RMAF 2015 Impressions by money4me247
cheering octopus were my personal favorites! 
Items in Blue are items I own/owned, Items in Red are items that I first heard at the meet and greatly enjoyed.
***Disclaimer: I absolutely hate writing first impressions (especially first impressions done in meet conditions). So please be aware that these are just some very subjective impressions here that have a very high likelihood of being biased just based on outside factors such as source material, external components used, and my personal mood at the time that I was trying out the item. Would love more in-depth time with every item and the ability to run more thorough testing on everything to really confirm my sonic impressions to a more exacting standard, but I just can’t afford to buy everything I saw at RMAF. Take all of the following with lots & lots of salt sprinkled between words!! No offense meant by anything I write, and feel free to disagree! Anyways, as always hope it is an enjoyable read
~~~Flagship-priced $1k+ Headphones~~~
Abyss - I always thought the Abyss was ridiculously overpriced. I did gain newfound appreciation and respect for its unique presentation and sound, but I still think it is overpriced. Very interesting hard left and right separation. Visceral impact of its bass was definitely the most subwoofer-like I’ve heard now. I can see why certain people would be willing to pay that premium for its unique presentation and sound, but ultimately not really for me.
Audeze - lol. no comment. prefer not to get in a flame war.
I guess I think if you can afford them & are interested, there is no harm in trying them out since they have a 30 day full refund policy. Heck, I may take them up on that offer.
Audio Zenith - Greatly enjoyed his
Audio Zenith PMx2 headphones. Great tonal balance!! Sound was very well-balanced to my ears. I actually did not really find any fault with its detail resolution. I would only note that it does seem to have a slightly thicker presentation. Alex is hilarious. I innocently asked if I could rip apart his headphones to see his mods & he gave me this expression of pure disbelief. His explanation of his mods was extremely interesting. Even earpads were modded so each side had different foam densities calculated for ideal sound with a channel built into the edge of the earpad for venting pressures. Earpads non-removable. Driver completely reworked even using different magnets. Would love to learn more, but don’t know if I would really understand hahah. Super funny and very friendly guy. Very passionate guy about this hobby. Overall, I see it as a quite solid option, though perhaps a bit pricey using my old performance
rice scaling. With now the release of some actually absurdly overpriced newcomers that do not deliver sonics, I feel my views on price
erformance may be outdated. hahah. I would imagine very competitive price considering the amount of testing, man-hours, labour, and modifications put into this baby, and delivers a very well-tuned sound signature. Some very great innovative ideas and actually R&D going into headphone products. Very solid product overall. First time I ever met Alex or had any experience with Audio Zenith.
Beyerdynamic - T1 Gen2. Good upgrades to the T1. No issues with overt brightness. Solid flagship pick with very competitive pricing for its performance. Never really spent much time with the T1 Gen1 so hard to say for me what the differences were, but T1v2 should hit a sweet spot in price point for many flagship purchasers and appears to have the resolution and tonal balance to chill in the flagship class from first impressions.
EnigmAcoustics -
Dharma was the STAND-OUT flagship of the show for me. Most interesting headphone to me at the show and likely my next purchase. Wrote much more in-depth impressions, but will hold off on publishing those as just meet impressions. Highly highly recommended to try out!!! Cannot wait for the loaner tour of the Dharma to get to me. Very excited to extensively critically test these headphones.
Final Audio - I do personally preferred the Dharma over the Final Audio flagship (even prior to hearing price point). Originally thought they were joking about the price point. I feel like I am still be dreaming/misremembering, but the number was $5k. No flaws that I could find with its flagship’s sound, though a touch of warmth/extra bass. (there was another model that had more warmth, which I thought was too much and detracted from the overall clarity & FR balance, while I view the flagship’s tonal balance to be fine overall, just more catering to a specific preference type). I view this option to be a better value for me personally than the LCD-4 since its sound really resonates with me, fit my tastes, and had no noticeable flaws even after a quite extensive critical listening. But still, no way I personally would pay $5k for it. However, may still a better value than some of the other releases at the show lol. Weight may be a concern as well. Heavier than most other dynamic headphones.
