ianmedium
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2008
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From Mike's impressions, they may be grunts of pleasure instead of thoughts.
Ya know, I know what you mean
From Mike's impressions, they may be grunts of pleasure instead of thoughts.
Oh I'm not offended.
I've been eyeing the DACmini PX and matching speakers for some time as a kill three birds with one stone desktop system. But this is way too OT.
At left, James is lending us his brass Piano Forte VIII (a.k.a. dc-1602), and at right, the older dc-1601, in stainless steel.
Today is as good as any to announce that James444 has very generously initiated and equipped a demo tour of not one but two Final Audio Design earphones, circulating them to a few, very fortunate recipients he has invited to the tour, for our listening pleasure!
At left, James is lending us his brass Piano Forte VIII (a.k.a. dc-1602), and at right, the older dc-1601, in stainless steel.
As you might imagine, I was flabbergasted when I first received his invitation - I even turned it down initially, but somehow regained my senses and accepted, to my great delight when they arrived a week ago.
I've since forwarded them to another lucky Head-Fi member, who should be receiving them today. I'll let him identify himself at his discretion.
By the way, I did secure James' permission to announce this tour that he has organized, so that I could post my impressions of the gear, but I would like to remind everyone, not at his asking, but from my own concern for his welfare, that this tour is by invitation. I'm not without empathy for those who would like to be included in the tour, but I'm also concerned for James' peace of mind, should he be deluged with requests by PM. Thus, my reminder (not his) that the tour is by his invitation only. Lucky me.
And now, on to my impressions, which I have to admit, have gone through quite an evolution during the week that I've had the PFs...
I feel somewhat embarrassed sharing that late-night first reaction, publicly - mostly because it's so full of superlatives and I've since realized that it was a typical premature assessment, exhibiting the rush of emotion that can automatically accompany a new piece of gear that has an unfamiliar and thoroughly unique sound.
That said, I'm still in love with the Piano Forte VIII, but as a man who feels he needs at least one reference headphone that's linear in frequency response (for the most part), transparent, highly resolving, etc., I have to say that I cannot now imagine myself selling my LCD-2 to fund the purchase of a PF VIII. I, for one, have a love of neutral, transparent transducers that eschew warmth and color. I want to know that I'm hearing everything just as it was intended when mastered, adding as little as possible to the sound that's of my own doing.
That does not prevent me from saying, however, that I dearly want the PF VIII. For those of you who have never heard them, and for lack of my having had much experience with a lot of other headphones, I still feel it somewhat accurate to equate them to the Ultrasone Pro 900. While the Pro 900 and the PF VIII are only remotely similar, they are much more so than the LCD-2 and the PF VIII. That which they have in common is an intense coloration that is very, very appealing. They are both anything but neutral, but where the Pro 900 has that same, intense fun-factor, it's a bull in the china shop compared to the eloquent presentation offered by the PF VIII - a chain saw vs. a Samurai sword. I'm talking about the precision and finesse, smoothness and transparency that greatly distinguishes the PF VIII from the Pro 900, while nevertheless emulating much of the coloration that makes them so musical and fun.
Where the Ultrasone Pro 900 is comparatively brutish and heavy-handed in its attempt to reproduce music, the PF VIII is making music - like a duet of gossamer-winged fairies whispering in your ears! As poetic as I strive to be, here, I can say there is not one shred of hyperbole in stating it this way. It's metaphoric, of course, but the PF VIII is completely deserving of my choice of words! They do what they do so effortlessly, with a presentation that is spectacularly transparent (as grainless as natural vision is in comparison to a newspaper photo) yet boldly, even courageously deviant - in the most wholesome interpretation of that word - yes, courageously deviant from the ubiquitous pursuit of neutrality - all to affect a making of music that sounds real, even surreal rather than reproduced, abandoning neutrality to make a statement that goes beyond reality - to a place engineered by the PF's designer with a level of craftsmanship and artistry akin to that of a sword smith - a place like nothing else these ears have heard before. Seriously.
The PFs are amazing and I consider them to be a tremendous value, despite the cost of acquisition. I can say that while currently lacking the funds to take the plunge myself.
I've already thanked James profusely several times for making this opportunity available to me, but again, I must say, "Thank you, James!"
Well... I've run out of time for the moment - it's off to work I must go
More later,
Mike
[Edit: Changed the word "reducer" to "transducer."]
Mike, UD100 is about 2Vrms output. It is definitely louder than the iPod Classic out.
I usually use the UD100 + Stepdance + PF IX near the very bottom of the Stepdance volume control (although my Stepdance was adjusted down 6dB by Jan to unity gain, same as the 2Stepdance and Quickstep.) Foobar also allows for Keyboard Shortcuts that are Global Hotkeys (i.e. still work if another application is on top such as a web browser). So I have Ctrl + arrow keys available at all times if volume is too loud: Left = lower by 1dB, Right = increase by 1dB, Down = drop to exactly -6dB. Up = return to 0dB.
Of course digital lowering of volume is not ideal as it reduces bit depth. It is nice to have when I need it which is not very often.
For a relatively low impedance at 16-ohm, did Stepdance sound significantly different with internal 9V batteries versus external batteries @ 12V / 15V by any chance?
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