intlsubband
500+ Head-Fier
Hi all,
We had a nice mini-meet at Parramatta Library yesterday. We had 7 head-fiers (if I remember correctly). It was my first time attending (and organising) a head-fi meet so it was a real pleasure. I got to listen to lots of headphones I never listened to before, and meet some very nice people!
Some impressions:
Q701 - I was looking forward to this one. I never actually listened to any of the AKG's before. Based on what I've read about this headphone, I was expecting a nice clean sound, but without much substance in the low end. But as soon as I plugged it into my amp, I was immediately surprised by the excellent bass! I then learned that @eimis modified these to increase bass response. Whatever he did, he did it very well! very good first impression.
There was another interesting AKG I tried, a small, very old on-ears brought by @Xtralglactic (I can't remember the model number). It did not look promising or impressive at all - but that all changed once I put these on. Wow! excellent dynamics in these little things. @Xtralglactic modified them, but I can't remember how.
Fidelito X1 - another headphone I was looking forward to hearing. It sounded nice and clean, pretty similar to the Q701, but overall inferior to the modded Q701. I did love the design and build quality of these however.
ATH-M50X - I was looking forward to listening to these, I've heard all about these but never listened to any M50 before yesterday. Plugging them to my portable player (DX90), the dynamics immediately made me smile. These look like a great pair of on-the-go headphones, very fun sounding, even if the mids are not as lush as other headphones. But those dynamics are probably the best you can get anywhere near the price range. The pair I tried had velour pads.
Perhaps the biggest surprise for me at the meet was @DJScope's Takstar Pro 80. First of all the build quality was beautiful, seems indestructible, and very comfy with the HM5 pads. And the case it comes with is fantastic. And the sound was very good - very clean, good details, and scales well - first I listened with the DX90, but out of my main gear it was clearly a step up in terms of dynamics and presentation.
I also had a chance to AB my (older) HD650 and a newer HD650 with the silver-coloured driver. I've been reading quite a bit on the forums about supposed differences between the sound of the old and new HD650. Well, thankfully for my wallet, I couldn't tell a difference when plugged into my main gear...
I tried lots of other headphones, but these are the ones that really stuck in my mind. Hopefully some others will post some thoughts and impressions.
We had a nice mini-meet at Parramatta Library yesterday. We had 7 head-fiers (if I remember correctly). It was my first time attending (and organising) a head-fi meet so it was a real pleasure. I got to listen to lots of headphones I never listened to before, and meet some very nice people!
Some impressions:
Q701 - I was looking forward to this one. I never actually listened to any of the AKG's before. Based on what I've read about this headphone, I was expecting a nice clean sound, but without much substance in the low end. But as soon as I plugged it into my amp, I was immediately surprised by the excellent bass! I then learned that @eimis modified these to increase bass response. Whatever he did, he did it very well! very good first impression.
There was another interesting AKG I tried, a small, very old on-ears brought by @Xtralglactic (I can't remember the model number). It did not look promising or impressive at all - but that all changed once I put these on. Wow! excellent dynamics in these little things. @Xtralglactic modified them, but I can't remember how.
Fidelito X1 - another headphone I was looking forward to hearing. It sounded nice and clean, pretty similar to the Q701, but overall inferior to the modded Q701. I did love the design and build quality of these however.
ATH-M50X - I was looking forward to listening to these, I've heard all about these but never listened to any M50 before yesterday. Plugging them to my portable player (DX90), the dynamics immediately made me smile. These look like a great pair of on-the-go headphones, very fun sounding, even if the mids are not as lush as other headphones. But those dynamics are probably the best you can get anywhere near the price range. The pair I tried had velour pads.
Perhaps the biggest surprise for me at the meet was @DJScope's Takstar Pro 80. First of all the build quality was beautiful, seems indestructible, and very comfy with the HM5 pads. And the case it comes with is fantastic. And the sound was very good - very clean, good details, and scales well - first I listened with the DX90, but out of my main gear it was clearly a step up in terms of dynamics and presentation.
I also had a chance to AB my (older) HD650 and a newer HD650 with the silver-coloured driver. I've been reading quite a bit on the forums about supposed differences between the sound of the old and new HD650. Well, thankfully for my wallet, I couldn't tell a difference when plugged into my main gear...
I tried lots of other headphones, but these are the ones that really stuck in my mind. Hopefully some others will post some thoughts and impressions.
