[tiberian]

ok now i am in sergio's place listening to some of his gears...
sergio's king o ppa is pretty good...soundstage, clarity, dynamics were top notch. sounds very very close to the 2004 headroom max.
grado hp1000s - best grado i have tried, better than the rs-1s by a lot. bass monster indeed, but other than that the headphones don't have the soundstage and clarity of my maxed out hd650s...too warm.
grado 225s - very good performance for the price, i like it better than the rs-1s too, suprisingly neutral.
sony r-10s - the best phones at the meet period. the best treble, midrange, soundstage and instrument seperation i have heard. too bad the bass blows.
beyer 880s - dry and boring, bleh.
senn 595s - pretty good headphones, i like it better than the grado 225s
singlepower mpx3 - i am sorry but that amp is disappointing, colored, muddy with weird bloated bass. sergio's king o ppa destroys it, even my 125 usd chinese amp sounds more natural and detailed than it.
HE90s - very, very, very clear, even more transparent than the r-10s...but i don't like the way it sounds...not natural, unlike the r-10s.
apogee VS benchmark - even with expensive teflon caps as a power filter the low midrange and bass are very thin, the apogee is more enjoyable because of the fullness it has. however the treble of the benchmark is still one of the best i have heard, beats the apogee in that department.
cd3ks with k1000 drivers - the REAL bass monster, strong and tight, the midrange is very good too. the wood cups make the sound smooth and organic.
'bicode amp' - clean, tight, natural, smooth, dynamic and TANSPARENT. as good (if not better) than my dynahi, very very badass.

more to come...

 

[ReasonablyLucid]

You bastage! you already created the thread.

You arent even here yet

First pick of the day

trevor with the jecklin floats

 

[Zoide]

Any Bel Canto DAC2 vs. anything comparisons in the meet? I'm about to seal a DAC2 deal on Audiogon

 

[Zemo]

I so wish I could be there! I hate homework, I hate freezing rain.

-Z

 

[eric343]

Pics up!

http://www.audiogeek.net/images/seat...lemeet-05.html

Great meet. The BiCode was quite incredibly awesome; it made the R10s sing like I've never heard them before. (the Angstrom two-box wasn't even in the same class) Best solid-state dynamic amp I've heard, ever? Yep.

 

[xtreme4099]

yeah the bicode was a portion of a phil built loudspeaker amp thats in pieces right now, sittin in larrys garage for some time, something that phil built 15 years ago, that was quickly put together and rewired temporarily to work with headphones, an optimized headphone version is coming soon...ehrmm.. at least for me it is ... im already collecting parts to build it, as that's gonna be my next amp. Being Xtreme in most respects, you can expect me to make the King O-Headcodes ... when its finished.

 

[Xanadu777]

Shimage & wifey next to ResonablyLucid's LAN setup.

Trevor wondering why his feet go sideways when listening to R10's.

HelterSkelter standing, Tiberian sitting, both have woodies

xtreme4099-Sergio looking for loose change?

"These make a great scarf"

Phil (PPA designer) leaning over to check out a Headsave Classic

Trevor itchin' to get at Eric343's (middle) HE90's.

About a dozen pizza's arrived just in time to quiet stomach rumble. L to R.. Phil, PatrickLang, Natsuiro in blue, Larry (LaRocco), Sergio, Eric, Larry's wife.

Eric foreground with K3000's out of T-Amp and Phil with HP1000 hybrids enjoying a Corrs DVD. 1960's Grado speakers fyi

Eric feelin' like a Rock'em Sock'em robot

The HE90's make me want to dance, they are top dog IMO

 

[Helter Skelter]

Brief impressions and some pics for now because I've been awake for 24 hours straight at this point. I'll try to get to more detailed thoughts after I get some sleep.

First off, the HE90. Me want. I am incredibly jealous of Eric. That thing is just so detailed, so velvety smooth. They're also damn sexy looking and really comfy. You just have to experience it for yourself, it's quite a treat.

The Stax 404 comes quite close to it, but doesn't quite have that wonderful velvety texture to it. They're also ugly as sin, though quite comfortable and very lightweight. Not as fond of the Omega 2's, they actually sounded quite muffled in comparison to the other 2 electrostats and several dynamic cans present.

