[Orcin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shellylh /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would gladly trade everything for a pabbi1's CA 840c + Blue Hawaii + HE6!

This was truly outstanding. So was the Muse + KGSS + Koss ES950. I was talking to someone about these rigs, and we were wondering what impact the source had. Was the Cambridge better than the Muse? It would have been interesting to switch them around to see. Needless to say, we didn't have time for that either.



Quote:

Originally Posted by shellylh /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have wanted to build a really nice amp myself (and not electrocute myself in the process).

Better keep luvdunhill away from it.

Ok Marc, seriously that's the last time I bring this up. Until the next time I see you.

 

[Orcin]

More random thoughts from the meet:

Portable rigs are clearly not popular among our age group. Those of who travel might have one, but I think many people are opting for the straight dap to IEM route.

We had a great discussion at dinner about Luminette's recent controversial thread on the portable amp forum. Most people agreed with the points in the thread, and one thing that kept coming up was how we can waste a lot of money in this hobby chasing things that we can't quantify.

Sources at a meet are one thing you can't overdo. We could have used a few more, but we made do. Most people want to bring their music on CD's, so a CD transport or good player is very handy to demo your rig.

One thing that I learned at the meet was that a good CD player can be equal to or better than a good DAC/transport. See the Cambridge 840C, for example. If I didn't want to have USB so badly, I might be looking for a better CD player instead of my DAC. But then I would miss another tube rolling slot, so nah.

 

[s1rrah]

One thing we might consider introducing to following meets is having what could be called, "an hour of silence" ...

That is ... a single hour wherein everyone agrees to talk very little or only in lowered voices so at least some real critical listening can occur.

Considering the amount of open headphones and the totally understandable party like atmosphere that an exciting get together equals ... it can at times be difficult to really hear the gear over the general revelry.

Don't get me wrong ...

I loved everything about the meet but I did find myself wishing for an isolation room of sorts so as to really hear certain bits of gear.

I'm willing to clam up for an hour next meet, myself. Just an idea ... has any meet ever addressed the noise level issue or is it just par for the course?

Maybe we can get kydsid to bring in some of his CIA friends to be enforcers!

LOL.

 

[Maxvla]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pabbi1 Wouldn't have happened without him, though the annual Dallas meet will be in January.

Is there a thread on this yet? I might be able to make Dallas from OKC, but Houston was too far. Thanks!

 

[Happy Camper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by s1rrah /img/forum/go_quote.gif One thing we might consider introducing to following meets is having what could be called, "an hour of silence" ... That is ... a single hour wherein everyone agrees to talk very little or only in lowered voices so at least some real critical listening can occur. Considering the amount of open headphones and the totally understandable party like atmosphere that an exciting get together equals ... it can at times be difficult to really hear the gear over the general revelry. Don't get me wrong ... I loved everything about the meet but I did find myself wishing for an isolation room of sorts so as to really hear certain bits of gear. I'm willing to clam up for an hour next meet, myself. Just an idea ... has any meet ever addressed the noise level issue or is it just par for the course? Maybe we can get kydsid to bring in some of his CIA friends to be enforcers! LOL.

We had a mini meet in a hospital chapel conference room. Very quiet. The room was well dampened. Lighting was less than a hotel conference room. Made for a peaceful meet.

 

[luvdunhill]

everyone! I just created a thread that you might be interested in participating in!

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f6/let...7/#post4908975

 

[s1rrah]

BTW:

@ Wareagle (charles) ...

Thank you so much for turning me on to that tragic and lovely Leonard Cohen song, "Alexandra Leaving".

My god.

I've always been a fan of Leonard Cohen (in a pop sense) ... "Suzzanne," etc. ...

But "Alexandra Leaving" is one lovely and sweet and utterly gut wrenching bit.

I've listened to it about 15 times since yesterday.

Sounded fine fine fine on your Stax setup.

Thanks again.

[size=large]CHECK IT HERE.[/size]

Best.

.joel

 

[pabbi1]

Meets, in my experience, are terrible places for critical listening for more reasons than just noise (strange environment, vibration, power, temperature, yada), but, after all, they are as much social events as anything... silence is a good goal, just, perhaps, beyond possible at a meet. The logistics also do not favor getting to listen to all the things you'd like to critically during that dedicated time - were that were not the case, but it can give you a guide to things you may wish to pursue. Heck, I had 6 hours with 3 amps and 4 phones, and could not get good comparisons then, without keeping everyone else from listening at all.

