Highlights and impressions from the meet for me:
This always sounds cheesy, but the people I met there was the big highlight. I have never been to a headphone meet before, and while I've visited Stereo Stereo a few times before, it wasn't with other people. My headphone journey has mostly involved online interactions, so being able to chat and demo things in person and share impressions on the spot was an amazing experience.
The highlight headphone was the Audeze CRBN. Having 2 high-end non-Stax electrostatics together for a demo was a delight. I think the CRBN and the Shangri-La Jr are the electrostatic embodiments of Audeze's and Hifiman's respective house sounds. The CRBN is very much an electrostatic Audeze, with the new Audeze sound that debut in the LCD-5 that is. It's a bassy electrostat. Its punch is similar to that of the other Audeze's I've tried. Sort of similar in quality to the MM-500 I think. You definitely notice the weight of each bass note, and I think it's a relatively unique trait among electrostatics. Vocals on the CRBN are very upfront and emphasized, which gives vocal performance a more intimate feel. I think the CRBN can get a little bit shouty at times, with vocals sometimes being undesirably strident, a trait that is shared with the MM500. It's not nearly as tonally off as the Stax SR-L700mk2 though, just a bit aggressive or strident. I think the treble is where the CRBN doesn't do as well as some other electrostats I've tried. It's not as mellow as the LCD-X's treble, but the X had smooth treble, while the CRBN has a bit of graininess to its treble presentation.
CRBN vs. Shangri-La Jr is the matchup I've been looking forward to testing, and I think they're a good contrast. The CRBN wins in bass quantity and punch. The Jr has a lot of texture and detail in the bass (and it's something that I think the added punch of the CRBN can detract from), but it lacks the quantity and weight that the CRBN has. I described to a friend that the Jr's bass slaps, while the CRBN's bass punches. The Jr's bass is sharp, snappy, and incisive, like a quick slap, but it lacks the weight of the CRBN's bass punch. The Jr has a somewhat withdrawn midrange (rare on electrostats but common on Hifimans) compared to the forward midrange on the CRBN, so it has a larger soundstage and voices don't get shouty as they do on the CRBN, but are thinner and somewhat "breathy", like singers are tightening their vocal cords more than usual when singing. The Jr's treble is bright, well-extended, and very smooth. To my ear, it lacks the graininess that could sometimes be heard on the CRBN. The Jr still reigns supreme when it comes to treble for me; I have not found another headphone that produces better treble than the Shangri-La Jr.
I caught some conversation about the CRBN and Jr when others were demoing them, and it seemed like some people (likely the majority) preferred the CRBN while others preferred the Jr. I agree with the common opinion that the CRBN is like a planar-like electrostatic, and an Audeze-planar-like electrostatic at that. The Jr is an electrostatic Hifiman, and I think it does the treble better than the other Hifimans I've tried. There's a place and an audience for both headphones, and that's great.
Ok, now on to other headphones:
HEDD Audio HEDDphone: This was an interesting experience, and overall my impression was that it shared some traits with the CRBN. It had very punch bass and what seemed like an emphasized midrange. I heard it off of the Ferrum Oor rather than the other amp that it was originally connected to. It's a very chonky headphone.
Audeze MM500: I was kind of disappointed in this one. I think the LCD-X 2021 is better. The clamp force is significantly higher on the MM and the ear cup opening is smaller, so the comfort suffers. The midrange also has that stridency that appeared on the CRBN.
Fostex TH-900mk2 Sapphire Blue with non-stock pads: Thanks to
@XGeneX88 for providing this one. It's very light and comfortable, the blue earcups are striking, and it does vocals very well. It reminds me of the vocals on an Audio Technica A-series closed-back headphone, and I mean that as high praise, as the vocals are forward (but not shouty/strident) and lifelike. The problem was the bass. It's bassy, but the bass emphasis was in the wrong place. It made the impact of deep bass notes softer than I expected. In one of my reference tracks, the main bass notes should have a texture a bit like driving over railroad tracks - "bum-bum" - but the TH-900 Sapphire made it feel like driving over a long speed hump - "bomm-bomm". The bass was prominent, but lacking in immediacy and impact, at least in that song.
Sennheiser HD820: Thanks to
@Evshrug for bringing this along. Unfortunately, my opinion of this headphone has gone down with this longer demo. When I demoed it earlier this year, I thought it sounded a thin, but overall fine. With this longer session, I found a few more places where I thought the HD820 was lacking. It started to sound more hollow than thin, and hollow is not good in my book. The treble was also more obviously uneven, and in one song where there's an upper treble synth fuzz, what should sound like pink noise sounded more like rain hitting a metal roof on the HD820. The bass was fine though, and enjoyable. The soundstage was also very wide, especially for a closed back. It sounds wider than many open backs. It's lightweight and comfortable. It still sounds fine overall, but definitely on the lower end of the "fine" range. I think some of the sound issues I had this time may be due to source pairings. I listened to it on the Singxer SA-1, while my previous demo was on an iFi Zen amp. iFi stuff tends to be warmer I think, and it may be a better synergy with the HD820. I should have listened to it on the iDSD, but didn't get around to it.
Beyerdynamic DT1990 Pro: Ssssizzling. There's too much treble and in the wrong places for my ears. I like elevated treble in general, but the treble peaks here were like a barber's electric razor being held against my ear. Or like that mosquito ringtone that was popular when I was in grade school.
Not a headphone, but a special mention to the Singxer SA-1: while I don't think it paired well with the HD820, I thought it worked very well with my Aeon 2 Closed/Noire (it's the Closed with perforated pads to make it sound like the Noire). I've never heard the Aeon 2 be as punchy in the bass as it was off of the SA-1. I think the Aeons must benefit from Class A amplification, possibly due to their high current demands.
But enough of regrets! Seems like there is a good chance for “next time!”
