[EddieE]

Was really nice to meet everyone last night, and nice to meet all the heaphones and amps as well.

Impressions of the gear?

Leccy's Fostex Orthodynamics were utterly awesome and most agreed they were the star of the show. In retrospect I wish I'd spent more time with them; I only listened to one track but was very impressed. They have a real knock-your-socks-off emotional and musical sound to them. It was very encouraging when Leccy told me that started off sounding worse than my (still stock) HP-50S and he gave me some advice on getting started dampening them to bring the treble out. Much appreciated. If I can get them sounding anything like the Fostex I'll be a very happy man.

I loved the Grado RS1, especially with flats, I think I spent the most time listening to them of everything there. I don't love them enough to justify paying what Grado is asking, while I'd love to get some in the future, even second hand they are extremely expensive and I don't know if I could ever justify them no matter how much I adored their sound. I could definitely see why people do pay that sort of money for them though; they really are an incredible set of headphones.

I liked both the beyerdynamics on show too, but not as much as the HD650. That was what I really took away from the night: that my favourite phones are still the HD650. It was nice to come away from the night feeling satisifed that I already have the best phones for me, rather than desperate to spend more money on other stuff. It was a shame I couldn't get my HD650 there as it would have been nice to do a comparrison with SE and balanced. Not easy to get an accurate impression of differences when you have to change the cable between listens.

I was also impressed by the IE8 but again, came away satisfied that the Phonaks are more for me. I'd had a bit of IEM envy at all the great reviews the IE8 got and had a bit of an itching to get a pair. I have to say I agree with all those reviews, but putting on my 112s on the way home that treble sparkle the IE8s missed kicked in and I felt they were a better match to my tastes.

I thought the little Bravo hybrid tube amp did some nice business with the SR125i and would be a good low cost entry into the world of tubes.

What didn't impress me? Well I'm not a big fan of the Denon AH-D5000, they left me flat; I'd expected more from them. I wasn't all that impressed with HD580 either; kind of like a starved and skinny version of the HD650. The Bose definitely weren't my cup of tea, although I found the noise cancelling thing was quite serene with the music off.

All in all, I'm really glad we did this and really thankful people turned up. It was a really useful experience to identify further what I do and don't like, gave me a bit of excitement about what my orthos could become and ultimately left me feeling satisifed that what I already had was very close to what I want… if only I could afford some RS1s...

 

[Kabeer]

Nice impressions! Photos ?

Btw the Fostex T20v2 is a different sounding can to the Yamaha HP50S (imo better

but Lecky might disagree hehe). It has to be expected. But indeed you can get a lot of performance out the HP50S compared to what you have stock. Lecky seemed to have gathered a lot of knowledge about damping so im sure you have a nice idea now

.

 

[lecky]

Thanks for organising it. It was a lot of fun!

I really liked the RS1 too, with my music (mainly jazz) it was quite subtle and non synthetic sounding, although it has what sounds like a 5 or 6khz hump that on the odd track that goes there can be a bit harsh. I'd certainly consider buying a pair if I were richer. Occasionally harsh upper-mids / treble was perhaps a little more evident on the Grado sr125 which I thought sounded a little more artificially emphatic than the RS1, but still mainly very listenable and nice.

I tried PZ4s HD650s next to my 580s on his balanced Little Dot amp and fancy cable, although not with familiar music, both sounded super, although I still prefer the less emphatic but more natural sound of the 580s, and I suspect that his set up delivers a slightly lean digital sounding result, nice and very precise, clean and dynamic sounding, but a little hard perhaps? Still a really nice set up.

I enjoyed the AH-D5000, but I cold immediately hear how they could be improved significantly with damping. The bass lacks control, bass detail is just missing, and perhaps the mids could do with being brought into play a bit more. But there's lots to like about the general presentation. I'd like to hear a modded pair.

I liked the DT880 pros - sounded in a way similar to my modded T20v2, which are fairly flat across the frequencies, perhaps a bit treble oriented but not peaky. It's not a flash sounding headphone, not over emphatic in it's presentation. It's not an instant pleaser, but I suspect it's great to live with. Not as detailed or 'exciting' as my T20s but that'd sometimes be a good thing.