Hifiman -
HE-X is solid. Was strongly considering picking up one of these despite having the
HE-1k, then realized how dumb that sounded & no way I can justify it in my head. HE-X very competitive keeping the cohesive tonal balance of the HE-1k and not sacrificing too much in terms of technical ability. Would love for extended time to play with them. I was actually really afraid that I would feel intense regret due to diminishing returns after doing back-and-forth comparisons of the HE-X against to the HE-1k, but actually at the end of the weekend, I did feel perfectly content with my purchase of the HE-1k. For planar magnetic fans who can’t afford the HE-1k but have similar background/perspective/impressions/values as me, the HE-X should be high on your radar.
Kennerton Audio - lollerwagons. no comment as I know there are some Odin fans here. To be fair, also meet conditions. Overheard some discussion about flexibility in pricing. I do personally feel these are overpriced at MSRP and expect to see the price point to fall.
Lyrus Audio - lol Kennerton clone or maybe the other way around. flagship was very mid-centric with a bit of a more mainstream consumer-orientated type tuning. Just not very good. earpads too shallow. weight was reasonable, but still quite heavy. I can say that these are definitely not worth MSRP and I expect to see the price point fall.
More critical comments following up
HERE (not for the easily offended though, and remember just my personal impressions. YMMV & feel free to disagree.)
Fostex - TH900, still love it. still will not buy it until it hits the $800 or less price point. Ether closed is a better value IMO due to its overall tuning. TH900 has an extremely fun and exciting sound especially for those wanting a bit of that v-shaped coloration. heard rumors of new versions so asked them directly. Official response is no planned flagship refreshes, but may see something at a lower-tier. Asked directly about another very interesting rumor that I know to be true, and the answer was no comment.
MrSpeakers - legit. It really saddens me to say this since I am trying to sell my
Ether open (review
here/FS ad
here), but honestly, I really think the
Ether Closed is better than open. Wish it came in the cool red-black finish, but apparently only 3 of those in the world (Dan, Peter, and Questyle dude - sorry, I’m terrible with names). Better bass extension on the closed version. Bass quantity pretty similar. I thought the closed had better bass texture and slam though Dan claims that the open should have better impact. Open treble is nicer by a hair. Dan states that the open has a more mid-bass emphasis which I agree with. Many people who had the Ethers on their top 5 list liked the Closed over the Open. I would agree. Still though, Ether open has its place for certain tastes and is a very competitive option overall in the open headphone market. Closed Ether likely has no real competition at this time though (imo) in the high-end closed market. Off the top of my head only other nice neutral-orientated closed headphones are the Alpha Prime, PM-3, NAD HP50, and K553 pro. Price point doesn’t equal quality, but for those looking for a closed $1k+ neutral-orientated pair of headphones, there really only seems to be only one choice. Dan is going to make a killing here.
Pioneer - SE-Master-1, Mmm… overall fine, but not worth $2k. I would choose a classic flagship over this. Bass a bit loose and overdone. A bit room for improvement, but then again may be a personal preference type thing. One guy who loves the Abyss stated that the SE-Master-1 was the stand-out headphones for him at RMAF, so fans of bass in particular may want to look into this option.
STAX - First time hearing any electrostatic gear was at this meet with the Koss ESP950. With the Koss ones, I thought it was cool, but did not feel any itch that I really needed to buy them. When I got to Stax, totally different story. lol.
I actually did not really get the sense that things sounded more realistic or the most revealing or most transparent or whatever like everyone claims, but the notes definitely had a very unique feather-light touch and a lack of weight that was extremely unique.
I do have to say that the
Stax SR-009 on the BHSE are !@#$%^& NIICE!!! On the BHSE, there is no missing bass quantity at all to my ears. Does not have ANY weight to its presentation though, but that is what makes it so unique. Notes seem to float out from space in a way I haven’t heard before. Differences were smaller than I expected from reading the forums, but easily noticeable. I wouldn’t spend that much money on a headphone rig in general though, but easily one of my newfound “if-price-not-a-consideration” favorites and definitely wins my respect and admiration. Probably my second favorite headphone after the HE-1k (with the caveat of that I only heard the SR-009 on the BHSE specific system). I do think the Dharma provides that Stax experience with a weightier/more impactful (though slightly looser) bass. I don’t see anyone preferring the Dharma over the Stax SR-009 on the Blue Hawaii specifically, but Dharma may rise to the top depending on other factors (such as a desire to have some weight to the low frequencies) or if that specific combo of the SR-009+BHSE is just unaffordable. Basically, that 009+BHSE combo is quite close to perfect in my mind, so very hard to beat. I am strongly considering purchasing the Dharma as my next complementary pair of headphones to provide that Stax experience without the other drawbacks such as the high price ceiling and need for specialized amplifiers. The Dharma was actually my standout pick of the show.
