[Tyll Hertsens]

Phew!  Made it home.
 
Huge thanks and props to Ryan, Jim, Bryan, Kevin, and the whole Chi-town crew for a great Can Jam. Thanks loads, guys.
 
Special props to Kevin for the Grain based refreshments ... I did what I could, buddy.
 
I've got to unpack the van and get the gear set up to pull that data off; I'll do that today and prolly post a link to the graphs tomorrow here and in a couple of places.
 
The LCD2 was the penultimate experience for me ---- the measurements are spectacular ... and they sound good too.
 
But the ultimate experience was Duggeh's Orthos that managed a spectacular showing: possibly the highest ever recorded percentage of total harmonic distortion. In fact, I would say the his Orthodome weren't burdened with a simple percentage of THD but were the living breathing embodiment of Total Harmonic Distortion. Well done Doug. Cut the cord, frame them, and hang them up on the wall for display, your work is done.
 
The coolest thing for me at the meet was folks actually hanging out in the room for an hour or two looking and learning, and then GETTING IT!!! Who'd a thunk it, measurements are meaningful. By the end of the meet folks were teaching each other the basics and enjoying the view of audio performance through objective measures. I think the measurements will prove to be in important part of our activity.
 
Thanks all, I had a blast.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

[fzman]

actually, the Apache was being shown by Craig from Whiplash Audio - a cooler guy you could not meet!  Credit where credit is due!  
 
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Thank you all that organized and manned the CanJam 2010 in Chicago.  I had a good time.  I only attended the first day, but got to see and learn a great deal.  Tyll was very educational and I learned a lot.  Thanks to him and everyone.  Special note to the Woo Audio folks.  Their room was a class act all the way and the guys where very helpful and friendly.  I was able to hear many of the amps and headphones I've read about and some I'd not known about.  I even got to listen to a RSA Apache thanks to the folks at Music Direct. The Audez'e LCD2 was a treat.  Some of the best (The Best?) bass I'd ever heard.  They do need power though so whimpy amps need not apply for these.  The phones a quite heavy though and built like a tank.  I think you can kill someone with those things and keep on going.  I was completely blown away by a set of balanced D7000s and have decided on a balanced setup thanks to the HeadRoom guys.  All in all a great time was had and I appreciate all the work that went into this event.

 

[mikeymad]

Quote:

...Before I forget,.. MikeyMad. I did spend a good bit of time listening to the Woo Energizer box with the O2 and the LE. I thought it was very nice sounding but the differences between it and your spritzered box was pretty small IIRC. I'd have to say that the differences could easily have been the 300b's used. I think the mids with your set up was superior while the highs of the Woo were a tiny bit more open. The bass was about the same (sorry, no ES-1 slam here either)....

 
 
Thanks Ironbut...
 
Jack wanted me to bring my modded SRD7 to check it out. Sad I could not make it... Will be working with Jack on a possible demo of the new unit. Would really like to do a head to head on my rig. I am sure if it rolls this into production that the build quality will be very high....
 
Cheers,
Mikey

 

[Voltron]

Quote:

While they had nice bass and mids there was no high frequencies to speak off at all? Not sure what was up but I felt they were not ready for prime time yet.

I think that question mark is there by accident because I had the same exact reaction to these cans. They are were missing any kind of top end at all.

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

It doesn't sound good for the Beyer T50p at the moment. Is there anyone who has tried it have anything good to say about it? Really insecure pre-orderer here.

I listened to the T50 briefly and I liked it.  Of course one has to live with something longer term to see the warts, but overall there was nothing overt to offend.  The highs were a bit tipped up, but that was in the context of the Beyer demo setup, so what can you judge in that context?  They sounded to me like they had promise.  The tipped up highs did not sound like a "peaked" response, but rather a broad hf rise.  That's desirable in the right context.  Overt peaks cannot be tamed properly and are deal breakers, but a broad rise is easily tamable.  That's my two cents.  WyldRage, I am looking forward to hearing your long term evaluation of these cans.
 

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

I think that question mark is there by accident because I had the same exact reaction to these cans. They are were missing any kind of top end at all.

Wow, that would be what I might expect to hear from someone who popped the cans on their head in an unfamiliar environment, listening briefly to unfamiliar material, through an unfamiliar reproduction chain, in a very noisy environment.  Further strikes me possibly as one who is accustomed to listening to something with a peaky, tipped up response profile, who considers that to be "normal."
 

