[danne]

Any propper impressions on the new Woo gear?

 

[Maxvla]

Thanks for the info. Do you happen to recall which tubes were in the BA?

Asked him as he was packing up. 6F8G and PX4KR.

 

[john57]

 
Quote:

Any proper impressions on the new Woo gear?

I like the new CD player and DAC. The basic operation of the player was quite smooth and track to track and back and forth speed was good. It was hooked up to the WA 5 LE so that I can try different headphones at the station that I was more interested in and it worked very well. The remote buttons were a bit tiny but I did not have any issue and the remote had good response.  I not really crazy about the other new amp styling  with changeable plugs for different tubes. The Woo family were nice to deal with.
 

 

[Tonyflo]

Thanks Max, wow, the Dark Star sounds very tempting -- pretty reasonably priced considering it's power/quality. 
 
Hmmmmmm ... Mac --> Shiit BiFrost --> Dark Star --> LCD-3's for less than $6k ... could be quite the value!!
 
Hopefully more impressions pour in, definitely doing whatever it takes to make it next year  

 

[LangleyAFB]

$6k and the world value!  Youch, only on headfi.
 
Quote:

Thanks Max, wow, the Dark Star sounds very tempting -- pretty reasonably priced considering it's power/quality. 
 
Hmmmmmm ... Mac --> Shiit BiFrost --> Dark Star --> LCD-3's for less than $6k ... could be quite the value!!
 
Hopefully more impressions pour in, definitely doing whatever it takes to make it next year  

 

 

[LangleyAFB]

Ugh, do regret not buying tickets to Colorado for this.

 

[Kremer930]

Subscribed.  I really look forward to your reviews.  Especially of such an exciting toy.  
 
This thread could be very expensive!!!  

 


Quote:

I spent some time listening to the LCD-3 at CanJam yesterday. Sorry for the delay in posting but I was having too much fun to be on line. The real world is far more entertaining.
That said, I was impressed by what I heard from the LCD-3. While show conditions are not the best, especially for open headphones, it was very obvious to me that the LCD-3 have a level of nuance and transparency that is very, very high, and has the potential to be a significant step up. I say potential because I will not know this for sure until I get a pair in my house for review, which I will be doing soon - Audeze has agreed to get me a review pair very soon.
More later.

 

 

[Kremer930]

I am only up to page 10 reading so far and already I am starting saving for a pair of LCD3's to go with my Schiit Statement rig.
 
Whatever happened to the good ole days when a $300 K702 was an expensive headphone?  Then I went crazy and bought a $1k HE6 and thought I was mad.... Then $1200 iems....this truly is a disease...albeit a fun disease.  

 

[Jalo]

Several posts asked about the ALO MKIII balance amp of which I had the chance to listen to driving LCD2 and LCD3.  To me, frankly I did not have high expectation before I turned on the unit as I am very satisfy with my SR71b and PB2.  I was rather surprised when the music start flowing.  I told both Ken and David that the MKIII is in the range of SR71b.  Comparing to the MKII, the sound is bigger, cleaner, more air and more involved.  Ken stated that they use the same opamp as in the MKII, it just that they use 8 of them, so I think it may be the difference between SE and balance configuration.  One nice feature that the MKIII has is a bass boost pot.  Great job, Ken. 

 

[dBel84]

This thread is useless without pictures !!!
 
and to think I took a spare battery so that I could keep shooting the whole time - i never checked the SD card which was FULL of family pics from the past year  - just bad planning.
 
this is all I got and a few from my phone
 
First up Audez'e s full range arrays - just superb
 

 
A pleasure to meet the folk from FOSTEX - real pity that I didn't have Thunderpants with me.
 

 
 
Hard to believe that I have known the good Dr Cavalli since 2005 but this was the first time we had met  - the pleasure was all mine.
 

( this is the Liquid Fire in the foreground - just a sweet powerful combo with the LCD3 = this will be my endgame rig)
 
MR NUMS - babysitting Justin's beautifully manufactured BHSE
 

 
 
 
Mr's "Eddie Current"
 

 
 
Jack Woo with his most impressive range - a new CD player which utilizes a extinct sony transport = just a pleasure to use and a great sound.
 