~~~ Mid-tier-priced sub-$1k Headphones ~~~
Audeze - EL-8 (open/closed). Owned the
EL-8 closed previously. Tried them again. Haven’t changed my mind on them. I would just say strong warning to try these prior to purchasing. Goes very far away from the Audeze house sound and brightest Audeze pair of headphones in their line-up. Interesting mid and treble variations to my ears, but I can see some folks really enjoying them. I think Grado fans should consider looking into this option. Open EL-8 definitely better, but still neither was really the right fit for me.
Audiofly - tried their flagship IEM and over-ear. more consumer-orientated tuning imo. not too bad at all, but just didn’t catch my interest. At the right price point should be very competitive. Don’t really remember much otherwise though.
Audioquest - Nighthawk. Didn’t really see the appeal. Did not stand-out sonically to me. I think overpriced.
Beyerdynamic - Good upgrades to the DT1770. Definitely v-shaped especially if you swap between the new T1v2 against it, but very well-done v-shape. Price point a tad high, but nowadays, what price point isn’t a bit too high. Should be solid even at retail price I think. Great upgrade path for those who enjoyed the original DT770s. DT880s are still my favorite classic beyers though.
Final Audio - The rest of their over-ear models did not really impress from a price
erformance perspective. Entry-level model is competitive for its price point, but not really the ideal tuning for me. Many of their options was a bit too warm for my tastes. I think their products are priced a bit too highly if just judging based on sonics. They explained due to being all hand-made and they use some premium materials, which is fine and cool. Just I personally am pretty apathetic to whether the product is hand-made or machine-made or alien-made with wood or steel or plastic or diamonds or dragon-scales as long as it doesn’t break while I am using it. Final Audio is a very stand-up company though and welcomes honest feedback, so I didn’t bother to censor my thoughts. Told them my sonic impressions, but never wrote them down, so don’t really recall exact model impressions anymore. Overall solid products, just very premium pricing. I preferred the options that were less warm as there was always like one warmer version & one less warm version (catering to different tastes I think). For reference, I prefer their Heaven VII IEM over their VIII.
Fostex - TH500RP mid-centric did not standout at its price point. Likely competitive for specific tastes if just a bit cheaper.
T50RP mk3 was surprisingly well-balanced throughout, but soundstage a bit lacking and gave very closed feel for a semi-open. Earpads also quite shallow for me. Amazing performance
rice ratio though. Did not spend too much time with the other two models, but now greatly regret it. I think this line-up should give the
PM-3 and
HE-400S quite a bit of fun new competition and it is always refreshing to see advancements in sound quality offered at new lower price points. I do think that I may still prefer the
K553 Pro over these as my personal budget orientated pick though would need more extensive side-by-side comparison time to really know. Interesting to me that the most interesting news in budget over-ear headphone is the addition of mods that have been added by DIY-ers for quite a long time to a pair of 10+ year old headphones… lol sometimes I wonder where all that “R&D” money that headphone companies talk about goes.
ZMF - pretty solid. interesting to see how its price point works with the new Fostex Mk3 models out. Not sure of the model names of the two ZMF headphones I tried at the JDS booth since the people weren’t there when I swung over both times. Wonder what they were doing. JDS and Centrance booth people always seemed missing in action when I went over. hahah.
Koss - Impressed with their “budget” electrostatic set-up. Reference monitor was nice, though I think I still prefer the K553 pro personally.
Oppo - They had nothing new, but stated that the colored versions of the PM-3 are coming soon (November IIRC?). I’ve already tried/owned all their gear. I personally feel the
PM-3 (my review
here) and
HA-2 are stunning values. PM-3 is my personal closed portable pick and HA-2 is my daily external dac/amp. Did not see anything else at the show that made me want to upgrade.
