Okay, been lurking around checking on my F/S stuff, need to get back up to speed!
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Just got back from boating out in the sticks with no internet, so here are my belated impressions/thoughts!
Much thanks to Burnley (Theogenes) for putting together a fantastic meet! This is the first headphone meet that I've attended, and I had such a blast that it certainly won't be my last. Since my experience with audio gear going in was pretty limited, I dedicated most of my time trying to get a feel for the sound signatures of the popular Audeze, Hifiman, and Sennheiser models for the first time.
EXCELLENT SETUPS:
Yggdrasil -> Liquid Crimson/Glass -> Ether C
I got to listen to the LCD-3, HD800, HE-1000, and many other top-tier headphones at the meet, but when all was said and done, Dan's (mrspeakers) Ether C was my favorite! The regular Ether was a fantastic headphone as well, and I might even prefer it for certain well-recorded tracks, but the smoother/bassier profile of the closed version works better as an all-rounder for the types of music I enjoy. An HD650/HD800 comparison isn't completely accurate, as the Ether models are closer to each other in sound and technicalities than the Senns, but they complement each other in similar ways.
Definitely the best imaging I've heard in a closed back design. While the size of the stage isn't as wide as some of the open backs I listened to, I felt the actual layering and placement of instruments to be among the best. Has a nice dynamic slam and sparkle without sounding V-shaped. Bass was quick and ballsy without being overwhelming or bleeding into the mids. Mids sounded smooth and liquid. Sweet but detailed treble. Sounded just as good with Shpongle as it did with Dave Brubeck.
Would have loved to hear the Ether C hooked up to a more pedestrian front-end to see how much the Yggdrasil / Liquid Crimson was responsible for the great sound, but I never got around to it. The headphone itself is super comfortable and light. I liked the black painted version, hopefully that will be available in production, because the grey/red carbon fiber painted pair didn't look that great to me. Until now, the best closed-back I'd heard was my ZMF Blackwoods, but I think they've finally been eclipsed! I see an Ether C in my future for sure.
Gungnir MB -> HDVA 600 -> HD800
Dick (RCBinTN) is a really nice guy with a really nice setup. This was the first time I listened to the HD800, and I can say that it surpassed my expectations. Listening to Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Nashville Blues" (a fitting track for this event) was the most involving listening experience I had at this meet. The imaging and detail was more realistic than anything I've heard. Listening to a few other tracks, I was able to discern ambient cues and microdetails that I had never been able to hear previously. While I generally prefer a darker/smoother sound, there's no denying that with certain well-recorded tracks, the HD800 would be my #1 choice. Turning on some M83 though, it became evident that I would never be able to have it as my only headphone - the treble was a bit hot and fatiguing on certain genres.
Metrum Pavane -> KGGSHV -> Airbow SR-SC11 (Stax)
The "WWII looking headphones" (as somebody put it earlier) from Jibzilla really impressed me. While sounding perhaps a bit rolled on both ends, they were really clean sounding and engaging, a forward sound that had my head bopping. Unfortunately, the wi-fi sucked and Jib's Tidal stream wasn't working out. It got switched over to some jungle/dnb tunes which I enjoyed but made critical evaluation of the headphones a bit difficult. He also had the amazing looking Apex Teton with an HD800 plugged in, but I preferred the Stax setup when listening to the tracks that he had available.
Other thoughts:
HE-1000
This is a good headphone, very comfortable, nice wide soundstage... But something about it just felt slightly off to me. Now, don't get me wrong - these are great headphones with a generally smooth and pleasant sound that would work well with most any genre - but it's not without issues. The bass extension was good, but seemed to have a mid-bass hump and less sub-bass quantity than the other planars I demoed. The lows and mids seemed really smooth but then there were some peaky regions in the treble. I actually liked Theo's modded HE-6 better! Perhaps I'm being a bit harsh because it's a $3000 headphone and expectations are really high when considering the cost. At < $2k I think it would be competitive. And it's ugly.
HE-6
I didn't get as much time with these as I wish I had, but Theo's modded HE-6 sounded fantastic, especially from the Master 8. Had this unique presentation that sounded speaker-like. On my Project Polaris they sounded a bit limp and underpowered, and I preferred the HE-500, but on his beefy Master 8 I preferred the HE-6. When driven properly, these are the best sounding Hifiman's I heard.
HE-500
My HE-500 is an ongoing mod project, and in it's current state is frankly a bit too dark. While I prefer the comfort of the ZMF pads I have on mine, Erik's HE-500 with Jergpads honestly sounded better all around. If only there was a way to have the SQ of the Jergpads with the comfort of Mrspeakers / ZMF pads! At the end of the day though, I believe the HE-500 is one of the best values in headphones. You can pick one up used for about $400 or less, and in my opinion it stands toe-to-toe with many headphones costing several times more.