The Benchmark DAC1. Wow. Quite an impressive piece of kit, that. Did very well with my HD595 and just about everything else I tried it with. Something to save up for, for sure. That Apogee mini DAC is no slouch, either.

The Sony R10. Very refined, certainly. Good for some music, but the bass seemed nearly nonexistant to me. This is fine for some music, but overall they seem a bit too bright for my tastes. The CD3000 was no better in this regard, I felt. The ATH-W2002 is another story. These sounded excellent all over. With the right equipment (DAC1 as a preamp connected to that fantastic Frankenstein's monster of an amp I have pictured below is), these were detailed, tight bass thumping monsters without sacrificing very much anywhere else. Sounded pretty good out of my Classic, too. Way out of my price range, but quite enjoyable indeed.

Can't say I cared for any of the Grados. How can people wear these things? Is comfort such a foreign concept to these folks? Ouch.

Larry/Xanadu777 is insane. In a good way. That woodied CD3000 with the K1000 drivers is quite the interesting set of cans. Those things are made to rock, and hard. Very nice bass, and very clean sounding.

That Frankenstein's monster of an amp I mentioned earlier was actually made by Phil, I believe. It's name is the BiCode. And it sounds fantastic. With the DAC1 backing it up as a preamp (volume control at the source is required, as the amp itself has none of it's own), it beat out every other amp in attendance, including both the tube amps. It even sounded disgustingly good with less than great sources, such as the headphone outputs of my little Sony PCDP and a Creative Zen Micro.

The HD595 critics seemed to be absent from this meet. My pair made the rounds several times. I'd frequently turn around after setting them down somewhere only look back and see someone else trying them out on different equipment combos. The response seemed fairly overwhelmingly positive. And now that I've heard some much higher end equipment and cans, I can honestly say that I will not be losing a wink of sleep over how much better other, much more expensive setups sound than mine. My modest little setup held its own quite well, I thought.

A few surprises. The AKG K271S sounds remarkably good straight out of the headphone jack of my laptop. Amping still improves it, it's not nearly as major an issue as I thought it would be. The new Radio Shack Gold Series RCA cables are very inexpensive and very nice for the price (about $15 for 6 feet). The Jecklin Floats are uncomfortable as heck if you wear glasses like I do (I'm the one in the hooded sweatshirt below), but they actually sound pretty good, somewhat similar to the HD580, in fact. The Koss KSC50 are only $20 and I have no idea why. They sound incredible, very smooth, if a bit lacking in the midrange. Very fun little clip-ons, they are.

Okay, so this wasn't as quick as I thought it would be. Oh well. Pics!

 

[ReasonablyLucid]

When I got home from the meet the package that drewd sent me was on my doorstep

His super mini moy and signature maxi moy didnt make it in time for the meet.

Although im listening to the 2 right now with my 650s and they are quite impressive little amps

 

[tiberian]

AT w1000s - good clarity and ok dynamics, but a bit sibilant and very dry sounding, like the dt 880s.
AT w2002s - had a pleasant woodie flavor or 'warmth', strong bass, ok midrange, dynamics were alright, a bit sibilant however. not a pair of bad headphones...just not something top tier. they have great synergy with the benchmark.
headphile blackmax - sorry i didn't like the way they sounded...too much copper 'warmth', larry's silver ICs were much better.
my chinese amp - nice to know people enjoyed it, it sounded like an 500 usd amp for sure.
larocco pocket reference - real pocket reference, very clear and fast, beated the crap out of the ray samuels xp-7 as a medium sized portable amp.
ms-pros - better than the rs-1s, but still pretty bad to my ears...sounded like an inferior version of the hp1k
big thanks to matt for hosting the meet! big thanks to sergio and his family! i had a great time hanging out with friendly headfiers like trevor, larry D, helter skelter and sergio.

 

[jpelg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiberian AT w2002s - they have great synergy with the benchmark.

Agreed. I loved that combo when I had it too. Quote:

AT w1000s - good clarity and ok dynamics, but a bit sibilant and very dry sounding

Maybe a good match for the Apogee Mini-DAC? Anybody try? (I'm curious)

Keep the impressions coming folks!

 

[Jahn]

Here are my two burning questions -

1) GRADO SPEAKERS! Those the ones that sold on ebay a while ago? How do they sound?

2)Ultracurve! You brought a EQ to the meet? Brave soul!

