[amb]

Thanks to neilvg for hosting the event. It was great to see everyone and fun chatting with all of you.

I created a new webpage with pics from the meet:

http://www.amb.org/ti/audio/headfi0206/

Enjoy!

 

[strogg]

mmm... that meet was fun

my ears are so tired i turned back to the dark side... listening to my speaker setup.

Some notes:

thanks to neil for lending us his humble abode.
thanks to everyone who brought snackies and drinks
HP1000's are still frikkin awesome. the highs are a little screachy, though
Japanese stuff is still just that. i never really liked them (i guess i'm one of the few non-japanese fans).
American stuff... yeah. still american stuff too. although they sound good, the high end on everything still needs a lot of work:-/
European stuff is still that: freakishly good.
- The orpheus is still silky smooth, although i did start hearing a lack of bass. oh well.
- As i proved to myself earlier, a recabling of the k701's does absolutely nothing but make the cable color match and the cable shorter
- The HD650's still sound wonderful, yet murky. i've tried several variations, including the woodies (which are the best of the bunch). the tonality is nearly there. the murkiness is still prevailing, though.
- The HE60's are almost as good as big brother. they sound almost identical, but i can still tell the HE90 has the better feel.
- K601's sounded surprisingly good compared to the K701's. although they sounded almost identical at the meet, i'm sure at home, there will be a larger difference.

now amp-wise, i've tried a lot of different stuff, but i mainly stuck around Morsel's and Amb's stuff. i a/b'ed a lot of stuff there, but since it was loud, i a/b'ed some more with the hd600's and my k701's while everyone left for dinner (so it was dead quiet). here are my comparisons:
- mini3 vs m3: i couldn't hear a difference. my ears are either that bad, or the recording was kinda bad.
- mini3 vs porta corda mk3 usb: (note, meet conditions were loud) I couldn't hear a difference with that either. nothing at all. others can vouch for me on that.
- m3 vs dynahi: at first, i didn't hear a difference, but i noticed something subtle with some mannheim morsel played for me. the dynahi seemed a bit more dynamic with the detail. just a tad. it was rather hard to hear, but if i spent more than 3 minutes and auditioned them both at home in my comfy chair, i'll probably favor the dynahi a bit more.
- dac1 vs earmax: subtle, but earmax wins with an edge (literally) in sound

as for the dac's, i particularly enjoyed the dac1 (again). still sounds awesome out of the box. the other dac i particularly enjoyed was the peter daniel dac. for about $180 in parts, that thing hit the nail in the bang/buck department. that thing actually removed a lot of the jitter in my cd player (which has a lot, btw). i found it an impressive design, yet simple.

that's all i can really think of for now, so forgive me if i was impressed with something and forgot about it

pictures coming up soon....

 

[vo328]

I wonder what the total $ value was of all that equipment that was brought into the presentation room? It has to be some amazing number....

I'm sure I'll be seeing some of that equipment again in my dreams tonight....

 

[Voltron]

Great meet, cool people, amazing gear, fun with vinyl, thanks so much Neil.

Very tired, more thoughts later...

There are some photos located here (password billbob):

http://homepage.mac.com/abedecarre/PhotoAlbum11.html

 

[strogg]

and pics (in no particular order)

Amb's amp rig. from left to right is a dynahi, m3, some sort of modded fet amp, millet hybrid, and the mini3

utep's toys

view of what many consider the head of the table

ever seen two HE90's and an HE60in one picture before? well, now you have

this shot is better in full size, so i'm linking it (2008x3000). it's a view of almost the whole meet
http://www.muahahahahaha.com/headfi/dscn0023.jpg

Of all the headphones brought to the meet, this one has to be the best courtesy of ayt. just one XLR connector cost more than the headphone itself (which by the way are the walkman headphones that come with every sony walkman).

another view of the meet. note everything sticking out of the MPX3

mmm... if anyone wants any full sized pictures (published or not) pm me.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

ayt999, neilvg, neilpeart, raif, and I are still rockin' the joint!

Nothing like a couple of HE90's and a schnozload of AT woodies for a fun evening. The poor ol' Omega II isn't even being used (awwwwwww.....)

 

[PFKMan23]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer ayt999, neilvg, neilpeart, raif, and I are still rockin' the joint! Nothing like a couple of HE90's and a schnozload of AT woodies for a fun evening. The poor ol' Omega II isn't even being used (awwwwwww.....)

wow....heh yah, I got bored so I left

And heh, Alex should have sold me some tubes

 

[strogg]

and neil number 2 (who, btw, looks a lot like alex) still owes me a pair of $450 HE90's

 

[vo328]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer ayt999, neilvg, neilpeart, raif, and I are still rockin' the joint! Nothing like a couple of HE90's and a schnozload of AT woodies for a fun evening. The poor ol' Omega II isn't even being used (awwwwwww.....)

Shoot! If I had known that you guys would still be "at it", I'd have come back over! I didn't get to spend much time at all earlier in the day.

-Vik

 

[blessingx]

This was the first meet (maybe because of the size), where it was less about the equipment for me than the people. Great seeing many of you again and meeting a few new members. And nice little pad you've got there Neil.

It was certainly an impressive list of equipment. My highlight (and what I want to spend more critical time with) was the Lavry DA10. Also although I didn't spend any time comparing myself, the multiple members that mentioned the K701 and K601 differences being far less significant than the rep at Head-Fi, certainly makes me curious how that public perception may change. Finally the repeated question of why pay to c-pad/woody (deep woody in this case) a HF1 when a used RS1 is only a few dollars away was answered for me. Although different sounds for sure, at least in a short comparison, the RS1s unusual peaks were at least as bothersome to a couple of us as any modded HF1 issues. Think it's likely personal choice at this point, although more time is needed to be definitive.

 

[zdogg]

Yes indeed, a sweet event...Neilvg had me convinced that he was some kinda James Bond villain with an evil plan to lure all the Cali headphone dorks into his lair in order to "liquidate" them...

Drank a bunch of beers, sat in the sun by the tennis courts, goofed around...and oh, yeah, listened to about 200K worth of gear. Then drank more beers...

Better than hitting a resort. If you guys are still partying today, give me a call!

 

[gundam91]

It was great seeing everyone there. My son got sick and started to throw up Friday night, so I decided not to show up. (They are still sitting in the boxes piled up at the front entrance.) But he was feeling a lot better Saturday afternoon and really wanted to get out of the house, so we brought him along for a quick stop by at the meet.

I was hoping to compare the Zu to the Equinox cables myself, and also to hear some portable rigs. But our stay was short, so I was only able to listen to some iPods with several mini-to-mini cables/amps combination.

And darn! I didn't get a chance to listen to the Opheus. There were too many people surrounding it for me to even get close to it. Neilvg, what d'you say, bring the Opheus over to my place and you can also listen to my vinyl rig.

I was hoping to surprise some members with those soft Grado cases from Taiwan, but they got delayed. If you want one, PM me soon. They will coming in tomorrow.

 

[leeg]

Sorry I couldn't make it after all, sounds like I really missed out on some great gear to listen too. Hopefully another time.

 

[Crimson Tear]

Indeed you did. Maybe next time. I can't wait for the next meet, that was a lot of fun.

 

[gshan]

Anxiously waiting for K601 vs K701 impressions!