It was interesting hearing the seemingly unmodded HP-50s. Whilst they're not right - too much lack of upper mids / treble, they have a very nice tonal presentation, and what's there is detailed and clear, they'll surely sound great with some work - will be different to my T20s, but will be fantastic in their own way. As Kabeer says the HP-50 can deliver really good stuff, different qualities to the T20.

IE8s were really, really nice, and e5c too. Better than my RE0 at least in that they don't sound closed in the way the RE0s do, and with more bass, but not so much better that I'm tempted to upgrade.

I generally came away with a clearer sense of what I like.

I came away feeling lucky to have avoided upgraditis - I'm pretty happy with my budget set up for the moment.

 

[120717]

Thanks for making this happen!

Now for the kit:

Denon AH-D5000: From the load of comparisons/reviews I've read, I assumed these would have deep, powerful bass, and sharp treble. I actually found the treble too loud for my tastes, and was wondering where the bass was. There was slightly more push in PART of the bass..but it think it matched up to my HD650s (singled ended or balanced)

Beyerdynamic DT880 Pro 250ohm: While these didn't excite me, the descriptions of having a flat frequency response make sense to me. These lacked the bass or warmth I look for, but I don't doubt the quality of the headphones.

(Not sure how old) Vintage (?) Beyerdynamic DT990 600ohm: I found these nicer (might be partly due to the 600ohm version) than the DT880, because they had more bass, but I didn't compare them side properly

Sennheiser HD580: They sound like a softer version of the HD650, I agreee with EddieE about these

Fostex T20: Very good value for money is all I can say, shame they need a speaker amp.

Sennheiser HD424 Vintage (60s?): A nice set of headphones, with a light sound, but demanding drivers. Leckys lucky to have bought them for only £15!

KOSS PortaPro: Great value for money, I would probably get a pair if the housing didn't vibrate with the bass (a dealbreaker for me, even though they're such a steal)

Audio-Technica ATM-M50: Sounded pretty good, comfortable enough. They didn't have the right bass/treble balance for my tastes though.

Grado RS1: My favourite of the lot, they bass isn't as strong, and doesn't go as deep (maybe when they're balanced?) as the HD650s, but the treble is clear, and these headphones just SING to you. I tried out electronica, rock, pop, dubstep and jazz, and honestly wouldn't actually complain. The mids are rich, and the tonality is great! Saxophones were so realistic! If I had the money for a second set (with that kinda price tag), I'd buy some of the darker, buttoned ones (I prefer the look), and get them reterminated balanced. At the moment I don't need a second balanced pair for $600+..not when I need portables and want to upgrade my guitar.

The meeting itself was enjoyable, Eddie, Lecky and the others I talked to were sociable and friendly, and handled the equipment well, too. I think I lost my optical cable though!
It must have dropped behind the table when I was packing..

The building itself was quite impressive, I was surprised when I arrived with Eddie.

Overall it was a nice evening, and worth attending; I look forward to meeting you guys again.

 

[mrarroyo]

Guys where are the pictures? We like pictures here.

 

[lecky]

Unfortunately I don't think anyone thought to take pictures... Too bad...
Next time.
Sorry.

 

[EddieE]

P4Z,
The black ones with the coil (you weren't too taken by if I remember rightly

) were the Audio Technica ATH-M50.

Sorry to hear about the optical cable, did you try giving the pub a ring, they might have it?

 

[krmathis]

Every one of you forgot the camera back home?

 

[EddieE]

Unfortunately I only have the camera on my Nokia E71 - perhaps the worst quality camera phone presently on sale. There wouldn't have been any point trying to get shots of anything with it.

Next time we'll get some. Promise.

 

[Duncan]

Oops,

I feel bad about not spotting this meet being planned, seeing that it is on my doorstep

Seems like everyone enjoyed the day though, so thats all good

Fingers crossed, i'll be there for the next one

Duncan.