[HeadphoneAddict]

I'll bring a couple of soldering irons with me, and some cheap radioshack solder and clippers.

 

[jp11801]

At the airport in PA see you all in the next 24 hours or so

 

[xxlink]

Quote:

We're hitting the road in a few minutes.  See you guys there.
 
Oh, and we'll be doing some video blogging of the show for those of you that can't make it:
http://www.headphone.com/pages/rmaf

 
That's great! I would love to be there. 
 

 

[greenman9]

 
[size=10.0pt]Hi guys![/size]
 
[size=10.0pt]Finally wrangled a kitchen pass for Sunday, so hopefully there is still room for me to set up my stuff.[/size]
 
I will just be bringing the same stuff I brought last year for the most part: Headroom Balanced Desktop w/ DAC, PS-Audio DLIII w/ L4 Cullen mods, HD-650.
 
I will also bring my imod/pico slim.
 
See you all there!

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

I'll bring a couple of soldering irons with me, and some cheap radioshack solder and clippers.

Okay, so I have an electric radioshack soldering iron (gun shape with new tip), a portable propane powered iron that I used when re-wiring a car ECU for upgrades, and a battery powered cold heat iron.

 

[clarinetman]

I could bring an iron too, if you need it. It's an electric straight-type.

 

[thelsuman]

Can't wait to check out RMAF!  Got a wife pass for Sunday- so I plan on being there around 10am.  Will probably bring my Audio-gd Compass along with a couple of headphones in case anyone is interested.  Cheers!

 

[Ivy]

Hey Guys-
 
The HeadRoom Crew's live blogging has begun, check it out!  And please submit your comments about what you'd like to see at the show and we'll try to keep up.  Hope you enjoy it!
 
http://www.headphone.com/pages/rmaf

 

[jp11801]

The room is up and running and lots of fun. Surprise for me so far is how great the Rethm tube amp is. They are going into production and it sounds freaking fantastic. Anyone with an LCD 2 should take a look at this amp. It also has an absolutely stunning look.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

I have some terrible iPhone photos from dinner tonight, but I thought better some of anything than none (or not):
 
Asr with Nankai

 
George Amman (sp) with Asr:

 
Sherwood with Wifeypoo:

 
Sherwood with Iron_Dreamer:

 
Nankai (Fang) with JP11801:

 
Jude and Drewbrew on right (forgot the others, sorry):

 

[sachu]

Quote:

The room is up and running and lots of fun. Surprise for me so far is how great the Rethm tube amp is. They are going into production and it sounds freaking fantastic. Anyone with an LCD 2 should take a look at this amp. It also has an absolutely stunning look.

Jacob sir sure knows his trade. Do check out his speakers JP when you have the chance if you haven't already. They are a sight to behold and sound glorious as well. 
 
Larry, thanks for the pics..we live through you and those at the meet buddy. Cheers.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

1ST DAY IMPRESSIONS
 
Quote:

The room is up and running and lots of fun. Surprise for me so far is how great the Rethm tube amp is. They are going into production and it sounds freaking fantastic. Anyone with an LCD 2 should take a look at this amp. It also has an absolutely stunning look.

I'll have to listen to that one with music that I know and love, but I did give it a quick listen.  I'll report back later on that one.  Here are some impressions of the gear I heard today.
 
I probably spent too much of my time at the CEntrance table after setting up my rig, but it was worth it.  I was pleasantly surprised by the CEntrance DACmini desktop DAC/amp combo, which is reminiscent of a Stello DA100 driving a warm tube amp.  This thing should be a hit, with 24/96 USB, optical and coax S/PDIF inputs, analog input and output, and built in headphone amp that can run on almost any 9v - 18v power supply. (I recall hearing something about 7 regulated power supplies inside?)  The RCA outputs shut off when a headphone is plugged in, so if you are using it to feed some powered speakers with your computer the speakers will mute when using headphones.  It's also nice that it's form factor fits the Mac mini, but it can also be set up on it's side next to a computer monitor or laptop.  They will also have a version to match the newer style Mac mini.  The photo on their web site is old, and the selector knob now chooses between analog, optical, coax and USB inputs (4 options instead of 3 where optical and coax where combined).
 
I took my Nuforce HDP over to the CEntrance table and hooked it up to compare it next to their DAC-mini using Beyer T1, HD800, HE-5 LE, LCD-2, and HE-6 headphones.  As many of you know, the HDP is one of my favorite budget desktop DAC/amps - it's not perfect but it offers a lot of bang for the buck at $449.  The DACmini price is not final yet, but it might be in the neighborhood of what a Stello DA100 without an amp would cost, which should be reasonable for the features and sound quality that it offers (and with the economy).  I think I will have to seriously consider getting a DACmini, and I plan to spend some time Saturday listening with my Westone ES5, ES3X, and JH13Pro custom IEM.  From what I can tell, the volume pot is also better and more precise than on my HDP, so I'm hoping it will work well with IEM.
 
