Calgary 13th Head-Fi Meet Impressions (Oct. 16, 2016)
- Thread starter hakushondaimao
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hakushondaimao
Headphoneus Supremus
Well, the wait for the 13th Calgary Meet was worth it. Great to see the regulars, and get some new folks out as well.
Lots of cool gear brought along as well. For me the highlights were the multiple Beyerdynamics (1990, 1770, 990, Custom Studio), and I've now ordered a set of DT770 Pro for the office based on what I heard. Also the Fostex TH900 (sublime), and the Moon/Darkvoice combo. Also got to compare the Apogee Groove against the Centrance Dacport Slim (both great, Groove more powerful and dynamic). And I was most impressed with Tom's custom "Neurochrome Audio" amp (neurochrome.com), and am interested in seeing it with it's final casing.
Sadly I missed out on listening to the Focals (Elear and Utopia), but understand there's another opportunity upcoming to hear them in Calgary in a couple of weeks (meet attendees, watch your emails).
Looking forward to Calgary #14, perhaps in the spring of 2017. Also looking forward to impressions from others in attendance, and pictures if you took any.
Lots of cool gear brought along as well. For me the highlights were the multiple Beyerdynamics (1990, 1770, 990, Custom Studio), and I've now ordered a set of DT770 Pro for the office based on what I heard. Also the Fostex TH900 (sublime), and the Moon/Darkvoice combo. Also got to compare the Apogee Groove against the Centrance Dacport Slim (both great, Groove more powerful and dynamic). And I was most impressed with Tom's custom "Neurochrome Audio" amp (neurochrome.com), and am interested in seeing it with it's final casing.
Sadly I missed out on listening to the Focals (Elear and Utopia), but understand there's another opportunity upcoming to hear them in Calgary in a couple of weeks (meet attendees, watch your emails).
Looking forward to Calgary #14, perhaps in the spring of 2017. Also looking forward to impressions from others in attendance, and pictures if you took any.
hakushondaimao
Headphoneus Supremus
And now for some pics:
James' Beyerdynamics and Hifiman...
Andrew's T1 and crazy cool-looking Makoyi custom...
Dave's set-up with Connor's TH900...
Tyler's Denon and Hifiman...
Steve's Schiit stack and DT990 Pro, and Moon/Darkvoice set...
Dave lookin' majestic...
My gear, trying out the DT1990...
More of my gear, including Aune X1S and X7S, and Cayin i5...
Connor's TH900...
Tom's amp. Love the perspex mount...
James' Beyerdynamics and Hifiman...
Andrew's T1 and crazy cool-looking Makoyi custom...
Dave's set-up with Connor's TH900...
Tyler's Denon and Hifiman...
Steve's Schiit stack and DT990 Pro, and Moon/Darkvoice set...
Dave lookin' majestic...
My gear, trying out the DT1990...
More of my gear, including Aune X1S and X7S, and Cayin i5...
Connor's TH900...
Tom's amp. Love the perspex mount...
tomchr
Member of the Trade: Neurochrome : : Audio
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Fellahs,
The chassis for my amp got in on Monday. It was delayed a bit as the factory in Nova Scotia was hit by the remnants of hurricane Matthew. Here's the final amp. I'll have the specs on my website within the next couple of days.
The ON indicator is a nice and discreet blue. I selected that LED to have the lowest brightness available to avoid the blinding light effect seen on many hifi products.
Sorry no plexiglass on this one.
Tom
The chassis for my amp got in on Monday. It was delayed a bit as the factory in Nova Scotia was hit by the remnants of hurricane Matthew. Here's the final amp. I'll have the specs on my website within the next couple of days.
The ON indicator is a nice and discreet blue. I selected that LED to have the lowest brightness available to avoid the blinding light effect seen on many hifi products.
Sorry no plexiglass on this one.
Tom
hakushondaimao
Headphoneus Supremus
Fellahs,
The chassis for my amp got in on Monday. It was delayed a bit as the factory in Nova Scotia was hit by the remnants of hurricane Matthew. Here's the final amp. I'll have the specs on my website within the next couple of days.
The ON indicator is a nice and discreet blue. I selected that LED to have the lowest brightness available to avoid the blinding light effect seen on many hifi products.
Sorry no plexiglass on this one.
Tom
That is pretty darn phenomenal looking!
Yes, it was definitely fun meeting people for the first time and trying out some $4000 (thank you Google) Focals.
