I may add more later, but here are my notes from the big stars of the show (in my opinion).
Full Sized Headphones:
Audeze LCD-4 + Audeze King amp
Game. Over.
- - This might be the best headphone I’ve ever heard.
- - Preferred it over SR-009 and Abyss by a pretty wide margin.
- - Not your typical Audeze. Not super dark and rolled off like most of the others.
- - Wonderful sense of air and gorgeous treble.
- - The mids! The bass! Perfection across every frequency spectrum!
- - An absolute detail monster, yet a supremely musical headphone. Unicorn!
- - Pulls out all the acoustic and ambient detail you get with an HD800.
- - Monster dynamics and impact. Explosive sound!
- - Sounds nearly as impressive with mp3s as it does with FLAC.
- - Really more comparable to a high-end two channel system than a headphone.
- - Tremendous soundstage and imaging.
- - Organic realism to the music and rich timbre.
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Enigma Acoustics Dharma
It was worth the wait.
- - Huge improvement from preproduction version.
- - Really can’t hear the crossover anymore.
- - Not as dry as the version I heard in Chicago.
- - Lush, pretty, and satisfying bass.
- - HUGE HD800-like soundstage- equal or more width, but not as much depth.
- - The gentleman’s HD800 – that big airy sound with more bass and smoother, non-sibilant treble.
ETHER-C
Meet the new king of closed-backs.
- - Easily the best closed back headphone on the market today. Makes the other top competitors look rather silly.
- - Clarity level and blackground are unheard of in a closed back.
- - FAST bass – so rare in a closed back, no boom.
- - Probably the most neutral and reference-worthy closed back. I wouldn’t hesitate to mix with it, which is something I can’t/wouldn’t say about any other closed headphone.
- - Isolation is very good.
- - Attack and decay properties, like its open counterpart, are absolutely unparalleled. Perfectly clean rise and fall into a deep, deep blackness.
- - Amazing comfort.
Beyerdynamic T1 Mk2
It’s not the T1 you know.
- - Huge improvement in every way (over the original T1)
- - No more huge treble spike!!!
- - There’s bass!
- - It’s actually musical!
- - FR is completely different from the original T1, and that’s a very, very good thing. I hated the original, but I like this one A LOT.
- - Still true to the dry Beyer trademark “house timbre” if you’re a fan of it. Lots of recording pros find it useful.
- - Certainly rocks with the right amp.
Amps:
Cavalli Liquid Crimson
So good, I’m getting sad writing about it.
- - Good God.
- - I… I don’t…. I can’t
- - Okay. Seriously, this thing is incredible. There is just this dynamic musicality about it that just makes the headphones disappear off of your head and the music come alive in your soul. The impact hits hard. The mids make you cry. The treble reveals detail you’ve never even imagined in your favorite tracks.
- - Oh, and it rocks hard as hell!!
- - This is a total endgame for me (for headphones aren’t the HE-6). Probably my favorite desktop amp ever. I’m just in love with this thing.
- - I can’t say anymore. I’m just getting sad that my current financial state is incompatible with a Liquid Crimson purchase at this moment. I will miss it every second until I’m reunited with it again.
NEW Cavalli Portable (Name TBD)
Holy smokes. The portable that changes everything.
- - Probably the best sounding portable amp ever made. I’m serious. Keep reading…
- - Drives the HE1000 with AUTHORITY. I’m going to catch hell for this, but I think it makes the HE1000 sound better than the Oppo HA-1 and the Schiit Ragnarok. This is not even remotely hyperbolic post show hype. It flat-out sounds better on this PORTABLE amp. I’m fully aware that this sounds crazy. It is really THAT good.
- - Bigger, beefier, more dynamic, resolving and impactful sound than most full size amps, including some $1k plus flagships. Seriously, this can be an end-game desktop AND portable unit for most Head-fi’ers. It really might be the only amp you ever need.
- - This is a true game changer in the portable category. The Cavalli house sound in your pocket.
- - 15ish hours or so of battery life.
- - Not sure what the final price will be, but Alex gave me a range, and at that price, this is probably the biggest no-brainer hi-fi purchase you can make.
- - Due out in early 2016
iFi Professional
Get out your pitchforks, Ragnarok owners. You’re gonna hate me.
- - Okay, this thing is REALLY cool.
- - IMHO, sounds much better than the Ragnarok at the same price. YMMV, of course, but the difference seemed pretty clear to me.
- - MASSIVE power. 10W, I believe. Drives the HE-6 with ease.
- - Switchable from tube to solid state to hybrid.
- - Two adjustable filters for soundstage and bass allow you to tune the amp to your headphone. You can also turn this feature off, if you like. I preferred the +1 setting for both.
- - Compatible with 6922/7308-type tubes!!
- - Impressively clean and articulate, I fed this amp difficult high-speed music and it handled it all with aplomb.
Questyle CMR800R Monoblocks
Why, oh why did I listen to this?!?!?
- - High power endgame. Makes my HE-6 sound better than the SR-009 and the Abyss. IMHO, YMMV, etc.
- - Tight control. I mean TIGHT!
- - Explosive dynamics. Best bass evar.
- - Really does nothing wrong. This would be my preferred endgame for my beloved HE-6 (or other hard-to-drive orthos).