[NeilPeart]

Just so there is no confusion or askew conclusions as a result of my posts: the sonic differences between the PPA and M-Cubed are very, very subtle. Even under more favorable conditions than this meet (AMB’s place) and with familiar, well-recorded tunes, the delta between the PPA and M-Cubed is very small indeed. When I said PPA-killer I meant it from a design perspective, but I can see how that could be misleading; even from a design perspective the M-Cubed isn’t head and shoulders above the PPA (the word “killer” really was too strong a descriptor). The M-cubed is more powerful, cheaper and easier to build than the PPA and doesn't require expensive discrete buffers since it uses MOSFETs. It was designed as a home amp first-and-foremost, and theoretically is an improvement over the PPA (as it’s a synthesis of the SDS amp, the PPA and MOSFET-based amps). This is why I’m enthusiastic about this new amp – it has the potential to be a real winner among solid state headphone amplifiers and it won’t cost an arm and a leg to construct (theoretically it could even drive my K1000, which is a theory I’m eager to test). I should have tempered my original posts regarding the M-Cubed, but it can be difficult to reduce one’s enthusiasm sometimes – I do apologize for any confusion or other issues my posts may have caused, but I am a proponent of the M-Cubed, despite the fact that it’s extremely difficult to distinguish a difference between solid-state amplifiers once they reach a certain plane of performance.

 

[eweitzman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by clarke68 That's weird! Never noticed a "pre-echo" before. My gear is still packed up from the meet, but I can hear the second one just with my 225s plugged into the headphone jack on my computer...you hear a faint "I" about a full second before the actual line. I haven't found the elusive "first pre-echo" yet...where is it in relation to the 'click' sound she makes with her mouth as she opens it to sing? Good swingin' track, btw...I'm not a huge fan of singers, but for some reason I've always found Dianne Reeves to be pretty cool. Thanks for the recommendation!

hehehe -- the evil Kashchei turns another prince to stone ...

The first pre-echo is about a second before the one you heard, a second after the last traces of her voice trail off from the previous line. Both of them are more than a faint "I", there's just enough time to hear "I waited" repeat. Best yet, see if you can hear this pre-echo at the beginning of other vocal phrases when the other instruments are actually playing more loudly than just before the second line.

BTW, I don't hear any click sound.

As for swinging, that's another weird aspect of this track. The band definitely does NOT get into the groove until the quarter of the song. If the last part doesn't swing, the system is lacking something.

I think a lot of the faults of this recording are from multiple overdubs made in different studios at different times. I'm pretty sure they did some pitch shifting to make up for speed variations. Notice anything wrong with the piano?

 

[episiarch]

Belated impressions:

What a great meet, and thanks to clarke68 and gundam91 for all you did to make it happen. And I'll join the chorus thanking ayt999 for the effort and generosity involved in sharing his astounding gear with us.

I'll also join the chorus of those who found the ambient noise too loud for really good listening. I don't think it'll work to have separate "talking" and "listening" rooms, though -- most of the the really energetic discussions were around and about the gear. What we need is either more space to spread out, or some kind of portable set of sonic absorption panels.

I didn't get to make the rounds nearly as much as I'd like, since my office called about 2 hours into the meet and I had to pack up and leave in a hurry. I tend to start with moderate-priced gear (things I might buy sometime soon, in other words) and leave the high end until the end. So I missed out on the Orpheus and the rest of ayt999's awesome high-end collection, the balanced and DAC table, the Morsel/amb table, and all that other good stuff. I did get some good listening in on the less esoteric end of the spectrum, though.

I tried on raif's A900, and lent him back the K271+Zu Mobius that I bought from him a year or so ago. Frankly, the A900 pretty quickly gave me that "huh?? why do people love this?" feeling. I felt like my music had been covered with a layer of the cotton balls they use in aspirin bottles. raif chalked it down to meet conditions: in his experience, this phone is too detailed, rather than too soft. So we're going to take turns: he's got the K271 and the A900 now, and after he's had a couple weeks with both in the house, we'll switch and I'll spend a little time with both.

eweitzman let me hear one of the tracks on his test CD through his HD650. I actually haven't heard an HD650 before, and liked it quite a lot. I like the idea of compiling a personal test track CD too. Why haven't I already done that, or at least set up a test-track iPod playlist?

I got to try NealPeart's HD25 with OFC HD580 cable and velour earpads, and compare it to my stock HD25. I agree that the recabled HD25 sounds better, though under meet conditions it was hard to be sure how much. The velour pads reduce isolation in a pretty big way IMO, but they are comfortable. I already have the velours on order, but I suspect I'll stick with the stock pleathers anyhow in order to maximize isolation.

