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9/13/14 Lawrence, Kansas Headfi meeting Impression.
Sep 20, 2014 at 12:21 PM Post #61 of 95
mrscotchguy said:
The old productions (like my SN:4,000 series) are suppose to be a touch brighter and more tizzy. Supposedly once you hit around SN:25,000 or so the quality got even better. It's hard to say if there's an actual difference or if it has to do with ware and tear, clamping force, etc... Too much subjectivity and placebo in this hobby. (I know, ironic coming from the freshly converted cable believer...)

As for the bass of the HD800, it may not be as massive as our HE-4, but it sure hits as low and has that tactile punch when driven appropriately. I have yet to hear anything that open still have that quality of bass...
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Ahh, yeah this is a 30000+ SN, it sounds great! I know what you mean about bass and space. Spacebass. The HE-4 has better spacebass than anything I've heard so far.
 
Sep 20, 2014 at 3:11 PM Post #62 of 95
Greetings all, I've been really busy since the meet so I haven't made time to participate here.

Thanks to James for hosting a great meet! We'll definitely need a larger space next time, I should think. It was great meeting everyone, and as this was my first time to a Kansas area meet, everyone was new to me.

I'm glad everyone was able to try my setups, especially the hard to audition GS-X and the fairly rare Black Diamond. Depending on how the Ragnarok sounds, I may not have them long. I enjoyed the surprised looks from those who tried the Sony MA900s and also the Koss PortaPros. These are hidden gems that really pack a punch for their price and humble looks.

On to my impressions -

Valhalla 1 > Hifiman HE-4 - Nicely balanced sound, not quite enough in the treble for me to be considered neutral, but nice enough. Bass was not overpowering and well controlled. Mids were pleasant and liquid. As with other planar devices, I have soundstage issues with them, and being the old style headband, the fit was awful, but I expected both of those going in. One of the better planars I've heard if you can take the two problems in stride.

Hifiman EF-2 > Markl Modded Denon D2000 - Pretty good sound stage for a semi-closed. A good bit of U shaped response, but not unpleasant. Seemed at home with both classical and electronic, a rare feat.

X-Sabre > GS-X2 > Hifiman HE400i - These are more balanced, IMO, than the HE560, which I had on loan for a week. Tones down the midbass bloom of the 560, and improves the lower treble. Fit is better than the old style Hifimans but still way too much clamp, as with the HE560.

Mini-I Pro > JL Acoustic portable amp > Shure SE846 - Didn't like these much. Sounded thin and hollow. Very low bass impact, surprising for an IEM. My UERM customs on the same setup sounded great as usual. Perhaps fit issues affecting sound on the 846s.

X-Sabre > GS-X2 > Audio Technica 1000X - Not my kind of headphone. Voices sounded as if they were coming from a tiny tube, with the other sounds coming from the sides. Disorienting. Quite grainy.

X-Sabre > GS-X2 > Audio Technica 3000ANV - Romantic type sound that is very engaging. Certainly some U shaped response, but done very nicely without getting syrupy. Not quite what I'm looking for, but I can certainly appreciate those who think this is their end game. Very good.

Bifrost > Lyr > HD800 (James' setup) - Good overall, though lacking in detail and it seems a bit raw. Need some upstream upgrades to feed the 800s. Still not agreeing with those that say the Lyr is a good match with the HD800.

Forgot the electronics > Vibros - Good attempt on the Fostex headphone. Well balanced for what the driver is capable of. Still a little thick, and not all that resolving (due to driver limitations, IMO). Quite heavy and is a face hugger with its giant alpha pads.

Thanks again for the meet. I'll try to come again.
 
Sep 20, 2014 at 3:20 PM Post #63 of 95
Thanks Chris for coming all the way to Lawrence.
 
Yes I agree with all of you, We'll have auditorium next time.  I checked out the room, it's big for our size, but you'll never know about next time.
We might have more people, so Check this auditorium for next meeting in the SPRING!!
 
We have oppo will help us with their headphone.  So let's start on that....I already have the title for that meeting  
 
"Spring Head-fi fever"
 
we see I ask more head-fi sponsors to come...
anyways, have good weekend everyone.
 
Sep 20, 2014 at 3:22 PM Post #64 of 95
maxvla said:
Greetings all, I've been really busy since the meet so I haven't made time to participate here.

Thanks to James for hosting a great meet! We'll definitely need a larger space next time, I should think. It was great meeting everyone, and as this was my first time to a Kansas area meet, everyone was new to me.