HA-1 also extremely good, competitive against my Lyr 2 + Bifrost Uber combo (I actually slightly preferred the HA-1 as I thought it had a bit better bass extension). Schiit stack vs HA-1 has different treble presentations, but likely more of a personal preference type thing. Didn’t go for the HA-1 since reselling and buying is a hassle. HA-1 may be too bright for certain preferences though. Of course, some $2k per individual amp and $2k per individual dac may sound better, but this is definitely venture off into the waters of diminishing return. Solid performance
rice ratio and great place to settle down at.
While the PM-3 is my favorite closed portable headphone and the HA-2 is my favorite portable dac/amp combo, the PM-1 doesn’t really do it for me and I think there are more competitive options if looking for a flagship. PM-2 is a good value if you like the Oppo’s house sound (very rich slightly syrupy pleasant forgiving tuning with some additional warmth over what I personally consider neutral). I would personally never pay premium for just nicer build quality, but I appreciate how Oppo is transparent about that and strives to keep their best tech in all headphones whenever possible with cost savings being only made in material quality rather than sound quality. On the other hand, many other companies intentionally put lower-performing drivers (or have worse sonics) in step-down models in order to justify pricing premiums. Oppo is a solid and stand-up company in my book. Love the loaner tours they do on head-fi.
V-Moda rumors - Revolver coming next year!!!!! =P Val reports they will be tuned for the “modern audiophile” so likely similar to the M100 for fans of that sound signature. Ergonomics will be highly emphasized, clip-folq planned. Price point not decided yet with no hints. (I personally speculate in the $300+ to $500 price range, $700 may be pushing it I think). Likely an amazing option for EDM type music and music using samples. Val explained something about analog tuning based on samples particularly percussion instruments. Pretty cool and friendly dude. Always snappily dressed. Very happy to stop and take the time to talk to people. V-Moda’s sound signature is not really something I look for anymore, but I really appreciate his approach and appreciation of the head-fi community.
~~~ IEMS/CIEMs ~~~
Adele - interesting concept. only tried their budget model. the adjusting ambient noise feature is interesting, but for me personally, I think I would be too OCD about trying to make sure that both side were exactly matched that it would be more of a headache than a benefit.
Alclair - Never heard of them before. Couldn’t really get a good fit with their IEMs, so no real comments here.
Atomic Floyd - I really liked this brand!!! Their balanced armature model (I believe
mini-darts?) was my favorite in general. The balanced-armature-only model is very neutral to my ears. I kept confusing model names because they all looked exactly the same. Not sure if there is a sonic difference between Titanium vs non-Titanium version. I mainly played with their balanced-armature-only model and the Titanium model. The
SuperDarts Titanium version (balanced armature + dynamic driver model) is probably more versatile. SuperDarts has a more natural sound that is neutral enough for work with classical. Amazing at EDM and rock. Build quality excellent. Cool practical flat travel case. Killer price point for its performance. Only cons would be the majority of their other offerings probably too warm for my tastes. The balanced-armature-only option (I believe named mini-darts) was almost perfect (just needs a little bit more bass) while the Titanium was almost perfect with just barely too much bass. I would likely get the SuperDarts at the end of the day and let my brain adjust to the sound sig. A bit more bass than HD650 I would estimate for most of their models, but I would highly recommend checking out the Titanium and whatever model their balanced-armature-only version is. Balanced-armature model seemed like the HD600 to me. I would likely purchase one of these when the Android remote version comes out. Leaning a bit more towards the SuperDarts Titanium upon reflection.
Aurisonics - Legit. My experience with IEMs is limited, but from a performance
rice ratio and a general sound quality perspective, I think they have some very compelling options. Would need to spend more time with them in the future. Price point competitive for their offerings. Played with their Bravo Series: Eva, Forte (treble-focused option), Harmony. Didn’t try Kicker (bass-focused option) as felt Harmony already had ample bass. Forte was not too bright for my tastes which is nice. Both the
Forte and
Harmony felt like workable options for my needs and along the lines of what I would be looking for.