While the HDP's amp sounds better than my Apogee mini-DAC via headphone out, it still has a slightly brighter and slightly more aggressive character like the Apogee , while the DACmini has a more natural and less analytical sound without giving up detail.  In the time that I spent comparing the two DAC/amps via USB from their Mac mini, I felt that the DACmini was warmer and more musical, with more body and a more solid foundation, and less colored upper mids and a more spacious soundstage - transparency in the mids and highs was where it stood out over the HDP.  Both are very detailed with good air, but the notes seem to die off faster with the HDP, with a more natural decay to the DACmini.  The HDP is slightly colored and sounds better to me with phones like the HD600, LCD-2 and HE-5 LE than it does HD800.  I think I prefer the DAC-mini with any of these phones, especially the HD800.  
 
While I like to listen to the Apogee or HDP DAC while driving a better amp like the WA6, I didn't feel the urge to plug in a nicer amp to the DAC-mini.  I like that it can be used as a stand alone DAC, or a stand alone amp, and if I get one to review I'll try that out.  Saturday I'm hoping to see how the DACmini amp sounds using the HDP as the DAC, and also how the HDP amp sounds feeding it from the DACmini's DAC. 
 
I also listened to the newer version of HiFiMan HE-6 on several amps including ZDT, HDP, EF6 and DACmini, which sounds wonderful and is more efficient than the earlier prototype.  I would now listen on the ZDT amp with the volume at 1-2 o'clock instead of 3-4 o'clock like with the prototype.  In comparison, I listen to my HD800 or LCD-2 with the volume set at 10 o'clock and the HE-5 LE with the volume at 11 o'clock.  So, HE-6 is still difficult to drive, and while it sounded a little better with the DACmini than the HDP, the HDP gave them 2-3 more db in volume which was appreciated.  Normal listening volumes with the HE-6 on the DACmini was at 5 o'clock max volume, but with the new HE-6 this was a good bit louder than the original prototypes on my WA6 at home.  I did try the prototype EF6 amp for driving the HE-6, and it sounded good but I think it also needs more gain, with power somewhere in the neighborhood of the HDP if I recall correctly.  I'd really like to compare the EF5 tube hybrid to the EF6 with the HE-6 headphones.  I did prefer the HE-6 on the ZDT which has extra headroom without having to max out the volume to play loud now.  I still suspect the HE-6 will still shine with a powerful speaker amp, but they are definitely more useable with standard headphone amps now.  A nice feature of the EF6 prototype is the stepped volume attenuator which is much better than the one in the EF5.
 
I should note that the demo DACmini has a gain of only 2, and they might bump the gain a little since they aren't hitting max power output or clipping with a gain of 2.  That should give it enough juice to drive the HE-6 better, although it could play quite loud with LCD-2 and HD800 and fairly loud with the HE-5 LE and T1.  The DACmini would typically be set at 4:30 - 5 o'clock (max) with the HE-6 for normal to moderate volume listening, vs 3:30 - 4 o'clock with HDP and HE-6. 
 
I also listened to a new RSA portable amp (bare circuit board) that has fully balanced input and output.  I think it will be called the SR-71b, and it has two large rechargeable batteries that seem about 2x that of the Protector.  This portable amp drives the HD600 and LCD-2 better and louder than any other portable amp I have tried.  I loved it with those two phones.  But similar to my experience with my RSA Protector and HDP amp, the new balanced portable isn't perfect with the HD800 either.  But I think it got along with them better than my Protector.  I'll have to compare the two side by side on Saturday, before I put my Protector up for sale to upgrade.
 
I also spent a bit of time with a Sennheiser HEV70 electrostatic amp that Ray Samuel's modified and improved internally and with a nicer PSU, and it's now a much better match for the HE-60 headphones than ever before.  I was very impressed with it. It's not a giant killer, but it doesn't sound like a cheap amp anymore either.  Apparently it would be too expensive to have my HEV70 modded to sound like his, but maybe I can talk him into releasing the details in case other DIY modders want to try their hand at it.
 
I waited to listen to the ALO LCD-2 headphone cable, but got distracted and will go back Saturday to try it out.  I also want to try out their iPod LOD > Digital output device too.  I haven't been by the Headroom or Moon Audio tables yet, and there are several others that I need to hit as well.  Until Saturday...

 

[barleyguy]

Nice impressions so far.  Glad to read that the new HE-6 can be driven by mere mortals.

  I know there were some people here that were saying "if it requires a speaker amp, that's fine, just make it sound great."  But if they can still make it sound great, and also be driven with moderate headphone amp power, that's even better.
 

---

 
I'm at the Hilton across the highway.  I'm going to ask the shuttle van to bring me over sometime this morning so I don't take up a parking spot (if there even is a parking spot).

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

PS:  I also heard the Beyer T1 on the SPL Phonitor, with I believe an Arcam CDP as source - and the T1 sounded a little more lively and interesting than when I heard them at the Colorado meet in August from the B22 or my ZDT.  My first time around I thought the T1 sounded nice but nothing special, and maybe a little bland.  I'll have to give them another listen with that rig, and try my HD800 and LCD-2 on the SPL as well.
 
And I tried the HiFiMan RE262 which I still need to burn in more, but I think they are an upgrade to the RE252 in the mids.  They still wont win any awards for bass quantity, but it's bass quality is superb.  I like these and will be taking a pair home to burn-in and listen to, and will post more impressions later.

 

[mgoodman]

Larry, your depth of perception is incredible and this community is lucky to have you reviewing gear! Thanks to your feedback we will raise the gain a couple of dB on the DACmini. Thanks for spending the time at the booth!