[thrice]

Well I'm up now so I might as well post some impressions:

First off....Florida crew: you guys rock the llama. I'm having a blast. Big thanks to Mike for hosting and organizing.... we can push his buttons sometimes but it's all out of love, so stop whining Mike

It's funny, but boomana had some of the best portable amps there...ah life's little ironies. I really shouldn't comment on amps being an MOT, but I'll say this: The Head-Fi community has some impressive portable amps currently available and in the works...Justin and Ray's Pico and Predator amps represented themselves well.

So I recables jp's Grado HP2 with the Equinox and man oh man did it sound great. It's probably due to the 4-pin XLR more than anything else

I also reterminated his RS-1....those headphones scale to balanced amps really well, those and the HD650 really surprise me with how much better they do with a balanced amp.

I came to the meet to make a decision about the HD600 and HD650.... which to buy (I've owned the 600 twice now) and I made my decision. I got one constructive thing done this weekend. While I love the 600 I'm thinking that the 650 is going to be the next purchase so I'm looking forward to that.

The Wavelength Cosecant sounds great through the Woo and I had the Hertsens DAC hooked up to my rig. Thanks for sending that down to us Nate. For those who don't know, the Hertsens DAC is the MAX DAC modules Headroom sells and Nate cased them up to be a standalone DAC. It sounded quite good.

I got a short ride in the Atom, Thanks Wayne. But sadly the weather forced the Atom into it's trailer. That's one hell of a car. It was a lot of fun.

Geez, aren't you guys ready for breakfast yet? Get up and somebody stop Nightwoundstime from snoring.

 

[The Monkey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Voltron /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sorry Vincent, that is just a Manley SkipJack. Marcus, aka MFueger, uses this high-end switchbox to listen to multiple amps out of the same source. I've been thinking of buying one for a couple years and using it makes me want one even more. Very nice piece of kit.

Ah, thanks Al. I've read about the SkipJack. Cool device.

 

[Voltron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by boomana /img/forum/go_quote.gif

[size=large]Darth Numbers?[/size]

 

[Voltron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thrice /img/forum/go_quote.gif Geez, aren't you guys ready for breakfast yet? Get up and somebody stop Nightwoundstime from snoring.

I'm hungry. Did you guys get your act together over there yet?

 

[n_maher]

We demand breakfast impressions!

 

[bhd812]

hey Florida..wake up and walk off last nights fun cause you guys have spam in the canjam section..go delete it!

Slackers, I just cleaned up my bar earlier..now i got to clean this up?


Jeezzzz

(post some impressions!!!!)

 

[Voltron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by n_maher /img/forum/go_quote.gif We demand breakfast impressions!

Vicki's order took up 3 pages on the waitress's pad.

Aaron Samuels sent back his eggs.

The waitress is in love with Stephen.

My egg scramble was balanced and had a very low noise floor.

 

[oicdn]

Hopefully the eggs didn't fall on the floor, lol.

 

[jp11801]

ok here is the fast break impression that I have of the Predator and the Pico.

We were able to hear the Predator early as Ray came in Friday night and it sounded good, much like the hornet sound charateristics. But at this point we had no point of reference as we did not stack it up against an Imod we were too busy getting our party on.

Saturday at the meet both Justin and Ray were gracious enough to allow us to A/B each DAC/Amp on Voltron's Apple macbook.

The predator as previously stated was punchy and had that RSA signature sound that many love. Good bass and sold mids with a stage that went ear to ear not much back and front stage though. If you love Ray's sound you are gonna love this DAC.
The pico had more of a hifi/refined sound, the soundstage went well past the ears and there was more stage depth in a 3D sense. I found it an incredibley nuetral device that worked well with the Grado HP2s and RS1s I was using it with. I did not detect and rise or dip in frequency response. All in all if I was going to be buying a DAC/Amp the pico would be my choice. I could be happy with either device and both performed well and as intended and are made by two of our best MOTs. You could not go wrong with either device but if you like a refined sound the Pico is your ticket, if you like a punchier sound with a livelier sound presentation then look at the Predator.
The predator was not cased up and should be a few short months untill it is ready to go and the pico cases look ready to rock.

Justin's case manufacturer was there with some stuning looking cases, hopefully someone took pictures of these.

There was alot more to the meet and I'l get more gear impressions from the airport while I am waiting on the plane.

 

[boomana]

Another seriously fun Florida meet, a little more scattered than usual, but maybe that was just me...

Thanks to Mike who organized, booked hotels, bought Samples tickets, opened his home as a hotel, and provided taxi service. It was appreciated, even if we gave you grief.

The meet for me ended up being more about my evolving tastes than anything else. Also, since I'm not looking to buy anything, it was easier to settle in to appreciating the differences between really great gear without putting a better vs. lesser label onto it, though that crept in.

First off, I was really impressed with the dacs present, a direction I haven''t personally explored. As I wasn't overly familiar with the amps they were paired with, I can only talk about whole rigs, but Thrice's beta22 with nmaher's Hersten's Signature dac was one of my favorite setups there. I was impressed enough with the Wavelength Cosecant and Woo5 (WE tubes) to wish there had been time to steal it away and try it out with my home amp.

