[sheldaze]

@sheldaze Yea sorry meant the HD800s to the HE1000 not the old HD800s.

Not sure what to add, beyond what BarryS said above in post #28.
 
Although I would add that I did not think the HD800 exceeded the HE1000, and I do think the HD800S has exceeded both. Again, these are subtle changes, but to my ears the subtleties can make all the difference. HE1000 now seems more relaxed than HD800/HD800S but unnecessary. Previously, it was a pleasurable change. Now with the subtle fixes in the HD800S, I am no longer finding the change to HE1000, at the end of the day, to be welcome or necessary. I prefer the more accurate, forward sound of the HD800S throughout the listening session.
 
But of course those sorts of remarks go beyond the scope of the meet - more personal impressions. Hope they help 

 

 

[MusicJunky]

Not sure what to add, beyond what BarryS said above in post #28.

Although I would add that I did not think the HD800 exceeded the HE1000, and I do think the HD800S has exceeded both. Again, these are subtle changes, but to my ears the subtleties can make all the difference. HE1000 now seems more relaxed than HD800/HD800S but unnecessary. Previously, it was a pleasurable change. Now with the subtle fixes in the HD800S, I am no longer finding the change to HE1000, at the end of the day, to be welcome or necessary. I prefer the more accurate, forward sound of the HD800S throughout the listening session.

But of course those sorts of remarks go beyond the scope of the meet - more personal impressions. Hope they help   

Great thanks for that. I understand what you mean between the HE1000 and HD800S. I am planning to get headphones that would complement the HD800S so you're saying the HE1000 would not be necessary to have when you have the other. Do you know if the LCD4s would be any good? Thanks.

 

[Billheiser]

  Many things to all who graciously let me try out their gear!  I had a blast and learned a lot about audio that previously I had misconceptions about.  
 
The TL;DR impressions I got from the meet are: 
 
- Auditioning is important.  
- Trust your ears.
- Expensive items may not suit your tastes
- Differences in audio gear can be very minute.
 
I got a chance to try on headphones that I've only read about for years:  Audeze LCD-2, Sennheiser HD800, Sennheiser HD600/650, etc.  Here are my top 3 headphones I tried. I apologize as I'm not very good with names so if you recognize your setup, feel free to chime in.
 
A gentleman with the JVC SZ2000s running through a Fiio DAP and portable amp:  Wow.  Jaw droppingly good bass and though I love bass, I never considered getting a bass-centric headphone until then.
A gentleman with the Audeze LCD-2s with top of the line Schitt on top of a large computer tower.  Again, wow.  This is one of the headphones as I've mentioned that I wanted to hear for years, and they are worth the hype.  Pink Floyd's "Money" never sounded so good.
Finally, a gentleman with the Sennheiser HD600's with a Schitt Vali (I think) with an iPhone as the source.  (On your table was also the Philips Fidelio X2's and a pair of Fostex's)  I loved the HD600 on your setup, with female vocals especially.  
 
I met a lot of cool fellow head-fi'ers, everyone was super nice and respectful, and I'll definitely come back for future meets!

I had the HD600 and Vali with iPhone line-out as source and DAC.  Glad you enjoyed it! I get great pleasure out of that combo, and also from the notion that something more simple and less expensive can give such good results.  See you at the next meet!

 

[sheldaze]

Great thanks for that. I understand what you mean between the HE1000 and HD800S. I am planning to get headphones that would complement the HD800S so you're saying the HE1000 would not be necessary to have when you have the other. Do you know if the LCD4s would be any good? Thanks.

Perhaps we'll get so lucky enough to hear LCD4 at our Summer meet 

 

[Billheiser]

Happy to see some female attendees too; please continue, and tell your friends.  Beautiful music is for all.

 

[Barry S]

A
Are you comparing the HD800S to the HD800? Lol sorry I meant the HD800s to the HE1000. Wasn't clear.

Sorry I wasn't clear. My first point compares the the HD800S to HD800 and from the sentence starting with "Both...", I'm comparing the HD800S with the HE 1000. As for owning both, I think they're more alike than different. If you have the $$ though, why not own a couple of thoroughbreds--sheldaze is probably holding on to both.

 

[jthom320]

Oh god I'm in Reston I had no idea this was going down.  
 
Going to have to pay attention next time looks like this was a lot of fun.

 

[gandhisfist]

There were a couple of things I was really keen to hear at this meet and I managed to hear all but one of them:
 
Massdrop TH-X00
 
I think this was a very colored but fun sounding headphone.  I could easily see it being good for listening to EDM or other bass heavy music.  Overall though, I found the headphone a little all over the place and lacking in coherence.  I also felt it lacked detail in listening to string instruments or other acoustic music.  Subbass extension was good and a bit emphasized, seemed to bleed up into the midbass and lower mids, could sometimes get in the way of the music.  Midbass seemed subdued and made for a strange transition into the mids.  Lower mids seemed to get a bump while upper mids were a bit recessed, overall the mids just lacked detail to me.  Treble was pretty smooth to me but had a hazy character.  Soundstage overall was very shallow, I didn't find these to be a very open sounding headphone despite its semi-open design.  Everything was very upfront sounding, stage was rather small, and imaging (positioning) of instruments was difficult.for me.
 