 

[Natsuiro]

I liked the HE90s alot It was very fast and detailed.
I also like the R10s, but they are somewhat lacking in bass, but even though, they are very nice.
I did hear a difference between the HD-650s, zu cable. The zu cable seemed to open them up and make them brighter. But I think this may be a preference thing. I can totally see how one may perfer the stock able to the zu.
With senn 650s, I perfer the apogee mini dac to the benchmark. There just seemed to be more synergy and was more full sounding.
Tiberian's cheap amp from China was very good. I steal at the price.
I wasn't really a fan of the 880s. They werent bad but not especially good either.
I've never tried a grado I liked but the HP1's larry brought were very nice. I was getting ready to cringe, but I was pleasently surprised.
Based on some opinions of the 595s, I would have thought they were terrible, but I felt that certainly wasn't the case.

What I definately will buy that I tried from the meet was that func mouse pad ResonablyLuccid had. It was just simply amazing =P

 

[TrevorNetwork]

Hello all!

Great meet!

Firstly, thanks to ReasonablyLucid and LPNW for hosting. You did a great job, and although a bit chilly the venue was fantastic. Thanks to all the head-fi members that attended. Thanks also to Natsuiro and his casino-going father for a ride down. A special thanks to GoRedWings19 as well for lending some great gear for the meet.

Well, I most enjoyed spending time with other head-fi'ers. You're all a great bunch of people. I hope you had as much fun as I did meeting everyone, and listening to alot of neat gear. It was great to finally meet eric343 and Tiberian. You guys were both even cooler than I thought you'd be.

The items that suprised me most at the meet were the following:

Headsave classic - Fantastic sound, solidly build, phenomenal price. You'll be missed Norm, but we know you'll be back!

Sennheiser HD595 - I suspect that those that purchase them expect to receive a headphone similar to the HD6xx series. Well, you're receiving a much better headphone, enjoy it!

Apogee MiniDAC - Much better sounding, and more solidly built than I had expected. I do however feel the DAC1 has superior transparency, and is more true-to-recoridng. I can however understand how some may prefer the Apogee. It is a great sounding, and very versitile piece of gear.

Xtreme4099's PPA - Never failing to disappoint! Xtreme and I are friends, and talk often. He becomes very excited at the possibility of adding capacitors worth $125 each. I often feel as though he's reached the limits of the PPA design. Then I'm proved wrong. I mean it this time Xtreme, get the CODE already!

This PPA sounded insane.

Headphile K3000s - These sound excellent. They reminded me of the W2002, and that's a very good thing.

LaRocco Design partial BI-CODE - What can I say, it sounds like a Dynahi. Almost.

Other gear I enjoyed immensely:

Sennheiser HE90 w/ KGSS - You've something special there Eric. That combo is phenomenal. Although the DAC1 and SPMs gave it a little bit more of that magic.

Stax SR404 - They sounded far more similar to the HE90 than Stax's own Omega II. If one wants a little bit of the HE90 sound at 1/16 price look no further. The signature is similar, however the SR404 are a bit sibiliant, and can have a slightly metallic edge at times. They also lack the expansive soundstage provided by the HE90. They are like HE90 sans the HE90 "magic".

Sony MDR-R10 - The R10 are very good at what they do. They sound great for jazz, specifically horns, and cymbals. They also are excellent for well-recorded vocals. I found them satisfying for techno / trance like Shpongle

(I've ordered all the Shpongle CDs from my local A&B Sound) only if EQ'd for more bass, on a powerful solid state. Xtreme's PPA with full bass boost made for great Shpongle'ing.

They are however poor for rock music. They are definitely something special, but can sound very poor in certain setups.

Cheers!

 

[xtreme4099]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrevorNetwork Headphile K3000s - These sound excellent. They reminded me of the W2002, and that's a very good thing. LaRocco Design partial BI-CODE - What can I say, it sounds like a Dynahi. Almost.

i am, im waiting on my lot of 24 russian military spec, hermatically sealed teflon capacitors to get here, im not too big a fan of solens capacitors the biocode amp had, ive tried them in my ppa and theirs a certain coloration to them, also waiting for larrys cnc to start working again so we start etchin protoboards, that bicode amp wasnt even remotely close to be tweaked, it was more like slapped together, as a what if, to see how it sounds with headphones, now the fully optimized headphone version is the one people should be afraid of, very afraid, im going for a tri-mono version.