularly true through the EHHA which I think (and was echoed by many at the meet) is a very neutral and transparent amp.  Soundstage was slightly larger than the HF-2's but not much.  Singing voices are incredible to listen to through the LCD-2.  Easy to drive through the EHHA with volume knob around 9:30.
 
HE-6: feel like you're wearing two big ashtrays on the side of your head, but very comfortable.  Big soundstage with strong L/R separation.  Frequency response similar to LCD2 in that it goes very deep and seems neutral across the spectrum.  However, sounds slightly warmer and less clinical than the LCD2.  Hard to tell in this brief listening if this warmth and musicality was coloration or natural.  Would definitely like to spend more time with this guy.  Hardest to drive of the bunch, with volume at 3 o'clock.  First heard this through an all-tube amp of Steve's and it didn't have nearly enough juice to drive it.  
 
K702: ok, not really in the same league as the above, but I'd always been curious about these guys.  Very comfortable.  Very good soundstage and pleasant to listen to.  Through the BII/EHHA combo they had (just) enough bass.  Would like to spend some quiet time with them and some good classical orchestral music.

 

[bhd812]

finally received some sleep after work ended at 6am, it was a long time without sleep but never once was i tired..Headphone get togethers can do that to you if they're that good.
 
where do i start? there is so much to say..
 
FIrst off i am so thankful to allot of people. seriously the support from Head-Fi that i felt from planning this event to the support even after the event is so great, it really reminded me of why Head-Fi is the best! something we take for granted on these forums is this is the place to post not only your ideas on gear and music but it is a place where we all can have meetings like ChiUniFi or even open up our house for a minimeet. AudioAddict this year ran the idea of a raffle to the heavens with the work he has done, 26+ companies were involved mostly because of him. our friends (or companies i guess you can say) really gave so much this year it is amazing and every gift was so great. the people who wear behind this event, from putting the link in their signature or just replying to the thread was incredible and i feel so much energy going into next year already from everyone it is awesome!
 
There seemed to be two points that was so abundant at this event more then any other i have seen. one was the amount of first timers there, it really showed the community is growing and the newbies have so much enthusiasm for the hobby it was really nice! we all been there and with me at least your first meet is something you can never forget and it is your first introduction on how friendly and awesome others are on these forums that your first meet gets you hooked more to the meet idea. allot of people at this meet met new friends and who knows where those friendships can lead to...hopefully more meets around Chicago. i hope the event was really an awesome introduction to the first timers and i hope i see you all again soon (maybe January? who is going to step up and host??).
the second point was the positive environment from everyone, everyone was smiling and just enjoying it all! no drama just great times! it was the kind of meet that you leave feeling like you're in a cloud because everyone was great!
 
the place really could not of been any larger or any smaller, seriously everywhere a person could setup gear became full with gear after everyone was there. this is good because the event does not look empty, and being a more relaxed setting then the typical banquet hall there was enough closeness without tripping over each other. the back lounge area was filled with 4 laptop rigs where you could sit back in one of the couches and listen to some good tunes via one of the many usb dacs there. i didn't place the computer rigs back there but when i do hang out at the cafe with my netbook or iPad i usually end up in that back area. the bar or the middle of the place was filled with members setups, and i mean it was filled! the front part of the cafe had AudioAddict, Mike, Toddr and Rays setups on tables with plenty of room to sit and enjoy. on the other side of the front part of the cafe had my rig (G08,B52,HD800) next to a couch with a few chairs and dead smack in front of the dj booth was Eagledrivers gear...Eagledriver always brings enough gear to have a meet just in what he brings.
 
this is just the start as i just woke up..will post more later but until then what are your thoughts?
 
 
 

 

[Audio Addict]

At the meet I was asked where to get the Head-Fi T-Shirts. Here is the link:

http://www.cafepress.com/headfi

 

[BoyNamedSue]

Thank you Billy, Audio Addict, and other organizers for an amazingly fun and educational meet. Like several others who attended, this was my first meet and Billy was very kind in helping me feel welcome and orienting me to the whole process. I felt strong sense of community and trust with everyone being so open to share their gear and passion for headphones. Other impressions in no particular order:  the raffle had so many good give-aways - that was very generous of the sponsors. I really enjoyed Ray Samuels' sense of humor, and it was cool to see how down to earth he was. Got a chance to listen to the ear max again, and I am continually impressed by how good it sounds. I definitely will attend next ChiUniFi if I'm still stationed out here in the Midwest next year!