Hence, when I want to not worry about ambient commotion, simply turn it up...

No idea why the other thread was locked, but the DVD was located - amazing what you find when unpacking everything.

OK, back to DIY - time to mod the Blue Hawaii.

 

[bjarnetv]

this thread needs more fostex T50 impressions

 

[s1rrah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bjarnetv /img/forum/go_quote.gif this thread needs more fostex T50 impressions

My impression (I'm sure you read my first post): I want them.

 

[wareagle69]

Joel, glad you liked the Leonard Cohen song. It's one of my favorite headphone tunes. The music unfolds in layers with each verse, and sounds amazing through any set of cans I've ever played it on.

There have been many eloquent posts about the meet, so I will simply say that meeting the people, and the chance to hear an amazing collection of gear, especially the high-end electrostatic rigs was a great experience. This will have the unfortunate consequence of hurting my wallet even more, cause I gotta travel up the electrostatic food chain now.

Special mention for MJM58's unique combination of tubes and solid state. This was a setup that was especially seductive for me. It is obvious that Michael took a lot of time and thought to put together a system with outstanding synergy. It delivered musical enjoyment in spades.

My thanks to Orcin for all the work he put in to make this happen. To shellylh for sharing interconnects and the switchbox, many thanks, and to the guys from Dallas, Austin and Port Aransas for making the trip with an impressive array of toys.

 

[wareagle69]

More pictures here:

wareagle69 - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

 

[Orcin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wareagle69 /img/forum/go_quote.gif My thanks to Orcin for all the work he put in to make this happen.

And my thanks to you for pointing me to Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" on the AKG K701's. My wallet is not happy about it, but I am!


P.S. Nice pics.

 

[s1rrah]

BTW: In the spirit of turning folks on to good music ...

Check this PM I just sent to Orcin (Ken) ... regarding NiN's "24 Ghosts" ... which is a continuously free and downloadable album (in very high quality .FLACS, no less!) ...

...

Quote:

Hey Ken ... Regarding my comments about NiN's "24 Ghosts" release ... (which you may or may not recall) ... It occured to me today that this CD/release was actually released *for free* by NiN and as a downloadable set of .FLACs. I went ahead and ordered the option involving $$$ because I wanted the CD and liner notes and all that, but as an original release ... NiN made the .FLACs available for totally free (let me know and I"ll send you the .PDF of the liner notes and the very very fine photographic content featured in the same). Anyway ... I'm just not a big NiN fan, as I mentioned on Saturday ... but "24 Ghosts", being a collaborative effort that includes some fairly notorious electronica/ambient legends ... and having no vocal tracks at all ... I couldn't help but check it out. And after the fact, ... I'm quite happy that I did. All that said ... Anyone and everyone can still download all the .FLACs from "24 Ghosts." It's totally free and legit and legal (and worth the time to download!) [size=large]Download NiN's, "24 Ghosts"[/size] That's the URL for downloading from the Internet Archive site. Those files were actually made available by the band, themselves. Anyway ... Thought I'd recommend you check the tracks out as they are truly fun and exceptional. Makes for great "set it and forget it" background music for any occasion, really. Not enough fun and free music out there IMHO. And to get very high quality .FLACs, from NiN no less, is exceptional to the, er, "Nth". Thought you might like to peruse. Best... .joel

...

It's a fun thing to listen to at times.

 

[swt61]

Just now getting time to sit and check in on this thread. Today was crazy hectic, but I wanted to post before calling it a day.

This was a fantastic meet! I actually listened to some other peoples gear for a change.

The venue was superb, as were the host and attending members. Can't say I've ever had more fun at a meet.

Great gear as you've no doubt seen already. I'll check my pics for redundancy tomorrow and post any that might be worthwhile.

The bonfire with all the members was the highlight of the meet. Standing shoulder to shoulder roasting marshmallows while singing Kum Ba Yah was great fun, even if the flames were coming from my β22.

It was fun to get to hear the Colossus for her virgin spin too. Thanks for all the help there Marc!

Orcin I can't thank you enough for the vinyl! I'm already getting ideas for your stand kind sir.

More tomorrow, must sleep.