Sennheiser HD800S
 
Not much to say about this one really.  Extremely similar to the HD800, which has an endless supply of impressions.  This one is very similar, just blunting that bit of peakiness at 6k.  It doesn't completely take away the sparkle there, just brings it down enough to be less bothersome (though I personally enjoy it) while still retaining the bite of its attack.  Really excellent and probably my favorite of the show.
 
Hifiman HE-1000
 
I have heard this one before and really enjoyed it again this time around.  Its a quite detailed sounding headphone with excellent balance and comfort.  Overall the tonality and the attack of notes is softened compared to the HD800, which makes it a more relaxing listen to me.  Details don't come forward as much as they do on the HD800, but are still present and I find them less distracting to the music that way for when I just want to take in the whole song instead of chopping it up and analyzing its individual parts.  While you can certainly do that on this headphone, it doesn't force you there in quite the same way the HD800 does, and I appreciate the difference in listening style this brings.
 
Grado PS500
 
Another colored but fun headphone.  These have extremely sweet mids and good, punchy midbass.  Very little extension below or above, and the treble is not very transparent, but these were a blast for listening to rock and other mostly mid-focused genres. Grados aren't really known for their soundstage and imaging capabilities, and these are no exception.  A very upfront sound that is very entertaining and easy to listen to.
 
Audio-GD NFB-28
 
I own the Wolfson (WM8741) version of this DAC/Amp combo unit but was really interested to try this Sabre model.  I'll say this is probably the smoothest and just overall best implementation of a Sabre ES9018 DAC I have ever heard.  If not for a slight difference in the timbre of the music (one I really had to concentrate pretty hard on to listen for), I would have guessed it was the same as my own Wolfson version.  It's absolutely amazing what Kingwa and his team are able to do at Audio-GD, this unit really blew me away with just how good it is and how well it implements a DAC that, in most implementations, comes off bright with some glare.
 
ZMF Omni (the one that got away)
 
I was really looking forward to trying this one but never got a chance.  Hoping the guys at Linear Tube Audio see this and maybe give me a shot at trying it before sending it back to Zach.

 

[TheChillburger]

Thanks for having up there, guys. The DC scene is pretty darn active, have a feeling I'll be seeing some of you again.
 
Some impressions:
 
ZMF Omni prototype: definitely gave me a closed HD650 vibe with a slight hint of the T50RP treble spike. Pretty relaxing, I'd love to evaluate this for a long period of time
 
R70X: this is an interesting entry in the HD600/DT880/Q701 market. It seemed a tad hazy in the upper mids, but I could see it being pretty darn good out of a resolving tube amp
 
HE1000: Pretty resolving for a planar, and huge soundstage. I don't think I quite enjoy it as much as the HE-6, but it's pretty enjoyable signature wise.
 
Liquid Carbon: has a pretty lively, warmer solid state sound. I quite enjoyed its pairing with the Ether C, think it played well with that headphone's signature the most. Sometimes I regret cancelling my preorder....
 
Ether C: Seemed to be an improvement over the Alpha Dog/Prime line, and a pretty solid closed back. It was maybe a tad hot in the treble, but the LC pairing seemed to do a lot of good for this headphone. Nice wide soundstage, and it did Take 5 plenty of justice
 
 
Krell Clone: didn't catch the owner's screen name, but this thing was awesome. Reminded me of the Audio GD amps, authoritative bass for days.
 
Modded TH900: I was surprised, this modded pair seemed to fix some of the midrange issues I heard in the stock form (I'm not too fond of the stock version myself). Definitely an improvement to my ears, well done!
 
Pinnacle P1: Very interesting IEM, and takes a load more power than you would think. Loved the build quality, especially the cable and the tips. The sound felt kind of mid bassy and warm to me, and there was a tiny bit of mid range haziness, but it was a pleasing listen overall. I'd be curious to see how these perform with foam tips. The owner of the P1 was an awesome guy, too. Sick DIY tube amp!

 

[sc53]

I wish I'd been able to attend--looks like I would have been the only female, and quite possibly the oldest attendee! I had to go out of town but will travel to MD or elsewhere in VA next time. I'd love to bring some of my tube amps and newer phones. i also have an older dual mono Rudistor that is the best solid state amp I have. Not sure how people lug fragile tube stuff to meets, but I'll get advice for the next one. Do you bring power strips? Is there wifi at meets for streaming Tidal or other services?
BTW I just today took delivery of Senn HD 800S from Headroom. Had to work from home so I could sign for the box. Wow, these are amazing phones. I love my 650s and new PM-1's but these are .... Luscious sounding. Using Woo WA3 and Darkvoice amps so far. I will bring them to next meet!