Echobox - Their IEM was too bright for my tastes. May be an option for trebleheads or Grado fans to consider. Unfortunately, their IEM is probably not the first one to use titanium housings based on my limited knowledge of the IEM market, but who knows. I have no interest in DAPs, so didn’t play with their whiskey-flask-shaped Dap. Wish them better luck next time, their booth was in a weird hard-to-find spot.
Final Audio - liked the Heaven VII. Fi-ba-ss was solid as well. Improved comfort on the Fi-ba-ss and that would be my personal pick if going for one Final Audio IEM. Premium pricing though. Thought FI-BA-SS was an improvement in all areas over the VII (especially comfort-wise in ergonomics that was my only complaints of the VII beyond price point). Ran into another head-fier here, but lol. I’m horrible with names. Perhaps @evashrug?
Jerry Harvey Audio - order of preference was JH16 > Roxane … Aegis and Layla did not stand out to me at all. Turned out to be my least favorite CIEMs out of the big three (UE, Noble, JH). First time hearing them.
Noble - Noble is LEGIT in terms of sound quality.
Savant and
Noble 6 were my favorites. I have no experience and never even read anything about Noble before. Did not know price points or any other info. Bearded person with glasses just handed me options to try based on how I said the sound signature was lacking per my tastes.
We started with the Noble 4 (too bright for me), Noble 6 (felt it was very well balanced), Savant (natural sounding and overall no glaring peaks/dips - extremely engaging and vivid high energy presentation without being bright at all - loved this sound signature). Savant was my favorite CIEM sound of the show. Strongly considered purchasing. K10, did not really catch my attention. Overall all seemed to be solid IEMs, but I would chose the Savant regardless of price point. Only found out afterwards the price point and tech in each. I really don’t think the number of drivers matter after this experience. Noble was my favorite CIEM company of the show just based on sound quality. Price points seemed a tad high, but then again, I am not too familiar with CIEMs anyways. Really strongly considered purchasing, but I do think the CIEM market will hit some better price points in the near future as some newcomers and new companies get into this game.
Ultimate Ears - Really cool tech being displayed here. The ability to rapidly play with all the different UE sounds with their customized IEM housing all the different drivers was extremely nice and eye-opening. Can run lots of A/B direct comparisons. UERM is quite nice though actually not my favorite. Track dependent I liked the UE7 (rock, jazz, vocals) and UE11 (EDM). The UE VRM (male-vocal-focused) and UE VRM (female-vocal-focused) sucked terribly. Not worth it imo and does not work well for their intended usage. UE18 is bassier and more vibrant with a very nice sense of ambient atmosphere, air, and soundstage, though not really what I would personally pick. UERM is the most versatile option though and I think if I was to purchase one it would be the
UERM. Not the most exciting CIEM, but extremely solid pick I think especially for those who crave a very even sound without any particular emphasis. Well-done treble that was detailed and present without being overly bright for my tastes. I was so close to purchasing one honestly, but kept talking myself in/out of it. Ran into @Cotnijoe here helping out for UE =P He knows his CIEMs/IEMs much better than me so really appreciated him showing me around.
RHA - really impressed with their budget model
S500i. Killer option. Very slick fit with sound quality and overall balance extremely competitive per price point. Would have guessed a much higher price point. Their flagship did not fit well for me. Overall flagship competitive at its price point, but the budget option is the really legit option here that should be looked into. Would have purchased on the spot if it had an Android remote. Unfortunately, no Android remote in the near future, but a mic-less option is available. iOS version play/pause button press actually does work with Android phones. May look into getting one in the future.
~~~IEM Accessories~~~
Comply - I love
Comply tips, only issue with them is durability. I think Comfort versions with olive-shaped tips are the best. Non-wax-guard Isolation version comes in different colors though which is cool. Sportfit versions seem to run a bit smaller (probably need large for those, medium for everything else). Ended up buying a bunch of these.
Spinfit - I love
Spinfits. comfy, solid isolation. currently, the color of the spinfit canal is supposed to correlate with fit (white = small, red = medium, yellow = large). early batch had some color variations, but newest models will all be color-coded. old man taking a nap at spinfit table was cute & nice. Purchased a set of spinfit mediums
Luckily for my wallet, eartip purchases were the only things I bought at RMAF, but was sorely tempted by many other items.
