Great time in NY Chip? Did Autumn go with you?
Yes! Apparently I'm still recovering from travels, lol. I was gone for the first 2/3 of March, and have been catching up on work since I got back. Still super busy, but took a moment to check in to see what was happening with the new meet, and saw I missed a few things.
I've been to so many shows now I've gotten a little jaded with listening, but NYC was jam packed with new things to try. I got to hear a bunch of good stuff--too much to list here--but some quick highlights:
The new RAALs were top of my list to try; I think they're the most competent offering to date--a build quality that seems complete and polished, that supreme ribbon resolution, and a couple tuning options that both feel pretty complete and coherent. I liked the 3 driver model better, but the audience was split, I think. That price, tho.
The Narukami was star of the show, probably, and "Take Five" (Brubeck) on vinyl was the single best listen I've enjoyed through headphones. However, went we tried streaming Infected Mushroom -> HiFi Rose -> Narumaki -> Susvara, the presentation was lethargic. So as impressive as that amp is, it seemed narrowly focused towards maybe traditional audiophile fare. But if you love jazz and hate money, maybe that's your jam.
Meanwhile, Mimic had MASS-Kobo 465 (courtesy of our friend Ali, who's a NY native and lent his unit for the show) paired with Meitner MA3, and I got a chance to hear that at the end of Day 1 after the show died down--holy smokes! Although I recalled being instantly blown away by 465 at SoCal, I couldn't help but feel like I've probably been amping the hype based on that first impression. But this time proved to me it was no fluke. Susvara on 465 is my favorite headphone setup, full stop. Narukami was the only thing to surpass it, and then only with very specific material that played to the strengths of their 300bs. 465 with Sus plus
anything is simply What levels of impressive.
Anyway, those are top impressions worth sharing now. There was plenty more worth discussing, but will save it for the meet. Teasers: ZMF Aegis is very good; Caldera Closed impressive; Shang Sr vs x9k on VIVA energizer is a story of its own; Diana MR synergy with Hiby RS8 is next level; Tube Mini base is killer (I got one); and more....