[ninjapirate9901]

  Quick question for the attendees: Will anyone be bringing any balanced equipment to the meet?  I'm starting to get the balanced headphone/amp itch (dangerous and expensive, I know), and it'd be great to test drive an HD650 with balanced cabling connected to a balanced headphone amp.  My JRiver Media Center 21 → Grace m920 → Little Dot MK III → SE HD650 signal path sounds great to me, but I'd like to know what I may be missing by not using a balanced signal path.
 
- Dave

 
I'll have my PureDAC/Taurus along with maybe a couple of other amps with me.

 

[vapman]

doubtful i'll be able to make it but if i do you guys will get to hear the famous Crown amp + STAX SR-X Mark III setup
Also will bring XB90EX and Project Polaris if I'm able to go, but I'll update the thread if I'll see any of you there
Hope to see some of you from 10 years ago.
 
My Crown is balanced but not typical headphone gear plus I suspect it has a slight channel imbalance

 

[TRapz]

I see on the front page it says I'll be bringing a Fiio E11k or Q1, but to clarify, that's not confirmed yet; I haven't bought either and may be waiting until after Christmas to get an amp.

 

[Rynsin]

  I see on the front page it says I'll be bringing a Fiio E11k or Q1, but to clarify, that's not confirmed yet; I haven't bought either and may be waiting until after Christmas to get an amp.

 
Fixed. Sorry about that.

 

[Allanmarcus]

Hey, I'm really interested in how the Grace m9xx drives "hard to drive" planners like the LCD or the Ether. I know Rynsyn has some LCDs, so he (hopefully) can test with those. If anyone else has the opportunity to test the Grace m9xx with some ethers and report back, that would be wonderful. 

 

[ViperGeek]

  Hey, I'm really interested in how the Grace m9xx drives "hard to drive" planners like the LCD or the Ether. I know Rynsyn has some LCDs, so he (hopefully) can test with those. If anyone else has the opportunity to test the Grace m9xx with some ethers and report back, that would be wonderful. 

 
It, and it's bigger brother (m920), will be there, so anyone with experience and ownership of Audeze LCDs is more than welcome to jack in and share their impressions.  I'm actually curious myself, since LCD-2s are on my short list to Santa.
 
FWIW, I've been listening to 20-ohm Monster Turbine Pro Copper IEMs with the m9XX all morning and am even more impressed with this little amazing Grace than I was yesterday.  The IEM/m9XX pairing may be the best yet!
 
- Dave

 

[ZoNtO]

Updates to the first page for me:

1. I don't own K240 sextetts (not sure where those came from). Please remove.
2. No HD650 at the meet, just AKG K7XX. If somebody is comfortable leaving a 650 pair at my station that would be helpful as the rig is well set up for them (see below).
3. Please add Schiit Audio Bifrost Multibit. I should receive a loaner unit on 12/3 and be able to bring, along with Valhalla 2.
4. Probably won't be bringing Etymotic ER4P either, just KSC-75 to use with the Pico. (No extra tips and sharing tips = gross.)

 
I don't think we need to add this to the front page, but I'll also bring a couple Shunyata Research Venom3 cables for the Bimby and V2. Potentially a set of Cardas Golden Cross 1m RCA interconnects that I'm looking to sell.
 
Emailing AudioZenith again to remind about the PMx2 loaner as well.
 
Also reached out to Fidelis to ask about internet, but haven't heard back. Want to use Tidal at my station, so hopefully that works out. 
 
EDIT: Hope you all don't mind, but I emailed the Head-Fi head honchos and added the amazing image to the Head-Fi home page announcing the meet. 

 

 

[ViperGeek]

 
 
Also reached out to Fidelis to ask about internet, but haven't heard back. Want to use Tidal at my station, so hopefully that works out. 

 
If they don't have Wi-Fi but do have a wired Internet connection (who doesn't?), I can bring a portable Wi-Fi access point and, with their permission, create a Head-Fi hotspot for everyone to share.  Alternately, if you're a Comcast customer, Route 101A is littered with "Xfinity Wi-Fi" hotspots so it's possible (haven't checked) you can grab Wi-Fi from the evil cable company.
 
