[mrip541]

Oh man. I can't believe I missed this, again...

 

[bmichels]

Alpha Dogs - I really like the Alpha Dogs, and I think Dan has done a fantastic job in their production. The cups are perfectly finished, the headband distributes weight evenly, and the pads are some of the most comfortable I've worn. I think they sound like an open headphone truly. They have a little darker sound signature than I prefer, being a T1 + Solid State user, but I think they sound spectacular in terms of detail retrieval, balance, and comfort. I also want to say that Dan is one of the nicest guys ever. I got to talk to him for a good chunk of time, and it's always a pleasure to chat with him. We talked about some totally random stuff, as well as some relevant topics such as the foam he uses and why he didn't choose a matte finish. I think he's a great guy, and I always look forward to his attendance of the meets.

LCD XC - I heard a prototype last year at the NYC Audio Show and was absolutely blown away, granted they were running off some ridiculous CD player and Amp that cost together I believe $20k. I hadn't heard them again until the meet, where they really shined off of the GSX-2. I think these are my favorite Audez'e headphones for sure, and I wish I had the funds to buy a pair, as their slightly darker signature would compliment my T1's well.

 
 
AHH very good report.
 
But then I still need to chose between a LCD-XC and an AlphaDOG  to complement my TH-900 when I cannot afford to disturb the people around.
 
So, could someone tell me which headphone isolate (or rather Don't LEAK) the best : LCD-XC or  AlphaDOG ?
 
thanks a lot for your advices...

 

[VandyMan]

This was my first Head-Fi meet. Everyone was very friendly and I got to hear a lot of interesting headphones. I'm busy today, so just a few quick comments:
 
- Thanks to Jude for bringing the Oppo PM-1.  It is in the class of other 1K headphones, but it did not spend enough time to really get a feel for it. If the PM-2 sounds as good, it will be a huge bargain.
 
- Alpha Dog is a great closed headphone, for the price. I'm amazed that the cups/padding make this big a difference. I may get a pair as my office headphones. Way better than my current closed phones -- Sennheiser Momentum over-et. It was a pleasure talking to Dan about his creations and seeing the obvious (and justified) pride he takes in them.
 
- Thanks to ESL-1 for giving me a listening tour of his really cool collection.
 
- Did not care for the Abyss. I don't hear what the  hype is about. Maybe it was a fit issue. They were set too wide for me and I was not sure how to adjust them. (Thank you to Jack Woo for bringing so much equipment! One of these days I'm going to get a WA-6SE.)
 
- Thanks to whoever brought the Stax 009 and BHSE. You saved me a ton of money.  I was giving that setup very serious consideration.  I really enjoyed listening to them, but decided that the setup does not offer enough improvement over the HD-800 and Audeze for the money, given my budget. I think I will get more pleasure from having a few really good headphone to chose from as my mood dictates, rather than a single super-expensive (best?) headphone.
 
- Very nice to meet Mike Dias and UE crew. They had a special going and I took advantage and picked up the UERM. When I got my JH-13s, I did not really consider any UEs because I hate Logitech and thought that the UERM was out of date compared to what JH is doing. However, the UERM turn out to be much closer to my listening taste than my JH-13s. (Is there any way to sell a used custom in-ear?)
 
- Got to hear the Audeze X and XC for the first time. Really enjoyed both. They are clearly superior to my 2. I think I like them better than the 3 also. I hope to spend more time with them in the near future.
 
- Lastly, based on the number of pairs I saw, the Sennheiser HD-800 is still the most popular audiophile headphone.
 
Thanks to all those who put this event together.

 

[cat6man]

   
Finally some one with some good sense.  

 
I would argue that it is even more difficult to evaluate headphones and headphone amps without an excellent DAC as the source, preferably one that is known to me.
The level and quality of digital sources is much much higher than 5 years ago when I was totally flummoxed in trying to assess headphones and amplifiers.
Add music that I'm not necessarily familiar with and there is way too much going on for anything close to objective listening.
Ergo, there are too many variables for an absolute evaluation.
 
However, a good synergistic combo will sound good, suggesting further evaluation is warranted........and that is all I'm looking for.
 
For example, the Metrum/Apex/T1 setup was one of my favorites but since I am unfamiliar with all 3 components, I cannot apportion the credit to individual units.
Very nice setup which, as a Stax bigot, I don't often run across.............just musical, so all 3 components are doing something good.
 
