[ab_ba]

Tyll Hertsens at InnerFidelity is inviting some of us regular folks to visit his Big Sound 2015 rig. This is a wonderful and unique opportunity, and I'm grateful to Tyll, and to the good people at Stereophile, and of course to the companies that loaned their gear for this. I signed up to visit in September.
 
Let's use this thread if you're going, or if you're not going but curious about it. Post whatever you want here of course, but let me suggest:
(A) If you're going, tell us:
- What's your current headphone setup?
- What's your dream rig - like, if you bought gear without the chance to audition it, what would you be likely to get?
- What are your curious about heading in?
- What are your musical tastes? (I've come to believe there isn't a single "end-all-be-all" setup, but that different styles of music and different listening preferences require different gear. Please don't just tell us a genre, tell us some specific artists and albums. I for one find those suggestions far more helpful and meaningful.)
- And, of course, after you visit Big Sound 2015, please come back here and tell us what you learned!
 
(B) If you're not going, tell us what gear, and what combinations (with what styles of music) you are most curious about, and we will try to comment. If you have a favorite pair of cans that's not on Tyll's list, maybe one of us who's going has them, and can bring them and see which pairings work. 

 

[ab_ba]

Reserved. This thread will be edited to be a list of links to posts people share about their impressions after visiting Big Sound 2015. That will make this thread more useful as an archive. 

 

[ab_ba]

My current setup is a Violectric V281 amp and V800 dac, driving LCD3 and HD800 (both balanced.) 
 
When I'm visiting Big Sound 2015 I'll be wondering:
 
- Do the HE1000s *really* sound like an ideal mix of the LCD3 and the HD800?
- Where are the Abyss on the price-to-performance curve? (I expect them to sound great, but will they be all that?)
- Can I hear the difference between a really good tube amp and a really good solid state amp?
- Is the Stax sound signature to my liking? Or, is the future growth in headphones going to be in planar magnetics?
- Is there *any* amp that can really improve on the sound of my JH-13's straight out of my iPhone?
- Monoblocks for headphones?? Does that make as big a difference as it does for speakers?
- A current-mode amp seems like the right way to drive headphones. Can I hear the difference? Do I prefer it?
- Is there *any* setup that makes the difference between hi-res and CD quality more than subtle for me??
 
I'll be bringing some audiophile-grade test tracks (mostly Chesky, but also Tokyo String Quartet performing Beethoven), and a few electronic albums (Nicolas Jaar and Four Tet) for some critical listening. I'll mostly spend time listening in a more relaxed mode to some of the albums I know inside and out - Radiohead's In Rainbows, Let it Die by Feist, Stop Making Sense by Talking Heads, and Destroyer's Kaputt. For me, it's how engrossing the music becomes that matters in the end. 

 

[Tyll Hertsens]

Hi ab_ba,
 
I'll try to keep an eye out here for questions and such. More detailed info will be posts Monday.
 
Cheers!

 

[inthere]

Ummmmm, current favorite setup is Alpha Dogs + Aune T1 m2+Project Ember. Yes that's right, tube DAC plus tube amp. Super eargasm. Never been a fan of open cans.

This is also my dream setup.

Where is Big Sound going to be and the exact dates?

 

[project86]

It's all in the post HERE. 

 

[ab_ba]

Where is Big Sound going to be and the exact dates?

 
Details at
http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/big-sound-2015-lets-get-some-ears#lGUq308YECSqEpPo.97
 
Dates are limited, and first come first served.

 

[Japheel]

Damn, montana is far out for me to take a trip. Listening rig in my signature. I'd go crazy for a Ygg feeding a monster vintage speaker amp for a pair of he-6s. My god, I would kill for that.

 

[tonykaz]

Hello Japheel,
 
Montana isn't all that distant or inaccessible.  
 
Just fly into Minnesota Twin Cities, Commuter fly to Bozeman.   From there :  One Arm Mike or Last Chance Tex will Bush-fly you in with their High-Winged Piper Pontoon Single.  Bring a few extra Gal.of Generator Fuel and half dozen Cans of Dinty Moore + some fresh Miller Genuine Draft. 
 
You'll have a memorable time.  
 
Pay no attention to the Bear that caught that hiker, it was miles distant. 
 
You can have a good heart and bring Sasquatch some Chewy Bars, he likes the Kroger ones best. 
 
If it's overcast, the Compass you bring will be a great help for the Pilot.
 
Bon Voyage,
 
Tony in Michigan
 
ps.  Return dates should be considered "Approximate" , as in "Weather Permitting".  You might get Snowed-in for a couple of weeks. 

