[meech]

I'm preparing to go to the NY meet in May and I'm having mixed emotions. I've already given up on going to car shows because I always end up leaving them depressed. What good is it to drool over exotic toys that you can't afford. As anxious as I am to hear the R10s, I think they're only going to upset me because I can't afford them right now.

So my question is to people who have been to meets in the past,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,what's the morale at closing time?

 

[bozebuttons]

Exhaustion from audio overload, since it s going to be your first meet.A word to the wize focus on what you want to hear as I can guarantee you will be overwhelmed.
Look at it as a chance to hear what you have been reading about all this time on headfi, most are hyped after a meet not depressed.

 

[Mr.PD]

I attended my first meet last February in Seattle. When I finally left I didn't feel depressed. I felt hungry.

Why be depressed over viewing things that you may never be able to afford? I appreciate the opportunity to be around such items. Headphones, amps and sources at a meet are much more affordable than the cars at car shows. You get to actually play with the headphone gear. Even if you figure you could never buy an item you got to hear, you can use the experience to gage the quality of what you have and can have.

edit
I agree with what bozebuttons said. Quote:

A word to the wise focus on what you want to hear as I can guarantee you will be overwhelmed.

I was very overwhelmed and I didn't listen to the gear I wanted to nearly as much as I should have, and completely missed some of the things I wanted to hear. Now I just have to go to another meet and try to be more focused. Which for me, is a long and rather expensive drive to attend any meet.

 

[agile_one]

Can't speak for others, but after the two meets Ive attended, I felt terrific. The combination of seeing and listening to stuff that I'd only heard about here, along with meeting truly interesting and friendly people gave me a high that lasted for days.

The after meet communications on the forums is always fun and interesting, too. I will attend any meet that I can - they're that much fun.

As to the analytical aspect of concluding what gear is best, surprisingly, meets aren't the greatest place. It's just too difficult to truly experience what you are listening to in that environment - concentration is difficult. You should be able to get a feel for what you want to hear more of, though, and discussion of equipment with knowledgeable fellow Head-Fi'ers can be educational.

So, my recommendation is GO! Especially to a big meet like NY. In fact, if I plan things right, I just may be visiting my daughter in NJ around then, and make it myself.

 

[elrod-tom]

I've been to three meets now - two in Detroit, and one in Chicago. I would tend to agree that exhausted pretty well describes how I felt on those days. I helped organize two of them (Detroit), and drove to the other, so maybe that's to be expected.

I also remember feeling very pumped up about what was out there. I understand that a Wadia 27/270 and Blockhead are probably beyond my reach, but that doesn't mean that I can't REALLY enjoy the time spent with it.

I guess that I look at these meets as learning experiences - without time spent with really exceptional equipment, I have no real way to gauge how well my rig compares. It's also a great way to get to know gear that you are interested in. At the Chicago meet, I made it my mission to spend as much time as possible with portable gear. Eight months later, I own an iRiver iHP400, a Ray Samuels Emmeline XP-7, an iPod, and the Shure E3c's. I've got portable sound that at least approaches hi-fi, and at a pretty reasonable price to boot!!

Try not to concentrate on what you CAN'T have, and consider what reasonable investments you could make to make your own system better. I think you'll get a lot out of it that way, and not feel let down when you leave.

Enjoy....

 

[lan]

What I did at my first meet was:

1) sample all the headphones to see what sound I liked
2) tried to figure out how refined a great system was
3) tried to understand the characteristics of a system

This was very tiring for me. After the meet, I lost my way on the subway twice and I grew up in NYC!

It was important for me to do this because I wanted to know what having a better system sounds like, what would I get if I spent $1000, 2000, 5000, and most importantly if I liked the presentation and comfort of certain headphones.

I think the only danger of going to the meet for you is you have commited to HD650 and Maestro before the meet. What if you like something else better? R10 and HR2 is around the price range. So is KGSS and 404. So is Grado to modded Melos.

 

[meech]

Thanks for the positive words guys. I guess 'depressed' was too extreme, I meant more like 'envious'.

I'm sure it will be a great experience and I'm ldefinately looking forward to it. Who knows, maybe I'll win the lottery between now and then. R10s FOR EVERYONE

!!!!!!

 

[GlowWorm]

Sometimes I feel like I'm better off not knowing what I'm missing.
There's nothing worse then having an itch you can't scratch.

 

[wallijonn]

think of all the money you will save.

 

[Gopher]

I don't think depression will be an issue. Obsession? Possibly.

I've been to two meets now (NY & Chicago) and at the last one in Chicago I barely listened to anything. With the exception of some of Ray Samuels offerings (XP-7 & XR-2) I spent the bulk of my time meeting/conversing with other head-fiers.

Meets provide a great opportunity to obtain a frame of reference on gear and, if thats not enough for you, its a great oppotunity to put a face to your online friends/community's alias.

In short: don't worry about depression.

 

[gsferrari]

I am more worried about obesity

Some of the hosts seem to think we are equine or bovine

LOL

Nah they are just being very kind with their guests and loading up the plates is something I love to do

 

[eric343]

Depressed? Envious? Nope.

I love meets -- there's something incredibly fun about just hanging around, listening to stuff and talking to some DAMN cool people. In my experience they've all been Good Things (one meet awhile back actually resulted in my getting into the cable business) and definitely not to be missed.

 

[donovansmith]

I've only been to one meet and I enjoyed it quite a lot. There was a lot of great gear there and even though I spent a lot of time with gear I will likely never be able to afford, I didn't feel envious or depressed afterwards. It did give me some ideas on how to improve my rig and I acquired some gear I had heard there, like my HD600s and a PPX3 (on order). It was really nice being able to put a face to the names, meeting someone in person is a bit different from conversing with them in an online forum.

 

[taylor]

Don't worry about hearing great gear and loving it, then listening to your own gear and it might not be as good, then always missing that great gear.

I've been to one, and whilst there i was listening to a Wadia CDP with a KGSS and Omega IIs, a rig in which the power cables and interconnects cost more than my whole system.

I was quite worried that when I got home I would stop liking my V6s.But it turned out to not be much of a problem for me. Rather, it has given me ideas on what to work towards getting.

Also, since you already have a pretty good setup, it will probably be less than a problem than if you were listening to the headphones that come with PCDPs.

Also, it is great having more experience head-fiers listen to yuor setup and then commenting on it.

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

After leaving a head-fi meet, is anyone depressed?

Usually, only the person who has to clean up afterwards...