[Wildcatsare1]

i truly missed not seeing Dan Clark, I would have loved to shared my thoughts on his Ether C, what a great headphone!!! Also, it just wasn't complete without
RUMAY408
jaywillin

 

[skyline315]

@Theogenes, I'll echo a couple of your sentiments.
 
The Magnavox CD player was very nice.  And, like you, I felt it slaughtered the Denon DA-500.  I feel like they are on opposite ends of the spectrum.
 
The Magnavox was very warm and inviting.  It didn't offer tons of detail, but the organic sound made up for that quite well.  Clapton Unplugged sounded pretty fantastic on it.  The Denon had significantly more detail, but sounded a bit nasally and dry in comparison.  If only the two could get together and have a baby...I think I'd name it the Bifrost 4490 

 
Also, as for the Fostex/Massdrop phones.  They didn't work for me due to the elevated bass (though very clean bass).  BUT, I agree with you that it's a very nice headphone.  If someone enjoys bass, then I think the Fostex manages to pump it up tastefully without overwhelming the rest of the signature.  Not for me, but I'd recommend them in a heartbeat to anyone who likes a little extra bass in their sound.  And the build quality is just outstanding.

 

[wje]

While I certainly didn't spend enough time listening to all of the great gear at the event, something did occur to me.  Tennessee was one of the states that I had not (knowingly) visited up until this point.  It was good to be able to get to see the state and visit the Nashville area, especially the Franklin area and to be able to stop by Emotiva.  Franklin has been on my "bucket list" for a few years now.  It was great to buy an Emotiva Big Ego to use for my work headphone listening sessions, yet not sure where the final placement of it will be made as I'm enjoying what I'm hearing from it greatly.
 
Additionally, I did get to buy a nice T-shirt - a souvenir, if you will.  I'll be able to remember the good memories of the headphone event and meeting many of you as I'm out riding the highways.

 

 

 

[kilkil]

Thanks everyone for a great meet.  I enjoyed seeing everyone.  

 

[rtaylor76]

 
Magnavox CDB 583: This is as much about sentimentality for me as anything else. My grandfather, possibly the greatest man I've ever met, worked at Magnavox for many, many years, and I was intrigued to hear how an old, essentially forgotten multi-disc changer would fare against the truckloads of exceptional modern gear surrounding it on all sides. The verdict? I can imagine a lot of people preferring the sound out of this dinosaur to perhaps most of the stuff out there today. The setup allowed for switching between the Magnavox playing CDs into an O2 amp and a laptop playing the same track into a more recent (but not 'new' by any stretch) standalone Denon DAC and O2 amp, and the Magnavox just utterly wiped the floor with the Denon. It just sounded so organic, musical, and complete-- and not in an overly gooey, obscurantist way either. If someone came up with a simple, cost-effective way to add a modern digital input to something like this, I'd say there would be a market for it... I know I'd want one, at least. 

 
Phillips basically invented digital audio (well, Sony and Phillips kind of discovered it at the same time), so it should be no surprise they made one of the best multibit chips out there, the TDA1541. You can read more about it here. that sound similar, but have a bit worse SNR specs - however it goes to show you how good these chips really are/were. Still funny how an over 25-year old digital device can still best some lower end "hi-fi" devices.
 
And there ARE some current DACs using these same multibit chips. In doing some research, I found the Pro-ject DAC Box S FL. "S" is just the series and FL stands for FilterLess - no fiters or buffers, just four TDA1543 chips directly coupled to the output. I also found a Chinese knockoff on Amazon for 1/6 the price of the Pro-ject that is nearly identical. And here a bit thread on Head-Fi about it:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/512389/mini-dac-tda1543-x-4-nos and review: http://www.head-fi.org/t/514782/bryston-bda-1-dac-vs-muse-dac-reviewed
 
Multibit or R2R does not mean expensive. From Wiki: "An R–2R Ladder is a simple and inexpensive way to perform digital-to-analog conversion..." I will have to try out one of these boxes.
 

