My coverage of everyone else's coverage of RMAF (LOL):
Those new headphones from Oppo look really cool. Their styling is definitely a throwback to orthodynamic and piezoelectric stuff from the 70s. I'm hoping for a price point around the 400 USD range, as this hobby needs more orthos in that bracket. Two of my all-time favorite sub-$500 models are orthos: the Audez'e LCD-1 and HiFiMan HE-400. Unfortunately the LCD-1 and its drivers are extremely rare, and the HE-400 has changed since its debut and not for the better to my ears (I prefer the earlier darker version; I think you can differentiate it by its white drivers). So yeah, I'm looking forward to this thing. It would be a nice thing to have in my office. Speaking with some folks I know who went to RMAF, they said they never came across the Oppo at the show, so I'm thinking this announcement was exclusive to Jude? Either way, here's hoping more impressions surface sooner rather than later.
Another big surprise of the show for me was a new prototype from Cavalli Audio, an amp based on the Liquid Lightning but one that uses tubes. Apparently it's more an experimental proof-of-concept at this point, so if it ever goes into production it would be in the distant future. For one thing it would need a completely redesigned chassis compared to the one from the LL2 it was temporarily housed in at the show, as it would need to accommodate all the added heat from the tubes. They would still likely be housed inside the amp which is something I prefer personally (I don't mind external tubes on the Liquid Glass, as it was designed for tube rolling, but even then they're recessed and don't protrude).
Schiit had a prototype for the Ragnarok there, but apparently it was really buggy. That can happen with prototypes; it happened with Schiit's other prototypes before, but the issues get ironed out by production time. People saying they're now considering not getting one when they were before are kind of being silly. Even looking at the rough pre-production model without the proper exterior finish and exposed bits and pieces, I think it's a rather beautiful looking amp. The Vali seems to be usurping it in the attention department however, which is easy to understand since a $120 tube amp that competes with amps ten times its price is exciting. The biggest drawback of the Vali seems to be its noise level however, specifically tube microphonics. Highly sensitive devices will exacerbate this. Still, the Vali plus a modified T50RP seems like a potentially amazing pairing. Maybe I'll end up putting one alongside the new Oppo planars for office duty.
Not RMAF related, but since I'm talking about amps, I'm reminded that there are rumors from various sources of a new TOTL amp from Stax in the pipeline. At this point I'm actually rather interested in it, especially if they go all out like on the T2 (doubtful). I'm considering selling most of the my stat gear and would just have a minimal setup.
Overall this quarter has been pretty wild as far as new announcements go. Last year wasn't nearly as over-the-top ... or is that just me? As I mentioned before, the only categories I get all riled up about these days are full-sized orthos and IEMs, but it just so happens most of the big announcements lately have been for these things. Go figure. I've spent some time talking to folks I know who went to RMAF, getting a sense of how they felt about this stuff.
--> The Audez'e LCD-X seems to be pretty well regarded by most folks, though the biggest complaint I've encountered is the price tag. The XC seems less highly regarded, with some telling me its tuning isn't as agreeable as the X, which isn't too surprising given that it's closed which means Audez'e is having to try to tame resonance that isn't as problematic on the X. Still those wood cups are gorgeous, and having a choice of woods is pretty nifty.
-> The Abyss is awesome. Someone who heard a demo of it way back when and was underwhelmed (saying it was about on par with the HE-500 or thereabouts) said he was now eating his words after hearing it at RMAF on the LAu.
-> The JH Roxanne seems to be garnering praise from some, but others have told me in private that it has some major issues at this point. Driver incoherency, problems with imaging, issues with reverb and transients, tinny sounding highs. Obviously the usual caveats apply: it's a demo. To be honest I expected incoherency issues given all those drivers, but I must confess I'm a bit surprised at how negative some of the reactions have been. Not just from one person, but several I know. Looks like it needs some work, so hopefully JHA can fine tune it more. Get those drivers to cooperate and the Freq-Phase properly sorted.
-> The new Fostex ortho is not so well received. According to one ortho-head who was probably to most positive about it of those I've talked to, it sounds very delicate and is promising as a starting point, but there is definitely more work to be done.
-> On the other hand, the rest of the gear from Fostex seems to be well liked. Their little tube amp has been in development for a while now, and it's pretty solid from what I gather. Their new IEM also seems promising.