[Bill-P]

I think you can try Audio High in Mountain View to demo some Audeze and Sennheiser gears... but yeah, we are in dire need of a massive retailer that would take in all of these high-end headphones and let people audition... like Fujiya-Avic in Japan.
 
As it is, I think mini meets work. And all that we really need is a space that's big enough for some folks to crash for a few hours.
 
Anyway, I'll start doing heads count now. Hopefully we'll get something concrete before the end of next month, since I'll be staying in another country for the summer. But hey, I'll be working on my first DIY amp project, too, so let's hope that turns out alright. 

 
Oh, and I've also acquired a Sony PHA-1 recently, so that one will be among the list of gears that I'm bringing.

 

[Vansen]

Hmm, sounds fun. There's a possibility I might be able to attend provided it's before Memorial Day weekend. 
 
If wanted, I can bring my Schiit Bifrost w/ Uber and USB gen 2, Schiit Lyr, and HE-500s. Nothing super special, but I enjoy them for the price. I have a couple of portable amps, too.

 

[Vansen]

  haha. ok, didnt want it to come off like that. i'm not so new to this hobby, but im very much a noob when it comes to technical or critical listening or whatchamacallit. I just try to save up for and buy, and keep  gear i think i enjoy listening to. And i find it hard to explain to other people in words why i like this and that and why I spend this much (or this less) on gear. So a lot to learn from you guys really, and also been struggling to find places in the bay area where i can audition cans or amps or iems before I buy them. the ifi was a gamble. Any secret place in the bay area for that? 

 
Expressing objective sensory perceptions is no easy feat. I'm not so great at expressing what I hear either, and I sure wish I was. In the audio world, the link below, and the links provided in the link below, have helped me the bit with describing sound:

http://www.head-fi.org/a/describing-sound-a-glossary
 
Also, the biggest "secret place" I've been able to find for auditioning amps and cans are these meets. I've learned a lot from the last several meets I've attended. Even though you may not be able expertly describe what you hear, you'll sure gain an ear for what you want and what you want to stay away from at these meets. 

 

[baronkatz]

 
If wanted, I can bring my Schiit Bifrost w/ Uber and USB gen 2, Schiit Lyr, and HE-500s. Nothing super special, but I enjoy them for the price. I have a couple of portable amps, too.

Yes please, I love the Schiit Bifrost and Lyr combo, I also like the Valhalla. Anyway, really want to try my headphones with that amp/dac combo!
 

 
Oh, and I've also acquired a Sony PHA-1 recently, so that one will be among the list of gears that I'm bringing.

That's a great little amp, not as good as the iQube, but it costs about half the price of the iQube...

 

[Vansen]

  Yes please, I love the Schiit Bifrost and Lyr combo, I also like the Valhalla. Anyway, really want to try my headphones with that amp/dac combo!

 
I would love to try my amp and DAC out with the LCD-X more than anything else (since I know someone will have an HD800). 

 

[Bill-P]

  That's a great little amp, not as good as the iQube, but it costs about half the price of the iQube...

 
Hopefully I'll receive it tomorrow. Comparison to Magni, Vali, and Bottlehead Crack imminent.
 
I suspect the Crack would be a better amp overall, but the Vali and Magni might well be beaten. It's not like I haven't heard the PHA-1 before. It impressed me the last time while driving the LCD-XC prototype.

 

[CEE TEE]

^Bill, instead of returning items...wanna borrow the Zana Deux too?
 
And if you feel like bringing the stuff to the mini-meet...

 

[baronkatz]

   
Hopefully I'll receive it tomorrow. Comparison to Magni, Vali, and Bottlehead Crack imminent.
 
I suspect the Crack would be a better amp overall, but the Vali and Magni might well be beaten. It's not like I haven't heard the PHA-1 before. It impressed me the last time while driving the LCD-XC prototype.

Don't forget that the Vali and Magni cost half the price of the Sony new, even though of course the Sony is a portable. TBH, I did like that PHA-1, it's somewhere inbetween the Magni/Modi combo and iQube to my ears when testing it with the ESW9A's...

