[sachu]

  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.
 
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.
 

 
 
No offense, but its quite rude to question anyone for watermarking their photos. Darin you shouldn't have to justify your actiosn in this regard especially given that you are giving back to the community by taking the time to post pics of a meet. Business or not, I watermark every pic I post on any forum nowadays, sometimes smack dab in the middle of the photo so people don't go cropping and using it without permission. 
 
With that said, looks like a great meet! Thanks for sharing the pics. 

 

[wahsmoh]

I got to listen to the Hifiman EF-6 amp with the HE-500s and my own DT880s plugged in. I found out that the DT880s actually give better detail in the highs while the HE-500s had a warmer tonality with more accuracy in the mids. The audience though sounded more realistic with the clapping and applauses while listening to Tequila Sunrise on the Eagles CD that the vendor supplied while listening through the DT880s. Honestly, I thought the HE-500s sounded like my DT880s with the EQ turned up and a warmer tonality in general while the HE-400s were more V-shaped and had a bass boost. I can see the HE-500s as being an upgrade to my DT880s only in some registers more like a side-grade. What I really want are the Alpha Dogs or a pair of LCD-X's

 

[Radio_head]

No offense, but everything you do is wrong.  I question your actions, the motives behind them, and if you are truly human or a sentient computer virus trying and failing to replicate human emotions and morality.  All your opinions are fundamentally incorrect to anyone with a set of ears or a brain, every breath you take giving impressions is wasted and adds nothing to the world, everyone who acts nice to you secretly hates, resents, or scorns you, and you smell like a storehouse full of dusty canned goods in an apocalypse bunker.  Your mother was unwise in her decision to have you, your father was ill-advised in ever meeting your mother, and your grandparents are dead.
 
IMHO,  2 cents, your mileage may vary, objects in mirror might be ulgier than they appear, different strokes for different old folks, blue winky face, +1.

 

[Asr]

No offense, but its quite rude to question anyone for watermarking their photos. Darin you shouldn't have to justify your actiosn in this regard especially given that you are giving back to the community by taking the time to post pics of a meet. Business or not, I watermark every pic I post on any forum nowadays, sometimes smack dab in the middle of the photo so people don't go cropping and using it without permission.

 
I think you mis-interpreted my question about the watermarks. I wasn't questioning why there were watermarks on them to begin with - I totally understand why most people & photographers add them. Heck, I add them myself to photos that I post online, for the same reason as you mentioned, which is other people copying them without permission. And yes, pics of meets are always appreciated, because "meet impressions threads are worthless without pictures".
 
But in this specific case, I found the watermarks especially visually distracting combined with the borders, plus it seemed to me that they were an intentional attempt at advertising a photography business. IMO the watermarks that contain business names are inappropriate on a site like Head-Fi, and if the watermarks had just been something like "Darin Fong 2013", I would've never mentioned anything about them. It's just that the obvious business name made them look like advertising, but from darinf's earlier response that was clearly not intended.
 
In any case I digress, as this subject was already closed when darinf responded earlier.

 

[ohhgourami]

  I got to listen to the Hifiman EF-6 amp with the HE-500s and my own DT880s plugged in. I found out that the DT880s actually give better detail in the highs while the HE-500s had a warmer tonality with more accuracy in the mids. The audience though sounded more realistic with the clapping and applauses while listening to Tequila Sunrise on the Eagles CD that the vendor supplied while listening through the DT880s. Honestly, I thought the HE-500s sounded like my DT880s with the EQ turned up and a warmer tonality in general while the HE-400s were more V-shaped and had a bass boost. I can see the HE-500s as being an upgrade to my DT880s only in some registers more like a side-grade. What I really want are the Alpha Dogs or a pair of LCD-X's

I think you need to re-listen to all the gear you mentioned above in a quiet room. Because of the incredibly loud background noise during the meet, it's very difficult to judge how detailed a headphone actually is.
 
TBH, I thought my HE-6 sounded very mediocre during the meet because of all the noise. There are many qualities you would miss unless you sat down in a quiet room.

 

[mrspeakers]

Meets are a blessing and a curse; a wonderful variety of gear that is very hard to hear anywhere else, in an environment where it's really hard to hear well (even for closed phones).  

That said, there was some amazing gear, from my neighbor's gorgeous tube amp to the amazing Eddie Current kits.  The downside of being a vendor is needing to work the event, I never get time to wander about and experience all the goodies!
 
Thanks to Darin for putting this together, again!

 

[warrenpchi]

  No offense, but everything you do is wrong.  I question your actions, the motives behind them, and if you are truly human or a sentient computer virus trying and failing to replicate human emotions and morality.  All your opinions are fundamentally incorrect to anyone with a set of ears or a brain, every breath you take giving impressions is wasted and adds nothing to the world, everyone who acts nice to you secretly hates, resents, or scorns you, and you smell like a storehouse full of dusty canned goods in an apocalypse bunker.  Your mother was unwise in her decision to have you, your father was ill-advised in ever meeting your mother, and your grandparents are dead.
 
