[dannyandelyse]

Quick thanks to Tom for hosting. Tom sorta had an off day,
he only brought $50,000 worth of toys to the hall! I know he has more...........
Ray, Tyll and Mikhail thank you for coming and loved Rays Stealth, Mikhail's sureal monster do it all secret and Tyll's balanced big boy amps were cookin. Lot of the regulars and a great time seemed to be had by all.
Dan

 

[mjg]

yep, i had a great time.

Big thanks to tom, and everyone who made it happen.

It was really cool seeing everyone i've met before, and people i haven't, i feel like a regular now at these things : ]

Great to meet tyll, and i was really excited to hear his new stuff, my favorite setup was balanced rs1's from the blackhead and wadia setup.
What a fun job you must have, touring the country with sick headphone gear... That sounds like a fantasy job. I hope some day i can drive across the country like that. Close second was the Raptor with the hd600s and my ms2i... Best midbass. The snap of the drums sounded amazing.

Rays new portable amp looks great, i really liked mikhails new ppx3 punch amp.

Oh yea, the hev90/he90 was ridiculously good. The most organic sounding elecrostatic setup i've heard, what an amazing setup. I'm so jealous of toms stuff!!!!! Gear-wise, this was the most impressive meet ever i've been to. It wasn't overly packed, everyone was friendly, i think these meets get better and better... I can't wait to see the pictures.

Ray got really mad at me when i made a joke about mixing it up on his turn table i think, i hope he knew i was being a wise guy and only kidding!! ; )

Mikail, i know the sds xlr is so heavy but damn i want to hear it!!! Maybe tom will finally have one by next meet and i can hear his ; )

I really liked jahn's dac, and liked hearing the opinions of the grado expert how he compared all the metal grados. I hope you finally get a nice pair of hp1's some day.


Thanks again guys, I hope everyone had a good time.

 

[alanz]

This was my first Head-Fi meet. I was very pleased at the way so many people were willing to share their experiences and their equipment.

I finally got to try an RS-1... it made me smile.

It was also fun watching reactions to the SuperMacros I brought.... "it's so small"... and then I removed the batteries and circuit boards to show just how small it really is inside the case.

So, I thank you all for being so cordial... this was my first meet... but it won't be my last.

 

[catscratch]

Great meet. Wish I had gotten there sooner but a) I got lost which cost me 1.5 hours and b) I could only leave so early... I got to meet everyone, and it was all great. I didn't get a change to listen to a lot of things, but...

I did get a chance to hear the big boys. The Orpheus was a knockout - by far the best, most musical, and all-around-incredible system I've ever heard, bar none. I liked it best with the HEV90 amp - the lushness and musicality were unbelievable. It just pulled you into the music until you could focus on nothing else. It wasn't the last word in detail, but it didn't have to be. It was also the most speaker-like that I've yet heard a headphone sound - the music was projected in front of you in a very speaker-like fashion, with a near-perfect soundstage, or as perfect as headphones could make it. Classical music was simply live, rock was, well, rocking, and electronica was a trip! Yes, I will have one of these systems, eventually. This was my first encounter with the Orpheus, but it won't be my last!

The Qualia is the most detailed headphone I've ever heard. I totally see what Nik was saying all the time about positioning - it's absolutely vital with these cans. In the right position, they sound full and very neutral; offest them even by a slight amount, and they suddenly sound thin and strident. However, while they are neutral, they are not natural. I don't really know what's wrong, but something definitely is. They just sound weird. I can't really claim what it was that threw me off with so limited an experience with them, so I'll leave it at that. They are, however, superb for electronic music, where being natural isn't important. Their amazing detail and solid impact are precisely what electronic music needs. However, the electronica I had was still better on the Orpheus... I heard these out of an Apogee Mini-DAC; I'll need to hear them with some tubes in order to pass judgement on how natural they are. In any case, I liked them a lot, flaws and all.

I wasn't too thrilled with the R10, but that could have been due to system/amp mismatch. I've tried it out of the Singlepower PPX3, and I thought that it lacked both bass and treble extension. It wasn't lacking in bass per se, and the midrange was very good, but... once again, I'll have to reserve my judgement until I hear them with many different amps and different tubes in them.

I just missed the Omegas. Damn! Oh well, next time!

But the biggest surprise by far was the prototype Hornet. Hot Damn!! Such a tiny thing, and such a huge, rich, forward and aggressive sound! It totally made my UM2's sing, and I would imagine that it would actually give the ER-4S the bass it needs to be balanced. Sign me up for one of these! I also liked it with the K501's - it made a sharp, Ety-like headphone sound full and, well, impactful!. I definitely liked them in that system. The Portaphile (?) prototype was very good as well.

