[Angelbelow]

Was a lot of fun, thanks for organizing!

 

[bpeng]

A big thanks to Darrin for organizing the meeting, and thanks to everyone who showed and attended.

 

[Asr]

Looks like a great meet, wish I could've been able to make it.
 

Here's some photos:  

 
No offense intended, but are the watermarks on all of your photos really necessary? What does your wedding photography business have to do with photographing a Head-Fi meet?
 
Also it's just a pet peeve of mine in general, nothing against you in particular, but it always bugs me when people don't label their pics. Otherwise the majority of people reading are just looking at a bunch of potentially unknown gear. Gear labels can help improve exposure of this thread since they can be indexed by the search engine on either Head-Fi or Google. Labels for people can help too, because most people reading don't know any of the people in the pics. I personally recognized a few vendors, including LFF (of the Paradox T50rp headphones), but that's only because I've met them before. There are probably lots of people who might want to know which people the vendors are, as well as some of the Head-Fiers who actively post.

 

[darinf]

  Looks like a great meet, wish I could've been able to make it.
 
 
No offense intended, but are the watermarks on all of your photos really necessary? What does your wedding photography business have to do with photographing a Head-Fi meet?

To be honest, I didn't really want to watermark all of them, but when I used my batch scaling program to size them down to post, none of the files would upload. They would all give me an upload error on this forum when I tried to post the photos.
 
So, to get them done, I just ran them through my Photoshop batch process which puts a watermark on them, but for some reason those .jpg files uploaded without errors. Sorry if they bug you. My photography business has nothing to do with photographing a Head-Fi meet.
 

Also it's just a pet peeve of mine in general, nothing against you in particular, but it always bugs me when people don't label their pics. Otherwise the majority of people reading are just looking at a bunch of potentially unknown gear. Gear labels can help improve exposure of this thread since they can be indexed by the search engine on either Head-Fi or Google. Labels for people can help too, because most people reading don't know any of the people in the pics. I personally recognized a few vendors, including LFF (of the Paradox T50rp headphones), but that's only because I've met them before. There are probably lots of people who might want to know which people the vendors are, as well as some of the Head-Fiers who actively post.

I printed out signs for everyone at the meet who was signed up to bring gear. It was up to them to put their signs out if they wanted.
 
But when I took the photos, I was so busy demoing my own gear and software that I barely had enough time to spend with anyone else. So I just ran around and snapped as many photos as I could. I didn't have time to even know who they were or what they were showing.
 
I also don't want to guess at what gear was in the photos and then be wrong. If people want to, they can find their setup and write a quick description of their gear. Or if you happen to see a sign which has their Head-Fi name, then you can cross reference that with the original meet thread.
 
I just don't have the time to do all that.
 
I can start with labelling the pics of my setups:
 

I had the front of the room with 4 stations setup. I guess I am technically now a vendor since I launched my company and software at the meet.
All stations were using various laptops using JRiver Media Center as a source and the audio was being processed with Out Of Your Head software to replicate the sound of speakers in the headphones.
 

---

 

The left laptop was a MacBook Pro using the headphone out direct to a Stax SRM252S amp and then a pair of Stax 407 ears speakers. (I was using Parallels to run my Windows software on it.)
The right laptop was a Windows laptop running JRiver Media Center with USB out to a HRT MIcrostreamer to a Bryston BHA-1 amp to a pair of LCD-2's.

---

 

The system on the left was running a Windows 8 laptop with Out Of Your Head. USB out to a Bricasti M1 DAC to a Cavalli Liquid Gold. Then driving either a pair of LCD-3's or HD-800's.
The system on the right was a Windows 8 laptop with Out Of Your Head. USB out to a Luxman DA-06 DAC to a Stax 323A amp to a pair of Stax SR-009 headphones.

---

 

What were those little speakers for? They were to help the brain believe that the sound was coming from real speakers. I find the the illusion of listening to speakers using my software is much more effective if the brain sees some actual speakers. The speakers were not hooked up to anything though!

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[Asr]

To be honest, I didn't really want to watermark all of them, but when I used my batch scaling program to size them down to post, none of the files would upload. They would all give me an upload error on this forum when I tried to post the photos.  
So, to get them done, I just ran them through my Photoshop batch process which puts a watermark on them, but for some reason those .jpg files uploaded without errors. Sorry if they bug you. My photography business has nothing to do with photographing a Head-Fi meet.
 
But when I took the photos, I was so busy demoing my own gear and software that I barely had enough time to spend with anyone else. So I just ran around and snapped as many photos as I could. I didn't have time to even know who they were or what they were showing.
 
I also don't want to guess at what gear was in the photos and then be wrong. If people want to, they can find their setup and write a quick description of their gear. Or if you happen to see a sign which has their Head-Fi name, then you can cross reference that with the original meet thread.
 
I just don't have the time to do all that.

 
Thanks for the explanation of the watermarks, it certainly helps to know that was unintentional. I thought they might not have been.

 
I also totally understand not having a whole lot of time at a meet when you're the organizer, as I've organized meets myself before too and have run into that situation. Sorry if my post assumed foreknowledge of gear & people was expected - that's not what I meant. What I meant was that I appreciate labels on pics wherever possible, as they're always helpful, especially on pics where the subject is obvious and either fills the majority of the frame, or is acknowledging or facing the camera in the case of people.
 
Not speaking to you specifically on this part but these specific photos left me curious as to what they are:
http://www.head-fi.org/content/type/61/id/965211/
http://www.head-fi.org/content/type/61/id/965245/
 
And I would've liked to have seen these active Head-Fiers identified somewhere, if anyone knows what they look like and they're in any of the pics : mackat, burnspbesq, Greed, & ultrabike.