Another example is the BHSE/009 setup.  The Ayre QB9 that Justin brought is, in my opinion, a step up from the sources he has had in the past.
I evaluated the QB9 this fall at my house as part of my epic 12 month long DAC search, but found it too bright (the DAC) for my tastes, both with the 009 and with my speakers.
I have heard the 009 sound wonderful, so-so and bleh at different times, with different amps and with different sources.  Even with the BHSE in my house, I've heard it range from sublime to bleh depending on the DAC.
YMMV
 
The Metrum NOS DAC used with the Apex/T1 uses an R2R DAC which I find less fatiguing.  It would be very interesting to hear the BHSE/009 with the Metrum DAC........could be a klller combo.
 
Skullguise's setup was also musical, and he gets mega-bonus points for bringing Vanilla Fudge's version of "You Keep Me Hanging On"..........must be that Massachusetts background we share.
 
Kerry's KGSS-HV was very nice with 007s and I remember wanting a couch so I could stay there the rest of the afternoon.
Not sure what he had there as a DAC.
 
Thanks to Jude for bringing the GeekOut 1000 with him, though it drew too much power to work with my Nexus 7 on an OTG cable (good to know, I wonder if the GeekOut 450 I ordered will also have this problem..............an OTG Y power cable should solve that, but requires traveling with a separate USB battery)
 
The Sony hi-rez media box is intriguing and was nice to see.  It will be fun comparing with Vinnie's modded version in the future......a lot of folks have reportedh that battery power on the CAPS v3 server makes a big difference, both on the output usb card (expected) AND powering the hard drive (not expected!!!!!!).
 
As always, it was fun to spend the afternoon hanging around and talking to folks, meeting old friends as well as new ones.  I think this is the first time I've been able to hang around until wrap up time.
 
Thanks once again to THE MAN, Tom, for organizing the meet.
 
And though I grumble about crossing Manhattan and squeezing through the pot hole repair trucks getting out to Long Island (it was worst ever, this time), I did have a chance to duck out at lunch time and visit East End HiFi and meet Chris Russo in the town of Coram, about 30mins east of Babylon.
 
Everything matters.............synergy dominates.............
but it's all about the music

 

[bozebuttons]

  I stopped by around the time the auction started but didn't get a chance to stay too long. It was nice chatting some new and old members. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to hear many rigs (although I tend not to listen to the rigs as much as I do chatting with members now) but I did hear the R10's but I can't remember the dac or amp. It was some NOS dac if that helps but the R10's sound lovely as always. I also heard the newest headphone from Dan (Alpha Dogs or something? I can't really remember) off Mullet's rig which was also nice. I heard them before at the last meet and if I was ever in the market for a closed headphone this would be on my short list.
 
Also thanks to Jude I really want the AK240 but for once I didn't make any impulse buys at a meet. Lastly thanks to Tom for organizing, the vendors for their support, Ari for the auction and just both old/new members for making it a fun meet.

The R10 setup belonged to Dave the Rave RSA raptor,Reiymo dac ,theta  transport 

 

[Dimitris]

I can't believe I missed this again. I wanted to come but unfortunately I was moved to a project in MidWest and therefore couldn't join the gang. Too bad because I was looking forward to seeing the old friends and listening to some new gear.

 

[icebear]

... I evaluated the QB9 this fall at my house as part of my epic 12 month long DAC search, but found it too bright (the DAC) for my tastes, both with the 009 and with my speakers.
I have heard the 009 sound wonderful, so-so and bleh at different times, with different amps and with different sources.  Even with the BHSE in my house, I've heard it range from sublime to bleh depending on the DAC.
YMMV
...
Everything matters.............synergy dominates.............
but it's all about the music

 
+1, I felt exactly the same with the various presentation of the HD800 at the meeting.
 
Almost every set up sounded somewhat differently. I signed up for a GS-X MkII beginning of this year. The single ended HD800 with this amp didn't rock my boat. But I trust that the DAC and source (and power supply) was the culprit here. So I'm still in ).
 
Other than lack of sound stage vs the HD800, I liked the performance of the SR-009 / BHSE combination very much. With regards to value for money, I think the HD800 are hard to beat.