So, a very good meet, and for the next one, I'll scope out the directions beforehand

P.S. I left a CD in either a Cary 303/200 or the player that was hooked up to the Apogee Mini-DAC. The CD is Shpongle's "Twisted." So, if you find it, you know whose it is... PM me, and I'll send you my mailing address and paypal the shipping fees. Feel free to listen to it in the meanwhile, if ambient electronica is your thing

I look forward to the next meet in my area. I didn't get a chance to drop off a donation, but I'll contribute to head-fi, and I think that will make up for things

 

[bozebuttons]

Today went by like a shot,I just finished unpacking the van,Man I am beat.
What a great bunch of guys,I would have liked to go out & eat with everyone
after the meet,maybe next time.
It was great meeting TYll,he is as colorfull a guy as his shirts, I would have liked to have spend more time talking to him,maybe next time. His donations for the silent auction where very,very generouse as where his giveaways.
Tyll Thanks for the Host pack.
I was impressed with the headroom gear I listened to, I will post impressions later.
Rays (or should I say Stevieos) Phono stage hooked up to the Raptor,with my VPI scout( which I have had for the last 5 months & never heard).I could have sat there for hours.Always a pleasure seeing Ray,
Mikhail brought me a present as well ,everyone got a chance to listen to it,I didn't,but I will have plenty of time later as Its sitting on my Rack.
Thanks Mikhail, That Slam amp was singing with the akg501s.
Special Thanks to Jpelg & erikzen for setting up & running the silent auction,You would have tought they where pros at this.
Special Thanks to all who generousely donated gear & money to the meet ,$966.00 was raised ,$400.00 went to the cost of the Hall ,the balance of $566.00 will be contibuted to HeadFi .For without Headfi none of this would have been possible.
Thanks guys for helping me unload & load the van.
I will post impressions of what little gear I actually listened to at a later time,too tired now.

 

[tyrion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by catscratch But the biggest surprise by far was the prototype Hornet. Hot Damn!! Such a tiny thing, and such a huge, rich, forward and aggressive sound! It totally made my UM2's sing, and I would imagine that it would actually give the ER-4S the bass it needs to be balanced. Sign me up for one of these! I also liked it with the K501's - it made a sharp, Ety-like headphone sound full and, well, impactful!. I definitely liked them in that system. The Portaphile (?) prototype was very good as well.

The Hornet is a great little amp. It's amazing you can get that much sound out of such a tiny amp. We were running the HD-650 out of it and it drove them without any problem.

 

[catscratch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tyrion The Hornet is a great little amp. It's amazing you can get that much sound out of such a tiny amp. We were running the HD-650 out of it and it drove them without any problem.

I heard that people were A/Bing it against the Raptor, and didn't hear that much of a difference. Not having heard the Raptor I can't comment, but it sure didn't sound like a portable amp to me! As soon as these are made avaibale, I'm all over them.

I wish I had a chance to hear Tyll's new DAC's, but that will have to wait until another meet.

 

[tyrion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by catscratch I heard that people were A/Bing it against the Raptor, and didn't hear that much of a difference. Not having heard the Raptor I can't comment, but it sure didn't sound like a portable amp to me! As soon as these are made avaibale, I'm all over them. I wish I had a chance to hear Tyll's new DAC's, but that will have to wait until another meet.

Friday night before the Florida meet we were A/B'ing the Raptor and Hornet and there is not much difference. You will have to get behind me in line.

 

[catscratch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tyrion Friday night before the Florida meet we were A/B'ing the Raptor and Hornet and there is not much difference. You will have to get behind me in line.

Bah! Fine, but I'll be in front of everybody else

I think these are going to be a major success.

 

[MrSlacker]

 

[mjg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bozebuttons Special Thanks to all who generousely donated gear & money to the meet ,$966.00 was raised ,$400.00 went to the cost of the Hall ,the balance of $566.00 will be contibuted to HeadFi .For without Headfi none of this would have been possible.

That's a really classy gesture. This meet was a fundraiser for head-fi, That's cool stuff.Congrats man, that's really good news.


Thanks again.

 

[Born2bwire]

Cmon, where's the pics of the no holds bar steel cage brawl of Ray, Mikhail, and Tyll to decide who's the king of all amps, once and for all!?!?

 

[jbloudg20]

I have some pics, I'll get them up tomorrow most likely, but I have to work all day, so we shall see.

 

[Teerawit]

wow, there was just SO MUCH at the meet. thousand dollar setups...so overwhelming, especially for a newbie like me. thanks everyone for welcoming your gear to the meet...it shows how strong and dedicated this head-fi community really is. meets this long really tire you out...i almost got hit by a car on the walk home

 

[gpalmer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Born2bwire Cmon, where's the pics of the no holds bar steel cage brawl of Ray, Mikhail, and Tyll to decide who's the king of all amps, once and for all!?!?

It was held after the main meet by special invite only. In round 1 Tyll blinded the other combatants with his shirt of many colors, but Mikhail fought back with a deadly barrage of tubes, while Ray sizzled Ninja death records through the air. Round two is where it started getting interesting but you'll have to wait for the video...