[DrummerLeo]

RAAL n VM1A are making waves!
Plus we've got Diana TC and AB 1266 Phi TC on our legendary gs-x mini

plus the X9000 on our BHSE

OT: what is the cable you used for Emp Elite during the show? It is fantastic!

 

[dirtrat]

RAAL n VM1A are making waves!
Plus we've got Diana TC and AB 1266 Phi TC on our legendary gs-x mini

plus the X9000 on our BHSE

I was at the show for both days and spent LOTS of time at the headamp table. Makiah did a wonderful job in helping me. I'm the guy standing up wearing the headphones in your first picture. I spoke to Danny this morning from RAAL and ended up buying the VM-1A and SR1a Ribbon Headphones from Headamp on your web page. Can't wait to get them. I'm pretty sure I tried every TOTL headphone at the show. Had a great time.

 

[qboogie]

Had a chance to try the X9000 of the BHSE. Wow. If I didn't love bass-centric music so much I would absolutely plunk down the coin for a pair and a DIY T2.

A 009 was plugged into the same amp and in a rare moment where no one was waiting in line I did a very quick AB between it and the X9000. The test track was Kat Eaton - Barricade -- a modern motown-style uptempo track with warm, intimate vocals.

The 009 was brighter and had harsher treble to my ears. The volume was probably higher than I would normally prefer (10 oclock pot). I had demoed this can before on Woo's rig in 2020 and my impression was similar. I was totally amazed by how smooth and more full-bodied the X9000's sounded in comparison. Resolving capability and stereo imaging is better than anything I've ever heard. Especially the sense of stage height and width. I would be willing to say the width approaches the HD 800's but more realistically executed. It's also comfortable to wear so that really contributes to the overall feeling of transparency, which I interpret as the sense of the transducer vanishing and the music just existing all around you. It's like the scenes in the x-men movies where Professor X puts Cerebro on his head and a holographic globe materializes and shows the exact locations of the mutants on Earth.

E-stat bass isn't really my thing but I can see chamber music, acoustic, and jazz being knockouts. That being said, I found CRBN (At Audeze's booth, not in the quiet rooms) to be only mildly better than X9000 in the bass. The CRBN's bass is outperformed by even the DCA Stealth's bass (driven by Formula S), but perhaps that is an unfair comparison.

Now I don't know if the 009 and x9000 have the same sensitivity. Under show conditions I made no attempt to volume match, obviously.
Overall the X9000 impressed me a lot. The total time I've spent with e-stats has been about 20 minutes in my entire lifetime, but I can say the X9000 presents an ultra-refined, simply luxurious sound. It's really something special.

I listened to the Thieaudio monarch MK2 and compared to my Mk1 and found the mids to be fuller, and the bass to have richer tonality and texture, but ever-so-slightly less sub-bass. It definitely justifies its right to exist alongside the MK1. I was about to buy one on the spot, but then I demoed the U12T (M20 module). Whoa. I knew I had to have one. Insane spaciousness, detail and resolution, balanced tonality, nice punchy bass and treble done just right. I never thought an IEM could convey spaciousness so well. Definitely a modern classic. I'm a headphone guy, but between U12T and EE Odin (it puts a subwoofer in your ear!), I can see why these things command crazy prices and are so coveted.

Meze Liric had fun, rowdy tuning but the treble had a little too much bite for me. It's not as open-feeling as the Stealth, IMO. I drove it off my DX160 single ended but if it's anything like the 99classics, then running it balanced 4.4mm/2.5mm would probably help the stage open up a bit. Just a hunch though. Something to consider.

I didn't think the LCD-5 (off the Burson GT) had as shouty a midrange as folks have complained about, IMO. The treble didn't sparkle as much as expected. The bass could have been a little more voluminous. But the entire experience was defined by smoothness. I just kept thinking about scraping a wooden spoon across the top of a cup of Luigi's Italian Ice.

Last thing I heard was the Susvara driven by HFM's big amp (I forget the name). The thing was huge and looked like a hospital's autoclave machine for sterilizing surgical instruments. The volume dial was infuriating. It seemed like the steps had intervals of 5 dB and nothing smaller. I'm exaggerating but truly I couldn't get anywhere close to the intended listening volume. By that point my ears were pretty fatigued so I'll reserve my full judgment. Susvara has more than adequate punch/slam. I don't own a Susvara so I don't know if this amp was making it do anything special. I was expecting a wider soundstage, actually. I recall the HE-400i that first got me into the headphone game had a slightly wider stage than this Susvara. Please, no flames. You can blame these impressions on listening fatigue.

Anyway. I enjoyed the show, listened to gear I would probably never own myself, and walked away without buying anything. Mission accomplished.

(Does Noble's Dr Moulton introduce himself to anyone as Dr. Moulton or Wizard? Not sure how I feel about asking people to call yourself Wizard. There is always a kid in highschool who wants to nickname himself "Knife," and he just keeps trying to make it stick but it just won't. Also ain't feeling that W scribbled all over the Noble promotional material. I may remove this part of the post later once I sober up)

 

[grell audio]

These Grells are lots of fun for $199. With transparency on, the SQ takes a hit, unfortunately--this is one of those TWS that have been tuned to sound better with ANC on. As far as fit, they come with wings and 3 silicone tips plus 2 foam.

