ok real impressions time
This meet I finally realized that only Grados are for me. Theres a lot of hype surrounding the AKG k701s and I understand why there is but its just so boring and not involving when it comes to rock and country. Theres A LOT of detail but not much else. I put on my most "fun" tracks, Ratatat's Lex, Wilco's Heavy Metal Drummer, Bright Eyes's Four Winds and it did nothing for me. I just wanted to take them off and put on my Grados. The Senns did a much better job. Much more rock-worthy and fun compared to the AKG. Theres also a step up in detail and bass quantity then the Grados but not as much impact and sparkle as the Grados. I can definitely live with a set of 580s but not with the 701s. Not at all.
(Steve(laxx) will probably post later about how he hates my 225s and loves his k701s so wait for that!)
The AKG k501s were great. Coupled with the Xin supermacro with bass boost, these are THE trance phones. Great soundstage, imaging, bass quality, bass quantity (with the bass boost) and clarity make it perfect for trance. It wasnt that bad with rock either. Much better then the k701s imo. The Grado SR-60s were much worse then I remembered them. The highs were very piercing and annoying. I couldnt listen to them for more then a few minutes before reaching for some other phones.
I tried Steve's (laxx) e500s on the way to the meet on the LIRR and I was surprised how much I liked them from the last time I tried them. They had great clarity, decent bass control, decent highs. Probably the best IEM that I've heard so far. It sounded dangerously close to a closed hd580. Dark and slow-ish sounding compared to the hd580s but the sound signature was very similar.
The PK-1s and PK-2s were still as great as I heard them last. I still wish they went deeper in the bass department but Nankai told me that custom tips will make the bass deeper and completely change the sound signature. The PK-1s coupled with the "Dirty Box" amp was pretty nice. The sound was much deeper and the sound stage opened up a little more. I wish it was a little more detailed but it was a good match with the PK-1s. When I tried the amp with the HD580s, the sound changed to something weird that I didnt like.
Note: This is a prototype. I dont think Nankai expects anyone to buy an amp this ugly, no matter how it sounds!
I finally got to spend time with the Gilmore Lite, an amp that I was seriously considering for my 225s. First off, the Gilmore Lite is like the Grado of amps. Small soundstage, very punchy bass, nice clean highs and good detail. When paired with my 225s, it made them "grado-er." It emphasized their good points and brought out their faults. Sounded great with rock music but not much else. When my 225s were coupled with the Corda Aria, the highs smoothed out a lot, the bass was fuller and detail was much greater then the Gilmore Lite. It made a good match with the k701s. Like the Gilmore, the Corda Aria emphasized the good points of the K701s and brought out its weaknesses.
Both the Gilmore and the Aria was sourced from the Alien DAC with is a new toy of mine. It seemed to do a decent job except it clipped at higher volumes and wasnt close in SQ with a decent discman.
Nankai's signature amp was pretty sweet for the money. I felt that it kept up with the LD2+ pretty well. I didnt spend enough time with it to get a good feel with it but it had really good midrange and it did pretty good with the PK-1s.
My favorite rig surprisingly was the Sony Discman with the Little Dot 2+ with my SR-225s. Its just so much fun and it even makes badly recorded songs sound good! I could have spent the whole day listening to that rig. I'm pretty sure it was the orange peels that did it. hydrocity said it reduces resonance or something but I think its magic. The orange peels have some black magic that magically makes it better.
Also a comparison of the Xin Supermacro and the Portaphile V2^2 is in order. The supermacro had the solid tube op-amp in L/R and AD8397 in 3/4th. They were complete opposites. The supermacro was warm as heck with decent good soundstage and the Portaphile was cold and sterile. Lots of bass impact, clean highs, small sound stage. Bottom line, the Xin kicked butt.
Me and hydrocity tried to blow up Columbia with what we called the
Tower of DOOM.
Turn anything on and a nuclear explosion occurs.
Also, I tried the the Vsonic VS-R02s which I'll be writing a full comparison review on at the headphone forum.
I hope I covered everything.
EDIT: I'll post more random pics soon. Also, sorry for my crappy english, its way too late for me to write anything!