- Dave

 

[ZoNtO]

   
If they don't have Wi-Fi but do have a wired Internet connection (who doesn't?), I can bring a portable Wi-Fi access point and, with their permission, create a Head-Fi hotspot for everyone to share.  Alternately, if you're a Comcast customer, Route 101A is littered with "Xfinity Wi-Fi" hotspots so it's possible (haven't checked) you can grab Wi-Fi from the evil cable company.
 
- Dave

That may be a good backup plan. I'll bring my 50ft CAT5 just in case as well.

 

[MrMan]

Last year they had wi-fi. Most everyone used it to load up this audio website that allows you to play any music. I forgot the name of the website. I do remember it had a free month so anyone could use it without paying anything. 

 

[Rynsin]

  Updates to the first page for me:

1. I don't own K240 sextetts (not sure where those came from). Please remove.
2. No HD650 at the meet, just AKG K7XX. If somebody is comfortable leaving a 650 pair at my station that would be helpful as the rig is well set up for them (see below).
3. Please add Schiit Audio Bifrost Multibit. I should receive a loaner unit on 12/3 and be able to bring, along with Valhalla 2.
4. Probably won't be bringing Etymotic ER4P either, just KSC-75 to use with the Pico. (No extra tips and sharing tips = gross.)

 
I don't think we need to add this to the front page, but I'll also bring a couple Shunyata Research Venom3 cables for the Bimby and V2. Potentially a set of Cardas Golden Cross 1m RCA interconnects that I'm looking to sell.
 
Emailing AudioZenith again to remind about the PMx2 loaner as well.
 
Also reached out to Fidelis to ask about internet, but haven't heard back. Want to use Tidal at my station, so hopefully that works out. 
 
EDIT: Hope you all don't mind, but I emailed the Head-Fi head honchos and added the amazing image to the Head-Fi home page announcing the meet. 

 

 
Not sure where I got the K240 from either. Sorry about that -- me and my script are getting confused. 
 
Other updates done.
 
I'd love to try and hear the difference between cables. Although something tells me I won't be able to hear the difference, and/or cables are voodoo.

 

[MrMan]

   
Not sure where I got the K240 from either. Sorry about that -- me and my script are getting confused. 
 
Other updates done.
 
I'd love to try and hear the difference between cables. Although something tells me I won't be able to hear the difference, and/or cables are voodoo.

 
This is what I've been able to tell. 
 
Copper - Warmer (Barely)
 
Silver - Colder/higher highs (Barely)
 
Tin - Trash, just run! I bought a $5 headphone because I wanted to learn to solder. The difference between the stock tin cable and copper was HUGE. I think its to the level that people expect copper to silver.
 
More cables per channel I did find a noticeable different when dealing with drivers that needed power. 

 

[Rynsin]

   
This is what I've been able to tell. 
 
Copper - Warmer (Barely)
 
Silver - Colder/higher highs (Barely)
 
Tin - Trash, just run! I bought a $5 headphone because I wanted to learn to solder. The difference between the stock tin cable and copper was HUGE. I think its to the level that people expect copper to silver.
 
More cables per channel I did find a noticeable different when dealing with drivers that needed power. 

I've got a Moon Audio Silver Dragon for my LCD-3s and I don't think I can really hear a difference (although I often think I can... no way to do a blind test...). When I thought I could hear the difference, I thought the sound had more air and more energy. Maybe somebody can set something up at the meet to do some A/B testing...

 

[MrMan]

You might be onto something. I think we'd be able to test aftermarket vs stock cable on LCDs, hd650 and hd800. Would be a fun experiment and we could get everyone involved in it and see if we can conclude anything. Switch the cables behind the testing person and then put the headphones on their head. This way they have no idea which cable they are listening too. 

 

[ViperGeek]

 
EDIT: Hope you all don't mind, but I emailed the Head-Fi head honchos and added the amazing image to the Head-Fi home page announcing the meet. 

 

 
I can't believe they used the He-Man graphic on the Head-Fi front page:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/
 

 
- Dave