[Duncan]

I have to say, this thread is a bit like a highschool reunion...

Good to know so many founding fathers of the site are still around

 

[bangraman]

   
 
It's been so long, I'd forgotten what Qualia look like. Checked out some photos on Google. BEAUTIFUL. One of the ultimate industrial designs.

That was what had me clinging to them for long after I realised how much of a chronically botched job the actual acoustic design was. No better-looking headphone around ~ still ~ IMO.

 

[upstateguy]

Still alive over here, but still have a bum ear and tinnitus due to a inner ear infection a while back- no, not due to headphone listening! But yeah it makes audiophile-level listening a moot point.

Still have the Tower of Power, but I gave it to my dad as his retirement gift. Now he gets to groove with the Darth Grados, the Maestrobated Melos SHA-Gold, that turntable and external DAC I forgot the name of, the OPPO universal player as transport...

H Jahn
 
I think the DAC  originally was a Lite DAC-AH.  (I took a lot of pictures at the meet in your building)
 
Eric
 

 

[bangraman]

On a related old fart note, one thing that has changed since I joined is my vastly increased lactose intolerance. A hint of milk and I'm like a human air compressor. It's hard to avoid if I eat out, which means I'm running for a secluded corner often. If you see me get into a lift, don't try and join me.

 

[purk]

 
That was what had me clinging to them for long after I realised how much of a chronically botched job the actual acoustic design was. No better-looking headphone around ~ still ~ IMO.

I am pretty lucky that the Qualia size small fits me perfectly.  What size was your headband again?  

 

[fureshi]

  I am pretty lucky that the Qualia size small fits me perfectly.  What size was your headband again?  

The small fit me perfectly as well although I was in between sizes.  That and the CD3k I should have never sold.  This has been a journey in regret, for selling cans that I said I never would. 

 

[bangraman]

I don't miss any of the ones I got rid of... I knew I got rid of them for a reason and I don't see me re-owning them and going 'I see the light!'. The only ones I think 'it would have been nice to keep them around' would be things that were objets like the Qualia. But again, not for wearing but just as... well, objets. And even if I had those ones back I'd probably resent them in the end.
 
 
I have re-bought 'lesser' phones like the HD800 (which I think of as the Qualia's ugly sister with a less grating voice) or the HD650 to test them against other phones, and in the HD650's case it still floats around as a reference, but I get rid of most of these re-buys since I don't actually listen to them long-term, I just needed them as a quantifiable yardstick for that one time against something that I *have* ended up listening to long-term.
 
 
Headband size... god I don't remember. I do know it was re-measured a lot and found to be correct for this Nogginus Titanicus.

 

[chadbang]

I have to say, this thread is a bit like a highschool reunion...

Good to know so many founding fathers of the site are still around

 
 
DUNCAN?!  
 
Wow, the undisputed master of the portable cd player!!! How completely trippy to see that name again. Wow, Duncan, the month upon month I spent doggedly reading your threads for inspiration. Which iron tank Sony REALLY had the best sound? Nevermind if it ate AAs like peanuts, it's the sound we're chasing here. I bet half the current members would say "PORTABLE cd player? Really? What did you do with those?"

 

[Duncan]

DUNCAN?!  

Wow, the undisputed master of the portable cd player!!! How completely trippy to see that name again. Wow, Duncan, the month upon month I spent doggedly reading your threads for inspiration. Which iron tank Sony REALLY had the best sound? Nevermind if it ate AAs like peanuts, it's the sound we're chasing here. I bet half the current members would say "PORTABLE cd player? Really? What did you do with those?"

Haha, you're not wrong!

...I remember the bitter irony that I put, on my epic review of all those players, a footnote that I would not be seen kicking, or screaming into the MP3 era, but - here I am, with only a couple of Discman's still in the 'collection' (D50, and a D88, most others have bitten the dust due to electronics failure), and - more 'MP3' players than I can shake a stick at...

It is truly scary how much the portable scene has changed in the past ten to fifteen years, and I do sometimes wonder if the small group (as we were back then) of eccentrics that frequented this corner of the hi-fi universe had an influence on that!

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Nothing to say, just waving "hi everybody" again from this corner of the old farts reunion...

