boodi
Headphoneus Supremus
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it looks like it was a very intimate and nice metting ,
I whish I was there ..
I whish I was there ..
3/18/06--MD/VA/DC Meet impressions
- Thread starter thrice
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Dusty Chalk
Head-Fi-holic: With headphones would just be a benny.
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Here's my impression of the meet if I was there:
Dusty: Dave, quit turning the volume up!
Dave: Well maybe if you quit turning the volume all the way down, you'd be able to hear something...
StevieO: What is this weird stuff y'all listen to?
Dusty: I don't listen to weird stuff.
Hirsch: I do.
Dave: What?
Hirsch: Hey, look at this neato new stuff I got!
thrice: Neato!
Juan: Hey, I'm here!
(thrice's wife walks in)
Everyone except Dave: Whoa, a chick!
Dave: I already have one of those.
Dusty: Dave, quit turning the volume up!
Dave: Well maybe if you quit turning the volume all the way down, you'd be able to hear something...
StevieO: What is this weird stuff y'all listen to?
Dusty: I don't listen to weird stuff.
Hirsch: I do.
Dave: What?
Hirsch: Hey, look at this neato new stuff I got!
thrice: Neato!
Juan: Hey, I'm here!
(thrice's wife walks in)
Everyone except Dave: Whoa, a chick!
Dave: I already have one of those.
Steve999
smooth, DARK
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Hey!! It's Me!!!
I really liked the AKG701s, by the way. I thought they easily defeated my DT880s in an A/B comparison (with no EQ).
Quote:
I really liked the AKG701s, by the way. I thought they easily defeated my DT880s in an A/B comparison (with no EQ).
Quote:
| Originally Posted by Akathriel This is it... 
|
audiorapture
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Steve: Good evening. Thanks to you and your wife for extending your home and time for all at the meet. It was my first, and I thought it went very well. A big thanks to all the members who were patient with some of my questions. And another thanks to all who showed up with such excellent equipment. My best to everyone. Would like to thank Steve999 for his ideas and insight and BrianS for the Senn650's w/Zu Mobius, (we like bass), and Highflying for the extensions, (so I can get my wife to agree with me about lounging on the couch), (very well constructed cords at a great price), and AkaThrial for those beautiful Grado's I kept hoggin from time to time. And some really fine pictures. You put a lot of effort into helping this meet come off well Akathrial. Steve again I appreciated your hospitality and help with everything, your a fine host and really made eveyone welcome. I believe a good time was had by all.
Thanks. p.s I was spoiled by those K1000's by the way. The rest just got better. You guys were great!
Thanks. p.s I was spoiled by those K1000's by the way. The rest just got better. You guys were great!
stevieo
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many thanks to meagan for throwing another fine meet & to her husband thrice for going along with the program.
this was an unusual meet in the respect that it may have had the largest percentage of 1st timers of any meet i have attended so far. 1st timers may have even outnumbered 2 timers which is a pleasant surprise. this is a good thing as not too many new people have been making the scene for a long time, in this area at least. it was a very a respectable crowd as usual, with the usual exception – thank you very much for locking me out of the house, & it will be interesting to see how many of the 1st timers will attend another meet and what they will have upgraded to.
it was good to see a veteran diy’er of just 3 months bring a small suitcase of his homebuilt amps. some hardcore kid young enough to be my grandson shows up to his 1st meet with a balanced woodpile of headphiled ps-1’s!! i can hardly wait to see what he upgrades to. i would say he was doomed right out of the gate.
there was some older stuff like early versions of the mpx & ppx that was fun to spend time with again & it is good to know that they still sound every bit as good, if not better, as they did at time of introduction & they continue to remain as worthy today as they did the day the were introduced. it is a great time to be into cans. more great stuff than ever to select from, old & new, in every price range. there is no need to break the bank to get great sound that was not even available just a few short years ago in addition to all the new bank breaking stuff that is simply stratospheric.
thrice’s balanced m3’s blackgates are starting to come into their own. lavry & benchmark dacs were in attendance. new vs. old. i would not kick either one out of bed. there was a new, to me anyway, larocca pocket reference that sounded very good. nice work mr. L.!
a redwine modded ipod showed up just before last call but i only had a brief listen to the redwine & the stock ipod. i did not get enough time to get a solid impression of any differences. i will have to explore this further.
the meet was humming right along until thrice, or was it meagan, decided to give us all the boot & i left. i swung by the house an hour later & everyone was still there but i was too crushed from the humiliation to reenter. i should have gotten the message when i was locked out earlier in the day. i guess there has to be a step child in every family.
