tradja
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2004
- Posts
- 369
- Likes
- 11
Quote:
Quote:
Glad you guys like the...uh...knob. Larry helpfully provided me with that Paduak round, and I just hacksawed off a brass screw for the indicator dot and buffed and linseed oiled the whole thing.
Alas, my poor PIMETA. This meet got me hungry for an amp upgrade! I had no idea that my amps were my rig's biggest opportunities for improvement.
This was my first meet. I had a great time meeting everyone. Like devwild says, it did seem like a lot of listening to my test tracks, but what a layout of gear! Tom's Dynalo and devwild's M^3 (w/ AD843?) were especially impressive. My HD580's really woke up on both, in a way that I've never heard them before: upfront, more dynamic, lots of punch. Great layers of detail.
Trying out the HF-1 and K701 were treats indeed. The HF-1 were the first Grado that I haven't found screechy, thin, and lean. Nice rich sound! The K701's were a lot of fun. Before this meet, the "highest-end" cans I had heard were HD580 (well, and MS-2), so I don't really have a hi-fi context to place them in. What an amazing presentation: open, airy, detailed, fast, and all just so effortless.
Using the M^3, I slightly prefered the K701's to the DT880's (stock and Cardas) simply on the mids -- vocals had a remarkably natural, round, completely grainless character on the K701's while the Beyers, while excellent, still sounded drier, "canned" and, well, "headphoney". The bass and treble extention was excellent on both, and the ability to present complex passages has really gotten me interested in flagship cans. Since both are the best cans I've heard to date, these are just my observations. After several enjoyable years of careful listening on budget and mid-range gear since coming to headfi, I'm not exactly a noob, but I do have limited context. And besides, everyone likes something different.
Some other fun and interesting comparos I did:
DT880 stock vs. DT880 Cardas: The recabled Beyers had a lovely smoothed out high end, but stock had a relative sparkle that I missed on the Cardas. Beautiful recable job by highflyin9, though.
Stock V6 vs. my thrift store V6: The consesus here seems to be that V6's are harsh, sibby, and unmusical. I have always been curious that my V6's, purchased for $9 from a thrift sotre, sound vastly different to me: smooth, warm, and eminently enjoyable to listen to. Finally I got to A/B them against a "stock" or "normal" pair, and sure enough, they were dramatically different cans. I found the normal cans unpleasantly bright, with hollow mids. The normals had tighter and better defined bass, though, but I've never found the bass on mine to be unpleasantly sloppy. Solo piano was especially revealing: mine are warm and rich, almost like my K240s, while the normals seemed tinkly and hollow. iSleipnir A/B'd them later, and he commented that mine lacked attack detail in a bassline he was following. Unfortunately, I didn't get to talk with him more about it; I hope he posts his observations in greater detail. I wonder what happened to mine? Left attached to a home receiver headphone jack for years?
KSC-35 vs. KSC-50: Both are great little clips. Both sound the same to me. The 50 were substantially heavier and "bouncier" on my ear. The 35 seemed to fit closer and ride lighter. The 50 sure looks a lot better to me. The 35 looks like something the flight attendant hands you when you board a really budget airline.
I had a great time and I look forward to the next meet. Unfortunately (in this context), Mrs. Tradja and I will be travelling for most of 2006, so I might miss out.
Originally Posted by tkam Whoever's amp that is, cool wood knob |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Various Headfi Members <assorted knob comments redacted> |
Glad you guys like the...uh...knob. Larry helpfully provided me with that Paduak round, and I just hacksawed off a brass screw for the indicator dot and buffed and linseed oiled the whole thing.
Alas, my poor PIMETA. This meet got me hungry for an amp upgrade! I had no idea that my amps were my rig's biggest opportunities for improvement.
This was my first meet. I had a great time meeting everyone. Like devwild says, it did seem like a lot of listening to my test tracks, but what a layout of gear! Tom's Dynalo and devwild's M^3 (w/ AD843?) were especially impressive. My HD580's really woke up on both, in a way that I've never heard them before: upfront, more dynamic, lots of punch. Great layers of detail.
Trying out the HF-1 and K701 were treats indeed. The HF-1 were the first Grado that I haven't found screechy, thin, and lean. Nice rich sound! The K701's were a lot of fun. Before this meet, the "highest-end" cans I had heard were HD580 (well, and MS-2), so I don't really have a hi-fi context to place them in. What an amazing presentation: open, airy, detailed, fast, and all just so effortless.
Using the M^3, I slightly prefered the K701's to the DT880's (stock and Cardas) simply on the mids -- vocals had a remarkably natural, round, completely grainless character on the K701's while the Beyers, while excellent, still sounded drier, "canned" and, well, "headphoney". The bass and treble extention was excellent on both, and the ability to present complex passages has really gotten me interested in flagship cans. Since both are the best cans I've heard to date, these are just my observations. After several enjoyable years of careful listening on budget and mid-range gear since coming to headfi, I'm not exactly a noob, but I do have limited context. And besides, everyone likes something different.
Some other fun and interesting comparos I did:
DT880 stock vs. DT880 Cardas: The recabled Beyers had a lovely smoothed out high end, but stock had a relative sparkle that I missed on the Cardas. Beautiful recable job by highflyin9, though.
Stock V6 vs. my thrift store V6: The consesus here seems to be that V6's are harsh, sibby, and unmusical. I have always been curious that my V6's, purchased for $9 from a thrift sotre, sound vastly different to me: smooth, warm, and eminently enjoyable to listen to. Finally I got to A/B them against a "stock" or "normal" pair, and sure enough, they were dramatically different cans. I found the normal cans unpleasantly bright, with hollow mids. The normals had tighter and better defined bass, though, but I've never found the bass on mine to be unpleasantly sloppy. Solo piano was especially revealing: mine are warm and rich, almost like my K240s, while the normals seemed tinkly and hollow. iSleipnir A/B'd them later, and he commented that mine lacked attack detail in a bassline he was following. Unfortunately, I didn't get to talk with him more about it; I hope he posts his observations in greater detail. I wonder what happened to mine? Left attached to a home receiver headphone jack for years?
KSC-35 vs. KSC-50: Both are great little clips. Both sound the same to me. The 50 were substantially heavier and "bouncier" on my ear. The 35 seemed to fit closer and ride lighter. The 50 sure looks a lot better to me. The 35 looks like something the flight attendant hands you when you board a really budget airline.
I had a great time and I look forward to the next meet. Unfortunately (in this context), Mrs. Tradja and I will be travelling for most of 2006, so I might miss out.