LCD-2F / LCD-3F
I was shocked at how similar my modded HE-500 sounded to the LCD-2F. Mine was still a bit darker, but otherwise sounded surprisingly alike. I preferred the 2F to the 3F, which I thought had a strange balance akin to what I heard on the HE-1000. I didn't get enough time with the LCD-X to form a valuable impression, but in my short demo I liked the 2F's tonality better.
ZMF Omni Blackwood
I'm a big ZMF fan, and I really like my (regular) Blackwoods. Zach kindly sent us a pair of his new semi-open design, the Omni. Compared side by side to my Blackwoods, I found the Omnis a bit unimpressive. The sound was less full-bodied, a bit shrill, and sounded more distant and less engaging. Now, it's difficult to categorically judge the Omni - there are 3 different woods and 3 different pads available, for a total of 6 possible configurations. I know first-hand that changing pads on Zach's phones can bring a big difference. This demo was using the "protein pads", which are the brightest pads he sells. Combined with the aggressive tonality that African blackwood offers, it was just a bit too much to my ears. I bet the lambskin or cowhide pads would have brought the signature closer to my liking. I'll need to wait for impressions with different wood/pad configurations to decide if I want to spring for the upgrade.
****EDIT: Zach from ZMF clarified in the Omni thread that when he received this demo pair back, there was apparently a driver malfunction. So the impressions above can mostly be disregarded...
Conclusion:
The experience of hearing all of these fantastic headphones for the first time was both exhilarating and exhausting. At the end of the day, I was actually pleasantly surprised how well my humble rig held up. There were certainly better sounding rigs there, but (to my ears) the improvements I heard weren't as night-and-day as I had thought they would be. I have a much better idea now of what I like and which upgrades I will make.
Thanks again to Theogenes and all of the attendees for being so awesome! I hope to see you guys again in the future, hopefully with some new gear in tow!
Wow, fantastic impressions, man!! And thank you VERY much for clarifying on the Omni Blackwood-- I would
hate for somebody to hear a defective model and get a negative idea of the entire lineup as a result. Zach is a Grade-A dude and I dig his stuff.
Also, you know what, the satisfaction with one's rig is actually one of the things I like most about these meets, especially once you have a setup you really like... You start to see how it really is just a difference of taste and subtle shadings after a certain point. Not to mention, a $1k rig right now would
smoke a similarly-priced rig from 8-10 years ago, and probably sooner. One of the benefits of being in our neck of the audio woods these days
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Just wanted to chime in and thank you guys for your impressions, I regularly check meet impression threads and just really great quality feedback going on in here. The unanimous praise for the Ether C isn't hurting either, since I'm a first batch pre-order (or at least, I hope I am, may just miss out due to a few cups being rejected at QC - if you're watching Dan and can update me that'd be great!).
I would tell you all about mine when I get 'em, but I'm pretty sure you're in an earlier batch than I am, so I'll just look forward to living vicariously through you
.
I finally found something where our ears differ while reading through the Ether C thread the other night, though-- the LCD-XC. While it's not on the level of the HE-6 at its best, I really dig it and think it does a lot of things exceptionally well, audio-wise. The comfort thing is pretty rough, but adding a suspension headband has made a world of difference, and basically allowed me to start actually using mine again. Anyway, I know you and I tend to hear things really, really similarly, so I thought that was interesting.
Btw, you should plan a vacation to the States sometime... Like, maybe during a certain meet or something.
You guys are killing me
I guess I should post some impressions.
Mr. Speakers Ether and Ether C:
I heard the Ether at the last meet and thought they were without question the best headphone I'd ever heard. I still believe this is true. Very neutral, very natural and the only headphone that reminded me of the performance of good speakers.
The Ether C was a great headphone too. It is the best closed headphone I've ever heard with no question. It picks up where the Ether left off and is a little more engaging in some genres, particularly electronic. I'd have a hard time describing them tonally while differentiating them from the Ether but there are some differences.
HiFiMan HE-1000
These were disappointing. They were a great headphone, and I know I didn't give them the time they deserved on the best setups, but even so I could tell they weren't double the headphone the Ether was. They aren't even as good. I think they sound less natural while also failing to take advantage of the planar driver to do exceptional bass. They are a more interesting sound, but less neutral, so they'd work with fewer genres.
HiFiMan HE-400s
Was disappointed in these as well. They were very dry and lacking in bass. This was surprising again as they are planar.