 

[TimeLord]

I wish I'd been able to attend--looks like I would have been the only female, and quite possibly the oldest attendee! I had to go out of town but will travel to MD or elsewhere in VA next time. I'd love to bring some of my tube amps and newer phones. i also have an older dual mono Rudistor that is the best solid state amp I have. Not sure how people lug fragile tube stuff to meets, but I'll get advice for the next one. Do you bring power strips? Is there wifi at meets for streaming Tidal or other services?
BTW I just today took delivery of Senn HD 800S from Headroom. Had to work from home so I could sign for the box. Wow, these are amazing phones. I love my 650s and new PM-1's but these are .... Luscious sounding. Using Woo WA3 and Darkvoice amps so far. I will bring them to next meet!

We'd love to have you at the next meet. Had you made this meet, you would not have been the only female; I think we had at least 3 ladies attend.

As for lugging tube amps, I disassemble it, carefully packing away the tubes, then reassemble at the meet.

Power supply is an issue, so please bring a power strip. I don't think we had wifi available, though I could be wrong since we were in a library.

Enjoy you HD800s and be sure to comment on your observations.

 

[Barry S]

I wish I'd been able to attend--looks like I would have been the only female, and quite possibly the oldest attendee! I had to go out of town but will travel to MD or elsewhere in VA next time. I'd love to bring some of my tube amps and newer phones. i also have an older dual mono Rudistor that is the best solid state amp I have. Not sure how people lug fragile tube stuff to meets, but I'll get advice for the next one. Do you bring power strips? Is there wifi at meets for streaming Tidal or other services?
BTW I just today took delivery of Senn HD 800S from Headroom. Had to work from home so I could sign for the box. Wow, these are amazing phones. I love my 650s and new PM-1's but these are .... Luscious sounding. Using Woo WA3 and Darkvoice amps so far. I will bring them to next meet!

The library has wifi and some of use streaming services, including Tidal. We lug a lot of heavy gear--removing the tubes is a good idea. I always bring a cart and am happy to help transport from anyone's car to the meeting room. Congrats on the HD800S--would love to hear your impressions once you have it for a bit. It was a big hit at the meet and I'd love to add it to my stable.

 

[jafnvaegi]

  Pinnacle P1: Very interesting IEM, and takes a load more power than you would think. Loved the build quality, especially the cable and the tips. The sound felt kind of mid bassy and warm to me, and there was a tiny bit of mid range haziness, but it was a pleasing listen overall. I'd be curious to see how these perform with foam tips. The owner of the P1 was an awesome guy, too. Sick DIY tube amp!

It was great to meet you as well and I hope you can make it to the next meet!  The P1 is a bit lacking in subbass extension and there's a little hump in the midbass as a result, so depending on the track that aspect can be more noticeable...overall it's still on the warmer side of neutral.  I think the haze is likely due to a slight dip in the upper mids, which I've found positive in aiding with fatigue for longer listening sessions and isn't overly detrimental.  It's definitely a unique signature and surprisingly a resolution monster for how smooth it is in the upper mids and treble.  Glad you enjoyed them!  I'll have to give different tips and foams more ear time, I know how much that can change things.

 

[GrindingThud]

For my WA3 mod, I pull the tubes, box, and stick in a tackle box with my other loose tubes. I bubble wrap the amp and stick in a rollabout suitcase (carryon type) with my other amps, cords, and connectors. Haedphones go in a duffle bag. Setup is quick and I sometimes roll tubes during the meet. Would love to hear the Darkvoice.
@TheChillburger - I'm the one with clones / Gilmore SS stuff....

"These ARE the clones you're looking for"

I wish I'd been able to attend--looks like I would have been the only female, and quite possibly the oldest attendee! I had to go out of town but will travel to MD or elsewhere in VA next time. I'd love to bring some of my tube amps and newer phones. i also have an older dual mono Rudistor that is the best solid state amp I have. Not sure how people lug fragile tube stuff to meets, but I'll get advice for the next one. Do you bring power strips? Is there wifi at meets for streaming Tidal or other services?
BTW I just today took delivery of Senn HD 800S from Headroom. Had to work from home so I could sign for the box. Wow, these are amazing phones. I love my 650s and new PM-1's but these are .... Luscious sounding. Using Woo WA3 and Darkvoice amps so far. I will bring them to next meet!

 

[omrcz]

  Oh god I'm in Reston I had no idea this was going down.  
 
Going to have to pay attention next time looks like this was a lot of fun.

I'm in Reston too, I will let you know next meeting and maybe we can share the ride. I believe there's one coming up on April but it's mostly gear display, not so much greet and meet as far as I could understand. I'm new to these circles.

 
The library has wifi and some of use streaming services, including Tidal.
 

It did have wifi. It was just trickier to setup because in every Fairfax library you have to authenticate your connection and comply with their terms via browser, even if your wifi connectivity says that it is active. And even if in the first try you didn't get any website showing you the terms of use agreement.

I know this because it happened to me a couple of times while dual booting OS and I noticed people with the wifi connection active but their tidal/spotify was not usable.