  @Theogenes, I'll echo a couple of your sentiments.
 
The Magnavox CD player was very nice.  And, like you, I felt it slaughtered the Denon DA-500.  I feel like they are on opposite ends of the spectrum.
 
The Magnavox was very warm and inviting.  It didn't offer tons of detail, but the organic sound made up for that quite well.  Clapton Unplugged sounded pretty fantastic on it.  The Denon had significantly more detail, but sounded a bit nasally and dry in comparison.  If only the two could get together and have a baby...I think I'd name it the Bifrost 4490 

 
I have to agree with you. The Magnavox does sound better, but you guys should really hear this Denon compared to some other sigma-delta DACs. It slams my Modi even stock. There are some mods for this DA-500, but the most I will likely do is swap out the op amps because even doing that is a pretty big job.
 
And yes, the 4490 was very nice. Much smoother presentation than I was expecting and with good detail too. 
 
Glad you guys enjoyed it.

 

[wje]

 
I have to agree with you. The Magnavox does sound better, but you guys should really hear this Denon compared to some other sigma-delta DACs. It slams my Modi even stock. There are some mods for this DA-500, but the most I will likely do is swap out the op amps because even doing that is a pretty big job.
 
And yes, the 4490 was very nice. Much smoother presentation than I was expecting and with good detail too. 
 
Glad you guys enjoyed it.

 
What has been your experienced when it comes to sound quality of the Sigma-Delta chips for the DACs?  I picked up an Emotiva XDA-2 on the trip.  I'm using it now and trying to compare it to my built-in Sabre chip-based DAC in my Peachtree in my main sound system.  Always trying to squeeze out that last bit of sound quality -- it's a futile effort. 

 

[mrspeakers]

Sounds like a nice meet!  Bummed I couldn't join you all, but I have so much travel coming up over the next six weeks I needed the home time.  But I'll be at Canlanta and if there's a fall meet I'll try to make it!  

 

[Theogenes]

 
appreciate it guys, like i said, i just wussed out, too pooped to pop as they say, it was nice having a slooooooow day though, the old beat up body doesn't handle hectic like it used to !

 
No problem Jay, it happens to the best of us. I was actually really wiped out after the meet this time around, not sure why. Sure hope you can make the Fall meet though, bro
 

i truly missed not seeing Dan Clark, I would have loved to shared my thoughts on his Ether C, what a great headphone!!! Also, it just wasn't complete without
@RUMAY408
@jaywillin

 
I heartily second each of these thoughts. Plus, as much as it would probably be a terrible idea for my savings, I'd love to hear that Ether Stat... mmmmmmmmmm....
 

  @Theogenes, I'll echo a couple of your sentiments.
 
The Magnavox CD player was very nice.  And, like you, I felt it slaughtered the Denon DA-500.  I feel like they are on opposite ends of the spectrum.
 
The Magnavox was very warm and inviting.  It didn't offer tons of detail, but the organic sound made up for that quite well.  Clapton Unplugged sounded pretty fantastic on it.  The Denon had significantly more detail, but sounded a bit nasally and dry in comparison.  If only the two could get together and have a baby...I think I'd name it the Bifrost 4490 

 
Also, as for the Fostex/Massdrop phones.  They didn't work for me due to the elevated bass (though very clean bass).  BUT, I agree with you that it's a very nice headphone.  If someone enjoys bass, then I think the Fostex manages to pump it up tastefully without overwhelming the rest of the signature.  Not for me, but I'd recommend them in a heartbeat to anyone who likes a little extra bass in their sound.  And the build quality is just outstanding.

 
I see what you did there on the Bifrost . 
 