~~~Amplifiers~~~
The reason I went to RMAF ‘15 was to hunt for the perfect end-game amplifier. Final contestants were whittled down to the
Liquid Gold,
GS-X MK2, and
Schiit Mjolnir 2. If anyone has any helpful opinions, I don’t care. Just need a loan for $3-4k or someone who is really good at driving very fast & keeping their mouth shut. bank opens at 9am =P ...PM me?
Cavalli - Legit. Pricey. Possibly unique sound. I did get the sense that things were smoother on Cavalli but that just might be placebo effect from Mr. Cavalli’s smooth soothing voice. Very tactful guy. Doesn’t play favorites or say personal preferences. Great poker face. Very friendly and welcoming. Cool dude. He did give me the warning to be careful as his products could be addicting. Which I appreciated his advice, I totally disregarded it… and wound up circling back to his table repeatedly =S ...again… and again… and foreverr…...
The Cavalli Curse. That is what his next dang product should be called. Dr. Cavalli always waved with a knowing grin when I swung by again hahah.
Unnamed Liquid Portable (silicone codename now) seemed baller, could drive the HE-1k. 15 hours battery life.
Carbon nice, two models had different volume pots and were still prototypes. Final version would have one of those pots. Not sure if volume line or Cavalli dot will be drawn on the pot. Prototypes didn’t really have any markings on pots. Dr. Cavalli did say certain IEMs may have noise on Carbon, but no noise if you use balanced connects. He lend me his own IEMs (K10 maybe?) which was super nice. HE-1k can be driven on Carbon, though I did seem to be getting a bit high with the volume (probably due to meet conditions). November shipping was anticipated. Tried
Crimson extensively since it was on sale. Fell in love with the
Gold by accident instead. lol. damn.
Glass was at MrSpeakers’ table. By then, I had totally learned my lesson and definitely did not go anywhere near trying it. Stayed on the safe Mjolnir 2 + GMB stack since that is gear that I could actually afford lol.
Centrance -
mini-M8 is a pretty solid portable if interested in portables dac/amps. Centrance people kept disappearing when I was trying to find them before scavenger hunt deadline. lol.
Creative -
E5 is actually quite legit. probably not going to appeal to audiophiles, but bluetooth and SBS features work quite nicely. Very solid product for normal people. Joked that the
X7 should have came in two version red/black for gamers and wood/black for audiophiles. Apparently, that was actually discussed, but shot down by the idiot in charge. Imagine the wave of head-fi interest if there was just a bit of nice audiophile-grade wood on that X7. Both solid products. Just wouldn’t bring me enough audiophile street cred on head-fi, so I reluctantly passed. lol who am I kidding, I am actually planning on buying both in secret without updating my head-fi profile (mwhahaha!)
HeadAmp -
GS-X MK2 - strongly strongly considering purchasing this item. looks sexy. Badass piece of gear that sounded better every time I went back to relisten. Nothing to say about this amplifier because you don’t even hear it. Just the headphones and your music.
iFi Audio - all pretty solid. cool little tower stack of
iCans or
iNaos looked really fancy with lots of components that all did various things. Tried the
iRetro. Got to demo the upcoming
Pro desktop solid-state/tube switchable class A desktop amp. Not tube rollable unfortunately and someone stole its volume knob. Still working out small details and tuning. I think this was the product with an April-ish release date. Wrote down a bunch of dates, but lol, did not write down what the dates were for.
JDS -
Element is nice. Volume knob is nice a big. Very black background with a black knob on a black chassis. Sounded very elemental to my ears. lol who am I kidding, accordingly to my lord and savior, thou cannot really hear differences in amplifiers anyways & thou shalt only buy the o2+odac. I cannot consider this new sexy option until a extremely detailed list of measurements & graphs that I don’t understand is posted to a blog comparing it favorable to the one perfectly measuring set-up that has been preordained by He-who-shall-not-be-named.
McIntosh - lol for some reason I really like the way the
MHA-100 sounds. Heard this previously. Not the most resolving amplifier I think, but adds this rich warmth and textural thickness and weight that is quite enjoyable. Still not worth it for me from a performance
rice perspective though as I would be using a different dac and not using the speaker amp at all. Would consider if I could find this type of sound at the $2k price point. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.