Final Audio's TWS, the ZE3000 had a more hefty low end and I really liked them. Their headphone version, the UX3000, not so much for me.

Thanks for the comments!! By the way, you can use these with Transparency and ANC off… if you have ANC on, and you hold the left ear for a second, you will hear (one beep and then) ANC off.

 

[fiiom11pro]

@Relaxasaurus I heard you may have recorded my Headphones 101 seminar! Nobody gave me free fruit (threw tomatoes), but that’s kind of an all-or-nothing metric. Do I want to watch my seminar and see how I did? Or should I just watch Axel’s 201 (which I had to miss, so I could cover the booth)?
Thank you so much for being there!

can we watch the recorded ones? i hope somebody can upload them on youtube or something. i missed those and seminars are very informative.

i love watching justin weber's previous seminar on youtube... i hope somebody recorded the seminars this NY CanJam.

 

[9bphillips]

I don't like Burson because they use opamp output in their $1k+ amp. That's just lazy design and money grabbing. Someone should just compare the entire Burson line to glite or gs-1 on SE output and see if Burson holds up to 20yr old amps. Would be better if they would compare to dynalo plus amps, but those are still DIY at this point IIRC.

My BS meter goes to 11 when I see stuff like this:



Edit: looks like Burson got rid of opamp on the output stage in their latest amps. I suppose they get a pass for now until I can hear one and judge for myself.

I would highly advise hearing one before making judgement. Ppl don't just spend that kind of money for nothing. I bought the 3xp and it was so good I upgraded within months to the GT. If you get to try one report back and let us know what you think.

 

[chesebert]

I would highly advise hearing one before making judgement. Ppl don't just spend that kind of money for nothing. I bought the 3xp and it was so good I upgraded within months to the GT. If you get to try one report back and let us know what you think.

People spend $3k on an IEM cable, so I would not use people paying for something as any measure of quality.

Looks like GT is just a hybrid opamp gain stage with FET output. Also looks to be current limited on the output. This is just a souped up M3 selling at 3x the price.

 

[9bphillips]

I don't like Burson because they use opamp output in their $1k+ amp. That's just lazy design and money grabbing. Someone should just compare the entire Burson line to glite or gs-1 on SE output and see if Burson holds up to 20yr old amps. Would be better if they would compare to dynalo plus amps, but those are still DIY at this point IIRC.

My BS meter goes to 11 when I see stuff like this:



Edit: looks like Burson got rid of opamp on the output stage in their latest amps. I suppose they get a pass for now until I can hear one and judge for

People spend $3k on an IEM cable, so I would not use people paying for something as any measure of quality.

Looks like GT is just a hybrid opamp gain stage with FET output. Also looks to be current limited on the output. This is just a souped up M3 selling at 3x the price.

If you say so. I go bye sound and it sounds excellent. There are lots of older technologies that are used and sound great even today like r2r and tubes. Just because a certain implementation is used doesn't mean it isnt as good as any other. Technology is constantly getting better. Like i daid Burson sounds great and that is what i am after. Maybe one day you can try one and see. Until then happy listening.

 

[warrenpchi]

Ooh, look what I found!

 

[Erwinatm]

This is more true than the other statements about EQ. When you EQ, you lose the character of the headphone as designed by the manufacturer. The best example of this is the ZMF Verite Closed. It has an funky tuning that does not sound great with everything. You need to get the pads right and the amp. For me, tubes work the best. Then, you get to hear the euphonic sound intentionally designed by Zack. I love it. You can then EQ the VC to Harman and it sounds great, like a reference headphone, but you lose all of the magic designed into that headphone.

If you have a good ear, you can EQ slight mods to correct for problems you specifically might have due to your ear anatomy. For instance, some people have sensitivity to elevated upper mids, reducing it at the right center frequency and Q value can take the edge or glare off of it to someone with such sensitivity and that could be the difference in loving and hating a specific headphone or IEM. The EE Legend EVO is a great example of this.

I completely disagree with those people who EQ everything to Harman. They are literally trying to make all of their headphones sound the same. They won’t completely because tuning is but one aspect of sound presented by a headphone. But again, you lose the intention of the manufacturer and you end up dumbing down your collection by EQ out its character.

100% right.

I tried eq my Empyrean and Zmf VC with Roon DSP. Hey... they both sound the same or very similar. Why would i want that?

If I want to hear Empyrean character, I listen to Empyrean. If i miss VC 's signature I listen to VC.

It is a colorful world...cheers.

 

[dirtrat]

i love watching justin weber's previous seminar on youtube... i hope somebody recorded the seminars this NY CanJam.

I went to his seminar and a few others. Some of them were recorded and some weren't. I don't recall if his was or not and I'm unsure who was doing the recordings.

 

[Stevko]

Any info about the new earman angel?

 

[warrenpchi]

And from @Relaxasaurus!

 

[Makiah S]

Any info about the new earman angel?

I'll have more information on it as soon as I get it from Miki & Earmen, we will have this unit in stock too once it's ready and officially released! From my short listen tho I was impressed, lots of POWER and a good clean signature much like TR-Amp but more refined.

 

[Stevko]

I'll have more information on it as soon as I get it from Miki & Earmen, we will have this unit in stock too once it's ready and officially released! From my short listen tho I was impressed, lots of POWER and a good clean signature much like TR-Amp but more refined.

thanks

What about batteri time?
Is it SE and balanced? Same power both outputs?