DeviousEnigma
Head-Fier
Hi all,
Feel free to post your impressions here. I'll be adding mine later when I wake back up.
Feel free to post your impressions here. I'll be adding mine later when I wake back up.
That's get-set-go amplifier. A diy build.Super Beautiful amp. Anyone know its name? Tks
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Thanks for the great write up and pictures!This is one of the biggest Bay Area meets I have been to for such a long time. Thanks, @DeviousEnigma for organizing!
Here are some of my notes from what little listening I got to do at the meet.
Campfire Audio table: (please note I used Fiio KA5 as source here)
Andromeda Emerald Sea: warm, thick, bassy but still very airy. Hm... super guilty pleasure for me here since my preference is slightly darker than neutral. I think it's a solid update over stock Andromeda since vocals are now smoother, though still recessed. I'm not sure $1450 is the right asking price for people since original Andromeda can now be found for less than half that price on the used market, but personally, I would do it. Highly considering this pair.
Solaris Stellar Horizon: very balanced, kinda slightly thin for my taste. There's a lot of texture and it's very airy. Details are obviously one notch above Andromeda, although vocals can be a bit on the harsher side. I guess it's just a matter of getting the right tips and fit to smooth out vocals. However, $2670 is a very steep asking price for this, and I honestly would not consider it although it's right up my alley. If this was $1600 or even $2000, I could have justified it, but it's a bit too high right now.
Trifecta: very much like grown-up Atlas. Similar sound too: big warm and boomy bass with massive treble spike. I'm not sure this sound is for me. Especially not for me for $3375.
Supermoon: uhh... what is this? I guess it needs a different amp or DAC or something but it's just a weird listen. It's smoother and the tonality is more agreeable than Solaris but it's lacking the textures and air of Solaris by a very significant margin. Also bass is kind of boomy and muddy here. It's a weird combination of "good enough" clarity with decent smoothness and with boomy bass. I guess... saving grace is it does sound similar to Solaris, except a bit thicker. But anyway, for $1500, hmm... I think I'd rather go for 2nd-hand Solaris still.
Didn't get to try the TWS earphones.
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Stax SR-X9000: out of head, massive soundstage, super airy, very good and pinpoint accurate imaging. Severely anemic and lacking bass or thump but... curiously, FR didn't sound disagreeable to me. This suggests that despite the lack of body and bass here is due to bass having a massive rolloff or the amp is likely the culprit here. T8000 was used to drive them. Overall, I'm quite impressed with the soundstage and I'd like to hear this headphone again on a different setup to form better thoughts.
Audeze CRBN: very nice and even tonality. Upper midrange a bit tipped up, not unlike what I can hear from HD600, but it's definitely a bit north of neutral to me. Bass is surprisingly nice and solid for e-stat. They highly remind of Sennheiser HE-1 in how they reproduce bass. The only drawback here is the closed-in soundstage and lack of breathing room to push any sound out of my head. These sound basically like "super HD600" but not necessarily in a good way. It's almost as if the sound was a wee bit muffled even. I would like to listen to this headphone again on a different system to form better thoughts. As it was, I think... LCD-5 may be a better flagship than CRBN.
Basically, in my honest opinions, if SR-X9000 could have the bass of CRBN, that would the perfect headphone and then... I would not hesitate to pay Stax a high premium for that combination. As it is, both do certain things well, but neither is truly super impressive for a ToTL headphone.
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xMEMS IEM out of iFi Diablo X: sorry... I keep forgetting the name of this IEM here. From my photos, I think these look like the Montara? But please don't take my words for it. I thought... these IEMs were not bad. With foam tips, the IEMs sounded agreeable and I could not nitpick any major frequency response or tone issues, unlike the previous efforts. Of note is that bass seems to lay it on thick and may be a bit too thick here. There's no bass pitch differentiation for me, and I have heard BA drivers doing bass better than this by quite a lot. There's a balance to strike, and I think the current balance may fit me well, but can also be a turn-off for those looking for a bit more clarity and details. Overall, I did not think this IEM was ToTL material. Certainly not up to Andromeda or Solaris level of technicality. But I did think this was promising, and I would like to hear more now.
Schiit Mjolnir 3 / ZMF Atrium Closed
Tried the Atrium closed on another Schiit stack, I don't remember the dac though. Because both the amp and headphones were new to me, I can't say for sure what the amp was doing but again tons of clean power and I think the pairing here was spot on as the Atrium Closed sounded pleasantly wide and spacious for a closed back. The bass was tight and punchy, mids sounded natural and forward and the highs were perfectly tamed and not distracting. I preferred the more natural and fun sound of these to the Caldera's. I haven't tried the Atrium opens, but I suspect those would be my favorite headphones. I would love to try more headphones on the Mjolnir 3 in the future as I think this amp was helping the closed back headphones sound more spacious.