all in all just another festive fun filled meet of jovial head-fiers.
this was an unusual meet in the respect that it may have had the largest percentage of 1st timers of any meet i have attended so far. 1st timers may have even outnumbered 2 timers which is a pleasant surprise. this is a good thing as not too many new people have been making the scene for a long time, in this area at least. it was a very a respectable crowd as usual, with the usual exception – thank you very much for locking me out of the house, & it will be interesting to see how many of the 1st timers will attend another meet and what they will have upgraded to.
it was good to see a veteran diy’er of just 3 months bring a small suitcase of his homebuilt amps. some hardcore kid young enough to be my grandson shows up to his 1st meet with a balanced woodpile of headphiled ps-1’s!! i can hardly wait to see what he upgrades to. i would say he was doomed right out of the gate.
there was some older stuff like early versions of the mpx & ppx that was fun to spend time with again & it is good to know that they still sound every bit as good, if not better, as they did at time of introduction & they continue to remain as worthy today as they did the day the were introduced. it is a great time to be into cans. more great stuff than ever to select from, old & new, in every price range. there is no need to break the bank to get great sound that was not even available just a few short years ago in addition to all the new bank breaking stuff that is simply stratospheric.
thrice’s balanced m3’s blackgates are starting to come into their own. lavry & benchmark dacs were in attendance. new vs. old. i would not kick either one out of bed. there was a new, to me anyway, larocca pocket reference that sounded very good. nice work mr. L.!
a redwine modded ipod showed up just before last call but i only had a brief listen to the redwine & the stock ipod. i did not get enough time to get a solid impression of any differences. i will have to explore this further.
the meet was humming right along until thrice, or was it meagan, decided to give us all the boot & i left. i swung by the house an hour later & everyone was still there but i was too crushed from the humiliation to reenter. i should have gotten the message when i was locked out earlier in the day. i guess there has to be a step child in every family.
all in all just another festive fun filled meet of jovial head-fiers.
Eagle_Driver
Headphoneus Supremus
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Quote:
I thought the same way at the Chicago meet. The DT880 - at least the 2003 model that I listened to - sounded grainy and spitty in comparison to even my Sennheiser HD595, let alone the K701.
| Originally Posted by Steve999 I really liked the AKG701s, by the way. I thought they easily defeated my DT880s in an A/B comparison (with no EQ).
|
I thought the same way at the Chicago meet. The DT880 - at least the 2003 model that I listened to - sounded grainy and spitty in comparison to even my Sennheiser HD595, let alone the K701.
stevieo
500+ Head-Fier
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Quote:
dusty chalk,
whoa, you had the place bugged!! have we become that predictable? this unnerves me. you have dialect & speech pattern down good. you are an uncanny observer of life in the periphery of reality.
| Originally Posted by Dusty Chalk Here's my impression of the meet if I was there: Dusty: Dave, quit turning the volume up! Dave: Well maybe if you quit turning the volume all the way down, you'd be able to hear something... StevieO: What is this weird stuff y'all listen to? Dusty: I don't listen to weird stuff. Hirsch: I do. Dave: What? Hirsch: Hey, look at this neato new stuff I got! thrice: Neato! Juan: Hey, I'm here! (thrice's wife walks in) Everyone except Dave: Whoa, a chick! Dave: I already have one of those. |
dusty chalk,
whoa, you had the place bugged!! have we become that predictable? this unnerves me. you have dialect & speech pattern down good. you are an uncanny observer of life in the periphery of reality.
Akathriel
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Ok guys here's my impressions. First off lets gets some things straight:
The gear was awesome.
The people were awesome.
The lassi was beyond awesome.
That being said, I really did have quite a bit of fun. I guess I'll talk about the stuff on the table first. I didn't really get a chance to A/B the Lavry and the Benchmark because they were being hogged, but I did get to listen to the Lavry by itself and with that curious little moretto tube amp. They were both impressive. The fact that the Lavry was able to drive the headphones w/ the headphone out and still sound pretty damn good was impressive. I think I read in a recent 6 moons review Srajan's opinion on sources with integrated preamps; and I have to agree. Although it sounded good straight out of the Lavry, the moretto really added some warmth, depth, and body to the sound. I think its really a question of value. The amp certainly improved the sound but it certainly isn't necessary and its really up to user whether its worth it. This was a real doubletake for me as I had always assumed amps were imperative.