Audeze EL-8 Open
I listened to these at the last meet and was disappointed. They were very smooth and natural but lacked the bass of the LCD-2 and other planars. However, it was found out that somebody put the connectors in wrong at some point, and they could've been out of phase. I listened again at this meet and came to the same conclusion. I should have given the close-back version some time.
It seems that Audeze and Hifiman have been focusing so much on reducing peaks in their planar headphones that they've forsaken the juicy bass completely. The LCD-2 and HE-560 still nail that though.
I honestly tried very little new equipment this meet and I should've made better use of my time. It was still a blast.
Thanks Randy! I'll be sticking to mixed drinks for now, but I'll find a good beer eventually. Thanks for treating me to dinner too! And for the great HD650's.
Other Thanks
Dan (Mr. Speakers): Thanks again for coming and bringing amazing equipment and your knowledge. It was a pleasure to hear your headphones and discuss audio with you. I learned a great deal! And thanks for helping cover my meal at Granite City! I hope to see you at future meets and eventually get a pair of Ethers!
Kilkilkil: Thanks for the beer recommendations and holding it down with me at the end of the booth at dinner!
Burnley: Thanks a million for organizing the meet, for entertaining us with your football antics and for the great time at dinner after too!
It was a blast and I hope to see you guys in the spring!
"Hope" to see us in the spring? Come on, man, you're one of the regulars now!
Nice impressions, Philly!
Here's the thing with cables though. Proaudiola will build you a mogami cable for cost (they have a contract with mogami to do all the labor at cost) and btg has a 15% off sale going on right now if you wanna take it up a notch. If btg is not good enough for ya I don't what is. Brian don't play.
You know, I'm definitely down for making something simple (amp, preamp, something that couldn't possibly start a chain reaction causing the end of life as we know it-- which is what I'm somewhat concerned I'd end up making by accident instead) or play around with making some cables. I'll second your recommendation on Brian at BTG, though-- great prices, nice cables, and excellent customer service. I've had three cable makers that I've had great experiences with: Trevor at Norne, Steve at Q-Audio, and Brian at BTG. I've also had one less-than-exemplary experience with a cable maker, and one
abysmal experience with another, so I've come to appreciate the pairing of great products with great service.
I've got about a half dozen Altoids tins if anyone wants to do a group CMOY build. I know they are kind of a novelty, but they are fun and you can get some experience soldering. They are also fun and cheap too. They only take an hour or two to build.
You don't even have to keep them, you can give them to your friends or family.
I even have a spare soldering iron.
Just an idea.
Hey, if they're simple and cheap, why not? (Are they, in point of fact, actually simple and cheap?)
Hey All, back from my "in-country" tour", ya know there's a war going on out there!
Hate that I missed the Ether C's!!!!! Burnley, in one post you impressed the stuffing out of me, quoting Oscar Wilde. Then you go and bad mouth the Gators, honestly I stopped watching the "Game Trac" after the first half, wasn't looking forward to wearing the loosing beats T-shirt! Oh, and I stand by the 10,000 klics comment, both of us charging the TV, for opposite reasons, could have led to a nuclear reaction!
Matt, so happy to see you got your groove on, who was piping the Barry Manlow
?
Glad to have you back, Kev!! It had crossed my mind to be a bit concerned, so it's reassuring to hear everything went well and you're back Stateside again. And yeah, you'll definitely have to check out the Ether C's at the next meet-- mine should be well broken in by then
.
Sorry for taking so long to comment, I've been crazy busy here lately and no time to do anything it seems...
Oh well, as usual it was a great meet, I have a great time every time I come up to Nashville for this one, bottom line is that it's a great group of guys who love music and headphones who also love to share their gear with other junkies! No problems, no egos no one obnoxious, oh wait there is me....
I was going to post some pics but after Burnley laid down all of those nice pictures, mine are lame, good job man!
Thanks to the folks who purchased from me that weekend and I had a great time as usual!
Maybe next one we'll have LCD-4 and a King to listen to!
Oh yeah:
Ha! Great to have you with us again, Joe! And I'm typing this while listening to the XC's I got from you at the last meet, so I'll thank you again for taking good care of me on that one
.
Oh, and if you have pictures, share the darn things!! The ones I posted were taken by a
real photographer-- I'm a big suck salad at taking pictures. Post up anything ya have-- it's all about the guys and the gear anyway. I promise we won't deduct points from your final grade
.
Did any of Ya'll notice the Gators beating up on the Rebs, could hear that giant sucking sound from the Swamp to here in Kharkov! There is a new beast in the East (SEC)
, soooo sorrrryyyyy, Smokey
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Dude... I was
flabbergasted. Never saw that coming, not even a little bit. Of cooooooooooooooooooourse, we found out today quite a bit more about Mr. Grier's surprisingly impressive performances...