Well, I still remember remastering every track of every CD with the Shibatch 31 band Winamp EQ plugin... while these days I can effectively apply n-band parametric EQ on the fly to 24/192 tracks if I so wish... using Viper4Android on a mobile phone of all things Looking forward to doing this on the Android-based FiiO player as well next year

Think I still have that electrocuted Porta Corda in a drawer somewhere...

 

[mulveling]

It's been so long, I'd forgotten what Qualia look like. Checked out some photos on Google. BEAUTIFUL. One of the ultimate industrial designs.

 
Yes, phenomenal design -- other than the completely unrealistic headband sizes, and poor adjustability. I loved mine for their quality/extension on both ends of the spectrum, in addition to their phenomenal detail without harshness or grain, but as bangraman pointed out, the midrange was just weird. After some time I could mostly adjust for that weirdness (and a great fit is necessary but not sufficient condition towards this -- your brain will still need to adjust on its own), but it's always a stark contrast to other headphones in an A-B (even the HD800, which indeed is like a cheaper Qualia). Then I finally heard the 009 w/ BHSE and T2, and of course that mostly beats the Qualia at its own strengths AND has a great midrange.
 
Below is my long gone pair -- though I always wanted the blue pads...
 

 
 

 

 

[purk]

Haha, you're not wrong!

...I remember the bitter irony that I put, on my epic review of all those players, a footnote that I would not be seen kicking, or screaming into the MP3 era, but - here I am, with only a couple of Discman's still in the 'collection' (D50, and a D88, most others have bitten the dust due to electronics failure), and - more 'MP3' players than I can shake a stick at...

It is truly scary how much the portable scene has changed in the past ten to fifteen years, and I do sometimes wonder if the small group (as we were back then) of eccentrics that frequented this corner of the hi-fi universe had an influence on that!

That is the reason I swear never to get the AK240 at $2499.  Portable audio gears are no longer good deals....this also hold true for headphones & amps in general.  The maxed out PPA from many years back still compete head-on with many $1000 solidstate headamps of today.  Funny thing is most members now don't even know what is the PPA or M3 amp.

 

[bangraman]

Nah, red looked better. White would have nice too IMO, though probably not practical looking at the number of reasonably used / really badly stained ear'pads'.
 
 
Definitely while listening I found that I was trying to justify them a little too much. The defined edges that it puts on the sound just ultimately isn't worth it for the really flawed tonality and resonance effects the Qualias bought to the table. Ironically I found them better walking around phones because of the bad resonance, my ear could readily distinguish what was coming from the Qualia and what was ambient noise... so even without much in the way of isolation I could actually use'em pretty well as portable phones.

 

[mulveling]

  That is the reason I swear never to get the AK240 at $2499.  Portable audio gears are no longer good deals....this also hold true for headphones & amps in general.  The maxed out PPA from many years back still compete head-on with many $1000 solidstate headamps of today.  Funny thing is most members now don't even know what is the PPA or M3 amp.

Agree; the PPA and M^3 (on the used market) seem like epic deals compared to more recent offerings. Disclosure: I'm still holding onto a maxed-out PPA (my 2nd bought from Purk!); I have a better amp in an old toaster Singlepower SDS, but man that PPA's a great sounding amp for relatively dirt cheap. I also had a lower-end PPA without the diamond buffer, and that thing sounded pretty darn nice too, for what it was.

 

[bangraman]

  That is the reason I swear never to get the AK240 at $2499.  Portable audio gears are no longer good deals....this also hold true for headphones & amps in general.  The maxed out PPA from many years back still compete head-on with many $1000 solidstate headamps of today.

 
Oooooh.... not if you stick one on a bench, lol. But the nouveau-iRiver stuff is out of control for sure. I was seriously looking at the latest Sony Android PMPs which are a way more sensible option, but none of these ever get timely Android updates so they become pretty worthless in a very short period of time if you want the full flexibility of an Android device. It's not like the HP outs are terrible on most phones now and of course there's always the OTG option (which I personally never use) so I'm happy to leave the new-gen-but-actually-kinda-similar-to-old-gen DAPs to those who feel they're getting something out of them.