 

[FullCircle]

   
 
I printed out signs for everyone at the meet who was signed up to bring gear. It was up to them to put their signs out if they wanted.
 
But when I took the photos, I was so busy demoing my own gear and software that I barely had enough time to spend with anyone else. So I just ran around and snapped as many photos as I could. I didn't have time to even know who they were or what they were showing.

 

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Just to be clear, the photo is of NOBLE Audio, the bearded homely looking fellow, with abnormally long arms is Brannan.

 
 

 
I couldn't make it as I was.....  "busy" takeing care of a situation with dB Cooper, apparenlty flying with a commercial airliner is no longer an option for dB. All I can say is, he is not comfortable with discussing the details.
 

 
 
 
 
But reportedly, Kaiser Sose was seen near the premisses of the meet
 

 

[Sorensiim]

  But reportedly, Kaiser Sose was seen near the premisses of the meet
 

He's bigger than I expected but he sure knows what he's doing. Would explain the banana peels I found in the box with the K10's.

 

[sceleratus]

   
 
 
Not speaking to you specifically on this part but these specific photos left me curious as to what they are:

http://www.head-fi.org/content/type/61/id/965245/

http://www.head-fi.org/t/664903/the-christiansen-dg-300b-amplifier-build-thread

 

[purrin]

Steve, here you go with some labels to the pix.
 

That's a 300B tube amp. I heard it at the prior LA meet. It sounds good. I think it can power speakers too. I lost the details on it.
 
 
 

That's MacKat with his Schiit stack (the bigger one) and LCD3.
 

That's Brannan at Noble. He is a really cool guy. I liked the 4C the most - mainly because of its neutral response.

That's Craig on the left and Ultrabike / Gilbert on the right with his sponge measurement rig he brought to the meet.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

That's Mr. Speakers / Dan's setup. He upgraded to an LG.

That the guy from UE. (I feel dumb for forgetting his name since I've seen and spoken to him several times already at various meets.)

That's ohgourami. He brought the Krell / AGD TOTL (sabre) DAC with this HE6.
 
 

That's Dan / Mr. Speakers on the right.
 

EC 445 development amp. 4 x 45 tubes. He's got the cheapy Chinese tubes in there.
 

That's an Abyss headphone.

That's a really purdy LCD3. Can't quite see it, but the wood grain is amazing on it.
 

That's burn's Hilo and Vali prototype.

Ditto

That's the dude from BrilliantZen Audio

That's BZA's amp on the right.

This is a color version of the amp
 

That's Greed's setup. MSB Analog + GSX2
 
 
 
 

That's Luis of Paradox / Reference sounds.
 
 

That's HFM new portable x2 sabre chip thingy.
 

HE-300?

LCD-X in background. Abyss in foreground.
 
 

Our AGD DAC off. PCM1704 vs Sabre.
 

That's my bald spot in foreground.

 

[kwlinca]

Thanks to the organizers and all those who shared their equipment at the meet!  I appreciate the opportunity to listen to equipment that just isn't available locally.  I learned what my HIFiM8 can (Alpha Dogs, HE-500) and can not (HE-6) do.  The Alpha Dogs were fabulous and a big step up from the Mad Dogs that I listened to last year.  And, properly driven HE-6's, WOW!

 

[Jon L]

 
 

 
Anybody have any details about this EC445 amp and how they sounded?  Was it 45 tubes in single-ended parallel vs. 45 in push-pull, and was there speaker outputs in the back?  

 

[sceleratus]

Next time I'm not bringing anything so I can relax and listen to all the different kits.
I'm just too up tight and I missed out on a lot.
Thanks again to Darin for all his hard work and posting excellent photos.
Among other things I missed out on Darin's software.
Can anybody clue me in?

 

[wahsmoh]

I really enjoyed meeting everyone and hearing so many amazing headphones at this meet! I now know that I need to save money and get me some Alpha Dogs for my next pair of cans
I was surprised how well my DT880s stood up against fierce competition. They still are king of mid-fi in my opinion

 

[wahsmoh]

  Next time I'm not bringing anything so I can relax and listen to all the different kits.
I'm just too up tight and I missed out on a lot.
Thanks again to Darin for all his hard work and posting excellent photos.
Among other things I missed out on Darin's software.
Can anybody clue me in?

Darin's software was awesome! It has different modes that simulate different speaker positions for different genres of music or w/e purpose you intend to use them. Listening through his HD800s he tricked me into thinking I was listening to speakers set up on the table. I need to figure out how I can be a beta tester for his software

 

[purrin]

   
Anybody have any details about this EC445 amp and how they sounded?  Was it 45 tubes in single-ended parallel vs. 45 in push-pull, and was there speaker outputs in the back?  

 
40kHz AC filament heaters. 5842 driver tubes. 45s in SE parallel. Speaker taps. Interstage transformer is an Electra-print from the Moth 304TL. Outputs are Lundahls. The production will have changes in the transformers (better measuring), so hard to say how its going to sound at the end, but I would expect better. I auditioned this prototype for a few weeks where I ran it with Fostex backloaded horns, Moth Cicadas, and various headphones. As a headphone amp, the BA sounds almost constipated (exaggerating) compared to this 445. 445 is even more dynamic and resolving. I do miss the 445, but have one on order, even though the transformers and power supply (purple glowie tubes or 6D22) aren't totally fleshed out yet.
 
There is a 2A3 version of this amp available now, but I haven't heard it.