More Gear Impressions + Pics
Fosgate's table: I forgot which headphones Fosgate had, I think the LCD-3. The only reason I sat down at their table was because they had a turntable source, the Clearaudio Concept, and I wanted to hear some vinyl - and they happened to have the MFSL version of Alison Krauss' So Long So Wrong, an album I'm familiar with. It sounded really good - there wasn't anything specific I could pinpoint between the vinyl and CD, but it did seem like a more-realistic sound in terms of the instruments' sonic textures.
HiFiMan HE-6: There were a couple of HE-6 headphones at the show actually, one at HiFiMan's table and another at Moon Audio's table, and I checked them both out. Nothing bad, but nothing that was that awesome either. It was just a quick listen though, would need another listen to comment further. Didn't really sound like a headphone that I wanted to buy though.
HiFiMan HE-500: I checked this one out too, forgot which table. Also not bad, and it was fairly average-sounding. Good clarity & bass were my immediate thoughts.
Beyerdynamic T1: I previously owned a pair of these headphones and wanted to check them out again at Moon Audio's table on the Cary SEI 300 to see if the amp would change my opinion of them, but it didn't. Not that I think the T1 is bad, it's just not that awesome IMO, and at best it's "above-average" to me, but closer to "average". Decently balanced-sounding headphones but not a whole lot of mid-range or bass. I have a written review of them here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/511201/review-beyerdynamic-t1-vs-sennheiser-hd800
Final Audio Design Muramasa, Audeze closed headphones, Fostex TH600, Sennheiser Momentum, etc: I completely missed seeing these headphones despite the number of times I walked around the room. If I'd known about them before, I would've listened, but I didn't know about them until after the show. Doh!
Ultimate Ears UE4000/UE6000/UE9000: Now these I knew about before RMAF, but when I asked about them at UE's table, I was told they didn't have the headphones at the show. Another doh!
Even more impressions & pics to come later!
(6 first pics @ Famous Dave's Restaurant - dinner on Friday 10/12)
Doug of JH Audio, formerly of Westone
Left to right: Darrell (Moon Audio), Jerry Harvey, Drew Baird (Moon Audio), Steve Thomas, Mike Dias (Ultimate Ears), Jaime Harvey-Penrod
One of the sauces for the chips
Appetizer
The main course - we ordered 3 of these for the entire 11-person group
A very large moose head
Val Kolton of V-Moda
Unique Melody PP6
Unique Melody
Westone's table
Ultimate Ears' table (w/ Mike Dias standing)
um.....
TTVJ's custom beer glasses
These two girls showed up together from out of nowhere and after they left, someone said "Hey who let the girls go?!"
Val & naamanf (DIY amp-builder extraordinaire)
Sitting on the couch at RMAF, watching the baseball game
naamanf's friend (er, forgot his name) + Tyll (InnerFidelity)
Caught in the act by Tyll!
Val's cool shoes
Alex (Audeze) + unknown ALO Audio guy
Alex (Audeze) + unknown Audeze guy
The Audeze team (Sankar on far right)