[pez]

First of all, thanks to everyone that made this possible. My wife and I highly enjoyed our first Head-fi meet. She enjoyed enough to ask if there would be one next year (this does not happen often, btw ).

Also, another big thanks to everyone. Everyone was extremely kind, welcoming and created an environment that makes me proud to be a part of.

I got to listen to a lot things that I had never gotten a chance to even be in the presence of before, including the numerous Stax, Audeze, and the rare K1000.

The big standouts for myself were the Stax SR-007, Heaudio Jades, the AUG K1000 and the K812, and the HD600 (via tubes). I almost forgot the Denon D7000.

I also learned that both Hifiman and Audeze aren't my thing (though the HE-6 was my favorite of the two brands).

I'll post more soon, but those are my quick impressions.

 

[draven5494]

Had a great time guys.  A lot of excellent gear to listen to, good music and friendly people.  Couldn't ask for more.
 
Although I couldn't stay for the whole time, I was able to finally listen to the Stax SR-007 Mk1 and Stax SR-009.  Both amazing headphones.  Other standouts were the LCD 2s and TH900s.  
 
Amazing gear guys.  I'm truly jealous.  
 
Thanks again!

 

[RastaDolphin]

I too had a great time, met more good folks, and actually managed to make some planned comparisons -- in particular, comparing my current humble setup (turntable / o2) to some other comparably priced amps like LNCPapa's Tubemagic D1 which I found fantastic for the price! The Philips X1s were lovely and the AKG k812s were superb. The Hifiman HE-6, HE-4s, and Fostexes stayed too busy for me to try which is probably for the best, if they're as good as everyone said.
 
Winner for my ears was Daly's Stax setup. ...OOF!
 
I was planning on making a playlist of well produced rap for the meet, since a few people mentioned some interest but ran out of time. So, here's some highlights from my list:
 
(some explicit lyrics)
"Aural Pleasure" by Blackalicious (from Blazing Arrow)
"Bluebird" by One Self (from Children of Possibility)
"Oh Yeah...Alright" by Myka 9 (from Mykology)
"Set You Free" by Oddisee (from People Hear What They See)
"Volcano" by Antipop Consortium (from Flourescent Black)
"My Negativity" by Serengeti & Polyphonic (from Terradactyl)
"Crows 1" by Aesop Rock (from Skelethon)

 

[vc1187]

  The Hifiman HE-6, HE-4s, and Fostexes stayed too busy for me to try which is probably for the best, if they're as good as everyone said.
 
 

I guess I arrived a bit late (but just in time for pizza!), but my HE-6 setup was open for listening for the majority of the time!  Probably since it was tucked away in the corner, and Patrick's irresistible Stax setup was so close
 
In all honesty, people seemed more interested in my gargantuan power cord, than they did in listening to the headphones haha.

 

[RastaDolphin]

I confess, I had to take a picture of that thing, myself.

 

[LNCPapa]

I'll be posting some pics and impressions soon but really just wanted to say I was so happy to meet so many great folks at this event.  It was my first one and considering there were easily 20-40 of us, not a single person rubbed me the wrong way.  Thanks guys and I hope to attend more... of course this means I'll have to keep evolving my gear so it's not the same thing each time

 

[Sonido]

I'll be posting some pics and impressions soon but really just wanted to say I was so happy to meet so many great folks at this event.  It was my first one and considering there were easily 20-40 of us, not a single person rubbed me the wrong way.  Thanks guys and I hope to attend more... of course this means I'll have to keep evolving my gear so it's not the same thing each time

Or you know just get the Liquid Glass and be done with it.

 

[dailydoseofdaly]

I guess I arrived a bit late (but just in time for pizza!), but my HE-6 setup was open for listening for the majority of the time!  Probably since it was tucked away in the corner, and Patrick's irresistible Stax setup was so close

In all honesty, people seemed more interested in my gargantuan power cord, than they did in listening to the headphones haha.

You might be in trouble your gf seemed to really enjoy the 009, you have to start saving your pennies

 

[JWahl]

Also, thanks to iFi Audio and distributor Avatar Acoustics for providing the loaners for the meet.  Some really great entry level pieces there IMO.  Hopefully next time I'll have my S7 working.  As expected, I really enjoyed danny's Moth amp, and the Liquid Glass as well.  And happy to finally get a chance to listen to the GS-X Mk2.  I'll post some more impressions later on.
 