IMHO,  2 cents, your mileage may vary, objects in mirror might be ulgier than they appear, different strokes for different old folks, blue winky face, +1.

 
No offense, but I think that might be more sarcasm than the universe can handle. 

 

[Currawong]

I'm curious what the results were, if any, from the Sabre vs. 1704 DAC-off were.

 

[darinf]

  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?

Yes, I feel the same way about not bringing all that gear. But, what if no one brought anything? 

 

  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

Basically my software takes your music or movies and makes it sound like you are listening to speakers in a room rather than headphones. It can replicate the sound of up to 8 speakers all around you for 7.1 movies, but also works with two channel music.
 
It's not beta anymore. The meet was the first time it was announced to the public, available for demo, AND available for purchase.
 
You can read all about it here if you want.
 
-Darin

 

[ohhgourami]

  I'm curious what the results were, if any, from the Sabre vs. 1704 DAC-off were.

The Master 7 has a better midrange which makes vocals have more presence. Also the texture, especially bass texture. There's more vibration instead of a plain thud. But the NFB-7.32 seems to have more air and a slightly larger soundstage. Things are more crisp especially the definition on the treble. Differences are noticeable but still pretty subtle. Kinda worth the money if initially bought, but not worth it with attempting to upgrade.
 
Technically both DACs should be on equal grounds, but when listening the M7 sounds a bit better because of the fantastic mids and texture which are more noticeable than the advantages of the ES9018. I think purrin and anaxilus would agree with what I wrote. The price difference between the two are well justified, but going from one to the other wouldn't be an upgrade or a downgrade. The real upgrade for us is with 7k+ DACs .

 

[burnspbesq]

The EC 445 prototype, even with the compromised transformers, is damn good.  I listened briefly and was very impressed.  The production model is likely to be something very special.  Only problems are the footprint, which is way bigger than any space I have available, and the exposed tubes (dangerous for cats).
 
The Vali is ridiculous--period, full stop.  Not just "ridiculous at the price point."  Power to burn, lots of resolution, and it doesn't sound sterotypically "tubey."  Cliche alert, but it really is a tube amp for SS amp lovers (like me, for example).  The only thing that could make it better would be battery power, so I could throw it in a computer bag with my Herus (that's my Herus in Darin's photos).  Different flavors to be sure, but it's every bit as listenable as the amp section of the Hilo.  I'm hard-pressed to think of an amp with a three-figure price tag that I would unambiguously prefer over it.  I'm absolutely ordering one.
 
LCD-X?  Umm ... interesting.  Let's leave it at that for now.
 
Thanks again, Darin.  You throw one heck of a party.

 

[wahsmoh]

 
I think you need to re-listen to all the gear you mentioned above in a quiet room. Because of the incredibly loud background noise during the meet, it's very difficult to judge how detailed a headphone actually is.
 
TBH, I thought my HE-6 sounded very mediocre during the meet because of all the noise. There are many qualities you would miss unless you sat down in a quiet room.

I did extensive A/B testing on the HE-500 and came up with those results. I do agree that the meet was loud and open cans allow sound in. It could be why I enjoyed the Alpha Dogs so much because they did such a great job isolating sound. I still wasn't as impressed with the HE-500 as I thought I would be. I didn't really get the chance to hear the HE-6 but it was nice finally getting a chance with the LCD-3 and LCD-X. I've never heard such immersive, warm, lush, ear pleasing headphones before. If only I could just sell my car haha

 

[ohhgourami]

  I did extensive A/B testing on the HE-500 and came up with those results. I do agree that the meet was loud and open cans allow sound in. It could be why I enjoyed the Alpha Dogs so much because they did such a great job isolating sound. I still wasn't as impressed with the HE-500 as I thought I would be. I didn't really get the chance to hear the HE-6 but it was nice finally getting a chance with the LCD-3 and LCD-X. I've never heard such immersive, warm, lush, ear pleasing headphones before. If only I could just sell my car haha

If you like your DT880's treble, you'd love the HE-6s. I felt the LCD-3 and LCD-X are quite the opposite of DT880s.
 
Shame no one brought a T1.

 

[wahsmoh]

 
If you like your DT880's treble, you'd love the HE-6s. I felt the LCD-3 and LCD-X are quite the opposite of DT880s.
 
Shame no one brought a T1.

They are quite the opposite. It's why I like them so much. I enjoy neutrality but the warmth they give makes them easy on vocals and great on acoustic. I found them fun to listen to although they sounded mushy in comparison to more neutral headphones like the HD800 which had a much deeper soundstage too

 

[purrin]

  I'm curious what the results were, if any, from the Sabre vs. 1704 DAC-off were.
 

  The Master 7 ...
 

 
We did the comparison with the OR5 running coax. I forgot most other AGD units are wired differently for i2s and did not bring my i2s cable for the AGD standard pin-out. The only thing I would add is that the Sabre has a little bit of "Sabre treble" sheen on the top end. Overall the differences were not huge night and day as I've heard in comparison with other DACs. But you know how it goes with diminishing returns, plus I doubt Kingwa is going to make a POS for his TOTL Sabre based DAC.