Questyle - badass
cma800r amplifiers. not really a fan of the dac. Booth was baller. Had all the flagships there for me to play around with and rep was down to shoot the breeze. running dual monoblocks does make a difference even when I volume-matched by ear. works well with all the headphones I tried. Probably too pricey though. I think you can probably find similar sound quality at a more competitive price point. But damn, what an appealing option. Just having two amps instead of one made me feel so much more badass. so in laymen terms current mode amplification superior because it is faster than voltage-based amplifications at reproducing the signal? Current mode amplifications is fast enough for create microwaves current mode amplification is what got us cellphone tech? Only issue is fixed impedance, so switching to voltage mode at both input and output to allow for lots of headphones to be used? No idea if I repeated what he said right or what any of this really means, but appreciate the time taken to try to dumb it down for me. Should have paid more attention in physics class. Really enjoyed chatting with the rep here. Super chill guy. Was cool with me running A/B testing of single CMA800r vs dual CMA800r and doing different headphone comparisons at his booth. lol.
Schiit - Turned out I preferred the
Mjolnir 2's sound signature over the
Ragnarok. Wallet-friendly finding. maybe Raggy a bit bright/harsh/clinical for me? Or maybe they sounded the same? or maybe the tube distortion more euphonic to my ears? Or maybe... omg, ******* A/B testing is annoying. Just go with the damn cheaper option & I don’t have room on my desk for that satanic beast from hell named Raggy anyway.
~~~DAC~~~
Audio.GD - Noticed a
Dac19 (probably @Stillhart’s, saw him busy strutting around with some badass huge trophy so didn’t ask) hooked up to the Carbon. Seems solid. Not going to get into a gumby comparison since we all know that since I now own the gumby, everything else is therefore inferior & everyone who disagrees is wrong.
Schiit - Already bought Gumby (
Gungnir Multibit) prior to RMAF. Tried
Bifrost MB (They only had Bifrost MB there. So no frame of reference against old Bifrost Uber or Bifrost 4490 though as none at show. Only had Modi for D/S comparisons, but I’ve already graduated past the Modi so my golden ears cannot be contaminated with such low quality dac-ing, so I didn’t try it). Tried
Yggy. Lots of fun experience!!
Basically I think, if you need balanced, go
GuMBy. If not,
BuMBlebee. If you want all the ladies to talk about your huge monstrous audiophile street cred,
YGGY it out.
Didn’t bother auditioning any other dacs, because per head-fi discussion, R2R rules the world and no reason to even consider anything else. ever.
~~~Other~~~
Darin Fong Audio - Impressive, but not really my cup of tea. Recalled that his software (with the “all enhancements off” actually added distortion & was not identical to my original set-up when I tested at home). Was told that it was a bug that he will fix. Wondered if he fixed it yet, but felt it might be rude to ask.
Kimber Kable - failed their test. I went with bassier but the answer was more spacious. just fyi.
MIT cables - enjoyed listening to their technical explanation. Loved their intro: “Have you heard of MIT?” Ah… MIT, of course I’ve heard of MIT…..
~~~Conclusions~~~
So that concludes my RMAF impressions. Only half serious with half the stuff I wrote & the rest was scribbles that I can’t really read anymore so I just made up stuff. Just very enlightening experience for me overall & I had a great time
Cheers!
edit: Will add pictures later, but I'm really not a take lots of photos type guy. Only took pictures of stuff I was interested in.
edit2:
Planar Magnetic Summary HERE for folks just really focused on those. Have my personal rankings there too. May not be the most PC post on head-fi, so reader beware. Likely many opinions written will cause controversy. Just take a deep breath & realize that just one subjective opinions of one member of a vast community. We can all play nice in this large sandbox & feel free to agree to disagree with very different impressions without getting into any flame wars. No issues on my end if you call B$ on my impressions. They are only my personal impressions. Also, found out at RMAF that my ears are ACTUALLY LITERALLY full of wax!!! ROTFL. perhaps some of my impressions will change after a daily regiment of saline solution to clean out all that gunk =P
Hope everyone has a chill week!
