Meet Impressions, Day 1...
The first thing I had to do was look for Warren and Ethan
After missing so many meets, it was a great joy and relief to finally meet these two gentlemen! Bravo to all of you who organized this meet, and thank you - I am still in awe of how many people from our hobby were there. I don't want to use the term "vendor", it just doesn't seem right to me. Too impersonal. I want to think of some other noun to describe the wonderful folks behind the tables who took the time to demo their products for us all. I am humbled.
Caveats: 1) I only brought my Beyer DT770/250 cans with me, primarily so I could use my own known reference point to evaluate other gear. This wasn't an issue for most amps, but it seemed to be for one. I also had my 6th-gen ipod nano with RCA line outs, so I could plug directly in and listen to my music (which wasn't as good as anything else lol)...
2) I'd had a sleep study on Friday night (during which I got very little actual sleep), and so I was dog tired from the start. I ended up fading out around 4pm or so, and had to leave before I fell asleep on the lounge chairs... I may be back Sunday, there's so much I haven't heard, and so many friends I haven't met yet...
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I spent a lot of time staring at people's badges, trying to figure out who they were. I had the guy at the front table just put my online handle on mine, and skip my name (no one would know it anyway). Really think that's the way to go - just so its easier to find people we know. Kinda wish the font size was a few points bigger, but that's an Old Man™ thing, hah. Or maybe I just need to go get those glasses my doctor ordered...
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The second thing I just had to do was find the Schiit table. I was hoping Jason was there, and I was not disappointed
We spent probably 30 minutes chatting, before it even occurred to me to listen to anything. Honestly, I admit, I was there to talk to friends I'd never met, and that was just as important (if not more important) as listening to new gear for me.
Yes, I saw the Yggy and Raggy at the other end of the table, and yes, I did get a listen (OMG), but I'm getting ahead of myself. While Jason and I were sitting there talking about the Yggy, we were joking about the difficulty of pronouncing the name, when a gentlemen from Norway sat down next to me, and said he could pronounce the name!! So we asked him to say it... and of course it sounded different than I would have imagined... but my next thought was to ask this gentleman to record that pronunciation and upload it to the website here! Lol! There's just no way I could reproduce that properly. I'm hoping he does...
Anyhow, for me I wanted to hear the Valhalla and Bifrost combo, because I've spent the last year or so wondering if I could hear better sound (due to my hearing issues). This was really the one and only thing I wanted to hear at the show. I am happy to report that yes, indeed, I can discern the sonic quality improvement over my Magni/Modi combo (I was using my DT770's to audition). It is every bit as punchy and tubey I would have hoped for (more, really)... Which is good news and bad news... good news for my ears, bad news for my wallet
I am ever more convinced that I am really a Tube Guy, especially after that listen... pic:
(For those who don't know me, I am not doubting the quality or veracity of the gear, it's my ears that are faulty)
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Warren introduced me to Mr. Cavalli, so I spent some time browsing the offerings from this fine company. I admit this is the first time I've listened to something outside my quite small realm of experience, but I was impressed. I've taken a few shots of the three amps I auditioned below. I did not correctly note the names, sorry...
This first amp was a hybrid (which always gets my attention), and it did indeed sound like a hybrid (that's a compliment, not a complaint). After listening to the Valhalla, the sound of this amp struck me as more clinical, with just a hint of tubey ness (you know what I mean, right?). It was very clean (I kept getting amazed at how much cleaner and deeper all this better gear sounded, than my budget-fi stuff)...
This next item was a prototype (I did not catch the model, perhaps someone can add that later?). I got a little confused trying to hook up my cans and source to it (which ended up sounding rather trashy). The SQ of this model really exposed just how sad sounding that ipod nano really was, but I guess I never really had heard it sound that bad before. This model had a 1x and 3x output switch on the front, and the Beyers sounded much better with the 3x setting (I maxed the 1x setting and it wasn't loud enough for my taste). On the other hand, one of the flyers seemed to indicate that was probably something intended for IEM's (which makes sense). Anyway, this was a very nice amp, I remained suitably impressed.
The third amp I listened to from Cavalli was this really cute little prototype, intended as a portable model. Sadly the picture came out a bit fuzzy. This amp actually drove my Beyer 250 ohm cans quite nicely, though I did detect a bit of degradation in the upper end and punch (which I suppose one would expect from a lower-end portable unit). I would say though that it would be on par with the Magni - so if you're looking for a portable, keep your eyes open for this one...
Finally, after all of their patience with me, I had to take a shot of the two very helpful Cavalli employees who put up with me
I did not catch their names, but they were exceedingly polite and helpful...
(Those of you who look closely will note that the gentleman is helping the lady hold her cans... :rolleyes: )
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As I left the Cavalli table, I turned around and saw the Mad Dog table. Having heard so much about Mad Dogs, I had to park for a moment and listen to one. The model I sat down in front of were the modded T50RP's, pictured below. It's not quite in the picture, but these cans were being driven by a Schiit Lyr and Bifrost, so I got a double treat out of this listen... These cans were every bit the match for my DT770's, and then some. I can see why they are so popular! I wish I'd taken time to listen to more of the Mad Dog lineup, but there were a bunch of others in line, hah...
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Then I wandered into the Member Exhibit room on the 2nd floor. As I walked into the room, someone said "hey look, someone else with DT770's" lol. I am guessing from this reaction that not a lot of people own this particular model? Anyway, Bill (picture, below) was kind enough to let me listen to his modded DT770's, which had been altered to reduce the treble. I was really impressed at this feat, and asked Bill if he would put up a How-To post on this mod. I was impressed by how smooth sounding this mod rendered the DT770 (which honestly did not strike me as harsh, until I heard this mod)...
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I then went to listen to Mike Moffat talk at the 2pm presentation. I really get a kick out of Mike, he's my kind of guy
Very enjoyable, and a pleasure to listen to.
I also spent most of the next hour listening to the presentation about planar headphones, which really was informative to me. Turns out they haven't been around as long as I had imagined. I was also impressed at how young these entrepreneurs were (I felt Old lol). But I am honestly happy for them, and totally impressed. They made me want to go out and listen to a totally new kind of headphone...
Finally, I returned to the Schiit table, and Mike had taken up watch over the display. He was sitting back with the Yggy/Raggy stack, and believe it or not, I got a seat in front of it and chatted with Mike for a bit. I can't easily explain how awesome that was for me. I even got to plug in my DT770's and test them out on the first actual production models of this long-awaited gear! The only word that came to mind was: Phenomenal. I sat there with my eyes closed for a moment, and tried to take in the sheer level of sound quality (obviously, the best I'd ever heard). I started to immediately toy with the idea of putting off paying for my kids college educations... but seriously, this is some Good Schiit.
I only wish I could have bought one of those cute Schiit T-shirts. If I may suggest, could you guys please bring a case of Schiit T-shirts next time? I think you could have sold them out...