Back on topic, over to the living room. Where Juan had set up most of his gear (other than the stuff I stole and jealously hoarded for most of the meet
but more on that later) As highflyin9 pointed out this rig sounded really good with the 650! (Guzzler USB Dac ->plethora of portable amps/PPX3->SA5k or the 650 i fould lying around) But what I really wanted to try was the SA5k. I really wanted to like this headphone but after listening to it all i can say is yuck! On my initial try I think a Larocco was feeding it. I frowned, looked at Juan and said, "It sounds like static!" It reminded me of all my electrostatic stereotype conception. Dynamically flat, monotonously sterile, devoid of impact, but really damn fast, wonderful extension, and tonally accurate. Juan laughed, and plugged it into the PPX3 with which it improved considerably gained a little bit of warmth and body but it was still an SA5k but as Juan put it, "its not for everybody." And its certainly not for me.
I spent most of my time in the corner with Danny, Brian, and the Wadia 23, balanced M3, and MPX3. Both amps sounded good and it was actually tough to say which I preferred. I don't really feel that the PF-1s and M3 mated well. It still sounded really damn good because it was balanced though! If I had to use one word to describe it I would say: transparent. And in imo, if the amp is transparent, why let it in there to degrade your signal. Others feel differently.
On the other hand the M3 sounded fabulous with the K1000s and K701s. I already knew K701s were not my cup of tea (i prefer 650s for the laid back sound signature and the bass) but the k1000s continue to impress me. I was talking with Frank and we both agreed that it didn't make sense for AKG to discontinue such a wonderful product. If it was not cost efficient why didnt they just sell them for 500$? I would buy one if they weren't so much trouble to drive. I liked the MPX3 a lot too but I don't really know what to say about. It was a good point of reference. I think the best way to describe it is that it didnt do anything wrong and added tube warmth.
Remember that stuff I stole from Juan? Well what can I say, it was the stuff I enjoyed most at the meet. There were 3 things:HF-1s, Headphile SR-200s, and the SinglePower solid state prototype. I enjoyed comparing the Grados to my own and seeing what happens as you move up the chain. I think I liked the SR-200s over the HF-1s. They had better balance, although the HF-1 was no slouch either. If you want a fun sound the HF-1 (or RS-1) is the funnest phone ever. Its a good change of pace, but its too over the top to be a primary phone. I swapped some flats onto the PF-1s and cringed. Later on, I was telling Highflying how uncomfortable the bowls were and he thought I should try flats for their comfort. I replied, that I didnt want my head to implode. With flats, the bass became boomy, muddy, and overpowered the rest of the frequency. No fun.
The singlepower Solid State was superb. I am getting one period. It was natural, smooth, and full bodied like a tube amp but fast and nuetral like solid state. I preferred it over every amp at the meet. I dearly hope Mikhail produces these because they are something special despite everyone retorts.
I had a LOT of fun guys and it was nice meeting everyone. Thanks to Thrice; you were a wonderful host. I'm dissapointed I missed Hirsch and his stuff!
</end rant>
Edit: Sorry about the novel
BERNIE
The gear was awesome.
The people were awesome.
The lassi was beyond awesome.
That being said, I really did have quite a bit of fun. I guess I'll talk about the stuff on the table first. I didn't really get a chance to A/B the Lavry and the Benchmark because they were being hogged, but I did get to listen to the Lavry by itself and with that curious little moretto tube amp. They were both impressive. The fact that the Lavry was able to drive the headphones w/ the headphone out and still sound pretty damn good was impressive. I think I read in a recent 6 moons review Srajan's opinion on sources with integrated preamps; and I have to agree. Although it sounded good straight out of the Lavry, the moretto really added some warmth, depth, and body to the sound. I think its really a question of value. The amp certainly improved the sound but it certainly isn't necessary and its really up to user whether its worth it. This was a real doubletake for me as I had always assumed amps were imperative.
Back on topic, over to the living room. Where Juan had set up most of his gear (other than the stuff I stole and jealously hoarded for most of the meet
I spent most of my time in the corner with Danny, Brian, and the Wadia 23, balanced M3, and MPX3. Both amps sounded good and it was actually tough to say which I preferred. I don't really feel that the PF-1s and M3 mated well. It still sounded really damn good because it was balanced though! If I had to use one word to describe it I would say: transparent. And in imo, if the amp is transparent, why let it in there to degrade your signal. Others feel differently.
On the other hand the M3 sounded fabulous with the K1000s and K701s. I already knew K701s were not my cup of tea (i prefer 650s for the laid back sound signature and the bass) but the k1000s continue to impress me. I was talking with Frank and we both agreed that it didn't make sense for AKG to discontinue such a wonderful product. If it was not cost efficient why didnt they just sell them for 500$? I would buy one if they weren't so much trouble to drive. I liked the MPX3 a lot too but I don't really know what to say about. It was a good point of reference. I think the best way to describe it is that it didnt do anything wrong and added tube warmth.
