This was
easily the best Friday start in the three years Head-Fi has been at RMAF. The activity and energy in the CanJam @ RMAF exhibit area today was simply awesome, especially for a weekday starting day--it felt like what I expected Saturday to be like, which makes me really excited to see what Saturday's going to be like.
I'll post some photos tomorrow, and more when I get back home. We may also combine some HeadRoom TV / Head-Fi TV video coverage.
Here are some early impressions:
- The Sennheiser RS 220 is amazing. I do have a unit at home that I lived with for about four days before the show, and the simplest way I can describe it? Wireless HD 600. As I said before, given the expected $599 MSRP, the RS220 would be my pick for Head-Fi product of the year (understanding that there's still more than a couple months to go before year's end).Does it raise the bar for the ultimate in headphone hi-fi performance? No--it doesn't have the resolution and fidelity of the HD 800, LCD-2, LCD-3, SR 009, HE-6, etc. But what it does do is provide what is essentially the sonic performance of the HD 600--still one of the easiest and best overall headphone recommendations for so many--wirelessly. And that raises the bar for wireless headphone performance higher than I even thought possible now.This is the first wireless headphone I've used that I'd recommend as a candidate for primary headphone. Those who want the über-performance, extreme rigs (I'm raising my hand here) would still marvel at what the RS 220 is capable of as a wireless headphone. Most people, though, would simply marvel at the RS220's performance as a primary headphone, relative to wireless or wired performance, and be happy with it as their prime headphone.Again, the Sennheiser RS 220 is amazing.
- Speaking of über-performance, the Audeze LCD-3 is quite possibly the best dynamic headphone ever, to my ears. Whereas the best Sennheiser HD 800 rigs I've heard have--in my opinion, to my ears--trumped even the best I could wring from the likes of the HiFiMAN HE-6, HE-500, and Audeze LCD-2, the new LCD-3 is now my new top dynamic headphone choice. And, frankly, I'm going to see if I can side-by-side it with the Stax SR-009 here, not because I'm expecting it to necessarily beat the SR-009, but because I think this is one headphone that could give it a run. I already know there are some things it does better than the electrostatic headphone I've called my personal choice for best in the world.Lest you think I've formed this impression in louder-than-ideal meet conditions, I want to make clear that I've absconded with the LCD-3 to my hotel room for two nights in a row, in addition to meet listening. I have now had two nearly sleepless nights with the Audeze LCD-3 balanced out of my favorite full-size-headphone-driving portable rig, consisting of iPod-->Cyper Labs Algorhythm Solo-->Ray Samuels SR-71b, driving the Audeze LCD-3 balanced via a Moon Audio Silver Dragon headphone cable. I missed dinner my first night here (and so had to make a late-night fast food run), and ordered in room service last night--and, again, I've hardly slept. Yes, I've been listening a lot.I know--the LCD-3 looks like a modified LCD-2. It is not that. It's not just prettier wood and super-soft earpads. It's a whole new driver. The diaphragm is a lot lighter than the LCD-2's. The magnet structure is new. It has a sound that LCD-2 aficionados might call familial, but the performance is no doubt better, in every respect, to my ears. Simply put, you buy the LCD-2 and you get the LCD-2 (an outstanding headphone, by any measure). You buy the LCD-3, you get the LCD-3. I'm a guy who's purchased four LCD-2's (two rev 1's and two rev 2's), so I think I can say this with some amount of credence.Starting with the bass, the impact and detail is simply otherworldly, and especially where I can't imagine even the SR-009 trumping it. One of Drew Baird's favorite test tracks is "Company" from Patricia Barber's Modern Cool album, and we were both simply floored by the LCD-3's physicality with Michael Arnopol's bass and Mark Walker's drums. No other headphone I can think of can wring this level of tremendous low-end corporeality without bloat--the sense of this wrung not only from energy, but detail. When you sense the finest of textures and timbre down low, combined with this driver's clear ability to convey physical impact...well, that's just standard-setting bass to my ears.LCD-3 midrange performance is similarly stellar, with hints of bloom, but never unnatural, never exaggerated. And the treble soars, delicate, shimmering, extended. Whereas some thought the LCD-2 (rev 1) treble needed some lift and more presence, I do not expect anyone to level this complaint at the LCD-3. Throughout the audible range, the LCD-3 trumps the LCD-2 (and just about everything else) in terms of sheer detail retrieval, so its timbral accuracy throughout is freaky good. And it does all this in sibilance- and harshness-free Audeze fashion.Am I buying one? What do you think? I can't imagine I'll be leaving this show without one, even if it takes an act of larceny to make it happen (which is essentially what I've now committed two nights in a row).
I'll post more impressions and photos from the show later. For me, personally, this show is off to a
great start!