 

[luckyshot]

Hello everyone, this was my first meet and I had a great time indeed. I left a bit early had other business
To attend. I just want to mention a few really great sounding setups that I liked a lot . A member named Dave had on hand the sony r10 headphones with Ray Samuels gear , which is mentioned in this thread
That sounded incredible, audeze lcd x with woo audio wa7 fire fly sounded really nice, also next to that
The hd800 with the wa7 from woo sounded nice as we'll. the abyss with woo tube amp sounded forget-
About it!! Super!!

The mad and alpha dogs geared with cavarilli or something like that, a big tube amp built like my bryston
Gear sounded really good the alpha maybe a little dark and closed in, compared to the mad dogs! Odd
I thought. Front end was the MacBook Pro retina (ssd) with lossless!

The beyerdynamic table was a little quiet, but I went over to cheer them up, nice guys there. I'm very
Familiar with beyerdynamic. Products I own the t5p! And others. They basically had all of there phones
On hand paired with several of there amp the a20, you all know that beyerdynamic sound right.
Beyerdynamic mentioned a new hi end amp coming soon for $1699 usd! Well that's what they said.

The ultimate ears table was excellent, since I love in ear! I have a dozen of those. I just smiled with
The Astell&kern AK240 with high Rez from I believe hd tracks if I'm not mistaking, paired with ue custom
Modified iem, a three driver ear piece with capital logo on them sounded stunning indeed, where's my
Wallet good!! In fact the sound was amazing. - Next I went to the sennheiser table and listen to the
Sennheiser ie800 paired with the adtell&kern AK120 with lossless 24/192 music files, I always asked for
Reference, and the sound was amazing just like the ak240 and ue custom iem, but I think I give the hood
To the ak120 with senn ie800 because it was very transparent, the most effortless sound I've heard .
Spooky good I thought.
The ie800 sound amazing with the ak120. The sennheiser rep, can't remember his name, dam it. Told me to fetch my shure se 846 from the car, Which I did and I can't begin to tell you all how great the ak120 sounded
With my 846 and moon audio silver dragon cabling. Wow it was a somewhat a draw between the 846/moon
And ie800 both plugged to the ak120. I'm excited already just typing.

The last thing was to go back and show face to the ue/ak table with my 846! But with a little push from
The senn rep I did, and oh boy holy crap wat a sound. Know I forgot to mention above that the ak240/ue iem-
Setup was in balance mode using balance mini plug with standard cables fom ultimate ears! My 846/moon
Silver cable setup is standard stereo mini, and I have to tell you that to my ears my shure se 846 with moon
Audio silver dragons came thru big time!! I was so surprise that the ak240 with my 846 slap their ue/240.
Ok it was a little slap, but you / I could hear it very easily with not much effort. I want to mention that I heard
Lots of very interesting products at the meet. So much so that I didn't have time to say hello to Jude, who
I never had the opportunity to meet. Maybe at the next meet ill chat with Jude.

Anyways bye for kmow, I'll try to post some pics for your guys.

 

[luckyshot]

 

[luckyshot]

 

[luckyshot]

 

[Frank I]

Waiting on Jude pictures. he took a bunch of shots on his new Sony 20-200

 

[bmichels]

 

 
 
BALANCED  headphone out !  

 what IEM is at the end of this cable ?  Roxane ?   do you have listening impression to share with us about this set-up ? 

 

[luckyshot]

BALANCED  headphone out !    what IEM is at the end of this cable ?  Roxane ?   do you have listening impression to share with us about this set-up ? 

The cable in the pic is from ultimate ears, it uses four segment mini balance
Pin and at the other end was a three driver iem which UE modified as a
Universal like what JH did with the Roxanne!! This is my first ballance
Iem setup. It sounded really good, more energy and clarity, speed and
Just downright true to the source, but then again the dap the AK240
Had DSD files! So yeah it was awesome. I'm on the fence with the
New Roxanne universal, I'm thinking. When does it end

 

[Frank I]

The cable in the pic is from ultimate ears, it uses four segment mini balance
Pin and at the other end was a three driver iem which UE modified as a
Universal like what JH did with the Roxanne!! This is my first ballance
Iem setup. It sounded really good, more energy and clarity, speed and
Just downright true to the source, but then again the dap the AK240
Had DSD files! So yeah it was awesome. I'm on the fence with the
New Roxanne universal, I'm thinking. When does it end

May as well buy the Roxanne also. LOL the your done Right? LMAO it dont end