It was an honor to meet Xin, whose SuperMini and SuperDual amps have given me so much pleasure. He's charming and warm in person, and clearly passionate about the amps he makes and the sound that comes out of them. He set out SuperMacros with 604 (his current favorite, he says, because it brings extra passion to the music), 637, 627 and 8610 op-amps. Under meet conditions (there's that phrase again) it was hard to audition them with real care, but I think the 627 won out for me. The SuperMacro is wonderfully small and solid-feeling. You look at it, hold it, and just want to smile. And of course the sound is very good, and it packs a tremendous set of features.

I got a chance to hear the Overture + SR-71 that ayt999 brought, and the only word I could think of to describe them was "impeccable." A stack like that could be my next substantial purchase, once Headroom introduces whatever it is that they've got under their hats. Driving the SR-71 with (good-quality) MP3's from my iPod was also very good, though a very audible step down the Overture and CDs, even under (you guessed it) meet conditions.

I'm the one who brought the screenname/avatar stickers, and the fact that they didn't stay on all that well was actually sort of deliberate: I was paranoid about them getting stuck to someone's beautiful equipment, so I used low-stick Avery removable labels rather than regular address labels. I'm glad they were useful while they lasted, though.

Thanks to everyone for a great time and a great meet.

 

[NeilPeart]

 

[eweitzman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by episiarch I like the idea of compiling a personal test track CD too. Why haven't I already done that, or at least set up a test-track iPod playlist?

Mine was born of laziness. I kept returning to the same tracks for years while refining my system and evaluating changes, pulling the same CDs off the shelf, stacking them up near the player, putting them away, repeat, repeat, repeat. So I put selected tracks on a CD. Now that the remaining work is mostly with my turntable, the problem has come back.

 

[ayt999]

found my remote. better take good care of this thing, especially since it costs $150 to replace.

anyone else missing something? hopefully the meet went without any trouble for others....

 

[Ferbose]

Is the ultrasonic issue of T-amp and K1000 addressed/resolved in this meet?
You guys from the silicon valley and surroundings ought to be the hi-techers among headphiles and volunteer to investigate the potential problems

Did Leeav scare away any dog while he cruised the streets with his state-of-the-art protable rig?

 

[Zoide]

It wasn't Leeav, it was NeilPeart and me, but it did surely scare away the humans (more specifically, the women)

 

[ayt999]

NeilPeart's name is Leeav.

 

[Zoide]

Oooooooooooooooooooooops........ And to think I kept on calling him Neil all throughout the meet!

Now he really won't hire me...

 

[Zoide]

I just realized Neil Peart is Rush's drummer, one of the best in the world, of course....

 

[Jasper994]

ROFLMAO Leeav, you rock man!!!

It's been a good 5 mins since I saw those videos and I still have a big fat grin on my face. Thanks man, I really needed a good laugh.

 

[clarke68]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eweitzman The first pre-echo is about a second before the one you heard, a second after the last traces of her voice trail off from the previous line. Both of them are more than a faint "I", there's just enough time to hear "I waited" repeat. Best yet, see if you can hear this pre-echo at the beginning of other vocal phrases when the other instruments are actually playing more loudly than just before the second line.

Okay, I put together my usual setup (the one in my sig) and now I hear it. I don't know if it's because my system resolves all that well, or if it's just because now I can turn the volume up loud enough to hear it. It occurs all through the first (vocal & bass duet) part, but I don't hear it once the horns, etc. come in.

Incidentally, I don't actually own this CD, I've got it streaming on Rhapsody.

Quote:

Originally Posted by eweitzman BTW, I don't hear any click sound.

It's not an artificial click, like from a bad edit or something, its literally the sound of her opening her mouth really close to the mike. More of a smack I suppose. Anyway, its at the start of the opening line, not the 2nd line where the pre-echos begin.

Quote:

Originally Posted by eweitzman As for swinging, that's another weird aspect of this track. The band definitely does NOT get into the groove until the quarter of the song. If the last part doesn't swing, the system is lacking something.

They get down pretty good, a system would have to be lacking a lot for this not to swing. Like, lacking speakers, or not be plugged in...

Quote:

Originally Posted by eweitzman Notice anything wrong with the piano?

The guy (gal?) plays a little busily for my taste on that track, but nothing obvious to me sonically. It sounds like the quality might degrade a bit during the solo, like its a 2nd generation tape perhaps...but the comping sounds fine. Why...what do you hear?