 

[Japheel]

  Hello Japheel,
 
Montana isn't all that distant or inaccessible.  
 
Just fly into Minnesota Twin Cities, Commuter fly to Bozeman.   From there :  One Arm Mike or Last Chance Tex will Bush-fly you in with their High-Winged Piper Pontoon Single.  Bring a few extra Gal.of Generator Fuel and half dozen Cans of Dinty Moore + some fresh Miller Genuine Draft. 
 
You'll have a memorable time.  
 
Pay no attention to the Bear that caught that hiker, it was miles distant. 
 
You can have a good heart and bring Sasquatch some Chewy Bars, he likes the Kroger ones best. 
 
If it's overcast, the Compass you bring will be a great help for the Pilot.
 
Bon Voyage,
 
Tony in Michigan
 
ps.  Return dates should be considered "Approximate" , as in "Weather Permitting".  You might get Snowed-in for a couple of weeks. 

Oh cool! Maybe I'll pay tyll a visit then. Will One Arm Mike be able to pick me up in the nearby dennies? Also, will miller lite suffice? My mother only approves of underage drinking of miller lite.
 
Thanks Tony,
Japheel in New Jersey

 

[tonykaz]

Lite?
 
They'll toss you into the nearest Snow Bank, don't worry about your mother, what happens in Montana stays in Montana, your mom will never find out.  
 
Sorry but Mike's been banned from Denny's ( for using the restaurant floor as a Spittoon for his chewing tobacco ) , many in Montana are not yet House Broken.  
 
New Jersey, you gotta be kidding me.  
 
You're gonna face some serious Culture Shock.
 
Montana actually has Trees and Mountains, it's all Green till Sept. when it turns all White, there are actual Stars at night ( you can see em, millions of em ), they got Sky with Clouds that you can see, they got Sunsets you can see and it doesn't smell ( you won't notice this till you return home and smell the Diesel Exhaust & Garbage that you never noticed before )!
  It's a different kind of place.  You got more people living in your neighborhood than live in Montana. There are only three audiophiles : TTVJ, our Tyll, and Zobel , that's it.   However the list is growing ( ever-so-slowly ) they expect this Big Sound event to triple the number of resident Audiophiles.   
 
You'll be a changed man as you return.
 
Tony in Michigan

 

[Tyll Hertsens]

Contest is up if you're interested in trying to win a trip for a listen: http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/big-sound-2015-contest-visit-big-sound-all-expenses-paid

 

[project86]

Come on people, lets see some entries! 

 

[tonykaz]

You might try AtomicBob, he's an Audio Researcher up in Washington State, a Katz type, he even owns his own Yggy ,Vega, Bottlehead + scads more stuff including his own Anechoic Chamber with capability of creating 140db sound pressure levels.  A good writer too.  He contributes here on Jude's site.  
 
Recruit, my man, recruit.
 
Silberman from AQ ( or one of his ),  someone from Chesky, one of the Harmon researchers, Mike Moffat needs a nice Road Trip ( what a hoot to hear his thoughts ), even Stoddard would enjoy a nice break ( use Scotch as bait ), maybe even Paul from PS ( he is quite charming ).
 
All these guys are our higher Authorities, none of em make Headphones but all sell to Headphone buyers, all are Naturals for your purposes, all of em would brag about being there, all of em are super Clever.  They'd bring treasure troves of wisdoms and insights.   
 
You are staffing-up Headphone University, get the best Professors available.   
 
Video of these folks would be memorable.  
 
You're very own Seminar Series, priceless. 
 
Tony in Michigan
 
ps.  all these guys have Denaro, all of em would love to see Montana ( who wouldn't ) and all of em "know, like & trust" Tyll. 

 

[JK-47]

I have a confirmed day over at the "BIG Sound 2015"
 
My current gear is in my sig below. I have a Geek Out V2 on order from the indiegogo campaign, and a Cavalli Liquid Carbon that should be arriving in the near future.
 
I'm going in with an open mind and no allegiance to any company. I'm also anxious to try some of Tyll's guided listening experiences along with some of my own reference tunes. I listen to a ton of cheesy 80's tracks and anything and everything from electronic, rock, pop, reggae, classical, and the list goes on and on.
 
I'm fairly new to the whole headphone movement, buying Sony's MDR V6's almost 2 years ago. Then things slowly started to gather steam and I'm fully hooked now !!!
 
Tyll, What kind of beer should I bring?