[krikor]

Thanks to Zabzaf for putting this together and Dan for the space. This was my first headphone meet up and I had a great time. Fantastic opportunity to hear music, equip and combinations I would never otherwise have the opportunity to try out. Learned a lot too.
 
I was really impressed with the HiFiMan phones - I may be opening my wallet for a pair of these in the near future, which is the one downside of these meet ups ;^)
 
It was also interesting to compare my Beyerdynamic DT990 600ohms with the DT880 600 ohms. I bought my DT990s on a whim (great price on a nearly new used pair a few years ago) and love them for their comfort, but I could easily hear the tipped up frequency extremes (especially in the bass) vs. the flatter response of the DT880s. I'm now seriously considering switching over to the DT880s for my office listening.
 
And what a rare joy it was to hear the Sennheiser HD800 and Audeze LCD phones. Also got to experience a wide range of Grados which I've never had the pleasure of hearing before (the lowly SR60 are impressive for their price).
 
cCasper - I enjoyed hearing your custom headphones, nice work! And thanks for the info on rewiring.
 
Thanks to all!

 

[warrenpchi]

Looks like y'all had a great time! 

 
So happy for you, congrats on the meet!

 

[zabzaf]

Looks like y'all had a great time! 

So happy for you, congrats on the meet!

Thanks man. There were a lot of smiling faces and soon-to-be aching wallets in metro Detroit yesterday.

 

[ruthieandjohn]

Does anyone beside me want a refresher course on which face, from which we remember our conversations, went with which screen name, from which we remember our posts?
 
If so... find a picture in the thread above that shows you and post it here, indicating which person in the picture you are.
 
For example...
 
I, kayandjohn, am wearing red and black in this picture:
 

 

[zabzaf]

Good idea, kayandjohn...

This is me, zabzaf. My real name is Brian...I am going to leave my impressions of the meet this evening. I have put a lot of thought into it and can't wait to share my experiences.

 

[|Tch0rT|]

I wish I hadn't found out about this meet so late, oh well maybe another one (hopefully I'll have some more gear by then too LOL)! If you need a place for another one like I said in the other thread I have access to a nice sized area.

 

[squallkiercosa]

I saw a black MacBook . It is a vinyl covered one or painted? It looked like a 15" model...

 

[zabzaf]

It's actually my late 2006 Macbook 13". I use a Mac Mini for music at home but didn't want to haul it to the meet and set it up. That's the stock model.

 

[squallkiercosa]

It's actually my late 2006 Macbook 13". I use a Mac Mini for music at home but didn't want to haul it to the meet and set it up. That's the stock model.

Still looks fantastic. I have a 2010 that doesn't want to die and I carry with me all the time, no reason to upgrade.

 

[JEspina456]

Hello there, I was going to attach a pic with me in it but apparently I'm not allowed yet.  So I'll just tell you that I am the big Filipino guy that was wearing the Pandora T-shirt at the meet.  My name is John and I'm from Sterling Heights, MI.  I had the white Macbook with the Schiit Modi DAC and Asgard 2 Headphone amp.  My headphones are the HiFiMan HE-400s.  Just wanted to introduce myself!
 
Since I got to try them at the meet, my next purchase will be Sennheisers and probably a Fiio DAC/Amp combo just for fun. 
 
Thanks to all for bringing your stuff!  Looking forward to next time when we all show up with new gear!
 
John

 

[ruthieandjohn]

Posted for you, JEspina456... 

 

 

[timkwhite]

A great many thanks to Brian and Dan for organizing and hosting the meetup. It was a truly fun, educational and fantastic event in every regard. Meeting like minded (and some not-so like minded) individuals who are willing to share their experience and gear is always a good time and really opens the door to asking, trying, listening, swapping, comparing and re-trying gear that you cannot find anywhere else. Again, thank you to the two of you.
 