People literally came packing and I'm so broke I couldn't even afford schiit gear...
As a student and musician who works with sound design/production, my absolute favorites were the HD 600's, Grado SR325e's, and the Focal Elears (in no particular order).
I guess I just value accuracy, clarity an neutrality above most things. I always like to reference what most audio engineers seem to say, believing audio hardware should be as accurate/transparent to the source as possible with the exception of having adjustable software DSP/EQ for fun or when needed. They say it should be the job of the producers to master audio correctly to sound good on a neutral headphones basis versus forcing the audience/consumers themselves to buy "colored" headphones to make their music sound good. But enough of my audio-political views.
The HD 600's were everything I thought they would be. Very linear sounding and extensive to the point of making some mp3s or bad quality masters sound like one of those 1k-20k audio tests that see how high frequencies you can hear for your age. The funny thing is that despite being an open-back design, the soundstaging and imaging was very precise and not overly large like some other open-backs like the Massdrop AKG 7XX's I also tried there.
The SR325e's were quite vibrant/detailed and forward sounding. Tonally, they are only slightly on the bright side and energetic though a bit grainy, having what I would describe as a slightly "W" shaped frequency response, not strictly "neutral" but very "balanced" nonetheless. The retro hard foam pads and thick cable weren't my highlights though.
The Focal Elears sounded like a somewhat more refined HD 600 but instead of treble extension, you get subass/bass extension, beautifully linear, smooth yet textured enough in the frequency range that it does produce. At times they can sound a little dark, but still top notch at what it does.
Perhaps my source wasn't up to the task, but I found the Focal Utopia's to have just a little too much bass impact for my liking. Tonally, very similar to the Focal Elears but with a smoother, slightly more detailed/less grainy treble response and more bass impact.
Also thanks to the high roller who straight up gave me a Schiit Magni for free (you know who you are)... I will definitely give the same generosity back when I have too much audio gear.
People literally came packing and I'm so broke I couldn't even afford schiit gear...
As a student and musician who works with sound design/production, my absolute favorites were the HD 600's, Grado SR325e's, and the Focal Elears (in no particular order).
I guess I just value accuracy, clarity an neutrality above most things. I always like to reference what most audio engineers seem to say, believing audio hardware should be as accurate/transparent to the source as possible with the exception of having adjustable software DSP/EQ for fun or when needed. They say it should be the job of the producers to master audio correctly to sound good on a neutral headphones basis versus forcing the audience/consumers themselves to buy "colored" headphones to make their music sound good. But enough of my audio-political views.
The HD 600's were everything I thought they would be. Very linear sounding and extensive to the point of making some mp3s or bad quality masters sound like one of those 1k-20k audio tests that see how high frequencies you can hear for your age. The funny thing is that despite being an open-back design, the soundstaging and imaging was very precise and not overly large like some other open-backs like the Massdrop AKG 7XX's I also tried there.
The SR325e's were quite vibrant/detailed and forward sounding. Tonally, they are only slightly on the bright side and energetic though a bit grainy, having what I would describe as a slightly "W" shaped frequency response, not strictly "neutral" but very "balanced" nonetheless. The retro hard foam pads and thick cable weren't my highlights though.
The Focal Elears sounded like a somewhat more refined HD 600 but instead of treble extension, you get subass/bass extension, beautifully linear, smooth yet textured enough in the frequency range that it does produce. At times they can sound a little dark, but still top notch at what it does.
Perhaps my source wasn't up to the task, but I found the Focal Utopia's to have just a little too much bass impact for my liking. Tonally, very similar to the Focal Elears but with a smoother, slightly more detailed/less grainy treble response and more bass impact.
Also thanks to the high roller who straight up gave me a Schiit Magni for free (you know who you are)... I will definitely give the same generosity back when I have too much audio gear.
gasmonkey
Head-Fier
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Hey Y'all!
Long time no see. I have some new gear. Elekit tu-8200. Grado Ps1000's.
Let's get another meetup planned.
Long time no see. I have some new gear. Elekit tu-8200. Grado Ps1000's.
Let's get another meetup planned.
tomchr
Member of the Trade: Neurochrome : : Audio
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+1
Sometime in October-ish would be cool. Just not RMAF weekend (OCT 5-7).
Tom
Sometime in October-ish would be cool. Just not RMAF weekend (OCT 5-7).
Tom
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