[rockcrusher]

Sorry for the administrative question.

The FAQ for RMAF is unclear about whether tickets/registration is available all day, or just in the half-hour before the show starts.

Does anyone know for sure? It's a bit of a drive and if I have to be there at 0830, well then, I have to be there then.

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

Second this question. Gotta make a stop at a micro center near first, unsure if I should go grab my tickets first because if this!

 

[Allanmarcus]

All day

 

[Allanmarcus]

Regarding the elegia, it sounded a little congested to me. It was brand new and not broken in, so take that with a grain of salt.

Regarding the new zmf. New verete headphone. $2500ish. Clear, clean, tight, open but some isolation, warm, but not overly warm. Very nice. Listening through Zach’s “glen” OTL amp. Punch, in a good way. Complicated music doesn’t melt together. Maybe a little polite (amp). There are also two pad options, warm and warmer. Aeolus, also warm, but also very good.

Regarding the new Meze. Empyrean headphones. Crisp upper Mids and highs, Comfortable. Deep bass. Needs a good amp $3000. Leather pads more bass, maybe some bleed. Microfiber were cleaner, tighter. Includes a suitcase!

Regarding the Manley amp. Volume is very smooth. Neg feedback knob appears to increase the volume, but also the distortion (as expected). I really could not hear the distortion. Push pull vs SE, hard to tell difference. Overall, very nice. Complicated music wasn’t mushy. Bass well defined. Smooth “tube” sounds. Hard to listen for stage at the show.

Regarding the quad era-1. Meh, nothing to write home about

Regarding the Ether 2. Ether 2 through Brooklyn DAC+ and pass HPA-1 (at moon audio). Cable is nice, loosely sleeved quad cable, not microphonic. Great image. Clear, good bass, crisp mids. Bass is tight, but not th-900 level, still good sub bass. Some will still call these bright. I would use warm sources (tubes) with the Ether 2. At the schiit table through rag yiggy, fantastic. May be on par with the PMx2, but the PMx2 may have better mids. I still prefer the pmx2 Ether2 is excellent

Regarding ding the th-909. Open th-909. Very comfortable. Got that fostex bass! Not as shouty as the 900, but still a little v shaped. Show too loud fostex has a contender here. Blue 900 is tuned a little differently from the red. Green and red are the same. 909 is not nearly as forward and shouty as the 900. But 900 sounds “cleaner” than the 909. Hard to identify differences, there are significant mid and treble differences between the 909 and 900. T60RP tuned a little bright. 610, still very nice, and easy to recommend.

 

[Allanmarcus]

Oh, the spirit headphones (at moon audio). Unabashed grado clones in looks. I listened to the expensive ones, the Torino, I think. Horrible fit. The driver were right on my ears, despite comically large cups. Not sure what they smoke at spirit, but it must be stronger than the stuff they smoke in Colorado.

Maybe they are wonderful headphones for someone, but my first impressions are meh.

The RAAL headphones? They are ear speakers. Very odd! Impossible to determine how they sound at the show. Would need a quiet room. Not cheap. $3500.

 

[Effusion]

Another great start to yet another great year at RMAF!

Finally got a chance to load "some" of the pictures I took today and thought that in absence of my initial impressions, I'd share a little eye candy with you all first. These photos are in no particular order, just how I generally went about the day. Enjoy!



64 Audio



FiiO



Elekit from VK Music


iFi Audio



B&O Audio and Bluesound



Part 2 below...

 

[Effusion]

And for part two...

ampsandsound



MEZE



Dekoni Audio

Spoiler!

Spoiler: Best Headphones EVER!!

Mackie



Arrg! I think I took too many photos today! Anyway, look for a part 3 below as well...

 

[Effusion]

and finally, part 3... jeez!

ZMF



Please Note: The new ZMF headphones below are not production/retail models, more of working models with prototype shells, and thus the wood, cups, and materials of the final versions will be different. I hope I got that right, but Zach let me know!



Manley



Sennheiser



ABYSS



Okay, enough of today, there's always tomorrow right!

Until then cheers to all who are attending this year's show!

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

Holy pictures! Gets me excited for my first day tomorrow.

 

[miceblue]

A sneak peak photo.




But mostly just to be subbed.

 

[xenithon]

Subbed and looking forward to impressions. I’m exactly 9,548 miles away and will likely never get a chance to listen to so many amazing products in one sitting.

So for those going, if you get a chance to compare the following it would be most appreciated:
- ZMF Aeolus to its closed twin brother the Atticus
- ZMF Aeolus to its big brother the Auteur

Thanks, enjoy, and have a blast!

 

[rkw]

I'm interested in impressions of the Dragonfire desktop speakers.
https://www.dragonfireacoustics.com

 

[gLer]

Hey guys, any impressions of the Fiio M9 from RMAF?

 

[Mediahound]

Just a note/reminder to those attending- be sure not to miss all of the stuff on floors 2 through 11!

Yesterday the elevators were not working which was a pain, so hopefully the Marriott fixes that. But there are a lot of exhibitors and stuff to take a listen to on all of those floors in addition to the main floor and the mezzanine level.

 

[Mediahound]

The Chord Hugo TT2 and MScaler in Black look and sound so nice. The only thing I found a little bit odd is the MScaler has a glass window but it’s got a piece of silver metal inside with some writing, because I’m told there’s nothing to really see there. I would’ve preferred just solid chassis in that case.