I'm glad everyone was able to try my setups, especially the hard to audition GS-X and the fairly rare Black Diamond. Depending on how the Ragnarok sounds, I may not have them long. I enjoyed the surprised looks from those who tried the Sony MA900s and also the Koss PortaPros. These are hidden gems that really pack a punch for their price and humble looks.

On to my impressions -

Valhalla 1 > Hifiman HE-4 - Nicely balanced sound, not quite enough in the treble for me to be considered neutral, but nice enough. Bass was not overpowering and well controlled. Mids were pleasant and liquid. As with other planar devices, I have soundstage issues with them, and being the old style headband, the fit was awful, but I expected both of those going in. One of the better planars I've heard if you can take the two problems in stride.

Hifiman EF-2 > Markl Modded Denon D2000 - Pretty good sound stage for a semi-closed. A good bit of U shaped response, but not unpleasant. Seemed at home with both classical and electronic, a rare feat.

X-Sabre > GS-X2 > Hifiman HE400i - These are more balanced, IMO, than the HE560, which I had on loan for a week. Tones down the midbass bloom of the 560, and improves the lower treble. Fit is better than the old style Hifimans but still way too much clamp, as with the HE560.

Mini-I Pro > JL Acoustic portable amp > Shure SE846 - Didn't like these much. Sounded thin and hollow. Very low bass impact, surprising for an IEM. My UERM customs on the same setup sounded great as usual. Perhaps fit issues affecting sound on the 846s.

X-Sabre > GS-X2 > Audio Technica 1000X - Not my kind of headphone. Voices sounded as if they were coming from a tiny tube, with the other sounds coming from the sides. Disorienting. Quite grainy.

X-Sabre > GS-X2 > Audio Technica 3000ANV - Romantic type sound that is very engaging. Certainly some U shaped response, but done very nicely without getting syrupy. Not quite what I'm looking for, but I can certainly appreciate those who think this is their end game. Very good.

Bifrost > Lyr > HD800 (James' setup) - Good overall, though lacking in detail and it seems a bit raw. Need some upstream upgrades to feed the 800s. Still not agreeing with those that say the Lyr is a good match with the HD800.

Forgot the electronics > Vibros - Good attempt on the Fostex headphone. Well balanced for what the driver is capable of. Still a little thick, and not all that resolving (due to driver limitations, IMO). Quite heavy and is a face hugger with its giant alpha pads.

Thanks again for the meet. I'll try to come again.
Click to expand...

of course, I still need work on upgrading amp...that's my homework for next time  
 
wink_face.gif

 
Thank you for listening my gear.
 
Sep 20, 2014 at 3:25 PM Post #65 of 95
Sponsors are nice, but having it all members is nice as well. I've organized both heavy members and heavy sponsors, and I think I like the heavy members type of meet better.
 
Sep 20, 2014 at 3:57 PM Post #66 of 95
maxvla said:
Sponsors are nice, but having it all members is nice as well. I've organized both heavy members and heavy sponsors, and I think I like the heavy members type of meet better.
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I also prefer heavy members as well,  So far we don't have enough heavy members like Peter.  I need to start setting date and ask members.  That's the only ways.
 
cheers
 
Sep 20, 2014 at 6:41 PM Post #67 of 95
thujone said:
   
Ahh, yeah this is a 30000+ SN, it sounds great! I know what you mean about bass and space. Spacebass. The HE-4 has better spacebass than anything I've heard so far.
Click to expand...

 
Looks like we need to do a little mini-meet before too long.  I'd be down to take a road trip.  Super curious how the new vs old sound.
 
Sep 20, 2014 at 9:12 PM Post #68 of 95
Just got in and built one of my prototypes last night....I was hoping the PCBs would be in so that I could bring them to the meet up but they unfortunately were not.  This is a prototype of my ultra-portable headphone amp, has a USB rechargeable Lithium Ion battery and sounds fantastic for its small size, battery lasts 6-8 hours on a charge as well.  I just have the rough PCB right now and am working on a housing at the moment
.
 

 
Sep 21, 2014 at 2:25 AM Post #74 of 95
thanks for the kind words jeff, I'm glad you liked the amp, in addition to the little portable amp that I posted pictures of, next week i'll have in PCBs for a deluxe version of my cmoys that will have 2x9v batteries which will allow quite a few other op amps to be used, additionally the performance of a lot of the standard cmoy op amps like the OPA2134 and OPA2227 will be greatly improved.  That version will also have switchable gain allowing for two difference gain settings and come in a plexi-sandwich style enclosure.
 
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