Quote:

  I guess I arrived a bit late (but just in time for pizza!), but my HE-6 setup was open for listening for the majority of the time!  Probably since it was tucked away in the corner, and Patrick's irresistible Stax setup was so close
 
In all honesty, people seemed more interested in my gargantuan power cord, than they did in listening to the headphones haha.

 I wish I had tried your setup sooner.  That Parasound amp was killer with the HE-6.  Easily the most raw dynamic impact of any setup there.

 

[pez]

I was honestly surprised by how many people came and took a listen to my setup.  It was a joy to give quite a few people a good taste of the Asgard 2 and HD650 .
 
Special thanks to Tjj for allowing me to use the Cambridge Audio DACMagic 100 and JWahl for allowing me to use the Modi for some of that as well.
 
One thing I found nice was how relevant the HD650s and HD600s still are.  I've got a good bias going, but I think they held up really well against everything I listened to.  If I were to honestly sit here pre-HD600 or HD650, serious contenders would have been the K812 and Q/K701 (not sure if there is any differences in the two?).  Although, I highly enjoyed the Q701 and 812 with the WA7 Fireflies, I did not like it with the DACMagic100/Asgard 2 combo.  The same goes for the HD600.  While before, I didn't care for the HD600 with my setup, it was quite the delight with the Jolida Glass FX II via Shoebox amp.  
 
Getting home to my TiHD (DAC), I come to appreciate it a lot more.  I can honestly say I was expecting to get home and hearing just giant poo coming out, but low and behold, that was not the case.
 
Moral of the story, my next 'upgrade' is going to run me well into the $2-3k range.

 

[vc1187]

You might be in trouble your gf seemed to really enjoy the 009, you have to start saving your pennies

Pennies indeed!  
The interesting thing is that she's the perfect example of someone with unbiased ears.  She went in there not knowing the price of any of the equipment, yet she still gravitated towards your Stax setup after listening to everything else.  Just goes to show that high end gear is not always deemed high end based on the placebo effect of people believing something is phenomenal only because it has a high price tag. 
 
I have to say that the 009 met and surpassed my expectations.  Your music selection to demonstrate its potential was superb as well.

 

[CJs06]

Or you know just get the Liquid Glass and be done with it.

That Liquid Glass was awesome, it was easily my favorite setup at the meet. I should've tried your 812s off it

 

[Sonido]

That Liquid Glass was awesome, it was easily my favorite setup at the meet. I should've tried your 812s off it

I actually got to spend an extended amount of time with the K812 off his setup later than night. The HD800 was far better of it imo. Here are some of my impressions so I don't need to retype everything:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/650510/the-new-hd800-appreciation-thread/10035#post_10476017

http://www.head-fi.org/t/685339/akg-k812-pro/2295#post_10477181

 

[modulor]

  I was honestly surprised by how many people came and took a listen to my setup.  It was a joy to give quite a few people a good taste of the Asgard 2 and HD650 .
 
Special thanks to Tjj for allowing me to use the Cambridge Audio DACMagic 100 and JWahl for allowing me to use the Modi for some of that as well.
 
One thing I found nice was how relevant the HD650s and HD600s still are.  I've got a good bias going, but I think they held up really well against everything I listened to.  If I were to honestly sit here pre-HD600 or HD650, serious contenders would have been the K812 and Q/K701 (not sure if there is any differences in the two?).  Although, I highly enjoyed the Q701 and 812 with the WA7 Fireflies, I did not like it with the DACMagic100/Asgard 2 combo.  The same goes for the HD600.  While before, I didn't care for the HD600 with my setup, it was quite the delight with the Jolida Glass FX II via Shoebox amp.  
 
Getting home to my TiHD (DAC), I come to appreciate it a lot more.  I can honestly say I was expecting to get home and hearing just giant poo coming out, but low and behold, that was not the case.
 
Moral of the story, my next 'upgrade' is going to run me well into the $2-3k range.

That amp synergizes best with the HD600, AFAIK it was designed for them originally 

 
Good to see there was a great turn-out and everyone had a good time.  Wish I could have made it...maybe next time!

 

[pez]

That amp synergizes best with the HD600, AFAIK it was designed for them originally 

Good to see there was a great turn-out and everyone had a good time.  Wish I could have made it...maybe next time!

Indeed; that's what Tristan was telling. Make me miss the HD600 a bit .