I realized I never actually posted the meet impressions that I wrote. I wrote these out after I got home, and meant to go back and edit and post them. I'm just going to post them unedited. Hopefully someone cares enough to read them at this late date.
First of all, WOW, what a huge array of people and gear. This was my
first headfi meet, so I wasn't totally sure what to expect. It was cool
to see a room full of likeminded people and all of their stuff.
My first order of business was to listen to listen to some affordable
stuff that I may want to buy. First up was ray samuels SR-71. It was
quite good, but with my interest in DIY amps, I don't really feel the
need to pay retail on amps in the form factor.
Next was Ray's Hornet prototype. Damn, how does he get sound like that
out of such a tiny package. This really made me question my plan of not
buying pre-built amps. I wish I knew which opamps Ray's using, but he
has them painted so you can't read the markings. Tyll commented on
this, and Ray said something like "wait till Gilmore gets this, he'll
X-Ray it or something."
It was great meeting Ray and Tyll and seeing the people behind these
companies. Also, they're both great characters and quite hilarious.
Around this time, Icy006/Kevin and Scott showed up. We grabbed the
micro stack from Tyll, and hooked it up to kevin's HK cd player. The
micro-DAC is excellent. I think it might be the solution to my casting
about for how to handle my computer source setup. I wasn't as impressed
with the Micro amp. In A/Bing it with kevin's pimeta, I found the
pimeta solidly better.
We kept the MicroDAC pimeta setup going for a while and tested a variety
of headphones. I really liked the SR-225. They're pretty much exactly
what I expected from what I've read of them. Noticeably more speed and
detail than my MS-1, but still with that solid grado rock to them. I
think they're a happy medium between the MS-1 and the SR-325. The 325
adds a bunch of openness and air along with the speed and detail. I
somewhat like this air, but I feel that the sound isn't as powerful.
It's the same problem (though not as severe) as the alpha C-Pads on the
MS-1. It opens them up and adds air, but I feel like the sound kinda
falls over. I didn't really form a solid opinion of the RS-1; I'll have
to hear them again.
Once Nate and Ian showed up with their DIY amps, that was our next
listening stop. I've gotta say I really loved nate's MMM. It had a
very full and musical sound.
I still haven't found an amp that makes me really like my HD-580s. The
Hornet and the MMM are better than what I've heard so far, but they
still don't grab me musically like grados do.
Now that the reachable stuff was compared, it was time to get crazy.
"Hey Tyll, can I try this Max Balanced?" I first tried it with the
HD-650. Wow, was this a Sennheiser? I feel emotionally involed with
the music. And oh, the snap of the drums is so powerful and right there
in the room with you. I don't think I'll ever be able to justify the
cost of a system like this, but it did sound pretty amazing.
I listened to the AKG K-1000 with Ray's Raptor. I'd need a whole lot more
time with these to form a solid opinion. I'm not a big fan of them at
this point. Part of the problem is that they're so different from
anything I've listened to. When I first put them on, it just felt
really strange. I had just put on a pair of headphones, but there was
nothing touching my ears. Maybe at some point I'll listen to these
more, but they didn't really excite me.
Haj's SR-404 SRM-313 setup was great. This system really gave me the
feeling of being in a room with speakers, but with all the detail of
headphones. Stax definitely bears further listening. Oww, my wallet.
That ends what I wrote the day of. I meant to add more, but the memories are pretty fuzzy at this point.
I just want to thank everyone that brought gear to this meet. Thanks to Haj and Dave and anyone else who had a hand in organizing the meet. I'd like to especially thank Ray Samuels and Tyll Hertsens. To round out the manufacturer list, Mikhail seemed like a very nice guy though I didn't listen to his amps much, as high end tube amps are not in my plans at this point. I did give his qualias a quick listen, and it was kinda neat to decide I didn't like a $3k headphone. I've since read that positioning them is finicky, so I'll have to try them again. Tyll and Ray are both currently tempting me with products. Ray the Hornet, and Tyll the MicroDAC. I've since purchased a pair of 225s, and I think I'll be happy with them for a while. (Famous last words) I'll probably pick up an HD600 or 650 at some point, as I liked them far better than my 580s (which I've since sold)
I highly recommend everyone try their best to get to a meet. It's a great opportunity to try out some great gear, and meet some great people.