1. FACT:  The HF does NOT "roll off" on the LCD-2s.  There is a designed in -10db shelf above 1kHz right where it is supposed to be to voice the LCD-2 for the average HRTF in a diffuse field environment.  
2. FACT:  The LCD-2 reveals subtle HF inner and low level details like no other headphone I've ever heard.  People jumped all over me for saying that early on about these cans.  Now as more people are spending quality time with these cans, they are starting to say the same thing.  
3. FACT: Tyll's objective measurements of the LCD-2 bear out all of what I just said.

 

[sachu]

^^ i think they are talking about the Rudistor Chroma 1 somethings Kevin..

 

[monsieurguzel]

[size=x-small]This was my first Canmajm I've been to and I must say that it was awesome meeting a lot of you out there!  Everyone was so incredibly nice and there were lots of fun conversations going around.  The show was impressively coordinated and I would like to thank all the people involved in organizing it![/size]
 
[size=x-small]LCD-2 - As many have said over and over again in this forum, these are really amazing headphones that feel extremely well engineered and amazingly executed.  The updated foam on the newer models was a great improvement.  As for the clamping, I thought they were slightly tight but once stretched out a little I could see them as being super comfortable and easy to kick back and enjoy music with.  I enjoyed these so much that I actually bought an ALO cable since they were at a great show price even though I don't have my pair yet.  As for amping, I tried these on the WA6 SE, and Liquid Fire, and Alo Isabella amps.  My favorite experience by far was wit the WA6 SE and I thought they really shined through it.  The highs were more pronounced and the bass went deeper than with the Liquid Gold hybrid amp.  I also found it to be a much more melodic combo but that might be my bias towards tubes   Anyhow the experience really got me excited about pairing the LCD-2 with my WA5 when I eventually get mine. [/size]
 
[size=x-small]What impressed me about these compared to the likes of Grados, T1 (and HD800 to some extent) was how linear and effortless the sound was.  The detail retrieval was very impressive and all the instruments sounded very real unlike some other cans which color the sound too much.  Bass was very deep and mids were beautifully articulate.  For me the highs were not a problem, especially when paired with tube amps.  The Liquid Fire and Redwine Isabella felt slightly rolled off in the highs, but it could just have been the source / music I was listening to.[/size]
 
[size=x-small]JH-3A - Once again, everybody in the show was talking about these and they truly are an amazing technical achievement and a revolution in terms of IEMs.  Not until now was I truly convinced that an IEM was in the same league as the big guys.  As a matter of fact I was so impressed that I put my money down on a JH16/JH3A combo after the second listen!  Jerry was an amazing guy and answered all my questions / concerns about the system and I truly believe this will be awesome when it comes out.  Form factor isn't too bad and I will see myself using it as an office rig or bedside rig hooked to a Wadia transport or a Squeezebox touch for digital input.[/size]
 
[size=x-small]What truly amazed me about this setup is how engaging, dynamic, fast, and impactful all the music I was throwing at it was.  I put on some Sufjan Stevens from my ipod and the layering , imaging, and realism of the notes blew me away.  I found the soundstage to feel pretty darned big due to the amazing instrument separation.  The other impressive thing is that I could get ANY song to sound perfect just by tweaking the bass output.  One doesn't need multiple headphones for different music types when using a JH3A combo since everything can be made to sound just right and always in balance / phase!  If I were to jump into music for the first time, I'd go straight for this setup and be done with everything (amp, headphones, dac, etc..).[/size]
 
[size=x-small]HE-6 / HE-5LE - Not impressed with either of these.  I used to have a pair of HE-5s and sold them off a couple weeks later.  I wanted to give hifiman another chance but I've come to realize that nothing about their appearance, build quality, and sound excite me in the least of ways. I don't see myself getting a pair of either...[/size]
 
[size=x-small]BHSE+O2 -  I finally got to listen to the fabled combo that everyone was talking about.  It was truly wonderful and neutral sounding with all the parts of the spectrum being emphasized just right.  I found it pretty comparable to a WA5 / Apex Pinnacle hooked to HD800s and preferred some aspect of that combo over the BHSE+O2. Moral of the story is that there is no such thing as an ultimate headphone/amp that does it all perfectly.  If I hadn't invested all my money on a WA5 and had no interest in dynamics I would probably go for this combo right away.  The problem is that I'm a finicky head-fi listener and like to switch things up a little and I feel too restricted having one amp just for Stax headphones.  [/size]
 