 

[baronkatz]

  ^Bill, instead of returning items...wanna borrow the Zana Deux too?
 
And if you feel like bringing the stuff to the mini-meet...

That amp looks beautiful. I want to try it! Although it might be too tempting to buy...

 

[Bill-P]

  ^Bill, instead of returning items...wanna borrow the Zana Deux too?
 
And if you feel like bringing the stuff to the mini-meet...

 
Oh... now you're just teasing!
 
Just kidding.
 
Really, I'd LOVE to. But wouldn't that leave you with practically nothing to enjoy other than a pair of HD800 and the Balancing Act?? I'd feel really bad since I'm holding on to a lot of your gears already.
 

  Don't forget that the Vali and Magni cost half the price of the Sony new, even though of course the Sony is a portable. TBH, I did like that PHA-1, it's somewhere inbetween the Magni/Modi combo and iQube to my ears when testing it with the ESW9A's...

 
My guess... it was probably because you used the ESW9A to test.
 
If you were using something else... like a DT770 or the ES10... you'd hear... the BASS!
 
Oh man... that bass. It makes me want to go back to being a basshead.
 
In this regard, both the Magni and Vali aren't able to match the PHA-1.

 

[baronkatz]

 
If you were using something else... like a DT770 or the ES10... you'd hear... the BASS!
 
Oh man... that bass. It makes me want to go back to being a basshead.
 
In this regard, both the Magni and Vali aren't able to match the PHA-1.

I did hear the bass and I loved it! It's a cool little amp for what it is. Moon Audio had brought one over for CAS last year. I didn't have any other cans at the time, but now I want to test all of them with it! If I could afford the iQube, I would get that, but it's almost twice the price of the PHA-1, even though it is a lot more refined. Given the choice though, it would be a hard thing to toss up between the iQube and Lyr/Valhalla with Bifrost combo... The Schiit would have the edge on it, but I would have to use it only at work (which is where I do most of my listening)...
 
I'm really considering doing a trade of my ED8's for a pair of T5Ps (preferrably modded with cable, etc... like the one guy who had that one at the last meet). I like how comfy the T5Ps were, the design (especially the way the driver covers look, and best of all they were not bright at all but still revealing. I would just get a pair of DT880Premiums's if I was listening mostly at home, but being as I listen at work mostly...

 

[Bill-P]

Well, I'll bring the PHA-1 this time, so you can play around with it on your other cans.

I'm retuning my headphones based on it because it sounds obviously better than anything else I have right now. It just sounds right.

Perhaps the iQube is a more refined amp, but since I can tune my headphones for that extra refinement, the PHA-1 would work just fine. Plus I can use the PHA-1 as a DAC with my portable devices. The iQube, on the other hand, can't replace the DAC of my iDevices, so it is more limiting.

 

[Bill-P]

Okay, Sony wins.
 
They converted me back into a semi-basshead, so... I retuned the DT770 with bass in mind.
 
I wish good ol' @mikemercer can attend this mini meet, because I would love to get his opinions on this DT770.
 
Daniel, I think you'll like this one very much. I tried my best to shave that treble down, so hopefully it won't be too bright for you.
 
Still keeping that smooth and slightly sweet midrange, of course.

 

[3X0]

Doesn't the PHA-1 have an output impedance of ~10 ohms? That probably produces some excess output centered about 75Hz or so when coupled with the ES10s.
 
If used to voice the modded ES10s, that might produce unexpected results when pairing the latter to low-output-impedance sources like contemporary DAPs and smartphones.

 

[Bill-P]

Yeah, the excess output is noticeable. But it's a controlled boost rather than just extra boom. The amp section of the PHA-1 is very very well-implemented. The boost is even more controlled than the Schiit Magni, which has less than 0.1 Ohm output impedance.
 
The ES10 is still tuned with low impedance sources in mind (namely my iPhone 5), but my DT770 is now tuned for the PHA-1 because the pairing sounds very nice. That bass is really to die for. I haven't heard bass this good with any portable amp at all.