 
 
Doc B - what else can I say   ( excuse the bad picture?)
 

 
 
I spent some time chatting to Wilson of Jaben, humbled
 
he has some great products and is SO enthusiastic about this "hobby" , he had some tiny prototype chip amps which were astonishingly good for the size.
 
This is a "trinket" tube hybrid

 
and I never took a picture of the portable tube amp - very nice sounding amp and very capable of driving my tough portable orthos.
 
ALO's new amp , vintage look and great sound.
 

 
 
forgot this one - how could I?
 
Cavalli Liquid Lightning ,  posted comments earlier  -  this is going to turn some heads ( and I am not saying this because I consider AC a friend, if it sounded nasty I would tell him )
 

 
 
I never got pics of the great line up TTVJ had, very glad I got to hear the Pinnacle and Peak. There many other vendors which will hopefully be covered by other folk.
 
 
..dB
 
 
 

 

[swishbrade]

I have pics and info of the wyred 4 sound music server. phone pics so I hope they turn out ok. will try to post them when I get home tonight.

Thanks!

 

[danmagicman7]

This was my first visit to RMAF.  The selection of equipment and audio experts in the CanJam section was superb.  I had a lot of fun listening to (almost) everything.  Thanks to Head-Fi for making this event happen, it really was an event.
 
Other than the plethora of audio nerdity available at RMAF, one of the biggest draws for me was the custom IEM selection at the show.  I've been on the lookout for a new portable headphone, and the ability to try out these custom IEM's side-by-side was indispensable!
 
This post is going to be a quick run-over of how I arrived on my new custom IEM purchase.
 
I briefly listened to:
 
All custom-fit models of Ultimate Ears IEMs (first IEM table I sat down at).
Westone ES5's
Unique Melody Miracle's
 
I extensively listened to:
 
Ultimate Ears IERM's
Ultimate Ears 18 Pro's
JH Audio 13 Pro's
JH Audio 16 Pro's
 
 
I wasn't there to review any of these IEM's.  I was there to BUY one, so I wasn't listening/writing/listening/writing as one would normally do during a review process to get everything down.  So, I apologize in advance for some vagueness in sound description
 
I only briefly listened to both the Westones and UM's simply because they didn't completely blow me away.  While being incredible IEMs, something seemed a little off with both of them to my ears to the point where they didn't grab my attention past 15 minutes or so.  I won't say the exact reasons why I didn't like either one because I have incomplete impressions of them and don't want to lead anyone astray.  I can see someone loving either one of these, but they weren't for me.
 
I really liked the offerings from both JH Audio and Ultimate Ears.  In addition, the staff at both of these booths were friendly, professional and were very helpful while I was auditioning each IEM, answering my questions and proving listening tips.
 
I was uncomfortable with the possibility of dropping ~$1K on a pair of headphones, so value and extra perks were a must.  JH Audio was offering $100 off, and Ultimate Ears 20% off all IEMs, with free artwork to boot.  Both also had audiologists on-site for free ear impressions.  That is a lot of money and time saved!
 
The JH Audio 13's and 16's are almost identical in sound and construction, with the 16's offering two extra bass drivers.  The 16's had the most incredible bass definition/extension my ears have heard (and felt) from a headphone. Quite amazing! However, I didn't enjoy the bass boost on all music material, so I preferred the 13's.  The JH 13/16's lineup had an excellent soundstage with a very balanced, aggressive, and fun sound.  There was one detractor: a nasal-like quality in the midrange that I couldn't get away from when listening to some natural instrumental music.  Some instruments exhibited a timbre just sounded a bit "off", and I couldn't exactly put my finger on it.  That was the only thing that really bothered me about these IEMs.  If I had to complain about something else, it might be the sharpness of the treble in certain songs.  If I had a gun to my head and someone told me to listen to the JH 13's for the rest of my life, I would be very happy, but my true IEM love was yet to be found...
 