[size=x-small]WES+O2 / transformer - Not so great and am not sure why everybody was raving about this amp last year when it came out.  To me the BHSE has a ton more power to properly drive the O2 headphones and it was apparent in how much better controlled the bass was along with the better extension of the highs in the BHSE.  The prototype Woo energizer was pretty interesting hooked up to WA5 but it felt pretty underpowered for O2 and not on the same plane as the bigger amps.[/size]
 
[size=x-small]Apex Peak / Volcano- For anybody doubting that the HD800s don't sound any good and aren't musical, I would beg you to listen to either the Apex Pinnacle or even the Apex Peak/Volcano combo and it will change your mind.  The amp isn't extremely attractive and doesn't have any balanced outputs, but body did it make the HD800 sing!  The sound was very effortless and transparent, providing a great window into the music.  Bass was extremely satisfying and right away I started bobbing my head with sheer enjoyment of the music.   The mids felt more prominent and satisfying than on the P1-U and the highs were way more tamed.  Overall, one of the most satisfying and musical amps for the HD800s, especially for the asking price.[/size]
 
[size=x-small]Apex Pinnacle - same as above but even better    Although I don't know if it is worth 5X the cost of the Peak/Volcano.  In my book this would be better suited at a $6K amp.  Once again though, this pairing with the HD800s is really something that must be heard and it really puts you into the music more than anything else I heard on the show (including the stax combos).[/size]

 

[TigzStudio]

Quote:

[size=small]"  As for amping, I tried these on the WA6 SE, and Liquid Gold, and Alo Isabella amps.  My favorite experience by far was wit the WA6 SE and I thought they really shined through it.  The highs were more pronounced and the bass went deaper than with the Liquid Gold hybrid amp.  I also found it to be a much more melodic combo but that might be my bias towards tubes   Anyhow the experience really got me excited about pairing the LCD-2 with my WA5 when I eventually get mine. [/size]
 
[size=x-small]What impressed me about these compared to the likes of Grados, T1 (and HD800 to som extent) was how linnear and effortless the sound was.  The detail retreival was very impressive and all the instruments sounded very real unlike some other cans which color the sound too much.  Bass was very deep and mids were beautifully articulate.  For me the highs were not a problem, especially when paired with tube amps.  The Liquid Gold and Redwine Isabella felt slightly rolled off in the highs, but it could just have been the source / music I was listening to."[/size]
 

 
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"The LCD-2 and Cavalli was right up there sound wise, but the LCD-2 was not anywhere near as comfortable as the T1's.  It's interesting technology and I expect great things for this tech.  The LCD-2 didn't sound anywhere as good with the Woo Audio WA6.  The Cavilli Audio Liquid Fire was head and shoulders better than the Woo."
 

 
 
Interesting, two different sets of ears eh?
 

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

^^ i think they are talking about the Rudistor Chroma 1 somethings Kevin..

Oh, sorry then.  It would be nice to see some concrete reference to what's being talked about in each post, as quotes of quotes otherwise become disassociated from their original subjects.  My apologies to all for misconceptions.

 

[monsieurguzel]

Thats why nobody should listen to anything that anybody says on Head-fi in terms of sound quality
 
Quote:

 
 
 
Interesting, two different sets of ears eh?
 

 

[TigzStudio]

haha indeed, but as a general reference point to try out the combos yourself....a starting point.

 

[rhythmdevils]

Quote:

Oh, sorry then.  It would be nice to see some concrete reference to what's being talked about in each post, as quotes of quotes otherwise become disassociated from their original subjects.  My apologies to all for misconceptions.

yeah, Voltron was replying to JP's reply to my question about impressions on the Rudistor phones.  Kind of cool to see a grado with "no highs to speak of" I  think my wish came true...

 

[Skylab]

Once again, so people do not get confused, it was the Cavalli Liquid Fire that was on display at the show with the LCD-2 - the Liquid Gold was not.

 

[TigzStudio]

I would love to hear the Liquid Gold (I assume this is the pure SS amp of his) with some LCD-2's someday