The portable amp/dacs were also impressive. Voltron and jp11801 pretty much said it all. Both the Pico and the Predator will make owners happy. As with my experience in the past with Ray's amps, when you first sit down with the Predator, it gives you a wow hit that stays with you. If you like the Hornet's sound, with lively, bold detail and a slightly forward feel, get the Predator. The Pico offers a completely different presentation that brings out subtle nuances so cleanly, it's hard to believe that something so small can produce that quality. I think Al used the word "finesse", which is a most apt adjective.

Since I'm in portable territory, I might as well continue with the Diablo vs. Xin Reference. The Diablo wins with zero doubt in my mind. I hadn't heard the Xin line before (four were represented: mini, micro, Reference, and another something I don't remember), and I was disappointed based on my expectations. Focusing on the Reference, it's a seriously powerful little amp. With HD600s, you barely had to turn the knob to reach volume, but as with my complaints in the Disturbing Trends thread, sufficient volume does not equal sound quality. The Reference has a full, slightly warm presentation, but seems to sacrifice separation, cleanliness and resolution to achieve that sound. The Diablo is brighter, with much better detail throughout the spectrum, but specifically in the lower mids and bass where the Reference falls short. Listening to a classical track with heavy tympani distinguished the two amps best: the Diablo nailed it right with the attack and decay of each strike; the Reference put out a rolling feeling, with full, deep sound but without presenting any tonal shifts or sense of separation.

Both the Diablo and Reference were hooked up to a Lector 0.6T CDP, which is my favorite high-end mid-fi bang-for-the-buck CDP to date, preferring it by far to the Rega Apollo and only somewhat over my old Eastern Electric Minimax. As Lector's entry-level CDP, it's a pretty sweet tube CDP and beautiful to boot. We also used the new K2 HD sample CD, with a new mastering technology that is simply the best I've heard for testing gear. It made the differences between amps tested really stand out. Thanks fkclo for that rec.

EDIT: used a whole slew of headphones from Etys to Yuins to HD600s, K701s (yes, I tried them) Grado 225, and R10s.

I do have my issues with the Diablo, though. It's bright, perhaps too bright in the mids for my tastes, but some of that maybe me just getting comfortable with a differerent sound than I'm used to. The bass boost, however, is just plain excellent, and I think better implemented than in the PRII. It's the ideal Ety amp (which is a little suprising to me since the ER4P/Ss lean to the bright side to begin with), and with the Yuin PK1s. The Diablo has a two-gain switch. I prefer to use the low, if possible, but I've found the Diablo's low gain to be almost useless, and the higher gain certainly isn't high. You really need to turn it up to listen at normal levels, but once settled, the sound is clear, detailed, to the bright side of neutral with a miniscule tendency toward harshness, imo. For all my other issues with LaRocco, unrelated to the actual product, I will say that I like this amp a lot and will be keeping it.

I listened to too many portables at this meet, and won't go into why I'm going place them as I am about to do. If anyone has any questions, I'll answer specifically, but for now, here's my ranking of what I listened to yesterday (a la Skylab and mrarroyo), thinking sq only, with a couple ties in terms of preference.

1. LaRocco PRII (8620/back gates)
2. SR-71
3. LaRocco Diablo and the Headamp AE2 (both also gorgeous)
5. Rockhopper mini^3 (best bang for the buck going)
4. Xin Reference
7. Tomahawk and Xin micro
8. Xin mini
9. Xin whatever the heck that last one was called (Volton, answer please)

There was obviously more gear all over the place, and I'll post more impressions later, but I don't feel like typing anymore right now. I will say, as I mentioned at the top of this thread, that this meet helped confirm my own changing tastes where accurate tone, a sense of space, and ability to present nuances has become intregal to listening pleasure when choosing gear; before, my priorites were slightly different. I'd recently sold a lot of stuff and was missing it, but this meet reminded me my decisions were right.

One last thing: a few new guys showed up to the party and held their own. As Florida meets are as much or more about friends than gear, it was wonderful to add new peope to that tired old bunch I've been hanging with.

Oh...and thanks again Wayne for the Atom ride.....LOVED THE RUSH.

 

[yuchengxx]

Well..i'm seriously about purchasing a predator for my laptop.
i own the Hornet, and i would like to know the difference between these two amps...
Anyone compared in the meeting? Thx..

 

[Icarium]

From what I understand based on peoples' analysis, the Hornet and the amp in the Predator are pretty much the same except that the Predator's will be fed less power. This may be totally bad information though and so I would recommend you asking Ray that.

Though based no informations it sounds like they sound pretty much the same too.

 

[yuchengxx]

Thanks Icarium.
Since they sound alike, then i will probably think another solution for my laptop..
It's a really strange laptop that it doesn't work with my M-Audio Firewire Solo....T_T

My first plan was: laptop--M-audio Solo--DAC1--Headphone

 

[Icarium]

Er, don't make the decision based on stuff I said. I'd wait for some more verification from others with more hands on experience. I haven't seen or heard the Predator myself. I wasn't there at the meet. I was giving information that I've heard second or third hand which as I said before may be unreliable ;p

 

[yuchengxx]

HAHA. I know.
I did compare Hornet with Tomahawk.
They sound alike....
my friend told me even the SR71, doen't make huge difference..
So i guess probably the RSA portable line sounds the same way