Remember that stuff I stole from Juan? Well what can I say, it was the stuff I enjoyed most at the meet. There were 3 things:HF-1s, Headphile SR-200s, and the SinglePower solid state prototype. I enjoyed comparing the Grados to my own and seeing what happens as you move up the chain. I think I liked the SR-200s over the HF-1s. They had better balance, although the HF-1 was no slouch either. If you want a fun sound the HF-1 (or RS-1) is the funnest phone ever. Its a good change of pace, but its too over the top to be a primary phone. I swapped some flats onto the PF-1s and cringed. Later on, I was telling Highflying how uncomfortable the bowls were and he thought I should try flats for their comfort. I replied, that I didnt want my head to implode. With flats, the bass became boomy, muddy, and overpowered the rest of the frequency. No fun.
The singlepower Solid State was superb. I am getting one period. It was natural, smooth, and full bodied like a tube amp but fast and nuetral like solid state. I preferred it over every amp at the meet. I dearly hope Mikhail produces these because they are something special despite everyone retorts.
I had a LOT of fun guys and it was nice meeting everyone. Thanks to Thrice; you were a wonderful host. I'm dissapointed I missed Hirsch and his stuff!
</end rant>
Edit: Sorry about the novel
BERNIE
agile_one
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Quote:
lol
Best meet impression I've ever read.
| Originally Posted by Dusty Chalk Here's my impression of the meet if I was there: Dusty: Dave, quit turning the volume up! Dave: Well maybe if you quit turning the volume all the way down, you'd be able to hear something... StevieO: What is this weird stuff y'all listen to? Dusty: I don't listen to weird stuff. Hirsch: I do. Dave: What? Hirsch: Hey, look at this neato new stuff I got! thrice: Neato! Juan: Hey, I'm here! (thrice's wife walks in) Everyone except Dave: Whoa, a chick! Dave: I already have one of those. |
lol
Best meet impression I've ever read.
Akathriel
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Quote:
Me hardcore? Nah, just dumb. I'm in deep and I am going all the way; head first! I'm working 3 semi-regular jobs now and plan on slaving my ass off this summer to build this rig:
USB->Consonance Tubed Processor (coming out later this year)->SinglePower Balanced Solid State(it better come out...)->PF-1s
| Originally Posted by stevieo some hardcore kid young enough to be my grandson shows up to his 1st meet with a balanced woodpile of headphiled ps-1’s!! i can hardly wait to see what he upgrades to. i would say he was doomed right out of the gate. |
Me hardcore? Nah, just dumb. I'm in deep and I am going all the way; head first! I'm working 3 semi-regular jobs now and plan on slaving my ass off this summer to build this rig:
USB->Consonance Tubed Processor (coming out later this year)->SinglePower Balanced Solid State(it better come out...)->PF-1s
BrianS
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those k701s seem really good to me. i've tried the k1000s on two different occasions and i really can't say i like them at all. the two things i look for in a headphone is sound and comfort and both the k701 and hd650 do that well
Jon L
For him, f/1.2 is a prime number
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Quote:
Hey, what's this? Consonance is finally going to make a tubed DAC! Any idea about specs (DAC chip, upsampling or not) and ballpark price?
| Originally Posted by Akathriel USB->Consonance Tubed Processor (coming out later this year)->SinglePower Balanced Solid State(it better come out...)->PF-1s |
Hey, what's this? Consonance is finally going to make a tubed DAC! Any idea about specs (DAC chip, upsampling or not) and ballpark price?
Akathriel
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Maiwei wouldn' tell me anything except that it will have a USB->I2S interface and will come out sometime this year
Jon L
For him, f/1.2 is a prime number
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Quote:
USB->I2S is HUGE news!! As I was hoping, all this talk and demand for USB to I2S seems to be motivating more and more manufacturers.
| Originally Posted by Akathriel Maiwei wouldn' tell me anything except that it will have a USB->I2S interface and will come out sometime this year
|
USB->I2S is HUGE news!! As I was hoping, all this talk and demand for USB to I2S seems to be motivating more and more manufacturers.
Ayreonaut
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Oh, man. I neglected to check the meeting forum for months, and just looked today. I cannot tell you how miffed I am to have missed this opportunity to meet with you guys. It sounds like it was a great meet. I'll have to wait another year.
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