I didn't think the Magnavox was that far off the Denon in detail retrieval, but it's entirely possible that my sentimentality played games on my objectivity. As an aside, in a strange way, I feel like the meet kinda recalibrated my hearing somewhat... I've been listening to my ASG-2 from my Onkyo without EQ, and I really had trouble tolerating it before. Crazy how much a little focused listening can change one's impressions...
 

  While I certainly didn't spend enough time listening to all of the great gear at the event, something did occur to me.  Tennessee was one of the states that I had not (knowingly) visited up until this point.  It was good to be able to get to see the state and visit the Nashville area, especially the Franklin area and to be able to stop by Emotiva.  Franklin has been on my "bucket list" for a few years now.  It was great to buy an Emotiva Big Ego to use for my work headphone listening sessions, yet not sure where the final placement of it will be made as I'm enjoying what I'm hearing from it greatly.
 
Additionally, I did get to buy a nice T-shirt - a souvenir, if you will.  I'll be able to remember the good memories of the headphone event and meeting many of you as I'm out riding the highways.

 

 

 
Don't know if you have a list of states you've visited twice, but if not, you should definitely start with Tennessee . My mom has a Harley too, wish you could have met her!
 

  Thanks everyone for a great meet.  I enjoyed seeing everyone.  

 
Great hanging out with you as always, man. Hope me nerding out and barraging poor Fred with questions about jazz didn't drive you bonkers at dinner... Btw, I'm listening to the audiobook of the autobiography of Miles Davis now as a result of that conversation, and really enjoying it a lot. Think I'm going to try out a history of jazz next!!
 

  Phillips basically invented digital audio (well, Sony and Phillips kind of discovered it at the same time), so it should be no surprise they made one of the best multibit chips out there, the TDA1541. You can read more about it here. that sound similar, but have a bit worse SNR specs - however it goes to show you how good these chips really are/were. Still funny how an over 25-year old digital device can still best some lower end "hi-fi" devices.
 
And there ARE some current DACs using these same multibit chips. In doing some research, I found the Pro-ject DAC Box S FL. "S" is just the series and FL stands for FilterLess - no fiters or buffers, just four TDA1543 chips directly coupled to the output. I also found a Chinese knockoff on Amazon for 1/6 the price of the Pro-ject that is nearly identical. And here a bit thread on Head-Fi about it:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/512389/mini-dac-tda1543-x-4-nos and review: http://www.head-fi.org/t/514782/bryston-bda-1-dac-vs-muse-dac-reviewed
 
Multibit or R2R does not mean expensive. From Wiki: "An R–2R Ladder is a simple and inexpensive way to perform digital-to-analog conversion..." I will have to try out one of these boxes.
 
 
I have to agree with you. The Magnavox does sound better, but you guys should really hear this Denon compared to some other sigma-delta DACs. It slams my Modi even stock. There are some mods for this DA-500, but the most I will likely do is swap out the op amps because even doing that is a pretty big job.
 
And yes, the 4490 was very nice. Much smoother presentation than I was expecting and with good detail too. 
 
Glad you guys enjoyed it.

 
That is so funny... I was just digging around on that Dutch Audio Classics site this morning! Great minds and all that . 
 
I looked at that one on Amazon you linked, and for ~$50, that might be fun just to pick up and screw around with. I take it those are not double crown DACs though . 
 
Even saw an old Magnavox reel-to-reel on eBay... Be strong, Burnley... Be strong. 
 

  What has been your experienced when it comes to sound quality of the Sigma-Delta chips for the DACs?  I picked up an Emotiva XDA-2 on the trip.  I'm using it now and trying to compare it to my built-in Sabre chip-based DAC in my Peachtree in my main sound system.  Always trying to squeeze out that last bit of sound quality -- it's a futile effort. 

 
Emotiva sent a guy over for one of our meets. I listened very briefly to one of the eGo DACs (the small one, I think) and the Stealth DAC. I remember thinking the Stealth would have been a great next upgrade from my old Yulong DAC, as it (the Yulong) had an aggressive sound I really liked, and the Stealth had a similar character. I just keep hoping they'll eventually release that multi-headphone amp, as a good headphone amp (with separate, finely tunable volume controls for each) would be great in environments like meets and home listening comparisons. Someday... 
 