On the Ultimate Ears side of things, I was initially in love with the UE 18 Pros.  They are silky smooth, warm, and lots of fun.  After longer listening periods and in comparison to the UE IERM's, the 18's started to sound unbalanced.  The high end is rolled off, and while the mids are extremely refined and smooth, they have a bit of an unnatural "bloom", similar to what I heard with the JH 13/16's.  And for $300+ more than every other flagship IEM on the market, they really didn't seem worth it.
 
The UE IERM's really impressed me with their extremely neutral and accurate presentation from the low to high end.  I missed the little extra "thump" and "fun factor" that both the UE 18's and JH 13/16's provided, but I could literally find no fault in the sonic presentation of the IERM's other than a somewhat narrow soundstage.  They were neutral, accurate, sounded awesome, and were the cheapest of the flagship IEM's at the show, ringing in at $800 after discounts.  Jeanette and Bob at the UE booth threw in some free goodies, including friendly service, extra cables for my IERM's, some great UE IEMs w/mic for my iPhone, and a tour of the UE/Logitech's offices in Camus, Washington.  Thank you Ultimate Ears!
 
I didn't actually meet any Head-Fi'ers at the event (well, I might have, but we didn't talk about Head-Fi...fight club?).  I hope everyone from here that went had an awesome time!

 

[gurus]

Quote:

 
First up Audez'e s full range arrays - just superb
 

 

 
 

 

 
 

 
 

 
..dB
 
 
 

That is got to be the worst set up position for the speaker in the room causing loads of standing waves muddling the sound in such a small room. Did they use DSP to cut off the low notes?
 

 

[Silent One]

Quote:

This thread is useless without pictures !!!
 
and to think I took a spare battery so that I could keep shooting the whole time - i never checked the SD card which was FULL of family pics from the past year  - just bad planning.
 
this is all I got and a few from my phone
 
First up Audez'e s full range arrays - just superb
 

 
A pleasure to meet the folk from FOSTEX - real pity that I didn't have Thunderpants with me.
 

 
 
Hard to believe that I have known the good Dr Cavalli since 2005 but this was the first time we had met  - the pleasure was all mine.
 

( this is the Liquid Fire in the foreground - just a sweet powerful combo with the LCD3 = this will be my endgame rig)
 
MR NUMS - babysitting Justin's beautifully manufactured BHSE
 

 
 
 
Mr's "Eddie Current"
 

 
 
Jack Woo with his most impressive range - a new CD player which utilizes a extinct sony transport = just a pleasure to use and a great sound.
 

 
 
Doc B - what else can I say   ( excuse the bad picture?)
 

 
 
I spent some time chatting to Wilson of Jaben, humbled
 
he has some great products and is SO enthusiastic about this "hobby" , he had some tiny prototype chip amps which were astonishingly good for the size.
 
This is a "trinket" tube hybrid

 
and I never took a picture of the portable tube amp - very nice sounding amp and very capable of driving my tough portable orthos.
 
ALO's new amp , vintage look and great sound.
 

 
 
forgot this one - how could I?
 
Cavalli Liquid Lightning ,  posted comments earlier  -  this is going to turn some heads ( and I am not saying this because I consider AC a friend, if it sounded nasty I would tell him )
 

 
 
I never got pics of the great line up TTVJ had, very glad I got to hear the Pinnacle and Peak. There many other vendors which will hopefully be covered by other folk.
 
 
..dB
 
 
 

For those of us scoring @ HOME, thanks for filling us in!

 

 

[Silent One]

Quote:

I don't know why as I do not own shares in Audeze or have any sort of interest in their company other than being a blissfully happy owner of their headphones but your post made me feel really good.
Here is a young company owned by two people who are following their hearts and with great integrity produce stunningly wonderful headphones and now they have come up with this pair. My pride in ownership of the LCD2 Rev1's only increases as Alex and Sankar move further ahead with their philosophies of bringing the best headphones out at prices that though not cheap, are excellent value for what you get and in comparison to their competitors. I can only imagine they sacrifice greater profits for better prices so more people can get into better sound!
I can't imagine what must be going on in the offices of other headphone companies when they see what this micro headphone company are doing!

Competition --
 
I admire Aude'ze's path as well. And from the sidelines, quietly cheering for their best efforts to bring out the best from their competitors. A win-win!