[kendavis]

Thanks to a private discussion with @sheldaze, I heard about and plan to be at the Chantilly Mini-Meet next week. I plan to bring most of the items that I have and hope to listen to or audition a number of Items I'm considering. I will add that I'm willing to sell or trade just about all of the listed items (with the possible exception of the Sennheiser HD800 headphones). Apparently I have not posted enough to be able to post in the classifieds so I hope that saying this does not constitute too egregious an abuse of protocol.
 
My Headphones :
Sennheiser HD800, Grado PS1000e, Grado SR325, Sennheiser HD202, Bose SoundTrue On-Ear Headphones
 
Sources & Amplifiers:
Sennheiser HDVD800, Schiit Asgard 2, Lyr 2, Bifrost Uber Analog USB Gen 2, Meridian Direct DAC (gen 1), Meridian Explorer (gen 1)
 
I also plan to bring my NAD C 516BEE CD player and the miscellaneous complement of cables that I now use
 
In general, I listen to classical (often older recordings) and I'm really hoping to, over time, listen and mix and match components until I find a combo that will make my recordings "sing". This may be a futile pursuit, but I haven't given up yet.
 
What I'm interested in hearing or at least hearing about:
DNA amps 
Cavalli amps
HiFiMan HE1000 headphones
Maybe compare my HD800 with the HD800S
(any other components, including cable upgrades, that the wise Head-Fi folks in attendance might recommend)
 
Looking forward to seeing some of you there.
 
BTW, In case anyone is interested, I'll mention here that Crutchfield is selling factory refurbished HD800s for $999: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_143HD800R/Sennheiser-HD-800-Factory-Refurbished.html?cc=01

 

[sheldaze]

Offline conversation taken online - I am quite interested in hearing the HDVD800 per my solid-state quest, rekindled due to my recent sale of Liquid Carbon. The person standing next to me at the last meet also had a Carbon, though I have not seen anything from @Serenitty recently. So, unless @Barry S or @yage somehow snuck onto the Cavalli tour, I think we will not have representation. 
 
As mentioned, I can bring Bifrost 4490, boxed. I suggest pinging @gandhisfist too in case his Multibit is not sold. You could bypass the DAC in your amplifier, and thus enabling a comparison of the Uber, 4490, and Multibit, to see if there are any significant sonic gains there.
 
::
 
I'm primarily bringing Chord Mojo, Linear Tube Audio MicroZOTL2 w/ upgraded Linear Power Supply, HiFiMan HE1000 and Sennheiser HD800S. I'll also bring the DNA Sonett - but as I mentioned, this amplifier is currently pending a trade negotiation. So I'm not going to hold onto it once the trade completes.

 

[Kloss69]

George Mason was my first meet.  Lots of nice, fun enthusiasts.  Hoping to make it to the mini-meet.
 
Thanks to everyone for sharing the equipment and info.  Special thanks to gandhisfist for all the headphones, adapters and answers to my questions.  Also to sheldaze for providing the Hifiman HE1000 quality time while he was boxing up.

 

[sheldaze]

  George Mason was my first meet.  Lots of nice, fun enthusiasts.  Hoping to make it to the mini-meet.
 
Thanks to everyone for sharing the equipment and info.  Special thanks to gandhisfist for all the headphones, adapters and answers to my questions.  Also to sheldaze for providing the Hifiman HE1000 quality time while he was boxing up.

Welcome to Head-Fi, proper...no more lurking. We see you now 

 

[smitty1110]

MINI-MEET is happening Saturday, April 2. Noon to 5 pm. Chantilly Regional Libray, 4000 Stringfellow Rd, Chantilly VA. Conference room.
What?! On the theory of "it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission", I just now reserved the room since there were very few library rooms available in the near future. Sorry to do this without consultation. Can cancel the room if it really doesn't work for y'all.

 
****, I can't make it, I'm traveling then. On the bright side I will certainly make it to CAF (I've blocked off the whole event on my calendar), so if we have a meet then I'll bring the BHSE for everyone to hear.

 

[yage]

  So, unless @Barry S or @yage somehow snuck onto the Cavalli tour, I think we will not have representation.

 
Yes, this happened... in my wildest dreams!

 
(Okay, so maybe not my wildest exactly...)
 
I'll be there for sure with DNA Sonett 2 + Ayre QB-9 DSD + Audeze LCD-XC / HD 600's.
 
East Coast seems to get no love when it comes to Cavalli... sigh.

 

[sheldaze]

  I'll be there for sure with DNA Sonett 2 + Ayre QB-9 DSD + Audeze LCD-XC / HD 600's.
 
East Coast seems to get no love when it comes to Cavalli... sigh.

30 seconds of listening - I do it a lot at the meets. I did it on the Ayre Codex, Oppo HA-1, and Linear Tube Audio MicroZOTL2, which I bought after my 30 seconds of listening. And I'm quite happy with it. So I think you can often glean a lot in 30 seconds.
 
But when I listen at home, I usually try 30 minutes to warm myself up to a particular setup, and follow with a nice 3 hour session (or longer) to really firm up my opinion. And I'm starting to latch onto the idea now that I'll accept solid-state at a utility level for short time during travel, but I really want to hear some tubes if I'm sitting down for a longer session at home, in front of a headphone amplifier or otherwise.
 