Also, I spent a little time this morning listening to the Woo Audio WA8 (DAC and amp) versus my setup (Hilo and Master 8), and had to really fight the urge to buy it and figure out how to make the purchase work fiscally afterwards. The WA8 doesn't dig out quite the detail my setup (nor should it, as the WA8 costs substantially less than the pile of gear I compared it to), but it offered a tonally rich, generally accurate, and wildly enjoyable sound signature that was different enough in character (but still within the realm of what I'd consider accurate) to really offer an enticing alternative for me. Jack Wu told me the WA8 was a desktop-quality DAC/amp in a transportable form factor. After listening to it in more depth, I have to agree-- that sucker is absolutely desktop quality. It will not extract detail to the same degree that much more expensive gear will, but it pulls plenty and just sounds damned good in the process. If one of these pops up around the $1k mark used, I might be in trouble...
 
Btw, I've received several PMs recently, and I promise I'll reply to everybody shortly-- just don't kill me if it isn't tonight. I still love ya, I'm just bouncing off a different set of walls at the moment . 

 

[rtaylor76]

Just ordered one of those TDA1543 x 4 DACs from Amazon. Coming on the slow boat from China, it won't be here for a month, but we'll see.

So far I am beside myself on just one of those chips. Enjoyed some Beatles and Nora Jones this evening through it and it did not disappoint. It's as if Ms. Jones were in my living room herself.

And if I can just hold back my wallet myself for anymore gear for awhile.

 

[wje]

Just ordered one of those <b><i>TDA1543 x 4 DACs</I></b> from Amazon. Coming on the slow boat from China, it won't be here for a month, but we'll see.

So far I am beside myself on just one of those chips. Enjoyed some Beatles and Nora Jones this evening through it and it did not disappoint. It's as if Ms. Jones were in my living room herself.

And if I can just hold back my wallet myself for anymore gear for awhile.

 
I haven't heard that model, but Muse usually has some good stuff for what is being charged.  The last Muse I owned was using the Burr-Brown (or Wolfson?) DACs in it - it's been awhile, so I can't remember all the gear I've owned.  It was a good performer.  I think the guy of High Resolution Technologies (HRT, Music Streamer, etc.) used to design and work for Muse before starting HRT.   Now ... just the longer wait for it to arrive. 

 

 

[RCBinTN]

Dear Burnley,
 
Thanks for organizing another great meet!!  Please check your PM...we got a surprise for you!
 
All the Best -
Dick

 

[rmoody]

 

[jibzilla]

Sorry I could not make it. Looks like it was a blast. You guys and gals will have a special amp to listen to in the fall if everything works out...dsha-4. There is also a STL. meet if anyone is interested on April 30th.

 

[buke9]

  Sorry I could not make it. Looks like it was a blast. You guys and gals will have a special amp to listen to in the fall if everything works out...dsha-4. There is also a STL. meet if anyone is interested on April 30th.

We missed you at the meet. I was wanting to hear your Stax setup but it looks like you totally changed everything. You had a Teton but it looks like that is gone now. You have SR-700's now but had some other Stax before Upgradituis? Thinking of coming to St. Louis but haven't made up my mind yet. It is not that far for me as Nashville.

 

[pippen99]

  We missed you at the meet. I was wanting to hear your Stax setup but it looks like you totally changed everything. You had a Teton but it looks like that is gone now. You have SR-700's now but had some other Stax before Upgradituis? Thinking of coming to St. Louis but haven't made up my mind yet. It is not that far for me as Nashville.

I'm going to St. Louis.  All I am going to take are my LCD-X and ETHER.  I want to do some listening this time instead of lugging all my equipment back and forth.  It would be good to see a familiar face.