 

[toor]

Meet Impressions
Sorry about the late impressions but I was swamped by Midterms (which spending 12 hours with headphones on Saturday didn’t help). But I can’t believe how much it was worth it.

Again thanks to Clarke and Gundam for putting the event together. Thanks to raif for the ride without which I would never have gotten to attend. Thanks also to Ayt999 who brought the fabulous equipment, let me and raif chill at his apartment for a couple of hours with even more goodies, and hooked me up with a ride. I agree with a previous comment that his generosity definitely contributes a huge amount to the head-fi community (especially in the bay area). Finally I will give thanks to NeilPeart for steering me in every direction (seemingly at once) and ensuring I heard most combinations at the meet.

Equipment Impressions
I will preface these comments with the fact that I have never heard and phones better then the sr-80, hd-580(at a store only to) or portapros before this meet. Thus you should know that when it comes to head-fi that I am basically a newb. I went initially to this meet with the hope that I would be able to decide between the Hd600, HD650, AKG 501, Beyer 880s. The only headphone I did not get to test was the Beyer 880.

Sennheiser Orpheus /w DP-85
I listened to this combo and was impressed. It definitely had the most realistic impression and natural sound. Its soundstage is exspansive and it was very good. $15,000+ good? At first I did not think so. Then I heard the Bel Canto opera CD. The stereophile review says this about the DP-85, but I’ll repeat. DP-85+SACDs is the most amazing aural experience I have ever had. I don’t even like opera but I could not get enough of this setup. I tested it a bit more with a different SACD in Ayt’s house and got the same impression.

PS-1s
I heard these hooked up to everything under the sun. They are without a doubt my favorite overall headphone. I could not just stop swaying my head and tapping my foot with the music. In comparison I felt the Hp-2s were more detailed and had tighter bass. But w/e the case they just didn’t have me enjoying the music as much as the PS-1s. My favourite amps with these was the Gilmore Reference and straight from the DAC-1. I heard the sr-225, also but my ears were pretty much ruined by the PS-1s. Damn you raif.

DAC-1
Awesome piece of equipment some people seemed to find it bright but I guess I am starting to discover that I kind of like that kind of tint with my music. We hooked it up to the Grace 901, and I actually like it less then straight from the DAC-1. However when I A/Bed the 901 and DAC1 I Could not discern a huge difference.

AKG 501s, AT900, ATL300
I also learned that the 501s and A900 are not for me. The 501 seemed listless and kind of boring while the A900 just seemed laidback and unengaging.
Raif and Ayt loved the DHA3000 and Leatherhead combo but I felt it was mediocre at best (compared to the other mind blowing hi-fi). It seemed natural and was one of the least fatiguing setups I heard. But it just didn’t do anything special for me.

AKG 1000
Didn’t even seem like headphones to me. The sound didn’t seem to be directional and instead just was there (if that makes any sense). I am not sure whether I enjoyed the sound but it definitely was a unique experience.

HD600&HD650
I definitely understand while people like Sennheiser’s. These guys were great all round performers. I got to spend a dump load of time with Ayt’s balanced Hd650s and there wasn’t really any music that I didn’t enjoy with these. Though I usually preferred the PS-1.

Qualia, MDR-R10
I am going to come out and say that I just straight up disliked the Qualias. Maybe it is because my ears are untrained but I felt that they were harsh and almost tinny?. They seemed detailed too but I didn’t enjoy them enough to try and focus on the sound for very long. I enjoyed the R10s much more and felt that they were a great balance between musicality and detail.

Beyer 990s and 770-80
Loved the sound. If this is the house flavor of Beyer and it is continued in the 880s, then I definitely need to check them out. I listened to 770 with Jazz and thought it was great match.

So what did I decide to get in the end? Well do and incredible stroke of luck (or should I say Alex’s generosity) I am now listening to HP-2s through the Joseph Gradp HP1A (I believe that is what it is called). The only downside is that no matter what I end up getting it will probably never end up equaling this set up.

Thanks to everyone for the great meet and great times.

As a final note warning for other newbies.
Bringing a Linkn Park CD is apparently only slightly less of a faux pas then owning bose

 

[ayt999]

Quote:

Originally Posted by toor So what did I decide to get in the end? Well do and incredible stroke of luck (or should I say Alex’s generosity) I am now listening to HP-2s through the Joseph Gradp HP1A (I believe that is what it is called). The only downside is that no matter what I end up getting it will probably never end up equaling this set up.

well, if you like the PS1 so much you can try that out next. if you told me I would have let you borrow the PS1 rather than the HP2.