[Argo Duck]

I obviously misunderstood - cheers!

 

[purrin]

Quote:

The only 'poor' source was the iPod on the Eddie Current 2a3 and LCD3 setup. The output voltage is just too low to give to a medium power amp to feed to a current hungry headphone. They switched to a Luxman D-05 and it was perfectly fine then.

 
 
Do you think it was power or a gain issue? I know Craig like to keep the gain down so you get to turn the volume knob a bit. Sometimes you end up running out of room - even though the amp still has plenty of steam.

 
 
Quote:

Yes. My goal for the trip was picking out customs, which I did. I'm saving up money for Lasik surgery next so no more money to spend while in Denver. I should have the UERMs in about a week to two weeks. I went with clear left red translucent right with carbon fiber faceplates and white big UE on left and red big UE on right. Should look something like this but with UE stuff:

 
Good choice! I trust your ears more now
 
 

 

[Maxvla]

I think it was a combination of both. Low input voltage mixed with low gain = not enough power to the LCD3s. Not really Craig's fault. Who puts an iPod in front of a $2800 amp and $2000 headphones? Audeze did, but it was because they ran out of sources for both rooms. I don't know where they got the Luxman. I suspect they bought it at the show or borrowed it from a vendor with too much gear there, like Sennheiser or TTVJ. Stacks and stacks of stuff!

 

[Maxvla]

Btw, every can I tried with the Boulder 1021 used this awesome track, thanks for the intro to this, Ray.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUeMnQOlv7U&fmt=18 <- best quality

 

[moodyrn]

I was surprised to see the he-6 fair so well with the dark star. I was thinking about replacing these. Now I may just hang on to them and upgrade my amp later on. I agree with your findings on the jh13. It's amazing you can get sound this good out of something you can simply plug into a portable and take with you anywhere. They also scale incredibly well with both sources and amps. I guess I need to start saving up for a dark star. 

 

[Maxvla]

Yes, the Darkstar stole the show for me. Anything I plugged into it was the best I had heard them. I think one of Ray's very top combos is the HE-6 and Darkstar. He was raving about it for a good 10 minutes at the end of Friday and telling me to make sure to come back Saturday when he was getting the working HE-6's overnighted to the show. HE-6s on this amp sounded like a subwoofer shaking your walls. It was unreal.

 

[purk]

Thanks for a very detailed impressions.  My only comment to your review is that an improvement from a very good/excellent sounding source like the Sony SCD-XA5400ES to a statement level like Ray's playback has more impact than most people think.  In my rig, going from XA5400ES to something like a Modwright Denon 3910 yields an easy 10 to 15% improvement.  I'm sure the Playback player is even more outstanding than my heavily modified Modwright.
 
 
 

 

[Maxvla]

I'd like to mention the Meridian 808.3 that was on the Pinnacle system is a $20k source as well. I did not care for any headphone heard through that setup.

 

[purk]

Quote:

I'd like to mention the Meridian 808.3 that was on the Pinnacle system is a $20k source as well. I did not care for any headphone heard through that setup.

My post was target at the XA5400ES used by Headamp & Eddie Current as I know that player very well.
 

 

[Maxvla]

My post was target at the XA5400ES used by Headamp & Eddie Current as I know that player very well.
 

Sure, no problem. I just keep getting flak about not giving the source enough credit in the final results and thought your comment was just another one. My apologies.

 

[deadhead12]

Aye, and mine was more in response to reading about the ipod driven Audeze system in close proximity to reading about Ray's setups.  

 

[Wharfrat]

Thanks, Chris, for the excellent, thorough recap of your version of musical chairs.  The Ray Samuels Dark Star is an appealing unit, but sure will take a more than just a bit of heavenly manna to get one since I already sold my soul to the devil when I signed up on Head-fi.  I am sorely bummed now that the LCD-3 has what it takes to get me my rocks off, but guess I will be just as happy with a HE-6.  Either way Ray's unit is integral, clearly.
 
'Nother good reason to get one is cuz "Dark Star" is my favorite Dead song, with a verse quite apropos for this hobby: "Searchlights casting for faults in the clouds of delusion..."
 
Thanks again for being a searchlight at the edges of a rocky reef.

 

[deadhead12]

Quote:

'Nother good reason to get one is cuz "Dark Star" is my favorite Dead song, with a verse quite apropos for this hobby: "Searchlights casting for faults in the clouds of delusion..."

I know, just the name makes me want this amp.  Though I'm quite sure the Dead reference is merely coincidence, but still...
 

 

[Wharfrat]

If you have been to enough shows, you know there is NO such thing as coincidence in Deadland, LOL!
 
For all we know, it could be Ray's cosmic sense of humor seeing as the sticker price for the amp will certainly allow for a black hole in most of our fellow hobbyists' wallets.  There is a thread on Head-fi with more listening impressions on the Dark Star...just so seems it has found its parallel universe via the LCD-3.  But IMHO, the Boulder CD player gave it an unfair advantage over most every other source-amp-can combo Chris ran through.  Fortunately I have a good source player I can confidently say won't leave me wanting to throw my precious Benjamins at another...

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Still reading but wanted to comment about this
 
Quote:

32) Emotiva ERC-2 CDP, Ray Samuels Apache, Westone ES5
Focus is good. Bass might be a little too boomy. Extension is great. Treble is not as sparkly as UERM. Bass is great on drum and bass, but overbears slightly. Also sounds like it's having to work on the lowest notes. Imaging is very nice. Very good clarity. Stage seems shallow and small to medium. Tonality is just ok. Slight smearing upper mids. Bass has great punch. Mids have this kind of halo resonance. Makes focusing on voices difficult and distracting. Would say bass is happy medium between UERM and JH13 for those who want to be inbetween.

Was looking forward to these knowing HeadphoneAddict and more were champions of this custom. Came away feeling this was one of the lesser customs I listened to at CanJam. It just felt flat and rough in spots. Despite what my notes say, I can't really remember anything that sounded world class. Was not impressed with them.

 
That rig is not very good with ES-5 or the demos (or other IEM), and the actual custom ES-5 sound a bit better than the demos as well.  I'm sorry you didn't get to hear them with a better rig.  I brought Westone a digital iPod dock to use as a source, and I really wanted them to hook the dock up to the RSA SR-71b that I brought, but they had an SR-71b in another rig and hooked the dock up to the Apache instead. I really wish they wouldn't bring the balanced Apache for the IEM anymore.  The last time I was at Westone to demo IEM most of us agreed that the iPhone > Pico Slim sounded better than Emotiva > Apache when using IEM.