As I am pretty new to mid and high end audio gear, I was really looking forward to hearing all levels of gear, and that is just what I got. I went in wanting to know if I was indeed going to benefit form a new amp. Here is what I learned:
 
1. My current headphones are pretty damn amazing (HD650).
2. The Asus Xonar STX drives them pretty well.
3. I do not really like hifiman headphones (too heavy).
4. HD800's really do sound fantastic, especially paired with the HDVD 800 amp.
5. Red headphones do sound better (kidding!).
6. My HD650's sound amazing with the HDVD 800 amp as well.
7. I need a pair of Grado's to compliment my Senn's.
8. I can foresee a tube amp in my future.
9. The LCD-2's are now on my wish list, but that is for another time and place (WAY down the line).
 
I was really impressed with the knowledge and free flowing information that the experienced guys were able to convey in such a short time. No shortage of opportunity to ask, listen and re-ask sometimes basic questions. On the flip side, I brought my Shure SE535's and was able to share their excellent sound with a few individuals. They really are fantastic and to see the reaction to those who listened to them was fantastic.
 
Here are a few pics from the day. I didn't take too many as I was busy talking and listening... .
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[zabzaf]

Sweet pics, Tim. It's funny when you see others listening to your gear and you didn't even know it!

 

[zabzaf]

One other note....there was a phone charger left at the meet. PM me if you think it's yours and I can make arrangements to get it to you.

 

[zabzaf]

So I suppose it's my chance to leave my impressions of the meet, from an organizer's perspective.

When I first saw there was an attempt to have a metro Detroit meet in February 2014, I was surprised and a bit disappointed that no one could get the meet off the ground. My main reason for wanting to organize the meet was not to give myself something to do; rather I wanted an opportunity to try new gear. I believe it was mission accomplished.

I'm the type of person that if someone tells me I can't do something; it's as good as done. This was the case with the meet. There were many comments on the meet's thread regarding the fact that the meet had been bantered around but could never get going. Once I saw that, it was going to happen!

I will say that organizing a meet, with a ton of help from Audio Guy, is more work than it appears. There is a tremendous amount of time put into promoting the meet as well as corresponding with prospective attendants. Ultimately, it was a labor of love. I enjoyed creating the graphics for the meet, of which there were over 12 unique pieces. The purpose was to promote the meet as well as show the rugged beauty of Detroit. I feel that I was able to accomplish this.

As far as my experiences with the other attendants, I thoroughly enjoyed speaking to each of you during this entire process. At first, I had this impression that "audiophile" types were snooty, elitists with whom I would have little in common with. Instead, each and every person, to a man, was anything except what I was expecting. Maybe I was just fortunate relative to those who attended. I feel that the headphone, personal audio scene is different from the traditional "audiophile" crowd in that there is an extraordinary level of information sharing and "coming together" with respect to the gear. Ultimately, it seemed that everyone who attended to a man made the comment to me that they engage in all of this craziness for the music. That's why I'm here as well.

As far as the gear, we had some world-class and somewhat unique gear at the meet. Here are my impressions:

1. HD800s are probably the world's best sounding headphones when paired with the right amp. The Sennheiser amp/DAC on site as well as the Eddie Current were world-class pairings. However, I feel that for recordings that are less than stellar, the HD800s expose the worst in these tunes.

2. Audeze cans (LCD-2) are my style of headphones and suit my musical tastes best in terms of "summit-fi" cans. I think LCD-3s are in my near future

3. DACS are important. When listening to the Bricasti M1, I was blown away by the clarity, detail and musicality of this stunning piece of equipment. I used to devalue their part in the audio chain. I do not feel that way anymore

4. Grado's are just cool. Whether you like the Grado "house sound" or not, I found them very musical and a very nice family of headphones. I just bought a pair, post-meet, for my spouse as they are the perfect balance of sound, style and price

5. I really like the Beyerdynamic T1. A lot.

6. Multiple paths, same destination. It seems that some like solid state, others like tubes. Some like dynamic, other planars. Bottom line, each rig at the meet contributed to its owner's pursuit of a wonderful musical experience.

7. Lastly, my rig still rocks! Even after listening to $8k DACS, $1,500 cans and $3k amps, I found that when I got home and reconnected my system, I still loved it's sound.

Overall, I'm so happy that the meet came together and everyone enjoyed themselves. I know I did.

Oh, and by the way...preliminary plans are being put together for a mid-winter meet...more to come.