As I sit, listening to Pono again, I am audibly reminded of the Codex from the last mini-meet (and I hope not to draw offense from either political party present by also saying I am reminded of the Oppo HA-1 from the last big meet). And all I can think is how great a starting point these are, and how happy I would be throwing each in front of a tube (yes, I know Pono has a line output, but I'm going somewhere else with this train wreck, or I've just lost you completely - either way, my looping thoughts are coming to an end).
 
How much danger is there that I'm likely to like the QB-9 DSD?
How do we listen to our own 30 seconds of music through the DAC at the mini-meet - have you tried to use a phone into the USB port on the QB-9 DSD? I'm thinking just my iPhone and CCK should work, but I'm wondering if you know if it would work?

 

[kendavis]

Regarding the Mini-Meet... Would it be useful to bring my own folding table or are tables likely to be provided?

 

[gandhisfist]

@sheldaze It's funny you mention that first 30 seconds being enough.  I also find that quite often, i have immediate first impressions in that 30 second window that I then spend hours questioning only to come back to the original conclusions i made in those first 30 seconds.
 
WRT wanting tubes at home, I can certainly understand wanting and preferring that tube sound, but I've sort of gone the other way.  I also think its interesting that you mention the Oppo HA-1 and the Pono player when citing solid state options.  I hope I don't offend anyone by saying that I find both to have that sort of brighter, very unforgiving, and maybe even harsh qualities that are typically talked about when talking about solid state amplification vs tube amplification.  However I don't think all solid state amplifiers are equal and there are some that have a hint of that characteristic tube smoothness.  What did you think of the Cavalli Liquid Carbon in your time with it?  Would you still say you prefer tubes?  I wish I had gotten a chance to check out any of the DNA amps at the last meet, but it was just so busy I never got the chance to try anything other than Scott's BH Crack with Speedball.  Also curious if you had a chance to check out any of my source gear, as I find it's solid state without the stereotypical harsh or analytical type of sound.

 

[Psalmanazar]

I agree with the first impressions are often the long term impressions though sometimes time is the only way to get a feel for what is "wrong" with certain euphonic gear that seems initially promising. Also long listening sessions sometimes reveal inner harshness.

I can attend the mini-meet. Hopefully I won't think it's on Sunday. My current upgrade goal is to kill the feedback steel and slight glare in my desktop chain without adding much more warmth (if any) than I already have in my HD 650s.

 

[willsw]

Wanting to attend the mini-meet but I'm a non-driver and already subjected my girlfriend to the not-mini-meet. If anyone is leaving from within DC (I'm near Logan Circle) and has room in their car, I could bring a Metrum Musette, Ether-Cs, LCD-4s (I'll mention here that these are all borrowed in some fashion - I don't quite have this budget), none of which I had for the last meet, and if people wanted I could bring a second MicroZOTL2 (stock power supply) and a second set of HE1000s. And from stuff I had or others had at the meet: the ZMF Omnis could come back, a nice old non-S HD800, Fostex TH-600s, Beyer T1, JVC SZ2000s. I'd also  most-likely be able to bring a set of LCD-3s and an EL-8 open, if anyone specifically wanted to try those. But all of this is carpool-dependent. 

 

[gandhisfist]

@willsw  PM me, I'm sure we can work something out.  I'd really love to check out the LCD-4.
 
Edit: and the Omni's I missed at the last meet.

 

[willsw]

Mr. gandhisfist could possibly find a roundabout way of picking up the LCD-4s and their retainer, and returning them to some rough proximity of their home, but he's not quite ideally located. If anyone is minimally inconvenienced (is in DC or could easily make my locale on their way) I'd be happy to give gas money and not comment on any music played in the car. PM me if you are.
 
Got a ride, see you there.

 

[sheldaze]

I'm East of the city, and would need to pass-thru (originally around) the city to head West.
Let me get situated today, and take a look at a map. I'll PM you a little later this morning.
 
And get back to @gandhisfist 's post and questions...

 

[yage]

Originally Posted by sheldaze /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
As I sit, listening to Pono again, I am audibly reminded of the Codex from the last mini-meet...

 
I think you're on point there. When I listened to the Pono in balanced mode, it was incredibly good and quite similar in sound quality to the Codex - now there's another comparison I'd like to make! When I had a chance to borrow the Pono for a Head-Fi meet and could listen to it at home, I thought single-ended operation was a little soft and lacking some dynamic punch, but I wouldn't hesitate to use it as a source in balanced mode at least in a headphone setup. (Didn't get to listen to it on the stereo.)
 

 
How much danger is there that I'm likely to like the QB-9 DSD?
How do we listen to our own 30 seconds of music through the DAC at the mini-meet - have you tried to use a phone into the USB port on the QB-9 DSD? I'm thinking just my iPhone and CCK should work, but I'm wondering if you know if it would work?

 
Since the QB-9 DSD is pretty much a sonic twin of the C-5 in nearly all respects, you'll probably find it to sound a bit different than the Codex, if you were to listen back-to-back. Is it a good kind of different? Well, I happen to like both. You know how Jason Stoddard can listen to the entire Schiit lineup and be satisfied - that neatly sums up my experience with Ayre's electronics.
 
The problem in interfacing with the QB-9 is that the manual does not recommend a USB hub to sit between the PC (or phone in this case) and the DAC. The REGEN works without a hitch and you can consider that a powered hub, so I guess YMMV. I haven't tried it with my phone yet.