Sorry, couldn't resist...
There's a whole
slew of 'Gatoroid' memes coming out now as a result of the PED test that Grier failed... I won't say that I didn't laugh, but in all seriousness, it really is awful that he made such a mind-boggling dumb choice. That kid is a straight-up stud (did anybody watch his high school film? Holy
triscuits that guy has an arm...) and he's put his career in serious jeopardy at this point. We'll see how he bounces back... I legitimately hope he does. I wanted him to be a Vol so bad out of HS, and this will hopefully end up being a bump on an otherwise straight-and-narrow career.
Although I still don't want him to play well against my Vols.
OMG, that was AWEFULL! Full disclaimer, I went to Ole Miss. But I'm a Vol for Life now!
Someone at work told me that Floridu would win against Ole Miss, and I was like, hell no, not gonna happen! Damn, he's gonna rub that one in! Floridu took care of business, no doubt about that.
Go to HELL Gators!
Looks like that's the coach we should have hired at UT, damn Butch just doesn't seem like he's got what it takes for the SEC. That number Alex Collins at Arkansas was something though, slippery, fast, mean and powerful! That guy will make millions in the NFL, no doubt. It seemed like it took 4 people to take him down every time he ran the ball. He's a beast!
One thing that has to change at UT before we will ever be able to compete is our AD has to go, the guys a bafoon.
I knew I liked you
. And honestly, the Florida debacle excepted, Ole Miss has looked fantastic this year. I really like what Hugh Freeze is doing with the program down there. WAAAAAAAY better coach (and human being) than Ogre Orgeron, for whom I have strong, non-positive emotions.
Well Saturday was bittersweet, the Gators did well, but my Arizona Wildcats were spanked for the second Saturday in a row. Was pulling for the Vols against the Hogs, just hoping that the SEC/PAC 12 don't self combust and leave OSU in the drivers seat. Now if you want to get my HATE engines revving, it's all things Big 10 or ND!
Totally agreed on ND. Don't have a problem with most of the Big 10 teams (kinda like Sparty, feel an awful sense of Dante-esque kinship with Michigan's struggles, and thought the Wisconsin fans were really great at the Outback bowl a few years ago), but OSU is up there with Florida, USCe and spiders for things that intrinsically and entirely fill me with revulsion an urge to smack them with a shoe. And my aunt (whom I love, of course) is a HUGE OSU fan. Blech.
Glad we can rally around our mutual dislikes of common enemies though
.
Sorry the gators are doing so well. I am no gators fan, and some team needs to trounce them.
Just wanted to say you guys put on a great head-fi meet, where your fantastic members post great impressions, of the event. Such superb impressions made me feel like I was there. Perhaps next year I can drive up.
With tastes in football teams like you have, of
course you're welcome!!
Jk, man. But seriously, you're always welcome! And Nashville is fun enough to be worth the trip by itself IMO.
I ought I'd update you guys on my O2 build...
Mostly done. Although I still manage get swap out a few alternative parts, but it's coming together. I still need to add the volume pot, but it will have a 1/4" output and rear power and input, so those will stay empty.
I should get the enclosure this week, so hopefully I'll have it done very soon.
Looking sharp, man! Mind if I ask how long it's taken you to do all that? And if you lost any appendages while doing it?
Aheam, excuse me, everyone, attention.....Go VOLS!!!!
That is all.
THIS. I watched the game at a big sports bar in downtown Atlanta, surrounded by Bulldog fans everywhere... There was literally, precisely one other person cheering for UT in the entire establishment, and he came down and sat at the table next to me, because, you know-- safety in numbers. I felt my football life slipping miserably away... and then being BEAUTIFULLY REBORN AGAIN right before my eyes!! I would have rather beaten Florida than Georgia, but at this point, beggars can't be choosers-- gimme those SEC wins!!!
Vols played a great game, played a full game, Arizona spanked OSU, and the Gators are looking pretty good at this point, all is well
Vols played a great 2.25 quarters of a game, they just picked a better 2.25 quarters to play this time around
. Didn't get to see Arizona play, but I've heard they've looked impressive at times too. Gators... are probably going to win the East this year. Even without Grier. And it makes my soul hurt viciously. But at least I get to know it'll provide you with some joy... *dramatic sigh*
Man.... Cannot WAIT on those Ether C's!! Especially with all the travelling I've got coming up.... East TN this weekend, Cincinnati next weekend, two parties (on totally different sides of the city and an hour apart, naturally) the weekend after that, and who knows after that. Hopefully I'll get to take 'em with me on at least some of my travels! And if not, well, I'll just appreciate them that much more when they come in
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Cheers, guys!! Even to you Gator fans...
