This was actually my first meet so pretty much everything was new to me. One thing that surprised me was how loud everyone listens to their headphones. I would not recommend anyone listen to Sergio's setup without turning it down first. It was actually sort of a running joke throughout the meet. Now on with some of my impressions.
- Although it was at the end of the night, the highlight for me was listening to the Stax setup. I listened to a few things one of which was some Crystal Method that Trevor had brought. It was actually an album I was somewhat familiar with. There's a track called Cherry Twist that he played and the Stax setup hit low notes on that song I hadn't even heard before on my setup. It took some serious EQing just to find the note with my AT's tonight. In short, the Stax were amazing. I particularly liked the Omega II's bass and mid-range detail. They didn't seem harsh at all even at the unbareable listening levels these guys had them at. I'm not sure what the other headphones we had with that setup, but at one point Trevor pointed out that the actual diaphram was vibrating. Like I said, these guy's listen to their stuff too loud
(I think they're actually designed to do that.)
- I had some time to do some A/B comparing with the 650's and the CD3000's. Right off the bat I was a little surprised at how much higher I needed to set the volume on the PPA I was using in order to fully power the 650's. I guess I just hadn't really thought about it before. It makes me wonder how much more important a quality amp is for the 650's as opposed to the CD3000's.
The 650's were very impressive especially with the Zu Mobius cable. I really liked their low bass extension on a few of the tracks I listened. I also liked the smooth highs. It's really a shame that I didn't have any really good albums with female vocals on me. (iRiver gave out last week
) Still, from what I heard I can see myself somewhere down the line purchasing these for listening to R&B and Jazz.
As for the CD3000's, they were a lot like my A900's to be honest. They were better in quite a few areas though. They had better treble extension, more mid-range detail and a punchier bass. These headphones really excelled over the 650's in the trance department. I was listening to some electronica (Oakenfold or Sasha, can't remember for sure.) and the CD3000's were bringing out awesome punchy bass. The 650's in contrast were noticeably missing this and seemed to be emphasizing the lower end more, something I didn't really like. I can see where people would label the 650's as "slow". That mid-range attack just isn't the same as the CD3000's.
The problem with the CD3000's though is that they can definitely be harsh. I think there are a few albums out there that would be unlistenable on the CD3000's. I can think right off the bat that the last two Red Hot Chili Pepper albums would be unbearable. This is probably why I'll never own the CD3000's. Even though they beat out my A900's in a lot of areas, none of the music I listen to with them is completely unbearable. Honestly though in a perfect world I would probably just own both the 650's and the CD3000's, but since I already own the A900's, if I do make another headphone purchase it will probably be the 650's.
Bah, I'm kind of tired, I'll have to give more impressions later. I didn't get home from Seattle until 8:30am and I had to work at 2:15pm
Also thanks to everyone who attended, and the gear on loan from some who didn't, you are some great peeps!
